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participate in hands-on programs; and an expansive space housing the headquarters for over a dozen campus Jewish student organizations as well as staff offices.

According to Karen Parry, executive director of Hillel of San Diego, The Glickman Hillel Center will also supply basic resources, including food access and showers for students in need as well as provide an important gathering place for the entire community, with other organizations utilizing the space for Jewish cultural programming.

To learn more about Hillel of San Diego, go to www.hillelsd.org.

SAN DIEGO THEATER MONTH KICKS OFF

March is San Diego Theater Month.

“No matter where you live in the County of San Diego, you’re not far away from amazing live theatre, dance and music! The goal of Theatre Month is to get you to a seat and enjoy what San Diego has to offer,” says Jay Henslee, President of the San Diego Performing Arts League (SDPAL), a nonprofit which advocates for performing arts organizations and operates the iconic ArtsTix Ticket Center in Horton Plaza Park. SDPAL also manages the popular www.sdartstix. com, San Diego’s only nonprofit online ticket service.

For Theatre Month 2023, all tickets will be offered at discounted rates of $15, $30 or $45 - these seats are the best in the house as of the night of the event. The goal is to simplify ticket purchasing for all participating events by using one website www.sandiegotheatremonth. com.

NEW

Hillel Center Opens In La Jolla

Following more than 20 years of legal challenges, Hillel of San Diego has opened the $18.7 million Beverly and Joseph Glickman Hillel Center — a long-anticipated center for Jewish students and the entire community adjacent to the UC San Diego campus at 9009 La Jolla Scenic Drive North.

According to David Michan, a past president of Hillel of San Diego who chairs the building committee and oversees the project, the 6,500-square-foot state-of the-art facility has been designed to meld with the surrounding community — encompassing two singlestory buildings and one two-story structure, all clustered around a central courtyard.

“This is a momentous day for us,” he said. “After 20 long years we are thrilled to celebrate the grand opening of this vital and dynamic hub of student life, an important testament to the Jewish community’s resilience and perseverance.”

Situated on just under one acre, the facility will serve as a foothold for UC San Diego students, hosting Jewish holiday experiences and Jewish learning and community activities — with flexible spaces designed for student programs, meetings, one-on-one mentorship and religious services.

Primary components of the new center include a large multipurpose room for dining, social events and performances; a lounge that transitions into a sanctuary; study rooms; and outdoor activity terraces, which provide more space for socializing and connecting.

Interactive highlights include the wisdom wall, an art display featuring student faces and stories; a kosher kitchen where students

Participating organizations include: Broadway San Diego, Theatre for Young Professionals, Patio Playhouse, Scripps Ranch Theatre, North Coast Repertory Theatre, The Rady Shell, San Diego Symphony, San Diego Junior Theatre, OnStage Playhouse, San Diego Musical Theatre, Lamb’s Players Theatre, The Roustabouts Theatre, City Ballet of San Diego, Center Stage Productions, Star Theatre, San Diego Actors Theatre, The Old Globe, New Village Arts, Coronado Playhouse, Backyard Renaissance, Trinity Theatre Company, San Diego Shakespeare Society, Oceanside Theatre Company, San Diego Master Chorale, Moxie Theatre, Malashok Dance, PowPAC, CCAE Theatricals, La Jolla Playhouse, Scripteasters, Lamplighters Theatre, Cygnet Theatre, San Diego Opera, San Diego Ballet, Grossmont College Performing Arts Center and Poway Center for the Performing Arts.

Ancient Gold Bead Uncovered In Jerusalem

A unique, pure gold bead dating back at least 1,600 years has been uncovered in the Emek Tzurim National Park in Jerusalem, the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) revealed.

The bead was found in dirt removed from a Roman structure discovered during the Pilgrimage Road Excavation. It was created using a unique technique that required delicate workmanship to affix tens of tiny balls together in the shape of a ring in order to create one ornament.

The relic was found by Hallel Feidman, an 18-year-old doing her compulsory national service as a volunteer for the sifting project at the Archaeological Experience.

