Shir Notes The Official Newsletter of Congregation Shir Ami Volume 18, Number 5, May 2020. Affiliated with United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism

Rabbi’s Column . Events I’m writing this on April 21 but I assume it will still be of the Month timely! Will anything have changed since I wrote this? While as of this writing some communities were Shabbat services via Live- considering loosening the stay-at-home rules, residents streaming at www.shirami.com of Los Angeles are probably maintaining this discipline. Saturday, May 9 - 10:30 am Birthday Shabbat I’ve been trying to figure out what this experience must be like. For

Saturday, May 23 - 10:30 am example, is living in a prison much different? They are confined, too. Oh Anniversary Shabbat yeah–but in most jails people can mingle together. ------In fact, I can’t think of any other situation where confinement is required that Around the Rabbi’s Tisch people have to avoid each other. After all, isolation is considered torture. Thursday, May 7,14, 21, & 28 The worst prisoners were confined to a jail cell with limited interaction with 7:30 pm via Zoom others.

Our 5780 season of Rabbi’s weekly Is this what we’re going through? In the Talmud, one Rabbi is quoted as discussion continues in its second saying, “Give me community or give me death.” half in its online format. Call Rabbi at (818) 888-9817 or see flyer. But even for those living alone, contact with others doesn’t have to be ------limited. Aloneness doesn’t have to also mean loneliness. We are Torah and Shabbat Study discovering other ways to maintain relationships, whether it’s via technology via email (phones, computers) or even drive-by greetings with those celebrating

Stan Schroeder will email his study events waving from their front window at family and friends as they pass by material. If you want to be added to without leaving their cars. his list, please see flyer. Ways to maintain communication with “the outside world” are multiplying. Classes and religious services are streaming, both live and recorded. And people who haven’t taken a class in years or participated in a Havdalah service are suddenly discovering how their computers and smart phones can help them to reach out and touch others.

We at Shir Ami are providing members who find it difficult to leave their homes (even in the best of times when there is no pandemic) with classes and services so they don’t have to feel deprived or neglected. We are Sunday, May 10 meeting every Thursday evening, virtually, to study together. And twice each month we are streaming our Contemporary Services. Congregants can now feel a part of their community within the confines of their homes.

This time of crises is challenging us to provide Judaism in more creative ways, and I suspect that when life returns to “normal,” much of what we are learning about keeping community intertwined will be continuing.

There are silver linings to even the most desperate of circumstances. In a year’s time we will look back at the Spring of 2020 and realize that our lives actually became enriched and our Jewish lives revitalized because we Memorial Day needed to make do with so little. Rabbi David Vorspan Monday, May 25

Visit our website: www.shirami.com Shavuot Lag B’Omer Yom Yerushalayim Friday, May 29 Tuesday, May 12 Friday, May 22 page 2 May 2020 President’s Report Seder for One, Please by Barbara Joan Grubman I hope you are all doing well sheltering- in-place and finally realizing the reason At first I felt a bit weird, as I sat down for my “solo you didn’t get things done around the house really seder.” I had in hand a two page haggadah called “The had nothing to do with not having the free time. Ten Minute Seder Haggadah” by Rabbi Yonah Bookstein, which was a blessing as I read it, sipped my I expect that this Passover was a new experience for small glass of wine, and asked and answered the Four us all, using Zoom or Skype to conduct remote Questions. I reclined on my pillow as I looked out my Seders. We were all treated to a new set of Four window at a peaceful site – a tall hill with trees, flowers, Questions: (1) Are you there; (2) Can you hear me; and shrubs. (3) Can you see me; and (4) Can you please mute Uncle Morris? It just proves that, no matter what the I sang Dayeinu and there was no one to say “You can’t circumstances, where there is a will (and a good carry a tune.” Then I talked about and enjoyed, as the internet connection), there is a way. Torah tells us, the story of the four types of kids. Soon came the brisk horseradish with the lettuce called Adapting to the new, and hopefully temporary, the maror. normal provides an opportunity to renew old experiences. For the first time in ages, I actually I ended my seder for one with the meal that had been walked to Shabbat Services last month. OK, so the prepared for me and took the fourth sip of wine. walk was from my bed to my computer in the corner Next year in Jerusalem, but even if I can’t get there it will of the bedroom, but a walk is a walk. And, no, I did be in Southern California. not attend services in my jammies. When my “seder for one” came to an end, I looked in a For those of you who haven’t checked out our mirror and said, “See you next year,” as I smiled at my livestream services, our next one will be on May 9, image. so if you have any questions on how to “tune in,” please let us know and either we will let you know Editor’s Note: how to do it, or we will get an eight year old to Exerpt from The Ten Minute Seder Haggadah explain it to us so we can explain it to you. Of course, it’s not like being together in person (no 1. What’s up with the matzah? 2. What’s the deal with Kiddush, no Challah and no cookies), but under the horseradish? 3. What’s with the dipping of the herbs? 4. What’s this whole chilling at the table business? circumstances, it a great way to keep our community together. More importantly it’s a great way to PARTICIPANTS SAY TOGETHER “virtually” get out of the house. Who would have We were slaves in Egypt. God took us out with thought that the corner of my bedroom would awesome miracles. Had God not taken us out of Egypt, become my “Shabbat Place?” then what? We, and our children, and grandchildren

