Oregon Jewish Life Vol.1/Issue 1

FEBRUARY 2012

SERVING OREGON AND SW WASHINGTON

Art & Coffee

The perfect pair

Introducing artist Aithan Shapira and coffee activist Debra Rosenthal

Inaugural Issue A Peek Inside RENAISSANCE MAN Irving Levin MIZRACHI MUSIC from Israel PEDAL POWER The Jewish bicycle obsession

2 FEBRUARY 2012 | OREGON JEWISH LIFE

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Volume 1/Issue 1

February 2012/Shevat-Adar 5772

22 17

40

[COVER STORY]

photo by Deborah Moon

22 Art and Coffee: Social activist draws rising artist to Rose City

Gerding Theater at the Armory 128 NW Eleventh Avenue

503.445.3700

pcs.org

W INNER OF SI X TON Y AWARDS INCLUDING BEST PL AY Starring Daniel Benzali & Patrick Alparone

[FEATURES] 8 Jewish Renaissance Man 16 Cycle Commuters 28 Profiles in Courage… of the Artistic Kind 32 Green Oregon 44 Holocaust films evolve 47 The Mizrahi Spring 54 Historic Undertaking 56 Students of History

[COLUMNS] 40 42 50 53

Chef’s Corner by Lisa Glickman Fashion by Adrienne Souther-Geffen Israel Viewpoint by Mylan Tanzer Life on the Other Side

by Anne Kleinberg

[THROUGH THE AGES] 14 Young Adults: Moishe House 35 Teens: Artistic release 36 Seniors: Love Letters 58 Seniors: Tails of Love

[CONNECT] FE BRUA RY 21–M A RCH 18 Ronni Lacroute

4 FEBRUARY 2012 | OREGON JEWISH LIFE

61 Traditions 64 Volunteers 66 Happenings Cover art by Tatiana Wills

photo by Lisa Glickman

Table of Contents

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SUPPORTED BY: REGIONAL ARTS & CULTURE COUNCIL • OREGON ARTS COMMISSION • WORK FOR ART INDIVIDUAL PRODUCERS: ROBERT & JANET CONK LIN

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Message from the Publishers With the launch of the first issue of Oregon Jewish Life, we feel as though we have just run the New York marathon, and are waiting to hear if we achieved the winning time. We can assure you that it has definitely been our goal.

From the outset, we have been aware that in order for this new venture to succeed, we would need to work as a team, not just as the Oregon Jewish Life team, but as a team with the Jewish communities of Oregon and SW Washington as well. We have loved the ideas, “constructive criticism,” and energy that this interaction has brought to our lives and, in turn, to the magazine.

One of our earliest challenges was deciding on the cover subject for our inaugural issue. As the new voice in the community, we felt it was fitting to introduce you to a wonderful young couple who in so many ways symbolically represents the new face of Jewish Oregon. We hope you agree.

Our primary goal is to highlight the vitality, diversity, challenges and accomplishments of our growing community.

Therefore, Oregon Jewish Life is, and will remain a work in progress. And we look forward to growing with you and becoming a dynamic and important part of your lives for years to come.

So on behalf of everyone at Oregon Jewish Life, we want to thank you for your support and guidance. A special thanks to Marc Blattner and Michael Weiner of The Jewish Federation of Greater Portland. On a personal note, we want to thank our biggest supporters, our families and friends, for their constant encouragement. Gratitude does not even begin to cover it.

Robert Philip and Cindy Saltzman

Editor’s Letter

Welcome to the first issue of Oregon Jewish Life.

I hope you have as much fun reading it as we have had putting all the pieces together.

We’ve had many sources of inspiration for this debut issue. Some ideas came from the Jewish and secular calendars, some have been suggestions from community members and some were drawn from the people and programs I’ve gotten to know during the 19 years I’ve been part of this community.

When we initially chose to focus on art and the environment as themes for our inaugural issue, I assumed they would be two unrelated topics – art chosen as emblematic of much that Portland has to offer and sustainability as important to Oregonians in general and especially for Jews celebrating Tu B’Shevat, the New Year for Trees, on Feb. 8 this year.

Then a friend introduced me to the couple who would become our cover feature. Who would have guessed one couple could so intimately unite our two topics? Getting to know Aithan and Debra has been a wonderful journey; I hope you enjoy it as much as I have.

Continuing the environmental theme, we asked the rabbis of Portland’s five oldest congregations to reflect on why so many Jews are drawn to the green movement. I need to thank the Melton Mini-School for the inspiration to ask a panel of rabbis. The school’s Rabbis Gone Wise fundraiser provided the spark for what we anticipate will become a monthly column. Some months we may query a group of rabbis, sometimes cantors and perhaps some months random folks in the community’s living room – the Mittleman Jewish Community Center lobby.

While Oregon Jewish Life is still evolving, you can look to this issue for some of the areas we plan to cover on a regular basis. We’ll have stories on all stages of life including youth, young adults, families and seniors. Volunteer opportunities and past and future events will have a place in every issue. News and views from and about Israel will be regular items. Food, fashion and fitness will make regular appearances. Local and national Jewish personalities, arts and entertainment, business/finance and local Jewish history are on our slate too.

We want to hear from our readers – both letters to the editor for publication and ideas of what else you want to read. Please drop me a line at editor@ojlife.com.

Deborah Moon

6 FEBRUARY 2012 | OREGON JEWISH LIFE

SERVING OREGON AND SW WASHINGTON

Publishers Robert Philip and Cindy Saltzman

Advertising and Editorial Director Cindy Saltzman

Editor-In-Chief

Congratulations to Oregon Jewish Life on your debut!

Best wishes for a very long run.

Deborah Moon

Sales Manager Cynthia Klutznick

Art Director Susan Garfield

Cover Photography Tatiana Wills

Columnists Lisa Glickman Anne Kleinberg Adrienne Souther-Geffen Mylan Tanzer

Contributing Writers Eden Rose Brown Abra Cohen Michael Fox Joseph Lieberman Liz Rabiner Lippoff Amos Meron Polina Olsen Brooke Preston Vanessa Van Petten How to reach us: Advertise@ojlife.com 503-892-7403 Art@ojlife.com Distribution@ojlife.com Editor@ojlife.com 503-892-7402 Publisher@ojlife.com 503-892-7403

Oregon Jewish Life 6680 SW Capitol Hwy Portland, Oregon 97219 www.ojlife.com

A Prince Hal Production (TGMR18) The content and opinions in Oregon Jewish Life do not necessarily reflect those of the publishers, staff or contractors. Articles and columns are for informational purposes only and not intended as a substitute for professional advice. Although every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of our published materials, Oregon Jewish Life, and its agents, publishers, employees and contractors will not be held responsible for the misuse of any information contained herein. The publishers reserve the right to refuse any advertisement. Publication of advertisements does not constitute endorsement of products or services.

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OREGON JEWISH LIFE | FEBRUARY 2012 7

Jewish Renaissance Man

8 FEBRUARY 2012 | OREGON JEWISH LIFE

[BUSINESS]

Levin believes education enables social mobility, and he walks the talk

W

by Deborah Moon

With his mastery of such diverse fields as music, business and philanthropy, Genesis Financial Services Chairman and CEO Irving Levin might be called a modern-day Jewish Renaissance man.

Levin believes education is the “real difference maker for social and economic mobility.” To back up that belief, he and his wife created Renaissance Foundation, a private foundation to give back with an emphasis on education after he sold the second of three companies he created.

Levin didn’t always have the means to give. His father was the second generation to run a “very small” family business.

Things changed when he founded and then sold Renaissance Holdings.

“I didn’t have a lot of money and suddenly I had lots,” he says. “I thought about what I wanted to do and how it would change the lives of me, my wife and our kids (who were in high school and college at the time).”

“It was a time of amazing changes and thought processes,” says Levin.

Deciding where to go next required looking back at where he’d been.

THE MUSICIAN

Levin’s first profession was as a cellist playing in a symphony, a chamber orchestra and for a variety of ballets and operas – “the typical lot of classical musicians.” When he was about 21, “I came to my senses and started college,” he says.

He earned his bachelor’s degree and an MBA from the University of Chicago.

Today his musical interludes include playing his cello for Kol Nidre each year at Congregation Beth Israel, Portland’s oldest Reform congregation. He has played the Max Bruch Kol Nidre, accompanied by Temple organist John Strege for many years now.

“Irv’s beautiful tone and heartfelt interpretation of Kol Nidre has added so much to our High Holiday experience,” said Beth Israel Cantor Judith Schiff. “It is, for me, one of the highlights of the service, and I look forward to it every year.”

He also plays recreationally with a distinguished group of musicians called “The Rusties,” who he described as a group of “conservatory-trained, overthe-hill players” who enjoy each other.

The Rusties includes Oregon Symphony Music Director Carlos Kalmar, who calls Levin “a fine cellist” and “a source of calmness in our group.”

“What I really enjoy about this group is that they are interesting people, good musicians who just do not play professionally (except rarely),” says Kalmar, who has played second violin with the Rusties since about 2004. “We gather at one of our homes, and we play chamber music, then we eat and drink and have a lot of themes to discuss. Music is undoubtedly the center of the gathering, but it’s a social gathering too.”

THE BUSINESSMAN Levin began his financial services career with Visa in the late 1970s in what at the time was “a fascinating industry. It was new and fresh and intriguing at the time – not at all what it seems like now.”

In 1986 he founded the nation’s first credit card bank, First Consumer National, for his employer, ITT Corp.

Told he could base the company anywhere he wanted, he chose Portland, mistakenly believing the area was in a recession and thus would have a large supply of motivated employees.

Instead he found a place with a “unique work ethic – there are wonderful things and not so wonderful things about its workers.” He says there is a deep talent pool available here, but for many Oregonians, lifestyle and balance trump the zeal of commitment to work.

Still, in part because of that sense of balance, he says he discovered an unexpected bonus –“I do love being here. …

Going on in life and getting involved in institutions and friends, it becomes the place you call home.”

RENAISSANCE MAN: A person who has wide interests and is expert in several areas

(Merriam-Webster.com) OREGON JEWISH LIFE | FEBRUARY 2012 9

COMING SOON

Join us as we welcome these insightful and thought-provoking perspectives.

Mark your calendars!

Monday, February 20

7-9pm at the Bagdad Theater Screening of Food Stamped: A Deep Look at America’s Broken Food System with comments on the Farm Bill by Congressman Earl Blumenauer presented by Jewish Federation of Greater Portland’s Community Relations Committee and Hazon free admission with donation to Oregon Food Bank

Thursday, March 1

7-9pm at the Mittleman Jewish Community Center Jews, Mainline Christians and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: Overcoming the Divide Between Our Communities presented by Jewish Federation of Greater Portland’s Community Relations Committee with Peggy Obrecht, Dr. Jan Armstrong, and Ethan Felson free admission

Tuesday, March 13

7pm at the Mittleman Jewish Community Center Rabbi Daniel Gordis perspectives from an American living in Israel presented by Jewish Federation of Greater Portland and the Mittleman Jewish Community Center $10 per person

Sunday, March 18

7pm at the Mittleman Jewish Community Center Dr. Deborah E. Lipstadt, Dorot Professor of Modern Jewish and Holocaust Studies at Emory University Jewish Federation of Greater Portland’s Community Relations Committee, Solomon’s Legacy and Lewis & Clark Law School present an evening of insights from the expert on issues of anti-Semitism and Holocaust denial free admission

Visit us online for more details.

Building a vibrant Jewish community.

503.245.6219 | www.jewishportland.org 6680 SW Capitol Highway | Portland, OR 97219

JewishPDX

So when ITT decided to get out of the financial business in 1991, Levin and some of his managers stayed in Oregon, “walked across the street with everything I’d learned” and started Renaissance Holdings, an issuer and servicer of credit cards. He sold the business in 2000 enabling him to create the Renaissance Foundation.

Because Levin enjoys being an entrepreneur, he decided to invest money and his knowledge to help other entrepreneurs succeed. He serves as a mentor and investor in multiple companies in Oregon and elsewhere.

He says his involvement at Genesis Financial Services similarly began as that of an investor and mentor – “I wanted to optimize my influence and minimize my time.” But at Genesis, he has taken on a larger role as CEO because “I started it and I have personally gotten lots of people to invest and I know the employees – about 160 all here in this office. So I have a deep sense of responsibility to this place. I do everything I can to make it successful.”

Asked what makes Genesis successful, Levin says, “We are good at the evaluation and management of unsecured consumer debt … we are good at managing assets nobody else wants.”

Recently, he says Genesis has turned its focus to providing instant credit to finance purchases and services. He says most continued on page 12 Irving Levin plays his cello with “The Rusties.”

MARK ROTHKO

February 18 – May 27

portlandartmuseum.org No. 14, 1951, Oil on canvas, © 1998 Kate Rothko Prizel and Christopher Rothko /Artist Rights Society (ARS)

OREGON JEWISH LIFE | FEBRUARY 2012 11

companies only approve 40% of the people who apply, “Turns out if which leaves 60% out of luck.

“That’s where we come in,” you are in the Levin says. “We understand business of valuing the risk of those with imperfect credit histories. We giving money bring a sophistication and away, the most management style that enables do a good job at this.” important thing us toGenesis provides installto learn is when ment loans and “private label accounts” (i.e., store credit to say no.” cards) in partnership with – Irving Levin companies such as furniture stores or jewelry stores to enable people to make meaningful purchases. Genesis also works in partnership with medical providers to provide installment loans to finance procedures such as Lasix or dental work not covered by insurance.

“Our customers come from the retailers and medical professionals who want to get their clients financing,” says Levin.

“We’ve set up a system that enables us to make instant decisions and provide credit instantly.”

He says the financial crisis has created a credit crunch, with larger lenders only extending credit to those with high credit

12 FEBRUARY 2012 | OREGON JEWISH LIFE

scores and excellent credit histories. That leaves more and more people unable to get credit, which means Genesis is poised to grow dramatically in the next two years, according to Levin.

THE PHILANTHROPIST Having a foundation has been a learning journey for Levin and his wife Stephanie Fowler.

“Turns out if you are in the business of giving money away, the most important thing to learn is when to say no,” he says.

“The second thing is the conditions of yes. The third thing we learned is you can’t fix the whole world, so you have to focus, and it’s best to focus on things you care a lot about.”

“Education is the single biggest passion we have,” says Levin.

Their first major foray into education was to co-sponsor a class at Woodlawn School for the I Have a Dream program, which supports a class of students throughout their school years and promises college scholarships for those who successfully complete high school.

In another hands-on project, the couple created a scholarship for students at Portland State University who are the first in their family to attend a four-year college in the United States.

About 50 students have received the scholarship.

“It’s renewable, so we really get to know these guys,” says Levin. “PSU says our group has the highest graduation rate of any cohort they have – We’ll take it!”

Alex Milan Tracy

At Lewis & Clark College, Fowler’s alma mater, the couple offers stipends to enable students to take unpaid internships to gain valuable work experience.

Renaissance Foundation also runs a social enterprise program in Cambodia, Laos and Kenya that recruits and trains people in basic IT skills. The nonprofit training program has ties to a for-profit company that hires the students.

Levin, a former Congregation Beth Israel board member, said they also donate to CBI and the Jewish Federation of Greater Portland.

Levin attributes much of his business success to luck. He notes he launched Renaissance in a “time of great expansion and fairly benign regulatory environment.”

“A lot happened that I had no control over and should get no credit for,” he says modestly.

Though with three successful companies to his credit, it seems the kind of education and experience he now strives to give others should get some of the credit.

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OREGON JEWISH LIFE | FEBRUARY 2012 13

MOISHE HOUSE [THROUGH THE AGES]

photo by Deborah Moon

Young adults create hub for parties, social action, connections

S

Yossi Shallman, Jonathan Morgan, Julie Auerbach, Emly Oren and house pup Layla enjoy welcoming other young adults into their eastside home, which doubles as an informal community center for their peers.

MOISHE HOUSE February Events

Feb 11: Open mic night. People are encouraged to email us with their request for stage time. This can be poetic, musical, or any other form of expression.

Feb 14: Valentine’s Day partnership with Tikvah: Cookies and sweets exchange Feb 18: Shabbat Lunch – St. Patrick’s themed

Feb 21: Blazer’s game v. San Antonio Spurs on Feb. 21! Email us at moishehousepdx@gmail.comor message us at Moishe House Portland on Facebook if you want to attend. Tickets are $15, which is a 50% discount.

Only 5 more tickets available at this price! Otherwise you are welcome to come but you would have to find your own ticket. This discount applies for the first 5 people to message Moishe House Portland on Facebook or email.

Feb 24: Shabbat Dinner – We provide sushi, you provide sake.

Feb 25: YASI (Young Adult Supporters of Israel) with Ben Weiner and Seth Feldman. Israeli wine tasting.

Please RSVP for location and time via email to moishehousepdx@gmail.com or message at Moishe House Portland on Facebook.

14 FEBRUARY 2012 | OREGON JEWISH LIFE

by Vanessa Van Petten

Southeast Portland’s thriving Moishe House is finishing up a successful programming season, welcoming a new roommate and preparing for a slew of exciting upcoming events.

Moishe House Portland is a residential home where young Jews live together to not only plan events for other members of the Jewish community, but also to explore their own Jewish identity. Their mission is to provide meaningful Jewish experiences for young adults in Portland by creating a home that becomes a hub for Jewish life. Residents put on seven programs each month for 21- to 30-year-old Jewish Portlanders, including social, religious, cultural, educational and social service programming.

Moishe House Portland opened in 2008 and moved to their Southeast House in July 2011. They have hosted more than 35 events in the new house since they opened in July. In addition to their puppy, Layla, there are currently four Moishe House Portland residents – Jonathan Morgan, Emly Oren, Yossi Shallman and their newest roommate Julie Auerbach.

Morgan hopes that the house will continue to grow as more Jews move to Portland. “There are many young Jews coming to Portland and we are one of the wonderful Jewish organizations trying to build the community,” said Morgan.

Over the past few months Moishe House Portland has done exactly what Morgan and other residents hoped for – brought Jews together for engaging and

lively events. “In my opinion, our single most awesome epic event was our house concert featuring the CA Honeydrops in September. That was a real treat that attracted about 70 people,” explained Morgan.

Moishe House Portland also believes in providing strong Jewish programming for young community members.

