The survival of Judaism as a religion and the Jewish people as a community are eternal worries for Jews around the world, but rarely do those dual concerns come together as spectacularly as they will in the wedding later this month of former first daughter Chelsea Clinton and the scion of another Democratic clan, Marc Mezvinsky. In many respects, the impending nuptials feature the same dramas so many families experience as the big day approaches: The father of the bride (that'd be former President Bill) is struggling to drop 15 pounds before the wedding; the mother of the bride (that'd be current Secretary of State Hillary) is fretting about the dress (Oscar de la Renta or Vera Wang?); and the bride is trying to figure out who to leave off a select guest list of 400 who will be invited to the July 31 celebration at the former Astor mansion in the upstate New York village of Rhinebeck. Religion is an issue as well, as it often is: Chelsea, 30, is the daughter of a social justice Methodist (Hillary) and a Bible-quoting Southern Baptist (Bill), and Mezvinsky, 32, was raised in Conservative Judaism, a major Jewish movement that discourages intermarriage and forbids rabbis to officiate at -- or even attend -- interfaith weddings in which the non-Jewish spouse does not convert. No details on how the couple will navigate these religious shoals have leaked out, just a few tantalizing hints -- such as Chelsea's attendance with Marc at Yom Kippur services last September at the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York, the flagship institute for Conservative Judaism. The silence surrounding the wedding's religious protocols has only increased speculation in the Jewish community about what the couple will do: Will a rabbi officiate at the ceremony? A minister? Or both -- or neither? And will the bride convert? Or the groom? Or neither? And what about the kids? "As a rabbi, I would be delighted to see Chelsea convert," Rabbi David Wolpe, a Conservative Jew who leads Sinai Temple in Los Angeles, recently told The Daily Beast. "That would be my dream scenario." (Wolpe once worked for Mezvinsky's father, Ed, who was a Democratic congressman from Iowa before he went to jail on a seven-year fraud sentence after getting caught up in a series of Nigerian e-mail scams. The groom's mother, Marjorie Margolies, was a freshman representative from Pennsylvania who lost her seat in 1994 in part because she was the tie-breaking vote that passed President Clinton's first budget. Through it all, the Mezvinsky-Margolies clan remained close to the Clintons -- and now they'll be in-laws.) Wolpe's wish that Chelsea convert is a common, but not exclusive, sentiment among American Jews who are pondering the Clinton-Mezvinsky wedding. In a lively discussion at the InterfaithFamily.com website, one commenter said that even if Chelsea does not convert, a rabbi should take part in the wedding "if the couple agrees to raise the children Jewish." Another, however, cautioned that "this cannot be a Jewish wedding -- a Jewish wedding is one where both people are Jewish, either by birth or by choice." And yet another commenter gave what is perhaps a more characteristic answer: "I believe that Chelsea and her fiancй should do whatever will make them happiest." In real life, of course, questions about the role of religion often animate wedding planning, given that so many young people feel freed from old prohibitions against marrying outside the faith, if indeed they adhere to the religion of their parents or any religion at all. Yet this being the Clintons, and the religion in question being Judaism, the interfaith angst is taking on a significance far beyond that of the usual family tsuris over such matters. Would such a marriage -- if Chelsea does not convert or the children aren't raised Jewish -- point again to an eroding Jewish identity among younger people and an existential threat to the survival of Judaism itself? Or could this be good for the Jews? It is, after all, a kind of dynastic marriage that would further bond the Jewish people to an influential Clinton clan that is already known for its affinity for Israel. What could be so bad about that? Plenty, given Jewish history. "Intermarriage has been fraught for Jews for a variety of reasons, and continues to be," said Julie Wiener, a columnist at The Jewish Week who writes a monthly essay dedicated to the intermarriage question. "Traditionally there has been a huge taboo against it because Jews have always been a tiny minority, and particularly after the Holocaust they were even smaller." Rabbis in the Orthodox and Conservative Jewish movements are barred from officiating at any interfaith wedding, and the Reform tradition -- the largest and most liberal Jewish denomination -- formally opposes participation in mixed-marriage weddings, though it does leave the decision up to each rabbi. Some rabbis will even preside at same-sex Jewish weddings but not at heterosexual interfaith nuptials. "Intermarriage does indeed constitute the greatest single threat to Jewish continuity today," Steven Cohen, a leading expert on Jewish intermarriage and a professor at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in New York, told The Associated Press in a recent article on whether intermarriage is hurting or helping Judaism. Jewish observance had already been tailing off in recent years, especially among younger Jews, and overall the number of Americans identifying themselves as religiously Jewish has dropped from 3.5 million in 1990 to as low as 2.7 million in 2008. Jewish leaders also worry about a growing distance between younger Jews and what had been almost reflexive Jewish support for Israel -- at a time when Israel is feeling as besieged as at any point since its founding in 1948. That's why intermarriage is such a crucial issue for Jews, and always has been. But especially since 1990, when surveys first showed that an eye-popping 52 percent of Jews were marrying outside the religion, the Jewish community has become fixated on Jewish matchmaking and bolstering Jewish identity. Jewish dating sites have sprung up across the Internet, and Jewish agencies have spent millions on trips to Israel for younger Jews intended not only to bond them to the Jewish state but also serve as a kind of extended singles party. Last year, the Israeli government even co-sponsored a campaign against intermarriage that included newspaper ads and TV clips showing mock missing-persons fliers printed