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publishers'

note

To our readers: Thank you for reading and supporting L’CHAIM Magazine. With this 38th issue of L’CHAIM, we have surpassed double Chai!

When we started this journey, we wanted to bring the San Diego lifestyle to you through the pages of our magazine, and celebrate what it means to be both Jewish and a member of our fabulous Southern California lifestyle.

We feel honored to be able to bring to life the stories and experiences of our community and in a way that you have so graciously embraced. You, our readers have allowed us to realize our dreams and grow to help others realize theirs.

What is new and original? ChaiFive Projects, in collaboration with L’CHAIM, sponsored by Tarbuton and Startup18 is our non-profit arm that gives back to community 4

L’CHAIM SAN DIEGO MAGAZINE • JUNE/JULY 2017

by publishing aspiring writers and photographers. In this issue, you will read the third-place winner of the Center for Jewish Culture’s Five Minute Play Competition (to be followed in the next two issues featuring the second- and first-place winners of the contest on page 34). Our new Community Page is a page by and for our readers to send in photos and announcements, free of charge. Also, as a community connector, ChaiFive Projects has launched the Mensches of San Diego series, which features different members of the community each week on our social channels and in the pages of our magazine. Nominate a Mensch today, and follow us on Facebook to learn more about the community members we have already featured. Check out lchaimmagazine.com/chaifiveprojects/ for more information.

We are proud and excited to be a sponsor of Celebrate San Diego! The History and Heritage of San Diego’s Jewish Community exhibit at the San Diego History Center in Balboa Park. If you haven’t had the chance to visit the exhibit yet, you must go and be a part of a fabulous experience in the center of town. Accordingly, in this issue you can read Don Harrison’s story about early Jewish settlers in San Diego.

Lastly, with this letter, we want to thank all our fabulous writers and contributors.

Deborah Vietor, who has covered the FIDF for 2 years (And is about ready to volunteer for service); Stephanie Lewis, our humorist, who has her own special way with words; Sharon Rapoport, equally talented in English and Spanish; Rabbi Daniel Bortz, whose insights are always enlightening; Salomon Maya, a hard-hitting writer/actor who calls it like he sees it; Mimi Pollack, ESL teacher extraordinaire; Nikki Salvo, a great writer/ mother/makeup artist and soon-to-be teacher; and Emma Sasson who has penned another cover story: Unboxing Judaism, which you can read in this issue. Special thanks and love to our wonderful Alanna Maya, visionary editor with her finger on the pulse.

L’CHAIM!

Diane & Laurie

Diane and Laurie Co-Publishers, L’CHAIM Magazine

contents

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June/July 2017 • www.lchaimmagazine.com

in this issue...

COVER STORY

Unboxing Judaism Ancient Traditions in the 21st Century..............................................

FOOD

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26

UNBOXING JUDAISM

24

KOSHEROLOGY: Southern Spiced Pickled Watermelon Rinds.....................................

14 18 22 24 28 30

FEATURES Lipinsky Family SD Jewish Arts Fest @ 24.................................................................................

'Start-up Nation' Meets Shavuot:

The Story of Israel's Efficient, High-Tech Dairy Industry....................................................

Could Israel's Sights, Sounds and Tastes be the

Recipe for Defeating BDS?..................................................................................................................

High-Tech, Low Barriers: New Study Advances the Digital Future of Jewish Learning...................................................................................................

Israeli Entrepreneurs See a Bright Future for Solar Technology................................

Tales of San Diego's Jewish Merchants....................................................................................

OUR TRIBE CJC's Five Minute Play Festival, I Begin to Rehearse My Death (3rd Place)........

COLUMNS My Comic Relief.........................................................................................................................................

Torah: Of the Book...................................................................................................................................

JewishMom.com........................................................................................................................................

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Alanna Maya CREATIVE DIRECTOR Laurie Miller

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34 06 08 33 37

Humor: Mazel & Mishagoss.................................................................................................................

PUBLISHERS Diane Benaroya & Laurie Miller

HIGH TECH STUDY

PICKLED WATERMELON RINDS

L’CHAIM SAN DIEGO, LLC (858) 776-0550 San Diego, CA 92127

ART DEPARTMENT lauriem@lchaimmagazine.com LISTINGS & CALENDAR: calendar@lchaimmagazine.com

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CIRCULATION & SUBSCRIPTIONS info@lchaimmagazine.com

SUBSCRIBE ONLINE: www.lchaimmagazine.com/shop

CONTRIBUTORS Daniel Bortz, Alex Idov, Stephanie Lewis, Salomon Maya, Mimi Pollack, Sharon Rapoport, Nikki Salvo, Emma Sasson, Eva Trieger, Deborah Vietor, Chana Jenny Weisberg

ADVERTISING & SALES Diane Benaroya (dianeb@lchaimmagazine.com), Sharon Buchsbaum (sharonbux@gmail.com)

Copyright ©2017 L’Chaim San Diego LLC. All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, write to the publisher, addressed “Attention: Permissions Coordinator” to: publisher@lchaimmagazine.com Published in San Diego, CA • www.lchaimmagazine.com lchaimmagazine

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5

RANDOM RANTS l BY SALOMON MAYA

my

comic relief BaCon We? "IMAGINE TOPOL SINGING 'TRADITION' WHILE PLAYING WITH HIS FIDGET SPINNER."

M

odern Judaism. Even the combination of those two words seems oxymoronic at best. How can one of the world’s oldest religions … modernize? True, we have come a long way in bringing our religion to the 21st Century. The never-ending fight of traditionalists versus modernists exists in every religion, but I truly believe Judaism has a special past which makes the question of modernizing extra difficult. Imagine Topol singing “Tradition” while playing with his fidget spinner. Oy vey.

I consider myself a traditional (at best) Jew. For those familiar with my column, I have never hid the fact that I don’t consider myself religious at all, but I do love my religion. I’m pretty sure I’m not the only Jew who thinks this way, and I’ll even be so brazen to say that younger generations probably relate more to the traditions of Judaism than the actual religion. For example, I’ll bet you a lot of younger Jews kiss a Mezuzah on the way out of the door but don’t know why.

Now, I know some people will read this and tell me “of course I know why we kiss the mezuzah, it’s because the Shema is written on there.” True, the Mezuzah actually contains two selections of verses (Deuteronomy 6:4–9 6

L’CHAIM SAN DIEGO MAGAZINE • JUNE/JULY 2017

and Deuteronomy 11:13–21), but who’s counting. But do you know why we kiss it?

Furthermore, do you know when the tradition started? Probably not; you just know that you do it because your older brothers did it and because your dad did it and because his dad did it. This falls under the type of traditions most modern Jews observe today: do what you do and don’t ask why.

Recently, I read an article entitled “Can We Eat Bacon Now? Leviticus Was Written for Priests, Not You, Say Scholars” written in Haaretz by Elizabeth Sloane. The article dives deep into the book of Leviticus, which sets certain rules for priests (Rabbis) and their dress and states certain things that are banned. For example, it states that “If a priest’s daughter defiles herself by becoming a prostitute, she disgraces her father; she must be burned in the fire.” Damn, that’s harsh. The article theorizes that Leviticus might have been written with the intent to state laws for Priests alone, and not the entire people of Israel; yet other scholars contend that Leviticus laws are meant for all Jews as seen in Book 11, the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, “Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘These are the creature which

you may eat from all the animals that are on the Earth.’”

So can I eat bacon? Yes! WooHoo! As a Jew, should I eat bacon? Depends on who you ask. Damn!

And therein lies the ongoing fight of the Modern Jew, at least in my eyes. We’re living in the year 2017, based on laws which were written sometimes 3500 years B.C.E. Things have changed right? Animals which were deemed dirty in biblical times are pretty clean now, right? To be honest, I think pigs have gotten a bad rap. People say they’re “sweating like a pig” when working hard, yet pigs can’t even sweat! Well, they do have sweat glands but they don’t use them to regulate their body temperature … I digress. The beauty of Judaism is that we’re a very curious people.

We like to ask questions and gosh darn it, we should. Curiosity and questioning is what makes us unique, what makes us modern, what makes us Jews.

SALOMON MAYA IS A LOCAL ACTOR AND PLAYWRIGHT. FOLLOW HIM ON TWITTER @SALOMAYA OR EMAIL HIM AT SALOMONM@LCHAIMMAGAZINE.COM.

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TORAH l BY RABBI DANIEL BORTZ

of

the book Beneath the Surface THE FOLLOWING EXCERPT COMES FROM THE INTRODUCTION TO RABBI BORTZ’S NEW BOOK, BENEATH THE SURFACE.

A

t nineteen, I packed my bags and left my college campus at U.C. Santa Barbara for the land of Israel. I couldn’t wait to explore the mystery of why I was alive and what my purpose might be on this planet. I felt an inner yearning for a force beyond me, like a flame dancing on a wick, stretching out for a place that transcends it.

Growing up, I had a dream life, lacking nothing. But as a teenager, none of that helped. I had a deep feeling of emptiness inside. Our inner self, the soul, needs nourishment just as much as our bodies do.

It will also cry out when it’s starved.

From the moment I entered the gates of study in Jerusalem, my soul enjoyed a constant stream of profound insights into life that finally quenched my inner thirst and deeply resonated with me.

After years of learning around the world, I realized that the thousands of hours spent poring over Hebrew text hadn’t been kind to my eyesight. When I first put on my new pair of glasses, I could see the same world around me as before, but everything was clearer and sharper. The details of nature were vibrant. I noticed beauty in everything 8

L’CHAIM SAN DIEGO MAGAZINE • JUNE/JULY 2017

that I had been viewing as drab and fuzzy.

