Jewish Studies Program JOURNAL OF INFOR- MATION TECHNOLOGY

Student News:Sophie ParkerStudent News: Francine HardySince I was young, I havealways maintained a deepappreciation for the history ofthe Jewish people and theirtumultuous but incredibly rich4,000 year journey. As thegranddaughter of a Holocaustsurvivor, I feel a certain senseof responsibility to continue toeducate and lift up the Jewishpeople. And as bigotry and antiSemitism become increasinglyprevalent in today’s America,this sense of responsibility tomy ancestors only grows.Igrew up just minutes fromcampus, attending TempleEmanu-El. Having thatcommunity growing up allowedme to better understand myJewish identity and where I fitin with such a dynamic culture.During my freshman yearat SDSU, I joined Hilleland became more active in theJewish community on and offcampus. Those first months, Ifound myself digging deeper intomy understanding of the Jewishpeople and would spend hoursonline and in classes trying tolearn more. However, what trulyinvigorated me to pursue JewishStudies was the increasingviolence against American Jews.I felt that as a young Jewishindividual, I had an importantrole to play; therefore, my pathin life should be a contributionto the advancement andblossoming of the Jewish people.I hope to combat anti-Semitismeveryday through education andmy commitment to the Jewishcommunity.PAGE 4The first stirrings in mybeing that culminated inmy decision to major in ModernJewish Studies were from theextraordinary film Exodus. Forthe first time I saw Jewish peopleas a people before my eyes onthe screen – I was enthralled bytheir pluck and courage, by theiramazing strength and resiliencedespite their poignant plight– what a vision the world wasgiven of these people who hadsurvived the Holocaust. Whilecinema gave me vicarious visualinvolvement through such filmsas Fiddler on the Roof, HesterStreet, Defiance, The Pianist,and Schindler’s List, the tippingpoint, the pivot kindling mycommitment to immersion inJewish Studies was the questto prove my husband Steve’sJewish ancestry coupled withdiscovering the Jewish StudiesProgram offered by SDSU.Having concluded my careeras an NICU registerednurse, and encouraging my threechildren across the finishing lineof their university degrees, it wasnow my turn to pursue my dream,a loved interest, not for money ornecessarily a second career, butfor the sheer pleasure of learningand engaging in all there isavailable at SDSU related to theJewish people and Israel. Thoseaspirations were met abundantlyby courses and professors asdoor after door was opened intothe realm of Judaism and theJewish people and culture –past, present, and future; herein the USA as well as in Israeland around the world. Thuswas my dream of exploring theremarkable saga of my husband’sancestry intertwined with mypursuit of a bachelor’s degree inModern Jewish Studies.Ihave been enthralled by themystical nature of Jewishreligion, but have been equallydrawn to their very human historythat seems to be a miracle.Along the path of my journeyin Jewish Studies, I haveworked as a nurse with asylumseekers under the auspices ofJewish Family Services; I havebeen honored with induction intoPhi Beta Kappa, representingthe Jewish Studies Program atSDSU; I have been generouslyencouraged in my furtherstudies with a scholarship fromAaron and Jeanne Gold; and myhusband has gone through hisBar Mitzvah on campus with aChabad rabbi after which we wenttogether to our first seder. I havefallen in love with the infectiousexuberance and enjoyment ofJewish music, culture, dance,and song (especially in Hebrew)thanks to Professor Yale Strom,and found my favorite languagein Hebrew writing and speakingthanks to Professor Alana Shuster.Visiting Israeli Professor TamarArieli opened the foundationalhistory of the birth of Israel fromancient times to current dates inways I had never considered norrealized. And Professor/RabbiScott Meltzer adroitly usheredme into the theological world ofJudaism. In a world where the ebb,flow, and decline of civilizationsis the norm, where colors pulsateand then fade away, the Jews,Israel and their story for me, aretechnicolor.As I progress in the journeyopened before me, I expect toimpact my family, my colleagues,acquaintances, fellow students,and as many people as possiblewith what I have learned andwill learn and realize about theJewish people and the state ofIsrael - things I never would haveknown had I not been given suchan opportunity, had I not believedand realized “a horizon is nothingbut the limit of our sight .”