Morgan believes their Shabbat meals are a staple to their mission and

“If they can drag a friend to an event that would be great too!” Jonathan Morgan

NEW PARTNERSHIP Moishe House has teamed up with Tikvah, a social-recreational group for Jewish adults with special needs.

“This gives Tikvah members opportunities to interact with Jewish adults in the same age range who are providing a warm and inclusive social environment for Tikvah members,” said Jewish Family and Child Service inclusion specialist Corinne Spiegel, who oversees the Tivkah program.

As a Moishe House resident, Emly Oren plans and hosts events for all Jewish young adults in the metro area; as a life skills trainer for adults with disabilities at JFCS’s Partners for Independence, she has met many of the young adults who participate in Tikvah events.

Moishe House will partner with Tikvah every month, with events ranging from social activities to volunteering with Tikvah in the community.

The first joint event, a pizza night at the Lucky Labrador in Multnomah Village, drew about 10 Tikvah members and 10 Moishe House participants.

“Tikvah members seemed excited to be engaging with peers their own age who are open to talking with them,” said Oren. “One particular Tikvah participant was happy to find out that a Moishe House participant lived in close proximity to him and volunteered to take the bus with him to future Moishe House events.”

Oren said that Moishe House participants were happy to have been involved with Tikvah and look forward to continue spending time with them in future events and making a difference.

In February, young adults from both cohorts will gather at Moishe House for a Valentine’s candy and cookie exchange. To RSVP for this event or see future events as they are scheduled, visit Moishe House Portland on Facebook.

community building efforts. At Shabbat dinners or Saturday lunches Moishe House residents cook homemade meals and average around 25 people.

Their newest roommate, Julie Auerbach, originally from Denver, Colo., is a raw food chef and moved to Portland on a leap of faith. “Living in the Moishe House gives me the ability to create programs which will attract like-minded Jewish young adults, the cushion to look for a full time job, and the comfort of knowing that I will not be on my journey alone. Over the next year I look forward to meeting Portland’s Jewish leaders, helping at charity events and making a positive impact on everyone I meet,” said Auerbach.

Portlanders can join Moishe House Portland’s Facebook group to see upcoming events including Shabbat meals, Tu B’Shvat celebrations, Jewish Dodgeball night and more. Of the community, Morgan asks, “What we need most is for people to help spread the word, to continue giving us love – and if they can drag a friend to an event that would be great too!”

Vanessa Van Petten is a freelance writer and speaker who lives in Portland. She specializes in human relationships, with a focus on youth and family. Her websites, ScienceofPeople.org and her popular parenting blog, RadicalParenting. com have both been featured in the media. Her latest book for parents, “Do I Get My Allowance Before or After I’m Grounded?,” won the 2012 Mom’s Choice Award.

Portland Tu B’Shevat Tree Planting for Young Adults Sunday, February 12  2-5pm Join us in celebration of Tu B’Shevat as we plant trees, eat dried fruits, learn about Tu B’Shevat in Israel and help better our world.

Registration now open

www.tribefest.org

503.245.6219 | www.jewishportland.org/yad www.facebook.com/YadPDX

OREGON JEWISH LIFE | FEBRUARY 2012 15

photo by Deborah Moon

[TRENDS]

Cycle Commuters

Bicycle use good for planet, wallet and mental and physical health

A

Cyclists pass stopped cars and pedestrians as they cross the Hawthorne Bridge on their morning commute into downtown Portland. Since 1991, bicycle use has increased 322% while car traffic has remained static on the city’s four main bicycle-friendly bridges: the Broadway, Steel, Burnside and Hawthorne. The Portland Bureau of Transportation’s 2010 Bicycle Count reports that bicycles represent about 20% of all vehicles on the Hawthorne Bridge.

by Deborah Moon

photo by Deborah Moon

A rabbi, a lawyer and an urban planner all ride their bicycles to work…

16 FEBRUARY 2012 | OREGON JEWISH LIFE

No it’s not the start of a bad joke – it’s part of a growing trend of bicycle commuters in Portland, a trend that has a large number of Jewish leaders. Motivated by tikkun olam (repair of the world), personal health, economics or a combination of those factors, many Jews have made commuting by bike a regular part of their life.

“I have been very blessed that my whole career has been about creating a healthier, safer world for us and our grandkids,” says Mia Birk, who was Portland’s bicycle program manager from 1993-99. Her book, Joyride: Pedaling Toward a Healthier Planet, tells the story of the city’s stint at No. 1 on Bicycling magazine’s list of “America’s Top 50 Bike-Friendly Cities” from 1994 to 2010.

Rabbi Ariel Stone rides her Bike Friday, built in Eugene, to the Shir Tikvah office.

After helping lead Portland’s bicycle revolution, Birk became a principal at the Portland-based firm Alta Planning and Design, where she helps communities across America develop bicycle and pedestrian planning projects.

Birk says cities are motivated to “create a balanced transportation system where people can choose the right mode for the right trip.” She said the serious health crisis caused by sedentary lifestyles has convinced many cities to make bicycle transportation part of that mix. Improving air quality and reducing congestion are other reasons many cities promote cycling.

“My whole career has been dedicated to tikkun olam, of giving back to create a better world,” says Birk.

Tikkun olam is also at the root of Rabbi Ariel Stone’s decision to ride her bicycle the two miles to the Shir Tikvah office when she doesn’t have a funeral or meetings elsewhere. Her primary motivation for bicycle commuting is the environment.

“Real tikkun olam goes deeper, Stone says. “When I’m on the bike, I feel better.

You can’t heal the world without also healing yourself.”

“It brings you closer to the world when you’re not behind a ton of metal and glass. It brings you more into a sense you are one with the world. It’s meditative.”

Portland psychiatrist Dr. Charles Kuttner also finds bicycle commuting meditative. When he lived in Corvallis, Kuttner regularly commuted to his office on his recumbent bicycle. But now that he lives less than a mile from work, he often walks. He still rides his bicycle to evening minyan at Congregation Kesser Israel, weather permitting. While in Corvallis, he wrote a poem about the meditative nature of bicycle commuting.

Fitness is a major consideration for many who commute by bicycle.

“Bicycle commuting is a great way to get daily exercise, stay connected to the outdoors and reduce our carbon footprint,” according to Dr. Wayne

In 2009, the League of American Bicyclists named Portland the country’s only Platinum level bicycle-friendly community.

Strauss of The Oregon Clinic and a Havurah Shalom member. “Regular aerobic exercise is crucial to helping us maintain cardiovascular fitness and a healthy weight. I love hearing from my patients who incorporate exercise into their daily routine how much better and more energetic they feel. People often tell me that they cannot exercise due to arthritis, chronic pain or other musculoskeletal conditions. However, almost everyone can work with their medical providers to find exercise that works for them. Bicycling can be great for people with knee and hip pain because it does not have the jarring impact on the legs of other activities.”

For most bicycle commuters, a combination of factors leads them to ride.

We thought congratulations might be the issue here.

Here’s to many years of success!

gmco.com OREGON JEWISH LIFE | FEBRUARY 2012 17

Charles Kuttner rides his recumbent bicycle to evening minyan at Congregation Kesser Israel, weather permitting. Since he doesn’t ride on Shabbat, Kuttner would like to find people in Southwest Portland interested in Sunday rides. Contact Kuttner at bike@kuttner.name.

photo by Deborah Moon

Alysa Rose, president of the lighting company Rejuvenation and a member of Shir Tikvah, says she commutes for the environment and personal health. “The spiritual/mental tie directly into acting intentionally and in alignment with my values.”

A professional fundraiser at Portland State University, Aaron Pearlman cites personal health, good outlook for the day, environmental concerns and societal change as reasons he is a bicycle commuter. Pearlman, who is on the board of the Jewish Theatre Collaborative said he also sometimes bikes to Havurah Shalom for Friday night services where many of his friends bike “much more than I do.”

“Biking is faster than driving and looking for parking or taking the bus and having to wait at the bus stop,” adds Pearlman.

That same dynamic prompted Rob Sadowsky to begin commuting by bike about 10 years ago when he was working for the Jewish Council on Urban Affairs in Chicago.

“I was working downtown and the 7 miles to my office took 45 minutes to drive or go by train,” says Sadowsky, who is now executive director of the Bicycle Transportation Alliance in

This is the schpiel you’ll always remember.

March 7, 6:00 pm Congregation Beth Israel

presents

RABBI MICHAEL Z.CAHANA AS

CULTURAL LEARNINGS OF PERSIA FOR MAKE BENEFIT GLORIOUS SHPIEL OF PURIM

Rabbi Michael Z. Cahana

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Cantor Ida Rae Cahana

Rabbi Emanuel Rose, Emeritus

1972 NW This Flanders Street Portland, Oregon 97209-2097 Temple Office 503-222-1069 Education Department 503-222-2037 Fax 503-274-1400 www.bethisrael-pdx.org event is generously being underwritten by the Hal Ruthizer Cultural Arts Tribute Fund.

18 FEBRUARY 2012 | OREGON JEWISH LIFE

Portland. “I could bike and get there in 40 minutes and always arrive at the same time.”

“The first day it took an hour and 20 minutes and I was wheezing,” he says, noting his commute kept getting shorter.

“Since I started regular biking, I’ve had no problems with my asthma; I stopped taking medicine. It’s changed my life.”

Sadowsky and Birk are not the only Jews active as leaders among bicycle commuters.

“A bunch of people are active bicycle leaders,” said Scott Bricker, who worked at BTA for 11 years and is now a consultant and executive director of America Walks. He adds that Roger Geller and Linda Ginenthal both work with the city of Portland on bicycle projects.

“I’m not suggesting it’s religious, but there is an identity there,” says Bricker.

On the lay level, BTA board member David Forman is another Jewish leader in the growing movement. Forman, a past president of Cedar Sinai Park, has been commuting to his law office almost daily since September 2005.

“I want to promote a personal sustainable lifestyle,” says Forman, a partner at Tonkon Torp LLP. “I enjoy living in a more urban culture. … Bike commuting seems to provide a sense of community.”

But Forman and Rabbi Stone both summed up their ongoing commitment to cycling in similar ways.

“There is just the sheer joy of riding my bike,” says Forman.

And Stone says, “Every time I get on my bike, I feel like a kid again.”

Sing, Pray, Learn, Laugh...

Cyclists have easy routes in Eugene

by Abra Cohen

Oregon probably isn’t the first place you think of when you hear about year-round cycling. With long, cold and wet winter months, many cyclists in Eugene don rain attire and cycle all four seasons on the extensive bike paths that extend throughout the city.

Connected by wide trails that accommodate runners and cyclists alike, you can easily bike for pleasure or transportation on the multiple trails that link neighborhoods in the North Eugene River Road area to the University of Oregon to Springfield and along the Fern Ridge bike path to Green Hill Road in West Eugene.

Bike commuters in the Willamette Valley are among some of the highest in the nation, according to the Corvallis GazetteTimes. Six percent of Eugene-Springfield commuters get to work by bicycle.

Andrew Alef, who manages community outreach at Paul’s Bikes in Eugene, says he believes gas prices are one reason for the increase in bike commuters. “People seek out an alternative way of getting around.”

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continued on next page OREGON JEWISH LIFE | FEBRUARY 2012 19

TiPS FROM A NOViCE

Not only does Eugene have a lot of bike commuters, they also have “cyclists” – those who own more than one bike, When I bought my first road bike nearly two years specific to the type of riding they are ago, I had a lot to learn. Some I learned by listening doing. They not only ride to work, they also ride for fun. Alef says, “You wouldn’t and some I learned the hard way. use a mountain bike for commuting.” He explains that three is often seen as the magic number of bikes to own – one for commuting, one for mountain biking and Since I had spent the preceding two decades with almost daily knee and/or hip one road bike. pain due to surgeries after skiing mishaps, I listened very carefully to all tips relatEugene has more than 30 miles of ing to joint safety and comfort. off-street bike paths and 89 miles of bike I listened to expert advice on what kind of bicycle I should buy based on how I lanes, according to the City of Eugene. wanted to ride.

With connecting pedestrian bridges, you I had a fitting at the bike shop to ensure the bicycle was properly adjusted – seat can easily cross the Willamette River height is important to knee strain/comfort, as well as to efficient pedaling. Then I and get from one area of town to another rode with an expert (my bicycle-racing, European-bike-touring husband) who made faster by bike than automobile, which not micro adjustments. only allows riders to get fit, but can also I listened when told to shift to my easiest gear when climbing a steep hill. It’s cut their carbon footprint. much easier on the knees, whether you have joint pain or not.

Depending on the area of town you I listened to advice to STOP at red lights – it’s easy to see that a car is much bigare cycling to, you can often avoid street ger than my bike; I don’t need to risk my life to try to save seconds. traffic by using the bike path routes (a bike path map is online at www.smarttripseugene.com/links/bicycling-maps).

Though many experienced cyclists told me I was riding too close to the shoulder, An avid road cyclist, some of my favorI felt safer trying to stay as far from traffic as possible. Mistake. When my wheel ite rides are outside of Eugene. Ranging slipped off the road and onto the gravel, I was instantly sent sliding into the middle from vineyard loops west of Eugene toof the road. Fortunately there was no traffic, but I left a lot of skin on the asphalt. wards the small town of Crow to historic Now I always leave at least a foot between myself and the road edge. That applies covered bridges east of Thurston, country to curbs too since hitting a curb with a pedal will also catapult you into traffic! roads are a great place to do long distance When approaching a red light, it’s a good idea to have a foot ready to put down cycling. because the light might not change to green when you expect it to. Last year I was If you are new to cycling, be sure to riding up to a light that I could see had turned yellow for cross traffic. So I slowed check out REI and the University of down, but didn’t get my foot ready. When the light turned green for left turns inOregon Outdoor Program – both offer stead of for me, I didn’t have time to put my foot down and I fell over – no physical bike clinics and bike support to comdamage, but OUCH, it sure hurt my ego. munity members. Other resources are the Bicycle Transportation Alliance and Greater Eugene Area Riders.

By Deborah Moon

THINGS I LEARNED BY LISTENING

THINGS I LEARNED THE HARD WAY

THE REWARDS I’VE REAPED

It’s been worth it. Bicycle riding has been a huge help for my joints. After five knee surgeries, if I can do it anyone can. Wish I’d listened to my doctors years ago regarding the benefits of rehab on a stationary bike. Now I can go for weeks without any knee pain.

When I ride my bicycle to work (weather and schedule permitting), I arrive happier and more alert with more energy to start the day.

And I’m as fit as I’ve ever been in my life. The real reward was the joy of riding 770 km on a 10-day bicycle tour of Spain last summer. What an extraordinary way to see a country, and with all that exercise I could enjoy the local cuisine with no guilt.

20 FEBRUARY 2012 | OREGON JEWISH LIFE

Abra Cohen is a freelance writer and photojournalist based in Eugene.

PHOTO BY TATIANA WILLS

Cover

Creating Perfection

Social activist draws rising artist to Rose City

22 FEBRUARY 2012 | OREGON JEWISH LIFE

photo by Deborah Moon

Painter and printmaker Aithan Shapira discusses his work in his studio in Northeast Portland.

by Deborah Moon

Thanks to the draw of a young woman with deep roots in social action and Portland, the Rose City is now home to a rising young artist who already has made a big splash in the international art world.

Aithan Shapira – like his heroes – Rembrandt, Goya, Matisse, Picasso – is both a painter and printmaker. His works have hung in museums and galleries on four continents and are permanent fixtures in numerous private collections including those of Jewish philanthropist Harold Grinspoon and actor Kevin Spacey.

Northwesterners will have the chance to see Aithan’s work in March when Froelick Gallery (714 NW Davis, Portland 97209) hosts a one-man show and in May when five of his paintings will be part of a botanical art show at the Seattle Art Museum Gallery.

After a two-year long-distance courtship during which they racked up thousands of text messages, emails, phone calls and frequent flyer miles, Aithan moved to Portland last August to join his fianceé Debra Rosenthal.

The couple first met in 1999 when as Brandeis University students they sang in different a cappella choirs at the school, even going head to head as dueling choirs in a Lincoln Center performance.

Recently they invited me to join them for dinner, a tour of Aithan’s studio and a visit to Debra’s office at Sustainable Harvest Coffee. As we sat around Debra’s grandmother’s dining room table, Aithan chatted animatedly as we enjoyed an artfully arranged tray of appetizers. Then as Aithan disappeared into the

kitchen to prepare a dinner of salmon encrusted in herbs common in his mother’s birthplace of Iraq, Debra filled me in on her work supporting fair trade and organic coffee farmers in Central and South America and East Africa.

When Aithan reappeared, he carefully arranged the meal on each plate creating yet another masterpiece – this one of colors, aromas and flavors rather than paints.

“Aithan never does anything halfway – art or dinner,” says Debra.

As they took turns sharing their stories, it was clear that foundations and tradition are important to both. Pyramids figure prominently in their descriptions.

HIS STORY Aithan was born in New Jersey, but spent much of his childhood in Israel when he wasn’t in school. In New Jersey, his father Arie co-owned a factory that cut the fabric for women’s designer wool coats. His mother Sara arrived in Israel from Iraq in the early 1950s and married into a family with a long history in Jerusalem.

Aithan is a first-generation American who has what he calls the typical immigrant belief that “if you work hard you can build something.”

OREGON JEWISH LIFE | FEBRUARY 2012 23

UPCOMING EXHIBITIONS

photo courtesy Royal College of Art

Through May 14 University of Kent, London Prints by Aithan Shapira and other alumni of the Royal College of Art including David Hockney appear in a retrospective of the RCA archive “Double Take.” Works were selected from the RCA archive to feature the Royal College of Art’s rich history and tradition in printmaking and how generations of artists have influenced one another through history.

Aithan Shapira discusses his prints with Britain’s Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, at a 2009 group exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts entitled “New Prints from the Royal College of Art.”

So when he went to Brandeis University in Boston, the first member of his family to go to college, he says, “I worked really hard.”

He finished all his math and science pre-med courses in two years and then decided to explore a variety of offerings including philosophy and, notably, drawing.

“That drawing class changed my belief in nearly everything,” says Aithan. “In pre-med, they grade on a curve and the goal is to be better than everyone else; I could do that. In art, I had to be better than myself. That’s the most difficult thing I’ve ever had to do.”

Except, perhaps, the phone call to his mother to tell her he’d decided to study art instead of going to medical school.