Since we can't be together in person, we can finally would still be slaves in Egypt! So, even if we were all put our Shir Ami Directory to good use by either great Torah scholars, we would still have to tell about emailing messages or making phone calls to let the Exodus from Egypt. The more we talk about this the each other know we're OK. Please check your better - but God I’m short on time! emails regularly because you never know when we LEADER will reach out to let you know the latest information. The Torah reflects upon four types of kids: One Wise, Our schedule for May remains fluid depending on One Evil, One Simple, and One Who Doesn’t Know what we hear from the government as to when we How To Ask. GUIDE the wise one through the can get together again. We are hoping for the best, obligations of Passover. TELL the Evil One, we need but keep your computer monitor screens clean. you to be part of our people. EXPLAIN to the Simple One, “with a strong hand God brought us out of Egypt.” Remember to wash your hands for 20 seconds, ENGAGE the one who doesn’t know how to ask, make keep six feet away from other people, don't touch that child feel comfortable, and tell them about the your face and remember, most importantly, some- Exodus. one is always just an email or a phone call away. Rabbi Yonah Bookstein, co-founder with his wife As always, if you have any questions or want to Rachel, of Pico Shul, is Alevy Family Rabbi in provide your input, please feel free to email me at Community Outreach and Director of Shabbat Tent. He [email protected]. has worked with Jewish communities across the globe Thank you. Jordan Pistol, President inspiring a rebirth in Jewish communal life.

page 3 May 2020

Birthdays & Anniversaries DONATIONS Congregation Shir Ami wishes to Birthdays acknowledge the following donations: $ Harvey Cohen...... 5/12 Debra Geffen...... 5/12 Yahrzeits Linda Tapper...... 5/19 Jerry Kovar...... 5/21 Jay and Gale Cohen for Wilbur Cohen Ellen Fremed...... 5/23 Philip Hockmeyer for Joseph Hockmeyer Gladys Sturman...... 5/30 Lou and Paula Loomis for Doris Loomis, Jay Goldfarb, and Rose Rosen Anniversaries Leon and Andrea Nachenberg for Sheila Nachenberg Ann and Seymour Potell for Morris Blankstein Pat and Jerry Michaelson...... 5/15 32nd Clara and Stan Rosenbluth for Brandon Gribin Sam Schultz for Joseph Schultz Lew and Claire Silverman for Aarion Verity-Rubin Fiona Taylor and Stan Goodman for Norman Miles Bonnie and Rabbi David Vorspan for Sandy Vorspan Personal Coronavirus Masks by Davida Tydings Congregational News Our family company Davida Get well wishes rafuah schleimah to: Aprons is making personal masks for use during these extended Fran Kobulnick pandemic times. They are made in the USA of Ellen Fremed 100% cotton and are machine washable. The Fran Friedman masks sell for $12.50 each. When ordering with the Sheilah Hart code CSA18 we will donate 18% of the purchase Paullette Pistol price to Congregation Shir Ami and provide free Ethel Granik shipping. Laura Simon

May they be blessed with a complete recovery in body and spirit.