with Jewish-sounding names and the word "Lost" -- a reference to Jews who marry outside the tribe. The spots were pulled after an outcry from American Jews, but a nationalist group in Israel called Lehava, which tries to get Jewish women to split with non-Jewish partners, recently lobbied to break up the relationship between Israeli supermodel Bar Refaeli and actor Leonardo DiCaprio. Yet none of these efforts has made an appreciable dent in intermarriage rates, according to Samuel Heilman, a sociologist at Queens College and a leading analyst of trends in Jewish life. "If you look at 100 percent of weddings taking place in 2010 in which a Jew takes part, 55 percent of those weddings will be intermarriages," Heilman said. "This marriage" -- between Chelsea and Marc -- "is a symptom and not a cause, another example that no family is immune to this kind of change." As a result, most Jews are beginning to make the best of the situation -- and are in fact doing a pretty good job of it. "There is less of a stigma attached to intermarriage," said Julie Wiener, "and more and more you are hearing people talking about intermarriage as an opportunity rather than necessarily a problem." Besides, she added, "This isn't the first high-profile intermarriage in politics or Hollywood." For example, Caroline Kennedy, a living link to Camelot Catholicism, married Edwin Schlossberg in 1986, and in 2002 Ari Fleischer, former spokesman for President George W. Bush, married Rebecca Davis, who is Catholic. (Rabbi Harold White, senior Jewish chaplain at Georgetown University, a Jesuit school, performed the marriage with a priest in a ceremony that included a chuppah, or canopy, which is customary for Jewish weddings, a traditional glass-breaking, and a marriage contract, or ketubah.) On Saturday, Rep. Anthony Weiner, a New York City Democrat and vocal champion of Israel who is sure to be a wedding guest of the Clintons on July 31, married Huma Abedin, a Muslim and a longtime aide to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. (Bill Clinton was to officiate in the civil service, thus avoiding any religious issues altogether.) "I think it's wonderful," Weiner's mother, Fran, told the New York Daily News about her son's choice of a wife. "Anything that makes them happy." To some degree, official Judaism is also starting to agree with Weiner's mom, and is taking steps to adapt. In March, for example, a task force on intermarriage set up by Reform leaders concluded the movement should do more to encourage mixed-faith couples to be active in Jewish life, including creating special blessings for major life events, like weddings and funerals. Rabbis are still discouraged from taking part at interfaith weddings, but the focus is now on encouraging mixed-faith couples to create Jewish homes rather than just discouraging interfaith marriages. Also this year, the main body of Conservative Judaism voted to allow interfaith families to be buried in Jewish cemeteries, and in March, the Jewish Theological Seminary of America hosted a two-day workshop "sensitizing" students to "issues of intermarriage and changing demographics." There is even talk of allowing Conservative rabbis to attend the interfaith weddings of friends -- and this just four years after the movement adopted an official policy emphasizing the importance of converting a non-Jewish spouse. The change is backed in part by a growing body of research that indicates welcoming a non-Jewish spouse can benefit Judaism in the long run. "When I was young and inflexible I refused to do such weddings unless there was a conversion," Rabbi Lester Frazin wrote at the Interfaith Family website. "We lost many couples and those who had converted often disappeared if the marriage failed. I have found in my career that you attract more people through compassionate acceptance than obstinate refusal." Indeed, some say non-Jewish spouses, especially wives, can be more trustworthy in passing on the faith. "It's often the non-Jewish mothers in interfaith marriages who end up knowing more -- and caring more -- about Judaism and Jewish traditions than their husbands," said Nadine Epstein, editor of Moment, a leading Jewish magazine. "In fact, they help reawaken their husbands' interest in their own heritage." Another factor easing concerns about intermarriage is that assimilation for American Jews no longer automatically means becoming part of the surrounding culture by effectively erasing one's Jewish identity. "[W]e happen to live in a time and place where it is very cool to be Jewish," Epstein said. "Jewish values are also in sync -- and even the source of -- some contemporary American values such as emphasis on education, the power of debate and questioning, and working to make the world a better place." That doesn't mean the Clinton-Mezvinsky marriage is completely in the clear. Research indicates that interfaith marriages tend to fail at higher rates than same-faith marriages, and many Jews still hold to the tradition of matrilineal descent -- that the religion is passed through the mother rather than the father. So if Chelsea does not become Jewish, many Jews, especially the Orthodox, would not view the couple's children as Jewish. Moreover, there is a fierce debate within Judaism about what constitutes a legitimate Jewish conversion, so even if Chelsea did convert there would be disagreements. (It is telling that nowhere in the speculation among Jews is there any consideration that Marc Mezvinsky might become Christian.) Still, few see major downsides to this high-profile union. As Heilman explained, Orthodox Jews may not accept the religious legitimacy of the wedding, but "they know well enough not to talk about it. Not to celebrate it, but not to make a public issue about it." "Even the Israelis," he added, "might look at this and say it's not bad having the U.S. secretary of state with a Jewish son-in-law." What most American Jews will be looking for, Heilman said, is "some nod to Judaism not being second class at the wedding" -- a chuppah, the crushing of a glass under the groom's heel, "maybe a yarmulke here or there." As for any other quibbles, they will likely be drowned out by Jewish pride at one of the tribe finding such a catch as Chelsea Clinton -- what Julie Wiener called the "celebrity double standard." "Jews are much more willing to forgive famous Jews for intermarrying than they are for the Jew who lives down the street," she said. Not to mention your own son or daughter.

