A 150-YEAR HISTORY
The rich and deep Jewish history in Colorado started when Jewish immigrants migrated to Colorado in search of freedom, economic opportunity and adventure in 1859, according to Dr. Jeanne Abrams, a professor at the University of Denver. Although a few early Jews worked in mining, most opened stores to supply the miners with food, clothing and other essential items.
Preserving the fascinating history of Jews in the West is the Rocky Mountain Jewish Historical Society, one of the premier local Jewish historical societies in the United States. Together with the Peryle H. and Ira M. Beck Memorial Archives— the major repository of Jewish history in the region— the Historical Society serves the needs of scholars and others interested in historical research. The Archives were established in 1976 in memory of Ira M. Beck, a prominent Denver businessman devoted to cultural arts and Jewish communal life. In 1995 the Beck Archives became a fully integrated part of Special Collections at Penrose Library at the University of Denver. Penrose Library is undergoing major renovation and will soon provide a state-of-the-art environment for the use of the Beck Collection, which contains memorabilia and over one million documents including manuscripts, oral histories, newspapers, microfilm and more than 5,000 photos. “Preserving Our Past for the Future: Images of Pioneer Jewish Families” is an online exhibit featuring highlights of the collection. You can view it at http://lib-anubis.cair.du.edu/About/collections/SpecialCollections/ImagesofPioneerJewishFamilies.cfm
You can access the Historical Society at http://www.du.edu/cjs/rocky_mountain_jewish_historical_society.html or by calling 303-871-3020
While extremely varied, the history of Jews in Denver is deeply intertwined with the world of medicine. According to Dr. Abrams, PhD, who is also the director of the Rocky Mountain Jewish Historical Society and the author of Jewish Denver: 1859-1940, “At the turn of the 20th century, due to the rise of tuberculosis in the congested cities, Denver became a draw for its numerous sanatoria, which used heliotherapy—fresh air and sunshine—to cure the disease.”
Denver’s renowned National Jewish Health, which has been named the top respiratory hospital in the nation for the past 13 years by U.S. News and World Report, was first founded in 1899 by German Jewish immigrants to treat tuberculosis victims from all over the country free of charge. Other institutions also emerged. “In 1904, the Jewish Consumptives’ Relief Society was established to bring to its Denver campus indigent tuberculosis sufferers from around the country,” says Dr. Abrams. (In 1954, JCRS changed its mission to cancer research, becoming the AMC Cancer Research Center, the first institution in the nation to devote its scientific resources exclusively to the prevention and control of cancer. In 2005, it officially affiliated with the University of Colorado Cancer Center, a state-of-the-art research and treatment institution.)

THE LANDMARKS
The Golda Meir House Museum is where the future Israeli Prime Minister (1898-1978) lived with her sister and brother-in-law Shayna and Sam Korngold and niece Judith during 1913 and 1914, after she ran away from parents’ home in Milwaukee—she learned that they had a husband picked out for her…and that married women were not allowed to teach there. In her 1975 autobiography, My Life, she states, “It was in Denver that my real education began…” The Korngold house was considered a social and intellectual haven by numerous Jewish immigrants from Russia (Golda’s family had left Kiev in 1906), most of whom had traveled out west for medical treatment. In this environment, Goldie discussed politics, met her future husband Morris Meyerson and developed her future political philosophy. She became deeply involved with Zionism and made the decision to emigrate to what was then Palestine. The house was moved from its original site at 1606-1608 Julian Street to the 1146 Ninth Street Park on the Auraria Campus of Metropolitan State College of Denver, preserved as a museum as well as serving as the Golda Meir Center of the college’s department of political science. Tours can be arranged by calling (well in advance) 303-556-3220. For a photo tour, go to http://www.mscd.edu/golda/house/tour/
One of the newest and most vibrant Jewish cultural experience in Denver is the Mizel Museum, which has currently been given over to a remarkable, multi-room, interactive “4,000 Year Road Trip: Gathering Sparks.” The exhibition takes visitors of all ages and backgrounds through an exploration of the richness and diversity of Jewish life, culture and history with the skillful use of art, artifacts and digital media. A must-see, it runs through 2013. Special events abound at the Mizel, including regular Salon Nights, such as the upcoming January 12 evening entitled “Art, Science & the Cosmic Connection.” It will feature Denver artist Monica Petty Aiello whose works are inspired by planetary surfaces and Martin Mendelsberg, a graphic designer, design educator and Hebrew typographer whose creative practice often addresses the relationships between Judaic mysticism, mathematics and music. At 400 S. Kearney Street, 303-394-9993, http://www.mizelmuseum.org
Since 1983, the 27-acre Babi Yar Park has offered solace and inspiration to Denverites and visitors alike—a living memorial to the 200,000 Jews, Gypsies, Ukrainians and others who were murdered between 1941 and 1943 at the Babi Yar ravine on the outskirts of Kiev, Russia. The connection between Babi Yar and Denver began in 1969 when the late Mayor William H. McNichols, Jr. designated 27 acres of parkland at the corner of Yale and Havana as Babi Yar Park at the request of The Committee of Concern for Soviet Jewry. The purpose of the park was to create “a place and an act that would demonstrate a unified public protest.” Open space for the park was first dedicated in 1971 by Elie Weisel. The second dedication in 1983 marked its emergence as a true park, “a profoundly sacred ground of remembrance, hope and protest against all acts of inhumanity,” with native prairie surrounding a cedar grove and several art installations designed by landscape architect Lawrence Halprin.
The Mizel Museum, Denver Parks & Recreation and numerous community leaders are preparing for the next phase of development: The September 11 Memorial. Linking the memory of the 9/11 attacks in New York and Washington to the memory of mass killings at Babi Yar began with a “memorial in transit” in August 2011—the transportation of sixteen pieces of steel from the site of the World Trade Center across the country to a new resting place in Denver. The opening of The September 11 Memorial is scheduled for 2012. At E Yale Avenue and S. Havana Street. You can visit on your own or schedule a guided tour by calling 303-749-5019. For a video tour, go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mrBXK4bzLNg&feature=youtu.be

COMMUNITY
The Robert E. Loup Jewish Community Center is a comprehensive community center founded in the mid-1920s. The JCC provides a wide variety of recreational, cultural and educational programs to serve (and perpetuate) the Denver community. It shares a campus with the Mizel Arts & Culture Center (MACC at the JCC), home to some of the area’s finest theater programs, art galleries, summer art camps and more. Denver’s newest state of the art, 430-seat performance space, The Elaine Wolf Theatre, will officially open its doors to the community this spring, hosting the 16th Denver Jewish Film Festival from February 23 to March 4, 2012. MACC is also the home of the Denver Children’s Theater; its Spring 2012 Mainstage Production is The Snow Queen by Charles Way
and directed by Steve Wilson. There is also the Wolf Theatre Academy for budding actors.
The Singer Gallery at MACC is one of the great visual arts institutions in Denver. Currently showing David Wander’s
In the Belly of the Whale:
Drawing from the Ancient Texts, now through January 8. Wander is part of the current generation of Jewish-American artists propelling the nationwide revival of religious-themed Jewish art, challenging and re-interpreting classic texts from their own points of view. The Art Academy’s adult classes take place in two art studios, Greinitz Art Studio and the Frankel Clay Studio, a fully equipped ceramics studio complete with pottery wheels and its own kiln. MACC XY Events are centered around the cultural arts and include a Jewish theme or element such as recent concert by Abraham Inc. featuring David Krakauer (see this issue’s “So, Nu? News”). At 350 S Dahlia Street, 303-399-2660, www.maccjcc.org

SHOP
Aharon and Chavah Brewer have run Aharon’s Jewish Books and Judaica store at for 15 years. The walls are packed with thousands of titles in Hebrew, English or both. They stock everything from kitchenware to shabbos candles to Italian Borsalino black hats. “We tend to work more the orthodox end of things,” Aharon says. In addition, Chavah has become a YouTube celebrity as you can see at http://youtu.be/b0f5fdLVNpo. At 600 South Holly Street, Suite 103, 303-322-7345, www.MileChai.com
Boutique Judaica co-owners Roz Weiss and Carolyn Auerbach have been selling beautiful menorahs, mezuzahs, books for adults and children, bar and bat mitzvah gifts, jewelry, wedding gifts and hundreds of other Judaica pieces for more than 30 years. Watch a YouTube interview with Roz at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Pbnu0rypMk  At 5052 E Hampden Avenue, 303-757-1317.