But if he was going to study art, Aithan wanted it to be with one man – John Walker, head of the graduate painting program at Boston University, who takes only a limited number of students, gives them a studio and mentors them.

Walker tells his students that on 10 fingers he can trace back through a line of students and their mentors stretching back to the great Renaissance painter Titian.

“Within five fingers, you are in Michelangelo’s studio,” marvels Aithan, who notes that his father’s family also 24 FEBRUARY 2012 | OREGON JEWISH LIFE

counts back on 10 fingers to the first generation to live in Jerusalem.

“Know where you come from so you know where you are going,” says Aithan.

“For me, tradition is not about living in the past, it is living now and using where you came from.”

Aithan describes himself as standing at the apex of a pyramid where his painting rests on all the history below him. He says that his peers who only look to the future risk making art about ideas that don’t stand on anything; they must have substance.

For Aithan, looking at the past means wondering what Cezanne might paint if he were looking out Aithan’s studio window today.

As a graduate student, he says he was looking for something meaningful to inspire himself. He recalls how impressed he was by the way his father’s employees created blueprints that efficiently included all the pieces of a designer’s pattern without wasting fabric. So he called his dad and got the blueprints of coats he had watched his father cut out when he was growing up. He hung the patterns around the walls of his graduate student studio and absorbed the shapes as he painted. Many of those shapes – a sleeve, a front panel, coattails – show up in his paintings today.

March 1-31 Froelick Gallery, 714 NW Davis St. in Portland’s Pearl ‘Migration,’ Solo exhibit by Aithan Shapira. Charles Froelick will represent Aithan Shapira’s paintings and prints in Portland. Gallery hours: Tue-Sat 10:30 a.m. – 5:30 p.m.

Feb. 29, 5:30-8 p.m.: Pre-opening reception with Artist March 1, 5:30-8 p.m.: First Thursday opening with Artist March 22-April 20 Marist College, Poughkeepsie, NY Solo exhibit of large-scale (9 ft.) collaged collograph prints.

March 22: Opening reception with Artist May 10-June 9, 2012 Seattle Art Museum Gallery, Seattle, WA Botanically themed group show to include five of Shapira’s paintings.

“The botanical theme is relevant to a very significant body of work I am pursuing for my career: the Botanical Gardens project in Jerusalem (see below).”

May-July, 2014 Holocaust Museum, St. Petersburg, FL A body of work (paintings, drawings, prints) on the theme of hope. This work began as rubbings off gravestones in Krakow. It is currently being discussed as a traveling exhibit to the Holocaust Museum in Houston after its Florida premiere.

Permanent installation Jerusalem Botanical Gardens, Israel Installation date pending completion of funding. Installation to coincide with a residency at Mishkenot Shaananim, where Shapira will produce the work.

This also will become a traveling exhibition to a number of international botanic gardens representing Israel.

photo by Deborah Moon

After two years, Walker told Aithan he needed to go to the Royal Academy in Great Britain.

At the Royal College of Art, Aithan began to study print making in addition to painting. He was able to work on a press built for the Great Exhibition of 1851.

After earning a master’s degree in printmaking, Aithan pursued his Ph.D. at the Sydney College of the Arts in Australia, in a joint mentorship with the Royal College of Art. No university in the United States offers a doctorate in painting, so Australia became his home for three years.

He spent about half his time there among the Aborigines.

From the Aborigines, he learned about their connection to the earth and caring for the land, the importance of symbols and stories, and their view that art reveals what is already there. He also learned to make paint from soil. He still uses that skill, mulling soils from Israel to create paint for some of his works.

He spent part of 2008 on a residency at the Bezalel Academy of Art and Design in Jerusalem, which is where he began working with Israeli soil. He also collected fallen olive branches and charred them to make charcoal for drawing.

After he earned his doctorate, he says he was delighted that John Walker invited him to return to Boston to work with his graduate students.

“As a young artist, I want to earn the respect of people I respect,” says Aithan. “John Walker asked me to come back and

Colors of Israel: Aithan Shapira displays Israeli soil he uses to make paint and the charcoal he made from fallen olive branches he collected in Israel.

critique his grad students, so of course I came back in 2009. I was there two years.”

While in Boston, he also gave a lecture series at Harvard talking about “music and art and how they inform each other.”

And he taught a workshop in bookmaking for graduate students studying painting and sculpture.

For Aithan, art isn’t about rules but it does rest on tradition.

Paraphrasing a quote from Antoine de Saint-Exupery, Aithan says, “If you want to teach a person to build a sailboat, you really ought to teach him to fall in love with the ocean … they will build something bigger than you could imagine.”

Noting he teaches art in the same way, Aithan says, “Tradition teaches us. … You define history by what you do today. Knowing this comes with a big responsibility.”

OREGON JEWISH LIFE | FEBRUARY 2012 25

“What I see Debra doing every day for people in other countries who are struggling to survive … I respect her so much for that.” – Aithan Shapira

Debra Rosenthal sits on bags of coffee beans at the warehouse of UCPCO – an organic coffee-growers cooperative in northwestern Nicaragua. The green bags hold certified organic coffee, and the red bags hold “transitional” coffee from farmers who are transitioning their crop from conventional to organic.

HER STORY Raised in Portland, Debra was born into a family who also has a strong sense of the importance of tradition and a commitment to social action.

Her father, Elden Rosenthal, is a well-respected civil rights lawyer who twice served as co-counsel in cases that drew national attention – a civil suit against Tom Metzger, leader of the White Aryan Resistance, for his role inciting the beating death of Ethiopian Mulegeta Seraw; and a suit for the FBI’s wrongful arrest of Brandon Mayfield, the Oregon attorney mistakenly linked to a terrorist bombing in Madrid.

Debra’s mother Margie Rosenthal has won numerous national awards for her CDs of lullabies and Jewish children’s songs recorded with Ilene Safyan. A former special education teacher, Margie co-founded the Portland Reading Foundation, which provides professionally trained tutors for children struggling to learn to read.

Debra graduated from Brandeis with a double major in sociology and journalism, then worked for two Portland nonprofits serving children – SMART and Stand for Children. Wanting to use her language skills (she’d learned Portuguese during an exchange program in Brazil), she moved to Oaxaca, Mexico, to immerse herself in Spanish.

Through friendships made playing Ultimate Frisbee, she met Laura Tilghman who worked for Sustainable Harvest, a coffee importer with international headquarters in Portland. Back in Portland, Debra asked Laura for an introduction to company leaders here.

“I knew it was an international company doing great work,” Debra says, noting that though Sustainable Coffee is a for-profit corporation, it’s actually more of a hybrid company that pumps 60% of its profits into helping the growers.

She now serves as Sustainable Harvest’s technology director developing high-tech solutions to help low-tech producers maximize their production.

26 FEBRUARY 2012 | OREGON JEWISH LIFE

“We give folks more cost-effective methods. We bring tools and teach growers and co-ops to grow high-quality coffee,” she says, noting she has helped create a video library of training programs that growers can access on iPads.

One of the community trainers who received an iPad in Tanzania, but no training other than the use of the installed training videos, figured out how to film her own practices to maintain healthy coffee trees. She emailed her video to Sustainable Harvest to share her knowledge.

“This woman proves the point that people in developing countries with little formal training can be users of the most innovative technology in the world,” says Debra. “We are leading the charge telling people at the bottom of the pyramid that this technology is accessible to them and they should have access to it so we can all progress together.”

Debra has indeed put her language skills to good use. Last year at a meeting in El Salvador, she sat at a table with the social mission coordinator from Ben & Jerry’s (which uses coffee extract from beans imported by Sustainable Harvest to flavor its coffee ice creams); a leader of a coffee coop from Vera Cruz, Mexico; and a farmer who sells coffee to that co-op.

“Ben & Jerry’s is interested in the telling the story of fair trade coffee and of farmers’ lives and how they are connected to their customers,” says Debra. “These men had a business relationship but there was a language barrier. I was able to translate and help them talk about how they can use technology to share stories.”

Debra says social justice is her top priority. She wants consumers to know the people at the beginning of the supply chain and see how many hands and how much time and energy go into producing their morning cup of coffee.

“What I see Debra doing every day for people in other countries who are struggling to survive … I respect her so much for that,” says Aithan.

THEIR STORY AND FUTURE Though they met at Brandeis, Aithan and Debra lost touch while they pursued their lives. In 2009, they reconnected “thanks to the marvels of modern technology (the Internet).”

For two years, they talked on the phone, texted, emailed and flew across the country. They visited Aithan’s family on the east coast and in Israel. They spent time with Debra’s family in Portland and at their vacation home in Sunriver. They talked about their belief in tradition and their ties to their maternal grandmothers.

“One of the only sad things about our relationship is both of us had strong connections with our grandmothers … it’s sad we didn’t get to meet them (each other’s grandmother),” said Debra.

“But we talk about them a lot.”

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Aithan Shapira explains a collograph he is working on in his studio.

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So when Aithan flew to Portland last May, he visited Debra’s sister Rachel, who wears their grandmother’s triple ring of engagement, wedding and anniversary bands. He asked if Rachel would split the ring so her sister also could have one band. He then asked Elden and Margie if he could have their daughter’s hand in marriage. Three days later, on bended knee, Aithan proposed to Debra with the band from her grandmother, a solitaire diamond he had spent months finding and a drawing of how he envisioned the combined engagement ring.

In August he moved to Portland to become part of a community and a family. Now he’s working to meet the art community and the Jewish community. In July, Rabbi Joey Wolf of Havurah Shalom, where Debra grew up, will formally unite the couple.

“Portland has me for the next 50 years of my life – or however long I have,” says Aithan, noting that Portland is rich in the things that are important to him – art, music and education.

“I’m excited to see ways I can contribute to that richness here.”

“I want to plant a seed and make it grow,” he says. “That spirit is Judaism.”

Migration and nature, both of which are big in his own life now, have become major themes in many of his current paintings.

When he’s not in his studio, where he frequently works 12 to 14 hours at a stretch, he typically draws the natural beauty he finds in Portland’s parks and gardens.

“The botanical theme is relevant to a very significant body of work I am pursuing for my career: the Botanical Gardens project in Jerusalem that will travel to gardens internationally,” says Aithan. After funding is secured, he will work on a permanent installation for the gardens at Mishkenot/Shaananim, a prestigious artist colony in Israel.

He is incredibly excited about the project and hopes to finalize funding for it “from those who like my work and want to support the blossoming of special things – hope-filled gardens of Israel, art and botany that teach through metaphor of the profound ways we need one another to grow together – simultaneously strengthening our roots in the earth and toward the sun. Much of the botanical inspiration for this project comes from what I see every day, my surroundings – the rich parks and gardens in Portland.”

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OREGON JEWISH LIFE | FEBRUARY 2012 27

[BUSINESS]

Profiles in Courage … of the Artistic Kind

Galleries and artists innovate to keep art alive during recession

photo by David Lippoff

by Liz Rabiner Lippoff

“L’Dor V’Dor” silk and cotton by Diane Fredgant was part of the ORA show at Art on Broadway in Beaverton.

28 FEBRUARY 2012 | OREGON JEWISH LIFE

The economic downturn has meant that many storefronts that used to say “art gallery” now say “for lease.” By almost any measure, these are challenging times for artists and galleries.

Holly Werner’s Fisher’s Flowers and Fine Art is a mixed-use gallery that is thriving in Roseburg. “As a stand-alone art gallery we would not be able to exist on art sales alone. I have paired my art gallery with my boutique flower shop, which is a perfect marriage of two completely different ways of displaying and selling art.”

“There’s no doubt that the economic environment has created a slump for artists and galleries,” Judy Howard agrees.

Her Hanson Howard Gallery has been a fixture in Ashland for more than 30 years.

While it still draws crowds for its First Friday events, she says more people are just browsing.

Howard believes they have an advantage because they deal with fine art and one-of-a-kind creations. She now features more mixed media and ceramic sculpture, as interest in that has grown. And most of her artists are reducing, or at least not raising, their prices.

Pricing for the times is a fact of life for every artist.

“Demand for my art used to mean I could gradually raise my prices each year,” says Portland artist David Kohnstamm who is well known for his unique paintings on salvaged windows. “No more. My pieces are now at 2007 prices.”

Peoples Art of Portland downtown focuses on being a safe place for artists of all ages, but owners Chris Haberman and Jason Brown certainly believe pricing is

photo by Linda Nemer Singer

one key to making art accessible today. Some 2,000 people attended their one-day “Big 200” show in December that featured 275 artists, 10 pieces each, all priced under $40. More than 60% of the pieces sold.

“We are trying to nourish what Portland is doing. Portland is a working class town, and we are working class artists,” says Haberman.

There is other evidence that some are holding their own.

Owner Martha Lee of Laura Russo Gallery in NW Portland says that the economy has changed how she does business, such as including a wider range of sizes and prices. She and her small staff will continue to work “harder and smarter” but they have actually seen some rebound.

The common goal seems to be not just to stay alive but to make sure beautiful art remains available for people to enjoy and – fingers crossed – buy. It is not a business for the faint of heart, so galleries and artists across the state are coming up with creative strategies to make it happen.

One thing that is easier said than done is to control overhead. “Location is everything for a gallery,” says longtime gallery owner and art consultant Amy Caplan of Portland. And great locations can be expensive.

Roberta (Bert) Cohen and Donna Sanson thought about that last year when they wanted to open Art on Broadway in downtown Beaverton. They conquered the overhead problem two ways. First, they negotiated an incredible lease on a

At Fairweather House & Garden, Denise Fairweather creates an attractive setting for a painting by Gary Pearlman. Well known in Portland for his Judaic art commissions, Pearlman credits Fairweather’s design talent for the healthy sales of his contemporary art at her Seaside gallery. Her philosophy, shared by other Oregon gallery owners, is to enhance the browsing experience.

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OREGON JEWISH LIFE | FEBRUARY 2012 29

Gallery Contact Information Serving Central Oregon for 20 Years • Shabbat and High Holiday Services • Religious Education Program • Bar/Bat Mitzvah Training • Weekly Torah Study • Adult Education

Art on Broadway 12570 SW Broadway St. Beaverton, OR 97005 503-601-3300 artonbroadway.net Fairweather House and Garden 612 Broadway Seaside, OR 97138 503-738-4003 fairweatherhouseandgarden.com

Resident Rabbi Jay Shupack

A Non-Denominational Egalitarian Jewish Community 21555 Modoc Lane • Bend, OR • 541-385-6421 • www. jccobend.com

Kol Shalom community for humanistic judaism An Enlightened Way To Be Jewish Humanistic Judaism makes a difference Non-theistic celebrations of Jewish holidays, ceremonies, and culture.

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An Afternoon with

30 FEBRUARY 2012 | OREGON JEWISH LIFE

Fisher’s Flowers and Fine Art 638 W. Harrison Street Roseburg, OR 97471 541-672-6621 www.fishersflowers.com

Laura Russo Gallery 805 NW 21st Avenue Portland, OR 97209 www.laurarusso.com ORA – Northwest Jewish Artists 02 SW Canby Street Portland, OR 97219 northwestjewishartists.org Peoples Art of Portland Pioneer Place 700 SW Fifth Avenue, 3rd Floor Portland, OR 97204 peoplesartofportland.com

Hanson Howard Gallery 89 Oak Street Ashland, OR 97520 541-488-2562 hansonhowardgallery.com

fixer-upper site. Next, they did what many other galleries and artists are doing to support their bottom line and each other: they joined forces with the artists.

Art on Broadway is a partial co-op where artists pay a small monthly fee to defray the cost of fixed expenses. In exchange, 80% of the net sale goes to the artists instead of the usual 50% so artists can sometimes charge less for each piece. Artists also help with gallery work once a month. They even helped build an interior wall so they could hang more art and free up space to rent out. These special shows bring in new people who follow the guest artist but may not have heard of the gallery previously.

The work-together concept worked overtime when the December exhibitor was ORA, the Northwest Jewish Artists’ guild. Six years ago, Eddy Shuldman and Esther Liberman wanted an organization that understood the needs of the artists.

ORA, which means “light” in Hebrew, began as an effort to create opportunities for local Jewish artists to come together and create sales opportunities. It has now evolved to include an education component: it hosts workshops for artists’ professional development as well as for the broader public.

And it’s working. Portland artist Laura Fendel credits ORA with helping her expose her work to buyers. Her contemporary fiber sculptures sell well at ORA’s annual art show at the Mittleman Jewish Community Center and have brought her many commissions including several large pieces.

How you display the art seems to make a big difference, too.

While commissions for his Judaic art sell by word of mouth alone, Portland’s Gary Pearlman credits the design talent of Denise Fairweather for the healthy sales of his contemporary art at her Seaside gallery, Fairweather House & Garden. Her philosophy, shared by other Oregon gallery owners, is to enhance

the browsing experience. One client so loved how Denise showcased one of Gary’s pieces that she bought it all: the painting as well as the table below it with all the accessories.

“I am selling more original art than ever before,” Denise says.

“People come over and over because they just like spending time here.”

And then there are some who just summon up raw courage and go for it.

In Roseburg, contemporary artist Marjorie Feldman shows her work successfully at Fisher’s Flowers. Still, she and her husband plan to open a gallery. Their new vineyard is producing its first wine this year. When they complete their tasting room, it will double as a gallery. Even though she acknowledges that most people aren’t budgeting for art now, she’s excited to try.

Anna Kodesch of Portland only recently started showing her work; her first show was through ORA and she sold one piece.

She realizes that she may not sell a lot at first, but she’s ready to take the plunge.

“It’s time for me now, not for the recognition but to develop as an artist and just get it out there for people to enjoy.”

Laura Fendel may have summed it up best. “Even in hard times – especially in hard times – people need to be nourished with music and art.”

Liz Rabiner Lippoff enjoys freelance writing in addition to her day job at Liz, ink Public Relations & Marketing. She specializes in medical marketing. She can be reached at LizRL@rabiner.com.

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OREGON JEWISH LIFE | FEBRUARY 2012 31

GreenOREGON [HEALTH/SCIENCE]

Nonprofit seeks to ensure reality matches image

by Joseph Lieberman

One of the neat things about Judaism is that, while we

OK, but why the recent name change from Oregon Toxics Alliance?

