Faces
Friday, November 14, 2008 | by suzan berns‘Green’ bar mitzvah
Noah Feiwell of Santa Rosa had a zero-waste bar mitzvah, reports his mom, Sheila Feiwell.
After seeing all the plastic plates and utensils filling up trash receptacles, Sheila made it a personal project to green her son’s bar mitzvah. Everything at the celebration was biodegradable or compostable, including cups made from sugar cane, kippahs made from recycled materials (which felt like suede) and invitations on seeded paper that can be planted. Noah’s parshah was the environmentally themed Noach.
Jews and taxes
Mark Yudof, new president of the University of California, strayed from the topic of his talk — “Accountability and the University” — at the S.F.-based Jewish Community Endowment Fund’s 12th Annual Tax and Estate Planning Seminar to tell the 230 guests about his personal commitment to Israel and Judaism. Among other things, he led American Jewish Committee’s Project Interchange trips to Israel for university presidents and chancellors for two summers. JCEF chair F. Warren Hellman introduced Yudof, and Jim Koshland, president of the S.F.-based Jewish Community Federation, presented former JCF president Alan Rothenberg with an oral history of his 1996-98 tenure. Alvin Levitt, chair of the S.F. Professional Subcommittee, chaired the seminar.
Dancing Jewish stars
With proceeds of $100,000 — exceeding their fundraising goal — the Addison Penzak JCC was the big winner at its “Dancing With Our Stars” gala Nov. 1. Grand winners at the competition were Ron Cohn‘s first-place salsa, Cookie Addison‘s second-place rhumba, and Gordon Levin‘s third-place tango. Outstanding competitors included Doris Davis (rhumba), Don Fernandez (swing), Virginia Hess (foxtrot) and Sylvia Metz (cha-cha). Who said Jews don’t have rhythm?
Election leftovers
Nancy and Larry Goldberg of Tiburon were among the “mixed marriage” couples featured on a pre-election show on KQED’s Forum. He’s a Republican and she’s not ... Stan Horn reports that Judge Quentin Kopp, 80, heads the California High Speed Rail Commission that sponsored Proposition 1A on the ballot. (It passed, by the way.) Kopp was recently named to the Hall of Fame of Nottingham High, his Syracuse, N.Y., high school ... Matt Cohen of Sausalito worked on the vocals of the Barack Obama Anthem video, which can be seen on YouTube.
Short shorts ...
Groundbreaking for the new Temple Sinai in Oakland took place on Oct. 26 — exactly 95 years ago to the day that the first sanctuary was dedicated in 1914. The date coincidence was completely accidental, says Rabbi Steve Chester ... Noah Springwater of San Francisco has been named to Team USA, the national basketball team representing the U.S. at the international Maccabiah in Israel next year ... Melanie Marcus of Oakland Hebrew Day School writes that Olympic swimming competitor for Israel and U.C. Berkeley swimmer Guy Barnea visited OHDS in October, bringing along his Speedo Laser suit and Olympic credentials. He spoke Hebrew to the kids, which reminded him a bit of home, said Marcus ... Guy Ben-Porat, the 2008-09 Richard and Rhoda Goldman Visiting Israeli Professor at U.C. Davis won Germany’s Ernst-Otto Czempiel Award, given for peace research, for his book “Global Liberalism, Local Populism: Peace and Conflict in Israel/Palestine and Northern Ireland.”
Sacramento news: April Baskin of Sacramento was one of 10 national winners of the Insight Fellowship to explore careers in the Jewish community ... Ian Bailey is the new rabbi at the city’s Orthodox congregation Kenesset Israel Torah Center.
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