THE NOSH
Fans rave about the homemade bagels at The Bagel Deli, a family-owned and operated deli that was recently featured on Guy Fieri’s Diners, Drive-In and Dives. But that’s only the beginning. Segue to the stuffed French toast, a double slice of challah bread, stuffed with cream cheese, with blueberry sauce on the side. Blintzes, knishes, latkes, smoked fish and meat sandwiches—it’s all here. (Check out the handmade mugs and other must-haves behind the deli counter.) Owner Joe Kaplan always says the difference between a deli and a restaurant is that a deli is “a place where everyone knows your name.” His wife and co-owner Rhoda took over this Denver institution from her parents, who opened in a different location in 1969, and it’s the oldest family-owned deli in Denver. At 6439 East Hampden Avenue, 303-756-6667, http://www.bageldeli.com/
The East Side Kosher Deli, owned by Michael and Marcy Schreiber, has been in Denver for 23 years. Originally opened as a small sandwich deli, Michael and Marcy Schreiber bought it in 1997 and expanded it to 20,000 square feet at its current location with a take-out deli, a sit-down meat/pareve restaurant with an eclectic, multi-cuisine menu, a full grocery store, a meat market, an in-house bakery and catering facility. 499 S Elm Street, 303-322-9862, http://www.eastsidekosherdeli.com/
The New York Deli News restaurant opened in Denver over 20 years ago.  The owners’ lineage goes back 50 years to Manhattan’s Fashion Luncheonette on 39th Street between 7th and 8th Avenues in the heart of the garment district. Desserts are baked in the kitchen, but owners Al, Tory and Peter say their rye, bagels and bialys are from the Big Apple. At 7105 East Hampden Avenue,
303-759-4741, http://nydndenver.com/
Zaidy’s Deli has that Old World feel courtesy of stunning black and white photographs of people and old Denver all over the walls. Diners love the latkes, the Reubens and the black and white cookies. At 121 Adams Street, 303-333-5336, http://www.zaidysdeli.com

From chemistry and physics to medicine and physiology, the variety of scientific fields represented by these talented Nobel Laureates is astounding. Their profound achievements continue to shape the scientific world and spark great minds—including their own—to continue asking questions and uncovering new answers.

Saul Perlmutter, PhD

An astrophysicist at the US Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBL) and a physics professor at the University of California at Berkeley, Perlmutter, 52, was awarded half of this year’s Nobel Prize in Physics. He shares the full award “for the discovery of the accelerating expansion of the Universe through observations of distant supernovae” with Brian Schmidt and Adam Riess, two other scientists independently reaching the same conclusion at virtually the same time.
Much of Perlmutter’s research began with questioning what the universe is made of and how it works. Heading the international Supernova Cosmology Project, he has been greatly involved in numerous studies determining the nature of dark energy—the previously unknown energy speeding up our universe’s expansion. And this dark matter is by no means a small part of the universe—it’s projected to make up nearly three-quarters of the cosmos.
Originally expecting his research to conclude that the universe was slowing down, you can imagine Perlmutter’s surprise when finding quite the opposite was true.  Then came the Swedish shocker. Perlmutter, who grew up in Philadelphia, had no inkling that he was being awarded the Nobel. When the early morning call came from Sweden, his wife had to confirm the Prize online to make sure the award was in fact real.
Reflecting on the Nobel Prize news, Perlmutter said, “The ideas and discoveries that led to our ability to measure the expansion history of the universe have a truly international heritage, with key contributions from almost every continent and culture. And quite appropriately, our result—the acceleration of the universe—was the product of two teams of scientists from around the world. These are the kinds of discoveries that the whole world can feel a part of and celebrate, as humanity advances its knowledge of our universe.”
Adam Riess, PhD

Riess, an astronomy and physics professor at the Johns Hopkins University and an astronomer at the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) gratefully accepted his joint win with Schmidt and Perlmutter of the Nobel Prize in Physics. As the 41-year old laureate told Johns Hopkins University, “My involvement in the discovery of the accelerating universe and its implications for the presence of dark energy has been an incredibly exciting adventure. I have also been fortunate to work with tremendous colleagues and powerful facilities. I am deeply honored that this work has been recognized.”
Leading a study for the High-z Supernova Search Team—across 7 billion light years, no less—Riess published evidence of the universe’s acceleration and the dark energy behind it all. Similar to Perlmutter, Riess had expected to study supernovae (a specialized exploding star) and uncover that gravity had slowed the universe’s rate of expansion. When discovering contradictory results, new questions surfaced about the mysterious dark energy and universe in general.
“If you tossed a ball into the air and it kept right on going up instead of falling to the ground, you’d be pretty surprised. Well, that’s about how surprised we were to get that result,” Riess said.
The universe has been known to be expanding as a consequence of the Big Bang about 14 billion years ago, but the breakthrough that expansion is accelerating has been the most shocking discovery. If expansion continues at a faster rate, it is predicted that our universe will end in ice. But the greater impact of Riess, Schmidt and Perlmutter’s findings has physicists asking about what the unknown dark energy is all about.

Dan Shechtman, PhD

Being awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for discovering quasicrystals—a substance where atoms are packed together in a defined, non-repeating pattern—is Israeli scientist Dan Shechtman, a materials science professor at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa, a professor at Iowa State University and a researcher at the United States Department of Energy’s Ames Laboratory.
On receiving the award, Shechtman, 70, said, “The Nobel is the ultimate recognition for science…I am happy to be among the few whose work is recognized. I received the prize, but there is a large group of people who contributed to this field and our understanding of nature.”
His research helped bring to light that regular, non-repeating patterns were not impossible in atoms. When mixing aluminum and manganese and cooling it rapidly, Shechtman anticipated finding the atoms in a random arrangement. However, the electron microscope proved otherwise—the atoms were certainly not random. They even created tenfold symmetry, allowing you to rotate the pattern by 90 degrees and it still matches. In turn, Shechtman’s findings have tremendously helped other scientists conceptualize how atoms assemble themselves in solids.
And when wrangling with the worlds of religion and science, Shechtman knows where he stands. “I am not religious but a scientist, and I think that they represent divergent views of the world. In the frontiers of science, when a new science is not yet established, scientists have beliefs that are much like religion—believing something that has no concrete proof,” he said.

Ralph M. Steinman, MD

Passing away before the actual ceremony, Montreal-born Steinman, 68, was jointly awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine “for his discovery of the dendritic cell and its role in adaptive immunity.” The October Nobel award announcement preceded the Foundation’s knowledge of Steinman’s death, leaving him eligible to be awarded it posthumously, which is not typically allowed with the Nobel.
Steinman, who shares the other half of the award with Bruce Beutler and Jules Hoffmann, brought revolutionizing discoveries to the forefront of the medical field and new means of developing therapies to fight infection, cancer and infectious diseases.
Steinman was a Henry G. Kunkel professor at Rockefeller University and a senior physician at Rockefeller University Hospital. As a cell biologist, he helped discover and name the immune system’s dendritic cells, as well as how they could be used to control infections and infectious diseases. It is these very dendritic cells that activate T-cells, which ultimately help fight off infections getting through the first line of defense. By using Steinman’s discovery of dendritic cells and their correlation to T-cells, cures for cancer and infectious diseases like HIV could be found.
Making an impact on immunology was an extraordinary achievement for Steinman. Yet, his findings had an even more personal meaning to his own health. He was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer four years ago and, according to a statement from Rockefeller University, “his life was extended using a dendritic cell-based immunotherapy of his own design.”

Bruce Beutler, MD

Jointly receiving the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Jules Hoffman “for their discoveries concerning the activation of innate immunity,” Beutler has uncovered information to help expand the prevention of and therapy against cancer and infectious diseases. Beutler began the use of a technique called “forward genetics” and has identified the key receptors that let your body know when an infection is looming. It is these receptors that cause inflammation or shock when an infection becomes widespread. Understanding these crucial components allows him and other members of the medical community to work toward new methods of prevention and treatment. Methods to improve vaccines and greater insight into why the immune system can attack our tissues will only advance the health of our society.
Beutler, 53, who served as the genetics department chair at The Scripps Research Institute, is now taking the role of founding director of the Center for the Genetics of Host Defense at University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center.

A Historical Perspective
While five Jewish laureates in one year is a dramatic number, Jewish recipients of the prize have always been greatly out of proportion to our overall population. Though we number less than 3 percent of Americans, over 30 percent of American-born laureates have been Jews. Worldwide, Jews represent only about 0.2 percent of the population, yet have been honored with over 20 percent of all the Nobels awarded in its 110-year history.

Les Cinq Amandes
Lina Ariss-Abdo’s daughter Lara was graduating from high school in Greenwich, CT and she wanted to find just the right treats to give out to guests. “We looked everywhere and could not find elegant and quality favors combining special designs with exquisite delicacies. This was our need at that time and it became our mission as we decided to launch Les Cinq Amandes,” says Lina. “We specialize in artisanal dragées and confections from around the world. Using only the finest ingredients, we create exceptional gifts and favors. Having kosher products is important as we aim to satisfy our customer’s needs.” The confections are as beautiful as they are tasty. The kosher choices include Cocoa Gems of chocolate dragées and mini hearts, Almond Dragées, Tiramissu Seduction, Cocoa Almondine, Pistachio Dragées and Hazelnut Pearls. You can create your own assortments, favors and gifts online at www.fivealmonds.com or call 877-favor-57; outside of the US, call 203-276-9271.