Congregation Shir Ami Tribute Cards

Thanks to Phyllis Schroeder for sending your cards celebrating simchas and conveying your get- Do you need a mask to walk your dog, go to the well and condolence messages. market, or whatever? See flyer to order. For more

information email [email protected] She is creative with individualized, artistic cards that include a message and color graphics. Call her at (818) 718-7466. Also visit our website at www.Davidaaprons.com Minimum donation of $5 per card is appreciated. and see our full product line. We will also donate 18% of purchases made through the website with the CSA18 code to Congregation Shir Ami.

page 4 May 2020 Social Action Committee Operation Gratitude & Project MOT by Charlene Kazel Mother's Day is Sunday, MAY 10. We are collecting Target $10 gift cards to This is supposed to be given to the mothers and their children in JFS be the Merry Month of May, and it should and will be the domestic violence shelters for Mother's Day! time to celebrate all mothers, grandmothers, and aunts. Remember that the women and children often come into the shelters with only the clothes on their backs, My family has me in quarantine, but not to worry because and will use the gifts to buy necessary personal I’m OK, thank God! But it’s hard and sad not to be out items. Mail your cards to Fran Kobulnick at and about, and I’m missing everyone at Operation 5139 White Oak Ave. #13, Encino, CA 91316. Gratitude.

At this time, our annual Mother's/Father’s Day Since just about everything is closed, I don’t even know if Shabbat celebration at West Valley Health Care their doors are open during this difficult time in our lives. I and our annual Walk Around Lake Balboa Sunday, just dropped Kris a note and will share with you whatever June 7 to raise funds for Guide Dogs of America, she has to say. I hope there will be lots of good news, supporting puppy raising volunteers and their and this horrible virus will disappear and that we will all training facility in Sylmar are indefinite, pending be back to living happy, healthy, and wonderful lives. regulations at those times. And that we can bring back the sunshine to everyone that we support through Operation Gratitude and Project Our Committee and our families wish a happy MOT, bringing them our gifts, as usual. healthy Mother’s Day to our mothers, grandmothers, great grandmothers, and families. And to all our mothers, grandmothers, and aunts, I wish you all a very blessed, happy wonderful Mother’s Day. Shalom,

Fran Kobulnick, Social Action Vice President Editor’s note:

Operation Gratitude has launched the Coalition to Ritual Committee Support COVID-19 First Responders, one of the largest coordinated efforts in the country to support the As you must know by now Rabbi Vorspan has been brave men and women on the frontlines of the COVID-19 conducting our Shabbat services via Livestreaming pandemic. and Around the Rabbi’s Tisch via Zoom (virtually) from his home. It is a work in progress and we are Companies across the country have joined together to working to improve performance and participation. leverage their collective resources and provide direct Zoom allows interaction of participants and support to Frontline Responders nationwide. Visit Livestreaming does not. For our Shabbat services, www.operationgratitude.com to learn more about it we are investigating combining the two. and how to become a Virtual Volunteer.

To participate in the Tisch on Zoom From their website: Our response to COVID-19 is a call Thursdays at 7:30 pm to action for #VirtualVolunteerism, and we are providing Meeting ID 702 130 366 ways individuals, groups and businesses to give back from your own home. For Shabbat Services Saturdays Because our Deployed Troops and First May 9 and 23 at 10:30 am Responders can’t stop, we won’t stop! www.shirami.com then Click here to access the Livestream Our #VirtualVolunteerism campaign will allow every American the opportunity to support Deployed Troops, then Facebook (f) icon National Guardsmen, First Responders, and Emergency Medical Personnel on the frontlines of the COVID-19 I have been sending emails regularly to the Shir pandemic. Notes email list and will continue to do so during this Coronavirus restrictions period. If you are not on my list and want these emails send me an email to [email protected].

