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CHai-lights
APRIL 2015
Pacific Community of Cultural Jews
Orange County, CA 562/592-0999
PacifComm@aol.com, http://www.pccjews.org
Volume XIX No 7
APRIL 2015
PAGE 2
CHAI-LIGHTS
PRESIDENT'S
MESSAGE
Hello Everyone!
Saturday, April 11th 1-4 PM
PASSOVER SEDER
at the
Bluffs Clubhouse
(see Page 1)
NO DINE OUT THIS MONTH
(see Page 3)
Saturday, April 18th 10:30 AM
Well……last night a Rascally Rabbit ran through
our yard and stole all of the egg-plants. What
would he want with them??? And, now I don`t
have eggs for hard-boiling for the Seder.
APRIL FOOLS!!!!
Seriously, we have lots of hard-boiled eggs, and
all the other great foods, for our annual Seder. If
you haven`t yet done so, call or email your reservation per the flyer. We have a newly revised
haggadah this year to enhance the experience.
However you plan to spend Passover this year,
with Pacific Community, family, friends, enjoy the
special time together.
Leslie
BOARD MEETING
at the home of
Di Bunin
Tuesday, April 21st, 7:30 PM
FILM CLUB
at the home of
Shirley Spiegel
(see Page 3)
REMEMBER OUR ONGOING
CANNED GOODS FOOD DRIVE!
Bring one can to each event so
that we can reach at least
100 lbs
donated this year!
Friday, May 1st, 7:30 PM
THE PHILOSOPHERS' CAFE
at the home of
at the home of
MARK YOUR CALENDAR!
An educational presentation on the Israeli War of
Independence will given by Lee Jacobi on
Sunday, May 3rd, at the Jacobi home,
23 Alameda St., Irvine
from 1:30 -3:30 pm
RSVP leejacobi@earthlink.com
Lee & Zena Jacobi
Guests $10.00
Greta Singer & Dan Goldberg
(see page 3)
Sunday, May 3rd, 1:30 PM
PRESENTATION on the
ISRAELI WAR OF INDEPENDENCE
APRIL 2015
PAGE 3
CHAI-LIGHTS
PC FILM CLUB
Tuesday April 21st at 7:30 PM
at the home of
Shirley Spiegel
MEL BROOKS - MAKE A NOISE
Mel Brooks: Make a Noise journeys through
Brooks early years in the creative beginnings
of live television with Sid Caesar on Your
Show of Shows to the film genres he so
successfully satirized in Young Frankenstein,
Blazing Saddles, High Anxiety, and
Spaceballs to the groundbreaking Broadway
musical version of his first film, The
Producers. The documentary also delves into
his professional and personal ups and
downs his childhood, his first wife and subsequent 41-year marriage to Anne Bancroft
capturing a never-before-heard sense of reflection and confession.
Robert Trachtenberg is writer, director, producer, and editor. Susan Lacy is American
Masters series creator and executive producer.
Please RSVP by April 17th
to
Di Bunin, 714/962-9140, dbf331@hotmail.com
GUESTS $10.00
DINE OUT
NO DINE OUT IS PLANNED FOR
APRIL SINCE OUR SEDER ON
Saturday, April 11th
INCLUDES A FULL MEAL!
Keep an eye out for the next
DINE OUT
in
MAY!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
THE PHILOSOPHERS' CAFE
(Our Friendly Discussion Group)
Friday, May 1st at 7:30 PM
At the home of
Greta Singer & Dan Goldberg
RSVP by April 28th
DanandGreta86@yahoo.com
GUESTS $10.00
Dave Okamoto
4/07
Sharon Machtinger 4/16
Lotte Kopstein
4/26
APRIL 2015
CHAI-LIGHTS
PURIM 2015
PAGE 4
APRIL 2015
CHAI-LIGHTS
PAGE 5
BROOKLYN, NEW YORK
by
Greta Singer
I lived in Brooklyn for the first 25 years of my life and I haven't lived there since. But when
I am asked where I am from I always say Brooklyn. I have heard Brooklyn called the city of
churches, the city across the river, one of the outer boroughs, but when I lived there, as a girl, I
knew it as the city of parks.
The largest park was Prospect Park, designed by Olmstead, the man who did Central Park,
and it is 585 acres of things to see and do. As a very young child, I was taken to the Prospect
Park Zoo and the apocryphal story is that I, so very bright and clever, was asked by a man walking a Dalmatian if I knew of any other animals with spots. I immediately said, according to my
parents," a leopard and a civet cat."
The park also has roads for bike riding, which I did often with my friends, and a bridle path
with horses to rent, something I always wanted to do but was told was too expensive. There is a
lake in Prospect Park that has rowboats for rent and I spent many weekend afternoons rowing
with my sister or friends. Swimming is not allowed in this lake and only bad boys who don't follow rules would jump into the lake on hot summer days. The rest of us had to do with trailing
our hands in the water on the side of the boat and wishing we could be bad too.