That day, I appreciated the world like it was new. I realized the time spent learning and growing spiritually had served as glasses for my mind and heart. My focus had turned away from the superficial details around me.

I now searched for the deeper truth behind everything I encountered.

While our generation craves deep insights into life, social media has lessoned our attention span and we need the ideas to be concise and easily accessible. I’ve always loved analogies and short stories as vehicles for explanation. While simple, they preserve the deep wisdom behind them. This book attempts to deliver ancient Jewish concepts in an easily attainable way, regardless of your background.

Many insights into the secrets of life can be extracted through traveling and observing the world. But the deepest truths are discovered when staying still and exploring inwardly. Through quieting the superficial noise of the outside world and focusing inwardly, we can discover the music of our soul. As James Joyce writes in Ulysses: “Shut your eyes and see.” Electromagnetic waves

may be all around you, but if the radio isn’t tuned properly to receive them, nothing will be heard. The priceless treasure we seek is already within. It’s our neshamah—our soul, a divine energy.

For nearly a decade, at the end of every week I would sift through the countless insights from the past days, painfully deciding on only one to share with friends and family. From the sweltering rooftops of Jerusalem to the frozen rooftops of Brooklyn (Internet access wasn’t easy to find), I tried to share what I was feeling with others, feeling a duty to share what was inspiring me.

Through working to see life in a Torah way, may we find the sense of purpose and have the strength to light up the darkness in our world, revealing the inherent goodness it contains and transforming it into a home for the Divine.

RABBI DANIEL BORTZ IS THE DIRECTOR OF JTEEN SAN DIEGO, JTEENSD.COM. TO WATCH HIS UNIQUE VIDEOS, VISIT RABBIBORTZ.COM.

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COVER STORY l BY EMMA SASSON

Unboxing MODERN INTERPRETATIONS OF WHAT IT MEANS TO BE JEWISH

PHOTO BY SAM LITVIN PHOTOGRAPHY

Rabbi Daniel Bortz attends Israel Fest at the San Diego Jewish Academy in May. The young Rabbi makes Judaism accessible to teens through JTEEN programs throughout San Diego County.

I

n the culture of today, we are all trying to figure out our identity. What makes you, you? Jewish identity is evolving, and there are now so many perspectives as to what it means to be a Jew. Some people say they are culturally Jewish, some claim to be religious, while others state that they have no religion. We now live in a society where our identity is ever-changing and cannot be placed solely into one category. As we roll through the 21st Century,

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the conventional model of “what it means to be Jewish” in America is changing.

Younger generations of the Jewish collective are shying away from conventional synagogue life and are finding other outlets to serve their Jewish religious and spiritual needs. Many rabbis and cantors are turning away from full-time synagogue positions, opting instead for a more fluid and creative way to reach out to and fulfill the needs of not only

L’CHAIM SAN DIEGO MAGAZINE • JUNE/JULY 2017

JEW-ISH

"The conventional model of 'what it means to be Jewish' in America is changing."

L’CHAIM

Judaism What's next for Judaism >>> their own communities, but others as well.

For centuries, the center of Jewish life revolved around the synagogue. Not only has it been a source of religious leadership, but within the last few decades, it evolved to offer amenities such as Jewish day schools, adult classes, cultural events and social groups (e.g.

Men’s Club, Women’s Connection, Havurot, USY, etc.) Not only has the synagogue served as the anchor for Jewish identity, it has provided a central place for wandering Jews to rest. Rabbi Elan Babchuck, of Providence, Rhode Island, the Director of Innovation at Clal, — an inter-denominational leadership and learning training institute — explains, “The synagogue was built to do everything.

It was built to be a place to educate kids, find a partner, find when you move into a new town; it was the way you gathered, found meaning. When the world went crazy, it was place to find solace and sanctuary.”

In 2013, the PEW research study on the demographics of Jewish identity in the U.S. showed some interesting findings, including: “Fully 93% of Jews in the aging Greatest Generation identify as Jewish on the basis of religion; just 7% describe themselves as having no religion. By contrast, among Jews in the youngest generation of U.S. adults — the Millennials — 68% identify as Jews by religion, while 32% describe themselves as having no religion and identify as Jewish on the basis of ancestry, ethnicity or culture.”

Thus, the younger generations are veering even further from the conventional ideals of Jewish identity, venturing out from the box of traditional Judaism. Today’s culture

provides easy access to information and communication, leading new generations of Jews to question doctrines and strict ways of thinking. As a result, Judaism is slowly leaving the confines of denominational Judaism and into a new wave of postdenominational thinking.

While the culture of congregational Judaism undergoes a shift, the ways in which clergy reach communities is also evolving. A new trend sees many rabbis and cantors no longer tied to one synagogue or community for a lifetime of service. Cantor Jonathan L. Friedmann, Ph.D. of Los Angeles, describes this as, “the entrepreneurial cantor or rabbi.” Rather than being a part of just one synagogue, there is a new trend rising in which cantors and rabbis are breaking out of the box and catering to the specific needs of a community.

Some clergy are the founders of innovative start-ups that fill gaps in the Jewish landscape, while others have multiple roles within already-existing organizations.

Cantor Friedmann, for example, divides his time between serving as Community Leader and Education Director at Adat Chaverim, a Congregation for Humanistic Judaism; a “Kol Bo” at a traditional Reform Congregation; a leader of Saturday services at a retirement home; and also a Professor of Jewish Music History at the Academy for Jewish Religion in Los Angeles.

Rabbi Elan Babchuck left his role as a conventional pulpit rabbi for his new position at Clal which created “Rabbis without Borders,” a network of rabbis from

AUTHOR THEODORE ROSS reported on a 1991 National Jewish Population Survey that painted a bleak outlook for the future of Judaism. Jews were intermarrying, ignoring rituals, and abandoning their membership in synagogues at an alarming rate. “In short, their connections to the historical conventions of Jewish life were tenuous at best; at worst they had been wholly severed,” he writes.

By 2010 little had changed. A study conducted by Brandeis University found that “a full 60 percent of American Jews identify themselves not as Orthodox, Reform, or Conservative but as the more nebulous ‘just Jewish.’

Excerpt from Thoughtful adventures of Jewish identity originally posted on November 18, 2012 by Jeffrey Barken/JNS.org.

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L’CHAIM

many denominations and locations whose main aim is to serve Jewish communities in innovative ways. Through “Rabbis without Borders,” Rabbi Babchuck has set up his own innovative startup called THRIVE: a grassroots organization that aims to share spiritual and meditative experiences with the community.

“In this world you are your persona, your profile page, your LinkedIn account, a place where you are very cleaned up,” he explains, “Even at synagogue, people come as their best selves, you dress your nicest. Why not provide a place where you don’t have to pretend? THRIVE is a retreat center where clergy from all faiths can come together. You don’t have to check your faithfulness at the door. You can be both. People want to bring their whole selves.”

Another rabbi bringing innovation to the Jewish world is local, Rabbi Daniel Bortz.

He is a progressive rabbi who reaches beyond synagogue walls, searching for new ways to bring Judaism to people craving a new experience. In his new book, Beneath the Surface, he brings the teachings of Judaism to light by paring it down to its core values.

His mission is to still, “use the Torah, but try to tie it in to more relevant topics.” He even ran a hospitality tent to serve the needs of Jewish festival goers at the wildly-popular musical festival, Coachella.

Although many American Jews crave a new outlet in which to experience Judaism, many people — particularly older generations — still prefer a more traditional synagogue lifestyle. Rabbis and synagogue leaders are faced with the challenge of making synagogues relevant and fresh, while at the same time maintaining their long-held traditions.

Rabbi Avi Libman, of Congregation Beth El in La Jolla, CA, understands that there is movement away from synagogues, particularly within the millennial community. However, his job is not to cater to those who don’t find a Jewish connection in a synagogue, but rather to be present to support Jews who do.

According to Rabbi Libman, “The purpose of a synagogue is finding a healthy balance between being authentic and relevant. The mistake I think we make is we think one size 12

L’CHAIM SAN DIEGO MAGAZINE • JUNE/JULY 2017

fits all.”

People who find meaning in conventional Jewish worship and practice will retain their connection to the synagogue. For those who do not, there are options for exploration.

Jenna Ross, leader of the 20’s and 30’s crowd, CHAI GROUP, at Congregation Beth El — La Jolla, also sees this shift. She explains her challenge: “How do we fill the religious and community void that just can’t be filled for this particular group of people in a synagogue?” Ross has risen to the challenge, offering such activities as Shabbat morning hikes. “They still get the feeling of unplugging after the week,” she explains. “They can reset themselves for the week to come, which in essence, is what Shabbat is all about.”

There is still a lot of unrest within the American Jewish community that reenvisioning Jewish identity will ultimately lead to the erosion of Judaism. Yet historically, cultures and religions evolve and often new expressions of these identities are born. We need not be boxed into previous models of Judaism; rather, we are free to choose from a vast array of new options as well.

Today as we intermingle with other cultures; intermarriage is on the rise and many of these interfaith families want to find

a meaningful path to religious fulfilment. At its core, Judaism remains the same; yet the landscape of opportunities is expanding.

Cheri Weiss, La Jolla local and cantorial student at AJRCA who hopes to be ordained in May 2018, explains, “There’s a fear among many traditional Jews that because synagogue membership is dwindling it could result in the end of Judaism. This just isn’t true. I find this a very exciting time, because people are still reaching out, they still want to have their souls touched and inspired and experience Jewish community. Now there are new options to embrace. Historically, the Jewish people have been through worse crises. Today the future of our world seems uncertain. People often turn to religion in times of crises — on both community and personal levels. They will always need to find a way to nourish their soul.”

