Compiled by San Diego Jewish World staff
Templers Plan Beach Party on Aug. 25
Southwestern Jewish Press, August 24, 1956, Page 3
Another “first” for the Templers organization is the Starlight Beach Party, to be held Saturday evening, august 25, 7:30 p.m. sharp. A huge bonfire, under a
starlit sky, along the beautiful La Jolla shores will be the setting for the wiener roasting, singing, games and much fun.
All single young men and women between the ages of 25 and 35 are cordially invited to attend. The group will meet at the Tifereth Israel Center where a
caravan of cars will be formed to transport everyone to the party site.
Make reservations now by phoning AT 1-5682 or AT-1-9291.
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“Little Hut” Next At La Jolla Playhouse
Southwestern Jewish Press, August 24, 1956, Page 3
La Jolla Playhouse will close its season with a delightful foreign import, “The Little Hut,” which opens Tuesday for a two-week run.
Marsha Hunt plays the femme fatale wife with a charming light touch. She is well-remembered for her two earlier Playhouse appearances, “The Lady’s Not for Burning” with Vincent Price and “Affairs of State,” both in 1952. She recently toured Australia with “The Little Hut.”
Leon Ames portrays the put upon husband with great ease after the past two and one half years on TV’s “Life with Father” series. He, too, has been at La Jolla in two former productions “For Love or Money” with June Lockhart in 1948 and “Goodbye Again” in 1950 with Wendell Corey and Audrey Totter.
Co-starring with Miss Hunt and Ames is Patrick O’Neal, the object of the glamorous wife’s part-time affections. La Jolla Playhouse audiences first saw O’Neal during the 1953 season when he appeared in “My Three Angels” and in “Stalag 17.”
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Symphony “Pops” Night Slated for August 28th
Southwestern Jewish Press, August 24, 1956, Page 3
For the second consecutive year Ferd Grofe, composer-conductor and author of the world-famous “Grand Canyon Suite”, will be guest conductor of the San Diego
Symphony’s final performance Tuesday evening, August 28, at 8:30 p.m. in Balboa Park Bowl.
Grofe will conduct an evening of popular musical entertainment featuring his “Tabloid,” the musical story of a great metropolitan newspaper, in four movements.
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Press Notes
Southwestern Jewish Press, August 24, 1956, Page 4
By Julia Kaufman
Convention Time: I brought my radio downtown for the Democratic Vice-Presidential run-off. Every try to concentrate on work with one ear
leaning on the radio? … I tried but finally gave up—relaxed—and enjoyed myself. What a race! Seven nominees left the starting gate and
jockeyed for position… first time round Kefauver led with Kennedy a close second… on the second turn, Kennedy started off with a good lead and it
looked as though Kefauver would lose when – wham—he suddenly shot ahead and there he was at the end of the 686 ½ vote run with a lead that didn’t require a
photo finish.
The Convention indicated that America, contrary to the fears of many, is still a nation of strong individualists. Excitement… fanfare…flag waving …
loyalty to the favorite son .. the tongue in cheek self praise of the home state… the ability to cast a serious vote in a facetious manner … and above
all the good sportsmanship in recognizing and accepting defeat. Conventions – both Democratic and Republican – are ht proving grounds where leaders are screened, tested and chosen. Out of thechaos and confusion – with splinter votes flying in all directions – comes the one solid vote for the man considered by the majority to be best suited to lead them to victory.
After the Convention, sides are lined up, slogans and clichés stockpiled, tongues sharpened and the fight is on. This is the American way … one of the
few pieces of colorful and exciting pageantry still existing in an all too mechanized and organized country.
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“Half ‘n half” is the answer comedian-musician Victor Borge (Rosenbaum) gave when asked if he was Jewish. “I am half and half Jewish; my father was Jewish and so was my mother.” Before the Nazis arrived he left Denmark for the U.S., where he has become a phenomenal success on the stage.
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Jack Benny, another popular comedian-musician, will play the Mendelsohn Violin Concerto at his Carnegie Hall debut on Oct. 2 when he appears with the 70
members of the New York Philharmonic Symphony in a benefit concert for the Association for Retarded Children and the Committee to Save Carnegie Hall. That’s
one way of getting even with the concert artists who have invaded the nite club field.
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One Roof for one God … In Miami, a Jewish congregation and a Protestant Episcopal mission parish made religious history when they decided to build a
single house of worship to be used by both congregations. The church and the synagogue will construct and use a joint community center. Individually,
they couldn’t raise enough money to construct separate buildings.
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Eavesdropping in Capri Jewelers, I learned from a customer that in Scotland ring guards are called “keepers.”