Happy 4th of July everyone! With the big day less than 24 hours away I couldn't resist the temptation to post about the significant role Jews played in this uniquely American holiday. How so, you wonder? Read on. In my post about Jewish pirates a couple weeks ago, I mentioned how many Jews came to the New World following their expulsion from Spain in 1492. Thanks to this immigration - among other things - by the time the War of Independence erupted some two hundred years later there were more than 2,000 Sephardic Jews living in America. They didn't tarry in the sidelines, but fought against the British beside their Christian counterparts and were key financial backers of the war effort. Two of the most famous Jews who played a role in the Revolution were Francis Salvador and Haym Solomon. Francis Salvador was the first American Jew to die in the Revolution, fighting for his country on the South Carolina frontier. A representative to Congress who was one of the earliest champions for Independence, his involvement on the battlefront began when the British started encouraging Indians to attack frontier families as a diversionary tactic. The first attack took place on July 1, 1776 and Salvador sounded the alarm by racing his horse to Major Andrew Williamson's doorstep twenty-eight miles away. He then took part in the battles that followed, fighting bravely until he was shot and scalped by Indians at 29 years of age. Of his death, Colonel William Thomson wrote:

"Mr. Salvador received three wounds; and, fell by my side... before [we] could find him in the dark, the enemy unfortunately got his scalp... He died, about half after two o'clock in the morning... sensible to the last. When I came up to him, after dislodging the enemy, and speaking to him, he asked, whether I had beat the enemy? I told him yes. He said he was glad of it, and shook me by the hand – and bade me farewell." (Documentary History of the American Revolution by Robert Wilson Gibbes, pp. 125–127.)