As the Jewish climate in America continues to change and the boundaries of Jewish culture continue to expand, innovation and new ways of thinking will blossom. It is an exciting time to be a Jew and to watch as people unbox Judaism while retaining its core values. Tradition exists alongside new expression to touch Jews of all generations who crave nourishment of the soul.

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FEATURE STORY l BY DEBORAH VIETOR

ARTISTRY ABOUND

THE SAN DIEGO REPERTORY THEATRE ANNOUNCES THE 24TH ANNUAL LIPINSKY FAMILY SAN DIEGO JEWISH ARTS FESTIVAL

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L’CHAIM SAN DIEGO MAGAZINE • JUNE/JULY 2017

FEATURE STORY

T

“

WE TRY TO REACH OUT TO DIFFERENT PARTS OF THE COMMUNITY, CELEBRATING DIFFERENT JEWISH THOUGHTS AND TRADITIONS. WE CULTIVATE, NURTURE AND DEVELOP NEW PROGRAMS.

“

odd Salovey is the founding associate artistic director at the San Diego Repertory Theatre (San Diego REP), and has earned numerous awards for his innovative productions of classics, emerging as one of the leading producers and directors of both Jewish and nonJewish works in the industry. He has directed, produced and commissioned over 40 premiere works of theatre, opera, music and dance in his role working with the REP’s Lipinsky Family San Diego Jewish Arts Festival, now in it’s 24th year.

A graduate of Stanford University with an MFA in directing from the University of California, San Diego, Salovey sits on the faculty of the Department of Theatre and Dance at UCSD. He is married to Diane Boomer and is the very proud dad of Leah, a recent graduate of Yale University and Aryeh. He has produced and directed numerous works, and continues to draw inspiration from all around.

“It’s exciting to be a part of an organization making so many cultures feel welcome and honored,” he says of his work with the REP. “We try to reach out to different parts of the community, celebrating different Jewish thoughts and traditions. We cultivate, nurture and develop new programs which start in San Diego and [later, we] see them at other venues. This is exciting!”

Over the years, Salovey has brought new works to the forefront, trying to show theatregoers in San Diego something “different.” It is this drive to give new works an opportunity to be heard that keeps him excited about directing and bringing the stage to life year after year with the Jewish Arts Festival.

“Years ago, the founders of [health food company] Kashi, Phil and Gayle Tauber approached the REP about doing a Jewish Art Festival. I was approached and thought I would do this for a year or 2. It’s been 24 years!”

In the last eight years, Salovey has cultivated the Festival’s “Women of Valor” program, a celebration of noteworthy women in the community. According to Salovey, the program allows the women themselves (or actors/ family members speaking on their behalf) to tell their stories in ways that often we have only read about in history. Proverbs 31:10 reads: “A woman of valor who shall find?” In this case, Salovey did find! “[I contemplated] doing a play that honors the many different ways that women bring strength and courage to

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FEATURE STORY

their lives and to the lives of others [for quite some time],” he says. “I wanted to explore it through a story that reflects the different communities within the Jewish community.”

In partnership with his daughter Leah and her friend Ali Viterbi, Salovey organized lists and stories about women they know and most admire.

“These are women that faced tests in their lives and found the courage [to] not only survive and make the best of it but who also seemed to thrive and grow and inspire others through their example,” said Salovey.

A diverse group of women are chosen each year from areas including the arts, education and politics who have been major contributors to the community.

This year’s “Women of Valor” are being honored with original works written about their lives by Rebecca Myers, Sarah PriceKeating, Leah Salovey, Todd Salovey and Ali Viterbi. Viterbi, a graduate of Yale University, has been working in New York City as a writer and actress for several years.

She returns to San Diego in the fall to begin the prestigious MFA playwriting program at UCSD. Viterbi will produce the works in this year’s “Valor” program and direct alongside Salovey.

The 2017 “Valor” honorees are: Joyce Axelrod, co-founder of the San Diego Jewish Film Festival, known for “The Joyce Forum” which presents outstanding Jewish themed short subject documentary and feature films; Councilperson Barbara Bry, who has focused on a safe, clean and prosperous San Diego during her time in office; Rose Schindler, a Holocaust survivor who after 70 years recently revisited Auschwitz with her husband; Pauline Sonboleh, best known as the long-term owner of the Judaica store Dor l’Dor; Malka Weiser, a teacher and youth director at Beth Jacob Congregation; and Marcia Tatz-Wollner, a long term educator for the San Diego Agency for Jewish Education.

These remarkable women told their stories with live music, poetry and vivid imagery.

May 28 at the Encinitas Library, with proceeds from the event benefitting Chesed 16

L’CHAIM SAN DIEGO MAGAZINE • JUNE/JULY 2017

MENSCHES OF SAN DIEGO Home, Torah High School and Project Sarah.

The 24th Annual Lipinsky Family San Diego Jewish Arts Festival offers a diverse, innovative program of music, art, dance, plays, poetry and readings performed by accomplished writers, dancers, speakers, philanthropists, engineers, and scientists from all over the world. These individuals have a passion for bringing Jewish culture at all levels to the theatre for all to enjoy. Performances continue this month and next and include: • The 16th Annual Klezmer Summit, featuring Yale Strom & Hot Pstromi, presenting “Tower of Babal – A Klezmer, Roma, Balkan Brass Party,” adapted and directed by Todd Salovey; June 12 on the REP’s Lyceum Stage.

• Women Together Sing Out, Jewish, Latin and American music of change, empowerment and belief. Starring Elizabeth Schwartz of Hot Pstromi, gospel singer Lisa Payton and jazz diva Coral McFarland Thuet; June 14 in the REP’s Lyceum Space.

• Challah Rising in the Desert, (The Jews of New Mexico), directed by Issac Arenstein, produced by Paula Amar Schwartz with Cinewest Productions. A new film where Challah bread represents 5 waves of settlement of New Mexico’s Jewish community; July 6 in the REP’s Lyceum Space.

• The Wandering Feast, based on the memoir by Yale Strom, adapted by Todd Salovey and Yale Strom, directed

by Todd Salovey with music composed and performed

by Yale Strom; June 18 at the Encinitas Library.

• For Honor, written and directed by Lee Sankowich, the staged reading with music is a moving tribute to the young heroes of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising; July 9 at the Lawrence Family JCC, David & Dorothea Garfield Theatre.

The Lyceum Galleries are currently exhibiting Lost Treasures: Wooden Synagogues of Eastern Europe and World in Solace: The Jewish Works of Boris Malkin, through June 19.

For tickets, and more information regarding the 24th Annual Lipinsky Family San Diego Jewish Arts Festival, check the website for the San Diego Repertory Theatre at sdrep.org or call (619) 544-1000.

DON HARRISON I've been a journalist since 1962, when I received my first assignment from the UCLA Daily Bruin as a cub reporter. I then became a reporter for the Los Angeles Times, and later for the Associated Press, San Diego Union, and LA Herald Examiner. Stepping away from journalism, I created a PR agency and helped found the Old Town Trolley of San Diego.

But, my heart remained in journalism. In 1986, I began taking assignments for the SD Jewish PressHeritage. When the Heritage chain ran into money problems, I partnered with Norman Greene and purchased the San Diego edition. We published for 2 years before realizing it couldn't be saved.

Trying to keep doing what I loved, I wrote a column for the San Diego Jewish Times, which also fell to financial burden. Almost immediately I decided to go out on a limb and create San Diego Jewish World, an online daily Jewish newspaper.

Up and running to this day. I've watched so many publications come and go, it's nice to be right where I belong and don't take a single day for granted.

To learn more visit lchaimmagazine.com/chaifiveprojects and search social media for the hashtag #MENSCHESOFSANDIEGO

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17

FEATURE STORY

BY ALINA DAIN SHARON | JNS.ORG

'STARTUP NATION' MEETS SHAVUOT:

Israel's efficient, high-tech dairy industry

The milking process at HaYogev, a moshav (cooperative agricultural community) in northern Israel.

PHOTO CREDIT ROY BERKOVICH/ISRAELI DAIRY BOARD

S

elf-driving cars. Drip irrigation. Missile defense. Milk?

Amid all the buzz around Israel’s “start-up nation,” including Intel’s recent $15 billion acquisition of Mobileye, a lesserknown phenomenon is the high-tech and hyper-efficient Israeli dairy industry.

Surprised? Don’t be. The combination of Israelis’ high demand for dairy products and the Jewish state’s well-documented ingenuity makes the cutting-edge dairy

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industry a natural development in what the Bible describes as a “land flowing with milk and honey.” The demand for dairy in Israel is particularly high for Shavuot (marked May 30-June 1), when eating dairy is a holiday tradition.

THE ISRAELI LOVE FOR DAIRY Michal Kraus, executive director of the Israeli Dairy Board, tells JNS.org Israelis prefer milk, yogurt, cottage cheese or soft

cheeses during the warmer summer months because these dairy products are cooler and easier to digest. Hard cheeses tend to be consumed in foods such as toast and pizza, and more frequently during the winter months. Israeli supermarket shelves feature about 800 varieties of dairy products.

The Israeli Dairy Board’s estimates show that last year 32 percent of Israelis consumed soft cheeses, 30 percent drank milk, 26 percent consumed hard cheeses and 12

percent ate other dairy products such as desserts.

The latest trends in Israel’s dairy market involve “going back to basic, nostalgic products but also clean label [production]” and the “reduction of salt and sugar,” says Tzvika Dor, director of business development at the premium dairy plant Gad Dairy, whose production represents 5 percent of the Israeli dairy market.

THE QUOTA SYSTEM AND THE ‘HERD BOOK’ Milk production in Israel is carried out under a quota system that exists in only two other nations — Canada and Norway.