Michel Cluizel
Since French-based Michel Cluizel’s inception in 1948, the company has become synonymous with the luxury chocolate market around the world. In 2009, its only US retail store opened at 584 Fifth Avenue in Manhattan. Expanding their reach to the observant community, they’ve just launched a first-of-its-kind line of OU certified kosher truffles, pastries and macarons. The products also mark the first time the company is producing chocolates in the US, with a brand new facility built especially for this kosher line in West Berlin, NJ. The kosher truffles come in five lip-licking varieties: Caprice, caramel ganache with gianduja coated in dark chocolate; Peaceful, tea ganache coated in dark chocolate; Folly, crunchy almond and hazelnut praliné coated in dark chocolate; Surprise, almond and hazelnut praliné with cocoa nibs coated in dark chocolate; and Joy, almond and hazelnut praliné coated in dark chocolate. You can hand select choices at the store or pick up a pre-packaged and sealed box of 14, 16 or 25 pieces. The store also offers both chocolate and vanilla OU certified kosher macarons and a variety of kosher pastries including the crunchy praliné napoleon, vanilla and chocolate éclairs and classic Opera cake—and with 24 hours notice, you can get a pre-packaged and sealed box of pastries, like the “Shabbat Box” of four gourmet kosher choices. “We understand the needs of our customers and our goal is to always adapt to accommodate them,” explains the charming Jacques Dahan, head of Michel Cluizel’s US operations. “If you call us on Wednesday to place an order, we can have a box ready for you to pick up on Friday afternoon before Shabbat.” Call 646-415-9126. Non-kosher chocolates and other treats can be bought online and shipped; go to http://www.chocolatmichelcluizel.com/NY/index.php or email newyork@chocolatmichelcluizel.com

Jer’s Chocolates
When you want to take the whole Reese’s experience to a new level, go directly to Jer’s of southern California. Jer’s ingredients are kosher certified and carry the OU designation. Among the goodies are Jer’s four flavors of peanut butter bars, Original IncrediBar, all natural peanut butter with crunchy rice crisps in creamy milk chocolate; Cara Mella with dark chocolate, peanut butter and caramel; Pretzo Change-O, a sweet and salty, crushed pretzel mix with peanut butter and milk chocolate; and Toffee Break, peanut butter with buttery rich handmade toffee covered in dark chocolate. But why pick one when you can get Jer’s Assorted Collection with two bars of each flavor? For petite eaters, there are now Jer’s Squares, bite-size versions in 4-ounce bags. There is also a line of truffles and other chocolate gifts online at www.jers.com or call 800-540-7265.

Salt of The Earth Bakery
“Salt of the Earth Bakery is a family affair and a labor of love, and has given each of us an opportunity to channel our diverse talents into the fulfillment of our collective passion—providing people with the very best baked goods,” says Jonathan Weiner, managing partner and head of sales. “All of our goodies are the result of countless rounds of tests and tastes, and nothing goes into production unless it is simply the best we have ever tasted. From our signature cookie to our brownies, each treat is paired with a specially selected artisanal sea salt that brings out the pop in the flavor and makes the snacking experience all the better.”
The chef behind Salt is Alexandra Joseph Rabbani. A self-educated baker (she honed her skills by baking her way through Pastry Arts textbooks), Alexandra provided a steady stream of desserts to her family table for years, and Salt of the Earth Bakery was her pie in the sky dream. Raised on the New York’s Upper East Side, she’s married to Jonathan’s cousin, Haskel Rabbani, who heads up Salt’s operations—they first met as students at the Ramaz School. Interestingly, all three pursued quite different careers at first. Alexandra studied sociology at the University of Pennsylvania and worked in business development at AOL for several years. Haskel, who grew up on Union Square (just upstairs from Jonathan), studied philosophy at Boston University and went on to receive his law degree from Yeshiva University’s Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law. Jonathan attended Horace Mann before studying film at The George Washington University. While in college, Jonathan worked in sales for Vitamin Water and subsequently did work in both the real estate and film industries. Ultimately the lure of a bakery business led them to pool their talents and shared love of great food (and sweets).
“After years of perfecting the recipe, we brought a batch of the cookie to our local Whole Foods in September of 2010,” Jonathan continues the story. “We were simply there to gauge their interest—imagine our delight when they called the very next day to place an order.” But they also realized that they couldn’t fulfill that order without a commercial baking facility, packaging and a general corporate infrastructure. They immediately began laying the groundwork and had a soft-launch in the Hamptons on Memorial Day 2011. “After Labor Day weekend, we started sales in Manhattan and have been expanding to new locations every week.”
The “cookie,” a huge, gooey, chewy chocolate chip delight, and all their products are all natural and certified OK kosher dairy. Salt of the Earth Bakery products are available at retail locations across Manhattan, including Zabar’s, Grace’s Marketplace and Garden of Eden and they’re adding new locations every week. The full list is available at www.saltoftheearthbakery.com/retail or call 646-330-5089.

Rogue Confections
Founder Sherri Adler has always had a passion for color and pattern—and chocolate. Rogue Confections began as a labor of love in her New York City kitchen in the summer of 2009. Adler had been the set designer for NBC’s Late Night With Conan O’Brien, but when the show moved from its Rockefeller Center home to Los Angeles, she chose to remain in New York and decided the time was right for a change. Drawing inspiration from the vast collection of vintage ephemera she had amassed as a designer for television, theater, film and private clients, she decided to embellish handmade Belgian chocolate disks with colorful images based on vintage textiles, wallpapers, greeting cards and even menorahs (the disks can also be customized with any logo, photo or image). There are also chocolate postcards, lollipops and minipops. The decorations are an edible sugar paper called Only Sweet Papers, and the papers, too, are available for sale so that you can decorate your own cupcakes, cakes, chocolates or cookies at home. The chocolates are available in 56% dark, 31% milk and 25% white and are Star K kosher dairy. Rogue also does custom orders for Bar/Bat Mitzvahs, weddings and other events. Everything is made to order; allow 1-2 weeks before orders are ready to be shipped. To order, go to www.rogueconfections.com or call 212-541-7286.

Gnossis Chocolates
Vanesa Barg takes her chocolate seriously. They’re not just certified kosher by Rabbi Zev Schwarcz of the International Kosher Council, they’re also certified organic, vegan and raw. Back in 2007, when Barg started making chocolates, she didn’t know she would be starting a chocolate company. She was just beginning her practice as a certified holistic health counselor and made the treats for her clients to replace their unhealthy sweets. Without marketing or assistants, stores in New York started requesting her bars. She designed a label, added PayPal to her health counseling website and was in business. Today she offers a mind-boggling selection of bars, including collections enhanced with nuts and seeds, fruits and berries, aromatics and more. There are treats like her pumpkin spice truffles and all manner of chocolate gifts to choose from. Barg’s website alone is fascinating with a detailed description of every ingredient plus facts about her commitment to pure foods and sustainability; www.gnosischocolate.com or call 877-4-GNOSIS.

Music always seemed to be playing somewhere in our house. We all had our little niches carved out—my mom had an unbelievable collection of Broadway show tune LPs (for you younger readers, those were the vinyl discs that came in cardboard sleeves and were played on a “record player”). Part of her legacy is my near encyclopedic knowledge of songs from musicals from Kiss Me Kate to Guys and Dolls. On weekends, you could find my dad sitting in his Eames chair, pipe in mouth, listening to some of his favorite records, which included a dreadfully mournful Jan Peerce album of Yiddish songs, a more lively Theodore Bikel collection of Jewish folk songs and, his favorite, a well-worn copy of The Norman Luboff Choir Sings Songs of the West. Both of them revered anything conducted by Leonard Bernstein, of course.
Me, I liked to hang with our housekeeper as she ironed with a tinny desktop radio usually tuned to WINS or a distant gospel station with the wail of Mahalia Jackson as background music. When the DJs offered up some Sam Cooke or Bo Diddley, she would throw down that iron, snap her fingers and shake that booty. For me, like many of my generation, that sound, simply put, swept me away and defined my musical tastes for a lifetime.
The transistor radio I got for my 9th birthday was my private gateway to a new world. Every night as I pantomimed sleep (as my dad peeked into my room), that radio was under my pillow tuned to the emerging rock and roll stations in New York. I couldn’t get enough, I even spent my allowance on 45s and dutifully checked out American Bandstand on TV after school. As I went through the motions of playing the clarinet throughout grammar school, my father always held out hope that I would become the next Benny Goodman (a good Jewish boy who, by the way, was one of the first white musicians to integrate his band). I, on the other hand, lamented that I had been pushed to the wrong instrument and longed to be King Curtis instead.
I’ll never forget the day I asked my piano teacher if she could teach me to play a boogie roll like Jerry Lee Lewis. Of course she’d never heard of him, but quickly grasped my drift and she launched into a rant about “trashy” rock and roll and how classical music had lasted “forever,” yada yada yada, and then nearly started crying. I sat on the bench stewing, while the little devil on my shoulder sang the Danny & the Juniors refrain, “I don’t care what people say—rock and roll is here to stay!”
Stereotypically I assumed that rock and roll with its inherent raunchiness and smoldering sexuality was possibly the one endeavor that Jews had no stake in. Was I wrong! As has often been the case in emerging businesses, especially entertainment, Jewish entrepreneurs easily filled a void and became integral players in both the financial and creative side of the industry rather than among the performers—at least at first. Why did this happen and how did a bunch of white Jewish twenty-somethings organize a business with black music as its product? Often excluded from mainstream occupations, Jews have always been on the lookout for opportunities in other areas. Those with enough chutzpah have been able to envision and market new concepts. The early movie moguls and the Jewish founders of the comic book industry are perfect examples. Equally important is the fact that Jewish entrepreneurs have also been willing to take on risk and, in this case, were not afraid to cross racial boundaries in search of financial opportunities.
Rock and roll’s early blues roots (read: black roots) were a real marketing headache for established white record companies, afraid to promote what was then known as “race music.” They preferred to have white artists like Pat Boone or Ricky Nelson cover songs originally released by black artists of the day, like Fats Domino. There were no such restraints for the emerging Jewish record companies like Chess and Atlantic. By the early ’60s, rock and roll had even found room and acceptance for yids as performers; they eventually filled in the gaps from pop to rock to punk. (For a look at the Chutzpah List of notable Jews in contemporary hip hop and reggae, go to www.chutzpah.mag and click on the Fall 2010 issue.)
This first installment of Chutzpah’s look at Jewish rock and roll recalls the Jewish pioneers in the industry (an auspicious sign of the times is the pseudonyms used by some)—the disc jockeys, songwriters, impresarios and producers who essentially created and then popularized the billion-dollar music business that exists today.

