JUNE/JULY 2017
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STAYCATIONS & SUMMER FUN Head outside for art, books and Shabbat
PORTLAND JEWISH FILM FESTIVAL
celebrates silver anniversary with 18 films
Artist Grisha Bruskin presents OJMCHE Inaugural Exhibit ALEFBET
JEWISH MUSEUM LIGHTS UP THE PEARL
OREGON JEWISH LIFE | JUNE/JULY 2017 1
ENERGY SAVINGS ARE IN YOUR FUTURE THREE WAYS YOU CAN COMMAND YOUR HOME ENERGY DESTINY
LIGHTING
ELECTRONICS
HEATING
Install ENERGY STAR® LED bulbs to cut your energy use by as much as 85 percent. LEDs are available in many
Unplug battery chargers for mobile phones, tablets, laptops and other devices when not in use—they use energy even when
Save on heating costs by lowering the thermostat to 65-68 degrees when you’re home, and to 58-60 degrees
styles to fit all the rooms in your home and you’ll save even more in the long run because they’ll last up to 20 times
they’re not actively charging anything. Group your electronics together on power strips so you can switch them off when you’re
at night or when you’re away. Upgrade to a smart thermostat to make these kinds of energy-saving
longer than standard bulbs.
done using everything.
changes automatically.
+
Get more from your energy. Call us at 1.866.368.7878 or visit www.energytrust.org/homes. Serving customers of Portland General Electric, Pacific Power, NW Natural, Cascade Natural Gas and Avista. 2 OREGON JEWISH LIFE | JUNE/JULY 2017
Thank You! We extend our sincere gratitude to the sponsors of our fifth annual fundraising luncheon, and thank you for your commitment to the JFCS family—our work wouldn’t be possible without your support.
The Holzman Foundation, Inc. / Renée & Irwin Holzman Larry Holzman
Arlene Schnitzer & Jordan Schnitzer
Sol & Rosalyn Menashe Family Fund of OJCF
Gloria Bacharach Family Fund of the OJCF
Howard & Wendy Liebreich Family Fund of the OJCF
Lloyd & Rosemarie Rosenfeld Fund of the OJCF
Andrew Berlinberg
David & Liz Lippoff
Kathy & Norman Chusid
Diane & Richard Lowensohn
Sheryl & Warren Rosenfeld OJCF Advisory Fund
Nathan Cogan Family Fund of the OJCF
Toinette & Victor Menashe
Lee & Sheri Cordova
Madeline Nelson (z”l)
Dick Dobrow
Harold & Jane Pollin
Chester Edward & Lynn Tobias
Rosenbaum Financial, Inc.
John & Sarah Epstein
Alan & Eve Rosenfeld
Rosalie Goodman
Jim & Lora Meyer
Ann & Robert Sacks / Pixie Project Elaine Savinar & Sharon Weil Les & Martha Soltesz Eve Stern & Les Gutfreund and Family Robert Tobias Charlene Zidell
OUR SERVICES Counseling, Disability Support Services, Emergency Aid, Holocaust Survivor Services 503-226-7079 • info@jfcs-portland.org • jfcs-portland.org
OREGON JEWISH LIFE | JUNE/JULY 2017 3
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Oregon Jewish Life • June/July 2017 | Sivan-Av 5777 | Volume 6/Issue 5
COVER STORY 12
Museum opens in new home Named spaces at OJMCHE Inaugural Exhibit: ALEFBET
32 33 35
FEATURES JEWS WITH ATTITUDE The ripple effect of a mitzvah
18
BUSINESS Ins & Outs Zidells envision a community FILM FEST PJFF celebrates quarter century Film schedule
32
38 40
42 43
FOOD Chef’s Corner: Oregon bounty NW Nosh: Israel inspires Ray
HOME & LIFESTYLE Harvest and preserve your herbs SENIORS Sing your way to health Lifestyle can slow cognitive decline
38
YOUNG ADULT Hillel grows strong at OSU Hillel's Welcome Shabbat funded
14 16
ISRAEL The magic of Roy Dahan’s music Summer fun in Israel
12
44 46
48
50 52
STAYCATIONS & SUMMER FUN Lookout life Human beings & art Art walks Bookstore magic in Hood River Summer reading Summer shows Staycations & summer fun directory Museum grand opening Portland Jewish Film Festival Summer fun in Israel kids + water = summer fun Vacation finances
JKIDS & TEENS TOO Just add water for a fun summer outing JKids & Teens Calendar
Rise of extremists creates space in middle Previews of things to come FACES Calendar
60 63 64 66
COLUMNS Chef’s Corner by Lisa Glickman NW Nosh by Kerry Politzer Ask Helen
53 55
COVER: Grisha Bruskin's "ALEFBET: An Alphabet of Memory" is the inaugural exhibit at the grand opening of the Oregon Jewish Museum and Center for Holocaust Education.
4 OREGON JEWISH LIFE | JUNE/JULY 2017
56 59
JLIVING
Tapestry image courtesy of Grisha Bruskin, Artist photo by Palma Corral
53
18 22 24 25 27 30 31 32 38 43 56 62
44 46 62
OREGON JEWISH LIFE | JUNE/JULY 2017 5
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JUNE/JULY 2017 Oregon Jewish Life | June - July 2017 | Sivan-Av 5777
PUBLISHERS
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P U B L I C AT I O N A N D D E A D L I N E S Oregon Jewish Life magazine is distributed on the f irst of the month. Stor y ideas for features and special sec tions are due 45-60 days prior to publication. B IZ IN S & O UTS: Business news is due about 25 days before publication. FACES & PLACES: Photos from past events are due 20 days prior to publication. E VENTS: Information about upcoming event s is due about 20 days prior to publication. C ALEN DAR : Please post event s on our online calendar. Relevant event s that are posted by the 10th of the month before publication will be included in the magazine. To request f irst-time authorization to post event s online, go to orjewishlife.com and scroll down to the “calendar access request” link under “quick links” on the right . Af ter you submit the form, you’ll receive an email with instruc tions for posting future event s.
A Prince Hal Production ( TGMR18) 2016-2017 MediaPort LLC All rights reserved 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.
APPRAISAL EVENT
California and Western Paintings and Sculpture August 11 A Bonhams specialist will be visiting Portland to WYV]PKL JVTWSPTLU[HY` HUK JVUÄKLU[PHS HWWYHPZHSZ ^P[O a view to selling at auction.
E. CHARLTON FORTUNE (1885-1969) Wharf, Monterey, circa 1915 oil on canvas 24 x 22 1/4in Sold for $727,500 INQUIRIES +1 (503) 312 6023 sheryl.acheson@bonhams.com
bonhams.com/calwest ©2017 Bonhams & Butterfields Auctioneers Corp. All rights reserved. Bond No. 57BSBGL0808
OREGON JEWISH LIFE | JUNE/JULY 2017 7
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The Pacific Northwest in summer is a magnificent place to live or visit – or both with a staycation! Fresh food, outdoor recreation, arts events and other cultural offerings are bountiful. The grand opening of the Oregon Jewish Museum and Center for Holocaust Education in its new home in Portland’s Pearl is just one more reason to spend time in our beautiful state. While this issue offers a multitude of ways to enjoy your summer, our next issue will give you the information you need to experience our vibrant community all year long.
AUGUST 2016
Robert Philip TM
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N AV I G AT E Y O U R WAY T O T H E JEWISH COMMUNITY
COMING SOON 2017/2018 2016 2017
Cindy Saltzman
RESOURCE GUIDE PLUS E D U C AT I O N SUPPLEMENT I N S I D E • PA G E 5 0
Oregon Jewish Life’s 2017-2018 Resource Guide will be available in the early fall. Our annual guide can help you navigate the many diverse agencies, businesses, congregations and more that create our vibrant community. The annual guide will also include our education supplement. From preschools to colleges, the supplement will include profiles of area educational resources to help you find the perfect fit for your family. So enjoy your summer and get ready to explore our Resource Guide. Let us help you create your own Jewish journey.
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97 ANNUAL MEETING th
TUESDAY, JUNE 13 • 4:30 - 6PM Congregation Neveh Shalom • Stampfer Chapel 2900 SW Peaceful Lane, Portland 97239
With special guest, RABBI JAY MOSES
Our community is grateful to the following outgoing Board members for their dedicated service and inspirational leadership.
Please join us as we:
Vice President, The Wexner Foundation
Board On Leadership theGoverning Jewish World Needs2016-2017 in the 21st Century
LAUREN GOLDSTEIN JORDAN PLAWNER
Look back with us at the achievements of 2016-17, plus a preview of the many amazing new initiatives for next year!
GOVERNING BOARD 2017-18 JACK BIRNBACH DAVID FORMAN DEBBIE FRANK LAUREN GOLDSTEIN* SIMON GOTTHEINER CHARLES LEVY JIM MEYER JEFF ROBINSON
ROCHELLE SCHWARTZ* MARSHAL SPECTOR SHARON STERN CHERYL TONKIN ED TONKIN MICHAEL WEINER MINDY ZEITZER JAY ZIDELL
* Newly elected
Thank our outgoing Board members, Andrew Berlinberg, Shelly Klapper and Joyce Mendelsohn, for their dedicated service and leadership in our community.
Celebrate our 3rd Annual Laurie Rogoway Outstanding Jewish Professional Awardee,
BEN WINKLEBLACK
OPEN TO ALL • LIGHT REFRESHMENTS • NO COST TO ATTEND ®
THE STRENGTH OF A PEOPLE. THE POWER OF COMMUNITY.
6680 SW Capitol Hwy | Portland, OR 97219 503.245.6219 | www.jewishportland.org
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OREGON BEATS THE
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Jewswith
Attitude
Jen Feldman and Jonathan Cohen at OHSU Transplant Center
Jen and Jonathan united by kidney donation A mitzvah begets more good deeds
By Deborah Moon
For Jen Feldman, who received a kidney from Jonathan Cohen on April 18, the story is not about her. The story is about heroes like Jonathan and fellow donors, Marshal Spector and Debbie (Danish) Plawner. It’s about normalizing the idea of kidney donation. It’s about creating a ripple effect that inspires more heroes and saves more lives. Jen and Jonathan are the third kidney donation pair I have written about during my years as a journalist in Oregon’s Jewish press. The first involved Debbie Danish, now Plawner, who donated a kidney to her mother, Carol Danish, Jan. 10, 2000. The second happened on May 21, 2007, when Marshal donated a kidney to his friend, Cantor David Rosenberg, whose wife, Kim, is Debbie’s sister. That donation gave David seven years of watching his and Kim’s children grow up before he died of thyroid cancer Nov. 25, 2014. This is where the ripples begin. Sisters Debbie and Kim stepped up to play a key role in helping Jen find a donor. After that, those ripples spread beyond the Jewish community, too. Jen is the first participant in the Erase the Wait program of Donate Life Northwest to receive a kidney from a living donor. As such, her story is sending out ripples and inspiring other kidney patients to ask their communities for help. According to the Donate Life website, in the United States, nearly 100,000 people are waiting for a kidney. There is a chronic shortage of transplants available through deceased donation. “Our goal is to encourage patients to explore living donors,” says Arcadia Trueheart, the communications engagement coordinator with Donate Life NW. “Jen had already explored living 12 OREGON JEWISH LIFE | JUNE/JULY 2017
donation, but she said she wanted to take any possible route to learn more about it and to have the opportunity to network.” Jen joined the first full cohort of the Erase the Wait Mentorship program, which had launched as a pilot program in 2015. Having Jen in the program was inspirational for the other wait-listed kidney patients and for the mentors, says Arcadia. “She had written her letter and told us about the response she received, and that was really inspiring to other patients in the program who were just crafting their letters,” she says. “Her mentor is highly excited and will work with new mentees in our next group starting in June.” Since arriving in Portland in 1991, Jen has worked as a Jewish professional with the goal of building a caring community. For the past several years, she has been the development director of Congregation Beth Israel. “I’ve worked hard to build a community for everyone else, and I benefited from it myself,” she says. She is known around town for her saying, “Life is a party and everyone is just waiting to be invited.” Jen says asking publically for someone to donate a kidney to save her life was hard. “What happens if you ask and no one helps? What if you have a party and no one shows up?” About a year and a half ago, Jen wrote about her need for a kidney in Beth Israel’s newsletter. A few people reached out, but no qualified donor was a match. She had gotten discouraged, until CBI Associate Rabbi Rachel Joseph gave a sermon on hope. And just as she started to hope again, Debbie Plawner and Kim Rosenberg reached out. Kim drafted a letter and Debbie fine tuned it and agreed to be the point person to talk to any potential donors. The Beth Israel clergy added some personal comments and soon interested people called Debbie.
It worked. Jonthan was a match. “I wanna give a big shout out to my kidney recipient, and one of my favorite people, Jen Feldman,” Jonathan wrote on Facebook a few days after the surgery. “When I found out that she needed help, I didn't hesitate to volunteer because she is one of those special people that just emanates life. While everyone has been singing my praises, I want to be clear that it's people like Jen that get 40 people to sign up to donate a kidney because she is that kind of wonderful ... I just happened to be the best match.” He adds that one amazing thing about Jen is “No matter how she is feeling, she wonders how you are doing, and how she can help you.” Jen disputes the number 40, but Debbie says she spoke to at least 25 people
The two experiences “made me realize I don’t have to feel hopeless, there is something I can do,” says Debbie. So helping Jen find a donor was a natural next step. “Jen has dedicated her life to this community and has given so much to others,” says Marshal. “If we tell Jen and Jonathan’s story, and my story with David, other people will step up and donate a kidney or step up and give tzedakah – generosity begets generosity.” “Donating a kidney was the greatest thing in my life,” says Marshal. “I believe the good that came out of it was not just David Rosenberg, z"l, and Marshal for David and his family, but the ripple Spector, right, embrace. Marshal donated effect. Mitzvoth inspire others to do good a kidney to David in 2007, giving him seven things.” years to watch his three then-school-age Marshal’s donation rippled not just children grow up. in the Jewish community but beyond. A woman in Lake Oswego who needed a kidney belonged to a large church, but she didn’t think of asking her congregation until a neighbor showed her an article about Marshal donating a kidney to his cantor and good friend, David. She and the neighbor approached the church pastor, who sent out an appeal. She soon had a donor. Jen hopes more of those ripples are sent out as she shares her story. “Not everyone can be a donor, but everyone can be a friend,” she says. If those friends share her story, maybe more people will become donors and save more lives.
This article in the Feb. 1, 2000, Jewish Review shared the story of Debbie (Danish) Plawner's kidney donation to her mother Carol Danish.
who wanted more information. As a kidney donor herself, she explained the process and did an initial screening with a questionnaire provided by OHSU’s organ transplant team, who performed Jen’s surgery. Twelve people met the guidelines and went to OHSU for testing to see if they were a match for Jen. “Donating a kidney to my mom was the easiest decision I ever made,” says Debbie. “I wanted Mom to live and meet the children I would someday have.” Carol says thanks to Debbie’s donation and a second donation last January from a donor she does not know, she has had 17 years of family celebrations, including a wedding, birth of grandchildren, and bar and bat mitzvahs. Debbie says after donating her kidney to her mom, it was hard to see others with kidney disease and think there was nothing she could do. Then she saw Marshal donate a kidney to a friend and realized nonrelatives can be donors. She learned about paired exchange donations when her aunt needed a kidney; Debbie’s cousin, was an eligible donor but he did not match her. Through a database, they were paired with another family in which the donor matched Debbie’s aunt and the cousin matched that donor’s family member.
RESOURCES Donate Life Northwest donatelifenw.org A 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization whose mission is to save lives and improve health through the promotion of organ, eye and tissue donation. Erase the Wait erasethewait.org A program of Donate Life NW: Waitlisted kidney patients and the support partners of their choosing meet as a group to learn about treatment options including living donation, and explore creative ways to extend their networks and seek a donor. Patients are matched with a trained mentor who is either a living kidney donation recipient or living kidney donor. Wait-listed kidney patients interested in the program, or living kidney donors or recipients who are interested in becoming a mentor, can contact program coordinator Arcadia Trueheart at 503-4184035 or truehear@ohsu.edu Halachic Organ Donor Society hods.org Educates Jews about the different halachic and medical issues concerning organ donation Offers a unique organ donor card that enables Jews to donate organs according to their halachic belief. Renewal: A Comprehensive Resource for Kidney Donors and Recipients life-renewal.org Provides kidney disease information, rabbinic endorsements, a guide for kidney donors and other resources. OREGON JEWISH LIFE | JUNE/JULY 2017 13
INS & OUTS
Kathleen Sullivan
JFCS taps Kathleen Sullivan as interim executive director
Dr. Kathleen M. Sullivan became the interim executive director of Jewish Family & Child Service on May 6, following the departure of Carrie Hoops, who left May 5 to lead William Temple House. JFCS is a subsidiary of Cedar Sinai Park that provides social services to improve the lives of adults, families and children in the Jewish and general communities. An experienced political activist and campaign manager for 15 years, Dr. Sullivan returned to academia to make a positive impact in the lives of older adults. As a researcher at the Institute on Aging, Dr. Sullivan led Oregon’s first study of transportation for older adults in Oregon and a study for Metro Portland forecasting the needs of the baby boom population. Upon completion of her dissertation in gerontology, she was hired as director of the senior services department of the Los Angeles LGBT Center. Recently she founded a new organization in Seattle called Generations with Pride, secured two years of funding, partnered with Seattle Parks and Recreation, and fully recruited a highly talented board of directors. "We welcome Kathleen to JFCS. Her management experience, strong background in social services and organizational development are well-suited to lead our agency in the near future," says JFCS Board Chair Les Soltesz. KSullivan@jfcs-portland.org | 503-226-7079, ext. 113 | jfcs-portland.org
Ben Winkleblack named outstanding Jewish professional
The third annual Laurie Rogoway Outstanding Jewish Professional Award will be presented to Ben Winkleblack at the 97th Annual Meeting of the Jewish Federation of Greater Portland June 13, 4:30 pm at Congregation Neveh Shalom. This award honors Laurie’s dedication to community and her passion for Jewish life, and includes $1,800 to participate in a professional development experience. Ben, a native Oregonian, has worked at the Jewish Federation for 11 years, the last eight as director of finance. He is also chairing a national group of Federation finance professionals and is coordinating their mission to Israel. “He makes things happen – in a way that most would never know,” says Federation President and CEO Marc N. Blattner. Federation Treasurer Jack Birnbach says Ben “has the respect of his coworkers and agency contacts.” His work behind the scenes benefits the Jewish community-at-large, as his dedication to fiscal responsibility ensures the maximum funds possible are available to support and maintain a vibrant Portland Jewish community for all. 14 OREGON JEWISH LIFE | JUNE/JULY 2017
Ben Winkleblack
Libby Weiss
Kathy Davis-Weiner, chair of the Rogoway committee, says of the decision, “In honoring Ben, we salute all those invaluable administrative professionals who keep our Jewish organizations fiscally and operationally sound so that their colleagues can focus on the programs and services of taking care of our community.” Jewishportland.org
Libby Weiss wins Nefesh B’Nefesh Bonei Zion Prize
Portland native, Libby Weiss, has been awarded the 2017 Sylvan Adams Nefesh B’Nefesh Bonei Zion Prize. The Bonei Zion Award recognizes immigrants that have made an extraordinary impact on the state and on Israeli society. Captain Libby Weiss was drafted into the Israel Defence Force’s Spokesperson Unit in 2011 and currently serves as the Head of the Social Media Department. Libby was featured on the cover of Oregon Jewish Life in December 2016 (orjewishlife.com/captain-libby-weissbrings-israels-realities-alive-for-americans/). A press release announcing the award notes: “Her exceptional leadership and excellence in her field is deserving of this award.” This year’s prizes are sponsored by Sylvan Adams and will be awarded at an official ceremony in the Knesset on June 26. Adams, a recent Nefesh B’Nefesh Oleh and Canadian real estate developer, is committed to developing the State of Israel and is dedicated to showcasing the impact and achievement of Israelis to the world, viewing the Bonei Zion Prize as an integral piece of this mission. Hundreds of Olim from English-speaking countries – including Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa, UK, and USA – were nominated for the award. nbn.org.il
Greater Portland Hillel to get Ezra Fellow
Hillel International, the largest Jewish campus organization in the world, is expanding its Ezra Fellowship in the coming school year to 15 new campuses, including Greater Portland Hillel. Ezra Fellows are young professionals with a passion for Jewish education who, through the full-time, paid fellowship, receive up to three years of training in pluralistic Jewish education, including seminars in experiential Jewish education and professional career coaching. The fellowship is still in the hiring phase. While working as Hillel professionals on campus, Ezra Fellows learn to infuse their Jewish knowledge into day-to-day programs and interactions, including informal conversations with students,
Joan Myles
organizing weekly Shabbat dinners, or launching new educational and outreach programs. “Ezra Fellows bring Judaism off the page and into the everyday life of their campus communities. They learn innovative ways to bring students to a new appreciation of what it means to be Jewish in the 21st century and show them why their Jewishness is something to celebrate,” said Laura Yares, Director of Educational Research and Innovation at Hillel International. The Ezra Fellowship is supported in part by the Maimonides Fund. hillel.org/fellowships | pdxhillel.org
Maimonides Jewish day school earns pre-accreditation
Maimonides Jewish Day School (and its preschool, The Gan) is just steps away from full accreditation. The private school in the heart of Jewish Portland recently received pre-accreditation status from the only national Jewish accrediting agency, National Accreditation Board of Merkos L’Inyonei Chinuch. For the pre-accreditation process, Rabbi Nochem Kaplan, chair of the New York-based agency, spent time at Maimonides and ran the school through a 50-point checklist to ensure school readiness. For example, the school demonstrated how it individualizes educational programs to meet students’ needs and positively impact their learning. The next step is a self-study, which entails a complete introspective review, including the school’s administrative function, educational opportunities, and students’ social and emotional development. Additionally, a provision of the 19 national and regional accrediting agencies for private schools allows schools to seek dual accreditation. Maimonides has chosen this option via the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools Commissions on Elementary and Secondary Schools. Founded in 1985 by Rabbi Moshe and Devora Wilhelm with only a handful of students, the school now educates more than 100 children in preschool through 8th grade. Principal Rabbi Shneur Wilhelm said receiving pre-accreditation was part of the school’s long-term plan. PortlandJewishSchool.com
Salem nonprofit Yismehu closes
After seven years of providing accessible Jewish learning to blind and print-challenged individuals, Yismehu closed its doors on April 30, 2017. Yismehu, a Salem-based nonprofit organization, was founded by Temple Beth Sholom member Joan Myles to provide free Jewish
learning to blind and print-challenged students nationwide. Since then more than 100 students from around the world enrolled in Yismehu’s distance-learning programs. “Naturally I wish Yismehu could persist in its valuable work, but my heart abounds with gratitude for the light we have been able to shine on blindness issues,” says Joan. “Our imaginative spark has opened the way for dozens of students to participate in Jewish learning, even as we enabled them to move beyond their sense of isolation. “Yismehu has brought together an amazing group of individuals – as volunteers, students and donors – and every one of them has demonstrated sincere and passionate commitment to achieving full participation of print-challenged persons in Jewish community life. Together, we have watched Yismehu’s process succeed again and again as students moved from learning to read Hebrew to becoming more involved in their local shuls.”