“In case of an increase or expected increase in the demand for milk products, the Dairy Board lifts the quota…The Dairy Board advises the farmers, considering the expected high demand for holidays and summer months, allowing the farmers to plan and get organized accordingly,” says Dr. Ephraim Maltz, a senior researcher emeritus at the Volcani Center, the Israeli Ministry of Agriculture’s research arm.

Israel’s dairy sector functions in a unified manner because the country is relatively small, Kraus explains. All the industry’s players know at any given moment about virtually each individual cow, what its environment is and if it carries any germs.

This information, she says, provides an advantage in the cultivation of herds — Israel uses artificial insemination to breed cows — and enables increased milk production.

More than 80 percent of the country’s cows are registered in the Israel Herd Book, a computerized database that allows tracing the genealogy, history, milk yield and other factors for each cow. Theses metrics “are monitored continuously for production health and reproduction,” Maltz says.

Israel’s Holstein cows — the nation’s specific breed of dairy cattle, which has adapted to a warm climate — produce about 3,000 gallons of milk per cow per year. This figure is “among the highest productions in the world, if not the highest,” says Maltz.

PRODUCTION TECHNOLOGY With the government’s support, Israeli farmers have learned to breed cows by better utilizing the natural environment, despite the nation’s arid climate and chronic water shortages. The farmers’ methods include feeding cows with recycled natural foods, using recycled water to grow fodder and reusing manure in agriculture. Several delegations from other countries have visited Israel to learn from these techniques.

To obtain the necessary metrics, a majority of Israel’s dairy cows are “equipped with electronic individual identification, and almost all the milking parlors are equipped with electronic milk meters,” Maltz says.

Most Israeli dairy farms use electronic methods to detect a cow’s estrous cycle— the reproductive cycle of mammals such as cows—"by using individual cow activity as an indication for insemination time,” he says.

Special sensors measure cows’ daily body weight and milk composition for protein, fat, lactose and more. Many farmers also measure daily rumination and eating times.

“It’s like placing a watch on a person’s hand and measuring blood pressure, body temperature or any other parameter you want to know,” Kraus says.

These sensors improve cows’ health and reproduction, and increase efficiency in the milking process. The monitoring and production technologies are managed by two Israeli companies, Afimilk and SCR, that are internationally known dairy industry pioneers who export their product all over

the world, says Maltz.

More cutting-edge technology comes from Tnuva, Israel’s largest food manufacturer.

Recently, the company began feeding some cows with a substance containing flax, which the company says improves both the cows’ health and their milk. Based on this technique, they rolled out a new brand of milk, “Chalav Hameshek,” which is rich in Omega-3 fatty acids.

Tnuva aims to expand the project — still in its early stages at a few dairy farms — so it will ultimately be implemented for all farms whose milk is delivered to the company, says its head scientist, Zeev Paikowsky.

MANAGING GROWING DEMAND Israel has experienced a notable growth in demand for dairy products since 2016, Kraus says. The demand for Shavuot can largely be met, she says, because the holiday “falls in a period of the year (roughly December to June) that in the Northern Hemisphere is the period when cows produce the most milk.”

One challenge, however, is milk plants might be closed for several consecutive days for holidays or Shabbat.

“In this case, the [facility] gets organized by allowing sufficient storage by dehydrating surplus milk and delaying milk evacuation from the farms that have sufficient storage space,” Maltz says.

At Gad Dairy, being prepared for Shavout means increasing production as many as five or six months before the holiday, Dor says.

Tnuva has similar foresight.

“The combination of high milk production [around the time of Shavuot], together with careful planning,” says Paikowsky, “enables [the company] to provide the full range of products before the holiday.”

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21

FEATURE STORY

BY BRIDGET JOHNSON | JNS.ORG

CAN BDS BE DEFEATED? Israel's sights, sounds and tastes could be the recipe for defeating BDS

W

hen it comes to winning the argument against the BDS movement, the strategy may be as simple as a pan of shakshuka, a Mizrahi album, and a real or virtual tour through Jerusalem.

A celebration of culture and a walk through the history of Israel may not be enough to win over the hardcore anti-Zionist proponents of BDS, as their convictions are rooted in the belief that the Jewish people aren’t entitled to their state or protection. In their view, Jews are mere occupiers in David’s kingdom, and Fatah and Hamas are entitled to sweep from the river to the sea.

But a campaign that extols the beauty, diversity and goodness of Israel can be a more persuasive voice than the pro-BDS arguments whispered in the ears of those who haven’t decided where they fall on the issue.

The strength of such a strategy was illuminated on Jerusalem Day this week at Congregation B’nai Tzedek in Potomac, Md., through moving testimonials of the Six-Day War, homemade Israeli treats, and choruses of “Jerusalem of Gold,” “Haktivah” and other songs that drew the crowd together in pride and passion.

Heidi Krizer Daroff, North America director of the Israel Forever Foundation, one of the evening’s sponsors, told me her organization’s mission of bringing people from all walks of life closer to the texture, tastes and timelessness of Israel rises above politics, bringing people who may have fond memories of Be’er Sheva or Haifa — or those who have never stepped foot in the Holy Land — closer to the Jewish state.

Via books, music, film or cuisine, people are “finding Israel through something they already care about,” Daroff said.

Whether through the Munich Memory Project, which keeps alive the 11 Israeli athletes murdered at the 1972 Olympics for no reason other than representing the Jewish state, or through live cooking webinars hosted by Israeli chefs, the foundation produces interactive materials for preschoolers, seniors, students, young professionals and families to build and enhance their personal connection to Israel.

Blog posts from those who have been to Israel and fallen in love share the experience with curious minds around the globe.

Daroff noted this outreach helps open eyes and build a connection with those who “are teetering on BDS — maybe they think that’s a good idea.”

“Israel may have some flaws” like any country, she added, “but strives every day to be a better society.”

As emphasized during the evening’s program, Jerusalem speaks a 22

L’CHAIM SAN DIEGO MAGAZINE

universal language that draws all cultures and faiths to the Old City and its 21st-century vibrancy.

That’s not to say politics doesn’t creep into a unified anti-BDS message, but like few things in this political climate, support for Israel enjoys a very bipartisan base on Capitol Hill.

Rep. Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.), the ranking member on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, drew rousing applause when he addressed the Trump administration’s recent reticence to properly name the location of one of Judaism’s holiest sites: “In case any of you had any doubt, the Western Wall, the Kotel, is in Israel.”

“Jerusalem will always be and should always be the undivided capital Israel,” Engel said, invoking another highly bipartisan maxim.

“Jerusalem is the symbol of the Jewish people,” and the U.S. embassy should be moved to Israel’s capital of Jerusalem, the lawmaker said, earning more appreciation from the audience. “I don’t think we’d be happy if other countries opened their embassy in Chicago,” he said.

One shouldn’t expect those considering whether boycotting Israel is a good idea to immediately convert to the same level of policy agreement shared by Congress. First comes fostering respect for the existence of Israel, then introducing the uninitiated to the rich tapestry of the country. Through the sights, sounds and tastes of Israel, onetime doubters can find themselves deep in love with the Jewish state.

BRIDGET JOHNSON IS A SENIOR FELLOW WITH THE NEWS AND PUBLIC POLICY GROUP HAYM SALOMON CENTER AND D.C. BUREAU CHIEF FOR PJ MEDIA.

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23

FEATURE STORY

BY DEBORAH FINEBLUM | JNS.ORG

HIGH TECH,

LOW BARRIERS New study advances the digital future of Jewish learning A picture that is included in a newly released study intended to help the Jewish community navigate the high-tech world.

PHOTO BY LEWIS KASSEL, COURTESY OF MOISHE HOUSE

B

y day, Liora Brosbe is the family engagement officer for the Jewish Federation of the East Bay in Berkeley, Calif., where she reaches out to the community with a menu of opportunities for “connecting to Jewish life and each other.”

But when she’s not at work, Brosbe’s main job is raising three kids, ages 2, 6 and 8.

Their home? A laboratory for Jewish learning strategies.

“Yes, they’re little petri dishes,” their mom, who is also a psychotherapist, says with

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a laugh. “Like most families, screen time is a huge issue at our house, both for time and content. But I tell families it’s also an amazing opportunity for low-barrier Jewish engagement.”

With the avalanche of new technologies, many of them being tapped for Jewish learning, educators, funders and parents are often befuddled about where to invest their money and their kids’ or students’ time.

A new report on the implications of the wave of educational technology and digital

engagement is designed to guide the Jewish community through this complex space.

Sponsored by the Jim Joseph Foundation and the William Davidson Foundation, Smart Money: Recommendations for an Educational Technology and Digital Engagement Investment Strategy examines many of these innovations and provides suggestions for navigating the high-tech world.

The study’s recommendations include: using virtual and augmented reality — a user

“Like most families, screen time is a huge issue at our house, both for time and content. But I tell families it’s also an amazing opportunity for lowbarrier Jewish engagement." could, for example, experience the splitting of the Red Sea; creating games based on alternative scenarios for “Jewish futures,” such as rebuilding Jewish life after the Roman destruction of the Second Temple; offering opportunities for students to learn coding and other technological skills, which can foster connectedness among Jewish youths and introduce them to Israeli high-tech companies; and increasingly using video, music, podcasting and other platforms.

The report is garnering far more attention than expected, according to the sponsors.

“We did not originally intend for this to be a public report,” says Barry Finestone, president and CEO of the Jim Joseph Foundation. “But the substance of the findings and recommendations really challenge us, as funders, to think strategically, creatively and collaboratively about how we can utilize educational technology and digital engagement to advance our Jewish educational missions.”

