June 16, 2006
Shabbat Shalom!
Just returned from services at Temple after dinner with the grandchildren
Saw Becky Gimbel who is working and living in Oakland…She told me that studying to be Rabbi David Singer was teaching in New York and using the ROLE MODEL video (supplied by Michelle Marco) to make his point! Also at services were Eddie Goldberg, Karen Foster and Jeff Silberman…The Greenspan parents, Erica Bennett and family, the Nalven parents and parents of Lee Finkel, Becky and Jeremy Gimbel, Greg and Scott Goldman, Ali and Erin Graff, Bret and Leslie Scher, Sari, Carin and Dana Resnick, Ross and Stuart Schiffman,
And Cantor and Marcie Merel. Everyone was there to say Good bye to Rabbi Goloboy who will be taking a pulpit in Sun Valley Idaho!
Tomorrow is the adult B’nai Mitzvah…The Rosenbergs (parents of Anne, Diane and Trisanne) will be called to the Torah…as well as Amanda Gittelman’s mom and 6 other lovely people…
We leave for New York on Sunday for the wedding of my brother Rabbi Mickey’s son…Remember him from camp?
Erin Ray is off to Israel for the birthright program…Abra Greenspan just left for Israel with her whole family…Jared Feldman, Jaci Greenspan’s son is graduating from UCSD on Sunday…he has an amazing job in DC
All is well here…The ocean is warming up…We will be back in San Diego the last week in June and will be here for the whole summer
Remember Tower 32 at the Shores!
Shabbat Shalom!
Have a good week!
Love,
Eemah
Helene,
My brother Brad forwarded me one of the Shalom emails.
Would you please include my email in the next one.
Also how could we look at the Madrichim Roster.
It was great seeing you at the Barth wedding and I hope all is going well,
Thanks,
Jon Sacks
J&B Importers Inc
Mobile 310-529-5108
Fax 310-347-4296
www.jbimporters.com
www.origin-8.com
www.sunbicycles.com
Hi,
What a nice suprise to receive your most recent e-mail. I dropped off the list sometime ago and missed the wonderful news about Erin and Lani's baby! Also was wonderful to hear about Larry Meyers and the amazing successes of his family. I have wondered often how they all were doing.
All the best and Shabbat Shalom,
Jac iGreenspan Feldman
Who was Harry Bingham and why is he getting a stamp?
Just an interesting piece of evidence of the curious behavior of the Roosevelt administration toward the Jews during WWII -----
A few months ago, Secretary of State Colin Powell gave a posthumous award for "constructive dissent" to Hiram (or Harry) Bingham, IV. For over fifty years, the State Department resisted any attempt to honor Bingham. For them he was an insubordinate member of the US diplomatic service, a dangerous maverick who was eventually demoted. Now, after his death, he has been officially recognized as a hero.
Bingham came from an illustrious family. His father (on whom the fictional character Indiana Jones was based) was the archeologist who unearthed the Inca City of Machu Picchu, Peru, in 1911. Harry entered the US diplomatic service and, in 1939, was posted to Marseilles, France, as American Vice-Consul.
The USA was then neutral and, not wishing to annoy Marshal Petain's puppet Vichy regime, President Roosevelt's government ordered its representatives in Marseilles not to grant visas to any Jews. Bingham found this policy immoral and, risking his career, did all in his power to undermine it.
In defiance of his bosses in Washington, he granted over 2,500 USA visas to Jewish and other refugees, including the artists Marc Chagall and Max Ernst and the family of the writer Thomas Mann. He also sheltered Jews in his Marseilles home, and obtained forged identity papers to help Jews in their dangerous journeys across Europe. He worked with the French underground to smuggle Jews out of France into Franco's Spain or across the Mediterranean and even contributed to their expenses out of his own pocket. In 1941,
Washington lost patience with him. He was sent to Argentina, where later he continued to annoy his superiors by reporting on the movements of Nazi war criminals.
Eventually, he was forced out of the American diplomatic service completely. Bingham died almost penniless in 1988. Little was known of his extraordinary activities until his son found some letters in his belongings after his death. He has now been honored by many groups and organizations including the United Nations and the State of Israel.
PLEASE honor his memory and resend this.
June 9, 2006
Shabbat Shalom!
Let’s see…Here are some tidbits…Drue Polakoff is moving back to San Diego…She has a great job with the Gap! Her brother Joey was just married and they will be living in Europe.. Lani and Erin and baby Nathan were here over Memorial Day…brother Dan, Howie Fram, Alison Fisher, Anne Goldberg, Bret Scher, Stacey Coleman, Michael Coleman, Dana Jacobs and Love Slipock dropped by… with lots of their kids and spouses and so did the parents of various Mad kids: Finkels, the Frams, Schers, Coleman, Shores (Nancy is married and living in Maine), Rosenbergs, Pinto, Kroll, Gendelmans, Schusters, and also whoever else I have left out…
Camp Mountain Chai is looking forward to its first summer! It’s soooooooo exciting to be part of this amazing accomplishment!