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Give us a call or visit us online 503-535-4000 • cedarsinaipark.org
OREGON JEWISH LIFE | JUNE/JULY 2017 15
Business
Zidell family envisions a neighborhood
Potential future access to the river from the swimming and non-motorized boating dock.
By Deborah Moon
As the last barge built by the Zidell Companies is launched from the barge house in June, the Zidell family turns their full attention to developing the family’s 33 acres on Portland’s South Waterfront into a mixed-use development with a sense of community and green space. “Because we are a small family and own the land, we have the flexibility to develop it our way and wait till we can carry out our vision,” says Charlene Zidell, director of corporate relations and communications for the companies founded by her grandfather, Sam Zidell. “We have a vision of creating a community where people care about one another.” Charlene and her brother, Jay Zidell, the third-generation leader of the Zidell Companies, have long followed in the philanthropic footsteps of their late parents, Emery and Min Zidell. Education, health, the arts, job development and the Jewish community have all benefited from the family’s generosity. Through financial and volunteer contributions, they have followed the instructions Charlene says her father gave her when she was 14. “My dad loved work,” says Charlene. “He was a visionary and entrepreneur and was sick a lot, suffering from headaches.” Emery also developed breast cancer, a disease that is now a focus of the family’s philanthropy. So she says she clearly remembers the day he spoke to her very seriously. “When I was 14, he called me in to his room and said, ‘Don’t ever forget where you came from – nothing. You have an obligation to give back and take care of those less fortunate.’ ” 16 OREGON JEWISH LIFE | JUNE/JULY 2017
The Zidells are continuing that commitment to community with their development plans. In 2001 Charlene, Jay and their sister, Vicki French, and their mother Min, z”l, began a visioning process for the property. Vicki’s son, Matt French is now a director of the family's ZRZ Realty Co. Zidell Yard, as the development will be known, will include retail, office, parks and housing (rental and owned; luxury and affordable). One of the parks will include river access, and the Willamette Greenway Trail will extend through the property. “We are the missing link to the greenway completion,” says Jay. In 2013 the first building in the development plan opened. The Emery Apartments offer a preview of some of the values the family wants to share. Well-designed, eco-friendly apartments are located over ground-floor retail that opens onto a social front-porch setting and gathering areas designed to create personal connections to the neighborhood. Jay says the family journey from industrialists to developers actually began much earlier – in 1994. “We received a letter from DEQ (Oregon’s Department of Environmental Quality) inviting us into a voluntary cleanup program.” Jay says the family spent the next 23 years dealing with the environmental issues that had arisen from more than 100 years of varied industrial activity on the site. It was the largest privately funded environmental remediation project in Portland’s history. The only remaining cleanup, which Jay says will not impede development, is at the barge construction site, where cleanup will begin as soon as the last barge leaves.
“Because we are a small family and own the land, we have the flexibility to develop it our way and wait till we can carry out our vision.”
Potential view from the tram of Gantry Plaza and the Gantry crane that was used in the building of Zidell Marine barges.
– Charlene Zidell
Jay has been part of The Zidell Companies “since birth – I was born into it. When I was 8 I had my first job filing for my father’s secretary.” Jay spent summers during high school and college working in the business and joined the company full time in 1971. Charlene joined the family business in 2012 on the 100th anniversary of her grandfather’s immigration from Russia to Oregon. Sam Zidell started selling goods and equipment soon after arriving in Portland; in 1928 he leased the waterfront property that is part of the 33-acre tract the family is now developing. The next buildings are expected to be completed in 2020. Continuing development will be driven by the market. The development will include a nod to the past. “We have significant interest by retail tenants who like what the barge building stands for and looks like,” says Jay. “We hope to repurpose it for their use.” A heritage park located next to the barge building will feature some industrial artifacts, such as immobilized Whirley Cranes and Gantry Cranes, to preserve the legacy of the property. “We think they are a material component of the legacy of the use of the site,” says Jay. The new development will fit into a South Waterfront neighborhood anchored by OHSU Wellness Center and Collaborative Life Sciences Building. Transportation includes the aerial tram, light rail and bike paths. Charlene says the new development will tie into the area’s health and transportation ecosystem. “We are intentionally developing a community where it is easier to think about health and wellness. People will be able find a place in the 33 acres where they can walk and be a community.” Incorporating arts and culture into the neighborhood’s social structure is another goal. “I want to create performance space and find ways to provide programs in nonprofit housing.” Charlene says they hope to recreate the sense of community largely lost in today’s busy world. She wants the development to be a neighborhood where people gather, know each other and look out for their neighbors. “This property was special for our family, so whatever we do has to be special to the family and to the people of Oregon,” says Charlene.
Siblings Jay and Charlene Zidell stand in front of a propeller from the Zidell Companies’ ship-dismantling business following World War II. Set at the entrance to the company offices on Portland’s South Waterfront, the propeller is dedicated to their father, Emery, who served in the South Pacific during WWII and then led the family’s business expansion into dismantling ships released by the U.S. government for disposal.
OREGON JEWISH LIFE | JUNE/JULY 2017 17
Staycations & Summer Fun I N S I D E: 1 8 LO O KO UT LI FE 2 2 H UM A N BEI N G S & A RT 24 A RT WA LK S 2 5 BO O K S TO R E M AG I C I N H O O D R I VER 27 S UM M ER R EA D I N G 3 0 S UM M ER S H OWS 3 1 S TAYC ATI O N S & S UM M ER FUN D I R EC TO RY A LSO S EE: 3 2 M US EUM G R A N D O P EN I N G 3 8 J EWI S H FI LM FES TI VA L 4 3 S UM M ER FUN I N I S R A EL 56 K I DS + WATER = S UM M ER FUN
High up in G-d’s wonderful world By Michael R. Rosenbaum
“DAY AFTER DAY, ALONE ON THE HILL THE MAN WITH THE FOOLISH GRIN IS KEEPING PERFECTLY STILL.” ~ LENNON, MCCARTNEY
18 OREGON JEWISH LIFE | JUNE/JULY 2017
MY HILL IS DESOLATION BUTTE, NORTH FORK John Day Ranger District (Ukiah), Umatilla National Forest in Northeast Oregon, and my tower is Desolation. In my post-retirement job as a U.S. Forest Service Fire Lookout, I spend three and a half months, most of the fire season, in a wooden, 15 by 15, 70-foot-tall cabin in the sky. The view is awesome, almost magnificent – from the rolling, lava-folded, canyoned Blue Mountains in the north to the 7,000-foot rocky spine between the North Fork John Day Wilderness and the Malheur National Forest in the south. The “new” granitic peaks of the Elkhorn Mountains’ crest are 17 miles east; or I can look west and see Mt. Jefferson’s sharp, snowy cone 100 miles away and Hood’s lopsided triangle to the northwest. Fire sunsets there are spectacular. CHECK OUT THE VIEW According to Cheryl Hill’s excellent recent book, Fire Lookouts of Oregon, there are fewer than 175 lookouts left in the state, about half of them staffed. Seventeen can be rented. Once it seemed there was a tower on every butte, hill and high point. HINT: Want to get a good view of the solar eclipse Aug. 21? Find some old Metsker County maps in the library or online. They generally have most of the now-abandoned lookout sites which often have old road or trail access, and you can determine proximity to the celestial event’s path. There is likely still clear space on the hilltops near the old lookouts where you can settle in for a clear view of the sky. NEED FOR FIRE LOOKOUTS People ask me, “A fire lookout? I didn’t think they had those anymore. Aren’t there satellites and aircraft?” Well yes. There are lightning-strike detectors and maps, flyovers, satellites (the MODIS detection system), private party reports. Most of the apps on my iPhone are weather or lightning-strike related. We fire lookouts are an endangered species, dinosaurs in the wildfire-detection business. Yet some lookouts are still essential. There are fire-prone parts of the state, many near to towns and cities. We are the frontline of detection. Fast reporting to dispatch centers is imperative. With climate change, weather variability from one fire season to another, diseased and dead trees, and the increasing intensity of wildfires, we can peer into inaccessible terrain and cross-reference with other lookouts to pinpoint fire starts. It can be an adrenaline accelerator. Amidst lightning strikes, we radio dispatch and make cell calls to other lookouts to cross-check township, range and section of fire starts. This teamwork plus communication with ground-based fire crews and aircraft can be highly rewarding. Outflow winds from storms as far away as 20 miles can radically affect fire behavior. We do our yearly training on fire’s often unpredictable behavior, including blazes that killed firefighters and whether the fatalities could have been prevented.
A DAY IN THE LIFE Early September 2014, around midnight. Unpredicted high winds from the west/ southwest are beginning to rock and roll Desolation, and ambient smoke from various large wildfires in the northwest are dumping into my location. I call Indian Rock Lookout, eight miles south, and JoAnn’s winds are topping 80 mph (she has digital weather readouts, I have handheld meters). My cabin on wooden stilts is now seriously groaning and being crotchety, but it’s survived worse since erection in 1961. The 1961 contractors from Camp Sherman did a good job, handdigging the footings in the rocky butte; our perch is sturdy, if shaky. At 2:30 am a couple of young bowhunters tromp up my stairs and wonder if they’re about to be burned out of their elk camp. I reassure them all’s well. I really enjoy visitors. They often bring a Coke or beer, good cheer and sometimes a whopping case of acrophobia over which they temporarily triumph, just to get the view. HIGH HOLIDAYS ON HIGH September, the height of fire season, usually brings the High Holidays. You might have guessed by now I’m not the most religious, but I’m pretty confident I’m the only lookout in the mountains with kippah and tallit. What I do, I do out of respect for our great traditions, our longevity, our learnedness and our survival. I used to think my maternal grandparents were religious, because they spoke only Yiddish and lived in a Jewish neighborhood of Brooklyn, NY. Turns out they weren’t very. WANT TO BE A LOOKOUT? Should the lookout experience pique your interest, the website usajobs.gov begins advertising openings for Forestry Technician, Lookout in the fall. Application deadlines change yearly. If you are interested in a specific advertised location, it’s a very good idea to make phone or email contact with the unit’s officer in charge of hiring. The personal touch still works. If you want to do this, maybe with your significant other, BORING should not be in your vocabulary. A love for G-d’s handiwork is helpful. Bird-watchers will enjoy mountain bluebirds, goshawks, mountain chickadees, several varieties of woodpeckers, long-eared owls and vultures. Vultures are actually lovely up close, and they’re responsive to yelled praise and whistles and will fly close to investigate. Enjoying just the basics of life, even for a Continued on page 21
Above: BLM River Ranger Kevin Hoskin and his friends visit Michael Rosenbaum during the drought of 2015. Left: Michael Rosenbaum
OREGON JEWISH LIFE | JUNE/JULY 2017 19
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LOOKOUT RESERVATIONS
Reservations must be made at least four days ahead of arrival and can be made up to six months in advance. Plan ahead; most lookouts are booked as soon as reservations open. (A spot check in May showed some openings in the fall). Go to recreation.gov and search for lookout name. At right are the lookouts available for rent, their location and dates open:
Acker Rock, Umpqua National Forest (July 31 to Nov. 16) Bald Butte, Fremont-Winema National Forest (June 15 to Nov. 15) Bald Knob, Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest (May 26 to Oct. 27) Bolan Mountain, Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest (July 1 to Oct. 1) Clear Lake Cabin, southern slope of Mt. Hood (November to May) Drake Peak, Warner Mountain Range (June 15 to Nov. 15) Fairview Peak, Umpqua National Forest (temporarily closed) Fall Mountain, Strawberry Mountain Wildness (May 6 to Oct. 31) Fivemile Butte, near Dufur (Jan. 1 to Nov. 30) Gold Butte, Willamette National Forest (June 27 to Oct. 15) Green Ridge, Deschutes National Forest (April 8 to June 19 and Sept. 16 to Nov. 13) Hager Mountain, near Silver Lake (Nov. 15 to May 15) Indian Ridge, Willamette National Forest (July 1 to Oct. 16) Lake of The Woods, Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest (May 19 to Oct. 30) Pickett Butte, Umpqua National Forest (year round) Snow Camp, Snow Camp Mountain (June 16 to Sept. 29) Timber Butte, Fall Creek area of the Willamette National Forest (April 14 to Nov. 19) Warner Mountain, Willamette National Forest (Nov. 1 to May 15) Left: Thunderstorm by Michael Rosenbaum
FOREST CABIN RENTALS ARE NATURAL ESCAPES Although there are no lookout tower rentals available in the two Northeast Oregon national forests where I live, there are several guard stations and cabins available for rent in Umatilla and Wallowa Whitman National Forest. These can be pretty cool. The Fremont Powerhouse complex on the North Fork John Day Ranger District, Umatilla, is particularly nice. Tamarack Lookout Cabin on the Heppner Ranger District is adjacent to an active lookout. The road is quite rough (think four-wheel drive) and the cabin very rustic, but the view from the cliffs on the west side of Tamarack Mountain sweeps over the John Day River, the Fossil Beds and beyond. The rental system can be accessed through the website recreation.gov or 1-877-444-6777 for availability and other information. NOTE 1: Cell phone and computer access can be limited at some sites. Open, higher ground can sometimes provide reception. From my experience, Verizon sometimes works well. NOTE 2: Always be weather wise and fire-condition aware. NOTE 3: Driving conditions and access can be vehicle-dependent. Generally sport utility vehicles, 4 x 4 pickups and AWD cars/wagons such as Subarus have adequate ground clearance. NOTE 4: Do not rely solely on GPS ... maps are, well, superior. NOTE 5: CLOSED indicates that area access isn’t available currently, often due to recent wildfire activity. The following rental information is broken down by National Forest SO (headquarters), then Ranger District, then specific rental information. You can google each of the two Northeast Oregon national forests and then access the Recreation tab on the left and then Cabins. This will provide more detailed information on each site mentioned here. 20 OREGON JEWISH LIFE | JUNE/JULY 2017
By Michael Rosenbaum
UMATILLA NATIONAL FOREST
Pendleton, OR Hours 8-4:30 M-F 541-278-3716 North Fork John Day Ranger District (R.D.) Ukiah, OR 7:45-4:30 M-F 541-427-3231 RENTALS:
Fremont Powerhouse Caretaker’s Cabin, four seasons Fremont Congo Gulch Cabin, four seasons Fremont Miner’s Retreat Cabin, four seasons Fremont Hilltop Hideaway Cabin, four seasons (CLOSED)
Heppner R.D. Heppner, OR 7:45-4:30 M-F 541-676-9187 RENTALS:
Ditch Creek Guard Station, four seasons Tamarack Lookout Cabin, May-November Pomeroy R.D. Pomeroy, WA 7:45-4:30 M-F 509-843-1891 RENTALS:
Clearwater Big House Cabin, four seasons Clearwater Lookout Little House Cabin, four seasons Ditch Creek Guard Station
Portland Center Stage at Continued from page 19
128 NW Eleventh Avenue Portland, Oregon 97209 503.445.3700 | pcs.org
short time, can be rewarding. And lightning. What a masterwork. Be aware, there are dangers. Lookout towers are sometimes threatened by wildfire and are evacuated. They are wrapped with fire-resistant tape and usually survive. Lightning frequently strikes towers. They are grounded, and insulated fire stools are part of the furniture. Loneliness? You can go days without seeing anyone. Then try, as I did, to visit New York City a week after demobilization! Aloneness is not necessarily loneliness. There’s a lot to do. You become a half-assed weatherman, and clouds and wind and terrain can be endlessly fascinating. A strong lamp can extend your reading and writing hours well past sunset. You can put your recipe creations to the test. Lookouts are conducive to exercise and strong lungs. Some locations are good for wildlife observation. HEADING HOME By late September, all of us are ready to go home. Each national forest has different end-of-duty dates. My favorite end-of-season ritual comes from my being a deli food snob. I have an order overnighted from Zabar’s and Russ and Daughters: belly lox, bagels, scallion cream cheese, bialys, chopped liver, whitefish salad, knishes and sometimes latkes and kugel and rainbow cookies and marzipan candies. Many pounds of seasonal weight loss is mostly whooshed on in a week! It is an absolute blessing to be high up in G-d’s wonderful world.
MONA GOLABEK IN THE PIANIST OF WILLESDEN LANE. PHOTO BY MELLOPIX.COM.
SEASON SUPERSTARS
SEASON SUPPORTING SPONSORS
SHOW SPONSORS
Portland Center Stage receives support from the Oregon Arts Commission, a state agency funded by the State of Oregon and the National Endowment for the Arts.
PORTLAND TIMBERS
OREGON JEWISH LIFE | JUNE/JULY 2017 21
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left: Human Being by B. Pat; opposite page: Screw by David Drenth; below: Untitled by Jerome Sloan
David Slader
Art and Humanity By Deborah Moon
JULY 6 IS A RED-LETTER DAY FOR DAVID SLADER – in both his former life as an attorney and his current life as an artist. On July 6, 2004, the Portland Archdiocese filed for bankruptcy protection after settling dozens of claims by victims of sexually abusive priests; attorney David Slader represented those victims. Thirteen years to the day later, artist David Slader opens his show featuring his own portraits of strong women along with intense art by three men living in Oregon prisons. The name of the July show at Gallery 114 arose from a portrait David saw depicting an anguished prisoner as a human being. Gallery 114 is a cooperative of 14 artists; David says each artist gets a monthlong show, and most invite a guest artist to join them. David wanted to do something different and googled Oregon prison art. On the website oregonprisonart.org, he says he saw “some of the most intense, brutal, from the soul art that I have ever seen.” He contacted the curator, artist Victoria Tierney, and arranged to include some of the works at his show in July. David’s July show at Gallery 114 will include the works of three guest artists – “Human Being” and “Poet” by B. Pat, who has since been released, and colored pencil drawings by two current 22 OREGON JEWISH LIFE | JUNE/JULY 2017
prisoners, Jerome Sloan and David Drenth. The latter uses colored pencils to created intricate scrolls using 18-inch-wide paper from the prison laundry. “From the comfort of my life, I could not create art with this much intensity,” says David. “I would not want to have the experiences you need to do it.” Yet David has had experiences that influenced his own work. The decade he spent filing personal injury claims on behalf of victims who had suffered sexual abuse as children was a grueling, draining experience. During junior high and high school, David had taken weekend art classes at the School of Art in Chicago. But when he was in high school, he says, “My father made it clear he wanted me to be a lawyer. … I got the message art was a great hobby, but I needed to think of a career – that was the Jewish script.”