For the report, Lewis J. Bernstein and Associates interviewed 50 experts, investors and educators from both the Jewish and secular worlds to create the recommendations.

“It’s a huge media marketplace out there and most Jews are exposed to the same information as the rest of the world,” says Lewis J. Bernstein, a former producer of Sesame Street and the report’s lead researcher.

“Parents and educators have difficult choices to make, and Jewish learning and wisdom compete with the secular world.”

Regarding technology’s potential value to the Jewish world, the Jim Joseph Foundation has “certainly dipped our toe in, but we knew there was so much more to understand,” says the foundation’s chief program officer, Josh Miller.

“The report is giving us a roadmap for how to focus our efforts,” he says, adding, “Training a good educator doesn’t change but, as educational technology and digital platforms do, teachers and tech producers are working together to create educational opportunities.”

For example, as the number of Holocaust survivors dwindles, the Los Angeles-based USC Shoah Foundation recently initiated “New Dimensions in Testimony,” a program that uses artificial intelligence to answer students’ questions from a pool of 2,000 prerecorded survivor responses.

“It looks and sounds like you’re talking one-on-one with the survivor,” says USC Shoah Foundation spokesman Rob Kuznia.

“The gigantic opportunity for the community is the new ways we can access Jewish wisdom,” says the Jim Joseph Foundation’s Miller. Ironically, he says, that means disconnecting once a week “because of our 4,000-year-old tradition called Shabbat, which reminds us that that life isn’t only about the little rush you get every time you get a text.”

Like all powerful forces, technology should be utilized in moderation, one observer notes.

“There is no question that high-tech, which is so much a part of the lives of

young Jews, needs to be part of their Jewish educational experience as well,” says Brandeis University’s Dr. Jonathan Sarna, a leading expert on Jewish education and American Jewish history as a whole. “History suggests, however, that these new technologies will certainly not substitute for effective teaching.

Now, as in the past, educators should look for modest gains from the introduction of new technologies, and should be wary of high costs and hype.”

Lisa Colton — who specializes in implementing digital strategies for synagogues, day schools and camps—agrees that technology alone is not the answer.

“Technical savvy is the easiest thing to find and hire, but smart design requires you to put yourself in your user’s shoes,” says Colton, chief learning officer for See3 Communications and founder of Darim Online. “But the [‘Smart Money’] report does give educators a new way to understand today’s audience, implications for innovative design, and the all-important relationship between content and technology.”

At the same time, there is already a growing field of Jewish organizations specializing in educational technology and digital engagement, including Sefaria, Reboot, BimBam and Let it Ripple.

“The report is the start of legitimizing the technical Jewish world and the practice of investing in it,” says Brett Lockspeiser, co-founder and chief technology officer of Sefaria, an online library of Jewish texts that welcomed 460,000 online users last year. “It’s helping everyone become more comfortable taking that risk.”

Back in Berkeley, Liora Brosbe recommends a four-minute Jewish 101 video on BimBam for first-time parents who are welcoming new babies. Meanwhile, as she cooks dinner in her own home, her children engage with Jewish music and content through the Spotify app.

“They’re going to have screen time anyway,” she says. “So why not Jewish ones?”

WWW.LCHAIMMAGAZINE.COM

25

FOOD

KOSHEROLOGY Southern Spiced Pickled Watermelon Rinds STORY & PHOTOS BY ALEX THE KOSHEROLOGIST KOSHEROLOGY.COM

Southern gastronomy is replete with awesome recipes made from some of the most simple ingredients – some of which you would even probably think there would be no good use for – like watermelon rinds.

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FOOD

T

here’s something about the heat (and humidity) of summertime in Atlanta that makes me want to do nothing more than channel my inner “southerness” (I am a 4th generation southerner, after all) and enjoy some of the deep South’s simple culinary pleasures. Southern gastronomy is replete with awesome recipes made from some of the most simple ingredients – some of which you would even probably think there would be no good use for – like watermelon rinds. Ready to take on a fun summer of tackling some awesome southern classics – the kosher way – I thought what better way to start this adventure than with these awesome spiced pickled watermelon rinds. Maybe the concept of ‘sustainability’, inculcated in me at Kennesaw State University, did register with me after all. *Note: Takes 2 days preparation PARVE

5. In a large pot, combine the water (3 cups), vinegar, sugar, cinnamon sticks, cloves, allspice, and lemon and bring to a steady boil. Boil, covered, for 5 minutes.

6. Add the watermelon rinds to the sugar/ vinegar mixture and liquid back to a boil.

Lower heat and simmer 45 minutes, or until the rind is somewhat clear and easily pierced with a fork.

7. Remove from the heat and spoon the rinds into a glass jar (I recommend Mason jars – big fan) and cover with the spiced syrup – liquid. Refrigerate and enjoy. These are also really awesome when fresh out of the pot.

Though you may think pickled watermelon rinds may not be good served warm, they are, and who would of thunk it?!

IDOV, WAS RAISED ON COLLARD GREENS STEWED WITH SMOKED TURKEY LEG (IN PLACE OF HAM HOCKS), BLACKEYED-PEAS, AND BRUNSWICK STEW. HE BOASTS BEING A 4TH GENERATION JEWISH SOUTHERNER, WITH ONE OF HIS GREAT-GRANDMOTHER’S BORN IN ATLANTA, GEORGIA IN 1888. HIS OTHER GREAT-GRANDPARENTS HAILED FROM RUSSIA, POLAND, AND FRANCEINSPIRING MUCH OF HIS COOKING WITH THE CUISINES OF HIS HERITAGE. ALEX’S CULINARY REPERTOIRE GOES BEYOND TRADITIONAL JEWISH AND SOUTHERN FARE, AS HE REVISITS AND REINVENTS THE CUISINES OF HIS ANCESTORS. ALEX HOLDS A BACHELOR OF SCIENCE DEGREE IN CULINARY SUSTAINABILITY AND HOSPITALITY FROM THE KENNESAW STATE UNIVERSITY MICHAEL A. LEVEN SCHOOL OF CULINARY SUSTAINABILITY AND HOSPITALITY AND WORKS AS A FREELANCE FOOD WRITER. FIND MORE RECIPES AT KOSHEROLOGY.COM

BORN AND BRED IN THE AMERICAN SOUTH, ALEX ‘THE KOSHEROLOGIST’

INGREDIENTS Rinds of 1 large watermelon (approximately 4 pounds) For the Brine: 2 qt of water and 1/2 cup salt 3 cups white vinegar 6 cups white sugar 3 cups water 5 cinnamon sticks 1 1/2 tsp. ground cloves 1 1/2 tsp. ground allspice 1 1/2 lemon, sliced DIRECTIONS 1. Cut the watermelon rinds into strips (like those in pieces from a triangular slice of watermelon) and pare the skin using a peeler. Remove all of the remaining red portion of the watermelon using a knife (and peeler, as needed).

2. Cut the rinds into 3/4”-1 1/4” pieces and place in a large container or soup pot.

3. Make the brine. Combine 2 quarts of water with 1/2 cup of salt and pour over the rinds, to cover, and let soak in the refrigerator overnight.

4. In the morning, drain and rinse off all the brine. Set rinds aside.

WWW.LCHAIMMAGAZINE.COM

27

FEATURE STORY l BY JEFFREY F. BARKEN | jns.org

A bike path lined with solar panels in Israel.

PHOTOS COURTESY SOLARPAINT

Israeli entrepeneurs see a bright future for solar technology

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I

A BRIGHT FUTURE

n October 2016, SpaceX and Tesla founder Elon Musk unveiled Powerwall II, a new high-performance rechargeable battery powered by a solar roof. These tinted-tile solar shingles mimic the look and feel of traditional roofing materials, replacing the bulky silicon panels that have been the norm.

“The goal is to have solar roofs that look better than a normal roof, generate electricity, last longer, have better insulation and actually have an installed cost that is less than a normal roof plus the cost of electricity…Why would you buy anything else?” Musk asks.

The SolarPaint start-up, based on Kibbutz Nahsholim in northern Israel, seeks to answer a similar question. SolarPaint’s “electrodenet” (ultra-thin wireframe similar to mosquito netting) and nanoparticle-infused coating can generate solar power by putting it on roofs, walls and in the future, even roads. This technology could be a game-changer, directly confronting the problem of limited land

L’CHAIM SAN DIEGO MAGAZINE • JUNE/JULY 2017

resources that has traditionally challenged the solar industry.

“What if we had a cheap way to generate electricity out of any object exposed to the sun merely by painting it?” Eran Maimon, SolarPaint’s chief technology officer and inventor, asks in a short promotional video posted on the company’s website.

‘PHOTOVOLTAIC PAINT’ Solar farms promise abundant clean energy — especially in sunny, desert climates like Israel.

But they also require vast land tracts to produce the quantities of power necessary to fuel large population centers. Israel, a relatively small country (roughly the size of New Jersey) that is devoid of natural oil resources and threatened by hostile neighbors, has every reason to seek a solution to its energy needs that is both spaceefficient and renewable.

Maimon first had the idea for SolarPaint in 2013. He promptly wrote a provisional patent,

FEATURE STORY

and in 2014 he began seeking investors.

SolarPaint initially raised $1.25 million from Israeli angel investors and the Israeli government. The company is now on the classic “start-up nation” trajectory, aiming to soon pilot a production phase that will repurpose existing factory infrastructure in Israel to manufacture high-quality coated solar wallpaper rolls that feature “photovoltaic paint.”

If SolarPaint succeeds in demonstrating the viability of its products, the next step will be to “go global,” Maimon says.