In another part of the park is the bandshell where, on summer evenings, the Goldman Band
would give free concerts. People would come with blankets and chairs and food and sit on the
meager grass and listen to the music: a bit of Tanglewood very close to home. The
featured musician was a one-armed cornet player who was amazing and the crowd was quite appreciative with loud Brooklyn yells and cheers.
Right near Prospect Park is the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens which had free entry when I was
young. There was a Japanese garden with a small pond and daffodil hill which was a yellow carpet in the spring. There was a rose garden blooming in June and July and cherry blossoms in
April. When I was a young mother, this was the park I took my babies to, so they could toddle
around on the well-trimmed grass and be close to nature in the city. I always regretted that I had
never joined the Children's Garden which was set aside for kids to plant flowers and vegetables
and learn about gardening. My mother said it didn't fit in with our schedule when I was the appropriate age for that activity. I am glad I have had gardens of my own in various states where I
have lived since then.
There are other parks in Brooklyn as well as local playgrounds in many neighborhoods. The
Sullivan Place playground was near my house when I was young and I used to go there with my
sister and friends to climb on the monkey bars and swing too high on the swings. If my mother
couldn't find me, she knew I was at Sullivan Place just hanging out, a phrase we didn't use in
those days.
Of all the places I have lived since then, and there have been many, the place I think of as
really home is Brooklyn, being out of doors in the park with the other kids from the neighborhood.
APRIL 2015
CHAI-LIGHTS
PAGE 6
RECIPE OF THE MONTH
THE CHAILIGHTS IS NOW FEATURING A COLUMN WITH A NEW RECIPE EACH MONTH. IT
WOULD BE
DELIGHTFUL TO GET JEWISH ONES, BUT THIS IS NOT LIMITED TO THOSE. IF YOU
HAVE ONE YOU'D LIKE TO SHARE, PLEASE SEND IT TO: ALICE SELFRIDGE AT
seflfridga@gmail.com.
_______________________________________________________
Roasted Cauliflower
5-6 florets of cauliflower (1 1/2 inches in diameter)
1 T sliced garlic
2 T lemon juice
1 t salt
1/2 t pepper
olive oil, about 1/2 cup
2 T grated parmesan
optional-chopped chives for garnish
Preheat the oven to 500 degrees
Place florets in large roasting pan and drizzle oil over them
Season with garlic, lemon juice, salt and pepper
Put into the oven and cook for 15 min. stirring once or twice to insure even roasting
Remove from oven and sprinkle with the cheese
Garnish with chopped chives and serve right away.
Serve with pasta and salad.
Greta
HUMOR
A man buys a fabulous home in Beverly Hills. He brings in a local workman to decorate the
place. When the job is done, the homeowner is delighted but realizes that he's forgotten to put
mezuzahs on the doors. He goes out and buys 50 mazuzahs and instructs the decorator how to
place them on the right hand side of each door except bathrooms and kitchens. He's really worried that the decorator will chip the paint work or won't put them up correctly. However, when
he comes back a few hours later, he sees that the job has been carried out to his entire satisfaction. He's so pleased that he gives the decorator a bonus.
As the decorator is walking out the door he says, "Glad you're happy with the job...By the
way, I took out all the warrantees in the little boxes and left them on the table for you!
WANT AN ELEGANT AND MEANINGFUL WAY TO COMMEMORATE AN EVENT OR HONOR SOMEONE?
HOW ABOUT CONSIDERING MAKING A DONATION TO THE PACIFIC COMMUNITY OF CULTURAL JEWS? WE
WILL CERTAINLY PUT YOUR MONEY TO GOOD USE AND WILL NOTIFY THE PARTY IN WHOSE HONOR YOU ARE
DONATING THAT YOU HAVE DONE SO. TO MAKE YOUR DONATION, SEND A NOTE THAT EXPLAINS FOR
WHAT/WHOM YOU ARE DONATING AND THEIR CONTACT DETAILS, ALONG WITH YOUR CHECK, MADE OUT TO
PACIFIC COMMUNITY OF CULTURAL JEWS. ADDRESS IT TO: BRYON BARON, 1141 TULAROSA AVE.
ORANGE, CA 92866
APRIL 2015
CHAI-LIGHTS
PAGE 7
Tikkun Olam - Genetically Modified Foods
(Seventh in the series)
by
William Selfridge & Lawrence Machtinger, M.D.