“I put down my paintbrush and didn’t pick it up again until I retired,” he says. In the early 1970s, David worked as a public defender representing child abuse victims in juvenile court. Then he spent much of his law career doing commercial litigation. But he continued to take on pro bono work representing kids. He began getting many referrals and asked his firm if could add WHAT: those to his formal case Human Beings: Portraits of load. When the firm told him to just do those he women by David Slader and could do pro bono, he the work of three guest artists left. working from Oregon prisons “I was wanting to do something with law OPENING RECEPTION: that made giving up art 6-9 pm, July 6, First Thursday worthwhile,” he says. What he found was WHERE: both “very satisfying and Gallery 114, 11th and Glisan emotionally exhausting.” “I went out on my own in the Pearl to represent child abuse GALLERY HOURS: victims,” David says. He noon-6pm, Thursday-Sunday soon received a call from a man who said he had gallery114pdx.com been molested as a child 503-243-3356 by his priest, who was retired. “We put in a phone call to him (the priest), and he talked about how this guy was just one of them,” says David. “In his mind he was the innocent partner. He described how boys would throw themselves at him.” David asked the priest what happened when the archdiocese found out about the incidents, and says the priest told him, “They would move me to another small town.” David soon discovered a string of victims in those towns. For the next 10 years, he was immersed in child sex abuse cases, many of which involved Catholic priests. “I grew up in a Jewish/ Catholic neighborhood,” he says. “These were my buddies.” The work was so arduous that his wife, Cantor Barbara Slader, penned a prayer he could say when days got especially rough: “Blessed is the flow of the River of Truth, which helps us to wash away filth.” Barbara says, “The dark issues and stories he was immersed in for years were so overwhelming. I hoped to give him a small beam of light to shine on the big picture, the hopeful purpose of his efforts.”
JULY EXHIBIT
In 2008 David decided it was time to give it up. He started taking drawing lessons with Philip Sylvester. Then he rented studio space and started making art. Most of his paintings are portraits created with bright geometric patterns. “Initially it was all portraits of men,” he says. “I was clearly working through my legal work.” Last year he shifted to painting women – “thoughtful, powerful, strong personalities; pretty is not my goal.” Pretty was also not the prison art he wanted to include in the exhibit. “David (Drenth) has done “pretty stuff, not from the soul,” says the artist. “I told him I want what comes from your heart.” Just as in his law career, where he wanted to do something with meaning, David Slader also wants art to be meaningful. “As a society we don’t ever want to know these people (prisoners) are there,” he says. “But we need to understand they are human beings with creative needs. If we look at their art, we realize they are human beings.”
Celebrate! Let’s
503-224-3900 PortlandSpirit.com OREGON JEWISH LIFE | JUNE/JULY 2017 23
S TAYC AT I O N S & S U M M E R F U N FIRST FRIDAY/EUGENE
Like art? Take a hike Every month, local artists and merchants support the art scene in various Oregon communities with art walks. These art walks offer a free and easy opportunity to enjoy the arts in communities around the state.
FIRST THURSDAY/PDX
For more than a quarter century, First Thursday has meant an evening of art, food and fun. Portland art galleries in downtown, the Pearl District, Northwest Portland, Old Town, Nob Hill and Slabtown open their doors for the monthly gallery walk. Enjoy a day/ evening of art, wine and music! Walk or drive from gallery to gallery to view all the new art exhibits. firstthursdayportland.com FIRST FRIDAY/PDX
On the first Friday of every month, Portland’s eastside galleries, boutiques, eateries and unique spaces open their doors to promote culture and the arts. facebook. com/1FPDX
LAST THURSDAY/PDX
Now in its 19th season, the Alberta Arts District Festival on Northeast Alberta Street from NE 15th to NE 30th avenues is the place to be. This street event is held the last Thursday of every month, year-round, from 5 or 6 pm to 9 or 10 pm, with street closures from 6 to 9 pm during the summer months. This community-grown event is free to all artists and art vendors, musicians, performers and visitors. lastthursdayonalberta.com 503-823-1052 FIRST FRIDAY/ASHLAND
Ashland First Friday is an eclectic mix of visual delights, interesting
conversations, intimate music and tasty treats. The collage of image and experience grows as you stroll the galleries in the Historical Downtown and Railroad Districts. Join us year-round for the Art Walk from 5 to 8 pm. 541-488-8430 AshlandGalleries.com FIRST FRIDAY/BEND
View sensational local and national art at dozens of businesses downtown on the first Friday of every month. Shops are matched with artists and stay open late. Many businesses serve food and wine as they welcome you in to enjoy their space and this wonderful evening. downtownbend.org
Lane Arts Council presents the First Friday ArtWalk year-round in downtown Eugene. Take the guided tour and follow the host to hear from the featured artists, or explore the other galleries and venues from 5:30-8 pm on your own. This event happens rain or shine and is always free! www.lanearts.org THIRD THURSDAY/ CORVALLIS
The Corvallis Arts Walk is a grassroots-organized art walk that takes place on the third Thursday of each month in downtown Corvallis. Galleries, studios, arts and crafts stores, and the occasional pop-up keep their doors open late to host an art-related event or demonstration. CorvallisArtsWalk.com
Over 400 FREE summer events in Portland parks!
24 OREGON JEWISH LIFE | JUNE/JULY 2017
Bookstore owner shares joy of books in Hood River By Gloria Hammer
WALKING AROUND WAUCOMA, in the corner sale section I found a book set in Brooklyn about a Jewish couple who run an undergarment boutique in their home. By chance the owner hires a seamstress, a young woman who just got out of the Israeli Army. I loved this book. I have fallen in love, too, with the charm of Waucoma. If you journey through Hood River this summer, be sure to stop in. In 2008 Muir and Jenny Cohen purchased Waucoma Bookstore in Hood River. To the native peoples of the Gorge, Waucoma means “place of the cottonwood tree.” Prior to the damming of the Columbia, this place served as an important gathering and trading spot for the area’s native inhabitants. Waucoma celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2016. Muir grew up going to the bookstore. As a kid he hated shopping, he called it a nightmare. But Waucoma or the library always excited him. His love of books never changed. His favorite memory of Waucoma was walking to the children’s section and smelling the aroma of freshly ground coffee. The following Q&A has been edited for brevity and clarity.
Muir Cohen owns the Waucoma Bookstore in Hood River. PHOTO BY GLORIA HAMMER
got an email letting me know the Waucoma Bookstore was for sale.
YOUR FOLKS RAISED YOU IN THE GORGE. DID YOU HAVE A JUDAISM CONNECTION? My parents are both from Detroit. I grew up in Parkdale, 20 miles south of Hood River. My dad, who is Jewish, grew up surrounded by a big Jewish community. After college and moving out to the Gorge, there wasn’t much of a Jewish presence. We were a typical Hanukkah/Christmas family, occasionally celebrating Passover and Rosh Hashanah. More Jews moved to the area and a Havurah formed, and that’s when we started to branch out from Hanukkah. A few kids got together when I was 9 or 10 and started to learn Hebrew. We stayed together as a group for a few years. I forgot most of what I learned. It was during those classes that I heard a story of The Judgment of Solomon, where two women claim to be the mother of the same child, and he must determine the real mother. Something about that story struck a chord in me, and in WHEN DID YOU DECIDE TO PURCHASE WAUCOMA? high school I decided I wanted to be a My wife, Jenny, was working as a judge. During my senior year I had a sixfinancial adviser, and we had a plan WAUCOMA BOOKSTORE month internship with a local judge at the that she would take over my dad’s tax 212 OAK ST. courthouse. The kink in my plan was I did accounting business in Hood River. I HOOD RIVER, OR 97031 not want to become a lawyer. I thought was working as a software engineer and 541-386-5353 a lot about truly listening to what people wasn’t sure what I would do. I used to say books@waucomabookstore.com were saying. I found myself becoming when I returned I would buy a bookstore. waucomabookstore.com more of an impartial observer and started Someone I told must have remembered. Around the time we were going to move, I OREGON JEWISH LIFE | JUNE/JULY 2017 25
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to value honesty more. The University of Oregon had another track that aligned my other passion, computers. I still try to be the impartial observer and approach every situation with open eyes. IS THERE A STORY BEHIND YOUR NAME, MUIR? My parents met in college and during their summers they worked in Yosemite National Park. They named me after John Muir, who is known as the “Father of National Parks.” YOU’RE IN THE CENTER OF A VACATION HOT SPOT. HOW’S THAT WORKING? We’re really lucky being close to snow skiing, hiking, biking, kite boarding, windsurfing and breweries, wineries and cideries. The tourists who come yearly have made us one of their first stops. They have helped us weather the ups and downs of the economy. HOW IS LIVING IN HOOD RIVER? It’s great! I am so glad we made the move. My wife grew up in Portland, so at first I thought she was just humoring me when I said I wanted to move back for the slower pace. Now she has converted and values the small community atmosphere. Portland is close if she needs her dose of the city. I think I was in my sophomore year when I was driving the Gorge that I first truly understood how beautiful and special Hood River was.
26 OREGON JEWISH LIFE | JUNE/JULY 2017
WHAT ARE YOUR “MUST” BOOKS FOR YOUR NEW BABY, KEENAN JOSEPH? KJ was born on my birthday! Some must-have children books are The Lorax, Where the Wild Things Are, MIHU the Detective and The Mystery of the Missing Chamet. WHAT BOOKS FLY OFF YOUR SHELVES? If a book takes off in other places it usually takes off here, as well. Nothing has beaten Harry Potter yet, but some big sellers are Boys in the Boat, Wild, Girl on the Train, The Oregon Trail, Astoria. Smaller titles that have done well here are Mink River, Indian Creek Chronicles and Curious Gorge, which is a local hiking guide. WHAT STANDS OUT AS AN INTERESTING ASPECT OF BEING A BOOKSTORE OWNER? I like watching people come in off the street and get that first whiff of “book.” Then their whole body relaxes and they begin to browse. The process is what made me fall in love with bookstores as I was growing up and on vacation. My dream was to be able to provide that same sort of experience to others; I get to watch it happen on a daily basis. WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON OWNING AN INDEPENDENT BOOKSTORE AND ITS SURVIVAL? We took over the store in 2008, and the economy was taking a
dive. We are still here! We’ve expanded by bringing in gift items. Initially it was to make up for sales we were losing to eBooks. It just makes sense to have items that can complement a book sale. Over the past few years we hear customers coming up saying, “Oh Wow, I haven’t seen a bookstore in years!” Being small helps. During the summer we have a new group of customers almost daily. Our little community sustains us, and we try to rotate our stock of unique gifts so the locals will always find something new when they come in. We also try to give back by donating items for raffles and auctions. We give a scholarship to a graduating senior from the local high school. DO YOU HAVE EVENTS AT THE STORE? Besides hosting authors throughout the year, we have weekend signings. We have had readings at the Hood River Library and in the Columbia Center for the Arts. We partner with the Gorge Owned, Sense of Place Lecture Series called “Books and Brew,” hosting book readings at different drinking establishments in town. Gloria Hammer divides her time between Portland and Hood River. Her interviews with interesting people (including entrepreneurs, a school principal and former Portland Mayor Vera Katz) appear periodically in Oregon Jewish Life.
At home or on the road, a good book enhances summer Compiled by Deborah Moon
FOR ME, A GOOD BOOK IS AN INTEGRAL PART OF A GREAT vacation, whether that vacation is to an exotic locale or just a short break from my normal routine. If I have a book that carries me off to new experiences, reminds me of the best and worst humans are capable of, or makes me think deeply about important issues, my time away is enriched. Every year new books arrive on my desk from publishers, publicists and authors. Following are brief snapshots of some of those books so you can join me in this journey to escape the daily routine or gain the knowledge to better navigate reality.
YOUTH The Rabbi Thanks the Crows, written and illustrated by Renate Dollinger, French Press Travel Books, paperback, $15.99. Renate Dollinger has been painting shtetl scenes for decades. Her new children’s book uses her art to tell the story of 7-year-old Sheindel, who lives in a shtetl and can talk to the animals. One day while picking mushrooms in the forest, Sheindel falls asleep and doesn’t return home. With the help of a friendly crow and the village rabbi, Sheindel finds her way home. Almost Autumn, by Marianne Kaurin, Arthur A. Levine Books, ages 12 and up, hardcover, $17.99. This novel brings the secrecy and uncertainty in World War II Norway to life for young readers with a tale of first love. Ilse Stern, 15, is disappointed when her longtime crush Hermann fails to turn up for their first date. But Hermann is busy secretly working with the resistance to help Jews flee the country to escape the Nazis, and he finds he must lie to his parents and to Ilse, the girl he loves. Under German occupation, Jewish families such as the Sterns worry every day if they should stay or flee. OREGON JEWISH LIFE | JUNE/JULY 2017 27
S TAYC AT I O N S & S U M M E R F U N
FICTION Behind God’s Back, by Harri Nykanen, translated by Kristian London, Bitter Lemon Press, paperback, $14.95. This Nordic crime novel featuring Jewish policeman Ariel Kafka actually came out in 2015. But as a mystery lover, I had to share this quirky tale set in Helsinki’s Jewish community with Israel connections featured prominently. Kafka knows the murder victim, having dated the Jewish businessman’s daughter 20 years earlier. A second murder victim draws the interest of both the Finnish Security Police and Mossad, pulling Kafka into a world of international intrigue and high-level corruption. Tell Me How this Ends Well, by David Samuel Levinson, Hogarth/ Crown Publishing/Penguin Random House, hardcover, $27. This darkly comic novel is set in 2022; anti-Semitism in the United States is soaring after Israeli refugees flood the country. America’s isolationist president refuses to come to the Jewish state’s aid, which allows it to be overrun by its Arab neighbors. Levinson uses the dysfunctional Jacobson family’s Passover gathering to explore the mechanics of generating hate, how easily xenophobia and fear can spread in a frustrated nation, and how seemingly harmless events can lead to unthinkable terror. The Fortunate Ones, by Ellen Umansky, William Morrow/Harper Collins, hardcover, $26.99. Two women suffer the loss of the same painting decades apart on two continents. Unable to escape the Nazi wave darkening Europe, Rose’s parents send her from Austria to England on the Kindertransport. With her family dead, Rose tries to start a new life while searching for the painting her mother had cherished. In modern Los Angeles, Lizzie carries the guilt of that same painting being stolen years earlier from her father’s home when she threw a party. The painting draws the two women together and ignites an unexpected friendship.
NONFICTION We the Resilient: Wisdom for America from Women Born Before Suffrage, edited by Sarah Benor and Tom Fields-Meyer, Luminare Press, paperback, $24.95. The book stems from the website IWaited96Years.com, which made international headlines in the weeks before the election. The site featured stories of women born before women could vote who were casting ballots for Hillary Clinton. After the election, the authors spoke to the women about their disappointment and how the nation could move forward. The book features reflections 28 OREGON JEWISH LIFE | JUNE/JULY 2017
from 78 women from across the country, all born before the 19th Amendment gave women the right to vote in 1920. The women’s narratives describe how the United States has survived challenges from the Great Depression to World War II and the McCarthy Era. The women also offer advice about how the country can face the future. The Place I Live, The People I Know: Profiles from the Eastern Mediterranean, by Lori Mendel, Archway Publishing, paperback, $23.99. Mendel taught in California and Paris before making Aliyah. Her book shares the stories of people she knows from Eilat north to the Syrian border. Jews, Arabs, Christians and Druze full of passions and contradictions pepper the pages, providing a flavor of Israel’s diversity. In-Between Days: A Memoir about Living with Breast Cancer, by Teva Harrison, Anansi, paperback, $15.95. An Oregon native who now lives in Canada, Teva Harrison shares her journey of surviving breast cancer through short personal essays and comic illustrations in this graphic memoir. Diagnosed at age 37, she deftly balances the sadness of cancer and an uncertain future with everyday acts of hope and wonder. Dancing on a Powder Keg, by Ilse Weber, translated by Michael Schwartz, Bunim & Bannigan, Ltd., hardcover, $34.95. Before the Nazi annexation of Czechoslovakia, Ilse Weber was known in the German-speaking world for her songs, theater pieces and books for children. She and her husband, Willi, were able to get their older son, Hanus, on the Kindertransport to England, where he was cared for by Ilse’s friend, Lilian Von Lowenadler. The book features letters between Ilse and Lilian from 1933 to 1944. The Daughter Who Sold Her Mother: A biographical memoir, by Irena Powell, AuthorHouse, paperback, $34.79. Powell shares the story of her mother’s life during the turbulent decades of the 20th century including the Holocaust, communism, Zionism, fascism and anti-Semitism. She weaves together fragments of her mother’s memories shared over the years. As a young Jewish mother, she fought to save the life of her newborn infant (the author) in Nazi-occupied Poland. The book explores the complex legacy of “the second generation.” Threshold of Pain, by Vera Meisels, Speaking Words Publishing, paperback, $18. Born in Czechoslovakia in 1936, Meisels’ happy childhood
ended when her family fled to the forest to escape the Nazis. After two years surviving in that harsh climate, soldiers caught the family. With her mother and sister, she was sent to the Terezin ghetto. The stories constitute a dialogue between Vera the child and Vera the woman. Her stories show a longing for the prewar period but also for wartime experiences such as her stay at the children’s home in the ghetto, where she painted and acted in the ghetto’s production of the play “Firefly.”
a kooky, spooky, ooky musical
Survivor: A portrait of survivors of the Holocaust, by Harry Boden, Cassell Illustrated, hardcover, $39.99. Portrait photographer Harry Boden spent five years travelling the world to photograph survivors of the Holocaust. The 110 images each face a short handwritten reflection from the subject, creating a moving portrait of those who survived the darkest era and now live with those memories. A section at the end of the book provides more information on each survivor’s experiences. BDS Unmasked: Radical Roots, Extremist Ends, by Dan Diker, Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, paperback, $20. This report has been published by the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs as the Boycott, Divest and Sanction movement and anti-Semitism have been on the rise internationally. The book addresses the perception by some in the West that BDS is a progressive, nonviolent boycott movement to establish a Palestinian state. The book’s forward describes BDS as the rejection of Zionism and discusses the BDS connection to terror-supporting groups in the United States and Europe.
a different kind of
Jun. 29 - Jul. 23 Aug. 3 - 20
the mother of-all Jun. 29 Jul.musicals 23
TITLE SPONSOR
503.620.5262 • www .broadwayrose. org DEB FENNELL AUDITORIUM • 9000 SW DURHAM RD., TIGARD TICKETS
JEWISH PRIDE
june 16-18 • jewishportland.org/pride
Join your Jewish friends & family for PRIDE WEEKEND in Portland, June 16 - 18. March in the parade together as a community for the very 1st time, showing our JEWISH PRIDE! Plus, there’s more fun get-togethers going on all weekend.
our pride partners B’nai B’rith Camp, Cedar Sinai Park, Congregation Beth Israel, Congregation Kol Ami, Congregation Neveh Shalom, Congregation Shir Tikvah, Jewish Family & Child Service, Mittleman Jewish Community Center, Moishe House, Oregon Jewish Community Foundation, PDX Hillel, Portland Jewish Academy & Portland’s UnShul
For more info, contact Rachel Nelson at rachelr@jewishportland.org or 503.892.7415. ®
THE STRENGTH OF A PEOPLE. THE POWER OF COMMUNITY.
503.245.6219 | www.jewishportland.org 6680 SW Capitol Highway | Portland, OR 97219
JewishPDX
OREGON JEWISH LIFE | JUNE/JULY 2017 29
S TAYC AT I O N S & S U M M E R F U N
Shows you won’t want to miss this summer Portland Center Stage presents Mona Golabek in “The Pianist of Willesden Lane” for a limited return engagement June 17-30: Grammy-nominated artist Mona Golabek returns to Portland Center Stage at The Armory for a limited engagement of “The Pianist of Willesden Lane,” adapted and directed by Hershey Felder and based on the book The Children of Willesden Lane: Beyond the Kindertransport; A Memoir of Music, Love, and Survival by Mona Golabek and Lee Cohen. The surprisingly uplifting true story of a young musician separated from her family when she was sent to England on the Kindertransport enjoyed a sell-out run at The Armory in 2016. The return engagement opens on June 17 and runs through June 30 on the U.S. Bank Main Stage. Tickets are available at pcs.org, 503-445-3700, or in-person from the box office 128 NW 11th Ave., Portland.
Broadway Rose Theatre presents Gypsy Aug. 3-20: Based on the 1957 memoirs of world-famous striptease artist Gypsy Rose Lee, "Gypsy" begins at the end of the vaudeville era as overbearing stage mother Rose carts young daughters June and Louise (the young Lee) throughout the country, performing in fading venues for dwindling audiences. Rose’s desperate desire for fame soon pushes the family to its limits, unraveling relationships, unveiling a new star, and revealing the raw power of ambition laid bare. With six Broadway productions and two film adaptations, Gypsy has transfixed and astounded audiences for generations, holding its place among the greatest of all American musicals. Broadway Rose summer performances are at Deb Fennell Auditorium, 9000 SW Durham Road, Tigard. For tickets, call 503-620-5262.
The 2017 Risk/Reward Festival features new work by six indie performing artists from across the Northwest June 23-25 at Artists Rep: Pictured is Linda Austin Dance from Portland performing “A world, a world.” The Risk/Reward Festival solicits proposals from regional artists for new works that can be performed in less than 20-minutes. A panel of local artists and tastemakers select a lineup and challenge the artists to run wild – encouraging creative risks, experimentation and bold investigation. The 2017 festival lineup also features: Queen Shmooquan, Pam Tzeng, Pepper Pepper, Shannon Stewart/Donal Mosher, and Kiana Harris. Performances will be 7:30 pm June 23 and 24, 5 pm June 25 at Artists Repertory Theatre, Alder Stage,1516 SW Alder St., Portland. More info at risk-reward.org.