  Jews also played a critical role as financiers, with the most important of them being Haym Solomon. The son of a rabbi, Solomon was a Polish Jew who helped prisoners of the British escape and eventually coordinated the majority of the war aid that revolutionaries received from France and Holland. He also supported members of the Continental Congress, including James Madison and James Wilson. There are a number of unsubstantiated legends about Solomon, including the claim that he designed The Great Seal of the United States and that he placed the Star of David above the eagle's head. (The seal is on the back of a $1 bill, on the right side.) President George Washington later remembered the role Jews played in the Revolution in a August 1790 letter to the Touro Synagogue of Newport, Rhode Island, writing:

"May the children of the stock of Abraham who dwell in the land continue to merit and enjoy the goodwill of the other inhabitants. While everyone shall sit safely under his own vine and fig-tree and there shall be none to make him afraid."

  There were, of course, many other Jews involved in the American Revolution. Yet I hope that knowledge of Salvador and Solomon adds a little something to your celebrations tomorrow!

  LONG BEACH, CA - May 12, 2010 - Two sisters separated by the Holocaust reunite in the aftermath of World War II in Barbara Lebow's powerful and profoundly moving A Shayna Maidel.  ICT artistic director Shashin Desai directs Liza de Weerd, Larry Eisenberg, Laura Howard, Charles Pasternak, Julia Silverman and Erin Anne Williams in a four-week run June 11 through July 3 at International City Theatre in the Long Beach Performing Arts Center.  Low-priced previews begin June 8. International City Theatre first presented A Shayna Maidel as part of its 1992 season. "Our audiences were deeply affected," says Desai.  "We wanted to reprise one play from our archives in celebration of our 25th Anniversary, and this beautiful play kept calling to me." Rose Weiss (Laura Howard) emigrated to America as a young child with her father, Mordechai (Larry Eisenberg). Ill with scarlet fever, older sister Lusia (Liza de Weerd) stayed behind in Poland with Mama (Julia Silverman), planning to follow later.  Now, it's 1946 and Rose is a young woman living in Manhattan when she learns that Lusia has been liberated from a concentration camp and is coming to New York. After a fifteen-year separation, the two women are almost like strangers and must struggle to reconnect. A Shayna Maidel is a bittersweet portrait of a family divided by distance, time, and life experience. "This is not a depressing play about the Holocaust," emphasizes Desai. "Lebow develops the relationship between these two women, sisters who are virtual strangers, with insight and gentle humor, and in the end it's an uplifting, even cathartic experience." A Shayna Maidel premiered in 1985 at the Hartford Stage Company in Hartford, CT, and it opened in New York City a year later.  Since then, it has been performed to acclaim in theaters all over the country. New York Times theater critic Mel Gussow called A Shayna Maidel "a deeply personalized study of sisterhood, family and a crisis of faith. Moving among her characters and shifting back and forth in time, the playwright draws a comprehensive portrait of a family devastated by war." "It's an emotional powerhouse of almost overwhelming proportions," wrote the

  Born in Brooklyn, Barbara Lebow moved to Atlanta in 1962 and joined Academy Theatre's developmental workshop, becoming Playwright in Residence. Among her plays with first productions there are The Left Hand Singing, The Adventures of Homer McGundy, Cyparis, The Keepers, Trains, A Shayna Maidel, Little Joe Monaghan, Tiny Tim is Dead, and several plays for young audiences. Theaters producing her work include Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Hartford Stage Company, Jean Cocteau Repertory Theatre, Philadelphia Theatre Company, and the Berkshire Theatre Festival. Now living in Santa Barbara, Barbara facilitates play creation with disenfranchised segments of the population, including homeless and addicted individuals, youth at risk, developmentally and physically disabled persons, women in prison, and residents of the Probation Department's Los Prietos Boys Camp. She has received a grant from the Fund for Santa Barbara, a Guggenheim Fellowship, a TCG/Pew Theatre Artists Residency, an NEA/TCG Residency, an Atlanta Mayor's Fellowship in the Arts, and a Georgia Governor's Award in the Arts. Shashin Desai, founding artistic director of ICT, has directed more than 150 productions, including classic and contemporary dramas, comedies, and musicals, including Facing East; the West Coast premiere of the newly discovered Mark Twain comedy, Is He Dead?; the world premiere of Velina Hasu Houston's Calling Aphrodite; To Kill A Mockingbird; Judgment at Nuremberg; the American premiere of My Boy Jack; The Crucible; Black Comedy; A View from the Bridge; Lend Me a Tenor; Noises Off; Flyin' West; A...My Name is Alice; and

Black Book).

