Other items in this column include
*Political bytes
*Coming our way
*Recommended reading
SAN DIEGO – Approximately 50 cities worldwide, including San Diego and three others in the United States, offer free Open Houses at venues considered to be architecturally significant. This year, March 6-8, San Diego will put on display 93 different locations, including Ohr Shalom Synagogue at 3rd and Laurel Streets in Bankers Hill as well as a few other places with ties to prominent members of the Jewish community.
Those include the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in La Jolla, founded by Jonas Salk and designed by architect Louis Kahn; the IGPP Munk Laboratory designed by the late oceanographer Walter Munk and his wife Judith Horton Munk in association with architect Lloyd Ruocco; the San Diego Central Library at the Joan & Irwin Jacobs Common, named for the co-founder of Qualcomm and his wife; and the Hotel del Coronado, which underwent considerable expansion during the period it was owned by M. Larry Lawrence.
San Diego is the only metropolitan area on the U.S. West Coast that thus far has become a part of the Open House movement, the other three American cities being New York, Chicago, and Atlanta. It is the fifth year that San Diego has been part of the 30-year-old architectural movement.
Carol Chin, program director for the San Diego Architectural Foundation (who also volunteers as a docent at the Salk Institute) said the 93 venues selected for this year’s Open House weekend include “architects’ offices, hotels, interior spaces, residences, work spaces, theaters, galleries, laboratories, and walking tours” in addition to places of worship including Ohr Shalom Synagogue, which was designed in 1925 by architect William Wheeler as the second home of Congregation Beth Israel. Wheeler also designed the Balboa Theatre downtown, which is another venue participating in OH San Diego. (CBI’s first home, which came into use during the High Holy Days of 1889, had originally been located at 2nd and Beech Streets, and was subsequently moved to Heritage Park in the Old Town area of San Diego as an example of 19th Century Victorian architecture.)
At the turn of the millennium, Beth Israel, a Reform congregation, moved to its third and present location, a campus in the University Towne Centre neighborhood of San Diego. After a successful struggle to save from the bulldozers its second home, at Third and Laurel Streets in the Bankers Hill neighborhood, the historic structure was purchased by members of Ohr Shalom Synagogue, which is a Conservative congregation.
According to the San Diego Architectural Foundation, Ohr Shalom is architecturally significant because of its “embellished octagonal sanctuary” and its “beautiful and dominant Moorish-style dome and Middle Eastern decorative motifs that adorn the synagogue.” Rabbi Scott Meltzer serves as the congregation’s spiritual leader. The Open House has been scheduled for March 8 only, so as not to interfere with Shabbat, which falls on the night of March 6 and day of March 7.
A complete list of all 93 venues participating in Open House San Diego, along with times and brief descriptions, is available via this website.
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Political bytes
*Scott Lewis of Voice of San Diego reports that presidential candidate Mike Bloomberg is buying up much of the available local television time for campaign commercials and also is grabbing up local politicos who might otherwise have worked in other campaigns. Among those working for Bloomberg are MaryAnne Pintar, who previously worked for Congressman Scott Peters; Jesus Cardenas, CEO of Grassroots Resources, and former San Diego County Democratic chair Francine Busby. In the same article, it was reported that San Diego City Council President Georgette Gomez is shifting around her campaign resources in the race for the 53rd Congressional District. Lewis quoted her campaign consultant Dan Rottenstreich as explaining that “if your campaign isn’t funded by a billionaire, you often have to adjust your spending in the closing weeks” — a reference to Sara Jacobs, whose grandfather is Irwin Jacobs, the Qualcomm co-founder. In the race for San Diego mayor, which polls show Assemblyman Todd Gloria leading, Lewis reported that San Diego City Councilwoman Barbara Bry contributed $60,000 to her own campaign on the same day a poll showed her trailing her council colleague Scott Sherman for second place by five points. In that race, Taxpayers Advocates, headed by former schoolboard member Scott Barnett, is helping Bry’s cause by sending flyers to Republican households accusing Sherman of being disloyal to President Trump. Meanwhile the San Diego Democratic party prefers Sherman, a Republican, to Bry, a Democrat, for second place because it is certain Gloria would win that runoff contest. Even though Bry is a Democrat, San Diego Democratic party chair Will Rodriguez-Kennedy says her stand on homelessness is “inconsistent with party values.” In his column, Lewis also reported that Imperial Beach mayor Serge Dedina has endorsed both Democrats, Terra Lawson-Remer and Escondido City Councilwoman Olga Diaz, in the 3rd District County Supervisorial race against incumbent Republican Supervisor Kristin Gaspar.