This week I was asked to speak at UC High about changing the world. I highlighted our Madrichim program…I showed part of the first Role Model and our famous Final Letters…and everyone ended up singing along with Final Letters!
Joseph Roditi announced his retirement this month. It would be a mitzvah to send him a letter about his influence on you.
If you send me your letters, I will make sure that he gets them.( Eemah Schlafman 5534 Honors Drive, San Diego, CA 92122)
And speaking of Mitzvot….Please remember to click on our Mitzvah sites listed on www. Madrichim.homestead.com
Have a wonderful Shabbat!
Love,
Eemah
Enjoy!
Just to let you know about us.
Nathan is a software designer and recently won a round in Jepordy. Other 2, Debbie and Dan have been school teachers for 20 years and are apparently good.
One granddaughter, Dan's Lisa, age 17, had a play produced in Hollywood. She was a finalist in a national contest. Her plan is to write and get a Ph.D. to teach.
Debbie's Sam is a ranked tennis player and graduating high school. Her daughter, Becky, is a senior in college, history, and teaches dance after being excellent as a performer in her teens.
I'm an old fart who is physically a mess, but still practicing as a psychologist. Wife, Marlene is a marriage and family therapist. She is going wild over twin grandchildren's B'nai Mitzvah next week.
Love to all.
Larry Meyers (He was the director of education when I began teaching at Beth Israel in 1967)
I really miss those camp days. We have a URJ camp here in Texas. It’s excellent, but the beauty of California is missing in the Texas planes. It’s also hot as hell here.
My favorite line for a camp song was “I am the wagon master, they call me master Bates.” How we got away with this – I will never know.
Love to everyone!
Steve (Rabbi Steve Gross)
Thank you for including us in your email. Barbara Schrift and I will be seeing each other next weekend with our children. We are still the best of friends and a little mischievous together!
My family is doing well: Kassandra is 8 and Dylan will be turning 7 next week. My husband Pascal is wonderful. We will be in France for the summer.
Your grandson is beautiful!! Say hello to your family from us.
Auvoir,
Paula Besset (Gerome)
Hi...it's been a very long time.....your quick note re Sheri Rogow's daughter caught my eye....as her daughter Sarah and my daughter, Dani, also confirmed this week, are friendly from CHK....
anyway...thought you'd get a kick out of fact I am newly elected president of Temple Judea...and gave a talk last night at Temple "My Jewish Journey", containing a paragraph or more about Beth Israel and madrichim....(first class ever as I recall)
anyway...my best....Rick Goor
Thank you for sending those fabulous pictures of your kids and grandchildren. Everyone looks wonderful-- lots and lots of happiness and mazal.
Love,
Jenny Lewis
June 2, 2006
Hi everyone!
Last night was Confirmation!
Sheri Rogow’s youngest daughter, Sarah was one of the confirmads!
The Leitner boys, Matt and Jordan were there…also Eddie Goldberg was there representing the board of directors of the temple!
Today is Shavuot….the celebration of the giving of the Torah at Sinai!!
Do you remember our 10 Commandment song that was written by Makoff and me at Camp Beth Israel??
Sing along to the tune of Dyenu
chorus
10 10 Commandments (x3)
God gave them to us all
Verse
I am Adonai your God
You shall have no gods besides me
Do not take God’s name in vain
I am the Lord
(Chorus: 10 10 Commandments etc)
Remember Shabbat and keep it holy
Honor your father and your mother
You should not commit adultery
I am the Lord
10 10 commandments 10 10 commandments etc
You should not murder, lie or steal
What I’m telling you is real
Do not covet
Be above it
I am the Lord
10 10 commandments 10 10 commandments 10 10 commandments
God gave them to us all!
Chag Sameach! Happy Shavuot!
Love,
Eemah
Enjoy the latest photos of our grandson, Nathan
Hi Eemah,
Hope you are well! I am glad that Lani told you that I saw her, I kept forgetting to email you! They live just a few blocks away. What a small world! I saw Lani and Erin again yesterday on the street, while we were walking our babies.
We welcomed our new baby, Jessica Ruth, into the world on March 21st. She is so cute and great baby (although I am a bit biased!). :)
We had brunch with Jeremy Goldfarb and his family and Hillary Weiner (formerly Small) and her family a few months ago. Hillary and I see each other a lot. Jeremy is unfortunately moving to Boston, so we will miss him!
Happy Mother's Day!
Love, Lori (Ginsburg) Waltzer
EEmah,
I love when you send these out! It is so cool to hear about everyone. I also have exciting news...My wife and I are pregnant!! We will be expecting our son in October! Can you imagine a little Scott running around? I hope everyone is well, and I look forward to hearing all of the updates.
Scott and Jodi Poster
Eeemah,
Jennifer Lewis was in DC for a Darfur demonstration and we had a great brunch together. It was fantastic to see her. If anyone else I knew from Madrichim comes through Washington, DC on vacation or business please contact me. I ended my one year sabbatical – which is a great concept – and started a few new businesses this year. At a simple level, the vision is to harness the incredible untapped resources of stay-at-home-moms.