Stan Schroeder, Ritual Vice President

page 5 May 2020 Biographies of the Month: The truth is that he never did figure out how to make Ron Mix and Sid Gillman a living in America and when he met my mother in Boyle Heights, herself a first generation Russian Jew, by Stan Schroeder he was a tailor in a rundown storefront shop. That As many of you know, I am a big shop became our home, with a blanket hung on string sports fan - and I take a particular separating the public business from the home of the interest in Jewish athletes. Some time ago I acquired a Mix family. book Jewish Jocks - An Unorthodox Hall of Fame He could not make a living as a tailor, so he was a edited by Franklin Foer and Marc Tracy. It contains 50 constant gambler, and a poor one at that. My mother short bios of Jewish athletes, coaches, and owners - divorced him when I was four years old and my some well known, others lesser known. Each one is brother, Alan, was five years old. The three of us written by a writer who had a particular connection to moved in with my grandmother, uncle, aunt and the subject. I just read (or reread) the bio of Ron Mix, a cousin, in a one-bedroom apartment in Boyle football offensive tackle at USC, the San Diego Heights. Chargers, and the Oakland Raiders. I remember reading about Mix some years ago, [This was very similar to my family situation , except but didn’t remember the context. It my mother, my two sisters, and I moved into my turns out that he was also a sports paternal grandparents home in Los Angeles - Stan] writer and he had written a eulogy When another of my uncles returned from fighting as article about Sid Gillman, his former an American soldier during World War II, he bought a coach with the Chargers, after his home in Hawthorne, Calif., under the GI Bill, and the death in 2003. This bio is excerpts whole of us moved in with him. So, I went from living from that article. in Boyle Heights where, because of its immigrant Sid Gillman was my coach. There is no greater population, I believed everyone in America was compliment one can give a person, because a coach is Jewish, to living in Hawthorne, where I came to a teacher, a teacher of not only athletic skills but of understand that very few persons in America were fundamental character traits that serve as a foundation Jewish and no one in Hawthorne, other than our for a society with values. family, was Jewish.

Winston Churchill said that it was on the playing fields So, at the time I learned about Sid Gillman, I was of Eaton that the battles of war are won. He recognized short of a father figure and short on identity. Then, I that it is on the athletic field we learn loyalty, discipline, read that a Jew had been named the Head Coach of the value of hard work, acceptance of responsibility, the team I had loved for years, the team of Bob respect for oneself and others, and the mark of a Waterfield, Tom Fears, Elroy "Crazy Legs" Hirsch, mature person: the deferment of immediate gratification and Tank Younger. And I learned that this Sid for long-term goals. Gillman guy had been an All-American end at Ohio State and played in the first College All-Star Game. I first learned of Sid Gillman when I needed him most. In 1955, he was named the Head Coach of the Los What a revelation it was for me: Jews were not all Angeles Rams, the team of my boyhood. At the time, I ghetto dwellers and gamblers who left their families was a junior at Hawthorne High School and a not very — they were also All-American football players and successful substitute on the varsity football team. leaders of the Los Angeles Rams. My world had begun an expansion that continues to this day. ... I had been born in Boyle Heights, at the time an East Los Angeles Russian-Jewish ghetto. "Ghetto" was a fair Playing for Sid was never boring. No one was safe description of the place for it was peopled by primarily from his comments. Yet, we basked in his reflected Jewish immigrants who were trying to figure out how to glory as he led us to success after success. And, make a living in this strange land that did not football did become a bigger canvas than just wins particularly want them. My father had traveled to and losses. When a social responsibility had to be America by himself at age 13, sent by his family to be met, Sid met it head on. In the early Sixties, when the the first to leave the oppression in Russia, where Jews Civil Rights movement was in its infancy and some could neither be landowners nor obtain an education. professional football teams appeared to have a quota After arriving in Ellis Island, he went to Georgia to work on the number of Black players allowed, and when on a farm. There he dropped the family name of one professional team, the Washington Redskins, Rabinowitz and adopted the last name of his employer, had no Black players, Sid had open competition. Sid Mix, as his own. only wanted to know if an athlete could play. (continued on page 8)

. page 6 May 2020 Yihiyeh B’seder - It will all be okay But: Yihiyeh B’seder. It will all be okay. Life will return by Lou Loomis to normal. Resilience is part of our Jewish tradition. To be a Jew is to have a culture (or even DNA) of So, how is everyone doing? In resilience from which to draw. Our history has been Hebrew one says how are you?: one of persecution, dispersion, and finally return to Mah Shlomcha? (to a male) or normal. Mah Shlomech? (to a female). (note: there are several other ways to say this)

An Israeli would answer: B’seder

(all is in order, or fine!) B’seder is like the Passover

Seder, or order of the dinner. There are other holiday seders, too, besides Passover, including the one coming up for Lag B’Omer.