Reflections on my Monday class, April 19, 2019by Ronit Weiss Berkowitz, a former visiting Israeli Scholar in the Jewish Studies Program, Spring 2019. Translated from Hebrew.Ia m still emotionallyoverwhelmed by the powerfulexperience I had yesterday inclass. I apologize for writing inHebrew, it comes to me fasterand I do not want those momentsto slip away.I planned to talk to the studentsbriefly about the shooting attackat the Poway synagogue, to tellthem what happened here twodays ago, so close to home. To letthem know and understand theimplications of what happenedthere before we would move onto the planned class topic. Ialso mentioned that this weekhappens to include HolocaustRemembrance Day, whichgives an additional shockingdimension to that so-called “actof hatred.” It was important tome to connect these two things.And then it hit me all of asudden, this is the first Holocaustday I’ve experienced without mymother (who passed last year).Most of the students havepretty vague knowledge ofthe Holocaust. I told themthat my mother was 16when she was taken to theAuschwitz extermination camp,and informed them aboutextermination camps and theFinal Solution. I told them thatI never had the joy of knowingor seeing a grandmother,grandfathers or uncles, andinformed them about signs thatread “Entry to dogs and Jews isforbidden.” And I began to cry.I have been teaching for manyyears and I have never criedin front of a class. Even in themost intimate atmosphere,there is always some distancebetween lecturer and students,but the longing for my recentlydeceased mother and thejuxtaposition of the shooting andRemembrance Day, and perhapsalso the lecture by RabbiMeltzer yesterday morning,stripped me of all defenses.I shared with the students thestory of my parents’ lives. Theylost everything - family, home,language, security, citizenship,mental and physical health - andthe happiest day of their liveswas not the liberation from thedeath camps, or the day theywere married in the DisplacedPersons camp, but rather ithappened when the UN voted toapprove the establishment of theState of Israel.I told my students (with tears)what it is to grow up in a housethat has no past - no picture orobject from a previous life - alife that must rise like a phoenixfrom the sands. And how mymother always declared that shewas still alive only in order to tellwhat she had witnessed. That wasthe only reason she could find tojustify her survival.I told the students how importantit is to tell - to remember throughstory what made us who weare and where we came from.We tell stories to rememberthe stories of our parents, tobe part of humanity, to choosewhich people we would like tobe. I have been encouragingthem since the beginning of thesemester to write about theirfamilies, who come from a richcultural diversity of worlds andlanguages. This diversity makesit so important for me to heartheir stories.I shared the fact that I, too, wasa “first generation” universitystudent like many of them(instead of attending college,my parents struggled to survivein the camps for another day,another hour) and my students’pride in this achievement ofmaking it to university isfamiliar to me and exciting.I do not remember everythingTributesThe Jewish StudiesProgram is reinitiatingan opportunity to financiallysupport the program witha Tribute -a donation inhonor, or in memory of, aloved one or friend and/or a beautiful expressionfrom that class, it was veryemotional and spontaneous. Ido remember that I explainedthat although I am completelysecular, do not attend synagogue,that as a Jew, this hatred inPoway was directed directly atme, wounding me and breakingmy heart. Because I grew up ina house where Mother yelled atnight in her sleep, and until herlast day she had not forgottenthe smell of the chimney smokein Auschwitz. That is how farhatred can go.I saw the students’ eyes gleamingwith tears. They rose to embraceme. Jonathan said that hisgreat-grandfather was one ofthe liberators of Auschwitz.Jesse said her family also hadHolocaust survivors. An amazingconversation took place all ofa sudden, in which students,including LGTBQ students,shared harsh experiences ofracism and violence, especially ifthey were not “white.” Studentsdiscussed their immigrant parentsand their desire to belong - tobe human, not Jews or Mexicansor Muslims or people of color orlesbians or foreigners, but simplypeople. It was the most movinglesson I’ve ever experienced. Nopartitions or barriers.At the end, the students cameto hug me, commiseratedwith my sorrow and thankedme for sharing my story. Ithanked them for their support,apologized for the tears and toldthem I loved them.of acknowledgingan individual for anaccomplishment orpraiseworthy effort. Yourgift supports all aspectsof the program, includingconcerts, special eventsand student scholarships.The minimumcontributionfor a tribute and anacknowledgement is 18.Of course, any contributionis always welcome, is taxdeductible, and very muchappreciated by the program.Please send yourcheck made out to theJewish Studies Program/Campanile Foundation atSan Diego State Universitywith the honoree’s nameand address and the donor’sname and address. Tributesreceived will be publishedin an upcoming JewishStudies newsletter.PAGE 5