30 OREGON JEWISH LIFE | JUNE/JULY 2017
STAYCATIONS & SUMMER FUN DIRECTORY BROADWAY ROSE THEATRE COMPANY
12850 SW Grant Ave. Tigard, OR 97223 503-620-5262 broadwayrose.org Summer performances – “The Addams Family” (June 29-July 23) and “Gypsy” (Aug. 3-20) – will be performed at the Deb Fennell Auditorium, Tigard High School, 9000 Durham Road in Tigard. Broadway Rose has been producing professional musical theatre in the Portland area since 1992.
CONGREGATION BETH ISRAEL SHABBAT ON THE PLAZA
1972 NW Flanders St. Portland, OR 97209 503-222-1069 bethisrael-pdx.org Shabbat on the Plaza, Beth Israel's much-loved summer tradition, returns. Weather permitting, enjoy music and mingling for Shabbat services June 16 & 30, July 14 & 28, Aug. 11 & 25 and Sept. 1 & 8.
CONGREGATION SHIR TIKVAH SHABBAT IN THE PARK
July 7, 6 pm Laurelhurst Concert Pad SE Oak and 35th Avenue, Portland shirtikvahpdx.org Rabbi Ariel Stone and Congregation Shir Tikvah will celebrate both Shabbat and the beauty of the Portland summer. Bring a picnic and enjoy live music, challah and dancing. A family friendly opportunity to enjoy!
JEWISH FEDERATION OF GREATER PORTLAND
6680 SW Capitol Hwy. Portland, OR 97219 503-245-6219 JewishPortland.org Since 1920, Federation has been your means of connecting with the Jewish community and discovering the power of doing good together. Whether providing scholarships to Jewish schools and camps, funding Jewish agencies, advocating at the legislature, building the community mikvah or giving interest-free loans – we are here for you.
MITTLEMAN JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER 6651 SW Capitol Hwy. Portland, OR 97219 503-244-0111 oregonjcc.org
Get fit at the MJCC in our state-of-the-art fitness facility, relax in our main and warm pools, stay active in our sports leagues, and socialize at one of our many cultural events this summer. Kids enjoy full day fun all summer long at MJCC Day Camp.
OREGON JEWISH MUSEUM AND CENTER FOR HOLOCAUST EDUCATION
724 NW Davis St. Portland, OR 97209 503-226-3600 ojmche.org OJMCHE opens the doors to our new home June 11. With the location in the heart of the city’s cultural hub, expanded galleries, new Jewish themed café, and even a children’s corner, OJMCHE is positioned to be a new Oregon treasure. Hours: Tuesday-Friday 11 am-5 pm; Saturday-Sunday noon-5 pm.
PORTLAND CENTER STAGE AT THE ARMORY
128 NW 11th Ave. Portland, OR 97209 503-445-3700 pcs.org Summer at The Armory brings the return of Mona Golabek’s riveting story of survival, The Pianist of Willesden Lane, running June 17-30. Theater lovers can also escape the heat during JAW: A Playwrights Festival, July 28-30. JAW features staged readings of new plays, music, dance and more, and it’s free!
PORTLAND PARKS & RECREATION
1120 SW Fifth Ave. Portland, OR 97204 503-823-PLAY (7529) PortlandParks.org We are the proud steward of 10,000+ acres of parks and natural areas in Portland. We offer more than 4,000 affordable classes and activities year round. Each summer we have free movies and concerts in the parks, and offer structured playground activities and free healthy lunches to kids throughout Portland.
PORTLAND SPIRIT CRUISES AND EVENTS
110 SE Caruthers, Portland, OR 97214 503-224-3900 Portlandspirit.com The vessels and crew of Portland Spirit Cruises & Events form the premier fleet of dining ships in the Northwest, offering public lunch, brunch, dinner, sightseeing cruises, specialty events and private charters year round.
SHABBAT
IN THE
PARK Enjoy the Portland summer with us LAURELHURST PARK July 7th at 6:00 pm
Bring a picnic and enjoy live music, hallah and dancing. A family friendly opportunity to enjoy!
shirtikvahpdx.org
OREGON JEWISH LIFE | JUNE/JULY 2017 31
COVER STORY
JEWISH MUSEUM FITS RIGHT INTO PORTLAND’S PEARL BY DEBORAH MOON
he region’s only Jewish museum will inaugurate its new home with an exhibit of international proportions, reflecting its promise as a compelling addition to Portland’s culturally rich Pearl district. The Oregon Jewish Museum and Center for Holocaust Education opens the doors to its new permanent home, 724 NW Davis St., with a free celebration June 11. The grand opening is part of the Portland Rose Festival’s formal schedule of events. Docents and museum staff will be on hand to lead visitors through the museum’s travelling and permanent exhibits. The inaugural exhibit in the main gallery features a visually stunning collection of works by Russian Jewish artist Grisha Bruskin, who is 32 OREGON JEWISH LIFE | JUNE/JULY 2017
OJMCHE Named Spaces
(as of May 10, 2017)
1st floor Changing Exhibition Gallery: Renee & Irwin Holzman 2nd floor Gallery: Leonard & Lois Schnitzer Family Lobby: Stern Family in memory of Jerry Stern Main stairway: Jay & Diane Zidell Charitable Foundation Vestibule: Lila Goodman Gift shop: Ron Tonkin Family Café: Rosemarie F. Rosenfeld Family (Lefty’s Cafe) Smaller gallery, 1st floor: Solomon & Rosalyn Menashe Board room: Elizabeth & Ruben Menashe Reception desk: Madelle & Stanley Rosenfeld Reading room: Alice Meyer The Oregon Jewish Museum and Center for Holocaust Education Director Judy Margles and retired Portland Art Museum Curator Bruce Guenther, in front of the new facility. Guenther will curate the inaugural year exhibits in the main gallery. PHOTO BY BENJAMIN ARIFF featured in Russia’s pavilion at this year’s Venice Biennale. Bruskin’s “The ALEFBET: the Alphabet of Memory” features large-scale tapestries draping the walls of the main gallery accompanied by the artist’s preparatory drawings and related gouache paintings, all referencing Kabbalistic and Talmudic teaching, biblical narratives and Russian folklore. The inaugural exhibit in the smaller gallery in the lobby is “Herman Brookman, Visualizing the Sacred,” featuring drawings by the architect of Temple Beth Israel. The Brookman exhibit is in conjunction with the Portland Art Museum’s exhibition “Quest for Beauty: the Architecture, Landscapes and Collections of John Yeon.” Brookman was an early mentor to Yeon. Also debuting at the grand opening are the museum’s three core exhibits – “Discrimination Continued on page 34
Education lab: Gus & Libby Solomon (Richard Solomon) Hallway gallery: Barry & Susan Menashe in honor of Davia and Ted Rubenstein and Robert and Ruth Menashe 2nd floor large exhibit case: Bob & Lore Labby, Paul & Lee Ann Labby Visitor benches: Estelle Golden; Madelle and Stanley Rosenfeld OREGON JEWISH LIFE | JUNE/JULY 2017 33
JEWISH MUSEUM and Resistance: An Oregon Primer,” “Oregon Jewish Stories” and “The Holocaust: An Oregon Perspective.” Retired Portland Art Museum Curator Bruce Guenther is curating the inaugural year of exhibits for the main gallery in OJMCHE’s new home. He and OJMCHE Director Judy Margles are already wading into the lists and logistics for the second show in the main gallery space, which will feature Oregon Jewish artists and is set to open Oct. 15. But he says the Bruskin exhibit is the reason he signed on to curate OJMCHE’s inaugural year of three exhibits. “What better way to open the doors of a museum devoted to Jewish life and identity than an exhibition of work created for The Word and the history of discourse in the search for g-d?” asks Guenther, noting this will be the first North American venue to host the exhibit that has been showcased in Moscow, Amsterdam and Paris. “OJMCHE will be the only opportunity in the U.S. to see his work this year,” says Guenther. Guenther describes the tapestries as “Bruskin’s personal and intellectual exploration of Jewish identity through The Word. … Drawing on his interest in early Renaissance art, letter forms and abstraction, Bruskin speaks to the core of what it means to be a Jew.” LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION Founded in 1990 as a museum without walls, the Oregon Jewish Museum initially housed its archives at the Oregon Historical Society. After a series of temporary homes – Montgomery Park, a Davis Street storefront and for the past six years Northwest Kearney Street – last year OJMCHE purchased the home of the Museum of Contemporary Craft, which closed in early 2016. “We have been called one of Portland’s best-kept secrets,” says Judy, who has served as the museum’s director since 2000. “But not for long. Look at this location. It’s going to be hard in September for people to say, ‘I didn’t know there was a Jewish museum in Portland.’ ” Situated in the heart of the arts district, the museum plans to participate in the First Thursday Art Walks, which bring flocks of people to the area each month. Guenther likewise praises the location: “The DeSoto Building was developed by prominent developer James Winkler as a hub for nonprofit/for-profit entities that would serve as a major focus on the North Park Blocks for the arts in the Pearl. The OJMCHE now occupies one of the most prominent, public locations in its short history, and with it comes the opportunity to educate the public about Judaism, its history and rituals, the contributions of Jews to world culture, and create dialogue about acceptance and tolerance in a divisive age.” With consultant Marc Vogl, the museum board had just completed a feasibility study for purchasing a building when the Pacific Northwest College of Art announced it would sell the former museum. The site matched the key needs identified in OJMCHE’s study. The Pearl was considered a prime location both as an arts destination and for its proximity to the Oregon Holocaust Memorial, of which OJMCHE is the steward. The nearly 15,000-square-foot site was the exact size the study suggested. 34 OREGON JEWISH LIFE | JUNE/JULY 2017
“This building was purpose-built – it had been a museum,” says Judy, noting that meant only minimal renovations were needed. “Our rule of thumb was, if it works, we aren’t changing it. This is a beautiful space.” In addition to the two main-floor galleries for touring exhibits and space for three core exhibits on the second floor, public areas include a 100-seat auditorium, gift shop and Lefty’s Café, which will serve pastries and sandwiches. The café, gift shop and small gallery are all open to the public so people walking by can stop in and get a taste of what the museum has to offer. The café is also a place for people to sit and reflect following a visit to the main gallery and core exhibits. The $5 million needed for the purchase price was raised quickly after PCNA gave OJMCHE a 45-day exclusive purchase option. Two families – Renee and Irwin Holzman and the Leonard, z”l, and Lois Schnitzer family – each donated $1 million toward the purchase price. Arlene and Jordan Schnitzer donated another $1 million for an endowment. Campaign chairs Steve Reinisch and Madelle Rosenfeld secured the balance of the purchase price from about 30 donors. In addition to the generous support of the Jewish community to fund the building purchase, Judy says there was also an outpouring of support from the arts community. “The idea that the Contemporary Craft Museum would be replaced with a museum was good news for the arts community,” she says. EVOLVING MISSION In 2000, the Oregon Jewish Museum moved to a storefront on Davis Street in Chinatown soon after Judy took the reins. The 10 years in the street-front location taught them that people were interested in Oregon’s Jewish history. “From 2000 to 2014, we did an occasional exhibit that had the Holocaust in it, but we were not focused on teaching about that history,” says Judy. “I could see my colleagues doing Holocaust education in their organizations and having conversations about what do we do when the survivors are gone. … I wanted us to be in it.” The 2010 move to Northwest Kearney Street brought the museum under the same roof as the Oregon Holocaust Resource Center; the two organizations merged in 2014. “Two years into the merger, we were seeing the profound importance of teaching about the Holocaust,” says Judy. “It had given a resonance to our work.” During the six years on Kearney Street, student visits increased tenfold. “Students and teachers are interested in learning about the Holocaust and Oregon Jewish life,” says Judy. In recent years the museum has also expanded collaborative programming with both Jewish groups and other ethnic and religious organizations. Last year’s program with the Oregon Nikkei Legacy Center brought together survivors of the Holocaust and of the internment camps, in which West Coast Japanese Americans were imprisoned after Pearl Harbor was Continued on page 36
ABOVE: Artist Grisha Bruskin. LEFT, TOP: One of five tapestries in Bruskin's exhibit ALEFBET. Each tapestry is 9 feet by 7 feet. LEFT: A close up of one section in a tapestry.
OJMCHE INAUGURAL EXHIBIT
Grisha Bruskin
ALEFBET: The Alphabet of Memory
June 11-Oct. 1, 2017 Tuesday-Friday, 11 am-5 pm Saturday-Sunday, noon-5 pm GRAND OPENING: June 11, noon-4 pm. Free Oregon Jewish Museum and Center for Holocaust Education 724 NW Davis St., Portland 97209 503-226-3600 l ojmche.org
OREGON JEWISH LIFE | JUNE/JULY 2017 35
JEWISH MUSEUM
TOOLS
36 OREGON JEWISH LIFE | JUNE/JULY 2017
D I S C R I M I N ATI O N
SCAPEGOAT
attacked. “Voices of Hope and Action” was so successful that the two groups plan to make it an annual event. Guenther praises the museum’s progress: “OJMCHE has matured immensely under Judy Margles’ leadership and has now arrived on a deservedly larger public stage just as the political climate has drawn an ugly, jagged red line under the words ‘hate’ and ‘intolerance’ internationally. The museum’s dual mission to celebrate and educate has never been more important. “The larger facility allows the museum to bring the story of Jews’ contribution to this community and Oregon on an ongoing basis, to a broader public audience in evolving displays that both celebrate and commemorate lives informed and empowered by Jewish identity and beliefs.” CORE EXHIBITS “We want to give students the tools to understand the world today,” says Judy. “The concept is to be an upstander not a bystander. We want students to have the tools so they can take action when they see injustice.” With double the space it had on Kearney, the museum was able to add three core exhibits designed by Brian Potter to do just that. The exhibits speak to the museum’s three-pronged mission: to interpret the Oregon Jewish experience, explore the lessons of the Holocaust and foster intercultural conversations. “The permanent collection areas on the second floor provide ongoing exhibits that discuss the history of the Holocaust – from the broad sweep of history to the first-person stories of Oregon’s resident survivors,” says Guenther. “Tolerance and humanity’s struggle against hatred are the subjects of one-third of the second floor. This will be a powerful part of the visitor’s experience thanks to the curatorial and education departments’ work to spotlight the issues of religious, racial and identity prejudice and the strategies to overcome them in one’s own life.” The core exhibits flow together, but each has a distinct atmosphere created not just by the artifacts and documents, but also by each exhibit’s floor and stacks of different materials and arrangements in the center. “We want people to feel uneasy when they walk into the Holocaust area,” says Judy. Metal columns stacked on their sides hold documents and artifacts; the floor appears to be broken glass in memory of Kristallnacht, with inset brass plaques that name each country and the number of Jews who perished. The area was curated by the museum’s Holocaust educator April Slabosheski. The floor in the discrimination area is covered with words such as “scapegoat,” “protest” and “dehumanize.” The walls and columns are Lucite and Plexiglas in modern colors. Oregon stories features a map of Oregon on the floor. Wood columns arranged like a cityscape Core Exhibit Curators, dominate the area. from left, April Slabosheski, “Most striking are the use of the OJMCHE Holocaust stacks in the center,” says museum Educator, curator of The curator Anne Levant Prahl, who Holocaust, an Oregon curated the Oregon exhibit with Perspective; Janice Dilg, Judy. “They are the interactive curator of Discrimination piece and the place for artifacts,” and Resistance, An Oregon she says. “In ‘Oregon Jewish Primer, Judy Margles, Stories,’ they are wooden cases OJMCHE Director, curator all about discovery with drawers with Anne LeVant Prahl, and doors to open and artifacts curator of collections, on to discover in the columns.” The Oregon Jewish Stories. walls of the exhibit begin with Photo by Palma Corral
OF
In the nineteenth century and early twentieth, many immigrants who came to Oregon eager to find work faced barriers that included the denial of basic civil rights and being subjected to intimidation and violence. Further, immigrants were often scapegoated — accused of taking white worker’s jobs and blamed for economic failures.
“No chinaman not a resident of the state at the adoption of this constitution, shall ever hold any real estate or mining claim.” — OREGON CONSTITUTION, 1859
Snake River Massacre of Chinese Miners
1925
Chinese men who came here in the late nineteenth century as laborers were often referred to as “sojourners,” since they
were only allowed into the country to work, and could not be accompanied by wives or families. In 1882 the nation’s failing economy, coupled with long-standing anti-Chinese sentiment, resulted in the passage of the federal Chinese Exclusion Act, which banned Chinese labor immigration for ten years. Amid this hysteria, arsonists burned buildings in Portland’s Chinatown, vigilantes expelled Chinese workers from Oregon City, and a small group of white men and boys massacred thirty-four Chinese miners in Hells Canyon.
During the summer of 1925 the Lincoln County Protection League (LCPL) took numerous actions to prevent local mill owners from hiring any non-white laborers, particularly Japanese. rowdy street meetings, such as this one in the town of Toledo, that inflamed anti-Japanese, anti-immigrant fears. Courtesy Lincoln County Historical Society 2881
Japanese Mill Workers, Toledo, Oregon
1925
In 1925 a mob wielding guns and clubs forced Japanese, Filipino, and Korean sawmill workers to flee from the Pacific
Spruce Corporation. Five Japanese workers lost a criminal lawsuit against their attackers, but they won a civil lawsuit, one of the first civil rights cases in the United States.
Deportation of Mexican Farm Workers
1930s
Mexicans first migrated into the state
Mining for gold along the Salmon River, a tributary of the Snake River, near Slate Creek, Idaho, n.d. Courtesy Historical Museum at St. Gertrude, Cottonwood, Idaho
as vaqueros (cowboys) and mule train packers, and later as railroad workers
The Oregonian, June 2, 1930
and crop pickers. When the Great Depression struck in the 1930s, most employers adopted a “whites only” hiring policy. This resulted in the forced deportation of nearly 500,000 Mexicans nationwide, half of whom were American citizens.
St. Johns Riot
1910
East Indian — mainly Sikh — workers immigrated to Oregon to work in lumber mills along the Columbia River in the
early twentieth century. They were targets of violence from workers who resented the “tide of turbans.” Police reportedly stood by as a mob of white mill workers brutally attacked the “Hindus.” By 1942, labor shortages caused by America’s entry into the Second World War brought 5,000 Mexican workers back to Oregon. They worked in the fields and orchards as part of the agreement between Mexico and the United States known as the Bracero Program. The braceros (manual laborers) provided food for the nation as part of the war effort, and established a permanent community in Oregon. Harvest laborers, Hood River, c. 1945. Courtesy Extension Bulletin Illustrations Photograph Collection (P 020), Oregon State University Special Collections and Archives Research Center
The number of East Indian (likely Sikh) workers at this Northwest lumber mill indicates that they were part of a diverse labor force, n.d. Courtesy Clatsop County Historical Society
TOOLS
OF
R E SI S TA N C E
PERSIST
A quiet but powerful method to resist discrimination has been the simple act of persisting — of living in a hostile environment, refusing to retreat in the face of intimidation, and thereby opposing oppressive laws and practices.
Klamath Tribal Council, 1955. Oregon Historical Society, OrHi 02356
African Americans America Waldo moved to Oregon in 1846, where she married successful businessman and West
Klamath Recognition After decades of struggle, the Klamath tribes — Klamath, Modoc, and Yahooskin — were
Indies immigrant Richard A. Bogle in 1863. Their
successful in regaining government recognition.
grandson, Richard Waldo Sr., married Kathryn Baker,
Unfortunately the U.S. government had liquidated
a journalist and civil rights activist, and their son,
most of their former reservation lands and timber in
Dick Bogle, became a police officer, news anchor,
the course of tribal termination in 1953.
and Portland City Commissioner.
America Waldo Bogle and Richard A. Bogle, c. 1930. Oregon Historical Society, OHS 048C001
Chinese Americans Despite anti-Chinese sentiment and exclusion laws, some Chinese immigrants succeeded in making a home for themselves in Oregon. Lung On, left, owned the Kam Wah Chung store in John Day, and Ing “Doc” Hay was an herbalist who for decades treated patients in the area.
“We are speaking up today for our right to exist.” — K AT H R Y N H A R R I S O N , 1 9 8 3
Grand Ronde Restoration Between 1977 and 1989 the United States government recognized and restored many of the terminated tribes. Testifying at the 1983 congressional hearing for restoration of the Grand Ronde are, seated in the front row from right to left, Kathryn Harrison, Karen Harrison, and Frank Harrison.
an introduction to Jewish identity in Oregon and videos of five “under 40” Oregon Jews. Traveling around the walls, one goes from identity, to arrival (featuring various waves of immigrants and current transplants from other states), to settling in. The exhibit looks at the whole state including farming communities. “Jews in Oregon have been very successful,” says Judy. “It’s delightful to share the story of the community, how Jews make a living and synagogue growth.” “Discrimination and Resistance: An Oregon Primer” was curated by museum consultant Janice Dilg. “It looks at the forms of discrimination and how they affect people and the flip side, resistance,” says Judy. “It will pack a wallop. We are not mincing words about the history of the state. … Oregon had the largest KKK west of the Mississippi in the 1920s. We have a KKK hood next to this quote from the constitution of Oregon: ‘No free negro, or mulatto, not residing in this State at the time of the adoption of this Constitution (i.e., 1857) shall come, reside or be within this State, or hold any real estate, or make any contracts, or maintain any suit therein ...’ This exclusion clause was not repealed until 1927. “People don’t know about the history of discrimination in this state,” says Judy. To enable museum visitors to take action with their new knowledge, the museum is developing an education lab planned to open in January 2018. “The goal is to create a place where people can learn how to take action,” says Judy. The lab will include computers, books, journals and other resources. Though Judy says she doesn’t expect people to leave the museum and volunteer four hours a week with a food bank or other helping agency. “It’s about baby steps. If they do one thing or take one step toward human kindness, then they will make a difference,” says Judy. “Pay attention and see what you can do to make the world a better place.”
