Newton VOL 2, NO 7
NEWTON’S VOICE
April 4 - 17, 2017
Illustration | Matthew Ivan Cherry Matthew Ivan Cherry is a prominent artist well known in Newton art circles. His work is profoundly real, searingly so, with his method of expression as powerful as the images he creates. Shown above is a self-portrait of the artist. He can be reached at Matthewivancherry@yahoo.com and on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/matthewivancherry1/.
The liberal hatred of President Trump By Tom Mountain
By Alexander Culafi
For The Voice At The Voice, we love getting different perspectives from people. Newton is a community of all kinds, and we like highlighting every prominent and not-so-prominent voice we can. Tom Mountain is one of the most prominent Republicans in the community – if not the most prominent – and he had a few choice words to share with his community. Do you agree with Tom? Disagree? Let me know at aculafi@voicestaff.net, and we may feature YOUR voice in a future issue of The Voice! It’s a given that Newton liberals have little patience for anyone or anything Republican. If candidates are Republican, they must be stopped. If policies are Republican, they must be stopped. If their neighbor, colleague, or parents of their kids’ friends are Republican they must be stopped from entering their liberal safe space. They’ll sometimes tolerate Republican politicians if they at least appear to bend over backwards to accommodate Democrats. Charlie Baker can be tolerated, for now, and for as long as the Boston Globe approves of him. But their tolerance will stop at his re-election bid next year when they’ll support anyone Democrat. Other Republicans will be tolerated only if they’re so likable it would appear unseemly not to tolerate them. Like Jim Cote, the lone Republican on the Newton City Council. The more people know him, the more they like him.
American people. All the people. And since liberals are Americans, this means he’s their president too. Whether they campaigned for him or not, whether they voted for him or not, whether they can stand the sight of him or not, he’s still their president. Their relationship with President Trump, as with any president, is supposed to be a traditional symbiotic one. They pay taxes to the government that the president leads, and are expected to defend their country if World War III begins. The president, in turn, protects their environment, their rights, their neighborhoods, their borders, and their nation from all threats foreign and domestic, as mandated by the Constitution. And he does, for every American, liberal or conservative.
The same was said about Paul Celucci. And Mitt Romney. And Ronald Reagan. And the Bush father and son.
Even if some disorientated liberal wanders across the DMZ into North Korea, or is washed ashore from a cruise ship onto a Cuban beach, or kidnapped by narcoterrorists in Colombia, their President, Donald J. Trump, will come to their rescue, without hesitation.
And the same is said about.... Donald Trump. The most charming man they’ll never meet.
First, he’s a Republican, so in their liberal
Donald Trump. The President of the
GameStop closures remind us that few stores exist for gamers in Brookline
So why do they despise him so?
Continued on page 3
The Voice GameStop, the ever-popular video game giant, will be closing over 150 of its 7,500 stores over the course of this year. Now, normally, that kind of story wouldn’t do much for me. Though I play a lot of video games, GameStop is not the place I go to in order to buy my video games. I’ve found their prices are too high compared to Best Buy and Amazon (RadioShack is closing its stores for a potentially similar reason, albeit on a much larger scale). And of course, there are no GameStops in Newton. The closures did get me thinking though: Where does someone go to buy video games in Newton? I’ve done this research once in the past before. If you Google “video games Newton MA,” you get two entries for a GameStop and Best Buy in Watertown, a place called The eSports Center that is in Newton, but isn’t really a store to buy video games as much as a place people go to play video games. And then there’s RadioShack, a store in Newton that doesn’t sell many video games anymore and belongs to a company rapidly approaching death’s door. I then started thinking about my place of residence in Brookline. The first place that comes to mind, obviously, is the GameStop at Coolidge Corner. And… that’s basically
it for brick and mortar stores. You can go to the Target in Fenway and Replay’d in Allston, and that’s as far as you can get from Brookline while being considered “local.” I don’t buy games from any of those places. As someone who lives in the area and plays an obscene amount of video games, I can confidently say nearly 100% of my games are purchased online via Best Buy and Amazon. Best Buy has a Gamers Club Unlocked membership that costs $30 over two years, and grants me access to a 20% discount off of every new video game I buy. A game on PlayStation 4 typically retails for $59.99 in the store. With GCU? 48 bucks. Every time. It saves people like me a lot of money, and I don’t even have to leave my house. GameStop is now starting to compete with this move by Best Buy, but its equivalent program offers a lesser discount on only a few select games this spring. So I go into GameStop in Brookline and talk to the managing employee on duty. “Is this going to be one of the GameStops closing?” I asked. “I have no idea, they don’t tell us this information,” he said. “I wouldn’t be worried about it if I were you.”
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The Newton Voice
Editorial
Newton
THE BROOKLINE VOICE THE NEWTON VOICE PUBLISHER AND PRESIDENT Joshua Resnek jresnek@voicestaff.net
EDITOR
Joshua Resnek
SENIOR REPORTER
Alexander Culafi aculafi@voicestaff.net
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
Lorenzo Recupero lrecupero@voicestaff.net David Stanford dstanford@voicestaff.net
CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS
From the publisher
MONEY ISN’T EVERYTHING; SHRAGE ERA LIVING PROOF Barry Shrage’s announcement that he’s leaving the Combined Jewish Philanthropies where he’s served for 30 years as its executive director is construed in Newton Jewish circles among those who admire him as a terrible loss. There is the worry, and it is real, that charitable contributions to the $1 billion agency will not roll in quite so plentifully with Shrage out of the picture. The real question, and it is compelling, is whether or not the Jewish community of Greater Boston can begin thriving again with Shrage out of the picture after dominating the social, moral and ethical politics of the disintegrating Jewish community in Greater Boston. How much more Shrage-like emasculation can the Jewish community suffer before it is entirely spineless like an invertebrate? Many local Jews find it easy comparing Donald Trump to Hitler. They worry about the coming of concentration camps while deceiving themselves about the real threat – Islamic terrorism and Muslim hatred for Jews. Jewish weakness in the face of real threats is a Shragemanufactured and maintained legacy. During Shrage’s three decade term of service, the Greater Boston Jewish community has not thrived as a community. In fact, it has been disappearing. Nearly everyone calling themselves a Jew in Newton understands this, but refuses to articulate this, the same way they refuse to stand up and be counted for Israel other than to join groups like J-Street in urging Israel to make peace with its Arab neighbors, all of whom wish for the destruction of Israel and the extermination of Jews. The entire time Shrage has led the CJP synagogues combined or closed. Hebrew schools shuttered their doors. Jewish institutions of every kind – for the elderly, for women, and for kids, were disappearing. More Jewish institutions are nearing extinction right now.
Rick Ashley rashley@voicestaff.net
Shrage is as shrewd as they come. His lingua franca is intoxicating, beautiful, more akin to that of an aging rabbi than the leader of a robust charity worth $1 billion and growing while the community it supports is disappearing.
Jared Charney jcharney@voicestaff.net
Boy, does he know how to lull his Jewish audience of contributors into a feeling of sameness and silence.
CALENDAR EDITOR
Sheila Barth sbarth@voicestaff.net
DIRECTOR OF MARKETING
Carolyn Lilley Resnek cresnek@voicestaff.net
DIRECTOR OF GRAPHIC DESIGN Trevor Andreozzi tandreozzi@voicestaff.net
PRINTING
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Max’s Trucking Winthrop, MA.
