Israeli Culture, From N.Y. To L.A.

Dor Chadash and the Israeli Leadership Council celebrate the official announcement at the recent ILC Gala in Los Angeles, an event attended by Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.

by Sharon Udasin
Staff Writer

Walking the streets of Manhattan, it’s not uncommon to hear snippets of Hebrew conversation every few blocks or so — a young dad pointing out the “kelev gadol” [big dog] to his toddling son — or to witness an Israeli waitress serving hummus to pay for her university studies.

A similar influx of young Israelis has emerged in Los Angeles, but unlike 20- and 30-something Israeli New Yorkers, the L.A. group lacks a sense of community and remains largely isolated from local Jewish organizations, local experts say.

This is where Dor Chadash, which has brought together 30,000 Israeli and American Jewish New Yorkers in the past six years, comes into play.

 “The vision is to create a national community that shares a passion for Israel,” said Tzameret Fuerst, a founding member and chairwoman emeritus of Dor Chadash, who conceived the idea of expanding the organization beyond New York. “It was clear that Los Angeles was an important target.” Continue reading…

Crafting Israel’s Image

David Saranga: Branding’s a beach.

by Sharon Udasin

With the appointment of a new Israeli tourism minister, a debate is taking shape about how best to market the Jewish state. Stas Misezhnikov, of the Israel Beiteinu party, wants to revamp the previous administration’s strategy of promoting Israel as primarily “sunshine, beach and beautiful girls” and instead focus more on “history, religion and culture.” Here in New York, however, the man most responsible for changing Israel’s image is David Saranga, who is completing his four-year tenure next month as consul for media and public affairs at the Israeli Consulate. As his term winds down, Saranga, a Foreign Ministry diplomat, sits down with The Jewish Week to discuss Israel’s branding progress.

Q: Misezhnikov says that Israel should concentrate on acquainting visitors with culture rather than beaches. Some of your rebranding tactics have involved Tel Aviv beaches and beautiful Israeli models. How do you react to Misezhnikov’s ideas? Continue reading…
A:One doesn’t contradict the other. Our branding efforts of making people understand what Israel is all about are not only for tourist purposes.

Y Protesters Unbound

Critics of the 92nd Street Y’s decision to close the Buttenwieser Library protested Monday night. They’re likely fighting a losing battle. Michael Datikash

by Sharon Udasin

Not wanting to close the book on the Buttenwieser Library, a small band of passionate protesters took to the streets Monday night to save their beloved — but perhaps doomed — book room.

“It is so inimical to what the Y stands for, especially as the people of the book,” said Erwin Flaxman, a professor at Columbia University’s Teachers College. 

Flaxman and the other protesters braved on-and-off thunderstorms to hand out about 400 flyers and collect petition signatures from passersby and Y patrons in front of the building at 92nd Street and Lexington Avenue. They’re demanding that the Y keep the library open, or at least postpone its closing. Protesters collected 340 signatures. Continue reading…

Noise In The Library

by Sharon Udasin
Staff Writer

Take your Kindle and shove it!

That pretty much sums up the anger of patrons of the 92nd Street Y’s Buttenwieser Library following last week’s announcement that the Y was shuttering the nearly 80-year-old beloved book room.

The library’s plan is to replace the 3,000-square-foot, 30,000-volume library with a Wi-Fi reading room on the ground floor that will include some new fiction (in traditional book form), laptops and Amazon’s electronic book device called the Kindle. Smaller book collections will be dispersed throughout the institution.

With a failing economy and a decreased demand for traditional library services, Y officials decided that an overhaul is crucial to the institution’s survival.

But for lovers of the library — who this week launched a “Save the 92Y Library” Facebook group that has more than 200 members — the Buttenwieser helped give the institution a soul. 

“The Y prides itself on its intellectual curiosity,” said Neal Sher, 61, former head of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee and a former Justice Department official. “You can go anywhere for a nice gym.” Continue reading…

Eight Ideas for This Summer

The High Line, top, bicyclists (the author and a friend) on the Brooklyn Promenade, center, and a room at the Tenement Museum. TOP PHOTO: Michael Datikash

Wheel Life: Midtown to  Coney Island Bike Ride

Most city bike shops open by 10 a.m. and offer bicycles for rent for the entire day for $30 or less. Make sure to pick up a free city bike map, available at almost any bike store. Start your ride southbound down Hudson River Park toward the Brooklyn Bridge, where you’ll see panoramic views of New Jersey and compete for space with racers, Rollerbladers and runners.

Crossing the Brooklyn Bridge on a bike isn’t easy; pedestrian tourists are inclined to use bike lanes to take commemorative photos. So be careful on the bridge’s steep incline, as well as the breezy downward slope. At the bottom, head past the “Welcome to Brooklyn” sign etched in the road, and follow the blocks of brownstones until you reach Prospect Park — Brooklyn’s sprawling green refuge and wildlife conservatory. Ride around the western bend of Prospect Park, where you’ll pass by heavily wooded forests, expansive fields and lakeside picnickers, and exit at the southwestern corner, toward the tree-lined bike path on Ocean Parkway. As you ride toward the sunny boardwalk of Coney Island, you’ll see many a black-hatted bochur and a string of yeshivot.  

Once there, enjoy a Brooklyn Cyclones game, a rollercoaster ride or the sandy beach that was once home to so many Jewish-owned resorts. Or head east along the promenade to the traditionally Russian — and heavily Jewish — neighborhood of Brighton Beach. 

