Our Shtetl San Diego: September 3, 2019

Items in today’s column
* A Non-Traditional, ‘Erotic’ Night of Yiddish poetry Has Been Rescheduled to Sept. 21.
* Some Rabbinic Thoughts as Rosh Hashanah Approaches
*A Rosh Hashanah Recipe:  Apple & Olive Oil Cake
* Richard Hirschhaut to head regional office of American Jewish Committee

By Donald H. Harrison

A Non-Traditional, ‘Erotic’ Night of Yiddish poetry Has Been Rescheduled to Sept. 21.

UPDATE: Originally scheduled for Erev Rosh Hashanah, the “erotic” night of Yiddish poetry has been rescheduled to Sunday, September 21, at 7 p.m., eight days earlier.  The location of the event will be disclosed to those who RSVP via info@YAAANA.com, according to Jana Mazurkiewicz Meisarosh, founder of the Yiddish Arts and Academics Association of North America (YAAANA).

 

Below is our previous story:

SAN DIEGO – Appealing to non-affiliated, secular Jews who are looking for something to do other than pray on Erev Rosh Hashanah, the Yiddish Arts and Academics Association of North America (YAAANA) is offering a night of “erotic” Yiddish poetry and music.

“Erotic?” I asked YAAANA founder Jana Mazurkiewicz Meisarosh.  “Isn’t erotic poetry counter-intuitive for a time of introspection and teshuvah?”

“No, on the contrary, in fact, the poets whose poetry we will be reciting, belonged to the group called introspectivists!” she responded. “These are deep, philosophical poems.”

So why call them “erotic”?  Why not “introspective”?

“To encourage young people to come!” she responded.

Ahh, marketing.  The $30 per person evening of Yiddish poetry, music and refreshments will be held at 5 p.m., Sunday, Sept. 29, at a place to be disclosed upon RSVPing to YAAANA via (619) 719-1776, or info@YAAANA.com.

 

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Some Rabbinic Thoughts as Rosh Hashanah Approaches

Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel, spiritual leader of Temple Beth Shalom in Chula Vista, retells the story about someone radioing for help from a sinking boat.  The Coast Guard answered: “We’re on our way! What’s your position? ” The yachtsman answered, “I am the executive vice-president of the First National Bank, now please hurry!”

“Perhaps, more often than not, people around us judge us by these roles we play; but on a deeper spiritual and psychological level—so do we,” Rabbi Samuel writes in his congregational newsletter.  “Psychologists tell us that men are more prone to identify more with their work than women do,” he adds. “There is a real psychological danger if we over-identify with our professional persona, for who would we be outside of our careers and status?”

Samuel added:

“Rosh Hashanah is a time of awakening; it is also an invitation to look inward at where we have gone with our lives thus far. It also presents us with a divine imperative to ‘boldly go where no person has gone before.’

“Rosh Hashanah teaches us the need to count time and make it important. It is not the horizontal length of our lives that matters; it is the vertical depth we can infuse each year, each day, and each moment with a quality of sublimity and holiness.”

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A Rosh Hashanah Recipe:  Apple & Olive Oil Cake

For those of our readers who associate Rosh Hashanah with apples and honey, here’s a recipe that San Diego Jewish World received for an apple cake – with olive oil!  It is from Kim Kushner, the author of I ♥️ Kosher: Beautiful Recipes from My Kitchen:

“Simplicity at its finest. A humble vanilla cake, topped with a mosaic of apple slices, and sprinkled with cinnamon sugar—only this one is made using olive oil, which gives it a rich, Mediterranean taste,” Kushner reports. “Tried and true, it will tempt you to make it time and time again.”

Makes one 9-inch (23-cm) cake

1/2 cup (120 ml) light olive oil, plus more for greasing

1/2 cup (100 g) sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla extract or seeds from 1 vanilla bean

3 large eggs

2 tablespoons milk or almond milk

1 3/4 cups (200 g) all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

2 apples, peeled, cored and cut into thin slices

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon light or dark brown sugar

Preheat the oven to 325°F (160°C). Line the base of a 9-inch (23-cm) springform pan with parchment paper and grease the base and sides with oil.

Using a handheld electric mixer, or a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together the 1/2 cup (120 ml) oil, sugar, and vanilla. Beat until creamy, about 2 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, beating each until incorporated. Add the milk and stir on low. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt, add to the wet ingredients, and mix on low until incorporated.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan, and arrange the apple slices on top of the batter, pressing the apples slightly into the batter in any motif you may like. Sprinkle the cinnamon and brown sugar over the top of the apples, and bake in the oven until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean, about 45 minutes.

Set the cake on a rack and let cool completely before unmolding and placing on a cake plate to serve.

Make-Ahead Tip Apple and olive oil cake may be made and wrapped tightly in plastic wrap and stored in a cool place for up to 2 days.

Can I Freeze It? Apple and olive oil cake may be wrapped tightly in plastic wrap and stored in the freezer for up to 2 months. Thaw the apple and olive oil cake on the counter for a few hours.

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Richard Hirschhaut to head regional office of American Jewish Committee

The American Jewish Committee once had an active office in San Diego, with plenty of programming under such directors as Gary Rotto and Sam Sokolove.  But budget restrictions forced its closure, and now the responsibility for San Diego County rests with AJC’s Los Angeles office.

AJC’s National Director David Harris has announced the appointment of Richard S. Hirschhaut as the new Los Angeles-based regional director.  A longtime Jewish professional, he had served in executive roles for the Anti-Defamation League, the Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center, the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, and American Friends of the Rambam Medical Center.

Commented Hirschhaut: “Our focus will be upon the issues that matter most – combating rising antisemitism and extremism, defending Israel’s place in the world, and safeguarding the rights and freedoms of all people. I am excited for the opportunity to build greater support for AJC’s informed advocacy.”

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Harrison is editor of San Diego Jewish World.  He may be contacted via donald.harrison@sdjewishworld.com