“Many reasons, but one was that a few have special holidays reminding us to people imagined our previous name was a pay more attention to certain traditions, PRO-Toxics Alliance,” Arkin replied. “So beliefs and mitzvot, those same ideas in November, we announced the name serve as an undercurrent to our lives all change in coordination with a new webyear long. site, an expanded staff, new board memTu B’Shevat may remind us of our bers and a broadening of our outreach obligation to help better the world one and programs. The name ‘Beyond Toxics’ tree at a time, but that same sense of fits our vision of a world where every caring for nature and our fellow man is a child can develop to their full potential, never-ending story. uncontaminated by chemicals that can rob Case in point: Lisa Arkin, chair of them of a healthy future. And we promise Temple Beth Israel’s K’vod Hateva to deliver on that vision!”

Committee (Honoring the Earth), is also When I asked if Arkin’s Jewish beliefs executive director of an environmental influenced any of this, she responded, health nonprofit called Beyond Toxics.

“Well sure. Even the name Beyond Toxics When I asked Arkin what Beyond is similar to the aspirations expressed in Toxics represents, she answered, “It’s a the phrase tikkun olam. Our organization statewide grassroots group that’s profes- seeks to repair the world to the point sional and collaborative, yet unafraid to where we no longer worry about being be tenacious and edgy. We’re dedicated surrounded by toxic chemicals. There to making sure environmental protecshould come a day – and soon – when tions and social justice ethics are merged a pregnant woman working as a cashier in every project we take up.” doesn’t have to wear gloves to protect her

developing baby from hormone disruptors in cash register receipts she handles daily!”

Seriously? Who knew?

“That’s exactly the point,” Arkin continued. “People in ‘green’ Oregon just assume the environment is safe, but when we look deeper, it’s a very different story.

As a result, we’re fighting now so that children rolling on the grass in public parks aren’t exposed to toxic pesticides or lawn care products associated with neurotoxicity. We’re struggling to convince truck drivers to turn off their motors when idling so nearby neighbors aren’t breathing sooty diesel exhaust. And that’s just scratching the surface.”

A big order, but Beyond Toxics just got a boost from the federal government’s Environmental Protection Agency in the form of a $25,000 Environmental Justice Grant, one of only four Pacific Northwest groups to be so recognized.

Native Bostonian Joseph A. Lieberman is a globetrotting photojournalist and author of eight books, including his most recent, School Shootings: What Every Parent and Educator Needs to Know to Protect Our Children (Citadel Press 2008). Now a resident of Eugene, he is coauthoring a book with Rabbi David Zaslow on the Jewish roots of Christianity.

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Artistic release

[THROUGH THE AGES]

With a counselor or alone, art lets teens explore emotions

by Vanessa Van Petten

Art therapy offers adolescents an alternative method for exploring personal problems and emotional issues.

Linda Zahavi, a national and board certified art therapist and active member of Portland’s Congregation P’nai Or, has a growing local practice on Southwest Boones Ferry Road. She uses art therapy as an effective means for patients to explore their feelings by using various creative materials and techniques to facilitate expression.

Zahavi began working with youth intensively at Portland’s Janus Youth Program and has recently opened up her practice to adolescents. “I could not imagine another modality for the youth. Art therapy involves a talking, interactive, counseling process as well as art-making,” said Zahavi. Teens, who often feel resistant to opening up to traditional forms of talk therapy can relax if they are making art in a safe, non-threatening environment.

Interestingly, Zahavi also points out that teens can use art to take a step back from issues and gain perspective. “The externalization inherent in art-making can keep issues from becoming emotionally overwhelming and provide a voice for inner conflicts that are hard to talk about,” explained Zahavi.

In addition, art therapists are able to identify issues expressed through the artwork that might be missed by a non-art therapist or art teacher, which provides further clues for guidance.

Local Portland teenager Sarah Lieberman has used art as a form of self-therapy. “I love to paint as a way of working through my own issues so I think art therapy would be more helpful for me than traditional therapy,” said Lieberman.

The National Jewish Health organization incorporated art therapy in 1983, and it has since become an integral part of

their Pediatric Care Unit. National Jewish Health believes that children’s artwork often reveals feelings about their illnesses such as fear, anger, sadness, hopelessness and anxiety and when feelings are expressed and identified through art, a sense of relief and control often follows.

On their website, NationalJewish.org, the artwork produced by adolescents from their art therapy sessions is striking. One entry by Denise, age 18, includes a picture of a clay sculpture; the inscription reads, “The asthma monster to me is like an unpredictable child. He will suck away all your air with his large mouth in order to place the fear of not being able to breathe inside of you. The asthma monster is more the fear of not being able to breathe.”

Zahavi explains that art therapy offers an alternative form of relief for many adolescents who feel lost. “I particularly like working with teenagers because art therapy can illuminate hidden family, school or friendship issues. Then we can work to develop resources and invite much-needed transformation.”

Vanessa Van Petten is a freelance writer and speaker now living in Portland.

She specializes in human relationships, with a focus on youth and family. Her websites, ScienceofPeople.org and her popular parenting blog, RadicalParenting.com have both been featured in the media. Her latest book for parents, Do I Get My Allowance Before or After I’m Grounded?, won the 2012 Mom’s Choice Award.

Benefits of Art Therapy For Teens • Work through difficult issues • Express hidden feelings of anger and frustration • Have a creative outlet OREGON JEWISH LIFE | FEBRUARY 2012 35

Love [THROUGH THE AGES]

Letters

Couple celebrates 65 years with family and friends from Old South Portland and Salem Photos Ronald Appelbaum Photography Family and Friends Honor Couple

by Eden Rose Brown It was a touching reunion of old friends and a memorable celebration of Old South Portland Jewish history.

Selma Nepom and Bernard Brown recently commemorated their 65th wedding anniversary with a grand celebration of this memorable event hosted by their three children.

With over 100 family and friends in attendance, the celebration took place in Portland’s historic Multnomah Hotel (now the Embassy Suites), in the same ballroom in which they were married on Feb. 9, 1946.

Members of the original bridal party, including Sol Menashe and Charlotte Rosenstein Amiton, attended, and the program included a film of the original wedding ceremony, an heirloom video of their lives before and after their wedding, and a spiritual blessing by Rabbi Arthur Zuckerman under a chuppah held by the couple’s children and grandchildren.

“Bob” Brown recreate the pose of Selma Nepom Brown and Bernard und). their favorite wedding photo (backgro

“My parents are role models for commitment and marriage done right. They have blessed us all with an amazing example of love, devotion and friendship – that’s still growing stronger each day. It’s truly a love story for the generations.”

– Eden Rose Brown 36 FEBRUARY 2012 | OREGON JEWISH LIFE

Selma and Bernard are blessed with their devoted children, Shelley Brown, of Tiburon, CA; Jordan and Stacey Brown, and Eden Rose Brown, of Salem; and five grandchildren, Shayna, Ariana, Janaya, Tyler and Natalie.

“Memories from Old South Portland”

the Lily e dance to the music of Sol and Rosalie Menash . ing dd we the s an usher at Wilde Orchestra. Sol wa “As a rabbi this was my first opportunity to officiate at a ceremony for a couple married 65 years. What an experience!

To stand under the chuppah, being held by children and surrounded by grandchildren puts life in perspective,” Zuckerman said.

Childhood friend Jerry Stern regaled the crowd with tales of growing up near Portland’s Neighborhood House where Jerry and Bob attended Hebrew school together. First cousin Frieda Cohen provided a rich history of Bob and Selma’s families and childhoods. Salem resident and close friend Lynn Coleman spoke about the early days Bob and Selma spent together in Salem, and good friends Les and Lila Kerr from Canada spun some recent stories of the couple’s adventures.

Selma Nepom, daughter of Manual and Tillie Nepom, and Bernard Brown, son of Harry and Rose Brown, grew up in the same neighborhood in South Portland and their families were close. Selma attended Shaarie Torah synagogue and Bob attended Neveh Zedek synagogue. Although acquaintances, it took World War II for them to fall in love. Bernard, a graduate of Salem High School (’43) began writing to Selma during Army infantry training and their friendly correspondence evolved into love letters over the course of the war, where Bernard was fighting in the European front.

Selma and Bob, as he was often called, married shortly after Bernard’s discharge from active duty, and the newlyweds settled first in Salem where they both attended Willamette University, the first married couple to attend the college together. They subsequently moved to Forest Grove, where Bob attended Pacific University College of Optometry.

After graduation they returned to Salem, where Selma devoted time to raising their children as well as serving the community. Bernard joined his father’s optometry practice, then located on Court and Liberty Streets downtown, and was connected to Brown’s Jewelers, the family’s jewelry store.

Bernard’s optometric practice grew into its current building and became Salem Eye Clinic. Their son Jordan joined the practice in 1981. For more than 55 years, Bernard served the eye care needs of the local community, until his retirement in 2005.

by Jerry Stern What a wonderful experience it was for me to be able to relate many of my experiences with Bernie (Bob) and Selma Brown at their 65th Wedding Anniversary.

We grew up together in “Old South Portland.”

Before the Brown family moved to Salem, I went to Hebrew School with Bob at the Neighborhood House, and I went to Shattuck School, with Selma who was the brightest student in our class for eight years.

My brain is filled with all kinds of memories of both of them. Those were truly fun years.

Then the Brown family moved to Salem, and because I had two aunts, two uncles and four cousins in Salem we went there every other weekend to be with our family and yes, the Browns were like part of our family too.

Now we are in our mid 80s and we all live a bit in our past.

So it was a true experience to be able to bring back all those wonderful memories so they won’t be forgotten.

The Nepom and Brown families were a major part of Old South Portland’s history and it’s wonderful to keep them in our history books.

OREGON JEWISH LIFE | FEBRUARY 2012 37

Selma Brown and Helen Stern (right) hold a photograph of the original wedding party (from left): Marvin Nepom, Shirley Geller (Zidell), Sol Menashe, Betty Axe (Cohen), Lewis Brown (Bernard’s brother and his best man), Selma Nepom Brown, Bernard Brown, Charlotte Rosenstein (Amiton) Maid of Honor, Sam Russell, Saralyn Lewkowitz, Ben Russell and Harriett Popick (Schatz).

What Brought Us Together

by Bernard David Brown I feel that it was WWII that brought us together as husband and wife. When I was sent overseas in the war, I wanted to get letters from others than my family to help from becoming too homesick. I wrote to Selma as well as others and looked forward to their letters.

Selma’s family and mine were friends ever since coming to Portland. I never spent any long periods of time with Selma, What Brought Us Together or her two sisters and brother but always felt comfortable in

by Selma Nepom Brown their company. As time went on and as I matured quickly due This all started in 1944 when a young soldier who was sent to war experiences, I realized that Selma and I had so much in to a college program in the Army in WWII sent me a letter common. I really looked forward to her letters much more than asking if I would write to him while he was so far from home the others. I knew that if I survived this war, I wanted to get to for the first time in his life. Our families had known each other know her more. for many years, so I agreed to write to this lonesome homesick After the war ended and I was on my first furlough to come soldier helping him through this ordeal. home, I made a point to call on her. In a very short time, I felt As time went on and many letters were exchanged, I realized this is the person I would like to live with and hoped that she how warm and kind he was. I had known him for many years would feel the same. We dated and I really fell in love with her. but at no time ever thought our love for each other would hapI had a wonderful bonding relationship with her parents and pen. However, his letters to me were so honest and thoughtful family and knew this is what is meant for me and that I could and they kept getting more romantic with each letter. I thought make her happy.

I would like to know him better as adults.

Selma is a wonderful friend and partner as well as the person When he came home from the war on his first furlough, we that has supported me in every phase of our life together. I feel dated for the first time ever and I knew I was falling in love with extremely blessed to have Selma as my wife for so many wonderhim. To this day, I have been blessed with a loving friend and ful years. partner for the past 65 years. I am so happy that he sent me that first letter in 1944.

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[FOOD]

CHEF’S CORNER

Dates a sweet addition to Tu B’Shevat recipes

by Lisa Glickman

Medjool Date Cake with Bourbon Caramel Sauce Makes one Bundt cake

photo by Lisa Glickman

For the Cake

Medjool Date Cake with Bourbon Caramel Sauce

Tu B’Shevat, or the New Year of the Trees, is meant to signify a change in season from winter’s cold to the renewal of spring.

While it may still be cold and wintery where you live, in Israel the trees are already beginning to blossom.

Foods mentioned in the Bible include figs, dates, raisins, pomegranates and olives; these are often included in a Tu B’Shevat seder.

Dates have been a staple food of the Middle East for thousands of years. They grow on the date palm tree and are an important traditional crop in places as far away as Turkey and Morocco. They’re also cultivated here in the United States in the warmer climates of California, Arizona and Florida. Dates have a rich honeyed flavor that makes them a sweet and chewy addition baked into cakes and cookies. They are also great when used as an accompaniment arranged on a savory cheese platter. continued on next page

Lisa Glickman is a private chef and lives in Bend. She is a contributing writer and teacher and also does a weekly cooking segment for COTV’s “Good Morning Central Oregon.”

She can be reached via email through her website at lisa@lisaglickman.com.

40 FEBRUARY 2012 | OREGON JEWISH LIFE

1½ cup pitted and chopped Medjool dates 1¼ cup water 1 tsp baking soda ¼ cup unsalted butter or margarine 1 cup granulated sugar 1 tsp pure vanilla extract 1½ cups all-purpose flour 1 tsp baking powder ½ tsp salt 2 large eggs

For the Bourbon Caramel Sauce 1¼ cups packed light brown sugar ½ cup whipping cream ¼ cup unsalted butter or margarine 1 tsp bourbon ½ tsp pure vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour a 6-cup Bundt pan. Place 1¼ cups water in a medium sized sauce pan, add chopped dates and bring to a boil.

Remove from heat and add 1 tsp baking soda. Mixture will foam a bit. Set aside and allow dates to cool. In a small bowl, (I like to use a sheet of aluminum foil), sift together flour, baking powder and salt. In a large bowl or the bowl of a standing mixer, cream butter and sugar. Add 1 egg and vanilla and stir to blend. Add half of the flour mixture, then half of the dates. Add second egg and the rest of the dry ingredients along with the rest of the dates. Pour into Bundt pan and bake for 40-45 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean.

Allow cake to cool in pan for about 15-20 minutes, then invert onto serving plate. When cooled, dust cake with powdered sugar.

To make Bourbon Caramel Sauce, place sugar, butter and cream into a medium sauce pan. Bring mixture to a boil and cook for 3 minutes stirring constantly.

Remove from heat and add vanilla and bourbon. Place in a small pitcher until ready to serve.

Slice cake and drizzle each serving with caramel sauce. Serve topped with vanilla-scented whipped cream or ice cream.

Dates contain a single pit that must be removed before using.

I find Medjool dates to be the best choice because of their tender, soft texture. Dates have a sticky surface that can attract impurities, so look for dates that have been packaged and processed properly so that they remain moist and supple and not dried out.

It is also a good idea to rinse them thoroughly before using.

The chopped dates used in this recipe seem to melt away in this dense and flavorful cake. The warm caramel sauce that is drizzled over each slice makes it even more moist and super delicious. Topped with vanilla-scented whipped cream or vanilla ice cream, this cake makes a spectacular dessert.

I bake it in a traditional Bundt pan, but individual one-cup Bundt pan molds would also make a pretty presentation. And here is a great tip: spray both sides of your knife with non-stick cooking spray before chopping the dates. By doing this, they slip right off your knife instead of sticking to the blade!

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[FASHION]

Astrology IN FASHION WHAT DO THE STARS SAY ABOUT YOUR PERSONAL STYLE?

By Adrienne Souther-Geffen

While there might not be a lot of women who check to see if Mercury is in retrograde before heading out on a shopping spree or clicking on “buy,” there are considerable numbers who are interested in astrology.

So interested in fact, that a recent article in the trade publication of The Fashion Group International, Inc., suggests that “retailers consider putting a segment of the selling floor and cyber outlet dedicated to clothes and accessories selected especially for the sign of the month.” This column is inspired by that suggestion.

42 FEBRUARY 2012 | OREGON JEWISH LIFE

LEO THE LION: She is the queen of the Zodiac. She expects first-class quality and revels in luxury and luxury fabrics.

This woman is drawn to anything gold, and likes a choice in the amazing number of luxury fabrics. This gal would not be opposed to wearing a tiara! Some notable Leo ladies are Madonna, Jennifer Lopez and the ultimate fashion icon, Jacqueline Kennedy-Onassis.

VIRGO: This lady likes everything pure and unadulterated. Pure cotton, wool, linen and silk are sure to please her.

“Virgo-the-perfectionist” will notice the smallest of details and likewise she appreciates clothes with refined details.

LIBRA is the sign of balance. “Only an out-of-balance Libra would buy a dress with an asymmetric hemline!” Astrologers say that purple is her color. Some famous Libra designers are Isaac Mizrahi, Donna Karan and Ralph Lauren.

SCORPIO: This is the sign of the sting! Scorpio’s sixth sense is her biggest fashion asset. She knows instinctively which styles to embrace and which to bypass. Scorpios love sunglasses, the perfect cover for their secretive sides.

SAGITTARIUS, the sign of the archer, aims high and shoots for the best. She will often wear clothes that are blatantly outspoken. In jewelry she will choose the amethyst, the most uplifting shade in the rainbow.

CAPRICORN is the sign of the goat. If you want to get the goat of a woman born under this sign, accuse her of a fashion impropriety! This explains why she likes to embrace fashion correctness at all times. One could say that it is a Capricorn’s right to be dressed “right!”

AQUARIUS: Ruled by the planet of change, these women are always ready for change. The water-bearer can hardly wait for the next new wave in fashion to emerge. “They can straddle fashion present with fashion future,” by knowing just how to update last year’s plaid skirt into next winter with the addition of a shearling jacket!

PISCES: Audrey Hepburn’s impeccable style gives testimony to the fact that good design is never out of style. Wise fashion investments come easy to the wise Pisces, because she understands the difference between timeliness and timelessness in fashion. Some timeless pieces she would pick are a peacoat, a good trench coat, a parka, shirtdress or caftan.

ARIES is the first sign of the Zodiac and a fire sign ruled

by Mars, making those born under it pioneers and trailblazers in both fashion and life. Aries is bored with retro, she’s been there, worn that! Aries designer Marc Jacobs loves breaking the rules. He loves red, a hot fashion color and one that always gets noticed. And speaking of getting noticed, yes, Lady Gaga is an Aries!

TAURUS: The sign of the bull is both earthy and ethereal.