One of my favorite Hebrew sayings is Yihiyeh B’seder, It will all be okay. It’s more than just a toss- Lag B’Omer is celebrated on Monday, May 11 at off expression, like Hi how are ya? Or, How ya sunset, through Tuesday, May 12, sunset. It marks the doin’? You probably respond Oh Okay. We all do. end of the plague that killed over 20,000 of Rabbi Akiva’s talmud students, in Roman times. It also But Israelis have a certain optimism and believe all honors the death of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yohai, the will be okay. They say Yihiyeh B’seder. They live in author of the Zohar, the book of Jewish mysticism, impossible conditions, never knowing from day to also in the times of the Roman Occupation. And even day if missiles will be launched against them by one though it is considered a minor holiday, it is symbolic of many Arab or Iranian enemies hell-bent on their of Jewish Resilience. Because no matter how difficult destruction. Still, Israelis are one of the happiest and most optimistic people on earth. Yihiyeh B’seder. the times or dire our predicament, Jews manage to persevere. And not just the religious. Even the most secular believe Yihiyeh B’seder. It has something to do with Hopefully, as you read this, the quarantine will have Jewish resilience. And that is Lag B’Omer in a eased some (I write this during the height of the nutshell — Jewish Resilience. quarantine, mid-April), and our lives will have started returning to normal. I may start to shave again! Maybe As I write this, we are still in a quarantine over the we’ll even be closer to a cure. If so, then, yay!!! If not, Covid-19 flu, Wuhan or Chinese flu, or…I don’t please be patient. Use our community resources, know. We don’t know what it is, what it’s called, or, including Zoom meetings, FaceTime or Skype, to wish actually, much of anything about it. Everyone has an each other well; to study with others, to laugh and cry opinion, its nature, its cure, to wear masks and with each other, to be a family with each other. The gloves, to social distance from each other, or to not. virus will dissipate, the plague, the sad times will end. We’re now in quarantine. But, the experts are not so Hang tough! expert. The doctors, too, are not so sure, either, but they are following the medical experts, and we Or, as the fine/old saying goes: They tried to kill us. should too. And, if you are on the internet, you know They failed. Let’s eat. Yihiyeh B’seder! that the cause of this ‘pandemic’ is a bat from a Chinese ‘wet’ market, or a Chinese research lab accident, or aliens. No, not the immigrant kind, but the woo-woo UFO-aliens. Thanks, internet.

If you watch a lot of TV you are probably depressed about what is happening and know it’s the fault of a politician, or a plot by some malevolent force, or…the blame list is long. We don’t really know and some of us are quick to point a finger. Still, that’s what happens when there is so much unknown. Our lives are in disarray. We can’t shop, we can’t get haircuts, we have stopped shaving (in my case, at least). page 7 May 2020