Tikkun olam, the Hebrew phrase which means "repairing the world" (or "healing the world") is a dictate that
forms a part of our Jewish tradition. There has been tremendous growth of genetically modified (GM) foods being introduced in our food chain. Since 1996, GM crops have increased 100-fold, from 4.2 million acres in 1996,
to 420 million acres in 20121. An overwhelming majority of the GM crop is not consumed directly by humans but
by livestock which have been fed genetically engineered crops since 1996, and each of the top 6 GMO crops
(soy, cotton, corn, canola, sugar beet, and alfalfa) is heavily utilized by the US animal feed market.
GM crops are resistant to the herbicide Roundup®, whose active principle ingredient is glyphosate.
Pesticides are always used as mixtures called formulations. They contain adjuvants, which are often kept confidential and are called inerts by the manufacturing companies, plus a declared active principle ingredient, which is
usually tested alone. In 1996, New York`s attorney general sued Monsanto over the company`s use of “false and
misleading advertising” about Roundup®3. The case ended with Monsanto agreeing to stop calling Roundup®
“biodegradable,” and to pull ads claiming that Roundup® was “safer than table salt,”. Three recent peer-reviewed
study results, published in the US National Library of Medicine, seriously questioned the safety claims of
Roundup®. Quotes from these studies are: a) “Despite its relatively benign reputation, Roundup® was among
the most toxic herbicides and insecticides tested. Most importantly, 8 formulations out of 9 were up to one thousand times more toxic than their active principles4; b) “Celiac disease, and, more generally, gluten intolerance, is
a growing problem worldwide …glyphosate, the active ingredient in the herbicide, Roundup®, is the most important causal factor in this epidemic. We conclude with a plea to governments to reconsider policies regarding the
safety of glyphosate residues in foods.”5; c) “This work clearly confirms the adjuvants in Roundup® formulations
are not inert. Moreover, the proprietary mixtures available on the market could cause cell damage and even
death around residual levels to be expected, especially in food and feed derived from Roundup® formulationtreated crops.”6
Alternatively, "organically grown" food is food grown and processed using no synthetic fertilizers or pesticides7.
AUTHORS: Dr. L Machtinger is a pathologist and an animal rights activist. W. Selfridge is a retired engineer (BS & MBA) and a
recently-awarded, MS in Nutrition and Health Education.
REFERENCES:
1
2
3
4
International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (2012), Global Status of Commercialized Biotech/GM Crops
United States Department of Agriculture (2014) Adoption of Genetically Engineered Crops in the US
New York State Attorney General (1996) Consumer Frauds and Protection Bureau, , In the matter of Monsanto Company
Mesnage, R., BioMed Research International (2014) Major pesticides are more toxic to human cells than their declared active prin-
ciples
5
Samsel, A., Interdisciplinary Toxicology (2013) Glyphosate, pathways to modern diseases II: Celiac sprue and gluten intolerance
6
Benachour, N. , Chemical Research in Toxicology ( 2 0 0 9 ) , Glyphosate formulations induce apoptosis and necrosis in human
umbilical, embryonic, and placental cells
7
US Environmental Protection Agency, Organic Farming
APRIL 2015
PAGE 8
CHAI-LIGHTS
OFFICERS
President:
Vice President
Secretary
Treasurer:
Membership:
Hospitality:
Program Coordinators:
Publicity:
2014-2015
Leslie Zwick
Lee Jacobi `
Sylvia Rothman
Bryon Baron
Alice Selfridge
Zishia Kerr
Suzy Baron
Nancy Okamoto
Diana Bunin
Jerlesz@verizon.net
LeeJacobi@earthlink.net
sobaysyl@aol.com
BryonBaron@sbcglobal.net
selfridga@gmail.com
zkerr@socal.rr.com
bryonbaron@sbcglobal.net
nanokamoto@Roadrunner.com
DBF331@hotmail.com
Committee and board positions:
SHJ Representative:
Board Members At Large:
Newsletter Editor
Lee Jacobi
Dan Goldberg
Greta Singer
Shirley Spiegel
Karen Knecht
Bernice Stein
LeeJacobi@earthlink.net
danandgreta86@yahoo.com
danandgreta86@yahoo.com
Shirl-B@SoCal.RR.com
Knechtfour@aol.com
ChaiLights4You@aol.com
Good & Welfare/Sunshine
Alice Selfridge:
Madrikha :
Karen Knecht
Knechtfour@aol.com
Web Master:
Bill Selfridge
selfriwp@gmail.com
.
selfridga@gmail.com
Chai-Lights
21152 Lockhaven Circle
Huntington Beach, CA 92646
Chai-Lights is published monthly by the
Pacific Community of Cultural Jews, Orange County, CA
Phone:562/592-0999 E-mail: PacifComm@aol.com,
http://www.pccjews.org
An annual (hardcopy) subscription may be purchased for $18.00.
to cover printing and mailing
For an electronic copy, please provide your e-mail address
Editor: Bernice Stein ChaiLights4You@aol.com
Affiliated with The Society for Humanistic Judaism and
The Congress of Secular Jewish Organizations