SAN DIEGO – Three congregations and the Jewish Federation of San Diego County are preparing for the visit of an Israel Defense Force reserve unit whose members have been through the stress of battle and now need therapy to help them cope with symptoms of combat stress.
Congregation Adat Yeshurun in La Jolla will help familiarize San Diegans with the issues facing the IDF reservists by hosting at 7:30 p.m., Monday, Dec. 2, a one-man performance of The Battle of My Life by Nir Rubin.
At the performance, Chaim Landau, director of partnerships for Metiv: The Israel Psychotrauma Center, will discuss the work of POM (Peace of Mind) which arranges for reservists to undergo therapy away from Israel. Metiv and its POM program are based at the Herzog Hospital of Jerusalem.
According to a flyer for the event: “Accompanied by songs and rare military footage from Lebanon, Nir shares the incredibly moving story that transformed his life. Starting from his tumultuous adolescence through his challenging army service in the Israeli Combat Engineering Corps of the Golani infantry brigade, and leading up to the fateful battle of Bint Jbeil, Nir’s inspiring show deals with the values of faith, loss, friendships and finding meaning in life.”
Some Israeli reservists will be in attendance at the Dec. 8 Men’s Event of the Jewish Federation of San Diego, at which comedian Modi Rosenfeld will be the featured entertainment. The event with a 6 p.m. start-time at the Hilton La Jolla Torrey Pines is co-chaired by Larry Katz, Seth Krosner, Danny Recht and Bob Rubenstein.
Under the auspices of POM San Diego, members of the Jewish community will host in their homes 19 Israeli reservists who will undergo 45 hours of intensive group therapy and also enjoy various events and entertainment while in San Diego.
Congregation Beth Am and Chabad of Carmel Valley helped to find hosts who will transport the reservists to their therapy sessions and to various events around the county, according to POM San Diego co-chairs Nina Brodsky and Howard Feldman.
On Friday evening, Dec. 13, visiting reservists will be hosted for Shabbat dinner by Chabad of Carmel Valley on the San Diego Jewish Academy campus. Another dinner for the reservists will be hosted by the Ken Community of San Diego.
This is the first POM unit visiting San Diego for rest, relaxation, and therapy. Another unit will come to San Diego in May under the auspices of Congregation Adat Yeshurun, and POM is hoping other congregations will help coordinate future visits.
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Soille San Diego Hebrew Day School fundraiser successful
In response to a 4:1 matching challenge, Soille San Diego Hebrew Day School has just raised over its target of $500,000 in a 26-hour drive, according to the Orthodox school’s headmaster Rabbi Simcha Weiser.
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Political bytes
*Assemblyman Todd Gloria, a candidate for mayor of San Diego, has been named a 2020 “champion” by San Diegans Against Gun Violence in honor of his role in the passage of AB893, which banned the sale of guns and ammunition on the Del Mar Fairgrounds. If elected mayor, he said, “I promise to prioritize the issues of gun violence prevention and public safety in our city. Together, we can take the bold action necessary to keep our communities safe and get dangerous firearms off of our streets.”
*San Diego City Council President Georgette Gomez tells constituents: “My journey from Barrio Logan to City Council President is proof that the American dream is real and is still worth fighting for.” If elected in the 53rd Congressional District, “I’ll go to Washington and keep fighting for our families, for our communities, for every single one of our residents who deserves the freedom and respect that this great country promises.”
*Attorney Cory Briggs, a candidate for San Diego city attorney, says thousands of San Diegans have signed his petition against having the city’s street lights turned into “a for-profit data mining operation” by General Electric.
*Escondido City Councilwoman Olga Diaz, a candidate in the 3rd County Supervisorial District, will be hosted in a series of neighborhood meetings, One will be on Dec. 1 in Encinitas, hosted by Patricia Sinay and Carol Skiljian; another will be Dec. 7th in Cardiff, hosted by Assembly member Tasha Boerner Horvath, Escondido City Councilmember Consuelo Martinez, and former San Diego County Democratic party chair Francine Busby.
*State Sen. Brian Jones, R-Santee, a candidate in the 50th Congressional District, presented certificates of recognition to three Epperson family brothers who have earned Eagle Scout status. All with biblical names, they are Jacob, 16, whose project was to install trail markers at Hillside Park in El Cajon; Joshua, 15, who placed a concrete pad around the flagpole at the Church of Latter Day Saints in La Mesa; and Noah, 13, who added a bulletin board kiosk to MacArthur Park in La Mesa. The boys are sons of Scoutmaster Dirk Epperson of Boy Scout Troop 370.
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Coming our way
*UC San Diego’s Holocaust Living History Workshop in association with Jacqueline Gmach will recall the cultural accomplishments of the Jews who were imprisoned by the Nazis in the Terezin Ghetto, which the Nazis used as a propaganda showcase ghetto to persuade the world they were treating Jews benevolently. A performance will be held at 4:30 p.m., Wednesday, Jan. 22 in the Seuss Room of the Geisel Library featuring talks by Cheryl Rattner Price of the Butterfly Project and Steven Schindler about the post Holocaust history of Cottbus, Germany, where his father, Max Schindler, was born. Musicians Yale Strom and Jeff Pekarek and other members of Hot Pstromi will perform. Registration begins online on December 1st.
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Donald H. Harrison is editor of San Diego Jewish World. He may be contacted via donald.harrison@sdjewishworld.com