December 2015/January 2016

FOR RESIDENTS OF THE JEWISH HOME OF SAN FRANCISCO DECEMBER 2015/JANUARY 2016 “Kindle the taper like the steadfast star Ablaze on evening’s forehead o’er the earth, And add each night a lustre till afar An eightfold splendor shine above thy hearth.” ~Emma Lazarus, “The Feast of Lights” Chanukah show for residents: 2:00 p.m., Wed., Dec. 9 – Goodman Lobby Chanukah show for community: 2:00 p.m., Sun., Dec. 13 – Frank Family Lounge CONTENTS DECEMBER 2015/JANUARY 2016 2 MEMORIES 12 BRAVO! A boy’s bits and pieces Employees of the month ~ December Rudy Hooremans 13 ACTRESS KATHY BATES ON WHAT SHE 3 VITAMIN D KNOWS NOW Ellen Marks-Hinkle 14 COUNCIL OF RESIDENTS 4 HOMER AND THE LANDLORDS OF SAN November meeting minutes FRANCISCO Bernice Hunold 16 HAPPENINGS AT HOME Taking fact-learning to heart by 6 IN MEMORY looking the part Veterans Day tribute 6 A SMALL ASSORTMENT OF TINY TRIVIA 20 RESIDENTS’ BIRTHDAYS 7 WATCHING OUR WORDS December and January celebrants Submitted by Edie Sadewitz 21 OUT & ABOUT 8 SCENES OF NATURE AND SUNSETS RISE Kol Haneshama “sages” present at SFJCC’s fair TO THE LIMELIGHT Myron Bernstein puts his photos on exhibit 22 HAPPENINGS AT HOME and answers questions from his sisters Works of art 11 WIT & HUMOR Seeing the funny (Jewish) side of life If Christmas Songs Were Written About Chanukah AT HOME contents are for the benefit of residents SUBMIT TO AT HOME! of the Jewish Home. At Home is based on the E-mail submissions by the 15th: tradition of free expression; submissions made Ilana Glaun: [email protected] by residents should be viewed as not necessarily representing the opinion, position or policies of HANDWRITTEN SUBMISSIONS to staff or the Home. switchboard by the 15th, or ask recreation staff for assistance. EDITING without approval of the author is a staff editor: Ilana Glaun reserved right, due to space and time constraints. designer: Michael Wickler Only content written or submitted by those connected with the Home will be accepted. JEWISH HOME 1 SAN FRANCISCO RESIDENTS WRITE ADAPTED FROM MEMORIES By Rudy Hooremans Rudy Hooremans A BOY’S BITS AND PIECES When I was about 11 years old, we moved to the floor. My legs were numb! Still half-dazed, I from The Hague’s Daguerre Straat to crept over to the bookcase and reached up to the number 267 Columbus Straat. Moeder and raucously ringing clock. I couldn’t find the blooming Vader owned this three-story house. We shut-off button! So as not to wake my parents, I occupied the first apartment, renting the stuffed the thing into my pajamas, crawled back to second one to an elderly widower and the bed, and put it under my pillow. Just about then, third one to a family. Our home extended the clock’s spring had unwound completely and silence returned. Meantime, both Moeder and Vader from the front, or street-side façade, to had hastened up the stairs to investigate the cause approximately half the depth of the building. of the big crash. (I loved that clock, though, and kept The adjacent apartment was located directly it with me for many years – through the war and to behind ours, extending to the rear façade. the U.S., until it finally gave out.) My bedroom was a delight to me. My own room! It My bed consisted of a steel frame with springs. had a door that I could close, thus giving me a lot The frame was hinged on the legs nearest the wall, of privacy. On the street side it had a pair of wood so that if I wanted more room, I could swing the and glass doors that swung open to give access to a bed up flat with the wall, similar to a Murphy bed. narrow balcony. (Actually, I can’t remember ever making use of this feature, except Vader did, once or twice, to get his For me, the room was nice and large. Along one “lazy bugger” out of bed!) With an inner spring wall stood a table and chair, where I could write, mattress and a heavy Dutch wool blanket, even read, and do my homework. I had a bookcase with during the coldest winter nights, once abed, I was as two shelves behind sliding glass doors, and at the snug as the proverbial bug in a rug. bottom, one shelf behind two swinging wood doors with a lock, in which I could hide my “secret” stuff. I had a little phonograph. I had to wind it with a handle, set the needle and diaphragm