Editor Donald H. Harrison has recently returned from a roundtrip cruise between San Diego and the Hawaiian Islands. Following is his third in a series of stories.
By Donald H. Harrison
VOLCANO, Hawaii — The artist who created a Hawaiian Christmas ornament for the White House Christmas tree during the presidency of George W. Bush follows in the tradition of Irving Berlin, composer of “White Christmas.”
Like Berlin, Ira Ono is Jewish. Don’t let the Hawaiian surname fool you. The artist known for his Hawaiian inspired collages, ceramics and paintings began life in New York City as Ira Kaufman. He studied fine arts at Temple University in Philadelphia. He moved west to San Francisco, onward to Maui, and for the last 30 years he’s been a resident of the Big Island of Hawaii, in a rain forest below the Kilauea Volcano.
Here he operates an art gallery, a vegetarian “and therefore kosher” restaurant, and a beautifully landscaped garden in a 1908 farmhouse which he regards with a certain reverence. Although he is the owner, he pronounces himself only the “caretaker” of the venerable property. There are Buddhist shrines on the estate, and clearly Kaufman’s Jewish background has been infused with a Zen Buddhist philosophy.
The ornament that he created for the White House Christmas Tree was in the shape of a small I’iwi bird — which looks something like New Zealand’s kiwi. With a scarlet coat and a curved bill, the I’iwi hovers like a hummingbird and sups on nectars from the flowers of Hawaii’s rain forest.
Why the bird? Ono was asked. He laughed and explained that each year the White House selects a topic, and “I’m so glad that it wasn’t snowmen!” The topic was supposed to be state birds, and although that’s the Nene (a Canadian goose that centuries ago migrated to Hawaii and has been gradually evolving, so that its webbed feet are becoming claws), Ono said he was unaware at the time the Nene had been so designated.
He made the “feathers” of the little I’iwi ornament from old Hawaiian postage stamps — philately being a component of many of his creations — and he used a very light clay for the body and telephone wire for the feet. It took about two days to create the one-of-a-kind ornament.
During a 6 1/2-hour “Gourmet Volcano Adventure” offered as an excursion by the Holland America cruise ship Zaandam, our guide Nohe (no-hay) said birds like the I’iwi became threatened species because the mongoose had been imported from Jamaica in an effort to keep the rat population down. The mongoose not only fought rats, it also attacked bird nests, she told us. Other sources such as Wikipedia suggest i’iwi were particularly vulnerable to avian diseases, and also have suffered from the destruction of its habitat.
Whatever the causes of the decline of the I’iwi population, the bird is more likely to be spotted on the island of Hawaii than are members of the tiny Jewish community.
The few Jews on the Big Island get together socially at one another’s homes, said Ono, but more formalized, organized Jewish life requires trips to other islands, particularly Oahu, where Temple Emanu-El in Honolulu is regarded as the center of Jewish life. Some of the state’s most prominent Jews often can be found in that capital city, among them former Gov. Linda Lingle and former Lt. Gov. (now U.S. Senator) Brian Schatz.
Nevertheless, Volcano Garden Arts, where the works of his fellow Hawaiian artists are showcased by Ira (Kaufman) Ono helps San Diego Jewish World to prove its motto: “There’s a Jewish story everywhere!”
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Harrison is editor of San Diego Jewish World. He may be contacted at donald.harrison@sdjewishworld.com