* A poll commissioned by Bend the Arc indicates that 64 percent of Jewish voters are Democrats, 25 percent Republicans, and 10 percent independents. 75 percent of Jewish voters have an unfavorable view of President Donald Trump and 24 percent view him favorably. 58 percent believe President Trump holds anti-Semitic views.
*San Diego County Gun Owners have endorsed Scott Sherman for San Diego mayor, and county supervisorial candidates Alex Galicia in District 1 and former state Sen. Joel Anderson in District 2. In San Diego City Council races, the pro-gun organization chose Michelle Nguyen, Joe Leventhal, and Noli Zosa in the 3rd, 5th and 7th Districts respectively, as well as Mike Diaz for the Chula Vista City Council. The organization also picked favorites in school board races: Marco Cisneros for the San Diego Unified School Board; Jordan Gascon for the Grossmont Community College Board; Tamara Rodriguez for District 2 of the County Board of Education, and Daniel Piedra for District B of the San Diego Community College Board.
* The San Diego County Democratic party has made the following endorsements for Superior Court Judge: Office No. 18 Roberta Winston; Office 22 Alana Wong Robinson; Office 30 Tim Nader; Office 36 Michelle Ialeggio.
*Attorney Joe Leventhal has secured the endorsement of the San Diego Chapter of the California Restaurant Association in the race for the 5th District seat on the San Diego City Council.
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Coming our way
*Educator Isabel Schechter conducts a class on Thursdays, Feb. 20 through March 26, from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. on “Tamar and Ruth: Initiative and Redemption,” at Tifereth Israel Synagogue, 6660 Cowles Mountain Blvd. Seminar cost: $154 for Tifereth Israel members; $180 others. First class is free, Register via this website.
*Chabad of Chula Vista hosts a Shabbaton Feb. 21-22, with Cantor Meir Barchichat the featured speaker at the 6:30 p.m. Shabbat dinner on Friday night and the leader of a cantorial Shabbat service on Saturday. Dinner tickets for $18 and reservations in advance via this website. On Saturday evening, a Torah scroll will be hand lettered for use by soldiers in the Israel Defense Forces.
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*Holocaust survivor Lou “Lubo” Pechi tells of his childhood in Zagreb, Yugoslavia, and his years of hiding during the Holocaust, at a presentation sponsored by the Butterfly Project at 1 p.m. , Feb. 23, at San Diego Oasis at Grossmont Center, 5500 Grossmont Center Drive. Following his speech there will be painting of ceramic butterflies as part of a worldwide project to honor the 1.5 million children who perished in the Holocaust.
*Rabbi David Toledano, founder of the Toledano Academy, will conduct a seminar on successful relationships for singles and for married couples at 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Sunday, Feb. 23, at Chabad of University City, 3813 Governor Drive, San Diego. Fee for the seminar is $60 per person, $100 for couples, with registration closing on Wednesday. Register via this website.
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Recommended reading
The New York Times reports those Jews who are most easily recognized by what they wear are fearful of being attacked on the street. (Thank you, JP Morning Read)
Chabad reports that a Swiss donor has arranged for the nation of Iceland to have its first Torah scroll. (Thank you, JP Morning Read)
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Donald H. Harrison is editor of San Diego Jewish World. He may be contacted via donald.harrison@sdjewishworld.com