Lung On and Ing Hay with friend Mabel McGirr, early 1900s. Oregon Historical Society, OHS ba019843 (detail)
Oregon Historical Society Research Library, OrHi 101587
Tribal Restoration Coquille Indian Tribe Confederated Tribes of the Grande Ronde
1989 1983
Confederated Tribes
1977,
of the Siletz
1980
Coos, Lower Umpqua, and Siuslaw Cow Creek Band of the Umpqua Tribe Klamath Tribes
1984
1982 1986
The staff of the Oregon Jewish Museum and Center for Holocaust Education invite the community to see their new home on the North Park Blocks at the museum's grand opening June 11. Photo by Benjamin Ariff Looking at the Core: From left, Retired Portland Art Museum Curator Bruce Guenther, OJMCHE Director Judy Margles and Russian Jewish artist Grisha Bruskin look at a mockup of one of OJMCHE's three core exhibits, “The Holocaust: An Oregon Perspective.” The the core exhibits will be unveiled June 11. OREGON JEWISH JEWISH LIFE LIFE ||JUNE/JULY JUNE/JULY2017 2017 37 OREGON
Portland Jewish Film Festival
celebrates silver anniversary By Deborah Moon The 25th annual Portland Jewish Film Festival will kick off with an opening reception on June 11 followed by a 7 pm screening of “Menashe.” Produced by the Northwest Film Center and co-presented by the Institute for Judaic Studies, this year’s festival will present 18 films June 1125. (See schedule pages 40-41.) “The opening receptions will be a celebration of the 25th year and a thanks to the Institute for Judaic Studies and many other sponsors who have supported PJFF over the years,” says Northwest Film Center Director Bill Foster. Of the film following the reception, he adds, “I think people will appreciate the Opening Night film, “Menashe,” which premiered at this year’s Sundance Film Festival and offers both a touching story and a portrait of a little seen Orthodox way of life in Brooklyn, NY.” Bill says this year’s festival is “purposefully eclectic in showcasing Israeli, European and American films – features, documentaries and shorts – that speak to Jewish experience and culture while showcasing new work by both established and debuting filmmakers.” One goal of the festival is to introduce people to the great wealth of work being produced that doesn’t often find exposure in Portland theaters. That introduction often leads to further discovery. One film of particular interest might be “The Settlers” (see review). The film provides diverse firsthand views of the evolution of West Bank settlements over the past 50 years. Two documentaries, “Body and Soul: An American Bridge” and “Strange Fruit,” explore the complex musical interplay between Jewish and African-American cultures. Families might want to check out “Fanny’s Journey” about a heroic young girl in World War II France (see review). “From the historically focused to the contemporary – history, family, politics and culture all surface in this year’s program,” says Bill. 38 OREGON JEWISH LIFE | JUNE/JULY 2017
“Fanny’s Journey” will screen twice at the Portland Jewish Film Center – Saturday, June 17, 4 pm and Sunday, June 18, 7:30 pm.
A child shall lead them on ‘Fanny’s Journey’ By Michael Fox Movies about Jews evading the Holocaust are, frankly, irresistible. We never tire of these celluloid beacons of hope, not least because we can never forget that the victims greatly outnumbered the escapees. The challenge that filmmakers face in this area is keeping the rays of light in proportion to the vast darkness of reality. The vivid and moving drama “Fanny’s Journey” succeeds on that score by showing occupied France through the eyes of children, who can’t fully apprehend the dangers all around them. The viewer brings all the context that the titular heroine and her even-younger charges lack, of course. We fill in the off-screen horrors, from Paris deportations to labor and death camps in the east, which are alluded to only briefly. Consequently, the preponderance of bright, sunlit exteriors in “Fanny’s Journey” feels like a reflection of normal childhood rather than a fake veneer lacquered over grim day-to-day existence. At the same time, every close call and near escape – and the movie abounds with them – is even more fraught for the audience than for the fleeing children. “Fanny’s Journey,” adapted by French writer/director Lola Doillon from Fanny Ben-Ami’s 2011 autobiography, screens in the Portland Jewish Film Festival. The movie starts rolling in 1943 at an idyllic country house teeming with children and a few doting adults. Thousands of French Jewish parents brought their kids to rural enclaves like this for safekeeping, hoping to reunite after the Nazis were expelled and the war ended. Fanny and her two younger sisters cherish their mother’s letters – their father is in a camp – and Fanny also takes bittersweet comfort in recalling vignettes from the family’s brief period of happiness together. The siblings’ security and stability comes to an abrupt end when the staff learns the Nazis have been tipped off to the presence of Jewish children. Quickly loaded onto buses, the kids are dispatched to another safe house on the Italian side of the border. The no-nonsense Madame Forman (Cécile de France, “The Young Pope”) rules the roost here, and she has no time or inclination for coddling. She’s unduly harsh, but her manner is both bracing and necessary: From here on, everyone’s survival depends on paying attention and following instructions. After Madame Forman hears the news of Mussolini’s arrest on the radio, she instantly assesses the consequences: The brutal Germans will now be in charge, not Italian soldiers and police, and Jews are in immediate danger. Madame Forman and her assistant, a teenager named Eli, manage to board the children on a train headed across France toward the Swiss border, although it requires a desperate, gutsy, spur-of-the-moment, on-the-platform distraction on her part. She briefly meets up with the children subsequently, by which time Eli has fled.
Out of options, Madame Forman puts Fanny in charge of leading the eight other kids to safety. (In actuality, the 13-year-old shepherded an astounding 27 children. The truth would have been too much for moviegoers to accept.) “Fanny’s Journey” depicts people helping endangered Jews for a variety of reasons, from love and innate humanity to simple commerce. The entire gamut of responses is evoked with gratifying understatement: heroism, self-sacrifice, self-interest, indifference and betrayal. The heart of the film, though, is the children’s response to the disorienting and difficult circumstances they must continually contend with. The film rarely invokes the paranoid feeling of not knowing whom to trust; rather the viewer understands that Fanny and her charges will have to ultimately save themselves. “Fanny’s Journey” smoothly carries off the trick of making the kids vulnerable so that we despise anyone who would torment and threaten them, yet resilient enough to evade and escape their
adversaries. By way of reminding us that the protagonists aren’t action heroes or Jason Bourne-like prodigies, Doillon intersperses her film with interludes when the kids behave like kids – kicking a soccer ball, splashing in a stream, collecting wind-strewn currency in a meadow. The director generally resists using the score to manipulate our emotions, though she occasionally veers into the broadly sentimental. For the viewer equipped with tissues, it’s not a problem. “Fanny’s Journey” is an intelligent, gripping saga that honors the painful Jewish past and calls out French collaborators. If it also puts us in mind of child refugees and immigrants, well, compassion is a universal value. “Fanny’s Journey” is in French with English subtitles, 94 minutes, unrated. Michael Fox is a San Francisco-based film critic.
‘The Settlers’ traces rocky road to Israel’s present-day dilemma
By Michael Fox
Yet the defining visual motif of “The Settlers,” repeated dozens of times from as many locations, is Over the course of nearly a view of the landscape in which two hours, “The Settlers” a hilltop settlement appears provokes anger, pride, dismay, jarringly out of place. While some frustration and sadness. The viewers will feel a sense of aconly emotion it doesn’t engencomplishment at the aerial shots der is hope. of snaking chains of look-alike A historical overview of the houses with modern red roofs, settlement movement, Shimon it’s more likely that the filmmaker Dotan’s thoughtful and mostly “The Settlers” screens at 7 pm, Monday, June 12, at wants us to see the settlements evenhanded documentary the Portland Jewish Film Festival. as unnatural impositions on the focuses on the status of the land. West Bank and Gaza in the Although I recommend “The Settlers” as essential viewing for half-century since the Six-Day War. anyone interested in Israel and with the fortitude for a hard-truths In essence, the film is a catalog of the numerous occasions conversation afterward, I don’t envision the film having much influwhen certain rabbis and their impassioned followers, catalyzed by ence or impact on debate or policy. conservative interpretations of the Bible and ancient events, outThe documentary’s brief passages on Baruch Goldstein, Meir maneuvered the shortsighted, opportunistic or cowardly gambits of Kahane’s friend and follower who killed 29 Muslims worshipping a succession of prime ministers. at Hebron’s Cave of the Patriarchs in 1994, and Yigal Amir, the “The Settlers,” which screens in the Portland Jewish Film Festiextremist who assassinated Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, are val, is an important work – regardless of where the viewer resides acutely depressing, because they remind us that fanatics will not on the religious and political spectrums – in that it provides a short compromise or negotiate. course on a force in Israeli society that presently numbers some While documentaries these days strive to leave the viewer in a 400,000 people in 225 settlements. state of cautious optimism, inspired by visionary activists or leadThe settlers’ influence on the Israeli economy is even greater ers committed to possible solutions, “The Settlers” barely makes a when you tote up the shekels and resources expended over the feint in that direction. Dotan appears to agree with the left-of-center decades on construction, infrastructure and security. For example, academics who view the settlements as a fait accompli, as well as the film points out that 600 settlers live in Hebron surrounded by an existential threat to Israel’s identity and security. 200,000 Palestinians. Perhaps the best point of reference for “The Settlers” is “The Although “The Settlers” primarily views the settlements as a divisive flashpoint among Israelis, the documentary also cites them Gatekeepers,” Dror Moreh’s sobering 2012 documentary in which a parade of former Shin Bet chiefs recounted, with 20-20 hindas a catalyst for the First Intifada and an impediment to past and sight, the numerous mistakes and miscalculations they and elected future peace talks with the Palestinians. leaders made vis-à-vis the Palestinians. In a calm, measured voice, Dotan interviews settlers of various Both films leave us with the unhappy realization that history backgrounds and orientations, from knowledgeable, strategic leadcannot be undone. But if you subscribe to the impulse – or illusion ers of the 1970s Messianic group Gush Emunim to contemporary – that human beings can learn from the past, they provide fleeting young settlers whose Zionism is matched by their racism. solace. Dotan uncovers acres of archival footage that evokes the pivotal period after the Six-Day War when Israel was compelled to consider Michael Fox is a San Francisco-based film critic. anew what kind of country it wanted to be. OREGON JEWISH LIFE | JUNE/JULY 2017 39
PRODUCED BY THE NORTHWEST FILM CENTER AND CO-PRESENTED WITH THE INSTITUTE FOR JUDAIC STUDIES
25th Portland Jewish Film Festival JUNE 11-25, 2017
NWFILM.ORG Beyond the Mountains and Hills
GENERAL ADMISSION: $10
STUDENTS AND SENIORS: $9 PATRON PASS: $125 Complete schedule, tickets, and passes are available online at nwfilm.org. location: Northwest Film Center—Whitsell Auditorium, Portland Art Museum, 1219 SW Park Avenue Welcome to the 25th annual Portland Jewish Film Festival, produced by the Northwest Film Center and co-presented with the Institute for Judaic Studies. While the Festival celebrates the diversity of Jewish history, culture, identity and filmmaking, we hope that these films, and the stories they tell, resonate beyond their settings and speak to universal experiences and issues that confront our common humanity.
Saturday, June 17, 6:30 pm Past Life, Israel, Poland, 2016
dir. Avi Nesher (109 mins., drama, DCP)
Two sisters in Jerusalem, the daughters of Holocaust survivors, investigate a taboo topic: the dark mystery of their difficult father’s experiences in Poland during World War II.
Saturday, June 17, 9 pm In Between, Israel, France, 2016
dir. Maysaloun Hamoud (102 mins., drama, DCP)
Wednesday, June 14, 7 pm The Women’s Balcony, Israel, 2016
Three Palestinian-Israeli women share an apartment in the vibrant heart of Tel Aviv confronting tradition and modernity, citizenship and culture, and fealty and freedom in a culture in which they are not Israeli enough, not Palestinian enough.
dir. Emil Ben Shimon (96 mins., comedy-drama, DCP)
Menashe
Sunday, June 11, 7 pm Menashe, US/Israel, 2017
dir. Joshua Z. Weinstein (82 mins., drama, DCP)
In this comic feminist narrative a charismatic young rabbi warns that the men of the Sephardic congregation that they haven’t done enough to ensure the modesty of their women, creating a rift that puts faith, friendships, and traditions to the test.
Thursday, June 15, 7 pm 1945, Hungary, 2016
dir. Ferenc Török (91 mins., drama, DCP)
The villagers in a small community in 1945 must face the Deep in the heart of New York’s ultra-orthodox Hasidic Jewish community, Menashe—a kind, hapless grocery store clerk—struggles to consequences of “ill-gotten gains” with the prospect of Jews returning home to re-claim their property. make ends meet and responsibly parent his young son.
Monday, June 12, 7 pm The Settlers, France/Germany/Israel, 2016
dir. Shimon Dotan (107 mins., documentary, DCP)
Nominated for the Israeli Academy Award for Best Documentary, The Settlers traces the history and explores the viewpoints—religious and secular, radical and idealist alike—of West Bank settlers since the 1967 Six-Day War.
40 OREGON JEWISH LIFE | JUNE/JULY 2017
1945
Saturday, June 17, 4 pm Sunday, June 18, 8 pm Fanny’s Journey, France/Belgium, 2016
dir. Lola Doillon (94 mins., drama, DCP)
Based on an autobiographical novel by Fanny Ben-Ami, the heroic story of a young girl in World War II France who leads a group of children to safety in Switzerland. Family Friendly.
In Between
Sunday, June 18, 4:30 pm Body and Soul: An American Bridge, US 2016 dir. Robert Philipson (60 mins, documentary, DCP)
One of the most recorded songs in the Great American Songbook and a jazz standard, the story of Body and Soul illustrates the complex musical interplay between Jewish and African-American cultures. followed by
Strange Fruit, US, 2002
Director: Joel Katz (56 mins., documentary, Bluray)
While many people assume Strange Fruit was written by Billie Holiday herself, it actually began as a poem by a Jewish schoolteacher and union activist from the Bronx.
Monday, June 19, 7 pm Moos, Netherlands, 2016
dir. Job Gosschalk (91 mins., romantic comedy, DCP)
In the endearing comedy set in tight-knit community Amsterdam, 20-something Moos finds out what’s important and the road to following her far-fetched dreams.
Moos
Big Sonia
Tuesday June 20, 7 pm Big Sonia, US 2016
Saturday, June 24, 8:45 pm Beyond the Mountains and Hills, Israel, 2016
dir. Leah Warshawski (93 mins., documentary, Blu-ray) dir. Eran Kolirin (92 mins., drama, DCP)
Spunky 91-year-old Sonia Warshawski survived Auschwitz and A man retuning to civilian life after decades of military service finds Bergen-Belsen, but now she has to face another big challenge: her fear himself, his family, and Israeli society at a crossroads. Nominated for of retiring from running her late husband’s tailor shop. six Israeli Academy awards, including Best Picture.
Wednesday, June 21, 7 pm A Grain of Truth, Poland, 2015
dir. Borys Lankosz (110 mins., drama, DCP)
Sunday, June 25, 4:30 pm Aida’s Secrets, Israel/U.S./Germany, 2016
Lankosz’s crackling detective thriller explores contemporary xenophobia, anti-semitisim and centuries of superstition simmering in the history of Polish-Jewish relations.
Thursday, June 22, 7 pm Natasha, Canada, 2016
dir. David Bezmozgis (97 mins., drama, DCP)
Mark, the son of Russian-Jewish immigrants living in the suburbs of Toronto, enters into a secret and forbidden romance with his strange, newly arrived step-sister, Natasha, with bizarre and tragic consequences for everyone involved.
Saturday, June 24, 4 pm Monday, June 26, 7 pm To Be Or Not To Be, US, 1942
dir. Alon Schwarz, Shaul Schwarz (90 mins., documentary, DCP)
Izak Szewelewicz was born inside the Bergen-Belsen Displaced Persons camp in 1945 and put up for adoption in Israel. Secret details of his birth mother, an unknown brother in Canada, and his father’s true identity slowly emerge in an astonishingly heart felt story.
Sunday, June 25, 7 pm Moon in the 12th House, Israel, 2016
dir. Dorit Hakim (109 mins., drama, DCP)
When a pair of estranged Israeli sisters—one who stayed at the childhood home to care for their debilitated father, the other who left for a new life in Tel Aviv—are reunited, they must come to terms with the circumstances that tore them apart.
dir. Ernst Lubitsch (99 mins., Comedy, DCP)
Jack Benny and Carole Lombard star in this comic espionage story about a Polish theater company in Gestapo-ruled Warsaw. A send-up of Nazi mystique and manners, it also endures as a prime example of the famed “Lubitsch touch”—witty, stylish and broadly satiric.
Saturday, June 24, 6:30 pm Harmonia, Israel, 2016
dir. Ori Sivan (98 mins., drama, DCP) Harmonia
This contemporary adaptation of the biblical tale of Abraham, Sarah, and Hagar presents a poignant metaphor to the modern day challenges facing Israel’s sibling religions.
Moon in the 12th House
SPECIAL THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS Diane Solomon Family Fund
Leonard & Lois Schnitzer Charitable Supporting Fund of the OJCF
Oregon-Israel Fund of the Oregon Jewish Community Foundation
Ruben J. and Elizabeth Menashe
Aspen Mitzvah Fund of the OJCF
OREGON JEWISH LIFE | JUNE/JULY 2017 41
ISRAEL
Singer-songwriter Roy Dahan. Photo by Shahar Ratzenberg.
By Tal Peri
The magic of Roy Dahan’s music
"Do you know how many new songs I have at this moment, waiting in the drawer to be recorded? Zero,” says Israeli singersongwriter Roy Dahan, 37. “I believe that if you write a song, it is meant to be heard.” Roy recently released his third album titled "Through the Woods,” five years after the release of his critically acclaimed “Some of This Life” album was described by critics as one of the best Israeli debut albums of the new millennium. This was an especially impressive achievement, because it was written and recorded in English. (His second album titled “The Man in My Head,” another success, immediately followed.) Being born in the peaceful surroundings of the small settlement of Korazim in the north of Israel, not far from Lake Kinneret (Sea of Galilee), influenced the dreamy, folkrock sound of his music. “I loved growing up in that kind of place,” says Roy. “It’s funny, but many people tell me my music is connected, in their minds, with driving. They love listening to my songs in their cars during long travels. It's not a big-city music.” Tal Peri recently posed some thoughtful questions to Roy that brought out some honest answers about his successful music career. Q: Not many new singers get their first break after age 30. What have you been doing all these years? A: Lots of different things (laughs). I was a magician, performing for kids in parties and family events, and I was working with my brothers importing toys. I was also a piano teacher, which I still do. Looking back, I felt I was at a dead end in my life. I had no money, no long-term plans, no passion for anything but my music. I told my brothers I was leaving the 42 OREGON JEWISH LIFE | JUNE/JULY 2017
toy business and started performing in small clubs playing the songs I had already written. One of my piano students came to see a show and became my investor. He just said, “Tell me how much you need for recording, because people need to hear your songs” and stayed true to his word. Q: Did you expect your music to touch so many people so fast? A: I hoped, but the truth is you can't do much after the recording process is done. I still have no idea which of my songs will make a radio hit single. My PR people have the final say in that. I never thought “Does Anyone Know” [from Roy’s debut album] would be a hit and it is still my biggest to date. Q: Many critics mentioned the transformation from psychedelic folk of the first album to the more rock production in the second – and now something in between for “Through the Woods.” A: I don't want all my albums to sound the same. It is way more interesting for me to explore new ideas; but at the end, it is still … what I bring to the table as a singer and songwriter. In the new album, for example, I really wanted to try different collaborations with several great musical producers. I worked with four of them. Q: You just shot a video in Berlin for your current single, “Guardian Angel.” What is your connection to that city? A: I traveled there after the release of my second album and lived there for five months while performing in clubs and arenas in Germany, the U.K. and Austria. Great shows. I made many good connections – and above all, I loved Berlin. Now I plan to make the same move with the third album tour and this time stay in London for a while and see what will happen.
Q: In recent years, it has become common for Israeli musicians to write and record in English. Do people ask you about that? A: Oh, yes. All the time. Not a single interview goes by without me having to almost apologize, in some way, about choosing English as the language of my songs. I experimented a bit in Hebrew in between my second album and the new one. I recorded cover versions for two classic Israeli songs: Meir Ariel’s “Neshel ha’nahash (Snake’s Skin)” and Naomi Shemer’s “Bashana Haba’ah (Next Year).” I mainly wanted to turn them around, and make them sound like my own creation. I’m not thinking yet of writing original songs in Hebrew. English always came more naturally to me, ever since I started writing as a teenager.
The water park at the Shefayim Kibbutz Hotel in Israel.