Barbara Streisand is a notable woman of this sign. Taurus’ fixed nature means she resists change and usually relies on classic shapes instead of following trends. This woman does not like fabrics that don’t feel nice. She goes for cashmere, silk, satin!

GEMINI: Sign of the twins, she seeks out double-duty clothes.

Gemini designer Sonia Rykiel was the first to give clothes a double life by turning them inside out. In French there is a saying that has to do with playing a double game, to be both a public woman and a private woman in clothes as well as in life.

CANCER: This sign of the crab will get really crabby if anyone forces her to give up a treasured object. The one common thread in the closet of a Cancer woman is comfort! Stretch fabrics, caftans, sweatshirts, anoraks, drawstrings are her favorites!

In her closet is the history of fashion, each decade marked by the clothes she couldn’t give up.

Adrienne Souther-Geffen started her career in San Francisco with I. Magnin then moved to New York City where she was the fashion director for the Allied Corporate Buying Office. She returned to her native Portland as Fashion Director for Nordstrom Portland stores and then opened up the Saks Fifth Avenue Market in the Pacific Northwest.

Remember that fashion is evolutionary not revolutionary, so by all means do keep those “oldie but goodie” fashions that you really love, knowing that they will return and can be recycled with the change of a hemline, waist or shoulder treatment!

Women are great at re-inventing themselves many times, so why not re-invent our wardrobes too.

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OREGON JEWISH LIFE | FEBRUARY 2012 43

[FILM]

Holocaust films evolve

W

With a little help, Polish Jews fight to survive harrowing ‘Darkness’

by Michael Fox

“In Darkness” tells the true story of a small group of Polish Jews who hid in the sewers of Lvov with the help of a non-Jewish sewer worker.

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When the Nazis brutally emptied the Lvov Ghetto in 1943, a small group of Polish Jews had several frantic seconds to make a life-or-death choice: The hell above or the hell below.

Following shouted orders meant deportation to the death camps, although they didn’t know that. What they could be certain of was that the Nazis didn’t have their best interests in mind.

The only option was vanishing into the stinking sewer system underneath the city, with their small children and some valuables, and dealing with survival a day at a time.

Agnieszka Holland’s brilliantly executed real-life drama, “In Darkness,” is a quintessential example of the current state of the Holocaust film. More than 60 years after the war, filmmakers have shifted their focus from documenting history to examining human behavior under extreme stress.

“In Darkness” is a riveting true story based on Robert Marshall’s 1991 nonfiction book, In the Sewers of Lvov.

Holland’s goal, however, isn’t to bring to light (pun intended) these specific events so much as to highlight every shade of gray in what is a morally complex and harrowing drama.

“In Darkness,” which is Poland’s official submission for the Academy Award for Foreign Language Film, opens in Portland in late February or early March.

Filmmakers have shifted their focus from documenting history to examining human behavior under extreme stress.

The Jews aren’t saintly victims but flawed individuals understandably prone to bickering, paranoia and selfishness. It’s an unhappy cross-section, comprised of a couple of strong, streetsmart ones willing to fight, a religious man and a family with the financial means to pay someone to supply food.

That someone is a non-Jewish sewer worker and grifter named Leopold Socha, a man of no allegiances who’s uncommonly skilled at assessing and plundering the rubble of war.

He agrees to supply the Jews with food for a price, but even though he’s taking a huge risk, they harbor no illusions that he’s anything but a mercenary.

Socha is the movie’s fulcrum, for he is the one character who can freely (well, up to a point, given the Nazis’ presence) move above and below ground, crossing between the light and the

darkness. The metaphor is unmistakable: Socha’s movement and actions are physical, but they reflect a flexible moral code.

Along with the continuous question of whether the Jews in the sewers will survive, this is the crux of the film. At some point in “In Darkness,” Socha represents every role that Poles played during World War II: collaborator, victim, opportunist and rescuer.

Born after the war, Holland – like fellow Polish directors Andrzej Wajda (“Korczak”) and Roman Polanski (“The Pianist”) – has long grappled with the behavior of her countrymen during those dark years. Holland, whose father is Jewish, wrote and directed “Europa Europa,” the astounding 1990 film based

on German Jew Salomon Perel’s improbable saga of survival.

The real fascination of “In Darkness,” narrative tension notwithstanding, is watching Holland navigate the nuances of Socha’s behavior without apologizing for or excusing the Poles. She’s equally rigorous about avoiding simplistic and comforting scenes as the film gradually morphs into a tale of deepening trust on both sides, the kind that’s earned when people do more than what’s required of them.

“In Darkness” is the kind of movie in which every character’s decisions, no matter how unlikable or unfortunate, are completely understandable. One consequence is that it’s impossible to watch

“In Darkness” without contemplating what you would have done in similar circumstances.

Resolutely adult and deeply satisfying, “In Darkness” gives us a visceral experience of having gone through something unimaginable. Instead of leaving us with pat endings and familiar emotions, though, it prods us to ask ourselves the kind of questions very few movies do.

Michael Fox is a San Francisco film critic and journalist.

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February 3 ~ March 30, 2012 Opening Reception February 3, 2012 6-9pm First Friday 1400 NW Irving St., Suite 713 Portland, OR 97209 E: denny@spiritone.com T: 503 888-6913 PUSHDOT STUDIO in the Ford Building 2505 SE 11th Ave, Ste 104 | Portland, OR 97202 503.224.5925 | pushdotstudio.com Black

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Photographs by TATIANA WILLS

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[ISRAEL]

THE

Mizrahi Spring

Rise of Mizrahi singers reflects Israel’s growing inclusion of Sephardic Jews by Amos Meron

4.7 million dollars. That’s how much the most profitable artist in Israel made in the past Hebrew year (5771), according to Forbes. Any guess who that artist might be?

Mizrahi singer Eyal Golan performing at the ancient theater of Caesarea, in July 2011, was the top-grossing singer in Israel last year.

For most Israelis, it wouldn’t be too hard to guess: Eyal Golan, the most successful Mizrahi singer in Israel’s history.

In fact, all the top seven places in that list are Mizrahi singers.

If we were to look at a similar list a decade ago, I would be surprised if we found even one. Clearly, something has changed.

Mizrach is the Hebrew word for east. In Israel, the term Mizrahi is used to describe a person of Sephardic descent. The Mizrahi music (sometimes referred to as Oriental Music) in Israel has existed nearly as long as Israel; but from the 1950s into the 1990s, it was out of the mainstream and could only be heard in Sephardic households.

The change can be seen through the records of Galgalatz, an all-music radio station owned by the IDF and operated by soldiers. The station was and still is the most popular music source for the entire nation, soldiers and civilians alike. Its weekly song popularity chart is fateful, even more than Billboard Hot 100. Some people even describe their taste in music simply as “Galgalatz.” For years, this station did not broadcast any Mizrahi music, claiming most people don’t like it.

But the music was perhaps was just a reflection of bigger social problems. Today many people believe that Sephardic culture was oppressed in those years, and even the success of famous Sephardic artists like Zohar Argov (who some people still call “The King,” just like Elvis) in the 1970s didn’t break the glass ceiling.

In the late 1990s, the well-known Israeli rock-pop band Ethnix decided to collaborate with a Mizrahi singer. They found the unrecognized 25-year-old singer Eyal Golan and created a new genre of Mizrahi music, comprised of the classic Mizrahi tunes with a more modern beat. This new type of music, of which Golan was the most visible artist, became more and more popular, even among non-Sephardic people. But still, Galgalatz did not air the music of new Mizrahi singers, which would have allowed them to become renowned by the public. What made it a clear victory then? Cell phones.

OREGON JEWISH LIFE | FEBRUARY 2012 47

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“Mizrahi music is something you just can’t ignore in Israel’s music scene.”

A 2006 survey in Israel revealed that 62 percent of Israeli households had more than one cell phone. Israel, where the cell phone was invented, has long been known as a country in which cell phones are very popular. Over the past decade the technology has evolved and turned those little phones into very popular music players. So popular, that the most downloaded songs chart became an alternative to Galgalatz. This new list was led by Mizrahi singers. That was the shifting point.

Today, people in Israel consider this process no less than a revolution and the Mizrahi singers see themselves as “winners.” If this is the case, their medal parade was probably the several concerts they held at the theater Herod the Great built in the old city of Caesarea. The theater is considered a venue only for big performers like Shlomo Artzi, a classic Israeli guitar singer. Artzi, by the way, was only no. 8 on that Forbes list.

Despite its success, even today many people in Israel reject Mizrahi music.

Some old school Mizrahi singers say it’s more modern pop than tradition, others say it’s too similar to Arabic. Every now and then a public figure criticizes the music lyrics, saying it is too shallow.

During Operation Defensive Shield in 2002, in which the IDF occupied several Palestinian cities in the West Bank (Tulkarm being one of them), Tommy Lapid, a politician known for his slips, outdid himself by saying on a radio broadcast that “We didn’t conquere Tulkarm but Tulkarm conquered us” after listening to a Mizrahi song playing on that station.

But more and more people are fond of this type of music – I among them.

The continued criticism is just amusing, because the battle is over. Mizrahi music is something you just can’t ignore in Israel’s music scene. The revolution is complete.

Amos is the Israeli Shaliach (Emissary) to the Jewish community of Portland and can be reached at amos@jewishportland.org or on Facebook (Amos Meron Shaliach)

Original Article (in Hebrew): www.nrg.co.il/online/47/ ART2/290/894.html 1. Eyal Golan ...........17.2m 2. Dudu Aharon ...... 11.5m 3. Lior Narkis .......... 11.2m 4. Omer Adam ........ 10.9m 5. Moshe Peretz ..... 10.5m 6. Sarit Hadad ........ 10.2m 7. Shlomi Shabat ...... 10m 8. Shlomo Artzi ......... 9.7m 9. Ishay Levi ..............9.1m 10. Idan Raichel ......... 8.2m m=million New Israel Shekel 1m NIS = $269,000 (Sept. 30, 2011) Forbes Israel, September 2011

OREGON JEWISH LIFE | FEBRUARY 2012 49

[ISRAEL]

PLENTY

POVERTY amid

photo by Adit Chai

Middle class protests in Israel presaged Occupy movement

I

Walking through last summer’s tent city in Tel Aviv, a man carries a sign that shows the middle class carrying the burden of high vehicle taxes. His T-shirt loosely translates as “Sick of the taxes.”

by Mylan Tanzer

Israel’s social unrest in the summer of 2011 – or the “movement for social justice” as protesters chanted at every gathering – is one of the few times that an important social trend emerged in Israel before the United States.

Though Israel launched the movement, the question now is which society will be the first to make changes for more equality and justice. If I were a gambler, I would not put my money on Israel.

“In Israel today one-third of Israelis work, one-third serve in the military and one-third pay taxes. The problem is that it is the same one-third.” This somewhat 50 FEBRUARY 2012 | OREGON JEWISH LIFE

exaggerated adage resonates with the vast majority of Israel’s middle class. From a war-ravaged country with no natural resources, Israel has become a strong and dynamic “startup nation” that has seen 50-fold economic growth since 1948 despite recurring wars and a population quadrupled mostly by impoverished refugees. This generation’s middle class is just the latest to help fuel that growth.

But while Israel’s macro-economy is booming, the middle class is crumbling under its economic burden. Housing, taxes, day care and food prices add up to an intolerable cost of living for the majority of Israelis.

Interestingly, Israel’s economic prowess is largely to blame for the current pressures felt by Israel’s middle class.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was Israel’s finance minister when Israel was in a recession after the high-tech bubble burst in 2002. Netanyahu wisely pushed large-scale privatization of government holdings, significantly reducing government spending. That has helped Israel weather the current international economic crisis.

Since few had the capital to acquire state assets, much of the consumer economy now is dominated by a few tycoons. Without competition, the cost of

living has risen to unprecedented levels.

Anti-trust efforts have been largely ineffective.

Consumer reaction began with the “cottage cheese revolt” organized on Facebook in May to protest the cost of dairy products. The ensuing boycott forced the three dairy companies to lower their prices. The success spawned the belief that the average Israeli can make a difference.

In July, a small group of young Tel Avivians announced on Facebook they would pitch tents on the upscale Rothschild Boulevard – the equivalent of Portland’s Park Blocks. Since 2005, rent has increased by 34% across Israel and by 49% in Tel Aviv while salaries have remained stagnant.

Shattered was the traditional mainstream middle-class myth that any hardship can be overcome if you try hard enough. Successful, hardworking Israelis finally realized they were not to blame for their economic hardship.

Soon tent cities sprang up in other cities and towns. The largest protest in the history of Israel brought 500,000 Israelis onto the streets. The success surprised even the leaders of the loosely aligned, nonpartisan and not always cohesive coalition for social justice. A wave of euphoria gripped the average citizen.

So, why am I skeptical that serious change is in the cards?

Until the cottage cheese revolt and the social justice protests, neither the government nor the opposition had any social issues on their agendas. Even with one in five children living under the poverty line, this social time bomb received little more than lip service from Israel’s elected officials.

At the peak of the protests, Netanyahu set up the Trachtenberg Commission to examine ways to implement socioeconomic change. Now, four months after protest leaders decided the movement had served its purpose, the push for social justice has lost momentum.

While Israel’s macroeconomy is booming, the middle class is crumbling under its economic burden.

The Trachtenberg Commission recommended a 4% reduction in Israel’s largest budget item – defense – to invest in housing, education, day care and tax reform. Yet with threats from Iran and Islamist takeovers following the Arab Spring, on Dec. 28 the government instead added 2 billion shekels to the 56 billion shekel ($15 billion) defense budget.

Increased government spending was another financing option considered. But the finance minister said this could lead to a Spanish, or worse, Greek, scenario. continued on next page

OREGON JEWISH LIFE | FEBRUARY 2012 51

The flawed political system in Israel and the coalition government it has created is the source of my primary skepticism. The government has used fear of security threats and the international financial crisis as reason not to implement the Trachtenberg Commission’s recommendations.

Money to rectify civil inequalities could be redirected from two other areas of government spending – West Bank settlements and funding for ultra-Orthodox Jews who study at yeshiva and do not work or participate in Israel’s civil life.

But to remain in power, the Likud party needs the support of both the rightwing and ultra-religious parties. Therefore, this government will not re-allocate funds from the military, settlements or handouts to the ultra-Orthodox.

Ironically, a majority of the electorate of these parties is from socio-economic backgrounds that rely on the welfare of the state. But these voters are either ideologically or religiously motivated and will not shift their allegiance even if their own lives do not improve.

52 FEBRUARY 2012 | OREGON JEWISH LIFE

Israel’s productive middle class typically votes for the secular, Zionist parties like Kadima and Labor. But as this segment of society shrinks proportionally, the parties it supports are relegated to the opposition.

The Sayings of the Fathers tell us, “One must believe in miracles but not rely on them.” This is apparently what the Israeli middle class will continue to do.

We will work hard, pay our taxes, serve in the Israel Defense Forces and continue to be proud patriots and Zionists. But we can no longer rely on this ethos to generate the necessary change.

Increasing economic pressure, changing demographics and the priorities of the government may prompt this important group to again demand a change in national priorities.

The government will continue to use the arguments of new security threats and the world financial crisis to avoid real change. Most Israelis do not want a decrease in the security budget, nor increased government spending. We do want the state to fulfill its pact with its citizens.

Soon it will be time for the middle class to return to the streets. Eventually change will come; the question is how painful this process will be.

Mylan Tanzer is a Portland native who moved to Israel in 1981. He was the founding CEO of the first Israeli cable and satellite sports channel.

Since 2005, he has launched, managed and consulted for channels and companies in Israel and Europe. Tanzer lives in Tel Aviv, is married with five children, and remains an undiscouraged fan of the Blazers and the Ducks, Tanzer welcomes reader comments and suggestions. He can be reached at mylantanz@gmail.com.

Life on the Other Side

What’s on the Menu?

[ISRAEL]

by Anne Kleinberg

Twenty years ago I gave up the good life in Manhattan and moved to Israel. Whether it was epiphany or lobotomy I’m not sure, but I’ve never looked back.

I do, however, have some kvetching to do. (Actually, I have plenty, but I’m working with a deadline and word limit here).

My kvetch meter is activated whenever I enter a restaurant and request an English menu.

I can manage in Hebrew but I don’t want to. I love reading descriptions of food, so why struggle if I can cherish every culinary nuance in my native tongue? The good news is that most restaurants provide menus in English. The bad news is…

OMG! Who writes them???

Want a few samples? These are actual, un-retouched, nontampered with, I swear I saw them examples!

Let’s start with Brefest – umm, what looks good? How about a Mashroom or perhaps the Herd and Salamon Omelet?

Although, the Sandwich with Tona, Teiow Cheese and a Freash garde Salade sounds good too. Maybe go sweet with the Blinchess with Raisines and Patato?

If you’re a British attorney, then I’d suggest the Advocato Salad. Or perhaps a Slection from the Tousts section – served o a bread? Gee, do I feel like the Yeiow Chees Toust or the one with Bazil, Mashrooms and Pesta? Wait! I have it! The Coraconet Toust! It comes with Yeiow and Bulgarnian Chees!

(In case you’re wondering – croissant toast).

Maybe a Jacket Patato Topted with Chees? (I don’t know – is it double or single breasted?) Or for the health conscious among us, how about a Jumping Salad with Vegetbles and Nodels. ( Jumping as in sauteed?)

At dinner I always like a good buttle of red wine, especially if I’m having the Lamb Asso buco on a bed of Coconut. But sometimes I prefer a white, so I go for the Chuddony. It’s always hard for me to decide between the Quail Tights in Mustered Sauce or the Battata Ravuly (sweet potato ravioli).

My all time favorite is Kaved Oaf. Kaved as in liver, oaf as in chicken, but kaved is close to kavod, meaning honor. The menu translated the dish as: Respect Your Chicken.

Feel like dessert? A Tel Aviv hotel offers Chocleate Marquisw Accompanied By Forest Fruit. And then there’s that cafe where: “We personally invite you to come and take a look at the refridgerated cake satnd where you will find old friends like Tirramousso, Poppy sead Cake and Home apple strubel.

Our staff will be happy to assist you in choosing the cake you desire. we enjoy your deliberation.” They suggest following it with a cup of grounded coffee. I do so like to be grounded after my deliberations.

You see why I like menus in English? I get food and a show for the same price!

Stay tuned for more on Life on the Other Side in future issues.