The Brill Building Sound

Located at 1619 Broadway in Manhattan (just uptown from its counterpart from an earlier age, Tin Pan Alley), the Brill Building and some of the nearby buildings as well, including 1650 Broadway, became synonymous with the hit songs of the ’50s and ’60s and was without a doubt the most prestigious address for music industry professionals. Inside, duos of songwriting teams, almost exclusively Jews and predominantly from Brooklyn, were busy knocking out the soundtrack of a new generation. By 1962, the Brill alone had over 160 music related clients and had created a unique self-contained assembly line where one could write a song, go upstairs and get it arranged and printed, go to the basement studio (Allegro) to cut a demo and then go back upstairs to cut a deal with a promoter. And while many of the songwriters are no longer household names, their songs you will surely remember.

Doc Pomus (Jerome Solon Felder, 1925-1991) & Mort Shuman (1938-1991)
Pomus (lyrics) and Shuman (melodies) are regarded as founding fathers of the genre. Churning out hit after hit from their cubicle—a good week for them resulted in about 12 finished songs, Pomus wrote nearly 500 songs, 60 of them charted. The pair wrote for a widely diverse group of artists including Fabian, B.B. King and Ray Charles. Although they never actually met Elvis, the pair penned 25 hit songs for Presley. Elected to three Halls of Fame (Rock and Roll, Songwriters and Blues), Pomus was the first white artist to receive The Rhythm & Blues Foundation’s Pioneer Award. Shuman went into the Songwriters Hall as well.

Pomus-Shuman Essentials:
Little Sister, Elvis
A Teenager In Love, Dion and the Belmonts
Save The Last Dance For Me, The Drifters
Hushabye, The Mystics
This Magic Moment, The Drifters

Jerry Leiber (1933-2011) & Mike Stoller (1933- )
Arguably the kings of the Brill Building, Leiber (lyricist) and Stoller (composer) wrote and produced an overwhelming number of the classics of this time. Their work became groundbreaking when they introduced the use of strings and Latin rhythms into their lavish productions. Their alterations to the standard R&B format became the precursors of “crossover” and the soul music sound that exploded in the ensuing decades. They were largely responsible for the groups that personified the era, including The Coasters, The Drifters and The Clovers. Inducted into both Songwriters’ Hall of Fame and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, their partnership spanned 60 years until Leiber’s death a few months ago. Over 1,000 artists have recorded their songs, from Elvis (including Hound Dog) to The Beatles and The Stones to James Brown and Jimi Hendrix. New generations of fans were introduced to their sound through their record-breaking 1995 Broadway revue, Smokey Joe’s Café: The Songs of Leiber & Stoller. (For more on Leiber, see “Saying Kaddish” in the Fall 2011 issue at www.Chutzpahmag.com.)

Leiber-Stoller Essentials:
Jailhouse Rock, Elvis
Love Potion #9, The Clovers
There Goes My Baby, The Drifters
Young Blood, The Coasters

Jeff Barry (Joel Adelberg, 1938- ) & Ellie Greenwich (1940-2009)
Greenwich, a session singer once known as “NY’s Demo Queen,” and her future husband Barry, a musician, originally worked for Leiber and Stoller, who had first refusal rights for their songs. But they earned their iconic legacy when they formed a trio with Phil Spector at Brill and created most of the greatest “girl group” hits of the ’60s. In 1964 alone they had an astonishing 17 singles on the Billboard Hot 100.

Barry-Greenwich Essentials:
Then He Kissed Me, The Ronettes
Leader of the Pack, The Shangri-Las
Iko, Iko, The Dixie Cups
Do Wah Diddy Diddy, Manfred Mann

Barry Mann (Imberman, 1939- ) & Cynthia Weil (1940- )
Mann hit the charts as a performer with his doo-wop spoof, Who Put The Bomp (co-written with Goffin), before meeting his future songwriting partner (and wife) while both were staff writers at publishing whiz Don  Kirshner’s Aldon Music. Mann (music) and Weil (lyrics) created a catalog of 600+ that spanned four decades, and they were considered to boldly be the first socially-conscious writing team with songs like Uptown by The Crystals. In 1999, when BMI released their list of the most played songs of the 20th century, the Mann-Weil hit You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling by the Righteous Brothers was #1, having just edged out The Beatles’ Yesterday. Winners of countless awards, the pair recently received the Johnny Mercer Award, the highest honor from the Songwriters Hall of Fame.

Mann-Weil Essentials:
He’s Sure The Boy I Love, The Crystals
We Gotta Get Out Of This Place, The Animals
Blame It On The Bossa Nova, Eydie Gorme
Soul & Inspiration, The Righteous Brothers

Carole King (Carol Klein, 1942- ) & Gerry Goffin (1939- )
The Brooklyn-raised duo formed one of the era’s great collaborations before and after they married, writing or co-writing over 100 songs that made the Billboard Hot 100. King, who went on to an acclaimed performing career (her album Tapestry, #1 in 1971, was produced by legendary Jewish producer Lou Adler) composed and arranged on piano and Goffin added lyrics. King’s former boyfriend Neil Sedaka (who teamed at Brill with Howard Greenfield in yet another prolific Jewish duo and whose song Oh! Carol was named for her) had arranged an audition with Don Kirshner. They were so successful that Kirshner offered them their own label, Dimension, where they were free to produce their own work. (For more about Kirshner, see “Saying Kaddish” in the Spring 2011 issue of Chutzpah at www.chutzpahmag.com.) The Beatles always acknowledged the King-Goffin influence on their music, and the pair was elected to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990.
King-Goffin Essentials:
Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow – The Shirelles
The Locomotion – Little Eva
One Fine Day – The Chiffons
Up On The Roof – The Drifters
A Natural Woman – Aretha Franklin

Studio Magicians

Writing a great song doesn’t automatically make it a hit. While talent and marketing certainly play their parts, equally important were the men in the studios who understood the best way to present a song to the public, thus insuring its financial success. In the early days of rock and roll, the best of these wizards tended to be jacks-of-all-trades and, incidentally, Jewish.

Leonard & Phil Chess (Lejzor, 1917-1969 & Fiszel Czyz, 1921- )
These brothers were Polish immigrants who hit the ground running as owners of Chicago’s Macomba Lounge nightclub, which featured blues acts from the Mississippi Delta. By 1950 they had founded Chess Records (the “Home of the Electric Blues”) in the hope of properly recording those acts. Chess’s impact proved to be greater than any other label in establishing rock and roll. Producing Muddy Waters, the brothers saw the potential of marketing race music to white audiences and, by the next decade, had introduced a who’s who list of bluesmen to the public. Chess released what many consider to be the first rock and roll song, Ike Turner’s Rocket 88. The brothers also are credited with the concept of packaging hit singles in their catalog into compilation “best of” LPs.

Chess All-Stars:
Muddy Waters
Bo Diddley
Chuck Berry
John Lee Hooker
Willie Dixon
Howlin’ Wolf
Buddy Guy
Sonny Boy Williamson

Jerry (Gerald, 1917-2008) Wexler

One of the first of the legendary “hands on” producers, Wexler is credited with introducing classic R&B and soul music to white audiences. In fact, as a young journalist for Billboard, Wexler coined the term “rhythm and blues” to replace race music. In 1953, Wexler and partner Ahmet Ertegun began to build Atlantic Records into a major force with Wexler becoming the quintessential A&R (artist and repertoire) man overseeing the artistic development of various young artists. A seminal moment in R&B history occurred when Wexler convinced a young Aretha Franklin to forgo her cabaret-style act and focus on her natural gospel-trained voice backed by Memphis and Muscle Shoals style bands. Wexler was one of the first non-performers inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Wexler’s R&B Royalty:
Ray Charles
Wilson Pickett
Otis Redding
Solomon Burke
Sam and Dave
Booker T. & the MG’s
Eddie Floyd

Phil (Harvey Phillip, 1939- ) Spector
Performer (his first band, The Teddy Bears, had the #1 hit, To Know Him Is To Love Him) and songwriter, the eccentric Spector forever influenced the course of rock and roll as a producer when he developed the layered and lushly orchestrated “wall of sound” recording technique for the girl groups of the ’60s. King of the singles (he once described the LP as “two hits and 10 pieces of junk”), Spector is credited with elevating the lowly 45 to an artform. With Lester Sill, he co-founded Philles Records and later produced for The Rolling Stones and The Beatles. A member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Spector unfortunately found his wall of sound transformed into the walls of prison when he was convicted of murder in 2009.

