(Column 7, January 10, 2011)
By Donald H.Harrison
Tributes to Debbie Friedman, z”l
San Diego’s Agency for Jewish Education, commenting on the death of Jewish composer Debbie Friedman on Sunday, commented that “Debbie was a great friend of the AJE, having performed many concerts during the years of Jewish Education Week, and at other numerous functions throughout the community. Debbie changed the voice of American Jewish spirituality & prayer. Debbie started writing Jewish liturgical music as a group songleader at the Union for Reform Judaism’s Olin-Sang-Ruby Union Institute summer camp in the early 1970s, setting ancient texts to modern, accessible, singable melodies. She published more than 19 albums of music inspired by American folk music greats, using English and Hebrew lyrics. If you would like to watch an 8 1/2 minute tribute to Debbie, compiled by the URJ, please click HERE. There is also a 24 minute video about the making of her music on www.DebbieFriedman.com .” Funeral services for Friedman will be held Tuesday, Jan. 11, in Santa Ana.
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From the Waters of Eden/ San Diego Community Mikvah came these comments: “Over the past 30 years, Debbie’s music has changed the face of contemporary Jewish worship; her musical version of the healing prayer, MiSheberach, is sung in synagogues across North America and in other parts of the world. Even as she was suffering from a chronic illness over the past several years, she continued her mission to heal the world through teaching and creating new Jewish music. Debbie was a mensch and a true eishet hayil, may her memory be for a blessing. She will be dearly missed.”
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Jewish Organizations
There’s still time to register for the February 15th Jewish Federation dinner at which educator Avraham Infeld will be the keynote speaker and past Federation presidents and Women’s Division presidents will be honored as part of the organization’s 75th anniversary celebration.
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Pam Ferris, CEO of Seacrest Village Retirement Communities, sent out a message credited to the late Peanuts cartoonist Charles Schultz for all of us to ponder. Most of us can’t name the five wealthiest people in the world, or the last five Heisman Trophy winners, the last five winners of the Miss America pageant, ten winners of the Nobel or Pulitzer Prize, the last half dozen performers to win Academy Awards as best actors or actresses, or even the last ten World Series winners. But we can name a few teachers who helped us through school, three friends who have helped us through difficult times, five people who have taught us something worthwhile, a few people who makes us feel appreciated and special, and five people we enjoy spending time with. The point? The people who make a difference in your life are not the ones with the most credentials, the most money, or the most awards. They simply are the ones who care the most.”
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Jews in the General Community
Mandell Weiss, the late philanthropist whose name graces a theatre on the UCSD campus, also is the namesake for a gallery at Liberty Station at the former Naval Training Center. Located in the Dance Place building, the gallery now is showing eight paintings by Peggy Fishbeck on the Art of the Dance – an exhibit that will be complemented from February 4 through May by 30 photographs of dance auditions for Jean Isaacs’ Trolley Dances. The series of photographs was made by Chris Pantaleoni.
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Broadcast and Internet Media
Sy Brenner, a former American Jewish soldier held during World War II in a German prisoner of war camp, will be interviewed on Blog Talk radio at 7 p.m. Wednesday January 12 by Lt. Raymond Foster, whose internet show is called “At the Watering Hole.” Brenner, a Rancho San Diego resident and longtime member of Tifereth Israel Synagogue, will discuss his memoir The Night I Got Killed, in which he discusses keeping his Jewish identity secret from his Nazi captors. Listeners can her the interview by clicking on this website, BlogTalkRadio – Hero Among Us – Sy Brenner, and may ask questions of Sy by phoning the call-in line at (646) 378-1513. …
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Larry Gorfine was amused by the recent Steven Colbert satire on claims by some in Egypt that the Mossad might have had something to do with a spate of shark attacks near the tourist resort of Sharm el Sheikh. The video follows:
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Harrison is editor of San Diego Jewish World. Items for this column may be submitted to him at sdheritage@cox.net