Anne Kleinberg is a former New Yorker who transitioned from Upper West to Middle East, from interior design to writing, and from singlehood to marriage. She is the author of several cookbooks and recently published her first novel, Menopause in Manhattan. Read more about Anne at www.annekleinberg.com.

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[HISTORY]

Historic

by Polina Olsen

Undertaking

photo by Polina Olsen

Tanzer wants world to remember slain civil rights workers

Jacob Tanzer reflects on the early days of the civil rights movement.

The 2011 reunion of civil rights lawyers held special meaning for Portlander Jacob Tanzer.

The reunion focused on the infamous 1964 “Mississippi Burning” case when Ku Klux Klan members murdered civil rights workers James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner on a lonely road in Neshoba County, MS. As grand jury prosecutor, Tanzer started the journey that brought those responsible to justice.

“This was the era of coffee counter sit-ins and Freedom Riders,” Tanzer said in a recent interview.

By 1964, brave African-Americans were fighting Jim Crow laws that had subjugated them for so long. They met with police dogs, lynchings, prison and burnings. Still, the Congress of Racial Equality brought students from around the country to organize voter registration drives and freedom schools. Chaney, Goodman and Schwerner were part of this effort when they were murdered.

54 FEBRUARY 2012 | OREGON JEWISH LIFE

The son of Russian immigrants who had escaped anti-Semitism, Tanzer’s concern for civil rights started early.

After graduating law school, he found his way to Washington, D.C., with Robert F. Kennedy’s fight against organized crime. When the Chaney, Goodman and Schwerner murder investigation went cold, the civil rights division decided to try organized crime methods. Tanzer volunteered and became the grand jury expert on the case.

“The FBI investigated the murders as a civil rights offense but couldn’t get anyone to talk,” Tanzer said. “They decided to ‘create buzz,’ which is what they often do in organized crime cases.”

Buzz meant spreading rumors that prosecutors were ‘in the know’ and arrests were imminent. Experience showed this technique produced informants hoping for amnesty or plea deals.

“We wanted to make someone nervous,” Tanzer said. “Here’s your chance.

Save your neck.”

When Tanzer arrived in Neshoba, he found a third-world scene in slow motion.

“The country was rural,” he said.

“There were entire counties where you couldn’t buy lunch or see a movie. You’d drive and drive and all you would see were white clouds, red clay and rolling hills covered with cotton plants. You’d see a house of some means and share croppers shacks scattered around – old plantation style. Some had front porches and electricity, and some didn’t.”

Poster of Schwerner, Goodman, Chaney case

As Tanzer talked to potential witnesses and prepared them to testify for the grand jury, he learned about the events leading up to the civil rights workers’ murders.

He learned about the rural AfricanAmerican Mount Zion Methodist Church. Set among the cotton fields, locals reckoned this fixture had operated since slave days. After secretly meeting with church leaders, Chaney and Schwerner planned to open a freedom school there.

When news of the freedom school leaked, 30 racists showed up at a church business meeting, according to the University of Missouri-Kansas City Law School. Armed with rifles and shotguns, they demanded parishioners turn over the “NAACPers.” As congregants fled, many were severely beaten. Later that night, thugs torched and destroyed the church.

Meanwhile Chaney and Schwerner were in Ohio at a National Council of

Churches seminar. They returned and visited the destroyed church with Andrew Goodman, a Queens College student they’d met. As they drove to the CORE office in Meridian, Deputy Sheriff Cecil Price arrested them on a technicality.

When the sheriff released the three from jail later that night, carloads of Ku Klux Klan members followed their car. The civil rights workers were never seen alive again.

“I met cotton farmers, sharecroppers and laborers, often in the hot August sun of Mississippi,” Tanzer said. “We drove the red clay farm roads to find them. I talked with prisoners who had been in jail with Chaney, Goodman and Schwerner. I talked to church elders.”

Tanzer met people like Bud Cole, the president of Mount Zion Methodist Church.

“The Coles were relatively well-off,” he said. Their living room was small and spare with children’s high school graduation photos decorating side tables and pictures of John Kennedy and Jesus on the wall.

Although thugs had beaten the Coles as they fled the church during the raid, they agreed to testify. They wanted “to do right by those boys,” Mr. Cole explained.

“All they wanted to do,” he told Tanzer, “was help us.”

The 21 members of the grand jury heard from 125 witnesses who told moving stories about the July 16 church burning, about previous police beatings and about witnessing Chaney, Goodman and Schwerner in jail.

“The role of a grand jury is not to determine guilt or innocence,” Tanzer said. “It is to determine if there is enough evidence to charge a person with a crime.

It was unheard of in that day to ask a Mississippi grand jury to indict a white for victimizing a black.”

As Tanzer had anticipated, witnesses to the murder remained silent. Still, “the

When the sheriff released the three from jail later that night, carloads of Ku Klux Klan members followed their car. The civil rights workers were never seen alive again.

“As far as I could tell from Department of Justice archives, these were the first civil rights criminal indictments ever.”

–Jacob Tanzer

pot was stirred.” Tanzer won indictments related to the civil rights violations of the two black prisoners. Prosecutors promised to be back for more – soon.

“It was a historic moment,” Tanzer said. “As far as I could tell from Department of Justice archives, these were the first civil rights criminal indictments ever, anywhere. The grand jury was unanimous. In the course of proving these two lesser cases, we set a stage.”

Tanzer returned to Portland to become an Oregon Supreme Court justice.

He kept close tabs on the landmark case.

As predicted, soon after his original indictments, informers who had abducted Chaney, Goodman and Schwerner came forward. Although a jury indicted 18 people for official conspiracy to deprive the three of their constitutionally guaranteed rights, only seven men received sentences when the case came to trial in 1967. All served less than 10 years. When new evidence reopened the case in 2005, Edgar Ray Killen received three 20-year terms.

“When I first started writing my memoirs, it was to let my kids know what I did during those years,” Tanzer said. “I wanted some avenue by which the people I worked with wouldn’t be forgotten.”

For more information, see We Are Not Afraid: The Story of Goodman, Schwerner, and Chaney, and the Civil Rights Campaign for Mississippi, by Seth Cagin and Philip Dray 1988, Nation Books, New York.

Polina Olsen is a freelance writer in Portland. Her book Stories from Jewish Portland was published last year by The History Press.

OREGON JEWISH LIFE | FEBRUARY 2012 55

[HISTORY]

Students of History

by Brooke Preston

For 50th anniversary, Portland Jewish Academy reflects on its own history

Portland Jewish Academy middle-schoolers Annie Cartasegna and Avi Meyer work in the PJA tech lab on a political debate project. PJA has a new technology lab and plans more technology upgrades for this spring and the coming school year.

Every student studies history; this academic year, Portland Jewish Academy also gets to reflect upon its remarkable legacy as it celebrates its 50th anniversary.

Portland, like the rest of America in 1961, was poised on the precipice of great change. A small but prominent Jewish population – by most accounts, less than 10,000 – called the city home. From Mosler’s bakery to Meier & Frank department stores, a bevy of Jewish-owned businesses were among the city’s most popular destinations. Small synagogues dotted leafy Southwest avenues, now home to Portland State University buildings.

Despite this bustling presence, Portland’s Jewish community lacked a day school.

Like most local Jewish children, Fern Winkler Schlesinger and her siblings attended public school. While many of Fern’s classmates co-existed with her peacefully, one began to hurl both epithets and fists.

Her father, Jack Winkler – a Holocaust survivor who fought with the Polish Army and Polish Resistance Movement – had little tolerance for oppression. He and fellow parents Harry Nemer and Marvin Schnitzer began discussing the viability of a Jewish school. The project quickly gathered steam, and the trio 56 FEBRUARY 2012 | OREGON JEWISH LIFE

divided duties: as Fern recalls, Nemer was tasked with raising money, Schnitzer with hiring teachers and staff, Winkler with the recruitment of students.

The following autumn, in September 1961, Hillel Academy opened in Northwest Portland at Congregation Shaarie Torah.

The student body consisted of 26 students in grades 3-6; most were children of the school’s initial organizers.

Harry Nemer’s daughter Linda Nemer Singer was among the charter class. She recalls, “I was the only 3rd grade student. The first year there was one combined class for 3rd and 4th grade, and one for 5th and 6th grade. They started with those grades because those were the ages of children of the founding parents.”

Rabbi Scheitzman, the first staff, was hired by Schnitzer from an established Jewish school in San Francisco. As Linda reminisced, “He made learning so much fun!”

Fern added, “The first day that we learned Torah, the rabbi had honey and treats for everyone, so we would associate it with sweetness; he did it the right way. He got all of us so intrigued about learning Torah and Hebrew. He also got us going to synagogue every Saturday. It became quite competitive – he had a big chart, we got sticky-back stars next to our names when we attended!”

Hillel Academy middle-school students address a gathering in 1965 or ’66.

Hillel Academy grew and gained momentum throughout the following decades. Lisa Katon and her brothers attended in the late ’70s and early ’80s.

Now a development department staffer and parent of two PJA students, Katon said, “The community, while diverse, is cohesive, caring and supportive … everyone takes great pride in being there.

I appreciate the educational and Jewish foundation I received; I know that many alumni share my sentiments.”

In 1986, Hillel Academy and the Jewish Education Association decided to merge. The JEA had operated an afternoon Hebrew school program two days per week in Portland since 1934.

The merger created Portland Jewish Academy, welcoming students from all branches of Judaism. The school’s reputation for strong academics and outstanding student experience also attracts students from “blended faith” and non-Jewish families.

The march of progress continued in 1987, when the community voted to move PJA to the larger, modern Mittleman Jewish Community Center (the school’s current location). The center was expanded to house the school, which is now equipped with three age-appropriate playgrounds. PJA students also have the use of the MJCC’s gymnasium, pools and indoor Soccerplex – a far cry from the bare parking lot where Hillel Academy’s recesses were first held.

Like Portland, PJA has evolved, now boasting enrollment of more than 325 children. Students flock to the modern campus to attend infant-toddler programs, preschool, lower school and middle school through 8th grade. Added

in 1995 with a class of six, the middle school has blossomed to enroll more than 80.

PJA has become known as a place where students don’t just learn – they thrive. Many have credited small class sizes and higher levels of individual attention, and commended PJA’s emphasis on arts education and spiritual development.

The school’s principal, Merrill Hendin, explained, “From the time that they are young, students at PJA feel that they are at home here at school. Teachers love and nurture our students as individuals, and treat them with the utmost respect (kavod). Our faculty and staff is a group of stellar human beings who care deeply about education and about helping to raise mensches in today’s world.”

She added, “At PJA, we live the [ Jewish] traditions and holidays, and learn about them in a very hands-on manner. We taste traditional foods, sing songs, learn dances, prayers, history and rituals of the holidays. We learn to think for ourselves and work for the world.”

PJA students often learn by doing, inquiring and experiencing. For example, students regularly participate in handson, off-site events that redefine the term “field trip”: 5th-graders visit Islandwood, 6th-graders embark on an outdoor field school experience, 7th-graders visit Ashland to attend the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, and 8th-graders spend two weeks in Israel as a culmination of their years of Jewish and Hebrew education at PJA. Today’s curriculum remains built on enduring foundational traditions, while embracing new methods and

technologies to equip students for an increasingly digital world. For instance, this year’s annual fundraiser auction will bring increased technology integration into the daily learning experience, including in-classroom laptops and digital projectors.

“As our graduates go onto high school, many have noted how advanced and exceptionally well prepared they feel in their freshman classes,” said Linda Nemer Singer, who served as PJA admissions coordinator for many years and is now the MJCC community concierge.

“They get to start their new high schools with a sense of who they are, and with old PJA friends!”

PJA has spent 50 years perfecting the art of building leaders by looking to the past while racing toward an everchanging future.

“My dream is to see this school continue to provide a strong Jewish education for many years to come,” said Hendin. “We hope to impart upon our students the importance of being a link in the chain of a long and rich tradition and history.”

VISIT PJA FOR ANY OF THESE 50TH ANNIVERSARY EVENTS: Early 2012: A community event showcasing the specially commissioned 50th anniversary art project collaboration between PJA students and PJA Artist-in-Residence Lisa Kagan, celebrating the PJA Middot (foundational values). Visit pjaproud.org for more details in coming weeks.

Sunday, June 10, 2012: PJA Alumni and Friends Spaghetti Dinner, 5 pm Monday, June 11: PJA 8th Grade Graduation, 7 pm Also available: Pre-arranged campus tours with Admission Director Inge Hoogerhuis Portland Jewish Academy 6651 SW Capitol Highway www.pjaproud.org

OREGON JEWISH LIFE | FEBRUARY 2012 57

[THROUGH THE AGES]

Tails of love

A

Animals brighten seniors’ days with warm touch, unconditional love story and photos by Deborah Moon

Robison resident Grace Klor tells a very attentive Emma that she needs to lose 10 pounds.

After living at Robison Jewish Health Center for two years, Bob Freedman eagerly awaits his weekly visit from “sweet and wonderful” Emma, who always greets him with a warm kiss.

No, Emma is not his wife or girlfriend – Emma is a 3-yearold white Boxer registered as a Pet Partner with the Delta Society.

“She makes my day,” says Freedman. He calls Emma’s visits “one of the great pleasures that I have.”

Scores of animals regularly visit residents of RJHC and Rose Schnitzer Manor at Cedar Sinai Park. Some, like Emma and her owner Gail Halladay, are Delta Society registered Pet Partners (see box). Others belong to CSP employees or families of residents. About once a quarter, residents are visited by a llama from Mountain Peaks Therapy Llamas, certified through DoveLewis and registered with the Delta Society.

RJHC Activities Coordinator Bonny Chipman says that when any of the animals visit, she can see residents form an instant connection with the animal. She says for those with anxiety, an animal is calming; for former pet owners, a pet’s visit brings a sense of home.

Halladay says she has seen both of those reactions as well as plenty of smiles during her visits. In addition to their weekly visits to Robison, she and Emma also participate in a reading program where children read stories to Emma.

“It is an incredible feeling to know that my passion (for dogs) can make so many people of all different ages so happy,” says Halladay. “There are several individuals at the Robison home who have had to leave their pets behind, or they have very few visitors. Emma’s visits allow them to touch and receive kisses. Some of the residents are so happy that it brings me incredible joy.”

Freedman says he has had many dogs during his life and that Emma “always has an open pass” to come into his room.

“I know that others enjoy her, but Bob is very verbal about his feelings for our visits,” says Halladay. “The distraction and warmth that Emma provides is what he had with his own dog.”

Delta Society is a human-services organization dedicated to improving people’s health and well-being… through positive interactions with animals.

• Delta Society’s Pet Partners program trains volunteers and screens volunteers and their pets for visiting animal programs in hospitals, nursing homes, rehabilitation centers, schools and other facilities.

• More than one million people each year benefit from the 10,000+ registered Delta Society Pet Partners’ work.

–from www.deltasociety.org

58 FEBRUARY 2012 | OREGON JEWISH LIFE

CSP is a very dog friendly campus, according to Chipman, who brings her own 10-pound Shih Tzu-terrier Ethel to the office two days a week. She said residents will stop by to visit Ethel and are disappointed if she isn’t there.

Other regular visitors are Robison Sisterhood member Evelyn Freidman who brings her dog Bitsy in each week and volunteer Adrienne Broddel, who brings her two Elk Hounds for weekly visits.

“It’s very nice to have dogs of all sizes and shapes and breeds here with their owners or visiting,” says CSP Community Program Director Kathy Tipsord. “If someone needs a hug, we can scoop up a staff member’s pet and go to that person and spend some time with them.”

“(A)nimals are there in the moment with people, they accept the person and are open to whoever they are and whatever their needs are.”

“People talk about how comforting animals are,” says Tipsord. “But I think even more important is that animals are there in the moment with people, they accept the person and are open to whoever they are and whatever their needs are.”

“It’s very hard in this busy world to find humans who are in the moment and present. Animals have that capacity,” says Tipsord.

In a setting where touch is often purely to provide care, giving and receiving a nurturing touch is especially comforting, she adds.

Rose Schnitzer Manor resident Joan Nelson meets Rojo, the llama during one of the quarterly visits from Mountain Peaks Therapy Teams to Cedar Sinai Park. The llamas visit residents of both RSM and Robison Home while on the campus. Llama visits provide new experiences for many seniors in addition to offering the same benefits more traditional pet visits provide – lowered anxiety, an increased sense of well-being and the opportunity to give and receive a warm touch.

We Welcome Oregon Jewish Life

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ACTIVE INDEPENDENT SENIOR LIVING

Aldona Marshall and Emma connect on one of Emma’s weekly visits to Robison Jewish Health Center.

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Visit by March 31, 2012.

OREGON JEWISH LIFE | FEBRUARY 2012 59

Oregon’s Original Sephardic Synagogue Upcoming Events

Speaker Series and Family Shabbat February 4th, Prof Oren Kosansky Film Festival February 7th, “Braids” Installation Dinner Save the Date: April 29th. Join us for Rabbi Kaplan’s installation dinner.

OregOn’s• Services Original conducted sephardic synagOgue Wednesday Classes Join us for a class in the Sephardic and on the topic of Sephardic Law and • Services conducted in the upcOming events: Israeli CustomSephardic and Israeli Custom Customs every Wednesday at 7pm.

Speaker Series & Family • Highly participatory service Shabbat Classes Join us every Shabbat • Welcoming •Jews of services Shabbat after lunch for a discussion Friday evening Film Festival every week at sunset all Dinner background on Jewish Legal Theory compared to Installation • Shabbat morning services Wednesday Classes Civil Law. at 9am, followed by lunch • Friday evening services Shabbat Classes

and festive Kiddush

every week• atWelcoming sunsetJews of

all backgrounds • Shabbat morning services at 9am, Rabbi Michael Kaplan (503)and 610-3850 followed byCell: lunch Office: (503) 227-0010 festive Kiddush rabbi@ahavathachim.com

Sometimes, all you need is a helping hand.

Let us help you to stay at home.

To learn more about our in-home care services, call 503-542-0088 or visit us at www.SinaiFamily.org.

Congregation Ahavath Achim Achim 3225 SW Barbur Blvd. • Portland, OR 97239 www.AhavathAchim.com

Rabbi Michael Kaplan Office: (503) 227-0010 Cell: (503) 610-3850 rabbi@ahavathachim.com

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Congregation Ahavath Achim 3225 SW Barbur Blvd Portland, OR 97239 www.AhavathAchim.com

“Planting trees is planting hope.”