Laura Howard (Rose) studied acting at USC School of Theatre. She made her professional theater debut as Bertha in The Antaeus Company's production of The Father. A working commercial and television actor, Laura is best known for her lead role in Michael Eisner's breakout web series, Prom Queen, for which she won a TV Guide Best Web Actress Award.

 

 

 

  Larry Eisenberg's (Mordechai) favorite acting roles include the Conductor in the Los Angeles premiere of Terence McNally's Prelude and Liebestod; Edgar in King Lear opposite George Coulouris; and Kit Carson in The Time of Your Life opposite Lonny Chapman. Larry currently serves as Associate Artistic Director at the Lonny Chapman Group Repertory Theatre in North Hollywood, where he will be appearing later this summer in A Walk in the Woods by Lee Blessing. He wrote the feature film, Fish Don't Blink, which stars Lea Thompson and Dee Wallace Stone, and he wrote and directed the short film, David Proshker, which won several prizes and has been broadcast on KCET. Charles Pasternak (Duvid) recently played Benvolio in Romeo and Juliet directed by Chris Anthony (Shakespeare Center of Los Angeles); Hamlet in both Hamlet and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead (performed in rep, Porters of Hellsgate where Charles is a founding member and Artistic Director); Lucentio in The Taming of the Shrew directed by Jack Stehlin (Circus Theatricals at the Odyssey Theatre); Romeo in Romeo and Juliet and Rinaldo in All's Well That Ends Well (Shakespeare Santa Cruz). Julia Silverman (Mama) was last seen on the ICT stage in Emma's Child.  Other theater credits: The Comedy of Errors (Nevada Shakespeare); Night of the Iguana, Picnic, The Wild Duck (A Noise Within); A Woman of No Importance and a staged reading of Death of a Salesman (The Classical Theatre Lab); Les Liaisons Dangereuses with Donna Mills (La Mirada Theatre); Much Ado About Nothing (Bedford Thompson Players); Equus (West Coast Ensemble); and The Mandrake directed by Jessica Kubzansky.. Erin Anne Williams (Hanna) can currently be seen on the ICT stage as Mary Detweiler in How the Other Half Loves.  Other theater credits include LIVEworks (Acorn Pictures), The Odyssey (Los Angeles Theater Center), Yes Please and Thank You (original workshop for the Manhattan Theatre Club), and The Tempest (Long Beach Shakespeare Co.). International City Theatre is the Resident Professional Theater of the City of Long Beach, and the recipient of the Margaret Harford Award from the Los Angeles Drama Critics' Circle for "Sustained Excellence in Theater." A Shayna Maidel runs Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 8 pm and Sundays at 2 pm, June 11 through July 3. There will be one Saturday matinee on July 3 at 2 pm. Tickets are $32.00 and $37.00 on Thursdays, and $37.00 and $42.00 on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays, except opening night which is $50.00 and $60.00 and includes a reception with the actors following the performance.  Preview performances take place on Tuesday, June 8; Wednesday, June 9; and Thursday, June 10 at 8 pm.  Preview tickets are $29.00.  International City Theatre is located in the Long Beach Performing Arts Center at 300 E. Ocean Boulevard in Long Beach.  For reservations and information, call the ICT Box Office at (562) 436-4610 or go to www.InternationalCityTheatre.org .