The Wall of Sound Essentials:
Da Doo Ron Ron, The Crystals
You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’, The Righteous Brothers
He’s A Rebel, The Crystals
Be My Baby, The Ronettes
River Deep, Mountain High, Ike and Tina Turner
Pretty Little Angel Eyes, Curtis Lee

Deejays and Countdowns
In the early days of rock and roll, frenetic, high energy deejays who became influential celebrities in their own right were almost as important as the artists themselves in determining the success of any given song—they were free to plug and promote any record that came into the studio, especially if it was accompanied by a little cash. East coast listeners were blessed with some of the most iconic disc jockeys to ever spin a disc, and many of them just happened to be Jewish.

Alan (Albert James, 1921-1965) Freed
Credited as the first disc jockey, the self-proclaimed “King of the Moondoggies” first rose to fame at WJW in Cleveland where his show presented R&B originals by black artists instead of white covers. In fact, without Freed there may have never been “rock and roll” as he is credited with coining the term. In the ’50s, Freed promoted a five-act show of top black artists in Cleveland; it is regarded as the first rock and roll concert ever held. By 1954 Freed had been catapulted to New York where he became the #1 DJ at WINS; he also staged and emceed legendary stage shows at Brooklyn’s Paramount Theatre and other venues. The “Architects of Rock and Roll” exhibit on the second level of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame + Museum in Cleveland features Freed with numerous historical artifacts. The Rock Hall also named its radio studio on the Museum’s fifth floor the Alan Freed Radio Studio where Sirius XM broadcasts live around the country.

Murray the K (Murray Kaufman, 1922-1982)

Murray the K inherited Freed’s prime time slot on WINS in 1958 when Freed was implicated in payola and tax evasion scandals. His innovative four hour show, The Swingin’ Soiree, was sprinkled with schtick, wacky sound effects and “blasts from the past.” He ruled the New York airwaves for a decade…and earned the title of “the original hysterical disc jockey” from critics. Like Freed, Murray brought together blacks and whites, on the stage and in the audience, at frenzied live shows, his at the Brooklyn Fox. He was dubbed with the moniker “the fifth Beatle” after broadcasts from New York’s Plaza Hotel and other locales during the Fab Four’s first trip to the States.

Bruce “Cousin Brucie” Morrow (Meyerowitz, 1937- )
Cousin Brucie followed Murray the K to WINS in 1959, but earned his reputation as the “King of Top 40” at WABC where a generation of teens religiously tuned in to his 7 to 9 pm slot to hear the “countdown” each week. Of course, Morrow soon had his own rock shows to promote, held at the popular New Jersey amusement venue, Palisades Park. Morrow is the only one of these legendary DJs still going strong. His “Cousin Brucie’s Saturday Rock and Roll Party” featuring the greatest hits of the ’60s and “a sprinkle of the ’70s” can be heard on SiriusXM Satellite Radio on Saturday nights, from 8pm to midnight, ET.

Hyman “Hy” Aaron Lit (1934-2007)

The legendary “Jet Jockey on Flight 99” was a pioneer of rock and roll radio in Philadelphia where he ruled the roost for five decades at a multitude of stations, including many years as one of the WIBG “good guys” (Hy was the last DJ on WIBG the day it went off the air forever) and ultimately at WOGL, a CBS station, until he went off the air in 2005. His Hall of Fame show dominated Philly airwaves—in 1957 he had an unheard of 71 market share in the city. Philly teens of the ’50s remember his frenzied openings like “It’s Hyski O Roone McVoutie, uptown, downtown, crosstown, here, there, everywhere—your man with the plan, on the scene with the record machine!” For a detailed look at the life and influence of Hy, go to www.Chutzpahmag.com for a special retrospective.

The Jewish Groups Emerge
By the end of the ’50s, rock and roll began to experience a blossoming of Jewish performers. The era started off on a very unusual note (no pun intended) in 1952 when four black messianic Jews from Chicago—cousins Jake and Zeke Carey, Paul Wilson and Johnnie Carter (Nate Nelson would join later)—formed the group known as the Flamingos. The original foursome met while attending the Jewish Church of God, a denomination whose services included a choir rather than a cantor, but whose congregation adhered to the holy days and rites of orthodox Judaism. As choir members they sang Jewish hymns from which they developed their unique sound. “Our harmonies were different because we dealt with a lot of minor chords, which is how Jewish music is written,” said Nelson.
By 1955 they had signed with Chess subsidiary Checker Records and released an R&B hit, I’ll Be Home. But owing to the politics of the day, it stayed only a regional success because Pat Boone had simultaneously released a white cover version (marred by incorrect lyrics) that got all the airplay instead. The Flamingos (who were one of the first bands to play their own instruments at stage shows) and their elegant doo-wop harmonies peaked with their 1959 hit I Only Have Eyes For You, regarded by some as the greatest doo-wop song ever. Alan Freed was so struck with the group that he included them in a few of the rock and roll movies he appeared in, including Rock Rock Rock where their performances still live.

NEXT UP in the Spring 2012 Chutzpah: Part 2 —
The Jewish Rockers of the ’50s, ’60s and ’70s.

By Laura Goldman

Like us, the Chinese have a deep and varied culture that dates back 5,000 years. In 2006, Shen Yun Performing Arts was created by expatriate Chinese for the purpose of reviving and celebrating traditional Chinese art forms—and sharing them with the world. To keep them alive, the group has even established a high school in upstate New York where many cast members, who are ethnic Chinese, can study the ancient Chinese arts. Since its inception, Shen Yun, which is Chinese for “the beauty of divine beings dancing,” has been performing continuously to audiences across the country and internationally to great acclaim.
The shows are a source of pride for local Chinese communities. Says Cindy Wang, “I have found myself connected with my cultural roots during my involvement bringing Shen Yun to Philadelphia each year. I am very proud of the rich culture of China that one can see through the presentation of Shen Yun.”
Shen Yun has an all-Chinese cast with one notable exception—Leeshai Lemish, a US-Israeli who grew up on the Main Line in Philadelphia where he attended Lower Merion High School. Lemish, who also speaks Hebrew, fell in love with Chinese when he began studying it to fulfill a mandatory language requirement at Pomona College in California—he has a degree in Asian Studies from Pomona and a master’s degree in International Relations from the London School of Economics.
Lemish, now 33, has been with Shen Yun from the beginning as an emcee, appearing throughout North America, Europe, Asia and Australia. He and his female partner introduce each performance in Mandarin Chinese and English and guide audiences through the show, providing all the background needed to enjoy it.
While both Jewish and Chinese cultures are 5,000 years old, ancient Chinese dances aren’t anything like our Hava Nagila. They are performed with swords, spears, parasols, fans, silk ribbons, Taoist whisks and various types of drums. The dancers wear elaborate, handmade ethnic costumes. Lemish stresses that “Shen Yun is not like a performance of the Lion King.  “Each year, the performance changes,” he points out.
While many would describe the dances as being similar to acrobatic or gymnastic routines, Lemish corrects this notion. “Flipping, tumbling, jumping, spinning and other aerial techniques have been part of Chinese dance for over 5,000 years. Gymnastics and acrobatics borrowed from them,” he explains.
The Shen Yun shows are accompanied by a western-style symphony and also features ancient Chinese instruments such as the erhu (Chinese violin), bamboo flute, and the pipa (Chinese lute), which Lemish describes as having a “more expressive and wide ranging tone.”
Chinese dances re-create Chinese legends. This year, one of the dances tells the story of Mulan, which was made famous by the hit Disney movie of the same name. “Mulan was a young lady caught between two values—loyalty to her country and taking care of the old. When her father was conscripted into the army, Mulan, disguised as a man, went in his place and became a leading general. Her female identity was only discovered when someone from the government came to give her an award,” says Lemish, who believes that the Disney movie did not do justice to the ancient legend.
Another dance will interpret the Chinese classic Journey to the West that recounts an elderly monk’s pilgrimage from China to India accompanied by a pig (a heavenly general sent down to earth) and a monkey king.  “The monkey king, which is a type of monkey endowed with magical powers, uses his powers, wit and wisdom to get himself and the monk out of sticky situations,” explains Lemish.
Some of the magical powers of the monkey king must have rubbed off on Lemish for him to be the only non-Chinese in the show or maybe it was Jewish chutzpah!
About Shen Yun. Upcoming US dates include the Palace in Waterbury CT, December 26-30; the San Francisco War Memorial Opera House, January 2-5; the Merriam in Philadelphia, January 6-8 and the David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center in New York, January 11-15. For a complete list of tour dates, go to www.shenyunperformingarts.org