Jerusalem Day - 5780 This state of affairs changed in 1967 as a result of the Six-Day War. by Stan Schroeder Before the start of the war, Israel Jerusalem Day (Yom Yerushalayim) sent a message to King Hussein of Jordan saying is an Israeli national holiday com- that Israel would not attack Jerusalem or the West memorating the reunification of Jeru- Bank as long as the Jordanian front remained quiet. salem and the establishment of Israeli Urged by Egyptian pressure and based on deceptive control over the Old City in June 1967. intelligence reports, Jordan began shelling civilian The Chief Rabbinate declared locations in Israel to which Israel responded on Jerusalem Day a minor religious June 6 by opening the eastern front. The following IDF paratroopers holiday to thank God for victory in day, June 7, 1967 (28 Iyar 5727), Israel captured the at Western Wall the Six-Day War and for answering Old City of Jerusalem. June 7, 1967 the 2,000-year-old prayer of "Next Later that day, Defense Minister Moshe Dayan Year in Jerusalem". This year it occurs on Friday, rd declared what is often quoted during Yom May 22 and is the 53 anniversary of this momentous Yerushalayim: achievement. “This morning, the Israel Defense Forces liberated The day is marked by state ceremonies, memorial Jerusalem. We have united Jerusalem, the divided services for soldiers who died in the battle for capital of Israel. We have returned to the holiest of Jerusalem, parades through downtown Jerusalem, reciting the Hallel prayer with blessings in our holy places, never to part from it again. To our synagogues, and saying the Pesukei Dezimra (hymnal Arab neighbors we extend, also at this hour—and verses) of Sabbath and High Holidays. There are also with added emphasis at this hour—our hand in lectures on Jerusalem-related topics, singing and peace. And to our Christian and Muslim fellow dancing, and special television programming. School citizens, we solemnly promise full religious freedom children throughout the country learn about the and rights. We did not come to Jerusalem for the significance of Jerusalem, and schools in Jerusalem sake of other peoples' holy places, and not to hold festive assemblies. The day is also marked in interfere with the adherents of other faiths, but in Jewish schools around the world. order to safeguard its entirety, and to live there together with others, in unity.” Under the 1947 UN Partition Plan, which proposed the The war ended with a ceasefire on June 11, 1967. establishment of two states in the British Mandate of Palestine—a Jewish state and an Arab state— On May 12, 1968, the government proclaimed a new Jerusalem was to be an international city, neither holiday—Jerusalem Day—to be celebrated on the exclusively Arab nor Jewish for a period of ten years, 28th of Iyar, the Hebrew date on which the divided at which point a referendum would be held by city of Jerusalem became one. On March 23, 1998, Jerusalem residents to determine which country to the Knesset passed the Jerusalem Day Law, making join. The Jewish leadership accepted the plan, the day a national holiday. including the internationalization of Jerusalem, but the One of the themes of Jerusalem Day, based on a Arabs rejected the proposal. verse from the Book of Psalms, is "Ke'ir shechubra la As soon as Israel declared its independence in 1948, yachdav"—"Built-up Jerusalem is like a city that was it was attacked en masse by its Arab neighbors. joined together" (Psalm 122:3). Jordan took over east Jerusalem and the Old City. Although most Haredim are averse to observing days Israeli forces made a concerted attempt to dislodge associated with the modern State of Israel, Yom them, but were unable to do so. By the end of the Yerushalayim is an exception and some will observe 1948 Arab-Israeli War Jerusalem was left divided it in various ways. This is because it marks the time between Israel and Jordan. The Old City and East from which Jews could once again pray at the Jerusalem continued to be occupied by Jordan, and Western Wall. the Jewish residents were forced out. Under Jordanian rule, half of the Old City's fifty-eight Following the liberation of the Old City Naomi synagogues were demolished and the Jewish Shemer added a verse to her new popular song cemetery on the Mount of Olives was plundered for its Jerusalem of Gold (Yerushalayim Shel Zahav) to tombstones, which were used as paving stones and celebrate the realization of the Jewish dream for the building materials. City.

page 8 May 2020 However, the most well known Jewish Bios of the Month: Ron Mix and Sid Gillman mother, your mother and mine, every by Stan Schroeder (continued) Jewish person’s mother, although created for Sophie Tucker, is My Using playing ability as the sole litmus test, Sid brought Yiddishe Momme. Jack Yellen and in such great Black players as Ernie Ladd, Earl Faison, Lou Pollack wrote this iconic song for Paul Lowe, Speedy Duncan, Kenny Graham, Dick Sophie in 1925 following the death of Westmoreland and Frank Buncom. Because that is what her mother. Sophie was already a U.S. and European Jews do. We have a social conscience and are fearless renowned singer. After her mother’s death, she was in assisting others. so depressed she stopped performing. This

sentimental ballad was seen both as a song of grief While other professional teams were playing the as well as the triumph of her immigrant, but numbers game with Black athletes, or excluding them courageous and powerful mother. altogether, Sid initiated social integration on the team: he assigned training camp roommates by position (e.g., Here are a few excerpts about Sophie and her classic offensive tackles room with offensive tackles) so that signature song. there would be a natural reason for Blacks and Whites The song was mostly played in large American cities rooming together. The pretext was so players of the where there were sizable Jewish audiences. Tucker same position could study their plays and share explained, "Even though I loved the song and it was a knowledge. The real reason was social integration. sensational hit every time I sang it, I was always

