Other items in today’s column include:
*Jewish American Heritage Month
*A wedding surprise
*Recommended reading
SAN DIEGO — Shavua tov! Shavua Tov! A good week! A good week!
In Voorhees, New Jersey, Cantor Alisa Pomerantz-Boro and her daughter Rebecca have often led Havdalah services by Zoom from their porch since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic This last Saturday night, May 16, was no different.
Before Pomerantz-Boro took the position at Congregation Beth El in New Jersey, she served in San Diego as the cantor at Tifereth Israel Synagogue in San Diego, making many friends during her 13 years here.
While serving in New Jersey, Cantor Pomerantz-Boro was elected as president of the Cantors Assembly, which is the cantorial organization for the Conservative Movement of Judaism. As she mentions in the video above, she has since performed in concerts (virtual ones during the coronavirus pandemic) all over the world.
It’s fair to say that Cantor Alisa Pomerantz-Boro has become an international figure in Judaism.
So, although it’s already Sunday, enjoy the video above, in which the cantor and her daughter sing traditional prayers and songs marking the end of Shabbat and the beginning of the regular week.
*
Jewish American Heritage Month
More than halfway through the month of May, the Endowment for Middle East Truth (EMET) has thus far profiled these 20 American Jews: Sheldon & Dr. Miriam Adelson, Irving Berlin, Gertrude Elion, Milton Friedman, Hank Greenberg, Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, Henry Kissinger, Sandy Koufax, Emma Lazarus, Uriah Levy, The Marx Brothers (Chico, Groucho and Harpo), Aly Raisman, Dr. Jonas Salk, Haym Salomon, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, Shel Silverstein, and Steven Spielberg. All their profiles may be accessed by clicking here.
*
A wedding sutprise
When Lin-Manuel Miranda married Vanessa Nadal in 2010, his extraordinary success as the playwright and lead in Hamilton was still five years in the future. But clearly the world of Broadway musicals had a big impact on him. With the help of members of both families and the rest of the wedding party, he staged for his bride a not-so-impromptu version of the song “To Life” from Fiddler on the Roof. This YouTube video has been seen by millions of viewers, but it is such a heartfelt salute not only to his bride but to Jewish culture, that it’s worth seeing again and again. My thanks to Amnon Markusfeld for passing it on to San Diego Jewish World.
*
Recommended reading
*An attempt at arson at the Tomb of Esther and Mordecai in Hamedan, Iran, caused minor damage, The Times of Israel reports.
*Tony Klug, a British, pro-Palestinian commentator tells why he opposes President Donald Trump’s Middle East peace plan in a recent edition of the Palestine-Israel Journal.
*Barry Berman, in a remembrance of the late Jerry Stiller, recalls in an article for The Moderate Voice a chance meeting with the comedian and his wife Ann Meara, in Nantucket.
*Joe Leventhal, A candidate in San Diego’s 5th City Council District, writes in Times of San Diego that members of the City Council should cut their own office budgets to help meet the city’s economic challenges.
*
Donald H. Harrison is editor of San Diego Jewish World. He may be contacted via donald.harrison@sdjewishworld.com