SolarPaint’s intellectual property is closely guarded, and CEO Oded Rozenberg is reticent to speak at length about the ingredients of the “photovoltaic paint.” But he happily reveals the priorities that Maimon’s initial research addresses.

“Our selection process [for materials] was always in the following order: first it needs to be stable, abundant and low cost, and only after that it needs to also be efficient enough to be commercially viable” he says.

SolarPaint’s current price is $3.26-3.72 per square foot, Maimon says. This is a drop in the bucket compared to the expense of flexible solar panels, and even cheaper than conventional silicon panels. As of 2016, EnergySage.com estimates that installing a full solar panel system to power an individual household costs, on average, more than $12,500 after tax credits. SolarPaint’s energy

yield is 30-50 percent more efficient per square foot than what a regular panel produces.

Further, SolarPaint contends that when consumers factor in the surface versatility of the start-up solar wallpaper rolls, the price advantage over other products is even greater.

Maimon suggests that this next-generation solar technology has the potential to render obsolete the giant solar and wind farms that are constructed around the world. Likewise, he predicts a significant change in the way electricity is delivered to consumers.

“I think we will have more ‘prosumers’ — producers that are also consumers,” he says.

“There will also be micro-grids, and smaller, more secure and robust networks.”

ISRAEL’S SOLAR-FRIENDLY ENVIRONMENT “Israel is a great place for start-ups” like SolarPaint, Maimon reflects, describing a collegial atmosphere in which “it’s not a competition [but rather] a synergy.”

The company has forged enduring partnerships with academics, entrepreneurs and manufacturers throughout Israel. These partners share a seemingly patriotic interest in the company’s success.

Another advantage that Maimon highlights is the absence of an oil lobby in Israel, removing a common barrier to innovation in the solar industry. Instead, “we have an anti-oil lobby and a government initiative for

finding alternative fuels,” Maimon says.

In the U.S., by contrast, the nascent Trump administration was quick to issue executive orders approving the controversial Dakota Access and Keystone pipelines, and is signaling support for renewed development of coal resources.

Rozenberg suggests that Americans have soured on solar in part because Chinese photovoltaics manufacturers have increased capacity and dropped the prices of solar panels, causing most companies in this field to go bankrupt. “Many Western companies couldn’t compete, investors lost huge amounts of money and now, in the West, people are hesitant to invest,” he says.

The volatility of the global energy market, in turn, may create a significant opportunity for SolarPaint to emerge as a leader in its niche.

The start-up’s recent round of fundraising yielded $2 million, enough to cover operating expenses for the next 18 months.

Conscious of the solar industry’s cutthroat nature, Rozenberg and Maimon believe timing is everything.

“We don’t think we can compete in the short term with traditional silicon solar panels,” Rozenberg says. “We want to start sales at the end of 2019. Then we will be competitive already.”

WWW.LCHAIMMAGAZINE.COM

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FEATURE STORY

Today, you can see the fruit of Sig Steiner’s imagination at Grape Day Park, where a children’s slide runs through a giant bunch of playground grapes.

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FEATURE STORY

MERCHANTS OF SAN DIEGO JEWISH HISTORY

The history of Jewish merchants in San Diego is not only interesting, but shocking that you probably didn't know these things about our area and tribe

by Don Harrison

N

ot all Jews were merchants in early California, nor were all merchants Jews. But some of the successful merchants who were Jewish helped to shape San Diego County and environs.

LOUIS ROSE Louis Rose was San Diego’s first Jewish settler and entrepreneur. He arrived in San Diego in 1850, just prior to California becoming the 31st state of the Union. Having some capital when he arrived, he rented a building for a hotel and saloon, and later opened a general store. He was elected to the city’s threemember Board of Trustees, and as a city trustee automatically served on the county Board of Supervisors. When governments publicly auctioned land, he concentrated his purchases in two places: La Canada de las Lleguas (Canyon of the Mares), which would come to be known as Rose’s Canyon, and later simply as Rose Canyon; and along the bayfront between Old Town San Diego and Point Loma. There he built a residential community that was named Roseville.

In Rose Canyon, Rose opened the area’s first tannery — using the water of Rose Creek — thereby saving San Diegans many dollars because they used to have to buy tanned goods, whether saddles, belts or shoes — from East Coast tanneries. Besides the cost of the goods, San Diegans also had to pay shipping charges. Rose correctly figured he could sell leather goods at far cheaper prices, with much quicker deliveries. And being a thrifty man, he also opened a butcher shop in Old Town San Diego — why waste the

meat of the cattle whose leather he tanned?

MANNASSE & SCHILLER There were other merchants in Old Town who left their mark on San Diego County.

Partners Joseph S. Mannasse and Marcus Schiller operated a general store that particularly catered to ranchers. There was a time when cow hides were a principal product of San Diego County. In fact in his famous travelog, Two Years Before the Mast, Richard Henry Dana — for whom Dana Point is named — reported that sailing ships used to stop at Ballast Point in San Diego Bay, where they obtained the hides from hide houses built there just for that purpose.

Hides were also used to pay for goods carried by the ships. So ubiquitous were they that the hides were known as California dollars.

Sometimes Mannasse and Schiller would be paid for the goods they had initially sold on credit with live cattle. At first, they kept the cattle in a pen along what today is Juan Street in Old Town. But before long, they had far too many cattle to keep penned, and so they purchased two ranchos up north — Rancho Encinitas and Rancho San Dieguito.

If their families had held onto that property until the present day, they would have been the proud owners of most of Rancho Santa Fe, Solana Beach, Encinitas, and Carlsbad.

A stagecoach line ran from San Diego up to Los Angeles, with one of the stops on land in southern Carlsbad that Mannasse and Schiller owned. The ruins of that old stagecoach depot can still be seen today at a place known as Stagecoach Park.

In addition to being landowners and merchants, Mannasse and Schiller — like Rose before them — served as a San Diego City Trustee. Mannasse was one of the trustees who voted to sell land along the San Diego Bay to businessman Alonzo Horton, who soon established a “New Town” that rivalled Old Town.

Schiller, who succeeded Mannasse on the Board of Trustees, voted to set aside a large tract of city land for a park. Later that land would become known as Balboa Park. A plaque on the Laurel Street bridge salutes Schiller and his fellow trustees for making such a wise decision. Schiller also was the leader of San Diego’s tiny Jewish community. He served as president of Adath Yeshurun-which was the name of the first congregation which met for High Holidays in homes and hotels — and later as president of Congregation Beth Israel, which was how Adath Yeshurun renamed itself once it had a temple building, located at 2nd and Beech Streets.

LOUIS WOLF San Diego County once was much bigger than it is today. It included present day Imperial, Riverside and a portion San Bernardino Counties. In the town of Temecula, Louis Wolf had a general store whose customers by and large were Native Americans. Wolf’s wife, Ramona, was half Chumash Indian herself. Wolf had a very good relationship with the Temecula Indians, and when Helen Hunt Jackson was researching her novel, Ramona, in 1882 she stayed with the Wolfs WWW.LCHAIMMAGAZINE.COM

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FEATURE STORY

and interviewed them extensively. While the heroine “Ramona” was not patterned on Ramona Wolf, there was a general store in the story, with kindly owners. For those of you who may be new to California, the book Ramona, became a best seller and later was made into a movie. The San Diego County town of Ramona was named after the book.

In Hemet, where much of the story occurred, there is a “Ramona Festival” every year. The sugar heir John Spreckels built a trolley line between New Town and Old Town, where he promoted the refurbished Casa de Estudillo as Ramona’s Wedding Place. It was a popular tourist spot.

Wolf plowed much of his profits into land, and the eastern portion of Temecula today is known as Wolf Valley, named for him. A large obelisk memorializing Wolf and his family today stands in the middle of a residential cul de sac in Temecula. The neighbors on either side of the gravesite can brag that the Wolfs near their door are the quietest of neighbors.

SIMON LEVI A young relative of Louis Wolf — Simon Levi — apprenticed with him in Temecula and later moved to San Diego, where he became associated with the wholesale firm of Steiner and Klauber. That firm delivered groceries and other necessities to small general stores throughout Southern California. After Steiner retired, the firm became known as Klauber and Levi. Subsequently, Julius 32

L’CHAIM SAN DIEGO MAGAZINE

Wangenheim joined the company as a partner, prompting Levi in 1896 to go out on his own as a wholesale grocer. Levi’s building still can be seen today in the Gaslamp Quarter.

Among the customers of Klauber and Levi was Levi’s younger brother Adolph Levi, who in 1886 operated the first brick store built in Julian along with his partner Joseph Marks You can find his name on a plaque at the historic drugstore at one of Julian’s main intersections. Adolph Levi was the great grandfather of Steve Cushman, who has served recently as a San Diego Unified Port District Commissioner and as a convention center commissioner. The Cushman family owns and plans to residentially and commercially develop the golf course in Mission Valley, as well as Grossmont Center.

Simon Levi succeeded Marcus Schiller as a president of Beth Israel and Adolph Levi subsequently succeeded his brother.

SIG STEINER A member of the Steiner family who operated a general store in Escondido was Sig Steiner.

He built over his general store, a second floor where civic organizations and clubs — and even the City Council — would hold their meetings. On the way down to the street, people would often share their news with Sig Steiner, who became exceptionally well informed about civic affairs.

Eventually he became a city trustee, also

serving as mayor of Escondido. At the time, Escondido’s best known product were muscat grapes, which were transported by train to Oceanside, where they could be transferred to the spur line running between San Diego and Oceanside.