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Every form of Jewish life is now being hobbled by a departure from conventional memberships in synagogues and affiliations with Jewish institutions, many of them partially funded or underfunded by the CJP. Support for Israel has dwindled. Even worse, it has turned the other way. Many old time Jewish leaders lament that it does not appear to them another generation is coming up the ladder to replace the dying and aging demographic served by the CJP. Unless something dramatic and earthshaking takes place, their lament is spot on. When Shrage arrived in Newton, where he has lived since 1987, there were dozens more synagogues and Hebrew schools, Jewish community centers and institutions than 30 years later when he is leaving. During his tenure, the CJP ambitiously and neurotically raised more and more money, but could not find a way to stem the loss of Jews from Jewish institutions. It’s dereliction in the face of the world’s attempt to erase Israel is about political fraud and destitution. Shrage has not found a way for Jews to have civil discourse among themselves on issues of left and right, which has caused an insurmountable division to exist among the Jews of Greater Boston. It is arguable that there is no room at the CJP for independent thought on the coercive issues of the day for Jews – and for non-Jews – who ought to be served by the CJP as well. A sign might appear at the CJP headquarters: “noisy supporters of Israel need not apply.” The transformative moments for the CJP come when huge sums of money have been raised and Shrage celebrates with his acolytes – the ten or so top paid executives at the CJP whose salaries range from a low of $200,000 to $500,000. The CJP Board is the proverbial rubber stamp for Shrage – but then, why not, considering all the money he has raised? There’s the rub.
East Boston Savings
The CJP shouldn’t be all about raising money only or being a rubber stamp for anyone – especially Shrage.
Beacon Street
It should be about funding failing Jewish institutions, synagogues, failing community centers, health facilities, day care centers, Hebrew schools, and everything Jewish in the disintegrating community that needs more funding, not less; organizations who shouldn’t be rebuffed for added money by Shrage, who tells them as he told me: “There isn’t enough to go around.”
Brookline ___________________ THE BROOKLINE VOICE
The CJP should spread the dough around liberally to save what it can and to build as well for the future.
THE NEWTON VOICE
With personality and charm, Shrage smiled his way into the hearts and souls of progressive liberal Jews who were happy to donate to the CJP as long as the CJP didn’t complain about the Boston Globe hating Israel, about Blacks coming to hate Jews, about the BDS movement seeking to dismember Israel economically and to poison a generation of Jewish and non-Jewish students, and by never uttering a bad word about people who pray for the destruction of Israel and the extermination of Jews in their mosques around the world on Friday afternoons.
Owned and operated by: THE CHELSEA PRESS LLC 1309 Beacon Street Suite 300 Hanover, MA Arnold Jarmak, President Joshua Resnek, Chairman of the Board
April 4 - 17, 2017
In 30 years, he raised $1 billion dollars while the Jewish community of Greater Boston disintegrated before his eyes. When he could have been a powerful voice against the anti-Semitism and hatred that finds Israel and Jews pariahs in today's upside-down world, he kept quiet and raised money more like a banker than a Jewish leader. He promised to make no waves so the rich would contribute larger sums. He told everyone else to remain quiet and to make no waves; the ultimate trope, as Jews have come to believe if they are noisy, this will attract the ire of those who hate us. Shrage came to make a million or two every year for himself, and to have his home paid for and a chauffeured limousine to cart him around – all
on the backs of those who gave to the charity he heads. Of course these revelations are an embarrassment to the Jewish community. There may very likely be other unreported perks disguised as part of Shrage’s bloated compensation package. We wonder what the next year of his service is going to cost, and what amount of bonus he will again be given before he finally steps down in 2018. Shrage should return the $2 million given to him and the Board en masse which approved the secret retirement bonus in 2015. During Shrage’s tenure, he has built a veritable Tower of Babel – that’s the $1 billion in the bank the charity has on hand. It glitters in the sun like a tower of gold reaching for the sky. Meanwhile the Jews of Greater Boston have gone impotent in order to perpetuate Shrage’s rule. We have lost the support and the respect of the city’s Black community, of women, of gays, of unions, of the working class and the working poor. Blacks supported politically by Jews over the decades past are now among the groups with the largest percentage of anti-Jewish views, and they have linked up with Palestinians who portray the Jews and the Jewish state as apartheid supporters. The CJP’s outreach efforts are perfunctory when it comes to the non-Jewish community. Its protests against those who shout for the extermination of Israel are muffled and inexpressive, largely reflexive, steeped in the language of passivity in the face of danger. Confronted with evidence the Newton Public Schools were teaching anti-Israel materials, Shrage shrugged it off. “Everything will be OK,” he seemed to say. Not to worry or to get angry. Be quiet. Don’t rock the boat. Don’t ever rock the boat. It will harm the flow of money – that's his creed. Quiet above all is the CJP’s rule in its politics under Shrage. From a college supporter of Mao Zedong to a full-fledged apologist for bad Muslim behavior, Shrage’s political ambivalence marks his every move. Without the political support for Israel from Shrage and the $1 billion CJP, the Jewish community does not have a voice to defend Jews against evil. There is only equivocation, submission to the taunts of the Jew haters, and Shrage’s response, “We’re better than that. We should just keep our mouths shut and it will all go away,” he seems to believe. Shrage professes a love for Israel. I don’t doubt that. What is disturbing about the manifestation of his love is that he has joined forces with J-Street type voices all over the nation in order to raise more money. Frankly, he can’t stand J-Street, but that’s not what he tells J-Street or Greater Boston Jews. Appearing as though he stands with J-Streeters is good for the CJP bank account. The $15 million donation to be made by Robert Kraft is an example of Shrage’s brilliance in raising money, as well as the shortcoming of directing how it will be used to support the failing organic Jewish community other than to be placed in a bank account or used to hire contractors without a transparent bidding process. What is egregious is that Kraft’s $15 million donation is to be used to rehab the CJP’s downtown Boston offices in return for his late wife’s name appearing on the building. Myra Kraft’s name should be on that building with or without the donation. Such an honor for so great a giving family should have been offered unconditionally without a contribution. We wonder what Mrs. Kraft might have thought about such a huge donation being used for bricks and mortar and better furniture and fixtures for the well-paid manning their desks at the fortress-like CJP headquarters, when so many Jewish lives and institutions are at stake while the world looks so negatively at Jews and Israel. Aron Ain, CEO of Kronos and Shira Goodman, CEO of Staples, will shortly begin a nationwide search for a successor to Shrage. They are likely to come up with Gil Preuss – a Shrage clone and CJP bureaucrat he wants to succeed him. The CJP very badly needs someone who knows how to raise money. I urge Ain and Kronos to find a successor who understands as well the politics of anti-Semitism and of being Jewish, of protecting Israel and standing up for Jewish values, which includes survival, while at the same time heading what ought to be the most vocal, powerful, influential, charitable and political Jewish organization in Greater Boston. The challenge is not in Shrage leaving. The challenge is changing direction for the survival of what remains of the Greater Boston Jewish community when he is gone. Greater Boston’s Jews need to fear the future if they remain as spineless and ineffectual as Shrage has made its leading Jewish institution.