– Friends of Trees founder, Richard Seidman

Plant a Tree for Tu B’Shevat!

Dedicate a Gift Tree to honor friends, family, and the earth for the New Year.

Your tree will be planted in the Collins Sanctuary near Forest Park and leave a legacy for future generations. All who buy or receive Gift Trees are invited to plant their trees personally at a special planting on Sunday, March 25.

FriendsofTrees.org/GiftTrees

Gift Tree donations are tax-deductible.

60 FEBRUARY 2012 | OREGON JEWISH LIFE

[TRADITIONS]

photo by Jordan Epstein

TRADITIONS

Volunteers plant native plants along the creek side beside Neveh Shalom where they had previously cleared ivy and other invasive species.

What does Judaism have to say about caring for the earth?

Each month, Oregon Jewish Life will ask a group of four or five rabbis, cantors and/or members of the community a question relevant to the season or a theme in that issue.

Our first issue falls in the same month as Tu B’Shevat, the New Year for the Trees, which is often called the Jewish Earth Day. So, for the first Traditions column, we asked the rabbis of the five oldest congregations in Portland to reflect on Judaism and the environment.

Those congregations, their affiliation or orientation, and the year they formed are: Beth Israel (Reform) established 1858; Neveh Shalom (Conservative) 1961 merger of Ahavai Sholom (1869) and Neveh Zedek (1892); Shaarie Torah (Contemporary Independent) 1902; Kesser Israel (Orthodox) 1916; and Ahavath Achim (Sephardic) 1916.

OREGON JEWISH LIFE | FEBRUARY 2012 61

by Rabbi Michael Z. Cahana Congregation Beth Israel One of my all-time favorite midrashim deals with the human mandate for environmental responsibility: “When the Holy One, blessed be G-d, created the first man, G-d took him and led him round all the trees of the Garden of Eden, and said to him, ‘Behold My works, how beautiful and commendable they are! All that I have created, for your sake I created it. Pay heed that you do not corrupt and destroy My universe; for if you corrupt it there is no one to repair it after you.’” (Ecclesiastes Rabbah VII:20) The rabbis here are obviously dealing with the problem presented early in Genesis (1:28) where the first man is told to “subdue” the earth and have “dominion” over the animals.

Demonstrating discomfort with absolute and wanton rule, the rabbinic imagination shifted the relationship between humanity and nature from ownership to stewardship. After all: “The earth is the Lord’s, and all that fills it; the world, and those who dwell in it.” (Psalms 24:1; see also Exodus 9:29). This is G-d’s world. We have to take care of it.

Human beings, we are taught, have a Divinely mandated responsibility towards the world we have inherited. For Jews, this is enacted through practical legislation, under the rubric of ba’al taschit – do not be wasteful or wantonly destructive.

(Interestingly, this law even extends to the overuse of oil – used for lighting! See Talmud Shabbat 67b).

In this era of Climate Change – where the scientific consensus clearly predicts mass extinctions of species and wholesale displacement of habitable regions, the Jewish value of human stewardship should provide a clear mandate: not only Conservation (ba’al tashchit), but active engagement to take care of G-d’s world and all who are in it.

by Rabbi Daniel Isaak Congregation Neveh Shalom

God spoke to Adam: “All that I have created, I created for you.

Do not corrupt it and desolate My world; for if you corrupt it, there is no one to set it right after you.” (Ecclesiates Rabbah).

Underlying Jewish concern for ecology, the Torah teaches that God placed us on the earth both “to work it and preserve it” (Genesis 2:15). Noah, we recall, was charged by God to protect all living things as he gathered them in the ark. And from Abraham’s vigorous argumentation to save 62 FEBRUARY 2012 | OREGON JEWISH LIFE

Sodom and Gomorrah, we are charged to be actively engaged.

At Neveh Shalom we are proud of the plaque from the U.S. Green Building Council that certifies our construction completed two years ago as meeting Leadership in Energy and Environment Design expectations, granting us Silver status.

LEED is the nationally accepted benchmark for high performance green buildings. In planning we were determined that our efforts exemplify and model the highest in sustainability concerns. Visitors to our campus are greeted by parking spaces designated for hybrid cars and carpools and spaces to lock up bicycles. Less obvious are the flow-through planters that collect and filter runoff water and the highest efficiency heating and air-conditioning system.

Our Shomrei Teva volunteers remove non-native species and enlist our children to plant our vegetable garden. From school to kitchen to office, we recycle and compost.

We only have one earth and it is incumbent upon us all to do whatever we can to preserve that with which God has blessed us.

by Rabbi Arthur Zuckerman Congregation Shaarie Torah Are you aware that Israel plants more trees than it cuts down on a yearly basis? We, the Jewish people, have dedicated ourselves to restoring the Land of Israel through toil and sweat.

Leviticus Rabbah 208 states: “The Holy One, Blessed be He, said to Israel, ‘Although you find it filled with all manner of goodness, do not say we shall sit idly by and not plant, rather just as others planted for you, so shall you plant for your children.’”

Pollution, as we all know, is not a good thing. In my view, pollution refers to many things that confront all of us daily – from keeping good thoughts in our minds about others and extending to our environment. If you have a piece of litter, put it in the right disposal container. If you are walking your dog, clean up after him. Keep your lawns and gardens tidy, help with a community whitewash graffiti day, opt for electronic notifications instead of paper.

On the topic of animal agriculture, I speak from years of experience as a kibbutznik and vegetarian. The amount of carbon gases produced in large animal compounds has a negative impact on the ozone layer and our air, soil and water. Have you ever wondered why Adam and Eve were never told to eat animals, but only of the trees of the Garden of Eden? The first reference of eating of animal “flesh” is after the Great Flood and the story of Noah.

Today through the development of science, we are able to protect our environment, eat healthy and be caretakers of God’s earth.

register noW!

by Rabbi Kenneth Brodkin Congregation Kesser Israel According to Jewish belief, the earth and all of physical creation emanates from the Almighty Creator of the universe. Thus the earth is an expression of G-d’s majesty.

There are two biblical commands which shed light on our

relationship to the earth.

First, G-d commanded Adam to “work and guard” the Garden of Eden where man was placed. Given the intrinsic holiness and divine purpose of the world, we must take care to guard the earth using it for its purpose.

Second, there is the biblical command against needlessly cutting down fruit trees. When a Jewish army lays siege to another city, they may not cut down the surrounding fruit trees without cause. This is a prohibition against unnecessary destruction. The medieval work on the commandments, Sefer HaChinuch, writes that we glean from this prohibition that a Tzaddik is one who desists from wasting or belittling any matter, great or small.

Aside from the command against needless destruction, the Jewish soul sees in the earth’s beauty a profound opportunity to know G-d. Indeed, King David rejoiced in reflecting on the beauty of creation declaring, “how great are your works, HaShem, all of them You made in wisdom, the earth is filled with your possession!” (Psalm 104).

by Rabbi Michael Kaplan, Congregation Ahavath Achim In the morning prayers we proclaim “mah rabu ma’asecha Hashem” (How wondrous are Your creations, Hashem). To begin our day, a Jew looks out to the world to see God’s hand in everything, from the snowcapped mountains to the blades of grass on which we step on our way to the car.

The Talmud relates that one should only pray in a house that has windows. The commentaries explain that if one is having difficulty with his or her concentration while praying, one should look out these windows – to the world – in order to regain the sense of before Whom we are standing.

It is through the meticulous attention to even the smallest detail that we are able to sense the Almighty’s presence, stand in awe of it, and be thankful for the wonderful world with which we have been blessed.

206-447-1967

www.campschechter.org • info@campschechter.org

Where Judaism and Joy are one!

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OREGON JEWISH LIFE | FEBRUARY 2012 63

Lift Urban Portland (formerly Northwest Portland Ministries) needs volunteers to help in the following areas: •We are seeking a friendly volunteer to accompany Rose Schnitzer residents on weekly shopping trips. The chaperone would only be responsible to assist residents in getting on the bus and light shopping. The bus is driven by another volunteer. Trips take place the first three Thursdays of the month from 1 to 4:30 pm.

• Coach & Organizing Buddy – Assist a brain injured low-income resident (with a hoarding problem) to reduce her items and donate them to a good cause. Requires a friendly, patient and nonjudgmental attitude and several visits over a couple of months.

• Cleaning Crew – Assist disabled and frail residents with one-time cleaning to get them caught up before their housing inspections. This is a perfect volunteer job to do with a friend.

Flexible scheduling.

• Food Drive Committee – Help outreach to congregations and community partners and organize this important effort that helps gather much-needed food donations.

• Fundraising for Food – Help create materials to entice potential donors to buy a week’s worth of eggs, a 50-lb bag of dry milk, cooking oil or other essential food items that are rarely received in food drives. This is a great project for creative folks even if you don’t want to do the asking!

• Transportation Volunteer – If you have a van, pickup truck or SUV and would consider being available for helping transport items from one place to another in the service of those in need, please let us know.

• Spring is coming and we have a variety of garden project opportunities.

Contact garden@nwpm.org to express interest and find out more.

For information on these and other volunteer opportunities, contact Kelly Caldwell, Northwest Portland Ministries Volunteer Program Manager, at 503-221-1224, ext. 105.

64 FEBRUARY 2012 | OREGON JEWISH LIFE

Volunteer evolution

Beth Israel does something Jewish for Christmas

by Deborah Moon A quarter century ago, Congregation Beth Israel decided to organize volunteers to do something Jewish for Christmas. Over the years, the effort has included delivering Meals on Wheels and serving Christmas dinner for low-income residents in the area.

For many years, Alan Rosenfeld co-chaired the committee that organized the dinner. Rosenfeld and Beth Israel volunteers started making Christmas day deliveries for Meals on Wheels about 1985. Sometime in the 1990s, Rosenfeld said the congregation started to cooperate with Loaves and Fishes to cater a Christmas meal. Trinity Episcopal, St. Mary’s Cathedral and First Emanuel Lutheran all pitched in on the effort, he said.

For about a decade, congregants have teamed up with Northwest Portland Ministries in their efforts to ensure everyone in their neighborhood could enjoy a Christmas dinner. A few years ago gift bags – including personal hygiene items as well as hats and scarves knitted by Beth Israel’s Mitzvah Knitters and Tualatin Knitters Guild – were added to the mix. This year’s meal also included a flu shot clinic staffed by nurses from Legacy.

On Dec. 23, about 100 volunteers cooked and served a sit down meal of turkey and all the fixings to some 500 people in Beth Israel’s Goodman Hall. Leftover food was delivered to Goose Hollow Family Shelter.

“We publicized this throughout Northwest Portland, the Pearl and downtown,” said Beth Israel member Susan Milstein, who chaired this year’s effort. “This is a community event. People don’t have to be low-income. If you live in our community, you are welcome to the dinner.”

Reflective of the expanded area for the dinner, NWPM also has broadened its geography to include the Pearl District, Old Town and downtown.

That’s not the only change for the nonprofit interfaith agency. As of Feb. 2, NWPM will be called Lift Urban Portland.

photo by Deborah Moon

[VOLUNTEERS]

Jill Neuwelt followed by her husband Dr. Ed Neuwelt carry plates of food to serve free meals to those attending the annual Christmas dinner served at Congregation Beth Israel in cooperation with Northwest Portland Ministries.

The Neuwelts’ two adult children Sasha and Simone, who were home for winter break from medical school and a medical residency, joined their parents in serving meals Dec. 23.

Jewish Family and Child Service volunteer needs: “Lift Urban Portland is more compelling to our audiences and supporters.

The word ‘ministries’ is often misleading and confuses people about our mission,” according to a statement from the agency.

“A new tagline, ‘An interfaith community of volunteers,’ reflects our roots in area congregations, whose volunteers launched the organization 30 years ago.”

The name also reflects the changing nature of services the agency provides.

Lift Urban Portland not only provides transportation services, it also focuses on nutrition programs and helping neighbors complete personal tasks to maintain their independence and dignity.

“We want to continue to evolve along with neighbors’ needs,” said the agency’s statement. “We are an interfaith community of volunteers who Lift Up neighbors in need. …

“Volunteers from congregations and the local community empower neighbors to live with dignity and purpose.”

•JFCS is constantly in need of volunteer Mensches to provide seniors and individuals with disabilities with regular friendly visits; transportation to medical appointments, errands and social outings; as well as occasional help with meal preparation and light housekeeping services. These opportunities can be one time, but we do encourage regular visits (weekly, bi-weekly or even monthly) in order to have the opportunity to build trust and a relationship between the client and the volunteer.

•The agency also will need some drivers to transport clients to a Special Seder for Passover in late March or early April. We do ask that the volunteer be available to drive the client to and from the event (not just one way).

•JFCS hosts monthly social gatherings for Holocaust survivors (usually held at Rose Schnitzer Manor). Each month we need volunteers to transport survivors to these events. A volunteer is welcome and encouraged to stay for the event (the events are free of charge), which usually last for about 2-3 hours.

Volunteerism offers an opportunity for both the client and the volunteer to engage in meaningful activities, develop relationships and make a significant and lasting contribution to the community. Volunteerism is quite special, as everyone gets the chance to gain something special. Many other volunteer opportunities come up regularly through our agency, so interested volunteers should feel free to contact us any time.

If interested in volunteering for these events, please contact JFCS Volunteer Coordinator Missy Fry at 503-226-7079, ext. 133 or by email at MissyFry@jfcs-portland.org. If you are not yet a volunteer with JFCS and would like to become one, the agency will require paperwork to be filled out, including an application, a confidentiality agreement and a release to run a criminal and DMV background check. Please contact Missy Fry for more detailed instructions on how to sign up.

Congratulations to Oregon Jewish Life on the launch of your premiere issue.

We look forward to reading about the happenings in our community throughout the year, but especially during the months we spend in the desert.

Thanks for helping to keep us in touch.

The Desert Lunch Bunch Doug Goodman, Sol Menashe, Bob Philip, Harold Pollin, Gilbert Schnitzer, Jerry Stern, Ron Tonkin, Sandy Weinstein OREGON JEWISH LIFE | FEBRUARY 2012 65

[HAPPENINGS]

Super Diamond, super event March 10 dinner ‘loves, honors, respects’ community’s elders

by Deborah Moon

C

Cedar Sinai Park Gala co-chairs Michelle Eastern Gradow, left, and Christi Goodman chat with 97-year-old Millie Miller in her room at Robison Jewish Health Center on the CSP campus.

Cedar Sinai Park’s March 10 event “Super Diamond: A Tribute to Neil Diamond” is as much a tribute to the seniors at Robison Jewish Health Center as it is to the legendary singer.

This year’s CSP gala features dinner and a musical show for all generations. Cocktail attire is suggested for the evening at the elegant Nines Hotel.

For more than a decade, “Super Diamond” has won accolades for its tribute performances to the man who in 2011 won a hat trick of awards including the Kennedy Center Honors in recognition of a lifetime of contributions to American culture. The 70-year-old singer/songwriter also was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and received the inaugural Billboard Icon Award last year.

“Neil Diamond’s music appeals to so many generations,” says Christi Goodman who returns for a second year to co-chair the CSP gala with longtime chair Michelle Eastern Gradow. “After we signed Super Diamond, I was in the car with my 16-year-old daughter and a Neil Diamond song came on. She commented ‘I just feel good when I hear Neil Diamond.’ And my father-inlaw also loves Neil Diamond – he’s such a nice tie through the generations.”

66 FEBRUARY 2012 | OREGON JEWISH LIFE

WHEN: 6:30 p.m., March 10 WHERE: The Nines Hotel, 525 SW Morrison, Portland WHY: To fulfill the commitment “to love, honor and respect” the community’s elders COST: $100 per person RSVP to CSP Special Events Coordinator Trish Tice Coates at 503-535-4422 or Trish.Coates@cedarsinaipark.org

And tying generations together is a major goal for CSP’s largest annual fund-raising event created to “love, honor and respect” the community’s elders.

“We have tremendous support from the community year after year,” says Gradow. “It’s so important to take care of the residents of Robison Home – they are all our loved ones. They took care of us and now it’s our turn to take care of them.”

Gradow and Goodman know just where to turn when they want some inspiration to create a wonderful event. When they walk into the Robison living room or visit residents in their rooms, the duo get plenty of reminders as to why they devote countless hours to ensuring the future is secure for these residents.

Recently the two took time away from a planning meeting to get some inspiration. After chatting with folks in the living room, they visited with 89-year-old Harvey Keller, whose wife was Gradow’s preschool teacher many years ago. Then they dropped in on 97-year-old Millie Miller, who moved from CSP’s Rose Schnitzer Manor apartments to Robison Home last fall.

“Neil Diamond’s music appeals to so many generations.” Christi Goodman After the beautiful apartments at the modern Manor, Miller says she doesn’t really like the physical building that houses Robison, but “the care here is impeccable. … I haven’t met a person here who isn’t doing a wonderful job.” She adds she is pleased CSP is raising money to build home-based units and upgrade the existing building.

Goodman says that many people forget about the home until they reach the age when they need to find help for their own parents or need help themselves.

“I feel it’s important to bring the home to everyone’s attention regardless of their age,” says Goodman, which is one reason she is excited about this year’s show designed to draw an intergenerational crowd.

Gradow suggests getting tickets early because there are only 350 tickets available.

[HAPPENINGS]

Women’s Impact Feb. 27 event celebrates feminine power

by Deborah Moon Fields-Meyer

IMPACT: Ripples of Hope – Waves of Change • WHEN: 7 p.m. Feb. 27 • WHERE: The Nines Hotel, 525 SW Morrison St. WHAT: Women’s event featuring kosher nibbles, inspirational speaker, social time•COST: $40 before Feb. 13; $50 after RSVP online at www.jewishportland.org/impact or call 503-892-7413 WHO INSPIRES YOU? To help create a slide show for the event, send a photo and a brief description of a woman who has inspired you to nicole@jewishportland.org by Feb. 20. Call 503-892-7406 for more information.

Rabbi Shawn Fields-Meyer returns to Portland

Join us Monday, February 27, 2012 for

IMPACT with

Rabbi Shawn Fields-Meyer of Hope - Wav ples es p i R of ge an Ch

Feb. 27 to help women explore how their grand efforts and subtle gestures impact the world.