Summer fun in Israel By Teddy Weinberger
The school year in Israel runs from Sept. 1 through June 30. Israeli kids especially look forward to hahofesh ha-gadol (“the big vacation,” as summer break is universally called here), because they go to school six days a week. So during the school year they seldom get a chance to sleep over at a friend’s (if they have parents like me and Sarah) or to have a lazy morning (unless they are not synagogue-goers). Summer camps begin during the first week of July and last for about three weeks. Almost all of these are day camps. The regular camping sessions end with July and there are few camping options in August. This is where the Family Fun part comes in. There are many family-friendly options for touring Israel, and because Israel is a small country, driving distances are eminently manageable – a three-hour drive is considered a very long drive in Israel. Since there is absolutely no chance of rain in the summer, you don't have to be an especially talented “woods person” to go camping, and many families do so at one of Israel's beautiful nature reserves. However, because I do all the cooking in our family and I want our family vacation to be a vacation for me, as well, we elect to go to places that have a (kosher) meal plan. Options
Q: Anything you miss about your old life, before becoming a full-time musician? A: I miss being a magician. It was so much fun. I still practice at home, making sure I [can] still master those tricks. You never know, right? Buy Roy Dahan’s CDs at roydahan.bandcamp.com. You can also find his music on iTunes and listen on You Tube. Tal Peri resides in Scottsdale. Before coming to the U.S., he worked for some of Israel’s leading media groups for over 25 years covering art, music, theater and entertainment.
here range from hotels (in some cases these can be more reasonable than you might imagine), to kibbutz guest houses, to youth hostels, to Society for the Preservation of Nature Field Schools. These Field Schools are an excellent way of touring the country. Each of the schools runs programs covering its particular geographical area. Tours are usually in Hebrew, though the society also conducts tours in English. It’s amazing how, if I am the one to plan a particular hike, all of my children become critics and carefully weigh the pros and cons of my proposed trek before rendering their verdicts, but with a hike organized by a third party everyone falls in line. Americans touring in Israel will be struck by the absence of warning signs, guardrails and security fences that routinely surround any area in the States with even the remotest possibility of danger. My Mom suggests that this is because Israelis have more of a sense of personal responsibility. It could be, too, that thanks to living in various states of war for so long, Israelis have a more liberal sense of what constitutes danger. In any case, don’t be surprised if you find yourself at the edge of a cliff on what was advertised as a “moderate” hike. Then there are Israel’s beautiful beaches, plus surefire kid-pleasers like water parks. We combined both a few summers ago in staying at the Shfayim Kibbutz Hotel just north of Tel Aviv. Kibbutz Shfayim has a gorgeous semiprivate beach (where a lifeguard served us watermelon on a tray while we were sitting in the shade), plus it runs a huge water park complete with wave pool, water slides and inner tubes. Summertime is also a chance to hear some great outdoor concerts. And this being Israel, you may find top Israeli performers coming right to your neighborhood. Over the years, some of Israel's top artists have given summer concerts right here in Givat Ze'ev. At the end of August, Sarah and I are planning to get away for a few days to a lovely B&B in the North. Summer is nice here in Israel, and taking a vacation from Family Fun is nice, too. Teddy Weinberger, Ph.D., writes from Givat Ze’ev, a suburb of Jerusalem just over the Green Line. He and his wife, Sarah Jane Ross, made aliyah in 1997 with their five children. Teddy is director of development for Meaningful, a company that works with Israeli nonprofit organizations. OREGON JEWISH LIFE | JUNE/JULY 2017 43
FOOD
CORNER
WITH OREGON’S SUMMER WEATHER AND BOUNTY, WHY GO ANYWHERE ELSE? Story and photos by Lisa Glickman
As a columnist, my deadline runs about a month before this magazine goes to print. As I begin to pen this article about the warm days of summer, I am sitting in front of my computer wearing a fleecy sweatshirt and sweat pants with a comfy blanket wrapped around my legs. It’s a damp and chilly Tuesday, and the weather forecast for the rest of the week is rain. Rain, rain and MORE rain. I am an Oregonian. I can handle the rain. I am therefore, by nature, accustomed to the rainy months of April and May. I am equipped with several pairs of waterproof shoes, one compulsory umbrella (mostly for special occasions or out-of-state guests) and a few hooded raincoats. I always prepare for the baseball game to be a washout and the backyard party to be spontaneously moved indoors during Oregon’s springs. As you are reading this, I trust those days are well behind us. I have faith that the warm sun will soon reveal itself (for more than an hour or two between incessant rain showers), and before long we will be enjoying what promises to be yet another 44 OREGON JEWISH LIFE | JUNE/JULY 2017
spectacular Oregon summer. The Pacific Northwest has the uncanny ability to soak up all that spring rain and turn it into magnificent roses, glorious grapes and succulent strawberries. Downtown Portland’s grand elms line the park blocks where the farmer’s markets will boast a bounty of produce and products made and grown in our own backyard. There are weekly concerts at the zoo. First Thursday art fairs, and food and wine festivals spring up all over town. Restaurants move tables and chairs outside for al fresco diners to enjoy warm evenings with a pint from our endless list of Oregon-inspired microbrews. In less than a 90-minute car ride from Portland, one can sample award-winning pinot noir in Yamhill County, enjoy fish and chips with a Pacific Ocean view at Mo’s in Lincoln City or camp under the stars at Timothy Lake below the majestic Mount Hood. With such an embarrassment of riches, why would we ever need to seek a vacation anywhere else? During the summer, Oregon gives us many more reasons
to stay than leave. I’ve lived here long enough to know that soon I’ll be able to put away those sweatshirts and raincoats. Oregon may own its reputation for an abundance of “liquid sunshine,” but during the summer I’m happy to stay right here and enjoy the real thing!
Romesco Sauce
Firing up the outdoor grill is a daily occurrence during an Oregon summer. This romesco sauce adds exciting Spanish flair to any simply grilled meat, fish, chicken or veggies. 4 dried ancho chilies 2 cups boiling-hot water 1 large red onion, halved and thinly sliced 3 garlic cloves, peeled 1 tablespoon olive oil ⅓ cup Marcona almonds (raw, about 2 ounces) 1 cup bread cubes from Italian or French loaf 4 bottled piquillo peppers 1 teaspoon Spanish paprika ¼ cup Sherry vinegar ½ cup extra-virgin olive oil ⅛ teaspoon salt Cover chilies with boiling water and soak until softened, about 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 400°F. While chilies soak, toss onion and garlic with 1 tablespoon olive oil in a medium bowl, then spread out evenly on a baking sheet. Roast until golden, 15 to 20 minutes. Stir in almonds and bread cubes and roast until almonds and bread are golden, about 10 minutes more. Drain soaked chilies over a small bowl and reserve soaking water. Discard stems and seeds. Use a food processor to blend soaked chilies, roasted bread mixture, piquillo peppers, paprika, vinegar, extra-virgin olive oil and salt until smooth, adding reserved chili water, 1 tablespoon at a time, to thin to desired consistency.
Oregon Strawberry Cheesecake Cookies
1¼ cups crushed graham crackers (about one sleeve) 1 cup all-purpose flour 1½ teaspoons baking powder 1½ sticks (12 tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened ½ cup packed light brown sugar 1 egg, separated 4 ounces cream cheese, softened 1/4 cup granulated sugar ½ teaspoon vanilla extract 2 cups sliced strawberries (Oregon grown) Sugar to taste (if even necessary)
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. In a large bowl, whisk together the graham cracker crumbs, flour and baking powder. In a medium bowl, with an electric mixer, beat together the butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add the egg white and beat until well combined. Stir graham cracker mixture into butter mixture until just combined. In another medium bowl, beat together the cream cheese and granulated sugar until combined. Add in egg yolk and vanilla and mix until smooth. Using a medium cookie scoop (about 2 tablespoons), scoop out the cookie dough and place on prepared baking sheets. Flatten slightly, pressing your thumb or a round measuring teaspoon into the center of the ball to create a small bowl shape. Repeat with the remaining dough. Spoon or pipe the cream cheese mixture into the indents of the cookies. Bake in preheated oven for 12 minutes or until the filling is barely set and the cookies are lightly golden. Allow to cool 5 minutes on the baking sheets before removing them and cooling completely on a wire rack. Spoon sliced strawberries on top just before serving.
Lisa Glickman is a private chef and teacher who lives in Portland. She has made TV appearances on COTV in Central Oregon and appeared on the Cooking Channel’s “The Perfect Three.” She can be reached at lisa@ lisaglickman.com. OREGON JEWISH LIFE | JUNE/JULY 2017 45
NWNosh
Israel trip inspires chef to reinvent Lincoln as Ray By Kerry Politzer
For many years, Chef Jenn Louis has been known for her handmade pasta and flavorful New American cuisine. But a recent trip to Israel left her so spellbound that she did a culinary 180. Jenn explains, “There’s this one restaurant I went to just outside of the Old City in Jerusalem. We sat down, and they brought all these different stews and braises and pickles and sauces and spreads. And it was just like the most soulful table of food ever. And it just made me so happy.” When she returned to Portland, she set about transforming her award-win46 OREGON JEWISH LIFE | JUNE/JULY 2017
ning Lincoln Restaurant into the Israeli-informed Ray. Jenn feels that the depth and breadth of Israeli cuisine are not often represented outside of the country. She aims to change this with Ray, which offers a stunning menu of “vegetable-forward” food accented with harissa, sumac and ras el hanout. There are small and large plates and vegetables, as well as two salads, variations on hummus and fresh breads. The cocktail menu is populated with beverages that tickle the Jewish funny bone: “Call Your Mother” and “Manischewitz Sour.” The bright magenta beet hummus, which is served with lavash, plays the natural sweetness of beets against the sour tang
“It was just like the most soulful table of food ever. And it just made me so happy.” ~ Chef Jenn Louis on visiting a Jerusalem restaurant
of labneh. It’s really hard not to fill up on the addictively soft, hot bread. Salted dates come with a surprise of almonds in the middle. Lentils and rice with fried onions, a dish known as mujaddara, is possibly the best version this writer has tried. Jenn offers a bit of biblical history about the dish: Jacob purportedly bought Esau’s birthright with it. Jenn has crafted Ray’s menu to offer something for everyone. “The cuisine naturally accommodates vegetarians, vegans, gluten-free, dairy-free, so it’s very inclusive,” she says. Carnivores can order the skirt steak or braised lamb, while vegetarians will find options including falafel with Israeli pickles, shakshuka and Israeli salad. Kids are sure to enjoy the shawarma fries and a lamb burger with corned beef bacon. (Families might opt to sit near the TV and two retro video games.) Desserts include mandelbrot, chocolate cake and this writer’s favorite: a moist lemon olive oil cake made crunchy with semolina, served with a dollop of whipped cream and candied citrus peel. Fresh mint leaf tea is an excellent accompaniment. Reservations are highly recommended.
Ray: 3808 N Williams, raypdx.com, 503-288-6200 OREGON JEWISH LIFE | JUNE/JULY 2017 47
Harvesting, storing and ome preserving herbs from & the garden ifestyle Preserving herbs allows you to enjoy fresh-from-the-garden
H L
flavor all year round. Photos courtesy Bonnie Plants. By Melinda Myers
Enjoy herbs all year round. Harvest herbs now for garden-fresh meals and preserve a few for the winter ahead. Snip a few leaves or leaf-covered stems as needed. For the same intensity of flavor, you generally need two to three times more fresh herbs than dried, except for rosemary, which has an equally strong flavor fresh or dried. Continue harvesting herbs as needed throughout the growing season. And don’t worry about harming the plant; regular harvesting encourages new growth, which means more for you to harvest. Just be sure to leave enough foliage to maintain plant growth. You can remove as much as half of the foliage from annual herb plants. This is about when the plants near their final height. You can remove up to one-third from established perennial plants that have been in the garden for several months or more. Harvest when the 48 OREGON JEWISH LIFE | JUNE/JULY 2017
plant has formed buds, but before they open into flowers for the greatest concentration of flavor. This is the perfect time to harvest herbs you plan to preserve. Use a pair of garden scissors or pruners for faster and easier harvesting. Make your cuts above a set of healthy leaves to keep the plants looking good. Then preserve the flavor and zest of herbs with proper storage and preservation. Store thin leafy herbs such as parsley and cilantro for up to a week in the refrigerator. Place in a jar of water, like a flower arrangement, and loosely cover with a plastic bag. Keep basil out of the fridge to avoid discoloration and store other herbs on the counter for quick and frequent use. Wrap dry thicker-leafed herbs like sage and thyme in a paper towel, set inside a plastic bag and place in a warmer section of the refrigerator. Freeze sprigs, whole leaves or chopped clean
Store thin leafy herbs such as parsley and cilantro for up to a week in the refrigerator.
herbs on a cookie sheet. Or pack clean diced herbs in ice cube trays and fill the empty spaces with water. These are great for use in soups and stews. Store the frozen herbs and ice cubes in an airtight container or baggie in the freezer. Or bundle several stems together, secure with a rubber band and use a spring-type clothespin to hang them in a warm dry place to dry. Make your own drying rack from an old embroidery hoop, string and S hooks. Visit Bonnie Plants do-it-yourself Herb Drying Rack project (bonnieplants. com) for detailed instructions. Get creative and use some of your herbs to make a fragrant edible wreath. Use fresh herbs that are flexible and easier to shape into a wreath. They will dry in place and can be harvested as needed.
Speed up the drying process in the microwave. Place herbs on a paper towel-covered paper plate. Start with one to two minutes on high. Repeat for 30 seconds as needed until the herbs are brittle. Store dried herbs in an airtight plastic or glass jar. Keep enjoying these fresh-fromthe-garden flavors throughout the remainder of the season. And consider preserving a few for you, your family and friends to enjoy throughout the winter. Melinda Myers has more than 30 years of horticulture experience and has written more than 20 gardening books, including Small Space Gardening. Visit melindamyers.com for more tips and gardening videos.
OREGON JEWISH LIFE | JUNE/JULY 2017 49
SENIORS
Seniors sing their way to health
Science of Caring website. The multiyear, National Celebrating its bat mitzvah Institutes of Health-funded year of singing success, the study will look at 12 community Rose Schnitzer Choir will treat choirs based at senior centers in attendees at Cedar Sinai Park’s culturally diverse San Francisco June 6 annual meeting to a neighborhoods. stirring performance. Barbara says past studies “Choral singing is an have shown positive benefits to inexpensive way to help people mental, physical, emotional and be healthier, happier and more social health. “Singing is a boon mobile as they age,” says Cantor for everyone, and singing in a Barbara Slader, the volunteer group magnifies that. Performing director of CSP’s Rose Schnitzer really magnifies the benefits.” Manor’s senior choir since its Barbara started the RSM choir inception. 12 years ago at the request of Barbara, volunteer pianist resident Malca Muskin, z”l. Barry Lavine, several other Malca’s daughter, Portlander volunteers and 25 or more Elaine Ball introduced Barbara residents gather at RSM every RSM Choir Director Barbara Slader is flanked by choir members Ruth to her mom when Barbara was week to lift their voices in song. seeking music for the Portland Schlachter and Anne Weiss, right. “The cool thing is they’ve Jewish Community Chorus. found singing in a group lifts Malca was the librarian (and everyone who participates, founder) of a Jewish community regardless of the quality of their chorus, Shir Shalom, in Grand voice,” says Barbara. “Music is a Rapids, MI. Barbara and Malca universal language of emotion stayed in touch for years and met and joy. It is a powerful means of in person at the North American human connection.” Jewish Choral Festival in upstate A small 2006 study conducted New York. When Malca moved by the late geriatric psychiatrist to the Manor, she asked Barbara Gene Cohen found that people if she would start a choir for the aged 65 or older participating residents. in weekly community arts “My love of Jewish learning programs, including choir, and music led me to a third had fewer trips to the doctor, career as a cantor,” says Barbara, used fewer medicines, fell less, who had previously worked expressed less loneliness and in teaching and computer were more active than control marketing. groups. For 25 years, she has worked Now a larger study at the as a traveling cantor and Institute for Health & Aging in teacher, serving congregations San Francisco is exploring the in Salem, Vancouver, Bend, RSM Choir members Rhoda Feldman and Sonia Liberman, right, look benefits Barbara says she and Olympia, Spokane, Santa Rosa over their music notebooks as they wait for rehearsal to begin. other choral leaders have seen for and Portland. She earned her years. cantorial ordination in 2003 “The goal is to provide scientific-based evidence that from Hebrew Union College & the American Conference of community arts programs can be used to promote health,” Cantors. She has founded and directed adult and youth choirs cognitive neuroscientist Julene Johnson writes in an article including the Portland Jewish Community Chorus and the about the study on the University of California San Francisco’s Shaarie Torah Community Chorus. By Deborah Moon
50 OREGON JEWISH LIFE | JUNE/JULY 2017
But when Malca asked her to start a senior choir, she wasn’t sure what it entailed. So she went online and found about a dozen senior choirs, most organized by volunteers. “The first elder choir director I spoke to said, ‘Just do it. You can’t imagine how glad you’ll be,’ ” Barbara recalls. “Twelve years ago in June, we didn’t know how it would work,” Barbara says. But she asked Barry to come play the piano, and the two started looking for music the seniors would enjoy. “I couldn’t have done it without Barry,” she says. “At the piano, he is so funny and creative and sparkling. He makes it alive and fun.” RSM Life Enrichment Manager Phoenix Barrow says choir is a big activity at the Manor. In addition to the 25 active participants, other residents often come listen to the rehearsals and sing along when the music is familiar.
“My love of Jewish learning and music led me to a third career as a cantor.”
Our community has 4,000 years of experience caring for Moms and Dads Based on Jewish values, our senior living community is open to everyone, regardless of faith Rose Schnitzer Manor features a dedicated, highly trained staff. Residents can choose from: • Studio, one and two-bedroom apartments • 60 weekly programs to stimulate mind, body and soul • A range of services to support activities of daily living New on our campus is The Harold Schnitzer Center for Living—a “household model” of nursing care, nationally recognized for quality and innovation.
– Barbara Slader
“Choir gives residents responsibility, something to look forward to each week and a sense of belonging,” says Phoenix. “Choir is carefree, social and fun.” Michelle Gradow, president of Friends of Robison and a choir volunteer says, “Barbara’s fabulous! Choir is incredible. Residents love her.” Michelle invited the choir to sing at the Friends of Robison annual luncheon (May 21) and says she looks forward to hearing them again at the CSP annual meeting. Anyone interested in volunteering with the choir or inviting the choir to perform can contact Phoenix at 503-535-4055 or volunteer@cedarsinaipark.org.
Take advantage of our Spring Special and schedule a tour by calling 503-535-4000 or emailing polina.munblit @ cedarsinaipark.org.
Part of Cedar Sinai Park—a not-for-profit continuum of care
OREGON JEWISH LIFE | JUNE/JULY 2017 51
EXPERIENCED
CAREGIVER NEEDED
Insulin resistance may hasten cognitive decline Courtesy of American Friends of Tel Aviv University
To Start Work Immediately For Mother-In-Law Suffering Dementia. I am offering 4-5 hours per day on Saturday, Monday,Wednesday,and Friday, at a rate of $20.00 per hour.
A new Tel Aviv University study published in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease finds that insulin resistance, caused in part by obesity and physical inactivity, is also linked to a more rapid decline in cognitive performance. According to the research, both diabetic and non-diabetic subjects with insulin resistance experienced accelerated cognitive decline in executive function and memory. The study was led jointly by Prof. David Tanne and Prof. Uri Goldbourt and conducted by Dr. Miri Lutski, all of TAU's Sackler School of Medicine. "These are exciting findings because they may help to identify a group of individuals at increased risk of cognitive decline and dementia in older age," says Prof. Tanne. "We know that insulin resistance can be prevented and treated by lifestyle changes and certain insulin-sensitizing drugs. Exercising, maintaining a balanced and healthy diet, and watching your weight will help you prevent insulin resistance and, as a result, protect your brain as you get older."
A two-decade study
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Duane L. Smelser
Insulin resistance is a condition in which cells fail to respond normally to the hormone insulin. The resistance prevents muscle, fat and liver cells from easily absorbing glucose. As a result, the body requires higher levels of insulin to usher glucose into its cells. Without sufficient insulin, excess glucose builds up in the bloodstream, leading to prediabetes, diabe"Exercising, maintaining a tes and other serious health disorders. balanced and healthy diet, The scientists followed a group of nearand watching your weight ly 500 patients with existing cardiovascular disease for more than will help you prevent two decades. They insulin resistance and, as a first assessed the patients' baseline insulin result, protect your brain resistance using the homeostasis model as you get older." assessment (HOMA), calculated using fasting blood glucose and fasting insulin levels. Cognitive functions were assessed with a computerized battery of tests that examined memory, executive function, visual spatial processing and attention. The follow-up assessments were conducted 15 years after the start of the study, then again five years after that. The study found that individuals who placed in the top quarter of the HOMA index were at an increased risk for poor cognitive performance and accelerated cognitive decline compared to those in the remaining three-quarters of the HOMA index. Adjusting for established cardiovascular risk factors and potentially confounding factors did not diminish these associations. "This study lends support for more research to test the cognitive benefits of interventions such as exercise, diet, and medications that improve insulin resistance in order to prevent dementia," says Prof. Tanne. The team is currently studying the vascular and non-vascular mechanisms by which insulin resistance may affect cognition.
