The brilliant script of The Outsider by Paul Slade Smith and deft direction by David Ellenstein with his amazing cast gave North Coast Rep audience a smart and really funny performance. Although written years ago, Smith’s script is still a contemporary and sharp satire on our political circus. [Cantor Sheldon Foster Merel]
‘The Outsider’ leaves audiences laughing Read More »
Cantor Sheldon Foster Merel, z"l, San Diego County, Theatre, Film & Broadcast
There’s an old Yiddish proverb: If you want to make God laugh, tell Him your plans. We all make plans for our futures. Some work out, but many don’t. We’re encouraged to reach for the stars, but often we fall and hit the hard ground.
With the passing years, our families change and yet stay the same. Making God Laugh follows an American family with three grown children from the 80s to the twenty-first century. Bill and Ruthie are empty nesters in their cozy suburban home, waiting for “the kids” to arrive for Thanksgiving. The accouterments are very Catholic with the Ten Commandments by the front door, a crucifix, a portrait of the Madonna and Child and no mention of sex. [Eric George Tauber]
We can all relate to Making God Laugh Read More »
Eric George Tauber, San Diego County, Theatre, Film & Broadcast
The liberation of a prisoner-of-war camp in Manila, Philippines, in 1945 forged a bond many years later between a Jewish band leader and a Coronado civil servant. Lou Berger, a drummer and leader of the “Berger Kings,” was playing a Saturday night gig at the Town & Country Hotel in San Diego about 15 years ago for an ex-prisoners of war organization when he was introduced to Tom Crosby, a longtime purchasing agent and risk manager for the City of Coronado, who also was known as a successful volunteer springboard diving coach. [Donald H. Harrison]
Liberator and POW fast friends 75 years later Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, International, Jewish History, Middle East, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, San Diego CountyThe thirtieth annual San Diego International Jewish Film Festival has passed, closing on Sunday, Feb 23rd, 2020. There was a good variety of films including indies, documentaries, histories and comedies. I wish I could have seen more, but what I did see did not leave me disappointed. [Eric George Tauber]
Serious comedy: Reflections on the 2020 SDIJFF Read More »
Eric George Tauber, San Diego County, Theatre, Film & Broadcast
The words of poets, some murdered during the Holocaust, some who survived, will be presented by Jewish Poets— Jewish Voices Tuesday, March 3, 7 p.m. in the Astor Judaica Library of the Lawrence Family JCC. The program, Jewish Poets of the Holocaust, will feature seventeen poems, read first in their English translations, then in their original language. In addition, the 23-voice Ohr Shalom Choir, under the direction of Elisheva Edelson, will sing several Yiddish selections, Farvos Iz Der Himl? (Why Is The Sky?), with Bernardo Bicas, solo, Ghetto, with Elisheva Edelson, solo, Yisrolik with Elisheva Edelson, solo and the Partisan Song. Myla Wingard will open the program with the song, The Butterfly. [Eileen Wingard]
Poetry of Holocaust victims set for March 3 Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Eileen Wingard, San Diego County
The Lawrence Family JCC in La Jolla was among a group of JCCs across the United States that received a non-specific, general bomb threat via email on Sunday morning, according to Betzy Lynch, its chief executive officer. She said the staff immediately notified the San Diego Police, which has a substation right next door. Law enforcement determined that the threat was not credible and no evacuation was necessary, Lynch reported. This was in contrast to the JCC in Albany, New York, which evacuated approximately 100 people to allow bomb-sniffing dogs and officers to comb through the facility, which also was subsequently declared to be safe. [Donald H. Harrison]
Bomb threats against JCCs, including La Jolla’s, not credible Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, Middle East, San Diego County, USA
A San Diegan who survived the Holocaust as a child by posing as a Catholic boy helped pay tribute Sunday to the 1.5 million children who perished during World War II under the regimes of the German Nazis and their allies. After telling of his life, he joined listeners who painted ceramic butterflies that will be mounted by The Butterfly Project at the Grossmont Shopping Center in their memory. [Donald H. Harrison]
Jew who posed as Catholic child tells of WWII life Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, International, Jewish History, Middle East, Obituaries & memorials, San Diego County, USAJewish candidates haven’t done very well so far in their bids for The San Diego Union-Tribune’s political endorsements. In most cases, on San Diego County ballots, the daily newspaper has selected non-Jewish candidates over Jewish ones. There is one exception. Here is a review by level of government: [Donald H. Harrison]
U-T endorsements elude most Jewish candidates Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, International, San Diego County, Travel and Food, USA
Jeanne Shenkman, 83, a retired teacher with the Grossmont High School District, moved to Seacrest Village Retirement Community in Encinitas last May to live near her daughter. Throughout her life, she has always been a busy person with varied interests. For example, in addition to her teaching duties, she played violin in the Tifereth Israel Community Orchestra for 42 years and served as a docent at the San Diego Natural History Museum for 15 years. [Donald H. Harrison]
Seacrest Village through a resident’s camera lens Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, Jewish Religion, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, USA
Seacrest Foundation is hosting the 2020 Women’s Auxiliary Gala, “Legacy of Light and Love,” to benefit the increasing numbers of community members in the greatest need. The event will take place on Saturday, February 22nd, from 6-11 pm, and all proceeds raised will support Seacrest Village Retirement Community’s Resident Assistance Fund. I was informed that this year alone, Seacrest will provide nearly $2.5 million in charitable care. [Eva Trieger]
‘Legacy of Light and Love’ to provide care for needy elderly Read More »
Eva Trieger, Lifestyles, San Diego County
By Carol Davis SAN DIEGO — Playwright Sylvan Oswald identifies as a transmasculine interdisciplinary artist. That’s a mouthful for those of us just getting used to the words ‘trans’ or ‘transitioning’ or ‘transgender’, gender nonconformity, transsexual, gender reassignment, queer gender or labeling ones self as we/they or us. In the words of other mortals, “Get
Diversionary premieres ‘A Kind of Weather’ Read More »
Carol Davis, San Diego County, Theatre, Film & Broadcast
Congratulations are due to San Diego State Professors Peter C. Herman and Risa Levitt Kohn, as well as to representatives of the campus Hillel, and the regional Anti-Defamation League for protesting the proposed inclusion of two anti-Semitic speakers on a planned, as yet unscheduled, panel presentation on whether African-Americans deserve reparations for the time their ancestors were enslaved and the subsequent institutional discrimination against their people. [Donald H. Harrison]
Victory against anti-Semitism at SDSU Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, International, Jewish History, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, USA
The March 6-8 Open House San Diego in which 93 venues will open their doors to visitors can trace its origin to an article in the Winter 2012 edition of Hadassah Magazine, which featured an article about the Open House programs in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. Susanne Friestedt said the article so resonated with her that she traveled to London, headquarters for the Open House architectural movement, to learn what she would need to do to add San Diego (and environs) to the list of cities in the Open House program. [Donald H. Harrison]
Hadassah Magazine article prompted OH! San Diego Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, International, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Middle East, San Diego County, Travel and Food, USA