Joshua Resnek
April 4 - 17, 2017
The Newton Voice
Voice
news
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The liberal hatred of President Trump Continued from page 1 mindset he can do no right. They didn’t like Mitt Romney, and were pleased that he lost. They didn’t like John McCain, and were very pleased that he lost. They really didn’t like George W. Bush, and were very displeased that he won. Twice. But their animosity towards the current occupant of the White House goes beyond their traditional disdain for any Republican president. The liberals don’t just dislike Donald Trump. They hate him. And they’re not the least bit coy about expressing it. On the contrary, they spew their venom at him any chance they get. To the liberals, Donald Trump is the Devil Incarnate. The harbinger of evil. They want him out of the Oval Office. No matter what. Impeachment is the goal. But if tomorrow he met his demise by an assassin’s bullet, they would be discreetly gleeful, or maybe not so discreet. That’s how much they hate our new President. It’s disturbing. It’s bizarre. It’s pathological. There is absolutely nothing Donald Trump can do that will make the liberals happy. He could create millions of jobs, cut taxes, secure our borders, defeat the terrorists, fix our urban schools, keep our environment clean, lower the crime rate, restore Detroit, send a manned mission to Mars, or find a cure for cancer, and they would still never accept him as their president. Normally, when the candidate not of one’s choosing wins the presidency, the disgruntled voter will go through a short period of anger and disappointment, but then gradually accept the new president, with the usual gesture of giving him the benefit of the doubt, and a desire to see him succeed, because if the president succeeds, so too does the country.
Yet for liberals this rule doesn’t apply to Donald Trump. They will never give him a chance. They want him to fail. Case closed. So, since there’s nothing that Donald Trump and his supporters can do to try to win over his most hardcore detractors, there’s no point in even trying. Especially with his Congressional detractors. Yet Elizabeth Warren can scream, Nancy Pelosi can whine, and Chuck Schumer can lecture, but it won’t make any difference. Because Donald Trump is not the choirboy, Mitt Romney, or the Boy Scout, John McCain, he’s a fullback plowing ahead, bowling over his opponents with a determination not seen since Teddy Roosevelt. One way or another he’ll get across the goal line. And the country will be the better for it. At his 2009 Inaugural Concert, Barack Obama personally invited Pete Seeger to perform. No president had never extended such an invitation, and with good reason. Seeger had for decades been an unrepentant communist, and an outspoken admirer of Joseph Stalin to boot. Yet there he was, the old commie singing astride a beaming president. At Donald Trump’s Inaugural Concert Lee Greenwood performed his classic, “Proud To Be An American.� Everyone in the huge audience, it seemed, including yours truly, was visibly moved. Because everyone could identify with the song. Everyone, that is, except the screeching liberals just outside the perimeter. They still long for the days when Pete Seeger performed at the Inauguration. But those days are gone. Pete Seeger is not coming back, and neither is Barack Obama. Donald Trump is here to stay. The Republicans know that. The Republic does too. Tom Mountain is the Republican State Committeeman from our First Middlesex and Norfolk District. Thanks for sending this piece in, Tom!
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Voice
news
The Newton Voice
April 4 - 17, 2017
GameStop closures remind us that few stores exist for gamers in Brookline Continued from page 1 The official PR line from GameStop is that the list of stores is not yet available. Although GameStop declined to tell The Voice which stores were closing, I was able to find this paragraph from a Fortune story. “A spokesperson from GameStop told Fortune that the closure of the stores is part of an “annual strategy” to close up to non-productive stores that was announced more than three years ago. “This is something that will take place throughout 2017,” their statement added.” On the positive side for the brand, the closures of 2-3% of their stores will be met with 65 new “Technology Brand” stores and 35 “Collectibles” stores, according to USA Today. If this whole thing only applies to nonproductive stores, I’m guessing the Brookline GameStop is probably all right. Between little competition in town and the place rarely being empty, I can say confidently that I’ve been in far deader GameStops in my time. But let’s say they close, and you play a lot of video games. What do you do? You buy them online! That part I made clear
enough. Best Buy and Amazon both have promotions that discount new games for a fee (Amazon’s is just included in Prime), and release-day delivery on most games means that you can pre-order a game and get it the day it comes out (sometimes earlier, thanks to luck with shipping). When I bought my Nintendo Switch, I didn’t need to go to a store at midnight on March 3. I just sat at my apartment and looked at the bottom of my steps every couple hours until the system showed up in the early afternoon via UPS. The even-easier alternative is to just buy the game digitally, as every video game system has its own digital storefront where you can buy games and download them immediately onto your system’s hard drive – without ever needing to use a disc. I usually abstain from this method because I like physical discs and new-release digital games rarely go on deep discount, but the digital future is here for those who want it.
Sunday, April 30, 2017 New York City for the
CAMERA ANNUAL GALA honoring The Right Honourable
Stephen Harper, P.C. Canada’s 22nd Prime Minister
GameStop’s shares dropped by 10% shortly following the recent news that hardware sales declined 29.1% this past quarter, and software sales by 19.3%.
in conversation with
Alan Dershowitz
YOUR BUSINESS IS IN NEWTON. ADVERTISE IN NEWTON. ADVERTISING IN THE VOICE IS EASY, AND IT'S AFFORDABLE. EVERY BUSINESS DESERVES A VOICE! Affordable and flexible advertising opportunities. Call 978-239-8860 or e-mail jresnek@voicestaff.net All ads in the Voice run in color at no additional cost.
Professor of Law, Emeritus Harvard Law School registration and information
cameragala.eventbrite.com 888.736.3672
April 4 - 17, 2017
The Newton Voice
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IC nternational alendar
April 4 - 17, 2017
CALENDAR
COMEDY, THEATER, MUSIC, DANCE BARBECUE Summer L. Williams leads a Boston star-studded cast in Lyric Stage Company of Boston’s production of “Barbecue,” a searing comedy by Robert O’Hara, appearing April 7-May 7,140 Clarendon St., Boston.lyricstage.com.
CHILL Merrimack Repertory Theatre presents Brookline native Eleanor Burgess’ Boston-based, bittersweet drama “Chill,” about life for people ages 18-28,through April 16,Nancy L.Donahue Theatre, 50 E. Merrimack St., Lowell. Tickets, $26-$70. Associated events, senior, group discounts. mrt. org.
THE LITTLE DOG LAUGHED Take Your Pick Productions presents Douglas Carter Beane’s comedy, through April 8, featuring popular Boston actors Victor Shopov, Audrey Lynn Sylvia, Aina Adler and Matthew Fagerberg, Boston Center for the Arts Plaza Black Box Theater, 539 Tremont St., Boston. $28. Pay-what-youcan Wednesdays.bostontheatrescene.com/season/The-Little-Dog-Laughed/,
REGATTABAR LINEUP Appearing at the Regattabar at the Charles Hotel, One Bennett St., Harvard Square, Cambridge are:Linda May Han Oh Group: album releasepre-release for “Walk Against Wind,” April 5, 7:30 p.m. 617-661-5000.
TERRA NOVA
ROBBIE MCCAULEY AND COMPANY
RICKY SKAGGS
Wellesley College presents the story of Capt. Scott’s expedition to the South Pole during 1911-12 wintertime, April 5-7, 7 p.m.; matinees, April 8,9, 2 p.m. $15; seniors, students, $10.781-283-2000.
In cooperation with Emerson College’s Performing Arts Department and Office of the Arts, Sleeping Weazel presents this two-day event, honoring McCauley, in “Robbie McCauley ‘n’ Company: a convening performance,” Thursday, April 6, 8:30 p.m., Emerson College’s Greene Theater, Tufte Performance and Production Center, sixth floor, 10 Boylston St., Boston. Free, open to the public. Check schedule for April 6,7 daytime events. sleepingweazel.com.