careful to use it only when I knew the majority of the Coach, life flew by in a wink. It was only yesterday that house would understand Yiddish. However, you didn't you were playing on the green field of Ohio State, that have to be a Jew to be moved by My Yiddishe you were playing jazz piano and meeting your future Momme. 'Mother' in any language means the same wife, Esther, that you and Esther raised four children in thing." a home filled with love and excitement while forging a career culminating with your induction into the Pro Tucker never forgot her Jewishness, even as she Football Hall of Fame. But you treated life's time as performed for broader, gentile audiences. On her precious and you went through it as a noble warrior. 1922 tour of England, Tucker was welcomed by a >>>> London audience with a sign reading "welcome Sid Gillman, born in 1911, grew up in a tough Sophie Tucker, America's Foremost Jewish Actress." Minneapolis neighborhood. Minneapolis, unlike Tucker noted, "I was prouder of that than of neighboring St. Paul, was an anti-Semiitic town. He was anything." likely passed over for coaching jobs because he was Jewish. His wife was also discriminated against During the tour, Tucker got to know many Jewish because she was Jewish. Sid is credited with actors in London, and took pleasure, at a Palladium innovations that led to today’s NFL passing game benefit for the Lying-in Hospital, in singing Bluebird, offense. Where Are You, in her words, "as a hazan would." Tucker was immensely popular in England, amusing Mother’s Day - My Yiddishe Momme eager crowds with songs like When They Start to Ration My Passion, It's Gonna Be Tough on Me, and by Stan Schroeder I'm The Last of the Red-Hot Mamas. Hanan Swaffer The Jewish religion and tradition honor mothers in many of London's Daily Express described her as "a big fat ways. The fifth commandment form Exodus 20:12 blond genius, with a dynamic personality and requires us to honor our father and mother that our days amazing vitality." Tucker's reminiscences of several may be long upon the land that God gave us. We have tours provide unique insights into pre- and postwar four biblical matriarchs: Sarah (wife of Abraham, mother European culture. of Isaac), Rebecca (wife of Isaac, mother of Jacob and Tucker described the terrible tension of playing for a Esau), Rachel (wife of Jacob, mother of Joseph and 1932 French audience that included many Jews. Benjamin), and Leah (wife of Jacob, mother of Reuben, Throughout her performance, they sent notes and Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, and Dinah). called out requests for her to sing My Yiddishe Apparently the mothers of Jacob’s other four sons, Momme. Tucker was wary but finally decided to sing Zilpah and Bilhah, handmaidens of Rachel and Leah, the song, feeling that its emotion would touch are not considered matriarchs. Other prominent biblical everyone. mothers include Hannah, Bathsheba, Naomi, and Ruth. (continued pn page 9)

page 9 May 2018

TREE OF LIFE Congregation Shir Ami Memorial Board

This beautiful Tree of Life, with leaves If you would like to honor the memory of your priced at $100 and rocks at $250 (one loved ones by dedicating plaques on our new remaining), makes a perfect way to Memorial Board, please call Helga Unkeless at celebrate family occasions and support (818) 340-5751 so she may mail you an order Congregation Shir Ami. form. The cost of each plaque is $36.

The Tree is on a rosewood background and consists of gold-colored leaves and Each plaque may contain up to three lines of rocks. It is displayed at all Congregation engraving: English name, Hebrew name, and Shir Ami services and events. the years of birth and death. Both of our Memorial Boards are displayed at all our For more information or to place an order, services. call Helga Unkeless at (818) 340-5751.

Mother’s Day - My Yiddishe Momme Several years after Hitler came into power, Tucker's by Stan Schroeder (continued) recordings of My Yiddishe Momme were ordered smashed and the sale of them banned by the Reich. Tucker then began the song in English to a fairly The song had the power to evoke a reverence for receptive house. However, when she reached Jewish culture and a cultural memory of more peaceful verse two, which is in Yiddish, anti-Semites began times and was thus threatening to Hitler's regime. to boo and other audience members responded Shortly after the war broke out, Tucker talked with with shouts, begging for quiet. Tucker actor Elizabeth Bergner, a German in London exile, remembered, "The noise was so great I couldn't who informed Tucker, "There isn't one of us in hear my own voice, nor could I hear Teddy Germany who hasn't this record of yours." [Shapiro, her accompanist and manager] at the Tucker was known for her reverence of the Hebrew piano. I thought: in a minute there'll be a riot. principle of tzedaka, charity and acts of good will Quick as a flash I turned to Teddy and said toward others. In 1945, she established the Sophie 'Switch!' Before the audience knew what the hell Tucker Foundation, donating time, energy, and was happening I was singing Happy Days Are resources to an ecumenical assortment of causes. Here Again. My God, I only hoped they were!" Tucker's financial independence was important to her By contrast, the song was generally well received and as a philanthropist she included personal, as well in Vienna. Tucker was recognized at a record as, institutional contributions to actor’s guilds, Jewish store and asked to sing My Yiddishe Momme to and Zionist causes, synagogues, and hospitals. an audience that seemed hungry for the images In 1959, on the first of several trips to Israel, Tucker the song evokes. She reflected, "It is a dedicated the Sophie Tucker Youth Center at Beit commentary on Berlin in 1931 that... it was My Shemesh in the Judean Hills, and later the nearby Yiddishe Momme that the Berlin Broadcasting Sophie Tucker Forest. She sponsored another youth Company asked for. That for the Paris mob!" center at Kibbutz Be'eri near Gaza. page 10 May 2018