Five Levi Brothers. Photo cour tesy of the Jewish Historical Society of San Diego.Jewish Historical Society -Scholars andCommunity Members Delve into Collectionsby Laurel Schwar tzAn abundance ofresearchers explored theJewish Historical Society of SanDiego Archives Collections inthe last year. Max Greenbergis a graduate student at UCLA,whose doctoral dissertationconcerns the business,political, benevolent andreligious networks establishedby 20th century Jewishmigrants to the US-Mexicoborder region. Of particularinterest is a JHSSD collectionin Special Collections &University Archives. In 2014,PAGE 6Elena Fishman de Saaddonated research materialsfrom her thesis, entitled LaComunidad Israelita de Tijuana(The Jewish Community ofTijuana) to JHSSD, includingmany hours of interview tapes.Greenberg and Mrs. Saad havebecome compadres in pursuingtheir mutual interest, as hissearch continues in JHSSDcollections for evidence ofbenevolent and businesscross-border relationships.In the mid-20th century,North Park was the centerof Jewish life in San Diego.Several people, includingmembers of The SecondGeneration, local childrenof Holocaust survivors, areexploring the nature of thatJewish community. North Parkwas home to many Holocaustsurvivors, their businesses, twocongregations, kosher butchersand, a Jewish deli and bakery.There is much material tobe discovered in synagogueand personal collections, andJHSSD’s Israel Today/JewishPress Heritage Collections.Times and San Diego JewishContinued on page 7Art Curator Mark ElliottLugo is writing a bookabout celebrated La Jollaartist, Faiya Fredman. Hewas researching materials onthe housing covenant whichdiscriminated against Jews,African Americans, Mexicansand others in the mid-20thcentury and was delighted todiscover some of what he neededin the collection of his formerneighbor and family friend,historian Henry Schwartz.

Continued from page 6The Loraine and Jack SternCollection documentsMrs. Stern’s many years as thefounder and manager of TheSource gift shop at the EastCounty JCC. During her timethere, she conducted juried artshows, art lectures, auctionsand a lecture series calledTaboo Topics. Mr. Stern waspresident of Jewish FamilyService and of the JCC, wherehe produced theater programs.The collection also containsmaterial about the early daysAn all-star concertin celebration of theintersection of Jews and Blueswas presented on November7th in Smith Recital Hall.The concert featured musicin English and Yiddish,drawing inspiration fromChess Records, the go-toblues label in Chicago.In the great blues era,Benny Goodman andArtie Shaw played alongsideblack musicians such asTeddy Wilson and LionelHampton. Chicago’s CorkySiegel, harmonica, HarveyMandel, guitar, and MichaelBloomfield, guitar, developedrelationships with MuddyWaters, Howlin’ Wolf,Junior Wells, and otherblack musicians and helpedspread the Blues worldwide.of the San Diego Chapter ofthe National Council of JewishWomen, of which Mrs. Sternwas president.Another recent acquisitionis Robert Levi’s research,contained in a 14-volumecollection of copies of originalsource material, dating from1873-1991, relating to hisfamily. The five Levi brotherscame to San Diego in the late1800’s. Two of the brothers, inparticular, Simon, and Rob’sgreat grandfather, Adolph,spent their lives here. They“Blueish: Jews and the Blues”looked at why Jews fell in lovewith African-American Blues.Performers for the concertincluded Yale Strom andmembers of Hot Pstromi- Tripp Sprague, tenorsaxophone, Duncan Moore,established businesses andbecame civic and synagogueleaders, who were very influentialin the growth of San DiegoCounty. The materials that Levidonated include ads, articlesand photos from newspapers,city directories and family andsynagogue archives.Please contact the JHSSDif you have historicalmaterials or if you would liketo do research.Find us at jewishstudies.sdsu.edu/archives.htmpercussion, Gunnar Biggs,bass, Fred Benedetti, guitar,Elizabeth Schwartz, vocals,and Yale Strom, violin.Special guests wereTomcat Courtney, guitar,Sue Palmer, piano, andRobin Henkel, dobro guitar.Become involvedin the JewishStudies Programat San DiegoState UniversityThe Jewish StudiesProgram at San DiegoState University isan interdisciplinaryprogram serving thestudents of SDSU aswell as the greaterSan Diego community.We are dedicated toteaching a broad rangeof topics related toJewish history, religionand culture from thebiblical through themodern period.The Jewish StudiesProgram depends uponcommunity support forthe enrichment of ourprograms. Opportunitiesexist for participationon our CommunityAdvisory Board and forfuture programs andendowments. Donationsmay be made in manyways and include theopportunity to name aprogram, lecture series,or endowment. Please contactus for moreinformation onhow you can help.jewishstudiesprogram@sdsu.eduPAGE 7

Jewish Studies ProgramMC 6062San Diego State University5500 Campanile DriveSan Diego, CA 92182http://jewishstudies.sdsu.edu

Jewish community on and off campus. Those first months, I found myself digging deeper into my understanding of the Jewish people and would spend hours online and in classes trying to learn more. However, what truly invigorated me to pursue Jewish Studies was the increasing violence against American Jews. I felt that as a young Jewish