Compiled by San Diego Jewish World
Yo-Ma-Co News
Southwestern Jewish Press, November 30, 1956, Page 7
The last meeting of the Yo-Ma-Co Club was attended by a delegation of board of directors from the Jewish Community Center. Mr. William Schwartz, president of the JCC, was presented at that time with a check in the amount of $956.00 which will be used to augment the building fund for the new Center. This contribution was raised by a rummage sale which was headed by Esther Brisker and Tully Kitaen, assisted by all the members of the Yo-Ma-Co Club.
The Bowling Club dinner-dance takes place Sunday, Dec. 9th at the Lafayette Hotel. Arrangements for this event are in the capable hands of the following committee: Flo and Lennie Pearl, Mitzi and Jack Spivak, Lil and Al Nadler. Mike Aleso’s orchestra will furnish the dance music.
Representing the Yo-Ma-Co Club at the recently held U.S.O. Awards Program was President Max Okun.
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Salvation Army Slates Yuletide Program
Southwestern Jewish Press, November 30, 1956, Page 7
The Salvation army’s annual yuletide program, which last year brought Christmas cheer to more than 40,000 needy people in this county, swings into high gear this week when the traditional Christmas Kettles will be placed on major street corners throughout the county, accoring to Major Robert Angel, commandant of the Citadel Corps, San Diego.
The familiar tinkle of the Christmas bells throughout the holiday season, will be a reminder from the Red Shield workers and members of local service clubs, who will assist in manning the kettles, that contributions will provide food, toys for children and bring holiday happiness to families and homeless people who might otherwise be deprived of many joys of the yuletide.
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League of Women Voters Hold Luncheon
Southwestern Jewish Press, November 30, 1956, Page 7
The League of Women Voters of San Diego will hold a luncheon meeting at the Lafayette Hotel on Saturday, December 1 at 12:30 p.m. Mrs. Sydney Goldhammer, chairman of the local study item, will act as moderator for an informal symposium on the topic, “The County Charter–Horse and Buggy in the Jet Age?” The panel of speakers will include Dr. Robert Wilcox, professor of political science at State College; Frank Gibson, county supervisor; T.M. Heggland, chief administrative officer of the county; and Mrs. Neville Waite, chairman of the City Civil Service Commission. The discussion will revolve around possible charter changes to help the county face problems of growth.
Members of the League have been studying county services in the fields of mental health, welfare and probation. The general meeting will serve as an introduction to the next round of unit meetings on the county charter.
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Conscience
Southwestern Jewish Press, November 30, 1956, Page 7
Sometimes when a person thinks his mind is getting broader, it is just his conscience stretching.
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“It Was a Different World: A Teenage Girl’s Experiment in Anti-Semitism”
Southwestern Jewish Press, November 30, 1956, Page 8
What happens when a teen age girl goes “Jewish” in order to see how community and friends can react.
Karen Deslandes, a 16-year-old (non-Jew) high school student of Berkley, Michigan, found it hard to believe the truths that were evident in a revival showing of “Gentlemen’s Agreement.” The films tells the story of a magazine writer, a Christian, who posed as a Jew for six months to study anti-Semitism and the attitudes of people about him.
Karen decided to see for herself what would happen if she “became Jewish.” When schoolmates asked Karen what the attachments on a charm bracelet she had been given represented, she explained they were “Jewish symbols.” For six weeks, many of her friends then assumed she was Jewish. “It was a different world,” she said.
Girls who had long been friendly suddenly became cold, aloof. Her social life suffered. People just “forgot” to invite her to affairs. There was no one to walk home with from school and when there was stray companionship it was strained.
Although Karen’s parents did not know about her experiment, they did notice that many of their friends also seemed to busy for social calls. Her small sister also ran into rejection from friends.
After six weeks, Karen felt she had learned enough to confirm the truth of “Gentlemen’s Agreement.” She went to her speech teacher in Berkeley High School and told him the whole story. After speaking to school officials who were at first astonished, then sympathetic to Karen’s plan, they arranged a school assembly, heralded only as a BARP meeting.
At the assembly, Karen explained that BARP stood for “Berkeley Attacks Race Prejudice,” the reason why the assembly was called. She told the students about her six weeks as a Jews. She told her schoolmaster how they had reacted, the gratuitous barbs she and her family had suffered. “What caused this assortment of reactions?” she asked. “Now I understand that prejudice is more than a word in the dictionary. I understand how it warps and twists; how it can result in the hideous burnings of Jews in Germany, the mob violence against Negroes, the man-against-man attitudes of Communists and Fascists.”
After her speech–a speech she later repeated before several Rotary groups in the Berkeley area — all of Karen’s friends and many strangers gathered around her in the auditorium. “Between our hugging and crying,” she said, “they asked me many questions. “Most of all they asked: “But I didn’t do those horrible things, did I?”
She couldn’t answer those unhappy and ashamed people so full of sorrow. All she could do was suggest they search their own souls — From the ADL Bulletin
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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.