The iconic musician performs with Boston opening act Girls Guns and Glory, April 7, 8 p.m., at The Cabot, 286 Cabot St., Beverly. Doors open 7 p.m. thecabot.org.
RICHARD II As part of Commonwealth Shakespeare Company’s Shakespeare and Leadership Series, the group presents a scriptin-hand reading of the play, performed by actors and renowned business, government and community leaders, Wednesday, April 5,7 p.m., at Babson College’s Carling-Sorensen Center for the Arts. The performance is free and open to the public, but space is limited. Reservations, web. ovationtix.xom/trs/pr/967285.
APRIL RED ROOM CAFE’ EVENTS Appearing April 6 at 8 p.m. is TFDI, featuring Tony Lucca,Jay Nash and Matt Duke, advance tickets, $17; general admission, (standing room only), $20; ; Gimme 5 and the Buzz, April 7, 7 p.m., free; Battle of the Bands and Feed the Hungry, April 8,6 p.m., free; Becca Stevens and Broca’s Area, April 9, 8 p.m., $12/$15; Maggie Koerner, April 13,8 p.m., $13/$15; Ubuntu, LANDS and STIG, April 15, 8 p.m., $10/$12; Marc Scibilia, Corey Harper and Brad Ray, April 19, 8 p.m., $15; BirnCORE live, featuring Kaki King and Cammy Enaharo, April 21, 7 and 9 p.m., $18;Black Violin, April 22, 7 and 9 p.m., $20/$25; and Overcoats and Yoke Lore, April 28, 8 p.m., $12/$14; and EMMARIE, with another act to be announced, April 29, 8 p.m., $10/$12, All show are for all ages. Café 939 at 939 Boylston St., Boston.cafe939.com.
PARADISE Underground Railway Theater presents the world premiere of Laura Maria Censabella’s two-act, two-hour play, “Paradise,” starring Barlow Adamson and Caitlin Nasema Cassidy, April 6-May 7, Central Square Theater, 450 Mass. Ave.,Cambridge. Tickets start at $20; senior citizens, $5 discount, students with university ID tickets, $20; under 18 years old, $15; also group discount. CentralSquareTheater. org.
URBAN IMPROV’S BANNED IN BOSTON Boston business leaders, elected officials, media and arts personalities who compose the Urban Improv Unit,, take center stage Friday, April 7, at House of Blues Boston, to support the group’s interactive theater-based programs that help students. Margery Eagan and Jim Braude of WGBH host this madcap musical revue.Tickets, $250. bannedinboston.org.
JOHN MCCUTCHEON The folk icon comes to Me and Thee Coffeehouse Friday, April 7, Unitarian Universalist Church, 28 Mugford St., Marblehead. Doors open 7:30 p.m.,concert at 8 p.m. Advance tickets, $20, at the door, $23; students, $10. meandthee.org.
BOSTON CONSERVATORY CONCERTS The String Masters Series presents artistic director Andrew Mark, violist Roger Trapping, pianist Peter Frankl and soprano Janna Baty, April 9, 8 p.m.,Seully Hall * Fenway, Boston; the Piano Masters Series presents the Boston debut of English pianist Murray McLachlan, April 11, 8 p.m., Seully Hall; and the Boston Conservatory chamber orchestra performs a free concert April 13, 8 pm., 132 Ipswich St., Boston. More concert information, visit bostonconservatory.berklee.edu.
IMPROVBOSTON NEW LINEUP The Cambridge comedy club features filthy fun, The Last Laugh,as its new late-night shows every Saturday at 11:30 p.m., including LaughterRisk, the first Saturday of the night; Late Night Longform, second Saturday; Terrible People, third Saturday, and Over the Line, fourth Saturday. ImprovBoston.com/last-laugh.
TOPDOG/UNDERDOG Huntington Theatre Company presents Suzan-Lori Parks’ Pulitzer Prize-winner through April 9, BU Theatre, Avenue of the Arts, 264 Huntington Ave., Boston. Tickets start at $25. Huntingtontheatre.org.
MRS. PACKARD Bridge Repertory Theatre and Playhouse Creatures Theatre Company of New York City present Emily Mann’s “Mrs. Packard,” provocative American drama of Elizabeth Pack-
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The Newton Voice
April 4 - 17, 2017 ard, inspired by true events, through April 9, Multicultural Arts Center, 41 Second St., East Cambridge. bridgerep.org.
Calendar
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ALTAR BOYZ
LIVE MUSIC BRUNCH Passim features Live Music Brunch Saturdays and Sundays, starting this weekend, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Featured music varies from blue grass, old time, blues, Celtic, classical, folk, jazz and more. 47 Palmer St., Cambridge. passim.org.
GOLDA’S BALCONY Award-winning director Judy Braha helms New Repertory Theatre’s production of William Gibson’s play starring Bobbie Steinbach, through April 16, Mainstage Theatre, Mosesian Center for the Arts, 321 Arsenal St., Watertown. $30-$59. Newrep.org, 617-923-8487.
FIVE PIECES The Harvard Dance Project presents “Five Pieces,” and a new work by the group’s student dancers,through April 9: Thursday-Saturday, 7 p.m.; Sunday, 3 p.m. Farkas Hall, 12 Holyoke St., Cambridge. Advance tickets, $10; students, seniors, $5, Boston /dance Alliance members, $8; at the door, cash only, $20/$10/$15. 617-496-2222.
‘1776‘ Marblehead Little Theatre presents the musical play, “1776,” based on the signing of the Declaration of Independence, through April 9: April 7,-8, 7 p.m.; April 9, 2 p.m., in historic Abbot Hall’s auditorium,188 Washington St., Marblehead. $25, $35.mltlive.org.
BERNSTEIN’S MASS Dancers, singers, a boy chorus, rock and blues singers, actors, two orchestras and a marching band perform in this unusual musical and theatrical performance, April 7 & 8, at 8 p.m., April 8 & 9, 2 p.m., Boston Conservatory Theatre, 31 Hemenway St., Boston. bostonconservatory. berklee.edu/events.
BARNUM Moonbox Production actors perform their own circus stunts in Mark Bramble, Cy Coleman and Michael Stewart’s dazzling musical play, “Barnum,” April 8-30,: Thursdays at 7:30 p.m.; Fridays, Saturdays, 8 p.m.; matinees, Saturday, Sunday, 2 p.m., also Sunday, April 9, at 7 p.m., Boston Center for the Arts, Calderwood Pavilion, Robert Studio Theatre, 527 Tremont St., Boston. $50, under 25 years old just $25; student rush $20. Bostontheatrescene.com, 617-9338600.
EVERYMAN
NATASHA ULYANOFSKY The internationally renowned pianist performs with saxophonist Max Schwimmer Sunday, April 9, 4 p.m., as part of the Wilson Music Series at Unitarian Church, 26 Pleasant St., Newburyport. Suggested donations, $20; seniors, $10; children and students, free. Frsuu.org/jean-wilson-music-series.
LAVA The feminist dance company presents a free performance Monday, April 10, 11 a.m. at Salem State University’s Twohig Gym, O’Keefe Complex, Salem. Salemstate.edu/arts.