Shop at Ralphs - Earn Money for Shir Ami You can do a search for Congregation Shir Ami by Maralyn Soifer by putting in the number 92785. Our congrega- tion will pop up and click on the button next to Here is an easy way to earn the name. Click on the button that saves the money for our Temple. We changes. are now officially a Ralphs’ community agency. All 5. You should also check the bottom of your you have to do is follow these simple instructions to receipt when you shop. It should say “At your help earn money for Congregation Shir Ami. request, Ralph’s is donating to

1. If you don’t have a Ralph’s rewards card already, CONGREGATION SHIR AMI”. go to the store or go to website www.ralphs.com 6. If all else fails, call me in the evening at (818) and select Order a Ralphs reward card. 704-0306. I’ll be happy to walk you through it. 7. Start Shopping! 2. Once you have your card, go to the website: www.ralphs.com and select Create an account Make sure that the clerk swipes your card each 3. If you have an account, your email address is your time you shop. Verify that your receipt shows a account ID. If you forgot your password, select contribution to Congregation Shir Ami at the Forgot your password? and you will receive an bottom. email with instructions to reset it. Follow the instructions to enter your email address and Important Note: All participants must confirm create a new password. their selection annually starting in September. 4. If you already have a Ralph’s reward card and an On or after September 1, sign into your account account, you will see Account Summary when you and reconfirm Community Rewards selection. login. You can change to our Temple by clicking on Edit within Community Rewards.

91365 CA Hills, Woodland

6353 Box P.O.

Ami Shir Congregation Thursdays May 7, 14, 21, and 28, 7:30 - 8:30 pm “Around the Rabbi’s Tisch” via Zoom

This popular Shir Ami educational series continues second half of its 5780 season. During the Coronavirus restrictions, Rabbi Vorspan is conducting these sessions via Zoom. The meeting ID is 702 130 366. With your computer or smart phone, join us for our weekly discussion of Rabbi Vorspan’s selected topics of Jewish interest. We discuss Jewish texts and current events as they relate to Jewish values and our lives as Jews. This is a unique opportunity to learn and share in an informal format. We look forward to when we will again gather around the Vorspans’ dining room table.

Call Rabbi Vorspan at (818) 888-9817 for more information.

May Torah/Shabbat Study via email

Stan Schroeder usually leads a Shabbat study session one Saturday morning a month at Northridge Mobile Home Park (19120 Nordhoff St.). We discuss the weekly Torah portion, the Shabbat prayers that are included in our Contemporary service, and various subjects relevant to Conservative Judaism.

During this Coronavirus restrictions time, he is sending the study material via email to those who have attended and anyone who wants to receive it. If you want to be added to his list, email [email protected].

We will be studying sections from the book of Leviticus that are the weekly portions this month and the holiday of Shavuot which starts the night of May 28. We are commanded “la asok b’divrei torah” (to engage in the study of Torah). Join us and fulfill the mitzvah.

Call Stan at (818) 718-7466 for more information.

Dear Shir Ami-ites,

Do you need a to

or go to the or ???

Our own Davida Tydings is selling masks and donating 18% to our Congregation. Use the order form below and send your check for $12.50 each to

Davida Aprons, 5416 Oak Park Avenue Encino, CA 91316.

Or email your request to [email protected]. Be sure to mark your order with CODE CSA18.

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Name ______# of masks ______

Address______

______

My check # ______is enclosed in the amount of $______.

CODE: CSA18