Erin Anne Williams

WHEN: Previews: June 8, 9 & 10 & at 8 pm Performances: June 11 through July 3 Thursdays at 8 pm: June 17, 24; July 1 Fridays at 8 pm: June 11 (Opening Night), 18, 25; July 2 Saturday at 2 pm: July 3 Saturdays at 8 pm : June 12, 19, 26; July 3 Sundays at 2 pm: June 13, 20, 27

WHERE: INTERNATIONAL CITY THEATRE Long Beach Performing Arts Center 300 East Ocean Blvd. Long Beach CA 90802

HOW: (562) 436-4610 or

 

 

 

TICKETS: Opening Night (June 13): $50 - $60 (includes reception following the performance) Friday, Saturday, Sunday: $37 - $42 Thursday: $32 - $37 Previews: $29 -

  www.InternationalCityTheatre.org

(June 7) -- Hearst Newspapers announced today the immediate retirement of Helen Thomas, dean of the White House press corps, in the midst of an uproar over her comments that Jews should "get the hell out of Palestine." "Her decision came after her controversial comments about Israel and the Palestinians were captured on videotape and widely disseminated on the Internet," Hearst said in a statement. It noted that her 90th birthday is Aug. 4. Thomas began her career as a correspondent with United Press International in 1943. According to her website, she has covered the administrations of 10 U.S. presidents, starting with the Kennedy administration. She was the first female member of the White House Correspondents' Association and the Gridiron Club. At the conclusion of presidential news conferences, it was her voice that announced, "Thank you, Mr. President." In 2000, she left UPI and joined Hearst News Service as a columnist but was still honored with a front-row seat at presidential news conferences. The board of the White House Correspondents' Association said the incident revived the question of whether it is appropriate for an opinion columnist to occupy a prominent seat in the White House briefing room. The board will hold a special meeting Thursday to decide on the matter. "Helen Thomas' comments were indefensible, and the White House Correspondents' Association board firmly dissociates itself from them," the board said in a statement. "Many in our profession who have known Helen for years were saddened by the comments, which were especially unfortunate in light of her role as a trailblazer on the White House beat." Also today, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs issued a broadside about Thomas' remarks. Asked during a nationally televised briefing about the BP oil spill if he had discussed Thomas' statement with President Barack Obama, Gibbs replied, "I have not spoken with him directly on that. I'll say this ... I think those remarks were offensive and reprehensible. I think she should and has apologized, because obviously those remarks do not reflect certainly the opinion of, I assume, most of the people in here and certainly not of the administration." During a White House commemoration of Jewish Heritage Month on May 27, Rabbi David F. Nesenoff of the website RabbiLive asked Thomas if she had any comments on Israel. "Tell them to get the hell out of Palestine," said Thomas, who is of Lebanese descent. "Remember, these people are occupied. And it's their land. It's not German, it's not Poland." When Nesenoff asked Thomas where the Israelis should go, she said they should "go home" to Germany, Poland and the U.S. Video of the gaffe has been widely circulated on the Internet. Thomas apologized on her website on June 4, saying, "I deeply regret my comments I made last week regarding the Israelis and the Palestinians. They do not reflect my heartfelt belief that peace will come to the Middle East only when all parties recognize the need for mutual respect and tolerance. May that day come soon." But Abraham Foxman, national director of the Anti-Defamation League, demanded a "more sincere" apology. "Helen Thomas' statement of regret does not go far enough," he said in a statement. "Thomas needs to make a more forceful and sincere apology for the pain her remarks have caused." Before Hearst's announcement of Thomas' retirement, the former spokesman for President George W. Bush said the Hearst news organization should fire her. "As someone who is Jewish, and as someone who worked with her and used to like her, I find this appalling," Ari Fleischer said. Lanny Davis, former White House counsel under President Bill Clinton, called Thomas "an anti-Semitic bigot." Over the weekend, Thomas was dumped by her speaking agency, Nine Speakers, and a high school in Bethesda, Md., canceled plans for her to deliver a speech at its graduation ceremonies. Ibrahim Hooper, director of communications for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, defended Thomas, though not her comments. "Obviously her remarks were inappropriate," Hooper told AOL News in a phone interview today. But, he said, "she's been a target of the pro-Israeli lobby for quite some time. She obviously gave them an opportunity to marginalize her voice in the media." He said Thomas' emotions might have "got the best of her."