ESCHER STRING QUARTET Seating is limited for the quartet’s performance Wednesday, April 12, 8 p.m., at Pickman Hall,27 Garden St., Cambridge. Celebrityseries.org/Escher.
DANILO BRITO
ROOMFUL OF TEETH Celebrity Series of Boston presents this Grammy winning vocal project, joined with A Far Cry’s 17-piece collective, Thursday, April 13, 8 p.m., Sanders Theatre Memorial Hall, Harvard University, 45 Quincy St., Cambridge. 617-4826661.
THE WHO AND THE WHAT Huntington Theatre presents Pulitzer Prize winning author Ayad Akhtar’s drama, running to extended date May 7, because of popular demand, at Boston Center for the Arts, Calderwood Pavilion,527 Tremont St., South End, Boston. Tickets start at $25.huntingtheatre.org.
HEALTH AND WELL-BEING The Leventhal-Sidman Jewish Community Center at 333 Nahanton St., Newton, holds year-round Masters Swim training program on Sundays, 7:15-8:15 a.m., Tuesdays, Thursdays 6:15-7:15 a.m., geared to adults (age 19+) who want to improve their overall fitness and skills. Included are professional coaching, structured workouts, drills and speed sets. aquatics@jccgb.org.
PARKINSON’S WELLNESS PROGRAM The nine-week winter session of exercise and movement classes and support group for people with Parkinson’s disease and their caregivers continues at the Leventhal-Sidman Jewish Community Center, 333 Nahanton St., Newton. (Classes, $90) Support group meets Tuesdays, 2-3 p.m., ($45). Registration required. 617-667-1276.
FITNESS CIASS North Suburban Jewish Community Center and Temple Ner Tamid sponsor Pilates, Sunday mornings, 10:30-11:30 a.m., and zumba, Monday nights, 6:15-7:15 p.m. at Temple Ner Tamid, 368 Lowell St., Peabody. RSVP to arlyneg@ nsjcc.org.
PJ LIBRARY JUNIOR SCIENTISTS AND ENGINEERS Children 3-5 years old may participate in a Cohen Hillel faculty-led PJ Library’s Junior Scientists and Engineers “labs,” using Jewish values-based literature and hands-on
Steven A. Rosenberg covered the suburbs for
the Boston Globe from 2002–2016. Take a walk with him at the dawn of the millennium as he finds middle class heroes at work, in neighborhoods, on beaches, in houses of worship and sleeping on the streets.
Middle Class Heroes V O I C E S F R O M B O S TO N ’ S S U B U R B S
available at Amazon.com
BALANCE AND FALL PREVENTION CLINIC Amelia Nodell, PT, DPT, and Beth Israel Deaconess Health Care-Chestnut Hill physical therapist, will lead a free clinic on achieving better balance, demonstrating and encouraging active participation, Wednesday, April 19, 12-1:15 p.m., at the Leventhal-Sidman Center, 333 Nahanton St., Newton. The entire community is welcome to participate. RSVP wellness@jccgb.org.
FUN FOR KIDS JCC ADAPTIVE MUSIC PROGRAM
The Cantata Singers conclude their season Friday, May 12, 8 p.m. at Jordan Hall, featuring music by Arthir Honegger, Wyner and his father, Lazar Weiner, featuring Wyner’s “Torah Service”. Cantatasingers.org.
Children with developmental and intellectual disabilities, ages 6-17, may participate in an educational music and performance-based program held in partnership with amplif-adaptive music programs for life Wednesdays, now through May 24, 4-5 p.m. They will write songs and stage, choreograph and perform a show for family and friends. Open to all. Nine-week course, $315, scholarships available. Leventhal-Sidman Jewish Community Center, 333 Nahanton St., Newton. inclusion@jccgb.org, 617-558-6507.
Hub Theatre Company of Boston presents Bruce Graham’s drama, inspired by actual events about two men on Death Row, through April 15, First Church Boston, 66 Marlborough St., Boston: Thursdays, 7:30 p.m.; Fridays, Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 5 p.m. Pay-what-you-can. Donations of new and gently used children’s books collected at each perfor-
scholarships.
JCC MASTERS SWIM PROGRAM
CELEBRATION OF YEHUDI WYNER
COYOTE ON A FENCE
currently accepting registration for April vacation Comedy Clinics for ages 8-13, and Summer Clinics for ages 8-17. Registration, ImprovBoston,com/training, scholarships for season starting in March, ImprovBoston.com/training/
IMPROVBOSTON REGISTRATION The Boston comedy improvisation theater of Cambridge is
STEVE N A. R O S E N B E R G
The renowned mandolin soloist/composer performs two shows Wednesday, April 12, 7 and 9:30 p.m., Club Passim, 47 Palmer St., Cambridge. Members, $23; non-members, $25. Passim.org.
mance for local charities. hubtheatreboston.org,
Middle Class Heroes
Carol Ann Duffy’s stirring 80-minute, one-act adaptation of “Everyman” is performed April 7-May 6: Friday, Saturday, 8 p.m.; Sunday, April 23, 30, at 3 p.m., Apollinaire Theatre, Chelsea Theatre Works, 189 Winnisimmet St., Chelsea. Post-performance reception after every show. Advance tickets, $20, at the door, $25; students, $15. 617-887-2336, apollinairetheatre.com.
The rocking-to-the-rafters musical comedy about a Christian boy band closes its soul-raising appearance at Stoneham April 9: Wednesday, April 5, Sunday, April 9, at 2 p.m.; Thursday, 7:30 p.m.; Friday, 8 p.m.; Saturday, 3 and 8 p.m., 395 Main St., Stoneham. $5-$55; seniors, $45-$50; students with valid ID, $20. Talkback March 26. Stonehamtheatre.org.
Steven A. Rosenberg
“It’s not only because I know scores of people in this book. It’s not only because I have walked the streets, and the beaches, and into some of the stores that are the setting for this book. Nor is it because I’ve stood and cheered at Thanksgiving Day football classics, and strolled through the Salem Willows, or even shared some of the mysteries that Steve Rosenberg explores. No, I like this book because it is a little jewel of a read about a little jewel of a place at a special time in Steve’s life, and in mine, and in so many others’. Our towns and our times — he captures them with a sharp eye, a clear ear and a warm heart.” — DAVID M. SHRIBMAN, PULITZER PRIZE WINNER AND EXECUTIVE EDITOR OF THE PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE
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The Newton Voice
Calendar
experiments, Mondays, April 6, 3-4:30 p.m., at Cohen Hil-
CHARLOTTE’S WEB
lel Academy, 6 Community Road, Marblehead. Lab coats,
Wheelock Family Theatre presents Joseph Robinette’s
books provided. Walk-ins welcome. Children must be ac-
stage adaptation of EB White’s beloved children’s story,
companied by an adult. RSVP to Phyllis Osher, 978-740-
“Charlotte’s Web, “April 14-May14, 200 Riverway, Boston.
4404, or posher@lappinfoundation.org.
tickets@wheelock.edu,wheelockfamilytheatre.org.
