SAN DIEGO — When it comes to the Lipinsky Family San Diego Jewish Arts Festival, not even COVID19 can stand up to the chutzpah, commitment and ingenuity of Associate Producer Ali Viterbi and co-writers Leah Salovey, Sarah Price Keating and Becca Myers, Associate Producer of JFest, as they bring us the 11th annual “Women of Valor.” This virtual show is a tribute to our local women, some unsung and others, banner-waving, who have created a more humane, compassionate, and impactful Jewish San Diego.
Each year the chosen few are interviewed and their achievements are portrayed by gifted actresses who share their stories, the highs and lows, with spirit and authenticity. This year’s choices represent so many walks of life from San Diego’s Regional Director of the Anti-Defamation League, to Chair of the San Diego Jewish Academy, the Chief Impact Officer of the Jewish Community Foundation, a Rebbetzin, the Jewish Community Foundation Board Chair, and a Holocaust survivor.
Todd Salovey, Artistic Director of the Lipinsky JFest, and Associate Artistic Director of San Diego Rep welcomed us with a Shalom Aleichem and proudly reported that this year all of the proceeds from this year’s show would be donated to Torah High, SCY High, San Diego Jewish Academy, and the COVID19 Emergency Fund. A harmonious and soulful trio introduced each of the six episodes that had been recorded digitally over a two-week span.
Ali Viterbi, JFest Associate Producer, shared her memories of her 12-year Festival history which began while she was still in high school. She began working with various “Women of Valor” and credits these women with molding her in this “dynamic, artistic and Jewish” climate.
Tammy Gillies is the San Diego Regional Director of the Anti-Defamation League. She was sensitively portrayed by Sarah Price Keating. Through the actress, we learned that Gillies credits both her maternal and paternal grandfathers for her success at landing a career that combines philanthropy with a solid work ethic. Though Gillies knew she’d found her home, not everyone around her was as confident. As a woman she heard, “I can’t see Tammy shouting down a hater!” To this, she parried, “I do it through quiet strength, through diplomacy.” She made it clear, in the wake of the Poway shooting, that the ADL works not just for the Jewish community but for the whole community. At the time, she met with the sheriff and security and voiced concern that mosques were also in danger. Gillies’ search for a Jewish community was challenging, and made more so by the fact that her husband was not Jewish.(He converted this past December!) Eventually, she found her niche and believes strongly that her job is to educate the next generation “to be better and do better. Stand up and speak up.” Gillies believes that San Diego is no place for hate, and she vows to “shine a light on the haters.”
The next valorous woman profiled was the Chair of San Diego Jewish Academy’s Heidi Gantwerk. Lisa Robins stepped into her shoes for this one. Gantwerk met her husband when they were both students at Yale. He was a piano player and she, a vocalist. She was supposed to be the intermission act, but when he heard her, it was kismet. The two came to San Diego and knew no one, but they created a Jewish home, into which they brought three boys. Raising her sons while maintaining a Jewish environment sans extended family was a challenge. However, with “strength, creativity, flexibility and hard work” they pulled it off. The recipe must have been a keeper because Gantwerk proudly shared that all her sons are involved in running Shabbat services at their schools, and are very involved in bipartisan discussions about caring for people. This sweet interview ended with a family musical performance.
Sharleen Wollach has been with the Jewish Community Foundation for the past 11 years, creating opportunities and finding venues to keep philanthropy thriving in San Diego. Played by actress Julie Marcus, we learned of Sharleen’s can-do attitude and her purpose-driven life. “What are you going to do for someone today?” is a mantra that she recites each morning. She likes to say that she was manufactured in South Africa and assembled in the USA. Growing up during apartheid, Sharleen saw more than her share of inequality and racial injustice. This observation made her take a solo trip to America as a young woman. Not long after, she made the move, as did her parents and siblings. This entrepreneur shared some cute stories about her early entry to the world of work. At the age of 8, she began making and selling candles, composed of remnants of Shabbat candles and crayons. By 13 she was managing a chicken shop….always, but always, serving others. This became a blueprint for her life’s work. Sharleen learned to be of service from watching her parents and took these lessons to heart. Unfortunately, at 36, Sharleen discovered she had breast cancer. At the time she was raising two young children but refused to give in to self-pity. Instead, she turned her energy outward and was invigorated by the knowledge that she could give back and help others. She has been doing that ever since. Wollach ends her day by asking, “Have I done something meaningful for someone else today?” I’d say she has!