“I poured the pail onto the sieve and began to wash the material that was brought from the excavations in the City of David,” she recounted. “And then I saw something shiny in the corner of the sieve, different, that I don’t normally see. I immediately approached the archaeologist, and he confirmed that I had found a gold bead. Everyone here was very excited.”

According to IAA excavation directors Shlomo Greenberg and Ari Levy, the bead was found in a formerly grandiose structure that was at least 25 meters long and built on the Pilgrimage Road in the City of David. “The wealth of the building’s occupants is evidenced by additional finds that were discovered in it, like imported clay vessels and a decorated mosaic floor,” they said.

The researchers pointed out that the bead was perhaps created in a period that precedes that of the structure in which it was found, but said that it was reasonable to assume that the bead belonged to the building’s residents.

The find is of special importance, according to the researchers, both because gold items are rare archaeological finds in Israel and because beads of this style are not common, given the unique and complex technique used to create them.

The technique, researchers said, most probably originates from the region of Mesopotamia, where it was known approximately 4,500 years ago.

“The most interesting aspect of the bead is its unique and complex production method,” explained Amir Golani, an ancient jewelry expert at the IAA. “A good understanding of the materials and their properties is required, as well as control over the heat, in order to on the one hand solder the tiny balls together to create a tiny ring, while also preventing overheating which may lead all the gold to melt.”

It is possible that the bead was created in a different area and was brought to the City of David as part of the extensive trade relations between Jerusalem and other regions. Another theory is that the bead was gifted to a Jerusalem resident, or, possibly due to its unique nature, was passed within the family from one generation to another as an inheritance.

Similar beads have been discovered in burial caves from 2,500 years ago (end of the First Temple period) in Ketef Hinnom near the City of David, but those beads were made from silver.

To date, only a few dozen gold beads have been found in Israel.

Answers To Test Your Jewish Iqsm

1. b. Tuesday (Gen. 1:10, 1:12).

2. a. Purim commemorates the survival of Jews, marked for death by their Persian rulers in the 5th Century BCE, after the destruction of the First Temple in 586 BCE. Chanukah commemorates the rededication of the Second Temple in the 2nd Century BCE. The Second Temple was destroyed by the Romans in 70 CE.

3. b. The gold Menorah had 7 branches. The chanukiah, which is lit at Chanukah, has eight lights and a ninth light, higher than the others, for the shamash.

4. c. Although it feeds on almost any fish or animal it can fit into its mouth, halibut is kosher. To be kosher, a fish must have fins and scales. Swordfish, catfish, and sharks have fins, but no scales.

5. c. Three decks (Gen. 6:16).

6. b. Malachi was the last of the twelve “minor” prophets.

7. a. Hagar was the Egyptian mother of Ishmael, who is considered the progenitor of the Muslim/Arab nations. King David was from the tribe of Judah, son of Leah. Tamar bore Judah’s son Peretz, from whom David was descended. Ruth was David’s great-grandmother.

8. d. Mensch = person of integrity and morality; farbissiner = embittered person; shmendrick = fool, stupid person; shlemiel = inept or incompetent person, fool.

9. b. Ariel Sharon was called by Yitzhak Rabin “the greatest field commander in our history.” Sharon was Defense Minister and Prime Minister of Israel, but was never Chief of the General Staff of the IDF.

10. c. Moe Berg played shortstop and catcher for the Brooklyn Dodgers, White Sox, Indians, and Senators. Known as “the brainiest guy in baseball,” he graduated from Princeton, Columbia Law School, and the Sorbonne, and spoke twelve languages, including Hebrew and Yiddish. He was sent by the forerunner of the CIA during World War II to spy against Germany’s atomic bomb program, Project Uranium, and was rumored to have been ordered to assassinate the theoretical head of the project, Werner Heisenberg, if the Nazis were close to a bomb. He found they weren’t, and he let Heisenberg live. But for a while, Heisenberg’s life, like the life of Schrodinger's cat, had been in limbo.

0 – 2 Talmid/Talmida (Student)

3 – 5 Melamed/Melamedet (Teacher)

6 – 8 Talmid Chacham/Talmidat Chacham (Scholar)

9 – 10 Gaon/Gaona (Genius)

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