This was a time when California cities competed with each other for recognition in the hope of attracting settlers. The City of Pasadena decided to promote itself by holding an annual Rose Parade on New Year’s Day. Envying the attention Pasadena was getting, Steiner came up with the idea in 1909 of renaming the city’s annual “Freedom Festival” as the Grape Day Festival, which became an tradition in Escondido. Today, one can see the fruit of Steiner’s imagination at Grape Day Park, where a children’s slide, runs through a giant bunch of playground grapes.

CONCLUSION Such are the stories of six Jewish merchants who served San Diego County and gained a measure of local fame — and riches — in the process. In cities near mines, general store owners were often asked to keep the miners’ gold in their safes — and this process in turn led to the establishment of various banks in California. *Preceding adapted from a Shavuot evening talk that author Harrison delivered at Tifereth Israel Synagogue.

FAMILY

JEWISHMOM.COM MY MORNING OF MOTHERLY MITZVOT

BY CHANA J E N N Y WE I S B E RG

T

his morning, I woke up 15 minutes earlier than usual in order to pack up the lunches I was too worn out to make the night before. And as the rest of my house slept and I spread white cheese onto slices of bread and washed off apricots to slide into backpacks, I whispered in my heart, “Behold I am prepared and willing to fulfill the mitzvah of v’halachta b’drachav,” to walk in Hashem’s ways. And I felt my heart start to smile as I remembered that just like Hashem provides food for the world, I am providing food for my children.

It took a while for my kids to start trickling downstairs. And 4-year-old Yaakov, for some reason, was all out of sorts.

First, he was fighting with his 10-year-old brother who had, he insisted, stolen his seat at the kitchen table. Then he was upset that I had given him an apricot for gan instead of a green apple (true, I should have known he always prefers green apples over everything).

And then he had a complete meltdown that his oatmeal wasn’t hot enough, and it still wasn’t hot enough, and it still wasn’t hot enough, and then it was too hot.

And all the while I was whispering in my heart, “Behold I am prepared and willing to fulfill the mitzvah of gidul yeladim” of raising children. And these words, somehow, magically, lifted me above the bickering and the hullabaloo and the meltdown, reminding me that no matter how badly my morning was going, I was doing something of great importance, raising a Jewish family!

I finally got out of the house half an hour later than usual. Yonatan goes to a gan at the house of my next-door neighbor, so in

theory it should take less than a minute to get there. I say “in theory” because every morning Yoni insists on walking all the way around to gan, and his way takes at least five minutes or more.

And as I walked the long way I whispered in my heart, “Behold I am prepared and willing to fulfill the mitzvah of v’ahvta l’reecha kamocha” of loving your neighbor as yourself. Just as I like when I can do the things I want to do, I am letting Yoni walk the way he wants to walk. And saying those words made me feel good about myself, good about walking the long way (for the millionth time), even.

Many JewishMOM readers, as well as our great rabbis are divided about whether it’s important to have intention when we perform the many mitzvot we JewishMOMs do over the course of our day. And I know that for me, occasionally I have intention, and more occasionally I don’t. And I also don’t know the spiritual ramifications of

this or that.

But I do know that when I manage to have intention, it injects a special happiness, satisfaction, and even something bordering on excitement into mothering moments as dull and even draining as sandwich prep at 6:45 a.m., refereeing meltdowns over too-hot oatmeal, and walking the loooong way to gan. Yet again.

CHANA JENNY WEISBERG, THE CREATOR OF JEWISHMOM.COM, IS A STAY-HOME MOTHER OF 8 CHILDREN LIVING IN JERUSALEM WITH HER HUSBAND, RABBI JOSHUA WEISBERG. ORIGINALLY FROM BALTIMORE, CHANA JENNY HAS DEVOTED HER NON-MOM TIME OVER THE PAST DECADE TO PROVIDING INSPIRATION AND ENCOURAGEMENT FOR OTHER JEWISH MOMS THROUGH HER POPULAR BOOKS EXPECTING MIRACLES AND ONE BABY STEP AT A TIME.

WWW.LCHAIMMAGAZINE.COM

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OUR TRIBE

A Three-Part Series published

by ChaiFive Projects

S

ELECTED FROM OVER 50 NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL ENTRIES, THE SAN DIEGO CENTER FOR JEWISH CULTURE’S (SDCJC), STRAIGHT FROM THE PAGE, A STAGED READING SERIES, PRESENTS A 5 MINUTE PLAY FESTIVAL EACH YEAR. THIS YEAR, THE FESTIVAL SHOWCASED A VARIETY OF ORIGINAL PLAYS WRITTEN BY 10 TALENTED PLAYWRIGHTS. THE PLAYS SPEAK TO JEWISH IDENTITY, HERITAGE, CULTURAL EXPERIENCES AND VALUES. CHAI FIVE IS SPONSORING THE PUBLICATION OF THE TOP THREE WINNERS, BEGINNING THIS MONTH WITH THE THIRD PLACE WINNER, ATAR HADARI’S I BEGIN TO REHEARSE MY DEATH. Atar Hadari was born in Israel, raised in England, trained as an actor and writer at the University of East Anglia before winning a scholarship to study poetry and playwrighting with Derek Walcott at Boston University. His plays have won awards from the BBC, Arts Council of England, National Foundation of Jewish Culture (New York), European Association of Jewish Culture (Brussels) and the Royal Shakespeare Company, where he was Young Writer in Residence. Plays have been staged at the Finborough Theatre, Wimbledon Studio Theatre, Chichester Festival Theatre, the Mark Taper Forum (where he was a Mentor Playwright), Nat Horne Studio Theatre (New York) and Valdez, Alaska. His Songs from Bialik: Selected Poems of H. N. Bialik (Syracuse University Press) was a finalist for the American Literary Translators’ Association Award and his poems have won the Daniel Varoujan Award from New England Poetry Club, the Petra Kenney Award, a Paumanok Poetry Award and many other prizes. His nineteen-page translation of Hanoch Levin›s Lives of the Dead filled a 34

L’CHAIM SAN DIEGO MAGAZINE • JUNE/JULY 2017

third of Poetry magazine in 2009. His most recent full length play, Merciful Father, an adaptation of Sholem Asch was produced by Up Theatre on 181st Street. Hadari can be reached at atarhadari@yahoo.co.uk.

Playwright’s Note: The title and circumstance of this play is taken from a statement made by Joseph Chaikin in Letters and Texts 1972-84

by Sam Shepard and Joseph Chaikin.

I Begin To Rehearse My Death

TRIBE

OUR

Five Minutes of Reflection:

THE COMMUNITY PLACE ground between Chaikin’s feet.)

(Pause.)

CHAIKIN: Y’know…I always wondered, if my legs would go first. Wake up one morning, can’t get out of bed. Roll over to the old lady and say — (Pause.) — but I’ll probably be alone.

(Reaper raises scythe up to Chaikin’s groin.)

CHAIKIN: You’re right. You gotta start at the crotch. Everything starts at the crotch.

by Atar Hadari

(Reaper raises scythe to Chaikin’s throat.)

Lights up. Chaikin and Grim Reaper on bare stage. Reaper is in a long black cowl, which hides his face, and holds a large scythe.

(Reaper swishes his scythe at him.)

CHAIKIN: But then again — yeah — I think you got something there. Cut out the tongue. Cut out the tongue, you got — much less than ninety percent of a man.

What you got left? Half? Maybe ten percent of a man. What can I do to you without a tongue? Take that entrance again from the top.

CHAIKIN: Well — that’s something. The prop is good. You do something else with it?

(Pause.)

(Reaper lowers scythe, glides away. Exits.)

(Reaper raises scythe.)

CHAIKIN: I wonder about the light in this room. Is it sufficient? For the work we do. I mean—Is it the right kind of light? Daylight. Neither day nor night.

Atmospheric light. You could be anywhere.

Certainly not a light you can rely on.

(Enter Reaper, scythe raised.)

CHAIKIN: You call that an entrance?

CHAIKIN: That’s…that’s really something.

But you don’t speak. That’s — That’s what?

A casting decision? You’re getting paid scale?

What?

(Reaper licks the scythe.)

CHAIKIN: That’s disgusting.

(Reaper slurps. Takes out bloody handkerchief, wipes the scythe.)

CHAIKIN: Now that—that is really something. That’s better — that’s — is that scythe sharp?

CHAIKIN: That’s…that’s so…

(Reaper flashes scythe over Chaikin’s head.

Chaikin looks at a sliced hair falling to the floor.)

(Reaper sticks the scythe point into the

CHAIKIN: Thanks. I’ve been trying to pull

OUR TRIBE

that one out all day. Never had the nerve.

Can’t stand the thought of pain.

(Reaper bows.)

CHAIKIN: I just thought — you need to feel the scythe is real, is sharp — (Reaper raises it again.)

CHAIKIN: That’s OK — I like the rest of the hairs long. I leave them there. I’d pull them if I didn’t want stray hairs.

(Reaper puts scythe down, stands leaning on the end.)

(Pause.)

CHAIKIN: You hear the leaves falling?

(Reaper turns to listen.)

CHAIKIN: I hear them outside. All the time.

(Reaper taps the base of his scythe against the ground.)

CHAIKIN: Damn. That’s — (Pause, listens.) — not a sound. All the leaves fell down?

(Reaper takes a leaf from his cloak and hands it to him. It falls to the ground.

Reaper steps over it toward Chaikin.)

CHAIKIN: What’s another leaf fallen down?

(Reaper raises his scythe over Chaikin, raises his cloak to engulf him.)

CHAIKIN: That’s — now I like that — that’s really something — that’s — do you hear that?

(Pause. Reaper turns to listen.)

CHAIKIN: That’s another bud. I swear. I hear another bud popping out of a shoot. I swear. I wouldn’t lie to you. That’s another bud. I hear life. Every single minute. I hear it. Don’t you?