If you know Chaya Ertel, then you know how bubbly, engaging, curious, and sincere she is. How Viterbi found the perfect actress to portray her, I don’t know, but Rebecca Futterman was a very good choice. The actress told the story of how Chaya asked her husband, UC San Diego Rabbi Ertel, how many students to expect for their seder. He replied “40.” For most people, that’s a lot of company, food, dishes, wine, etc. Imagine when the number swelled to 120! Chaya smiled and said, “My husband has a softness for his students and I’m learning to be okay that we don’t know the end of the story.” This woman is filled with such a sense of wonder and openness and it comes across loud and clear. She is all about coordinating, sharing the load, working together to achieve a common goal. “Torah isn’t meant to make you suffer. I host people even when I think I can’t physically and I feel more connected to the Creator and the San Diego Jewish community.”
Janet Acheatel’s story was beautifully related by Elaine Rivkin. Acheatel described her mother as a role model, providing for the family on a modest income, and always with good cheer, optimism, and strength. Acheatel recalled the importance of spending Friday nights with family at her grandfather’s home, and the key role a supportive and loving family has played in informing her current views on priorities. This first-generation college graduate followed a career path into teaching. She was accepted into a Ph.D. program, but lacked the financial wherewithal to attend. This experience made her realize that if she were to grow and pursue new dreams, she would need to become more financially savvy. This led to an exploration of major Wall Street brokerage firms. After completing a program in brokerage training, Acheatel landed a job as an institutional money manager. “Opportunity was knocking and I answered.” She found she was good at helping people manage their assets to create the lives they desired. Her teaching skills were applicable in this new setting. “I went from wiping the noses and holding the hands of 6-year-olds to doing the same with 60-year-olds.” Acheatel learned from her clients that the focus was on realizing a quality of life, not focusing on the money, and this revelation made her feel that her job was more important. In 2011, another opportunity presented itself. Teaming up with a female colleague, Acheatel formed the Women’s Focus Management Practice, specifically geared towards helping women manage money. She sees this as her “forever job. I don’t think I’m ever going to quit.” Acheatel views San Diego’s Jewish community as an important aspect, and has just recently stepped down from the Hillel board, but reaps nachas from knowing that thanks to this influence, her daughter, Jessica, is raising her own children as Jews. For Janet Acheatel this comes full circle. Family remains very important, and by serving other families she is paying it forward.
Episode Six of these gorgeous tributes honors the life of Holocaust survivor, Pearl Recht. Rosina Reynolds does an amazing job of morphing into this lively, loving, strong, and humorous woman. She opens with a joke and goes on to share her story which is rife with pain and loss. Her horrors are unlike any most of us have ever known, and G-d willing, will ever know. As a seven-year-old, young Pearl observed the Germans invading her home town in Poland on Erev Rosh Hashanah. They set fire to the mikveh and then to the synagogue which contained people. In 1942, an airplane factory just 28 kilometers from her town was bombed, and shortly after the Jews were placed on trains and families divided. Pearl was put on a train with her mother, younger sister, and grandfather. Eventually, they were in hiding in an attic in the home of a Polish family, near a factory where Pearl’s father was forced to work. While in hiding they were warned “Don’t move. Don’t breathe.” When her family had an opportunity to leave, the Polish woman offered to take one of the girls. Pearl’s little sister seemed to need her mother more, and so ten-year-old Pearl remained with the Polish family, who took her in as their cousin. However, as the Germans were still searching for Jews, Pearl spent her days sitting in a wardrobe and was only allowed out at night. She was amazed that her “siblings,” the two Polish boys in the home, never gave her away throughout her three-year stint. She recalled, “It was a very frightening life.” An aunt and uncle learned of Pearl’s survival and came to claim her, but believing that her father was still alive, 14-year-old Pearl opted to stay with the Polish family until her father collected her. Learning the truth, Pearl was taken in by her aunt and uncle and the family made it back to Germany in 1949. Pearl became their daughter and was raised by them. She is very proud of her Jewish heritage and especially proud of her children for their humanity and kindness. When she wonders why she was spared, Pearl stated that she believes it was so that she could take care of her husband in his declining years, because she has many wonderful memories of their life together.
Each of the actresses did a masterful job of conveying an amazing woman of valor and we are so fortunate to have these icons living among us. Please, if you are able to watch the interviews, I encourage you to visit this website. I know you will be entranced and as proud as I am to share in their nachas and support their vision.
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Eva Trieger is a freelance writer specializing in coverage of the arts. She may be contacted via eva.trieger@sdjewishworld.com