BABY AND ME CLASS
PJ LIBRARY SHABBT SHALOM CIRCLE
Children ages 6 months to 3 years old join in the fun,
Jewish children ages 8-younger, their parents, grandpar-
baby-focused classes and parents meet other parents and
ents, and friends are invited to PJ Library Shabbat Sha-
caregivers while children play together, Fridays from 10:15
lom Circle. They’ll welcome in Shabbat with stories, songs,
to 11:30 a.m., Jewish Community Center,Community Road,
friendship and a free dinner, Friday, May 12, June 9, al-
Marblehead. Jccns.org.
ternating between Temple Ner Tamid, Lowell St., Peabody,
BCT WINTER CLASSES
nfield St., Peabody. Free program of Lappin Foundation, NSJCC and Temple Ner Tamid, supported by CJP. Walk-ins
classes for children, ages 4 - 19, in Boston and Beverly.
welcome. posher@lappinfoundation.org.
info@bostonchildrenstheatre.org.
KARISHIM SWIM TEAM
KIDS NEW JEWISH LEARNING PROGRAM
The Jewish Community Center (JCC) Karishim Swim Club,
As part of the center’s new program, Discovery Club Expe-
a competitive swim club for boys and girls ages 6-18, is
riential skill-building classes connecting children to Jewish
taking registration now for the spring season, at the Leven-
ty Center, 333 Nahanton St., Newton. They include Earth Adventurers, Early Astronomers, Spicing it Up, Spectacular Storytellers, and Growing Gardeners, for children ages 5-8. bostonjcc.org/discoveryclub, discoveryclub@jccgb.
GOLDEN DRAGON ACROBATS Spectacle Management presents world-renowned impresa-
GOLDA’S BALCONY
and Chelsea Jewish Foundation, Tanzer Room, 240 Lyn-
Boston Children’s Theatre is offering weekend and weekday
life are offered at the Leventhal-Sidman Jewish Communi-
April 4 - 17, 2017
thal Sidman JCC, Newton. The team trains at the center’s indoor pool and at Regis College, Weston. Registration is open to the entire community; JCC membership required. karishim@jccgb.org.
ART EXHIBITIONS Photo | Andrew Brilliant
SALTBOX GALLERY SPRING SHOW
rio Danny Chang and choreographer Angela Chang combin-
The popular Topsfield gallery will hold its annual spring
ing their acrobatics, traditional dance, costumes, ancient
show and sale, kicking off with its opening night party, Fri-
and contemporary music in this show of skill and beauty,
day, April 7, 7-9 p.m., Topsfield Fairgrounds Coolidge Hall,
April 8, 3 p.m. Lexington’s Cary Hall, 1605 Mass. Ave., $39-
Route 1N, 270 Boston St., Topsfield. Free. Saltboxgallery.
$49. caryhalllexington.com, 617-531-1257.
net, Saltbocgallery@gmail.com.
By Sheila Barth
For The Voice She looked like a wise, loving grandmother, her hair pinned back in a low bun, her face etched with lines, but Golda Meir, Israel’s first – and only – democratically elected female prime minister, was a witty woman who took pride in serving her country with her heart, not just her head. In an impossible task, the Kiev, Russian emigre’ who escaped anti-Semitic pogroms as a child, with her family, and settled for awhile in Milwaukee, Wis., became a fierce Zionist. She married and moved to then-mandated British Palestine, with the goal of founding, establishing and saving from annihilation a Jewish democratic state – and she did. At New Repertory Theatre in Watertown, for 95 non-stop minutes, Boston acclaimed star Bobbie Steinbach uncannily captures Meir’s unasumming demeanor, her wit, and tenacious strength, in William Gibson’s one-woman play, “Golda’s Balcony”. Directed by award-winning Boston’s Judy Braha, Steinbach transforms into Meir, her gait slow, her shoulders slouched, while she moves around the stage, sitting, pacing, smoking, while captivating theatergoers. Using Meir’s own words, Gibson relates Meir’s inner conflict – her commitment to Israel and ensuring its existence, while letting her marriage take a back seat. She also lamented about sending Israeli young people to war and, potentially, their deaths. “This picture people have of me, making chicken soup for troops isn’t me. At the bottom [of the pot] is blood,” she anguished. She triumphantly announces her astonishing ability to raise money and weapons for Israel by speaking to organizations, politicans, etc., and chuckles that she’s becoming more like her bossy mother, ordering around Israel’s great political and military leaders, negotiating with international leaders and heads of state, and secretly meeting with Arab sheiks and kings. Meir earned their respect while averting annihilation. She also relives facts about the June 5, 1967, Six-Day War, when Israel surprised its Egyptian, Syrian and Jordanian neighbors by launching an attack and winning the war. In her tour-de-force, not-to-be-missed performance, Steinbach captures Meir’s tenacity and determinaton, interlaced with her love for humanity and hope for peace. “We can forgive the Arabs for killing our children. We cannot forgive them for forcing us to kill their children. We will only have peace with the Arabs when they love their children more than they hate us, “ she quips. Bobbie Steinbach stars in New Repertory Theatre’s production of William Gibson’s one-woman, one-act play through April 16, Mainstage Theatre, Mosesian Center for the Arts, 321 Arsenal St., Watertown. $30-$59, student, senior, group discounts. Newrep,org, 617-923-8487.
MEMORY UNEARTHED: THE LODZ GHETTO Jewish Arts Collaborative announces this Museum of Fine Arts exhibit, the photos of Polish Jewish photojournalist
rescued. Jarts is also offering a Memorial Day concert collaboration led by musician Frank London of the Klezmatics, May 29. Admission to the museum that day is free.
Henryk Ross, showing life inside the second largest ghetto
MAA NEW EXHIBITS
in German-occupied Europe, that he secretly took, hid, and
Marblehead Arts Association features six new exhibits on
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The Newton Voice
April 4 - 17, 2017 ‘TO MOSCA VIA MOSCOW’
Calendar
Hub’s foremost Jewish leader refuses to tell the community what he knows about the Islamic society of Boston’s leadership Jewish leaders in Boston have publicly embraced the radical leaders of the anti-Semitic Islamic Society of Boston (ISB) mosque (https://goo.gl/3Go4DB). This could not have happened had the most senior Jewish leader in the city, Barry Schrage, educated the community about what he knows about the mosque’s leaders, funders, philosophy, curriculum, and speakers. APT President Charles Jacobs publicly criticized Shrage in The Jewish Advocate(below). (As it turned out, The Advocate published two other harsh critiques of Barry’s leadership – see here: http://www.thejewishadvocate.com. The Advocate risks much in speaking truth to power in Jewish Boston. They will probably continue on this path and should be supported. Buy a subscription.) Barry Shrage knows all about Boston’s radical mosque because we at APT showed him our research, including internal ISB documents captured during the discovery process in the ISB law suit against the David Project.
AD20/21 and Boston Print Fair welcome visitors to the “To Mosca Via Moscow!” exhibition April 6-9. Italian-American modernist artist August Mosca’s original drawings and pastels are on view for the first time at the Cyclorama show At the VIP Gala preview, Thursday, 5:30-8 p.m., Friday, 1-8 p.m.; Saturday, 11a.m.-8 p.m.; and Sunday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., 539 Tremont St., Boston. AD2021.com. display through April 30, King Hooper Mansion, 8 Hooper St., Marblehead. Exhibits include works by Cheryl Dyment,Dimensions Invitational; Diane Bradgon, Joe Pulitano, National Art Honor Society students and Marblehead Schools art faculty.