(Reaper sweeps away.)

CHAIKIN: From the top. Again. Just come at me again. When you find that bud.

Just come in with that bud. Is that too… predictable? He comes in with his hand…his hand filled with flowers. I wonder about this light. Is it a good enough environment?

(Reaper enters with scythe at half-mast. He stands by Chaikin.)

REAPER: (Sigh.)

CHAIKIN: God you’re good.

REAPER: (Louder sigh.)

CHAIKIN: You are something else.

REAPER: (Sigh.)

CHAIKIN: I’ve died and gone to heaven.

(Reaper points up, at the light switch dangling down in the middle, on a cord.)

CHAIKIN: The light switch?

drops it.)

(Pause.)

CHAIKIN: Do you like this light? (Pause.)

Me neither.

(Chaikin reaches for the cord.)

CHAIKIN: After you?

REAPER: (Sigh.)

CHAIKIN: You bastard. You finally got it.

REAPER: (Sigh.)

(Chaikin pulls the cord. Blackout.)

REAPER: (In black, long sigh.)

Check the next two issues of L'CHAIM Magzine to read the second- and first-place winners of the Five Minute Play Festival, and to keep up with all that's happening in your community.

(Reaper draws his finger across his throat.)

CHAIKIN: Maybe this light is all that keeps us from learning how to act?

(Reaper reaches for the cord. Chaikin reaches for the cord.)

(Pause.)

CHAIKIN: After you.

(Pause.)

CHAIKIN: Now — y’know — tonight — I think we’re really getting somewhere. I think we really nearly got to — (Reaper pulls cord. Blackout.)

CHAIKIN: (Sings.) Show me the way to go home. / I’m tired and I gotta go to bed.

(Lights up. Reaper is holding cord.)

CHAIKIN: You’re very good at this.

(Pause.) Do you hear the leaves? They’re falling again.

Want to know what's happening in your community?

Have something you want to share?

We at L'CHAIM want to help you strengthen your ties to your community by publishing your lifecycle events in our magazine AT NO CHARGE. As a community, we share in each other's joys and sorrows and are always here to support one another.

This service is brought to you by Chai Five Projects.

Please submit your lifecycle events to info@lchaimmagazine.com Visit lchaimmagazine.com/ chai5projects for more info.

(Reaper hands Chaikin a bud. Chaikin WWW.LCHAIMMAGAZINE.COM

35

FORMER CA CONGRESSWOMAN

BRIGHTENING LIVES FOR SDEROT'S CHILDREN WITH MUSIC In the southern city of Sderot, a new music room was officially dedicated in the Jewish National Fund (JNF-USA) Indoor Recreation Center. Sderot, a town with a population of 25,000, has over the years become the symbol of resilience and living life on the Gaza border, withstanding heavy rocket fire for the better part of the last 12 years since Israel’s disengagement from the Gaza. “When I was here in Sderot 11 years ago, there were no kids outside,” said JNF CEO Russell F. Robinson at the ceremony marking the opening of the C. Hugh Friedman Music Room on an afternoon in late May. “The people of Sderot have just 15 seconds to run for cover when the alert is sounded for an incoming rocket attack,” Robinson added.

“No parents let their children outside to play, but today, you hear a sound that once was missing from Sderot: The sound of children playing,” he said, pointing out the noisy indoor play center full of children at play.

Since the indoor play center opened its doors in 2009, the sound of children’s laughter and playing can be heard throughout the 21,000 sq. ft. converted warehouse, which is complete with multiple bomb and rocket shelters. The center has areas geared towards children of all ages, including ride on toys, an area for basketball practice, climbing walls, and more. All parts of the play center are within reach of one of the many shelters. The new music room, which is also located within a bomb and rocket proof area of the building, provides music lessons for Sderot’s children, many of whom unfortunately suffer from emotional trauma due to years of living under rocket fire. The purchase of the musical instruments for students is made possible by generous financial support and scholarships from JNF donors.

The dedication of the C. Hugh Friedman Music Room was held with a few dozen JNF supporters in attendance, many of whom are friends and family of the late Friedman, that traveled from different parts of the U.S. to Israel just to mark the special occasion. “My husband was a lawyer and a professor of law for over 50 years,” recalled Lynn Schenk. “But his real love was music.” Schenk and Friedman, who were married for over 40 years, lived in the San Diego suburb of La Jolla, where she represented California’s 49th congressional district from 1993-1995, and where he was a long serving law professor at the University of San Diego School of Law. “Being passionate about 36

L’CHAIM SAN DIEGO MAGAZINE • JUNE/JULY 2017

music and Israel all of his life, I felt that dedicating this room in his honor was the right thing to do,” she added.

“For a child to play an instrument who otherwise wouldn’t have the opportunity—that’s what we are doing here,” Robinson said.

“All JNF projects are amazing, but this project is a favorite for many people because the difference it has made for the families of Sderot is so evident.”

A longtime personal friend of Schenk and Friedman and JNF’s incoming president come October, Dr. Sol Lizerbram—also from San Diego—was proud to see the dedication of the music room.

“What we wanted to do was to replace the sound of rockets with the sound of music,” said Dr. Lizerbram.

The dedication ceremony included a brief photo montage of Friedman, a poem read by Marcia Penche, also of San Diego, the daughter of Friedman and Schenk, as well as a tour of the music room.

Schenk thanked the many extended family members and friends that came to Israel to be a part of the dedication. In remarking on what this project meant to her, she said, “This project was so meaningful for me to support. I know that Hugh would have loved this—to create a space for kids in Sderot to have the chance to step away from the stresses of where they live and to develop a love of music.”

BY STEPHANIE LEWIS l HUMOR

mazel

& mishagoss Jews in the Promised (Disney)Land?

L

ast holiday season, my six kids and I marched through Disneyland chanting, “Hi ho, hi ho! There’s no Chanukah here, we know!” So why can’t Disneyland be more Jewish? Here are my suggestions to Walt’s grandkids: (Along with concession foods like knish-on-a-stick and chopped liver cones!)

me here, this one was tricky! Board a quiet bayou boat ride (to see how our ancestors fulfilled the covenant) which suddenly ends up in the middle of a procedure that (Oy, gasp!) trust me, has you wishing it was merely Johnny Depp wielding a sharp sword. Riders disembark muttering, “I don’t think we’re in the happiest place on earth anymore.”

The Monorail: Is now “The Matzorail!”

Sponsored by Manischewitz or should that be Minniechewitz?

The Haunted Mansion: Is now “The Haunted Mohel.” Enough said? (See above ride!)

Star Tours: Is now “Star of David Tours!”

No Grand Master Yoda here, but my nosy Grandmother Yente guides you through this six-pointed factory.

Dumbo the Flying Elephant Ride: Instead of flying, they’ll be frying – delicious golden latkes. And swap in camels for pachyderms – more of an Israeli vibe.

The Teacups Ride: Is now “The Kiddush Cups” ride. Whirling around in dizzying circles is exactly how you’ll walk if you drink too much wine on Shabbos.

The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh: Is now “Kenahora Adventures, Pooh Pooh Pooh!” Don’t tempt the evil eye on this misleadingly tame ride, Honey!

Roger Rabbit’s Car Toon Spin: Is now (of course!) replaced by “Roger Rabbi.” C’mon Disney, must I spell everything out for you?

The Pirates of Caribbean: Is now “The Patriarchs of Circumcision.” Work with

Mountain Rides: Forget Space Mountain and Thunder Mountain because now there’s “Mount Sinai!” Zoom around thick clouds as booming thunder and flashes of lightning awaken your senses. Save this for last because it takes 40 days AND 40 nights.

The Peter Pan Ride: Is now “The Pareve Pan” (Basically a Kosher cooking class for men who’ve never grown up, taught by a nice Jewish girl, Wendy Darling-Stein?)

Main Street Electrical Parade: Is now the “Hamen Street Purim Parade.” Booo!

FastPass: Instead of bypassing the crowds on popular rollercoasters, think about using it as a voucher to “Pass on the Fast” for Yom Kippur. (Nah, don’t do that!)

Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, Etc: We’re tired of Disney Princesses. Even Jewish American (Disney) Princesses. Instead strong biblical women like Sara, Rachel, Leah, Miriam, and Esther stroll around autographing your pushke.

Splash

Mountain:

Female

attendant

prepares you to disrobe, removing jewelry, makeup, contact lenses, and bandages before descending down a steep drop, fully immersing in the beautiful mikvah waters below. Cleansing!

Great Moments With Mr. Lincoln: Is now “Great Machers with Lincolns.” AudioAnimatronics give these Jewish executive big shots highly realistic movement as they boast about driving luxury Continental sedans.

Snow White Ride: “Doc” is still there, but he’s now joined by dwarfs, Dentist, Attorney, and CPA. Tomorrowland: Is now “toMitzvahland” with main attraction, “The Chair Ride.”

More boisterous than Indiana Jones, guests are lifted high up in their seats and swirled, rocked, and tipped within an inch of their life as strangers shout, “Mazel Tov!” while Hava Nagelia plays boldly in the background.

Adventureland: Is now “aMensch-ureland where honorable people do good deeds. A familiar ride (with annoying music and dolls representing every country) is now called “It’s a Small World, But We Still Have to Repair It!” Floating in boats past different rooms showcasing Tikkun Olam, children see many acts of kindness being performed. Could this be the best ride of all?

STEPHANIE D. LEWIS IS A CONTRIBUTOR TO THE HUFFINGTON POST AND WRITES HUMOR AT ONCEUPONYOURPRIME.COM. FOLLOW HER @MISSMENOPAUSE. WWW.LCHAIMMAGAZINE.COM

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