Keep in touch,
Steve
Steve Kantor
President
Lifebushido
www.lifebushido.com
steve.kantor@gmail.com
Phone: 240-396-5282
Fax: 240-751-4247
Cell: 202-297-2393
Israel at 57 (from the Jerusalem Post)
"Here are some of the reasons I love Israel, in no particular order:
1. The clock radio rouses me with "Shema Yisrael," the Jewish pledge of
allegiance, and the weather is nearly always fine.
2. On Memorial Day and Holocaust Remembrance Day, the act of remembering
halts traffic.
3. The Israel Prize recognizes lifetime achievement for actresses and
rabbis, scientists and singers.
4. Mother's Day is celebrated on the yahrzeit of Henrietta Szold, who
organized Youth Aliya with Recha but who had no children of her own.
5. All citizens have health care, and the fight is on to get coverage for
foreign residents.
6. If my car overheats, even men in designer suits will leap to help me.
7. 25% of Israelis have been close enough to hear a bombing, yet two
million
of us were out vacationing on Pessah. That's resilience.
8. An evening of singing is still a popular grown-up pastime.
9. Entire families show up for military graduations and bring enough food
to
feed an army.
10. A circumcision ceremony, brit mila, is important enough to take an
hour
off from work.
11. Israelis give out their cell phone numbers - the difference between
our
private and professional lives isn't neatly delineated.
12. Supermarkets deliver.
13. We have more In-Vitro Fertilization per capita than anywhere because
we
love children.
14. Our beggars are courageous -- they solicit on even the highest-risk
street corners.
15. Nearly every family story includes persecution, battle experience,
and
the upheaval of uprooting - yet Israelis are optimists
16. Street musicians are good enough to play in chamber orchestras
17. Despite the stress, creativity flourishes: Israel has more start-up
companies than any country outside the US.
18. We're talkative - both the cell phone and voice mail were invented
here
19. We get excited about cyclamens, almond blossoms, and drive far to see
budding Lupins (tormosim).
20. On Friday, religious or not, everyone is hurrying towards Shabbat.
Check
out the bakery lines
21. Aliyah stories can make the evening news
22. We celebrate Independence Day by holding a Bible contest.
23. The fastest food is still falafel with its incomparable aroma.
24. Blue and white flags fly from cars and buildings.
25. "Where were your grandparents from?" is a common question. Where else
would anyone care about my grandparents
26. You don't have to be best friends or kin to be invited to a wedding.
27. You don't have to be best friends or kin to attend a funeral.
28. By the number of scientific papers published (more per capita than
any
other country), you'd think researchers were in ivory towers. Most do
hands-on works, and many serve reserve duty
29. First graders read the Bible in the original Hebrew, and celebrate
when
they get their personal copies
30. Humus is ubiquitous.
31. Political discussions never stop, not even in the swimming pool
32. We follow the level of the Kinneret more faithfully than we do our
stock
portfolios.
33. Even soldiers carrying heavy M-16's will stop to help a parent with a
stroller. Note: M-16's are light. Otherwise, this is still true.
34. Streets bear names of prophets and medieval poets
35. Calendars change on Rosh Hashanah because that's our real New Year.
36. Malls have kosher food-courts
37. Airplanes have sky marshals, just in case
38. We have more museums per capita than Italy
39. We raise cows in the desert with yields like those in Holland.
40. Before Pesach, cleaning products are the lead supermarket items.
41. Even in our prisons, Pesach - the holiday of freedom - is
celebrated with a Seder.
42. We have only one Seder;
43. Purim, our dress-up holiday, lasts three days.
44. In Jerusalem, it's hard to tell who's in costume and who isn't
45. A new garment or a new haircut elicits a salutation, something
between
"wear it well" and "enjoy its newness."
46. Israel is the first to offer help and send rescue teams to
countries coping with disaster.
47. Israel sent medical staff to care for our people after the terror
attack
in Mombasa and then Israeli fighter jets escorted the plane home.
48. For all the talk about the greening of the planet, we're the only
country in the world that started the 21st century with a net gain of
trees.
(Thank you, Keren Kayemet!)
49. Israel has the highest concentration of hi-tech companies except for
Silicon Valley, and also the most yeshivot (Day Schools).
50. After a calamity, police have trouble keeping bystanders who want to
help, away.
51. The question "What would you like to drink?" instead of "Would you
like
a drink?" is a measure of hospitality.
52. Waiting in the supermarket check-out line, strangers share cheesecake
recipes.
53. Plain folk know the most obscure languages.
54. Tel Aviv rose from a sand dune and looks glorious.
55. The time of the Saturday evening news is adjusted to suit Shabbat
observers.
56. My children and grandchildren can be born in the land of my
ancestors.
57. The army serves kosher meals.
HAPPY 57TH ANNIVERSARY, ISRAEL