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Too much knowledge can be very disillusioning. A booklet called “Getting Married,” printed in England by the British Medical Association, says that the
ring is a relic of the fetter which bound the bride in primitive days when marriage took place by capture. The bridesmaids are symbolic of the time when a would-be husband tried to carry off the woman of his choice and her female relatives attempted to rescue her. These friends have become the bridesmaids. The old shoe tied to the back of the bridal car symbolizes the rocks and other missiles thrown at the robber bridegroom by the bride’s angry and outwitted parents. The best man was the groom’s strong arm man, who assisted him in capturing the bride… lifting the bride over the threshold was done because she was fighting mad and that was the only way to get her into the house….trousseau means bundle and if the bridegroom didn’t like the contents he could refuse to go on with the wedding… Still want to get married?
On the local scene, something new was added in a marriage ceremony last Sunday when Herb Solomon, father of two, became the eldest ring bearer in
history. The younger scheduled for this service got stage fright at the last minute and Herb gallantly carried the silk pillow with rings down the aisle.
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World’s shortest cab ride is the one taken periodically by an elderly gentleman who likes to imbibe at his favorite bar—no more than 50 years from his home –but
which necessitates crossing the street. Having been cited once for crossing the street while intoxicated, he now hails a cab whenever feels he has had too much to walk in a straight line.
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New Compilation of Jewish Wisdom Found Enjoyable, Scholarly
Southwestern Jewish Press, August 24, 1956, Page 4
By Paul Kaufman
Heinrich Graetz, prefacing his “Geschicte der Juden” observed that “thinking became just as characteristic of the Jews as suffering.” Certainly, Jewish thought itself has in turn been influenced by the experience of suffering. But there are more significant characteristics of Jewish wisdom, which contrast it with “philosophies” of similar thought not totally comparablecivilizations and cultures such as the Greek. A significant difference between
the Hebrew and Greek philosophies appears to be based upon the phenomenon that Jewish wisdom is not static, at the present time, but lives and changes spontaneously from day to day. Greek thought is remembered and must be consciously practiced and strengthened as we practice democracy, utilize the Doric column or run the Olympic games. Another difference lies in the nature of the contributor to the particular philosophies. The real well-springs of Greek wisdom may be obscured but we may trace a great deal of the Greek spirit to Aristotle, Homer and the playwrights. Compared to the Greeks, the body of Jewish wisdom is a potpourri. Everybody has gotten into the act, so to speak. It is true that the galaxy of Jewish thought is fairly studded with individual luminaries, some burning in the distance like Hillel and Ba’al Shem an those more proximate – Einstein, Disraeli, or Heine. But the meaning of the term “Jewish wisdom” is more accurately described as the sum of the contributions of countless individuals. Rabbis, soldiers, judges, actors, kings, politicians, farmers, merchants and so on. If there is not always unanimity of principle and purpose manifest in this collection, there is enough thematic similarity to offer strong
evidence in favor of Lewin’s statement, “the common fate of all Jews makes them a group in reality.” So has this common fate made Jews (better or worse Jews) out of Marx, Leo Baeck, Freud and Maimonides.
Rabbi Joseph Louis Baron’s new book, “A Treasure of Jewish Quotations” (Crown Publishers, 623 pages, $5.95) is the latest compilation of Jewish wisdom to hit the market. Rabbi Baron, in a manner which attests to the through scholarship and very good taste has edited some 18,000 quotations, mostly by Jews but many by non-Jews who have written about Jewish issues. The author, who forty years ago began making notations of sayings pertinent in this vast area, was well aware of the difficulty involved in his task. He was obliged to face the problem of defining “Jewish,” and in the Preface to the “Treasury” he makes these points: “The term ‘Jewish authorship’ is employed here in a broad sense applying also to Spinoza, Marx and Disraeli who were born of Jewish parents and to Onkelos, Elisheba and Pallier, who chose to identify themselves with the Jewish faith. It does not include Montaigne, Manin or Metchnikoff, who were only in part of Jewish stock
and culturally moved outside the sphere of Jewish creative work but, if does include the authors of the New Testament, practically all of whom were Jews …
and whose most quotable verses parallels have been traced in recognized Jewish sources.”
Rabbi Baron then, has given himself a great deal of leeway in the “what is a Jew” department but, his diverse yet meaningful selection is only further
evidence of his erudition.
“A Treasury of Jewish Quotations” is classified according to subject, has an author index, glossary and bibliography—all of which add to its usefulness and
readability.
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Adventures in San Diego Jewish History” is sponsored by Inland Industries Group LP in memory of long-time San Diego Jewish community leader Marie (Mrs. Gabriel) Berg. Our “Adventures in San Diego Jewish History” series will be a regular feature until we run out of history. To find stories on specific individuals or organizations, type their names in our search box, located just above the masthead on the right hand side of the screen.