Sightings at the CJM

Dorothy Saxe

Trees abound in the latest exhibit at the Contemporary Jewish Museum — including, at the opening last week, an unidentified guest wearing a branch for a hat. Among the identified guests at the VIP reception that preceded the opening of “Do Not Destroy: Trees, Art and Jewish Thought” were CJM board chair David Levine and three generations of Saxes: Dorothy Saxe with her children and grandchildren. Waiting patiently in the security line, which snaked down the block, were numerous community leaders, including Dana Corvin with her mother, Adele Corvin; Eleanor Myers, Barbro and Barney Osher; and Jeff Farber plus curators from SFMOMA, the Fine Arts Museums and Pacific Film Archive. A number of the artists whose works are included in the exhibit as part of the Dorothy Saxe Invitational also were present. Saxe’s invitational asked artists from diverse backgrounds to create Jewish ritual objects inspired by a theme, this year Tu B’Shevat, the New Year of the Trees. The CJM exhibit will run through May 28. Visit www.thecjm.org for details.

Was it b’shert?

Clevelanders looking to relive their ballpark hot dog days, complete with Cleveland’s brown “stadium” mustard, can find it at the Deli Board, Adam Mesnick’s South of Market deli. According to a story in the San Francisco Chronicle, the Cleveland native serves the dogs, plus combo sandwiches like the Gold-N-Berg-N-Stein — pastrami, corned beef, brisket, kosher salami, Muenster cheese, house slaw and Thousand Island dressing in a fresh baked French roll. The restaurant is located on Folsom, near an alley named Cleveland, which Mesnick says was a sign that his restaurant was meant to be.

The literary life

Barry Hunau

Jerusalem Post – and j. – cartoonist Barry Hunau has a cartoon included in the newest edition of “Best Editorial Cartoons of the Year,” published by Pelican Press … Proud mom Carol Benet of Belvedere writes that her daughter Gillian Benet Sella was one of four people named to Avenue of the Giants for Redwood High School (Larkspur). Sella, now a harpist with the Cincinnati Symphony, was formerly the principal harpist for the Israel Philharmonic … Randi Fields, director of Jewish Coalition for Literacy, reports that JCL is among three agencies chosen by S.F. Congregation Beth Israel Judea’s youth and family program as recipients of its tzedakah fund. BIJ congregants Risa Salat-Kolm and Rachael Tobener, both of San Francisco, and David Zeff of Daly City are volunteers for JCL, which tutors public school students in reading. The other tzedakah recipients are Hazon Yeshaya soup kitchens in Israel, and Shalom Bayit.

60 years of service

Arthur Becker of San Francisco turned 100 and Hebrew Free Loan honored both his birthday and his six decades of service to the organization, including a stint as president, at a Donors Appreciation Brunch at Lake Merced Golf Club on Feb. 12. Becker, unfortunately, was under the weather and could not join the celebration. His children, Steve Becker and Susan and John Klein, accepted a plaque naming their dad as the first winner of the inaugural Arthur Becker Leadership Award. On the program, Annette Shulman, who received a loan from the agency to open her San Francisco floral studio, said she left the city’s flower market, where she was stocking up for Valentine’s Day — “the busiest weekend of the year for a florist,” she noted — to tell the audience how important their donations are. “I’m the proud owner of the most beautiful flower studio in San Francisco, and I wouldn’t be here today without Hebrew Free Loan,” she said. The agency provides interest-free loans for business, education and more. Visit www.hflasf.org for information.

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