YOUNG ADULTS
Hillel at OSU a "community waiting to happen"
Rachel Chadorow-Reich (striped dress) leads students and community members in bringing in the peace and light of Shabbat.
By Shuly Wasserstrom
Hillel at the Oregon State University is finally off the ground thanks to a grant that has funded a part-time position for a staff member on campus. Until winter term began in January, a staff person from Hillel at University of Oregon would shuttle between Eugene and Corvallis, bringing limited programming but also a growing interest. Rachel Chadorow-Reich started after the new year as director of student life for the Oregon Hillel Foundation at OSU, working 20 hours a week to bring Jewish programming to campus. She says in the few months she's been there, the impact has been great. "The more time I am here, (the) more Jews come out of the woodwork. I hear them say, 'I didn't know there was a Hillel here!' " says Rachel. While there has been a Hillel on and off at the school for
years, Rachel is the first staff member to live and work in Corvallis, which was made possible by a grant from Hillel International. For the past three years, the Oregon Hillel Foundation has used funding from the Jewish Federation of Greater Portland to send a staff member to Corvallis on occasion. Rachel says she feels a great interest from students to plan and host events with Jewish content. The Hillel doesn't have a physical space, so they are using coffee shops, the library and the student union when they gather. “It's community waiting to happen," Rachel says. "We have a really strong board who are excited to make big things happen." Rachel helped plan OSU’s first Passover seder this year, where 65 undergraduate and graduate students gathered together on the first night. “It was really wonderful,” she says. “It’s an example of how ready the community is for this type of programming.” Rachel planned an array of other programming in winter OREGON JEWISH LIFE | JUNE/JULY 2017 53
AUGUST 2016
WANDER NO MORE
TM
N AV I G AT E Y O U R WAY T O T H E JEWISH COMMUNITY
2016 2017
RESOURCE GUIDE PLUS E D U C AT I O N SUPPLEMENT I N S I D E • PA G E 5 0
TM
WANDER NO MORE
54 OREGON JEWISH LIFE | JUNE/JULY 2017
and spring term, including Shabbat dinners, Yom Ha’atzmaut celebrations, and gatherings with the Muslim Students Association and the Ettihad Cultural Center (the Middle East and North African cultural center on campus). Rachel’s impact is limited by the hours in her position. She hopes funding will be found to add five or 10 hours to her workweek next year. “The dream is to make it full time,” she says. “There is so much more that can happen.” Andy Gitelson, Oregon Hillel Foundation’s executive director, also has a vision for OSU’s Hillel down the line. He hopes to fund an associate director position one day and then build out shared positions with UO in Eugene, such as a shared rabbi and engagement staff. Andy, who is based in Eugene, says the organization is thrilled with Rachel’s first months on the job. “Rachel has all the amazing skill sets, the passion and the drive, even though she hadn’t spent time in the Hillel movement before. She says she didn’t find her dream job, her dream job found her,” he says. Rachel’s background was as a teacher, camp counselor and youth group leader, and she had been working with teens at the multi-denominational Beit Am in Corvallis when the position opened up. Before her position was filled, students were planning programming and driving the organization. Andy says having a point person on campus is crucial for the growth of the organization. “We’ve seen an exponential growth in the student participation,” he says. “The most important piece is that we have someone building and strengthening relationships with students, and that's the key to any student organization on campus, the human resources on campus and how they can connect with students.” Rachel is able to provide that connection for students as well as track the impact and develop partnerships on campus. “However, there are more hours than we have funding for. Students have seen this infusion of staff time and energy and unfortunately Rachel has to make choices with her time, and we’re hindered by that,” Gitelson says. “As we look ahead for next year and beyond, we are looking at how to increase the position for 30 hours or full time. (This is) both for her professional development and growth, because it’s hard to keep someone in place in a part-time job. It’s also the right thing to do by our students.” Andy believes having a Hillel at OSU will also attract more Jewish students to campus. He says the engineering program is attractive to many out-of-state students, who just accept Jewish life won’t be part of their college experience. “We’re trying to educate admissions staff that we are here, so when prospective Jewish students ask if there is a Hillel at OSU, the staff can say yes, even though we don’t have a physical building.” Andy estimates there are about 1,600 Jewish students at UO and at least 400 at OSU. To connect with Hillel at OSU, Rachel recommends using Facebook: facebook.com/groups/OSUHillel/ or email rachel@ oregonhillel.org.
YOUNG ADULTS
New endowment supports Oregon Hillel’s annual Welcome Shabbat
Helen at her graduation from the University of Oregon in 1950. Aaron, z”l, and Helen Sherman Cohen
By Andrew Goldberg
University of Oregon alumna Helen Sherman Cohen has made a donation to Oregon Hillel in the form of a new fund that will allow Hillel to continue its long tradition of serving UO’s Jewish students. The Aaron and Helen Sherman Cohen Fund was established at the Oregon Jewish Community Foundation and will support Oregon Hillel’s annual Welcome Shabbat at UO. Each year more than 100 students attend the Welcome Shabbat at Oregon Hillel on the Friday prior to classes as a way to reconnect with old friends, connect with the Jewish student community and celebrate Shabbat for the first time in the academic year. Oregon Hillel Executive Director Andy Gitelson says that endowments such as this help to ensure that Hillel will have the resources that are so critical to providing programs and services to future generations of students. He cites Welcome Shabbat as a key opportunity for students to reconnect with their community after summer break. For new students, it is often the place where they meet friends that they will have throughout their college years and beyond. Helen graduated from the UO School of Journalism in 1950. She had discovered an affinity for newspaper work while writing for her high school paper. She attended the school with her brother, Sidney Sherman, who completed his B.S. and M.S. at UO. At the time, Jewish campus life was limited, maintained mainly by monthly visits from a congregational rabbi from Portland. Following graduation, Helen wrote a society column for Portland’s Oregon Journal. Her sights were set higher, though, and she eventually transitioned to freelance writing for several small newspapers in Oregon and covered the 1952
Democratic and Republican presidential primary conventions in Chicago. In 1953, Helen married Aaron Cohen, z”l (of blessed memory). They had three children, after which Helen began teaching high school English and journalism, as well as serving as faculty advisor of the school newspaper. Helen and Aaron were members of Congregation Neveh Shalom in Portland from its founding in 1961. She returned to the University of Oregon in the 1970s to get her master’s in English. In 2010, Helen and Aaron made aliyah, moving to Israel to be closer to one of their sons and his family. Helen has lived there ever since; Aaron passed away in 2013. Helen will celebrate her 90th birthday in June. She wanted to mark the occasion by giving back to both the Jewish and UO communities. Helen’s son, Daniel, is a proud UO alumnus. Daniel’s daughter and Helen’s granddaughter, Mira Cohen, currently attends the school and is active in the Hillel community. Oregon Hillel provides UO students with opportunities to get involved with the campus’ tight-knit Jewish community by offering free Shabbat dinners every Friday night, meaningful programs, opportunities for education and activism, and a free matzah ball soup delivery service. Oregon Hillel relies on grants and private support from parents and alumni for roughly 90% of its funding. For more information about establishing an endowment to support a Hillel program or service, contact Andy Gitelson (andy@oregonhillel.org or 541-343-8920 ext. 101) or visit Oregon.hillel.org/invest-in-hillel. Andrew Goldberg, a journalism student at the University of Oregon, is working as a communications intern with UO Hillel this school year.
OREGON JEWISH LIFE | JUNE/JULY 2017 55
Aquarium, fountains and water parks …
J s d i K too s n e e T &
oh my! By Rich Geller
Now that the snows of winter and the rains of spring have abated, an Oregonian’s thoughts naturally turn to … more water! Yes, it’s time for summer water fun! In the Beaver State you can splish-splash your way from Memorial Day straight on through to Labor Day. But don’t worry about getting wet; after all, you’re mostly water yourself.
1) Jamison Square: A great place to start our Oregon aqua journey is at the shallow end of the pool. If you need to cool off on a summer day, Portland’s Jamison Square in the Pearl District is just the ticket. Featuring an urban tidal pool in a city park, the ebb and flow of the park’s fountain periodically creates and drains a small pond of treated water that serves as a children’s wading pool. Get there early as it’s a neighborhood favorite on a sunny day. Close access to the Portland Streetcar is a plus. Jamison Square, 810 NW 11th Ave., Portland.
2) North Clackamas Aquatic Center: If you want to wade a little deeper into the pool, you can pay a visit to the North Clackamas Aquatic Center. Boasting multiple pools and slides, along with a 29-foot rock wall, adventure awaits as your splash your way toward fun! This is a great place for birthdays and get-togethers. Don’t worry if your child is new to swimming – they also offer lessons. There is a wave pool, a lap pool and a kiddie pool. Throw in terrific food on premise, and you’ve got the making of a super fun summer day. 7300 Harmony Road, Milwaukie; 503-557-7873, ncprd.com. 3) Wings & Waves Waterpark: If you’re ready to go for broke, ascend new heights at the Wings & Waves Waterpark as you speed toward splashdown! Topped by a real Boeing 747-100 airplane, the waterslide actually begins in the belly of this enormous bird. At this hybrid museum/water park, your kids will learn by doing as they explore the “Water Needs Life” Hands-On Science Center. Prepare to have your mind blown as you swim in a 91,000-gallon wave pool sandwiched by two massive Apollo rockets and dominated by a 20-foot HD
Portland Fountains
Many Portland Parks, including McCoy Park at North Trenton Street & Newman Avenue, feature fountains that attract children every time the sun comes out. Courtesy of Portland Parks & Recreation 56 OREGON JEWISH LIFE | JUNE/JULY 2017
12
Oregon Coast Aquarium
The Oregon Coast Aquarium Passages of the Deep exhibit has 360 degree tunnels, surrounded by almost a million gallons of sea water and more than a hundred sharks, halibut, rays and other marine life! Courtesy of Oregon Coast Aquarium
screen featuring archival footage of real NASA splashdowns. Sporting no less than four waterslides, this waterpark is out of this world! 460 NE Captain Michael King Smith Way, McMinnville; evergreenmuseum.org, 503-687-3390.
4) Bonneville Dam: Forty miles east of Portland lies the mighty Bonneville Dam. Spanning the width of the Columbia River, this massive structure has been providing the region with electricity since the 1930s. See the visitors’ center, watch the fish swim past the viewing windows or take the guided tour to really get a sense of the history and engineering behind the dam. Finish your day with a visit to their fantastic Discover Your Northwest bookstore and gift shop. Cascade Locks. 541-374-8820 or 541-374-8344
5) Wahclella Falls: Located not far from Bonneville Dam, this hike is only two miles round-trip, yet it provides awe-inspiring vistas of the Gorge. The trail can be steep in spots and there are precipitous drop-offs on the side of the trail at times, so use caution and make sure your children are safe and understand the risk. Hold their hands while hiking the steepest spots. This hike rewards richly as you emerge from the trees and witness the falls plunging into the punch bowl below. Misty air, moss-covered rocks, conifers and the sound of rushing water all combine for an epic view and a memory your children will treasure forever. Bridal Veil, Exit 40 off I-84.
6) Multnomah Falls: Right off I-84 in the Gorge is a spectacular sight your kids will never forget. Multnomah Falls, cascading down over the Larch Mountain Lookout and dropping down a total of 620 feet, will wow the little ones as they cross the Benson foot bridge and take in the spectacular views of both the upper and lower tiers of the falls. The cool spray of the falls is a delight, especially on a warm, sunny day. Bridal Veil, Exit 35 off I-84.
7) Tanner Springs Park: This park in northwest Portland was formerly a wetlands, with the spring-fed Tanner Creek flowing into Couch Lake, which in turn flowed into the Willamette River. As the city grew and land became scarce, the wetlands and lake were filled in to accommodate the needs of industry. Tanner Creek itself is named for the tannery built on its banks in the 1860s. In the 1990s things came full circle as a need for open space in the city became evident. The current park sits above what was once Couch Lake. Walking paths, green grass and art make this park a welcome respite from the city streets. Sneak in a quick history lesson, too. Your kids will be fascinated to know they are running and playing about 20 feet above what was once the surface of a lake. Northwest 10th Avenue and Marshall Street, Portland. 8) Powers Marine Park: Explore the abundant local wildlife that share the city with us. American Beaver,
OREGON JEWISH LIFE | JUNE/JULY 2017 57
1
Jamison Square
Courtesy of Portland Parks & Recreation
Y OF PORTLAND PARKS & RECREATION
Northern River Otter, numerous waterfowl, native salmon, steelhead and lamprey all call this place home. Explore the banks of the Willamette River and discover the wild heart of the city. Southwest Macadam Avenue south of Sellwood Bridge, Portland.
9) Governor Tom McCall Waterfront Park: Formerly a freeway, this park is the very embodiment of the ’60s legacy – asphalt transformed into green space. Named for the governor who was instrumental in its creation, the park is often referred to as Portland’s backyard. Walk through the Japanese American Historical Plaza and bear witness to the Japanese-American wartime experience. In summer, take them to splash in the Salmon Street Springs Fountains. Walk the Eastbank Esplanade any time of year with your kids, and watch the river flow and the boats go by. Later, as you pass the Battleship Oregon Memorial, take a moment to read the dedication plaque and remember the brave men who served and sacrificed on that ship. Naito Parkway between Southwest Harrison and Northwest Glisan streets, Portland.
10) Oregon Maritime Museum: Take
a tour of the sternwheeler Portland, the last steam-powered sternwheel tugboat still in operating in the United States, and show your kids an important part of Portland’s nautical past. The friendly docent will give your kids an informative tour of the ship. Touch and play with actual 20th century artifacts and 58 OREGON JEWISH LIFE | JUNE/JULY 2017
even blow a ship’s whistle in the Children’s Corner. Visit the library to see some wonderful books on the Pacific Northwest’s rich and colorful nautical history. Afterward, stop at the gift shop for a souvenir. Tom McCall Waterfront Park Portland, OR; 503-224-7724, oregonmaritimemuseum.org.
11) Surf and Turf: With the right timing, it’s possible to ski and windsurf in the same day in Oregon. Timberline Lodge and Ski Resort is the only ski resort open throughout the summer, with ski season running up to around Labor Day. It is just over an hour’s drive from downtown Portland. Timberline Ski Resort offers skiing to intermediate and advanced skiers only in the summer months. With epic views of the Cascades, warm sunny days and soft, forgiving snow, get here early for an adventure that is truly unique! Timberline is only an hour and a half drive from Hood River, the nation’s premiere windsurfing destination. One can ski or snowboard in the morning and windsurf or kayak or kiteboard in the afternoon; the possibilities are endless in a sports Mecca like this. Throw in a picnic lunch and let ’em nap in car. Your kids will have a summer day like no other. 12) Oregon Coast Aquarium: Former home of Keiko of “Free Willy” fame, the Oregon Coast Aquarium is a great way to spend a day with your child. You’ll walk through transparent acrylic tubes surrounded by water as sharks and other fish dart all around you. Other exhibits feature marine mammals and birds. 2820 SE Ferry Slip Road, Newport; 541-867-3474, aquarium.org.
J
K iednsstoo Events June & te
JUNE 1
IN HONOR OF SHAVUOT, all children are invited to participate in
our “Bikkurim” (fruit) parade and fruit drive at Congregation Kesser Israel, 6698 SW Capitol Hwy., Portland. Fruit brought by the children will be donated to Neighborhood House after the parade. Followed by a delicious dairy Kiddush. 503-222-1239
JUNE 10
A LITTLE SHABBAT: 5-6:30 pm every third Friday at Congregation Shaarie Torah, 920 NW 25th Ave., Portland. 503-226-6131
FOURTH FRIDAYS WITH RABBI EVE POSEN: 5:15-7 pm,
fourth Fridays. Join Rabbi Eve Posen for this fun Shabbat for young families! Welcome Shabbat with music and stories. Potluck dinner to follow. Co-sponsored by PJ Library. RSVP for more info and location: 503246-8831 or eposen@nevehshalom.org
CNS YOUNG FAMILY SHABBAT HIKE. 3-5 pm at Tryon Creek
TOT SHABBAT: 9-10:30 am, first Saturdays at Congregation Beth
JUNE 22
TOT SHABBAT: 10:30 am, first Saturdays, at Congregation Ahavath
State Park, 11321 SW Terwilliger Blvd., Portland. Join other families for a Shabbat hike at Tryon Creek State Park. Free. Snacks will be provided. eposen@nevehshalom.org
MJCC DAY CAMP KICK-OFF PARTY! 4 pm at MJCC.
503-535-3555
JUNE 25
STORYTIME AT HILLSDALE FARMER’S MARKET. Rieke Playground, 1405 SW Vermont St., Portland. Join Rabbi Eve Posen for a special story. Fun for all ages! Co-sponsored by PJ Library. 503-246-8831
JULY 24-28
CAMP CHAVERIM SUMMER CAMP; 9 am-3 pm, daily, at Temple Beth Israel in Eugene. For kids entering 1st -5th grade, we offer a fun-filled week of games, crafts, cooking, field trips, music, Israeli dance, and informal Jewish learning. 541-485-1898
RECURRING:
(NOTE: Some recurring events take a hiatus for part of the summer.)
NORTHEAST STORY HOUR WITH PJ LIBRARY: 9:30-10:15 am, Sundays at New Seasons, 3445 N Williams Ave., Portland. Share in a weekly story hour for families with music and PJ Library Books. rachelr@ jewishportland.org or 503-892-7415
MONTHLY HEBREW STORY HOUR WITH PJ LIBRARY:
2:30 pm, second Sunday at the Hillsboro Public Library, 2850 NE Brookwood Pkwy., Hillsboro. rachelr@jewishportland.org or 503-892-7415
SUMMER SERIES AT GREEN BEAN BOOKS: 11-11:45 am,
fourth Wednesday June, July and August, at 1600 NE Alberta St., Portland. Join PJ Library at Green Bean books for a special summer series with Kim Schneiderman! 503-892-7415
CHAI BABY + PJ LIBRARY INDOOR PLAYGROUND: 10
am-noon, every first Thursday at the MJCC, 6651 SW Capitol Hwy. For parents and their children up to 5 years old. Playing, running, meeting new and old friends, snacks. Free. 503-244-0111
PJ STORY HOUR YAD B'YAD: 9:30-10:15 am, Fridays at Rose
Schnitzer Manor, 6140 SW Boundary St., Portland. Share in a weekly story hour for young families with music and PJ Library books with the residents of Cedar Sinai Park. rachelr@jewishportland.org or 503-892-7415
Israel, 1972 NW Flanders, Portland. Join us for our special Saturday service for our littlest congregants and the grown-ups who love them. 503222-1069
Achim’s Hillsdale location: 6686 SW Capitol Hwy. Eve Levy will lead tots and their parents in singing, dancing, stories and plenty of time for the children (and parents) to have fun. This program is geared for children up to age 5 and any older siblings who would like to attend. 503-227-0010
YOUNG FAMLY TOT SHABBAT: 10:15-11:15 am, first and third Saturdays at Congregation Neveh Shalom, 2900 SW Peaceful Lane, Portland. Join other young families for a special Saturday morning Tot Shabbat with singing, dancing, stories, indoor picnic-style lunch and Shabbat fun. Free. Rabbi Eve Posen 503-246-8831 TORAH TROOP FOR 3RD-5TH GRADERS: 10:15-11:30 am, first and third Saturdays, Congregation Neveh Shalom. Meet in the main service for the beginning of the Torah service, and then come out with your friends for a fun and active lesson on the Torah portion (parsha) of the week. Return to the service to help lead Adon Olam, and join the community for lunch! Free. 503-246-8831 KIDDUSH CLUB FOR K-2ND GRADE: 10:15-11:30 am, first and third Saturdays at Congregation Neveh Shalom, 2900 SW Peaceful Lane, Portland. Join other families for prayer, singing, conversation and fun, followed by an indoor picnic-style lunch. 503-246-8831 SHABBAT STORYTIME: 9:45-10:15 am, second Saturdays, at
Congregation Shir Tikvah, 7550 NE Irving St., Portland. Free. Shabbat gathering of toddlers and their caregivers. Best for kids up to age 5, although older siblings are welcome. Enjoy stories, songs and crafts that celebrate holidays and Jewish values. Stay afterward for bagels and coffee with Rabbi Ariel Stone. 503-473-8227
TORAH YOGA: 10:30 am-noon every second Saturday at Congregation Shaarie Torah, 920 NW 25th Ave., Portland. 503-226-6131 TOT SHABBAT: 10-11 am every second Saturday at Congregation
Kol Ami, 7800 NE 119th St., Vancouver. Rabbi Elizabeth Dunsker leads a short Shabbat service with singing and storytelling! Craft-making based on the story and a short oneg follows the service. Birth to age 5. jewishvancouverusa.org
KESSER KIDS' TIME: 10:30 am-noon every second, fourth and last Saturday through June 24 at Congregation Kesser Israel, 6698 SW Capitol Hwy., Portland. The program is geared for children ages 2-11. 503-2221239
OREGON JEWISH LIFE | JUNE/JULY 2017 59
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Extremes may pull Jews to middle politically
By Deborah Moon
The rise in anti-Semitic and anti-Israel activity in conjunction with the rise of the alt-right and the far left may presage a Jewish return toward the middle politically, predicts Dr. Steven Windmueller. Dr. Windmueller was in Portland May 17 for the second of a two-part Jewish Community Relations Council series on anti-Semitism. Dr. Windmueller, who studies and writes on Jewish political behavior, is the Rabbi Alfred Gottschalk Emeritus Professor of Jewish Communal Service at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion. The first talk on May 3 focused on the BDS movement on college campuses and featured Dr. Kenneth Waltzer, retired director of Jewish Studies at Michigan State University. Dr. Windmueller shared some insights in a phone interview before his Portland presentation on American Jews Today: Confronting a changing and challenging climate.
