Faces

A bar mitzvah mitzvah

Andre Longtin-Horton is putting his money where his mouth is. Well, not exactly his money. The San Rafael 13-year-old believes strongly that Arab and Jewish Israelis must learn to coexist. He's raising money from friends, family and interested others to fund a program sponsored by the New York-based Abraham Fund that trains kindergarten teachers to teach coexistence. (He read about the Abraham Fund in j. when former East Bay Federation exec Ami Nahshon left the Bay Area to lead the agency.)

"It means a lot to me," he said on the phone. "I would like to go to an Israel that is safe." Andre, who is the son of Jeannette Longtin and David Horton, wants to raise $5,000 by his Oct. 9 bar mitzvah. He's at the $2,000 mark now. If you'd like to help, e-mail your address to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address), and Andre will send you an earmarked envelope.




Big-time birthday bashes

Eva Robinson, who lives at the Jewish Home in San Francisco, turned 100 this year, and her birthday was celebrated in style there with a special party for family and friends. Eva's brother, Hillie Blumenthal, and his family members, Sheryl, Frank and Maddy Blumenthal, marked the occasion with the presentation of a commemorative plaque in Eva's honor on the Home's Tree of Life. As a special surprise, former Home presidents Victor Marcus and William J. Lowenberg arranged for Eva to receive a personal, signed letter of congratulations from President Bush.

In Danville, with a Mona Lisa smile on her face, Evelyn Kalman, a resident of the Reutlinger Community for Jewish Living, graciously accepted good wishes (and good presents) on the occasion of her 90th birthday. Mary Ann Winig, Jessica Winig, Molly Lieberman, Carl Grunfeld, Gay Danforth, Elise Trumbull, Jerry Salzman, and Al and Janet Schultz were among the crowd that gathered for the celebration. Husband Henry Kalman and their children Deana and Harvey Freedman organized the special day. (By the way, Evelyn's birthday isn't really till September, but the party was held early so her grandchildren Alana and Matt, who will be delivering a great grandchild in the fall, could travel from their N.Y.C. home.)




An Olympic happening

Before heading off to Greece to defend our country's goal, U.S. Olympic Soccer goalkeeper Briana Scurry stopped by the JCCSF to share her secrets. Trying unsuccessfully to get a shot past her were upcoming soccer stars McKenna Carter, Jennifer and Janice Levy, Vadim Milmeister and Sarah Lerner. The JCC's Aaron Rosenthal reports that being a truly good sport, Briana did let one goal get by. The event was co-sponsored by Bank of America.




Operatic anecdotes

James Sokol's class about opera at the Marin JCC is filled with information and amusing tidbits. The opera aficionado told the group about his interview for his first job after graduating from college, with the New York City Opera. He was a nervous wreck when he learned he'd have to interview with an opera bigwig — until he found out he'd be meeting with Beverly Sills. "She's mishpoche," he said happily. The two worked together for years and when Beverly retired she gave James a very special memento — a menorah she had been given by Zubin Mehta, music director of the Israel Philharmonic. June Rubin, who is in the class, recalled that when Jan Peerce was in town to sing with the San Francisco Opera, he would walk to the nearby Golden Gate shul and do an aliyah quite unlike the norm. And he never performed at the opera on the High Holy Days.




Columnist Suzan Berns can be reached at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).