Israel, the land “flowing with milk and honey,” is also overflowing with a treasure trove of art.  In fact, there are more art museums and galleries in Israel per capita than in any other country in the entire world.  That’s quite amazing considering that the country is only sixty-three years young.
In the beginning, the art was of a Jewish religious nature, which over time evolved into Israeli Hebrew art—art that depicts everyday life, landscapes and modern art. Though many of the museums display a wide variety of art, some are very culturally specific, like the Japanese Museum of Art in Haifa and the Muslim Art Museum in Jerusalem. Many kibbutzim and moshavim are artists’ colonies, and the ancient mountain city of Safed is a center for synagogues and art galleries.
Every immigrant culture arriving in Israel brought their own sense of beauty and style—the Russians introduced watercolor to the Israeli art scene, Yemenite jewelry is easily recognizable by its delicate silver designs and use of semi-precious stones and the Ethiopians brought with them their colorful and intricate embroidery.
A NATIONAL PERSPECTIVE
To get a sense of the vastness and variety of the Israeli art scene, start by browsing through some of the following websites and read about the artists:

Israel Art Guide
www.israelartguide.co.il
This site is still being built, adding artists and their works on a daily basis. You can use it to home in on hundreds of artists, read their biographies and view their work. Judaica art, ceramics, photography and jewelry design are also listed. (One warning: you can click on “Current Art Activities” and choose a location to find lists of galleries and museums; unfortunately, these listings are hardly current and are in dire need of updating in order to prove useful.)
Art City
www.artcity.co.il
Art City bills itself as a “contemporary art site” and a portal for artists to showcase their work.  The site includes paintings, photographs, sculptures and jewelry designs all from Israel, and original works and prints are available for sale through this site. Their email address is artcity@artcity.co.il

The Art Fair
www.theartfair.com
This site is a meeting place for artists—as sellers of their work—to negotiate with art buyers. The creators of The Art Fair believe that negotiation in the world of art is completely appropriate and acceptable. You can search for items by artist name, piece name or subject matter. The sales department of Art Fair is headquartered in the USA. Their email address is sales@TheArtFair.com

Midnight East
www.midnighteast.com
For an up-to-date overview of what’s happening in the Israeli art world, including music, dance, cinema and the fine arts, here is a blog that “..aims to show what Israel looks like from the inside—we want to keep outsiders informed.”
3 ARTISTS UP CLOSE
These three individual artists are highlighted because of their diversity—diversity of style, of national and of ethnic origin, as well as overall impact on the viewer’s visual field. There was also the practical consideration that I wanted to write about those artists whose body of works I have seen personally in studios, galleries or on exhibition.

Sigal Melinger is a native-born Israeli, a sabra. She established her own gallery, Sigal Melinger Gallery, in June 2009 in Kfar Saba, a small city located 20 kilometers northeast of Tel Aviv. She has on display a varied and impressive collection of original mixed media paintings. Sigal has developed a unique technique that combines both freehand sketching and acrylic together with digital processing and printing. This technique allows maximum flexibility as she is able to resize the paintings and adjust the coloration to suit the target space of presentation. Sigal’s work is characterized by clear and delicate lines, bold coloring and pleasant flow. She is a warm and open woman, and her art reflects her essence.
www.sigalmelinger.com

Ziona (Zinky) Agulnik is a South-African Israeli artist, whose many exhibits and gallery shows are written up on her website and on Facebook.  She is an emotive artist, expressing feelings and mood, rather than totally realistic forms.  “I do try to visualize my emotions,” says Ziona. “All my works are in one way or another autobiographical. In my work I use my feelings and visual experiences as inspiration. None of my subjects are original, only the interpretation is. The colors and rhythm of my work are strongly influenced by growing up in Africa.” www.zinkyz.com

Annemeet van der Leij is a Dutch-Israeli artist who was born and raised in Friesland in Northern Holland. The Dutch are well known for their art, and Annemeet was influenced by that heritage from both sides of her family. She is fluent in five languages and lived in the United States for three years. She made aliyah in 1988. After a hiatus spent raising three children, she resumed her art career in 2006. She characterizes her work as “realistic fine art…I have always been fascinated with people’s faces, and I have learned that if you manage to bring to life the eyes, the whole face is alive.”
http://fineartamerica.com/profiles/annemeet-van-der-leij.html
www.etsy.com/people/naturalpainting

SERIOUS MONEY
Finally, for the really serious (and wealthy) art collector, the Israel Museum is selling thirty-nine pieces from its permanent collection to fund new installations. Sotheby’s is overseeing the sale, which includes works by Pissarro, Picasso, Renoir, Chagall and others. This ‘de-accession’ (selling process) is a planned part of the museum’s renewal project.
Hopefully these websites will spur your interest in Israeli art as you travel virtually through their galleries. However, to fully appreciate the beauty and vitality of the art scene, come and visit Israel in person, in reality.

Naomi Resnick is a retired teacher who made aliyah with her husband ten years ago and is currently a freelance writer living in Kfar Saba, Israel.

By Beth Orenstein

It’s only fitting that with 5,000 years of Jewish culture, there should be museums dedicated to preserving and celebrating our history. What’s amazing is the number and scope of institutions across North America. The Council of American Jewish Museums (CAJM) was founded in 1977 under the auspices of the National Foundation for Jewish Culture and represents 80 members in over 30 states and provinces in North America, including Jewish art and history museums, historic sites, historical and archival societies, Holocaust centers, synagogue museums, children’s museums and Jewish community center and university galleries.
While they are all worth a visit, many now offer online exhibitions that you can enjoy from your computer. A number of them have online museum stores for shopping and gift giving. And for those who are within traveling distance, know that these are not stagnant displays—in addition to both permanent and special collections, many offer seminars, classes and other enrichment programs.
We’ve highlighted just a few of the museums here, both large and small—in size and in scope, and look forward to including more in the future. For a more complete list of museums, go to www.chutzpahmag.com

The Jewish Museum  
1109 Fifth Avenue at 92nd Street
New York, NY 10128
www.thejewishmuseum.org
212-423-3200
This is the granddaddy—or should we say zayde?—of Jewish museums. What makes it unique, says Anne Scher, director of communications, is that it “offers exhibitions exploring art and Jewish culture from ancient to modern times for people of all backgrounds.”
The Jewish Museum was established in 1904, when Judge Mayer Sulzberger donated 26 ceremonial art objects to The Jewish Theological Seminary of America as the core of a museum collection. Since 1947, the museum has been housed in the Fifth Avenue mansion on New York’s Upper East Side that had been the home of Felix Warburg and Frieda Schiff Warburg. In the early 1990s, a seven-story addition, complete with an auditorium, café, meeting rooms, children’s gallery, education center and permanent exhibition galleries, was built to accommodate its burgeoning collection and growing number of visitors.
Today, the museum maintains a collection of 26,000 objects—paintings, sculpture, works on paper, photographs, archaeological artifacts, ceremonial objects and broadcast media. Included are works by Marc Chagall, Edouard Vuillard, Mark Rothko, Lee Krasner, Elie Nadelman, George Segal, Ben Shahn, Andy Warhol, Joan Snyder, Anselm Kiefer, Eleanor Antin, Elaine Reichek, Robert Wilson and William Kentridge. The museum also organizes a diverse schedule of internationally acclaimed and award-winning temporary exhibitions.
On View Now: The Radical Camera: New York’s Photo League, 1936-1951, nearly 150 vintage photographs of New York City taken by some of the most noted photographers of the mid-20th century including W. Eugene Smith, Weegee, Lisette Model, Berenice Abbott and Aaron Siskind, through March 25, 2012; The Snowy Day and the Art of Ezra Jack Keats, the first major exhibition in the country to pay tribute to award-winning and beloved children’s book author and illustrator Ezra Jack Keats (1916–1983), whose The Snowy Day was the first modern full-color picture book to feature an African-American protagonist, through January 29, 2012. Hours: Saturday through Tuesday, 11 am-5:45 pm; Wednesday, closed; Thursday, 11 am-8 pm; and Friday, 11 am-4 pm. Admission: Adults: $12; seniors, $10; students ,7.50; children under 12, free; Saturdays, free; members, free. Eats: Lox at Cafe Weissman (kosher). Shop: onsite and online gift store.