MAA SPRING CLASSES Marblehead Arts Association holds a variety of art classes starting April 14, with Patti DiCarlo and Hestia Studio’s,Paint and Sip Pottery Night, 6-8 p.m. $35 members, $40 non-members; Andrew Anderson Bell’s pastel workshop, April 22,23, 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., $175/$200; Ellen Grandpre’s portrait drawing workshop, April 29, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., $80/$95; and an acrylic painting, guided studio class with Marc Morin, May4,11,18,25, June 1,8, 6-9p.m.$165/$190, Kinhg Hooper Mansion, 8 Hooper St., Marblehead. Marbleheadarts.org, 781-631-2608.
MUSEUM OF RUSSIAN ICONS The museum features new exhibition, Pondering Mary: Her Story Through Icons, March 18-May 21, Two Imperial Icons is exhibited through May 14. Also special holiday events. ($25,$30). Museum information, hours, fees, museumofrussianicons.org, Registration, 978-598-5000, Ext. 121.
ROSE ART MUSEUM The Rose Art Museum’s spring exhibitions, to June 11 include Fred Eversley: Black, White, Gray; Tommy Hartung’s “King Solomon’s Mines;” Collection at Work; Reflections: Louise Nevelson, 1967; Sarah Sze, Blue Wall Moulting; and Mark Dion, The Undisciplined Collector, a permanent col-
lection, in various galleries. Brandeis University, 415 South St., Waltham, free and open to the public. Wednesday through Sunday, 11 a.m.- 5 p.m. brandeis.edu/rose/.
ROBERT SIGELMAN Salem State University presents an array of Robert Siegelman’s works, Winfisky Gallery, Ellison Campus Center, 352 Lafayette St., Salem. Gallery open Monday-Friday, 10 a.m.4 p.m., or by appointment. Salemstate.edu/arts.
WOW: WORLD OF WEARABLE ART Peabody Essex Museum celebrates WOW, the world where fashion meets art in dazzling, amazing pageantry, created by artists using eclectic materials, now through June 11, East India Square, Salem.pem.org.
NEW ARTIST MEMBERS EXHIBIT
As my letter to The Advocate explains, Barry had a problem: had he told the Jews of Boston what he knows about these very dangerous people, he would have risked the wrath of his liberal donors who insist Jews not “engage in Islamophobia” in part because we, they believe, can win over even hateful Islamist Jew-haters with open-armed warmth, reason, and dialogue. Here is the letter published today in The Advocate:
Shrage was peacetime leader in time of conflict Barry Schrage’s retirement announcement is an important milestone for the Boston Jewish community [“CJP head Barry Shrage to step down,” March 24, p. 1]. His legacy regarding the future safety of the Jewish community remains controversial, as evidenced by recent reports of Jewish organizations embracing leaders of the radical Islamic Society of Boston mosque.
DA VINCI THE GENIUS
Barry has not acknowledged the threat of radical Islam, though he has known the mosque’s founders, owners and operators are radical Islamists, connected to the Muslim Brotherhood, which preaches Jew-hatred, teaches that gays and apostates should be killed, and instructs Muslim men on how to beat their wives. Barry has seen all the documented proof of these things.
The Museum of Science presents the fascinating, comprehensive traveling exhibition touting Renaissance artist Leonardo Da Vinci’s works as a painter, sculptor, anatomist, inventor of military equipment, musical instruments, architectural, engineering and scientific inventions, including his plans to create the military tank, battering ram, bicycle, airplane, helicopter, and much more. Museum admission is included in the Exhibit Halls ticket fee: $25; seniors, $25; children ages 3-11, $20. mos.org.
Barry understood he could not tell the Jews of Boston what he knew about this growing base of radical Islamists while continuing to receive financial donations. His progressive donors believe speaking honestly about radical Islam is “Islamophobic” and that “silence is the best policy” when dealing with a perceived vulnerable minority, and that perhaps if we show that we love them, they will reject crazy Islamist ideology and come to like us. This strategy failed the Jews of Europe, who are now leaving the continent in droves.
Marblehead Arts Association features eight new artisans in the Artisan Shop through April 16. Also, Calling All Artists: New England Regional Exhibit: Variations IIII, King Hooper Mansion, 8 Hooper St., Marblehead. marbleheadarts.org.
Coming soon to your favorite grocer, and now available at Katz Bagel in Chelsea:
The pizza bagel. A tradition since 1938.
Barry was a good leader for a community secure in its position in society, but American Jewry is less and less politically secure. We can only hope Barry’s successor will have the courage to face the future with eyes wide open and resist the pressure from progressive Jews, who prefer to seduce themselves with beautiful fantasies rather than deal with ugly truths. CHARLES JACOBS President Americans for Peace and Tolerance Yusuf Al Qaradawi, Spiritual leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, an original Board Member of the ISB mosque: “The last punishment was carried out by Hitler ... (as a) divine punishment for them. Allah willing, the next time will be at the hand of the (Muslim) believers.”
139 Park St., Chelsea
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10
The Newton Voice
Defining
your lifestyle.
D eborah Budd
Specializing in sophisticated living 617-281- 8181 Deborah.Budd@Raveis.com International Realtor/Luxury Properties Specialist Local and global expertise in five languages
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April 4 - 17, 2017
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The Newton Voice
12
5 things
April 4 - 17, 2017
you
DIDN'T KNOW
they sold at a WALGREENS It’s a candy machine that’s missing the most fun part: the crank. I wish I had a candy dispenser that makes me feel like I’m in a public bathroom!
Here are five weird things I found at the Walgreens in Newton Centre. Since it’s rare that one goes into a pharmacy to just browse with no objective whatsoever, one can easily miss just how bizarre some of these products can get. I could have made five articles with things from that Walgreens alone!
The product itself is only mildly goofy, but you gotta love the “Great for Men and Women!” line, as if someone would look at this and think these 6D glasses are only coordinated for female vision.
HD Night Vision: For the person whose world looks like a 1990s television.
1804 called. They want their corset back.
Lastly, a sole pack of clearance condoms. Why are they on clearance? Why is there only one pack of them?
April 4 - 17, 2017
The Newton Voice
13
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The Newton Voice
14
April 4 - 17, 2017
CHAPTER 9 O
n the first night Bret was out of his marital home where he had lived for 18 years, his thoughts wandered all over the place.
In a single bed in a cramped room in a two bedroom apartment, he looked up at the ceiling with his arms propping up his head on a pillow. He sighed. “How could everything have come to this?” he wondered to himself. “I thought things were so good between Emily and me. We had it made. I guess not. Was it me or was it her? What caused our house of cards to come tumbling down on our two decade long marriage?” Staying with a longtime friend from Brookline who gave him a spare bedroom out of the goodness of his heart didn’t inspire much thankfulness in Bret – although he was thankful he had a bed and somewhere to stay now that he had been thrown out of his home. “How can she throw me out of my home? I paid the mortgage for 18 years. Shouldn’t she be the one that should leave?” he wondered. Being asked to leave his home by his wife, who is having an affair with a Jewish fellow from Newton, didn’t seem right to Bret. The affair should invalidate everything his wife was ordering him to do. “She’s having sex with that loser everyday. I was lucky to have sex with her three times a year – and that was during a good year,” he said to himself. The conversation with himself took twists and turns. “I guess I never should have cheated on her – but then – she had no interest in me physically in years. What’s a man to do?” “Go out and get it somewhere else,” he answered himself. That strategy in the end proved to be a failure. Probably the most difficult thing for a couple experiencing problems in their marriage to understand is this: if you aren’t getting it at home for whatever reason, getting it somewhere else before separating is a big mistake. You should never begin other relationships before you have finished the one you are in. If you have kids, this is especially true. On Beacon Street inside the spacious 1920’s condo Emily shared with Bret, their kids, 18 and 17, boy and girl, experienced the kind of emptiness and private heartbreak that is the exclusive domain of marriages coming apart. The kids were more bothered by the collapse than their parents – and Emily, well, she was out at Arnie’s living it up inside his bedroom in his Newton home. “What the hell is wrong with Mom?” the kids asked one another. “I guess they just don’t love each other anymore. Simple as that.” Said the son, who is off to college in August. The daughter, a junior at Brookline High, began crying. Her brother reached out to her. They hugged. She cried. He almost cried. “Dad is a good guy. He’s got his ways. But he’s been solid for us throughout our lives,” said the son. “Mom, too,”said the daughter. “She’s never let us down. Not until now.” At Arnie’s house in Newton after a major session in his bed, Emily dozed off for a few minutes. She felt Arnie getting close again and wanting another session.
