The Arts

Sounding Alarms Through the Centuries

Most of us have been glued to our television sets watching protesters marching on our streets and around the world. They are  responding to the murder of George Floyd.  In the words of Martin Luther King Jr., “Riots are the language of the unheard.” [Vocal and story by Cantor Sheldon Foster Merel]

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Cantor Sheldon Foster Merel, z"l, International, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, USA

My mother’s and Frank Sinatra’s address books

She did it her way By Oliver B. Pollak RICHMOND, California — The June/July 2020 issue of The Wall Street Journal Magazine contains a fascinating story by Will Friedwald with photography by Henry Leutwyler — “Sinatra’s Little Brown Book.” The article heralds Leutwyler’s just published Hi There!, a collection of 69 photographs of the address

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International, Jewish History, Lifestyles, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Oliver Pollak, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, USA

European Jewish Civil War volunteers flocked to the North’s cause

Born in Hungary;  living in Portsmouth, United Kingdom; spending many hours of research at the American Jewish Archives in Cincinnati, Ohio; and even boasting a cousin (Judit Sipos-Szabo) here in San Diego, Peter Kovacs Rosenbluth understands  links between European Jewish history and American Jewish history about which most of us, including yours truly, have been unaware. [By Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, International, Jewish History, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, USA

May Orthodox Judaism have female rabbis?

Rabbi Dr. Sperber quotes his speech during the ordination of female rabbis. “A relatively short time ago such an occasion within an Orthodox setting would have seemed to be impossible, almost hallucinatory. Yet what was so recently a dream has now become a reality. Yet what was once implausible has now become almost a norm, at least within a certain segment of the modern Orthodox community.” He notes that some Orthodox leaders refuse to accept the change, “But this is to be expected, and indeed understandable, given the traditionalist inability to recognize the dynamic nature of halachah. For they are grounded in dogmatism, while we strive after dynamism.” [Rabbi Dr. Israel Drazin]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Israel Drazin-Rabbi Dr., Jewish History, Jewish Religion

Finding Jewish Women of Valor in San Diego

Thursday night’s Woman of Valor was Tammy Gillies, Regional Director of the Anti-Defamation League played by Sarah Price-Keating. Gillies is the first woman to hold this post and there were a few members of the board who voted against her for this reason. They just couldn’t picture this soft-spoken woman shouting down a hater with a bullhorn. Yet she still got the job and she has shown them. [Eric George Tauber]

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Eric George Tauber, San Diego County, Theatre, Film & Broadcast

Zoom in to Beachtown

During Passover, 2018, The San Diego REP premiered Beachtown, a fun, interactive town hall-style theatrical experience. Inspired by Pittsburgh’s Beertown, Playwright-in-Residence Herb Siguenza filled Beachtown with a cast of funny, relatable characters like the hip, surfing mayor, Steve Novak (Jason Heil) and an outspoken right-wing “journalist” Damon Haynes (TJ Johnson). Interactive by nature, I can’t think of a better show to transition to today’s Zoom format.  Hungry for some live theatre, over 130 “Beachtonians” zoomed in to participate. [Eric George Tauber]

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Eric George Tauber, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, San Diego County, Theatre, Film & Broadcast

Finding a stronger desire to live

PEN America Prison and Justice Writing Programs, in conjunction with Haymarket Books, created a podcast featuring the literary and visual arts of prison inmates currently doing time. The virtual presentation included the music of Kenyatta Emmanuel, himself an ex-con, whose work has been heard from Sing Sing to Carnegie Hall. [Eric George Tauber]

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Eric George Tauber, Lifestyles, San Diego County, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, USA

‘Total Baloney’ and the secrets of the German kitchen

The CD with the title (in German and Hebrew) Total Baloney was given to me some time ago by the Association of Former Residents of Central Europe, and when I finally got round to watching it I found myself taken back to the kitchen of my mother and other ‘Yekke’ relatives, back to the enchanted land of nostalgia, to the tastes and aromas of yesteryear, and to a time of innocence and memories (though not always fond). [Dorothea Shefer-Vanson]

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Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, International, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, Travel and Food

Books: Menasseh ben Israel paved Jews way back to England

Menasseh served the descendants of Portuguese and Spanish exiles, Jews like him who escaped from these lands. He made a small amount of money as a printer of books, a job he had to take because the community paid him a minimal salary as one of their rabbis. He worked hard to persuade the English king to allow Jews to live in England, but died believing he was not successful. [Rabbi Dr. Israel Drazin]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, International, Israel Drazin-Rabbi Dr., Jewish History

The music of the Nagyvary and Stradivari violins

Editor’s note: Eileen Wingard continues her series on the discography of her sister, concert violinist Zina Schiff, with embedded examples. By Eileen Wingard SAN DIEGO — Joseph Nagyvary, the brilliant Hungarian-born Professor of Biochemistry from Texas A & M, had just finished delivering a lecture at Louisiana State University in Shreveport. His topic was his

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Eileen Wingard, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts

Hebrew Day School celebrates its 57th anniversary

Soille San Diego Hebrew Day School on Sunday, June 7, celebrated the 57th anniversary of its founding in a Zoom gathering that highlighted the life of the late Eilene Cummins, a longtime volunteer and former board president for the Orthodox school at 3730 Afton Avenue, San Diego. [Our Shtetl San Diego County column by Donald H. Harrison]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, Jewish Religion, Middle East, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, USA

JNF aiding Negev communities including SD Jewish Federation’s sister region

In the summer issue of the online B’Yachad, published by the Jewish National Fund, attention is given to Israel’s desire to populate its northern “frontiers” — the Galilee to the north and the Negev Desert to the south. [Our Shtetl San Diego County column by Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, Jewish Religion, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, San Diego County, USA