The National Museum of American Jewish History
101 South Independence Mall East
Philadelphia, PA 19106-2517
www.nmajh.org; 215- 923-3811
Located steps from Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell, the National Museum of American Jewish History recently opened its new $150-million, 100,000-square foot, five-story home. NMAJH began its history in 1976—in time for the city’s Bicentennial celebrations—with a mere 40 objects. Founded by the members of historic Congregation Mikveh Israel, which was established in 1740 and known as the “Synagogue of the American Revolution,” the museum had been housed within the shul.
What makes the museum unique, says Ivy L. Barsky, the museum’s Gwen Goodman Museum Director and COO, is that it is “the only one telling the story of the American Jewish experience from 1654 to the present—the unique and ongoing encounter with the blessings and challenges of freedom.”
The first floor’s Only in America Gallery/Hall of Fame uses video, audio testimonials and personal belongings to examine the contributions of 18 inaugural outstanding Jewish Americans—chosen by public vote and the museum’s historians—including Irving Berlin, Leonard Bernstein, Albert Einstein, Sandy Koufax, Estee Lauder, Golda Meir, Barbra Streisand, Jonas Salk and Steven Spielberg.
The upper floors house interactive displays and artifacts that highlight the religious, social, political and economic lives of American Jews. Beginning in 2013, the top floor will be home to special exhibitions and events.
Hours: Tuesday to Friday, 10 am-5 pm; Saturday and Sunday, until 5:30 pm; closed Monday and major US and Jewish holidays. Admission: Adult, $12; ages 13-21, $11; child 12 and under, free; seniors 65 and older, $11; members, free. Eats: Pomegranates Café (kosher). Shop: Judaica store onsite and online.

Contemporary Jewish Museum
736 Mission Street
San Francisco, CA 94103
www.thecjm.org; 415-655-7800
Many people have said that the CJM, a non-collecting museum, couldn’t exist anywhere else but in San Francisco where it was founded in 1984. Says its director Connie Wolf, “Where else would you find a Jewish museum commissioning the writing of a Torah by a woman and creating an exhibition that allows visitors to watch the process and interact with the soferet?  Where else would you find musicians from Lou Reed to Laurie Anderson to Alvin Curran creating new works responding to different letters of the Hebrew alphabet?”
CJM works with artists to create new work and stage temporary exhibitions that cause their audiences “to think afresh about the changing dynamics of what it means to be Jewish today and the continuing relevance of Jewish ideas in a contemporary world,” Wolf says. The exhibits are meant to celebrate Jewish culture, history, art and ideas within the context of 21st-century perspectives.
The museum is now housed in a unique space that marries the 1907-designed Jessie Street Power Substation in San Francisco’s lively SOMA district with a vibrant blue metallic steel building designed in 2005 by architect Daniel Libeskind, who was inspired by the two Hebrew letters of the word chai, chet and yud.
On View Now: California Dreaming: Jewish Life in the Bay Area from the Gold Rush to the Present, through October 16, 2012; Houdini: Art and Magic, the first art exhibition in an American art museum on this master magician, through January 16, 2012; and Stanley Saitowitz: Judaica, through October 16, 2012. Hours: Daily, 11 am-5 pm; Thursday, 1-8 pm; closed Wednesday. Admission: Adults, $12; seniors, $10; 18 and under, free; Thursday after 5 pm, $5; members, free; first Tuesday of each month, free. Eats: American Box, a modern deli. Shop: onsite, limited online selection.

The Sherwin Miller Museum of Jewish Art
2021 East 71st Street
Tulsa, Oklahoma 74136
http://www.jewishmuseum.net
918-492-1818
The Tulsa metropolitan area has a population of 600,000, yet of that number, only about 2,000 are Jews. “Our museum, through our exhibition and publication programs, is striving to have an impact on the entire community, focusing on its roots in Jewish culture, history and art and to further enrich the lives of all the area’s citizens,” says Arthur M. Feldman, executive director. “Our program theme of ‘bonds of commonality’—what Jews and the community have in common—is presented in tandem with information to demystify Jews, Jewish history and  Jewish culture for the greater population.”
In 1965, a local synagogue brought a traveling exhibit, “Traditional Ceremonial Art,” from the Jewish Museum in New York to the Tulsa community. The exhibit generated great interest in Jewish culture and art, and the following year, the Gershon and Rebecca Fenster Gallery of Jewish Art opened to the public. Sherwin Miller, the first curator of the gallery, began collecting Jewish art and artifacts in earnest.
In 2000, the museum was renamed the Sherwin Miller Museum of Jewish Art to recognize the achievements and contributions of its first curator. Three years later, the Museum moved to its current location on the Zarrow Campus which it shares with the Jewish Federation of Tulsa/Charles Schusterman Jewish Community Center, Mizel Jewish Community Day School and the Tulsa Jewish Retirement and Health Care Center.
The upper levels of the museum display its permanent collection of art and artifacts showing the 5,000-year history of the Jewish people from the pre-Canaanite era through the settling of the Jewish community in Tulsa and the American Southwest. Visitors learn about the exiles’ and immigrants’ travels to new home lands, Jewish practices, ceremonies, holidays and overall heritage.
The lower level of the museum features the Herman and Kate Kaiser Holocaust Exhibition, containing hundreds of objects donated by Oklahoma veterans who took part in the liberation of German concentration camps and other artifacts brought to Oklahoma by Jewish refugees from Nazi Germany.
On View Now: Marc Chagall: Drawings for the Bible features a large display of the Russian-born painter’s lithographs from a series he did based on personal memories and impressions of a trip he made to what was then Palestine; through January 31, 2011. Hours: Monday-Friday, 10 am-5 pm; Sundays, 1-5 pm; closed Saturday. Admission: Adults, $6.50; 55 and over, $5.50; students 6-21, $3.50; members, teachers and uniformed service members, free.
Please visit the museums’ websites for US and Jewish holiday closing information.

National Museum of American Jewish Military History
1811 R Street, NW
Washington, DC 20009
http://www.nmajmh.org
202-265-6280

Chartered by an act of Congress in 1958, the National Museum of American Jewish Military History near Dupont Circle doesn’t focus on weaponry as its name might suggest. Rather, says Norman Rosenshein, president, “we tell the story of what the Jewish soldier did in the military. It’s our emphasis on the human interest side that makes us unique.”
Housed in the same building as the Jewish War Veterans national headquarters, the museum has two floors of permanent and special exhibitions. One of its permanent exhibits is devoted to Major General Julius Klein, World War II hero and advocate for the establishment of the State of Israel. Another exhibit pays homage to the Jewish-American servicemen who have received the Congressional Medal of Honor.
In the Captain Joshua L. Goldberg Memorial Chapel you can reflect upon its magnificent stained glass panel that depicts the harvesting of fields and the words in Hebrew “from swords to plowshares.” A navy chaplain in WWII, during the Korean War, Goldberg became the first Jewish chaplain to attain the rank of captain.
A continuing exhibit, Women in the Military: A Jewish Perspective, profiles Jewish female veterans of US conflicts from the Civil War to the Gulf War and brings to the forefront the vital role women have played in America’s war efforts throughout our country’s history.  The museum normally presents one new exhibition every other calendar year. It also offers a regular program of classes on diverse topics.
Hours:  Monday to Friday, 9 am-5 pm; Sunday by appointment for groups of six or more; closed Saturdays. Admission: Free. Shop: onsite and online.

Oregon Jewish Museum
1953 NW Kearney, Portland, OR 97209
http://www.ojm.org
503-226-3600
The Oregon Jewish Museum was founded in 1989 by a volunteer group to provide the state with a museum dedicated to Jewish art and history. In 1996, OJM merged with the Jewish Historical Society of Oregon. That same year, after being a “museum without walls,” the museum opened in a donated office suite in northwest Portland. In 2001, it moved to a storefront in Portland’s old town and presented its first exhibit, Faces and Places of Old South Portland.
In 2010, the museum tripled its space, moving to a former commercial film building. Today, says museum director Judith Margles, “the museum creates innovative exhibits and Jewish programming while, at the same time, building a dynamic institution embracing Jewish identity and community.”
By using the lens of Jewish culture through which to view and shape a dialogue about historical and contemporary issues, Margles says, “our goals are based on an underlying belief in the power of our Jewish heritage to build and engage the Jewish community, affiliated and unaffiliated alike, as well as the community at large.”
The museum has featured exhibits on the game of Mah Jongg (through December 31, 2011) and compelling black-and-white photographs and musical memorabilia of Ernest Bloch, the Jewish composer and late-in-life Oregonian best known for his mournful “Kol Nidre” melody.
On View Now: The Dawn of Tomorrow: Oregon Jews and Woman’s Suffrage, through May 27; upcoming: Transport, works by Henk Pander and Esther Podemski, January 18-May 27 and Oregon Jewish All Stars, June 7-September 30. Hours: Tuesday-Thursday, 10:30 am-4 pm; Friday, 10:30 am-3 pm; Saturday and Sunday, 12-4 pm. Admission: Adults, $6; seniors and students, $4; members and children under 12: free.