Putting on her clothes she said: “I’m going to need some privacy for a few days.”
“Are my children okay? Where do I tell them I’ve been when I get home?”
“No,” she said to him, pushing him away.
“The reality of everything going on right now in my life has me all uptight.”
She looked into her eyes in the rear view mirror of her car.
“I don’t want anymore today. I have too much on my mind,” she said. “You’re telling me Bret is on your mind? Are you kidding me? All you say to me is that he doesn’t love you and wants nothing to do with you physically, and yet you are pushing me away. When we make love, its like the world doesn’t exist. Have I done something wrong?” Arnie didn’t get it, but then, many men don’t understand women. Nor do they understand themselves. He tried to move on her again. “Stop it. Please,” she said angrily. “I didn’t sign up with you to be your slave.” She jumped out of the bed.
Arnie grew impatient, but he kept it to himself. “You need time? You have it. When you feel better, you know where the key to the house is hidden,” he said to her. Not even the delirium brought on by great sex and the feeling of freedom that comes with letting herself go had much of a calming effect on Emily as she drove back to Brookline.
She fixed her hair. She pursed her lips. Returning to Brookline, she parked the car in the basement garage and took the elevator to the fifth floor When Emily walked into the hallway, her son and daughter were waiting for her. “Working late tonight, Mum?” her daughter asked with her son standing behind his sister. “Kids, I’ve had a long day. I don’t feel well.”
Everything was a blur. Nothing seemed right to her. Her head ached. She felt empty, and for a brief moment, she thought about Bret.
She walked down the hallway into her room and shut the door behind her.
“Is he okay?” she thought to herself. “He is, after all, the father of my children.”
J.R.
The kids just shook their heads.
April 4 - 17, 2017
The Newton Voice
15
3 great bottles of booze you can find at Murray’s I thought it would be fun to go Murray’s on Beacon Street in Newton Centre and take some pictures of some of the best alcohol you can get there. I got something from almost every price range!
Kikusui Perfect Snow: I don’t like a lot of Sake, but this is definitely one of the better ones I’ve tried. If you’re making sushi or ordering takoyaki somewhere, I’d pair it with something like this.
Ted Bernard Cutler, 1930-2017 By Seth Gitell
The first time I met Ted Cutler, I was a longway from our mutual hometown of Boston. We were at the lobby bar of the Washington Hilton. This was back when the D.C.-hotel was big enough to house the AIPAC Policy Conference, which was held last week at the Washington Convention Center. As scores of young leaders schmoozed and socialized, he stood with his beloved wife Joan and kibitzed. His old friend Sheldon Adelson, who already 20 years ago relied on a scooter to get around, was nearby. I stood in awe not so much from Cutler’s status as a “Jewish Big” as the pages of my newspaper, “The Forward,” used to call big, influential donors, but because for me, growing up, stories about Cutler and Adelson held the status almost of family-legends. Cutler, Adelson, and Irwin Chafetz had all been investors/stars in a revolutionary travel company, the nowall-but forgotten American International Travel Service. In 2012, Farrah Stockman, then of “The Boston Globe,” wrote: “American International Travel Service became the largest travel agency in New England. When it went public, stock soared from $10 to $93 per share. Adelson, Chafetz, and Cutler became millionaires.”
Grand Marnier is timeless, and the orange & cognac is definitely the smoothest one I’ve tried.
And then, AITS failed. The men went bankrupt.
James Buchanan’s is a slightly higher-end Scotch (this bottle will run you around $60-80), but if you’re a man or woman who loves the warmth of a calming Scotch late at night, this is a go-to.
The chief-of-staff at this company was a bespectled-Green Beret, my father Gerald Gitell. And, for Jerry Gitell, the story of the rise-fall-and rise of Adelson, Chafetz and Cutler was not one of bitterness — (I’ve written previously about my father’s opposite trajectory). It was a life lesson on the power of resilience. My dad filled me with AITS stories, the successes and the failures. He had unique anecdotes about how each of the men reacted to adversity and rebounded. I can no longer which details belong to which man. I was with my dad at the Langley Deli in Newton Center when Irwin told him the three men were going into the computer show business, a venture that ultimately became COMDEX. But I did remember that deeply Cutler’s life and legacy was intertwined with his beloved wife Joan. So when Cutler and his wife smiled, and he turned to me and said “I remember Jerry Gitell,” that small act of kindness amidst the young donors and socialites meant so much. It was precious.
Over the years, as I interacted with Cutler in a drastically different realm — Boston politics — I got to see the great respect that leaders, such as Mayor Menino and Speaker DeLeo held for him. It was a respect, to me, not borne out of Cutler’s financial commitment to our area’s arts and other causes, it reflected how much Cutler cared, his profound commitment to Boston. Back when I was his press secretary, I saw Mayor Menino move his State of the City speech from John Hancock Hall to the Cutler Majestic in part to thank and honor Cutler’s role in restoring the Majestic Theatre on Washington Street. Cutler fundamentally lived the Jewish principle of tzedakah. It’s telling that the last time I saw Cutler was a brutally hot summer day. He was walking up Bowdoin Street in a beautifully tailored suit to the State House on Beacon Hill to promote his “Out of the Box” Art and Music festival on Boston Common. He was well into his 80s. He was a leader of the Jewish community, once heading Boston’s Jewish Federation, the Combined Jewish Philanthropies. Former CJP trustee Albert Sherman, who grew up in Boston’s Grove Hall neighborhood, today remembered Cutler and his time on the board together. Before one meeting Cutler tugged on Sherman’s suit coat and pulled him close and said: “who would have thought two kids from Dorchester would have turned out like this.” When my father died almost seven years ago, I said kaddish for him at Congregation Mishkan Tefillah in Chestnut Hill, the successor to the former synagogue across from Franklin Park near Cutler’s old neighborhood. In those heavy days, I’d see Cutler, whose wife had died a couple months earlier. At the end of services, we’d rise to say kaddish together. To me, there was something fitting and healing about that. In Judaism, when a person dies, we say “Baruch Dayan Emet.” In the coming weeks and months, Cutler’s sons Robert and Joel will be saying kaddish for their father. To them, we say “may you be comforted among the mourners of Zion and Jerusalem.” My thoughts are with them. This piece originally appeared as a post on Mr. Gitell's Facebook page.
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