60 OREGON JEWISH LIFE | JUNE/JULY 2017
An Anti-Defamation League survey in April reported a marked increase of anti-Semitic attacks and threats over the previous year, says Dr. Windmueller, noting it revealed “expressions of hatred from both sides of the political spectrum.” Historically, American Jews have affiliated with the Democratic Party. Now, says Dr. Windmueller, the fastest growing segment of the Jewish electorate comprises Independents. In addition, during the past two to three decades, an estimated 28 to 30% of the community has shifted to the Republican Party. Dr. Windmueller says the growing Republican base has been driven by three factors: the growth of the Orthodox community, which shares many of the social values of Evangelicals, a key Republican constituent; dissatisfaction with the Democratic Party’s support of Israel; and finally, the influx of Jews from the former Soviet Union, whose concerns over security make the Republican Party a natural base. Despite the increased number of Jews registered as Republicans, Dr. Windmueller says that a significant number of them did not vote for Donald Trump. While 85% of Jewish voters generally vote, in this election significant numbers did not vote, including many millennial Jews, who largely supported Bernie
Sanders. The Republican candidate received only an estimated 24% of the Jewish vote. “Mr. Trump does not have a huge base of Jewish support,” he concludes. Since the election, Dr. Windmueller says he has seen an interesting divide in the Jewish community, partially over Israel and partially over Donald Trump. “Republicans who perceive anti-Semitism tend to be more concerned with the BDS (Boycott, Divest, Sanction Movement) and the left,” he says. “Jewish Democrats are concerned with the alt-right, its influence on the Trump administration and the alt-right’s hostility to Jews and other minority groups.” But in that divide, Dr. Windmueller also sees the potential for a return to the center. “Historically, when there are threats external to the Jewish community, the community has a tendency to coalesce and respond to threats … that overshadows internal dissents,” he says. “This environment is going to strengthen Jewish activism and Jewish engagement. … No way can we sit this one out. We will see higher social and political activity as people become galvanized.” In that regard, Dr. Windmueller says the Jewish community is mimicking the wave of political activism that has surged elsewhere, including in marches and on college campuses.
JOIN CONGREGATION BETH ISRAEL THIS SUMMER FOR
Shabbat on the Plaza
Shabbat on the Plaza, Congregation Beth Israel’s much-loved summer tradition, returns! Every Shabbat on the Plaza service features music, mingling, and a comfortably shaded area and water for anyone who may need it (weather permitting). We’d love for you to join us!
June 16, 30 • July 14, 28 • August 11, 25 • September 1, 8
Congregation Beth Israel • 1972 NW Flanders Street, Portland, OR 97209 • 503-222-1069 • www.bethisrael-pdx.org OREGON JEWISH LIFE | JUNE/JULY 2017 61
ask helen
Vacation finances Dear Helen:
PLACE YOUR ORDER NOW! Leonard Kaufman 2050 Beavercreek Rd #101-359 Oregon City, OR 97045 Book Price- $30 including S&H
taking care of each other is what community is all about. the Jewish community with personal, compassionate care. Rely on us to help you create a meaningful memorial that honors the traditions of the Jewish faith.
WE’RE PROUD TO SERVE
HOWELL, EDWARDS, DOERKSEN
with Rigdon-Ransom Funeral Directors
1350 Commercial St. SE, Salem, OR 97302
503-581-3911 HED-FH.com
I agreed to go on vacation with a friend in another state. The place we chose was a compromise, as she is a doctor and I live on much more modest means. We agreed to go Dutch, though not to worry about splitting every meal down to the penny. I made reservations for one place and she for the other. On a daily basis we both paid out and shared money for excursions, meals, admission fees, etc. One of the big draws of traveling together was that she was supposed to get a special rate at a timeshare that her company owns an interest in, a savings of many hundreds of dollars each. When we did the final accounting, the “special rate” was no discount at all, and was in fact much higher than similar places I’d found online. She was very breezy about it, and I was too embarrassed to confront her. But now that I am home I feel angry at her for the mistake/deception and at myself for being too mealymouthed. Is it too late to assert myself ? Taken for a Ride
Dear Taken:
Most of us get mealymouthed when caught unaware, or confronted with embarrassing circumstances re a friend, close or not. There’s always a sense of shame around dealings with money, especially if the other person has a tendency to make us seem cheap, poor or just not a good sport. It’s OK to let small amounts slide, assuming they slide in both directions and equal out over time. But when you’re talking hundreds of dollars, it’s not OK to be a schnook. Though I think you’re unlikely to get any recompense from your friend, you might feel better if you say something. Let her know, via email/phone/in person, that the financial side of the trip is not sitting well with you. Be clear about what she told you (quote it if she gave prices in an email) and that you would have made different choices with correct information. You can give her a chance to step up and apologize, offer to refund some money or provide a future treat. Be very cautious about traveling with her again but don’t hold a grudge. Life’s too short.
YOUNG’S
Funeral Home
11831 SW Pacific Hwy., Tigard, OR 97223
503-639-1206 YoungsFuneralHome.org This program is not financed by or connected in any manner with any governmental agency or Veteran’s or other organization.
62 OREGON JEWISH LIFE | JUNE/JULY 2017
HELEN
A resident of Eugene since 1981, Helen is a member of Temple Beth Israel, where she studies and speaks on Torah. She claims to have black belts in schmoozing, problem solving and chutzpah. She’s a writer and an artist (kabbalahglass.com). Please email your questions to helen@yourjewishfairygodmother.com
J
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VIEWS
Federation annual meeting June 13
The Jewish Federation of Greater Portland invites the community to its 97th annual meeting. New board members Lauren Goldstein and Rochelle Schwartz will be installed and the Laurie Rogoway Leadership Award will be presented to Ben Winkleblack. Outgoing board members Andrew Berlinberg, Shelly Klapper and Joyce Mendelsohn will be recognized for their service. All are welcome for this free event. Rabbi Jay Moses will speak on leadership. Rabbi Moses is vice president of the Wexner Foundation. He served for many years as Rabbi Jay Moses director of the Wexner Heritage program, North America’s premier Jewish leadership education program. The Heritage program will return to Portland in 2020 as part of the Federation’s Centennial Celebration. The meeting will be 4:30-6 pm, June 13, at the Stampfer Chapel, Congregation Neveh Shalom, 2900 SW Peaceful Lane, Portland. For more information, call 503-245-6219.
Jewish Writing and Reading Workshop June 7 On the Border: Jewish Writing and Reading Workshop will be led by Richard Chess, director for the Center for Jewish Studies at UNC Asheville. The workshop will begin at 6:30 pm, June 7, at the Mittleman Jewish Community Center. Richard says, “Borders define and divide us. They can be sites of conflict, and they can be meeting places, where love, compassion and kindness arise. Think of the threshold of a Jewish home, with its mezuzah affixed aslant there reminding us to love ... and to compromise, to come together in a mutually agreed upon promise or intention, to make one out of two. In this workshop, we’ll look at the way poems by mostly Jewish writers consider borders of all kinds: political, religious, cultural, historical, and linguistic.� Participants will then write their own poems and prose. Richard will also share a couple of poems and works of lyrical prose from his new book, Love Nailed to the Doorpost, which will be available for purchase and signing at the conclusion of the workshop. Workshop cost is $5. Register: oregonjcc.org/richardchess
Play looks at an American girl in Hitler’s Germany Ingrid Garner will perform her one-woman play, “Eleanor’s Story: An American Girl in Hitler’s Germany,� twice on June 3. It is a one-hour theatrical adaptation of her grandmother’s best-selling memoir. She performed the play in the third and second largest theatre festivals in Perth and Adelaide, Australia, where it was listed as one of the “Top-5 Must See� performances, won a Best Theatre Award and a Critics Choice Award out of more than 1,200 shows. In the fall of 1939, at 9 years old, Eleanor and her family left New York on the SS Hamburg bound for Germany. A new job and a secure financial future awaited her father in Berlin. Half-way across the Atlantic, Hitler declared war on Poland and their return to America became impossible. This is the true story of Eleanor Ramrath Garner growing up as an American trapped in Nazi Germany during World War II. Adapted for the stage and performed by her granddaughter Ingrid, Eleanor’s
PREVIEWS PREVIEWS award-winning autobiography details her youth struggling to maintain stability, hope, and identity in a world of terror and contrasts. Her family faces hunger, fascist oppression, carpet bombing, the final fierce battle for Berlin, the Russian invasion and the horrors of Soviet occupancy. The play exposes audiences to an unusual perspective of World War II and provides insight into the seldom reported lives of civilians in wartime. Two performances at Beaverton High School, 13000 SW Second St., on June 3, at 2 and 4 pm. Group rates available. Tickets are available at the door. For information, visit eleanorsstory.com.
First Summer Sundays: Holocaust Memorial Tours OJMCHE presents free public tours of the Oregon Holocaust Memorial on First Sundays July through October. While the Oregon Holocaust Memorial is open during all park hours, on July 2, Aug. 6, Sept. 3 and Oct. 1, knowledgeable OJMCHE docents will be on hand to give tours of the Memorial from 1 to 2pm. Many docents are Holocaust survivors and family members with personal stories to share. The Oregon Holocaust Memorial is located in Washington Park at the intersection of SW Washington Way & Wright Avenue. The Memorial was dedicated in 2004 and, as the stewards, OJMCHE works to teach the lessons of the Holocaust, pay homage to those who lost their lives and provide hope that future generations will learn to honor the rights of all people. Each year hundreds of school children tour the Memorial with OJMCHE docents. To schedule a tour for your school or organization call 503-226-3600.
Join us for the Oregon Jewish oll†mb|‹ o†m7-াomÄ˝v mm†-Ń´ ;;াm] -m7 !;1;rাom !;1o]mbÂŒbm] |_bv ‹;-uÄ˝v ;]-1‹ Society Honoree -uoŃ´7 oŃ´Ń´bm and introducing OJCF’s m7o‰l;m| ooh o= b=; †m; Ć‘Ć?ġ Ć‘Ć?Ć?Ć• =uol ƔĚƒĆ?ŊƕĚƒĆ? b‚Ѵ;l-m ;‰bv_ oll†mb|‹ ;m|;u $_;u; bv mo 1ov| |o -‚;m7 -m7 |_;u; ‰bŃ´Ń´ 0; mo =†m7u-bvbm]Äş ou lou; bm=oul-াomÄš www.ojcf.org l 503.248.9328
OREGON JEWISH LIFE | JUNE/JULY 2017 63
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FACES & PLACES
BOOK LAUNCH – Rabbi Eve Posen and Lois Sussman Shenker sign copies of their new book Pirkei Imahot, The Wisdom of Mothers, The Voices of Women at the May book launch at at Congregation Neveh Shalom. Guest speaker Ruth Messinger, global ambassador of American Jewish World Service, spoke about the power of women around the world as a force for positive change.
YOM HASHOAH – Deb Mrowka, daughter of Eline Hoekstra, shared her mother’s powerful story of survival during the Holocaust with Neveh Shalom students and Men’s Club members at an April 26 Yom Hashoah event sponsored by ALIYAH and Men’s Club.
WOMEN OF THE WALL – WOW Executive Director Lesley Sachs speaks to a group of women at the Mittleman Jewish Community Center during an April 24-26 visit to Portland. She later addressed a large community gathering on Rosh Chodesh at Congregation Beth Israel
64 OREGON JEWISH LIFE | JUNE/JULY 2017
YOM HAZIKARON – Members of Portland’s Israeli community share a tribute to a beloved Israeli veteran, who gave his life for his country, at Portland’s community’s Yom Hazikaron commemoration April 30 at the Mittleman Jewish Community Center.
FAMILY CAMP – During the last weekend in April, Congregation Neveh Shalom hosted a young family camp at Camp Solomon Schechter. Young families with children ages 0 to 5 had the opportunity to celebrate Shabbat and interact as a community in a beautiful outdoor setting.
FACES & PLACES
FESTIVAL OF GIVING – The 2017 Oregon Jewish Community Youth Foundation annual benefit dinner, A Festival of Giving, brought more than 140 people to the MJCC on April 27 to celebrate the power of teen philanthropy. Thanks to the generosity of sponsors and attendees, more than $40,000 was raised to be granted by OJCYF’s board members to Jewish and general nonprofits. At the dinner, donors also contributed $1,620 towards building the OJCYF Endowment Fund, bringing the fund total to $18,342. Pictured here is the 2017 OJCYF teen board. Photograph by Allie Rosenfield
CARING COMMUNITY – More than 350 guests attended the 5th annual JFCS "Celebrate Our Caring Community" luncheon May 2 at the Multnomah Athletic Club raising more than $106,000 to support Jewish Family & Child Service programs, which assist some of our community's most marginalized members including low-income seniors and people with disabilities. Keynote speaker Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum flanked by luncheon co-chairs Mark Rosenbaum and Eve Rosenfeld.
YOM HA’ATZMAUT – Hundreds of people of all ages turned out to celebrate Israel’s Independence Day at the Mittleman Jewish Community Center May 1. Stone Johnsen with PDX Balloons created ballon hats and animals, and all ages danced the hora. Photos by Naim Hasan Photography
TRAIL RESTORATION – A diverse group of volunteers turned out April 30 to help with the SW 25th Ave. ROW Restoration Project. The third of a mile of well-utilized trail stretches from SW Capitol Highway just east of the MJCC, to SW Beaverton-Hillsdale Hwy.) and is widely used by multicultural, multi ethnic neighbors as they walk or bike to/from school, synagogue, the MJCC, Stephens Creek Crossing Home Forward Housing, the bus stop, dog park and the Hillsdale and Multnomah town centers. Volunteers removed invasive plants, bushes and trees and planted native plants, and spread gravel and placed boulders along the trail. Four work parties have brought together 125 community volunteers. OREGON JEWISH LIFE | JUNE/JULY 2017 65
Early June
SUMMER CALENDAR
"The Wedding Plan," a romantic comedy by award-winning Israeli director Rama Burshtein plays at Living Room Theater. 971-222-2010
June 3 “Eleanor’s Story: An American Girl in Hitler’s Germany.” See page 63
June 4 Song of Miriam Awards Brunch will honor 20 women volunteers. 10 am to 12:15 pm at the MJCC, 503-246-4367 or leslyee@comcast.net
Summer Concert Series at the MJCC. Kim Schneiderman performs at 5 pm on the MJCC lawn. 503-535-3555
July 23 June 17 Fourth Annual Lefty Sing Along. 6:30-9 pm at private home. A fundraiser for P’nai Or and 350PDX (a climate justice organization). $18. Tickets: http://leftysing-along.bpt.me/
June 17-30 The Pianist of Willesden Lane. See page 30
June 21
Cedar Sinai Park Annual Meeting: 7 pm in Zidell Hall at Rose Schnitzer Manor, 6140 SW Boundary, Portland. Includes performance by RSM Choir (see page 50). cedarsinaipark.org
Oregon Jewish Community Foundation annual meeting and reception. 5:30-7:30 pm at the MJCC. No fundraising. 503-248-9328
June 23-25 2017 Risk/Reward Festival. See page 30
June 7
June 28
On the Border: Writing workshop led by Richard Chess. See page 63
Jewish Heritage Night at the Portland Thorns, 7 pm at Providence Park, 1844 SW Morrison St., Portland. For discounted tickets: Go to Timbers.com, click on Thorns FC on nav bar and go to Single Game Tickets. Enter promo code: JEWISHPDX. Tickets: $20 include a free T-shirt.
June 11 Grand opening of Oregon Jewish Museum and Center for Holocaust Education. See page 32 Jewish Community Orchestra season finale concert. 3 pm the MJCC. Tickets at the door. 503-535-3555
June 11-25 Portland Jewish Film Festival See pages 38-41
June 12 Nani: A musical journey into the ancient roots of Israeli music. 7-8:30 pm at Neveh Shalom, 2900 SW Peaceful Lane, Portland. 503-246-8831
June 13 Annual Meeting of the Jewish Federation of Greater Portland. See page 63
June 16 Keshet Pride Shabbat Dinner. Appetizers, service and dinner. 5:45-8:45 pm at Congregation Neveh Shalom. RSVP: mberwin@nevehshalom.org Moishe House Pride Weekend Shabbat. Kick off Pride Weekend with Shabbat dinner for young adults. shayna.moishepdx@gmail.com 66 OREGON JEWISH LIFE | JUNE/JULY 2017
Sunday Parkways NE. Visit the Jewish Communal booth at Northeast Neighborhood Greenways. 11 am -4 pm in Northeast Portland Parks. 503-245-6449
July 28
June 6
Wondering Jews visit Bob’s Red Mill. RSVP: dmeltzer@nevehshalom.org or 503-246-8831
Jewish Community Center, Jewish Free Loan of Greater Portland. 503-266-3600
June 29-July 23 Broadway Rose Theatre presents “The Addams Family.” Various times at the Deb Fennell Auditorium, Tigard. Tickets: broadwayrose.org, 503-620-5262 or visit box office, 12850 SW Grant Ave., Tigard.
June 30 North Coast Shabbat group. 8 pm at the Bob Chisholm Center in Seaside. Leader will be Avrel Nudelman. Services are usually held on the last Friday of the month, from March thru October. 503-244-7060
July 16 Summer Concert Series at the MJCC. Kim Schneiderman performs on the MJCC lawn. 503-535-3555
July 19 Walking Tour of Jewish Portland for Young Adults. 5:30-8 pm through old Jewish neighborhoods in South Portland. Sponsor: Oregon Jewish Museum and Holocaust Center for Education, Mittleman
North Coast Shabbat group. 8 pm at the Bob Chisholm Center in Seaside. Leader will be Neil Weinstein. Services are usually held on the last Friday of the month, from March thru October. 503-244-7060
Aug. 3-20 Gypsy presented by Broadway Rose Theatre. See page 30
Aug. 8
Jewish Heritage Night at the Hillsboro Hops. 7 pm, at Ron Tonkin Field, 4460 NW 229th Ave., Hillsboro. Join the Jewish Federation of Greater Portland and the Mittleman Jewish Community Center for heritage night at the Hillsboro Hops game against the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes! Parking is $5 cash. Tickets: https://groupmatics. events/event/Jewishcommunity
Aug. 10 Summer Concert Series at the MJCC. Nefesh Mountain performs at 6:30 pm on the MJCC lawn. 503-535-3555
Aug. 13 Summer Concert Series on the MJCC lawn. 503535-3555
Aug. 20 Summer BBQ with Kesser Israel. 4:30-6:30 pm. 403-222-1239
Aug. 25 North Coast Shabbat group. 8 pm at the Bob Chisholm Center in Seaside. Leader will be Avrel Nudelman. 503-244-7060
Aug. 27 Summer Concert Series at the MJCC. The Maccabeats perform at 6:30 pm on the MJCC lawn. 503-535-3555
COMING IN FALL 2017
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strategic thinking about wealth Morgan Stanley Private Wealth Management has been helping ultra-high net worth individuals, their families and foundations plan for and grow their wealth for decades. Based in New York City, the Family Wealth Group at Morgan Stanley Private Wealth Management is a specialized team of interdisciplinary strategic advisors providing a full range of family office services to meet the complex needs of the UHNW marketplace. These services include financial & investment planning, estate & family succession planning, philanthropic advisory and administrative services. The Family Wealth Group is headed by Robert Stolar, a Managing Director and Private Wealth Advisor. Drawing on three decades of investment & financial planning experience, Robert has earned various distinctions within the wealth advisory community, including recognition by Barron’s as one of the top 100 advisors in the country for 2015. Robert Stolar
Managing Director Private Wealth Advisor 522 Fifth Avenue, 10th Floor New York, NY 10036 212-296-6704 robert.stolar@morganstanley.com Source: Barron’s “Top 100 Financial Advisors,” April 20, 2015. Barron’s “Top 100 Financial Advisors” bases its ratings on qualitative criteria: professionals with a minimum of seven years of financial services experience, acceptable compliance records, client retention reports, customer satisfaction, and more. Finwancial Advisors are quantitatively rated based on varying types of revenues and assets advised by the financial professional, with weightings associated for each. Because individual client portfolio performance varies and is typically unaudited, this rating focuses on customer satisfaction and quality of advice. The rating may not be representative of any one client’s experience because it reflects a sample of all of the experiences of the Financial Advisor’s clients. The rating is not indicative of the Financial Advisor’s future performance. Neither Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC nor its Financial Advisors or Private Wealth Advisors pays a fee to Barron’s in exchange for the rating. Barron’s is a registered trademark of Dow Jones & Company, L.P. All rights reserved. © 2015 Morgan Stanley Private Wealth Management, a division of Morgan Stanley Smith Barney, LLC. Member SIPC. CRC1179133 04/15 8225582 PWM001 04/15 68 OREGON JEWISH LIFE | JUNE/JULY 2017