The Jewish Museum of Maryland
15 Lloyd Street
Baltimore, MD 21202
www.jewishmuseummd.org
410-732-6400
Located in the heart of one of Baltimore’s oldest and most fondly remembered Jewish neighborhoods, “there are many things that make our museum unique,” says Deborah Cardin, assistant director. The Jonestown campus includes two historic sites: the Lloyd Street Synagogue, built in 1845 as Maryland’s oldest synagogue, and B’nai Israel that dates from 1876 and still houses an active congregation. In addition, the museum has three exhibition galleries where it explores topics of historical to contemporary interest. “By visiting and touring our historic sites and galleries, visitors come away with a sense of the breadth and variety of Jewish life past and present,” Cardin says.
The museum’s collections, which include works of art, historical photographs, clothing, ceremonial items, rare books, everyday objects, documents, oral histories and memorabilia, tell the story of Jewish life in Maryland from immigration and family history to congregational life and contemporary culture.
On View Now: Chosen Food: Cuisine, Culture and American Jewish Identity examines the diversity of Jewish foods—it’s not just matzo balls—and looks at what the foods Jews eat say about them. The Synagogue Speaks, is a multi-media exhibition that tells the story of the landmark, newly restored Lloyd Street Synagogue and the three immigrant congregations—two Jewish and one Roman Catholic—that occupied it. Voices of Lombard Street: A Century of Change in East Baltimore chronicles the area surrounding the Jewish Museum of Maryland, the center of immigrant Jewish life in Baltimore in the early 1900s where people of different backgrounds lived, worked, created community—and came together in the renowned Jewish market known as Lombard Street. Hours: Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, 12-4 pm. Admission: General, $8; students, $4; children under 12, $3; members, free. Shop: online and onsite.
The Breman Jewish Heritage & Holocaust Museum
The Selig Center
1440 Spring St. NW, Atlanta, GA 30309
http://www.thebreman.org
678-222-3700
Opened in midtown Atlanta in 1996, the Breman Museum is the largest repository of materials related to Jewish life in the South. The museum is named for William Breman, owner of the Breman Steel Company, who was a philanthropist and active in the Jewish community in Atlanta.
What makes the museum unique, according to Jane Leavey, executive director, is that its signature and special exhibitions are designed for diverse audiences and to educate visitors about Jewish values, customs and traditions. Its exhibitions explore universal themes, such as personal responsibility, community building and cross-cultural understanding.
Its signature exhibition, Creating Community: The Jews of Atlanta From 1845 to the Present, explores the growth of Atlanta’s Jewish community beginning with two peddlers who came to the city open a dry goods store and now boasts of more 100,000 Jews. Another signature exhibit, Absence of Humanity: The Holocaust Years, 1933-1945 focuses on historical photographs and documents, personal memorabilia and family photographs, and the voices of those who survived and made new homes in Atlanta.
On View Now: Torn from Home: My Life as a Refugee, through a hands-on journey, children ages 8-12 can explore what it means to be a refugee through the eyes of children who are forced to leave their homes and seek safety in a new land, through January 8, 2012; upcoming: The Art of Gaman: Arts and Crafts from the Japanese American Interment Camps, 1942-46, featuring more than 120 objects—tools, teapots, furniture, toys, games, musical instruments, pins, pendants and purses—that the Japanese Americans who were interred at camps during World War II made while there to beautify their surroundings, January 29-May 31, 2012. Hours: Monday-Thursday, 10 am-5 pm; Friday, 10 am-3 pm; Sunday, 1-5 pm. Admission: Adults, $12; seniors 62 and over, $8; students, $6; children ages 3-6, $4; children under 3, free; members, free.
Beth W. Orenstein is a Northampton, PA-based freelance writer and regular contributor to Chutzpah magazine.

Jewish Museum of Florida
301 Washington Avenue, Miami Beach, FL 33139
http://www.jewishmuseum.com
305-672-5044
Opened in 1995, The Jewish Museum of Florida in South Beach is the nation’s first museum to focus on an ethnic group within a state. “We are the only museum to depict the experience of Jews in Florida, which began in 1763 when Jews were first permitted to settle when Florida was traded to Great Britain. For 250 years (1513-1762), only Catholics could live in Florida,” says Jo Ann Arnowitz, executive director.
The museum is housed in two adjacent restored historic buildings that were once synagogues for Miami Beach’s first Jewish congregation. The museum has amassed a vast collection of more than 100,000 objects including rare photographs, artifacts and oral histories culled from more than two centuries of Florida Jewish families.
The focal point of the museum is its exhibit MOSAIC: Jewish Life in Florida – 1763 to the Present, which includes more than 500 photos and artifacts. The museum also stages history and art exhibits that change periodically.
On View Now: Wooden Synagogues of Poland and the Florida Connection, through March 18; Rabbi Irving Lehrman: His Life & Art, a look at the spiritual leader of Temple Emanu-El on Miami Beach for more than 50 years and the artwork he created, through January 15, 2012. Hours: Tuesday-Sunday, 10 am-5 pm; closed Monday. Admission: adults, $6; seniors, $5; families, $12; members and children under 6, free; Saturday, free. Eats: Bessie’s Bistro, named for its donor, Bess Myerson, still the only Jewish woman to have been crowned Miss America. Shop: onsite and online.

You could have heard a pin drop in the packed auditorium of the Free Library of Philadelphia in November when Israeli writer Amos Oz read from his latest novel, Scenes from a Village. Oz, as revered for his fiction writing as he is for his outspoken, eloquent defense of the Israeli left, became the face—the ruggedly handsome face with piercing blue eyes—of Israeli literature after the runaway success of his first novel, My Michael. Despite the book becoming a worldwide phenomenon, the 72-year-old writer admits that he would not write that novel—told entirely from the viewpoint of a woman—today.
“At 24, I thought that I knew everything there was to know about women,” he says with a twinkle in his eye. “Now I wouldn’t dare write the book because I know now that I know nothing about women.”
His latest book takes place in the fictional ancient village of Tel Ilan. “It is the kind of place that is rapidly fading from Israel and everywhere else,” says Oz, who now lives in the desert town of Arad. “It was a farming community, but is now filled with weekenders.” He calls the book a “novel in short stories because the community members of Tel Ilan make appearances in each other stories.”
The premise for the work came to him in a dream. Oz, who says he learned about human nature from living in close quarters with 300 people on Kibbutz Hulda, characterizes the short stories as “perceptive tales of people in a transitional state.” Each of the characters has lost something or hid something from themselves, he explains. “Their search is in tatters. They have reached the basement in their own souls.”
Oz refutes the idea that tales of loss and searching are depressing. “Where there is searching, there is hope. Sadness and gloom is not despair,” he asserts. Of course, he operates from his own lexicon. A Tale of Love and Darkness is the story of his life before his mother committed suicide at the age of 39, yet Oz does not call it a memoir.  “There is no Hebrew word for memoir. That is only a Library of Congress designation,” he says.
As a youth, he rebelled against his father, including dropping his family name for the Hebrew word for strength. He recalls, “He was right wing, I am left wing. He wanted to be tall, I am defiantly short. He wanted to be an intellectual, I wanted to drive a tractor. The irony is that I ended up in a roomful of books.” Despite their differences, the greatest influence on his life seems to have been his father.  He still argues with him every day though it’s now been 41 years since his death. “It is good to talk to the dead,” he declares.
Oz considers himself a cosmic storyteller, not just a writer from Israel.  “The more provincial and parochial a story is, the more universal the story,” argues Oz. “The tale is the oldest literary form, stemming from the days of the Neanderthal.”
While his tales of retired members of parliament that smell of ripe cheese may have global appeal, his political writing only heads in one direction—left.  He is not ready to give up on Israel or the peace process. “We have faced greater obstacles—the Holocaust—than the current ones,” he says. Oz doesn’t use a computer to write and is just as creative with his choice of pen color: “I use one color for my stories and another to tell the government to go to hell.”
As a co-founder of the Peace Now movement, he still believes peace is achievable.  Oz argues, “It is a necessity, a historic compromise is unavoidable between Palestinians and Israelis. The majority of both would now not be unhappy with a two-state solution. Bold, courageous leaders are needed on both sides. The present leaders lack the courage to do what they know in their heart of hearts that they have to do. Using a metaphor, the peace process is like a patient that is unhappily ready for surgery, but the doctors are too much of a coward to perform the surgery.” According to Oz, Obama may have “invoked a message of high expectations that is too difficult to live up to.”
Oz fears that the release of Gilad Shalit might have complicated the peace process. “I rejoiced on the day he was set free. Gilad had become the child of every Israeli family. The morning after, I was nervous. We had set free dangerous terrorists. We weakened the hand of Palestinian President Abu Mazen and played into Hamas,” says Oz.
His front page essay in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz in August on the recent social protests in Israel, which mirror our Occupy Wall Street demonstrations, prompted an article in the New York Times. While boasting that half a million marched without a single violent episode and no police brutality, he demurred from predicting whether the demonstrations all over Israel would effect change. “It’s too early to tell, says Oz. “It is difficult to be a prophet from the land of prophets.”
The last answer was typical Ozian. In his writing, he “likes to erase the line between tragedy and comedy. When you have cried all your tears, it is time to start laughing.” He fantasizes about creating a capsule filled with a sense of humor. “A sense of humor is the only cure for fanatics. It is the antidote for fanaticism,” says Oz. “Then I will win the Nobel Prize in medicine.”
Oz has only two aspirations for his readers. He hopes that someday they will read The Same Sea, which he considers his literary masterpiece although it did not sell well. Despite having “the best Hebrew to English translator in the world,” he wishes that his readers could read his books in the original Hebrew. Oz, whose work has been translated into 41 languages, compares reading the translation of his work to “playing a violin concerto on the piano.” Fans will be delighted to know that he is hard at work on a new book, but don’t expect him to divulge any details—as he puts it, “That would be as dangerous as a pregnant woman undergoing an X-ray.”