Continue reading…

For Jewish Doctors, A ‘Relatively’ Welcome School

Einstein Class of ’59, then and now. Says Evelyn Schwaber, front row center (with scarf), “As soon as I had my interviews I knew [Einstein] was where I was meant to be.” Photos courtesy of Yeshiva University

by Sharon Udasin
Staff Writer

When Peter Barland was applying to medical schools 54 years ago, his choices were severely limited — most top universities still capped their Jewish admittances through strict quotas, and winning a seat at such coveted institutions as Harvard, Yale or Columbia was next to impossible. 

But lucky for Barland and his soon-to-be 55 classmates, the Albert Einstein College of Medicine opened its doors that same year, welcoming not only a Jewish majority, but also three women and one African American to its student body at Yeshiva University. Barland and some of his classmates gathered recently to mark Einstein’s 50th commencement ceremony, rekindling memories from those who had been there during its first days. Members of the class of ’59 gathered for a reunion on June 1st at the Harmonie Club, and the next day placed hoods on this year’s graduates at the 50th commencement.

“Einstein came along just at that time and I had the opportunity to go there,” said Barland, who is a practicing rheumatologist and now a professor at Einstein. “Many of us who went to the school were full of ambivalence. Things were brand new — everything seemed to be an experience, an adventure.” Continue reading…

Central Park On The Mediterranean

photo by: Shahar Azran

by Sharon Udasin

Several thousand people crowded into Central Park’s Naumburg Band Shell Sunday to celebrate Tel Aviv’s 100th birthday on a makeshift beach, dancing to Israeli reggae music and enjoying the four hours of sunshine that managed to brighten an otherwise rainy day. 

While DJ Hadar Marks hosted performances by Israeli groups Hatikvah Six and FLOW, children shoveled sand with their parents as bikini-clad women played volleyball with shirtless young men.

“Today we gave to the city that has it all the one thing it doesn’t have — an authentic, sweaty afternoon on Frishman Beach,” said Eytan Schwartz, spokesman for the Tel Aviv-Jaffa centennial celebrations and also winner of a 2004 Israeli reality show.” Continue reading...

Tel Aviv Beach

In The Park

  

Surf and turf: Faux Tel Aviv beachfront will appear at Central Park bandshell.

by Sharon Udasin

In the throes of economic recession, New Yorkers might find it difficult to get to the beaches of Tel Aviv this summer — so Israel has decided to bring its sunny seaside to New York.

The Mediterranean beachfront will spring up in Central Park on June 19 in a celebration marking Tel Aviv-Jaffa’s centennial anniversary, one of 40 such events occurring in Israel and worldwide between April and December. Transplanted in the mid-park Naumburg Bandshell will be a 1,300-square-foot sandy beach, complete with a life-size panoramic Tel Aviv skyline, colorful parasols and complimentary lounge chairs — and unlike in Tel Aviv, sitting on these chairs will require no six-shekel ($1.50) fee. Beachgoers will be able to compete in shesh besh (backgammon), visit tattoo artists and play matkot — a popular sort of beach tennis — while enjoying live Israeli performances from reggae group Hatkvah Six, rock band FLOW and DJ Hadar Marks.

“Tel Aviv is very similar to New York, but one component that New York doesn’t have is the beach,” said David Saranga, the media consul for the Israel Consulate in New York. “We are bringing Tel Aviv to you.”

Still struggling to boost Israel’s image months after the Gaza war, the Consulate is striving to project Israel as a place of vivid culture, cosmopolitan people and travel opportunity. 

“The anniversary is a great opportunity for us to reflect this image,” Saranga said. “Tel Aviv is one of the strongest engines of Israel’s brand.”

The beach party will take place on Sunday, June 21, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Naumburg Bandshell in Central Park. Enter at 69th Street and 5th Avenue or at 72nd Street and Central Park West. For more information, visit www.tlv100.co.il.

A Loss And A Gain For Tribeca Jews

Tribeca Hebrew: Merging with the Jewish Community Project. Michael Datikash

by Sharon Udasin

In yet another sign of the toll the economic downturn has exacted on the Jewish community, the trendy Tribeca Hebrew school — which helped re-energize Jewish life downtown after Sept. 11 — has closed its doors and merged with its neighbor, the Jewish Community Project.

“It’s sort of a perfect storm,” said Tribeca Hebrew board chair, Karie Parker Davidson, who pointed to the financial crisis and real estate struggle as two motivating factors behind the decision. “We had a terrific strategic plan, but it was really hard to build momentum in this economic climate.” Continue reading…

Sderot In The City

  

Students from a leadership institute in Sderot march in the Salute to Israel parade.

by Sharon Udasin

They were coming to get away from the bombs. But the ninth graders from Sderot got here shortly after four Muslim men tried to blow up two synagogues in Riverdale.

Turns out it was probably quieter in the southern Israeli city near the Gaza border — which has been calmer since the end of the Gaza war — than it was here, with Jews on edge in the wake of the foiled bomb plot.  

The group of 33 ninth graders, along with five staff members, came to Long Island from the Mashatzim for Sderot leadership program based at their local Amit School, to spend two weeks  relaxing and socializing with students of the Hebrew Academy of the Five Towns and Rockaway. Continue reading…