“Ripples of Hope – Waves of Change” is the theme of this year’s Impact event at the elegant Nines Hotel. The Jewish Federation of Greater Portland annually hosts a Women’s Philanthropy program to connect and inspire Jewish women in the community.

“It is energizing to be in a room full of creative, generous, mindful and dedicated women who have all come together to share their passion for a common cause: Our Community,” said Robyn Spring, who is cochairing the event with Kathy DavisWeiner and Evelyn Maizels.

Fields-Meyer likes to relate the tale of the Hasidic master Rabbi Bunim of Pshis’cha who famously said that everyone should have two pockets; one to contain a scrap of paper with the message “I am but dust and ashes,” and the other with “The world was created for my sake.”

“This is the tension of human existence,” says Fields-Meyer.

“On the one hand, we feel powerless – the world spins and we can do nothing about it; on the other, we make grand gestures, trying to change our world in significant and permanent ways.

When we fail to change everything, we often feel that we can change nothing. But the Jewish tradition reminds us that the truth lies in between.’

Just as a pebble thrown into the still pond sends everexpanding ripples that touch every shore, the smallest act can build and join other ripples to create waves that can sweep away obstacles.

“Every act does have an impact,” says Fields-Meyer. “We are utterly powerful, but our power can often come from gentle, subtle and unrecorded deeds. I look forward to exploring these ideas – and how they each of us can help better the world in ongoing ways.”

Currently Fields-Meyer serves as school rabbi at the Milken Community High School and is an instructor in Bible at the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies. She frequently serves as scholar-in-residence at congregations around the country,

addressing issues of prayer, spirituality, parenting and technology. But returning to Portland has special meaning to her.

“Oregon runs in veins,” says Fields-Meyer.” My father’s Russian great-grandfather, Joseph Nudelman, arrived in Portland in the early 1900s. On my mother’s side, I’m a thirdgeneration Portlander. …Many of my family members still live in Portland: aunts and uncles, cousins, and a large extended family. In addition, my husband’s parents and siblings and our nieces and nephews all live in Portland.”

A Women’s Philanthropy Event www.jewishportland.org/impact 503.245.6219 Women’s Philanthropy

OREGON JEWISH LIFE | FEBRUARY 2012 67

[HAPPENINGS/REVIEW]

Nearly 300 teens attended Jewish Student Union Hanukkah parties in the Portland area in December. “It was incredible to see all the Jewish teens getting excited for the holiday,” said Oregon JSU Director Meira Spivak. The festivities included a dreidel tournament (above), latke eating, Hanukkah music videos and more. To get involved with JSU, email meira@jsu.org.

(From left) Audrey Weiss, Emily Levine, Phillip Weiss and Aviva Samuels, and (front) Nina Lerma and Shoshi Lerma were among the 20 teens from the Oregon NCSY who attended NCSY’s winter regional in La Jolla, CA. Now in the West Coast region of NCSY, Oregon showed an incredible representation by bringing 20 people to the exciting regional at the La Jolla Hilton. For information on NCSY, email chastaind@ncsy.org.

Jewish Theatre Collaborative, PJ Library share light of Hanukkah The Jewish Theatre Collaborative partnered with PJ library to bring their touring hit, “Hanukah: The Power of Light” to audiences around Portland this holiday season. Performers Darrell Salk and Sara Fay Goldman brought to life this stage adaptation of two of PJ library’s beloved holiday classics: Eric A. Kimmel’s “When Mindy Saved Hanukkah” and Patricia Polacco’s “The Trees of the Dancing Goats.”

Salk and Goldman played more than a dozen different characters during the course of the hour-long page-to-stage production.

During December, Hanukah: The Power of Light engaged and entertained more than 550 audience members at Gresham and Midland Libraries, Buckman Elementary School, Miracle Theatre and the Mittleman Jewish Community Center.

JTC’s year-round touring show Naftali, Story Voyager on the Yiddish Seas, also featuring Darrell Salk and Sara Fay Goldman, has been picked up

by Young Audiences for their school roster and is available for performances year round. To schedule a performance, contact Sacha Reich at sacha@jewishtheatrecollaborative.org or at 503-512-0582.

25 students begin Melton Arab-Israeli conflict course On Jan. 10 at Shaarie Torah, 25 students began a Melton course to study the history of the Arab-Israeli conflict using curriculum from Hebrew University in Jerusalem.

“I am tremendously excited to be studying in depth about the history of the Arab Israeli conflict with an instructor whose roots are in the Middle East.

I expect that what we will learn will be unbiased, fair and objective. In other words, it will be in line with Melton’s core values,” said Brad Pearlman, one of the students and Melton vice president.

These students are taking one of many courses offered by Portland’s Florence Melton Adult Mini-School this winter with many beginning in February or March. Other courses include Genesis, History of Israel, Using Hebrew Roots to unlock Jewish texts for study and prayer, and perspectives on Intermarriage. To learn more, visit www.meltonportland.org.

Portland Melton reaches interfaith families, gains national attention Portland Melton Director Sarah Liebman was invited to present a program on fact that 65% of Portland’s new Melton core students are part of an interfaith family at the North American Melton Directors’ Meeting held in Los Angeles Jan. 15-18.

“We have seen that Melton gives the non-Jewish spouse greater understanding and appreciation for Jewish practice and enables him or her to participate in Jewish education for their children.

It helps the Jewish spouse explain the meaning and value of Jewish customs to a partner, in-laws, and children. Liebman attributed part of Portland Melton’s success in reaching interfaith families to the Holzman Foundation’s creation of a scholarship fund for interfaith families.

In addition to presenting at the Melton conference, Liebman will be teaching a course she developed on perspectives on intermarriage at the Portland Melton School starting Feb. 14. Register at www.meltonportland.org.

At left, Shaarie Torah Wednesday Night School 10th-grader Joanna Freedman joined a group of her classmates Jan. 7 to dish up dinner for 248 people at Blanchette House Hospitality, which provides three free meals a day to those in need. “People started lining up at 4:30 and they lined all the way around the block,” said Shaarie Torah Education Director Dorice Horenstein. “And they sat and they waited until 5 p.m. when the doors opened and then only a few at a time were being ushered to come in to find their tables and begin to eat.” The following week, middle school students took on the same mitzvah of feeding the hungry, and adult volunteers followed suit Jan. 19.

68 FEBRUARY 2012 | OREGON JEWISH LIFE

Expert on Jewish philanthropy presents Solomon Lecture Feb. 23 Recession or not, Jewish philanthropy is alive and well. However, is it immune from the economic downturn?

Will it look different upon an economic recovery?

Sanford (Sandy) R. Cardin, president of the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation, will hit on these questions and more about the world of Jewish philanthropy when he comes to Portland State University as the 2012 Gus & Libby Solomon Memorial lecture guest.

This free lecture, “The Jewish Community of the Future,” will start at 7 p.m., Feb. 23, in PSU’s Lincoln Hall.

Cardin is a frequent presenter and panelist in global forums on topics related to catalytic grantmaking, innovative program-building, Jewish identity, young adult engagement, Israel and more. His published works include a chapter in “What We Now Know About Jewish Education” (2008) and a reflective essay on trends in contemporary American Judaism in “Synagogues in a Time of Change” (2009).

Cardin currently serves as a director of several organizations, including Hillel Russia, and has served in the past on the boards of such groups as the Council on Foundations and the Jewish Funders Network. A native of Baltimore, Cardin is a graduate of Harvard University and the University of Maryland School of Law. The Gus & Libby Solomon Memorial Lecture is dedicated to the American Jewish experience and the values of social justice exemplified by the lateJudge Gus J. Solomon and his wife, Libby – a force for social justice in her own right – in their lifetimes.

RSVPs appreciated to jenn.d.knudsen@pdx.edu or 503-725-2305.

Volunteers needed to discuss aging in place

[HAPPENINGS/PREVIEW]

Cedar Sinai Park, in collaboration with Jewish Family & Child Service, Mittleman Jewish Community Center and Jewish Federation of Greater Portland, seeks volunteers to participate in discussion groups to develop services helping elders and people with disabilities remain at home. Discussions will take place in March 2012.

Participants are needed who have recently: Provided care at home for an aging loved one; Helped an aging loved one make plans to remain independent; Made plans to age at home; Received care, rehabilitation, or other support ; or Needed services as an adult with special needs. To participate, email discussion@cedarsinaipark.org.

Young adults invited to Tu B’Shevat celebration For centuries Jews have celebrated the new year of the trees. Tu B’Shevat was originally a way of taxing fruit trees. In modern Israel, people plant trees to celebrate Tu B’Shevat. Israel is the only country in the world that is experiencing reforestation, not deforestation: there are now more trees in Israel then there were at the beginning of the 20th or 21st century!

On Feb. 12, 2012 we will plant fruit trees in an economically disadvantaged area in order to beautify and improve the resident’s quality of life. In the future these same trees will provide local residents with a new, sustainable and important food source.

Join us as we plant trees, have a mini Tu B’Shevat Seder where we will eat dried fruits, learn about Tu B’Shevat in Israel and help better our world.

Portland Tu B’Shevat Celebration for Young Adults will be 2-5 pm Feb. 12. For location visit JewishPortland.org or the Facebook page “YAD Portland” or call the Jewish Federation of Greater Portland at 503-245-6219.

EXHIBITS AT OREGON JEWISH MUSEUM Through May 20: In Transport–Works by Henk Pander and Esther Podemski. The artists use World War II as the backdrop from which to explore the remembered realities of wartime. Dutch born Pander’s work delves into the world of his difficult and dangerous childhood. Podemski grew up in Portland listening to her parent’s tales of surviving ghettos, concentration camps, and a daring post-war escape. Both artists root their connection to the past in childhood memories and family connections. Pander and Podemski explore complex relationships–between time and memory and truth and the subjectivity of the mind–with intellectual rigor and brilliant rendering.

Through May 6: The Dawn of Tomorrow: Oregon Jews and Woman Suffrage. Exhibit explores the sometimes equivocal participation of Oregon’s Jewish community in the campaigns that ultimately gave Oregon women the right to vote in 1912. From views voiced by local rabbis to the anti-suffrage sentiment expressed in Portland’s Jewish press – the exhibit uses local newspaper accounts and photographs to weave together an intriguing story.

Jaap Pander: Let There Be Light. Dutch artist Jaap Pander’s Bible illustrations demonstrate his extraordinary ability for portraiture, landscape, still life, animals and sheer fantasy. Pander began an arts legacy in his family best exemplified by

the work of his oldest son, Henk Pander.

Exhibit Hours: Tuesday-Thursday 10:30 am–4 pm; Friday 10:30 am–3 pm; Saturday & Sunday noon-4 pm. Info: www.ojm.org or 503-226-3600.

Oregon Jewish Museum, 1953 NW Kearney St.

SUBMIT ITEMS FOR HAPPENINGS Oregon Jewish Life accepts brief submissions about past and future events.

Photographs for the Review page of Happenings should be at least 4 inches wide at 300 dpi.

Captions for the photos should include a description of event, when and where the activity occurred and names of people in the photograph unless it is a large group.

Brief write-ups about an event that do not include a photograph should be no more than 200 words.

To submit an upcoming event for the Previews section, send date, time, location, event name with short description and contact information.

All submissions should be sent to Deborah.moon@ojlife.com.

OREGON JEWISH LIFE | FEBRUARY 2012 69

[HAPPENINGS/PREVIEW]

FEBRUARY CALENDAR Wed. Feb. 1

Thu. Feb. 9

Tue. Feb. 21

The Birds & The Bees (and your kid).

7 pm at Kesser Israel, 6698 SW Capitol Hwy. Info: 503-222-1239.

Informational meeting for 10-day Israel trip in June. 7 pm at Congregation Kol Ami1006-B 146th St, Vancouver, WA. RSVP to admin@ jewishvancouverusa.org or 360-896-8088.

Moishe House goes to Blazer’s game. Limited tickets. RSVP: moishehousepdx@gmail.com or message at Moishe House Portland on Facebook.

Thu. Feb. 2 Heeb Remixed, a night dedicated to emerging Jewish musicians and songwriters, is the first of Oregon Jewish Museum’s six: social playground, a series of programs celebrating the next generation of Jewish talent . 8 pm at Holocene, 1001 SE Morrison at 10th; Portland, 21 and up.

Tickets: brownpapertickets.com Mommy & Me with a Jewish Twist, 5 Thursday sessions, begins 10 am at the Gan Preschool, 6612 SW Capitol Hwy., Portland.

Sat. Feb. 4 S’mores in the city, a taste of summer camp for families with children ages 6-12, presented by B’nai B’rith Camp and PJ Library at 7 pm at Multnomah Arts Center, 7688 SW Capitol Hwy, Portland. RSVP: yael@jewishportland.org or 503-245-6219.

Sun. Feb. 5 “A Certain People: American Jews and Their Lives Today,” book talk. 1 pm at Temple Beth Sholom, 1274 Cunningham Ln. S., Salem. 503-364-1372 or office@tbsholom.org.

Tu B’Shevat for Tots at the new Jewish day school Ma’ayan Ha Torah. 10:30 am at Neveh Shalom, 2900 SW Peaceful Lane; Portland.

Anneke Bloomfield will speak on her experiences as a hidden child during World War II. 9:45 am at Kol Shalom Center, 1509 SW Sunset Blvd., Portland, Suite 1E. Info: 503-459-4210 or info@kolshalom.org.

Fri. Feb. 10 Shabbat Shebang and Saturday Night Surprise for teens. Contact Meira at NCSY 503-757-3037.

Sat. Feb. 11 Ma’ayan HaTorah Day School’s first annual “Melava Malka” party. Reception 7:30 pm Awards at 8:30 at MJCC. RSVP to 503-756-9939.

Moishe House Open mic night.

RSVP: moishehousepdx@gmail.com or message at Moishe House Portland on Facebook.

Dance Party for adults only!

RSVP to education@shaarietorah.org. 7:30 pm at Shaarie Torah, 920 NW 25th Ave.

Sun. Feb. 12 Portland Tu B’Shevat Celebration for Young Adults.

See story page 68.

Storytime Onstage: “Mrs. Katz and Tush” presented

by Jewish Theatre Collaborative, PJ Library and Oregon Jewish Museum. 2 pm at OJM, 1953 NW Kearney St., Portland. RSVP at www.ojm.org.

Jewish Community Orchestra-Young Artist Showcase. 3 p.m. at MJCC, tickets at door.

Info: 503-806-2494 or www. jewishcommunityorchestra.org.

Junior NCSY Chiller for middle schoolers. Afternoon.

Info: Meira at 503-757-3037.

Mon. Feb. 13

Wed. Feb. 22 Film: “Ahead of Time The Extraordinary Journey of Ruth Gruber.” Noon at Oregon Jewish Museum; repeats 7 pm, Feb. 23. Tickets: at www.ojm.org or call 503-226-3600.

Thu. Feb. 23 7th Annual Gus and Libby Solomon Lecture. See story page 68.

Teen Jewish Film Fest seeks short videos made

by Jewish youth ages 11-18 for JAM (Jewish Arts Month). Select films will screen at the MJCC in March. Send DVDs of up to 10 minutes (excerpts of longer films OK) to JAM Teen Film Fest, c/o Lindsey Grayzel, 2927 NE Davis St. Portland, OR 97232.

Info: Lindsey@goodwingrayzel.com.

Fri. Feb. 24 Weekend in Quest: A Shabbaton in Astoria featuring Professor Oren Kosansky on the Modern Moroccan Jewish experience Feb. 24-26. Register at weekendinquest.org. Info: addieban@comcast.net or mimiepstein42@comcast.net.

Moishe House Sushi Shabbat Dinner. RSVP: moishehousepdx@gmail.com or message at Moishe House Portland on Facebook.

Sat. Feb. 25 Moishe House and Young Adult Supporters of Israel host Israeli wine tasting. RSVP: moishehousepdx@ gmail.com or message at Moishe House Portland on Facebook.

MJCC Indoor Playgroup for parents and children up to age 5. Free. Hosted by Chai Baby. 10:15 am at MJCC. Info: 503-535-3539 or LSinger@pjaproud.org.

29th Annual Meeting of Institute for Judaic Studies of the Pacific Northwest featuring dinner and the Roscoe C. Nelson Jr. Memorial Lecture by Reed College Assistant Professor Marat Grinberg on “Boris Slutsky, the Soviet Rashi.” 6 pm.

RSVP: info@portlandjudaicstudies.org.

Tue. Feb. 7

Tue. Feb. 14

Free film: “Braids” (Hebrew with English subtitles).

The tale of a 14-year-old Jewish girl imprisoned by the Iraqi government in 1947. 7 pm at Ahavath Achim, 3225 SW Barbur Blvd., Portland.

Info: 503-892-6634.

Moishe House hosts Tikvah for candy and cookie exchange. RSVP: moishehousepdx@gmail.com or message at Moishe House Portland on Facebook.

Jews, Mainline Christians and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: Overcoming the Divide Between Our Communities presented by Jewish Federation of Greater Portland’s Community Relations Committee.

7 pm at MJCC Info: bob@jewishportland.org.

Sat. Feb. 18

Sun. March 4

Moishe House Shabbat Lunch with St. Patrick’s Day theme. RSVP: moishehousepdx@gmail.com or message at Moishe House Portland on Facebook.

“The Greatest Shul on Earth,” Neveh Shalom’s Auction. 5 pm at Neveh Shalom, 2900 SW Peaceful Ln. RSVP: 503-246-8831.

Mon. Feb. 20

Purim events at the J: Purim Carnival is co-sponsored by Portland Kollel. 1-4 p.m. on March 4. “Purim Live”with Chabad of Oregon 5-7 pm March 8. Both at MJCC. Info: 503-244-0111.

Mon. Feb. 6

Wed. Feb. 8 Aliyah planning workshop with Nefesh B’Nefesh.

7:30 pm at MJCC. Register: nbn.org.il/workshops or 1-866-4-ALIYAH.

Screening of Food Stamped and discussion with Congressman Earl Blumenauer hosted by JFGP’s Community Relations Committee. 7 pm at Bagdad Theater, 3702 SE Hawthorne Blvd.

Info: 503-245-6496.

70 FEBRUARY 2012 | OREGON JEWISH LIFE

Mon. Feb. 27 IMPACT: Ripples of Hope – Waves of Change.

See story page 67.

Thu. March 1

Mittleman Jewish Community Center, abbreviated as MJCC, is located at 6651 SW Capitol Hwy., Portland.

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