armature On top of the bookcase stood my alarm clock. When onto the record, and the sound would come out of Oom Jo (Moeder’s brother from Paris) came to the horn. Sometimes I would set the phonograph visit, he presented me with a Mickey Mouse alarm on my night table on my little balcony. Our next- clock. It had a bell on top that rang loud enough door neighbor wasn’t very thrilled with the raspy to wake the dead. One morning it startled me out sounds emanating from the contraption and of a deep sleep. I jumped out of bed – and crashed regularly yelled out of his window for me to stop AT HOME 2 DECEMBER 2015/JANUARY 2016 Ellen Marks-Hinkle VITAMIN D By Ellen Marks-Hinkle Do you remember when you were young and ran and played in the sun? Also, as a youth or young adult, you played it. He didn’t have much tolerance for boys. When outside no matter what kind of weather. my neighborhood friends and I played stickball in the street, he would call the police. They would Now you can be as active as you can. I will almost usually confiscate our ball and take us to the station guarantee that you will never crack a tooth! house, from where we had to be picked up by our parents. I called our neighbor “de zure haring,” the What you need to do is grab a good book, like sour herring. Gloria Houtenbrink, go outside and soak up some rays. Read until the latter part of the day, or talk As a typical, energetic boy, I, of course, never walked and schmooze with a good friend – like Gloria’s up the stairs to my room. I ran, most often taking wonderful friend Edie Sadewitz. These two ladies them two steps at a time. The door to my room had love to talk, laugh, read, and they do relax indeed. a pane of translucent glass in the upper panel, and on two occasions, I didn’t quite manage to stop in I feel this magical vitamin D is so easy to get (I will time, missed the doorknob, and stuck my hand right bet). You will have a happier, healthier day and life. through the glass, which then cascaded in shards to the floor. Luckily, my injuries were minor, but my There is a strong mind/body/spirit connection, and piggy bank hurt after I had paid for a new pane. it can also reduce asthma attacks or they will be less frequent. It also helps maintain bones and teeth. Read more of Rudy’s memories in the next issue of AtHome. Going outside in the sun can benefit everyone. JEWISH HOME 3 SAN FRANCISCO RESIDENTS WRITE HOMER AND THE Bernice Hunold Photo by Ray Hunold A look of disgust oozed across the landlord’s face. LANDLORDS OF “Madam, I would not love your dog,” he said. He jammed the rental agreement back in his pocket SAN FRANCISCO and showed me the door. By Bernice Hunold I didn’t set foot in the Marina District for weeks, but I did try the hills of San Francisco. On Russian Hill I met a landlord who was “Nyet, not I used to live in New York. In New York I was a dok lofer.” a children’s book editor, author and reviewer. Then I moved to San Francisco and I had On Nob Hill I met a landlord who was “Certainlee not a dog lovere.” to change my profession. In San Francisco I became a fulltime apartment hunter. On Telegraph Hill I met Grace Marchant. She was the remarkable woman who, with her own two Let me tell you about the landlords of San Francisco. hands, transformed that hill into a garden. What was This is back in 1970, when we – my husband Ray and she like? Well, at the gateway to her cottage was I, and our 4-year-old – first moved here. It was the a big box of tulip bulbs and a sign that read “Help 4-year-old who turned out to be a problem because yourself.” Grace wouldn’t turn a dog away, but Grace the landlords simply didn’t like him. His name was had cats ... that attacked dogs. Her cats were not Homer and he was a big German shepherd. In fact, dog lovers. And so the search went on. Homer was so big that when he put his paws on my shoulders, I had to look up to get a kiss from him. In the meantime, we were in an apartment temporarily, paying double the rent of any I had a hint that Homer might be a problem the first apartment on the block. The unfairness of this really day I went apartment hunting. I found one in the irked me, and I finally had an idea. I went to every Marina District.

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