Smashing sexism
Rabbi Michael Rothbaum’s lesson plan, with the intriguing title “Selling Soap, Smashing Sexism, Seeing Ourselves,” was a finalist for the Jewish Women’s Archive Natalia Twersky Educator Award. The national awards are given annually to teachers who demonstrate a commitment to integrating the stories and voices of Jewish women into their curricula through the creative use of primary sources. Rothbaum, a rabbi/educator at Beth Chaim Congregation in Danville, uses the work of Jewish artist-advertising guru Barbara Kruger. His goal is to teach students to recognize underlying messages in advertising and other communication — in particular, to view images of women with a critical eye.
In the three-session class, students study and discuss Kruger’s work with slogans (“I shop therefore I am” is one of her most famous) to convey social and political messaging about feminism, consumerism, individual autonomy and desire. Rothbaum then presents quotes from the Torah and students are asked to create original artwork that supports the quote, criticizes it or makes a joke about it, utilizing Kruger’s technique of superimposing bold lettering atop black-and-white photos on a red background. The class was part of an elective on Jewish art and artists for grades eight through 12 at Contra Costa Midrasha.
NIF honors guardians
New Israel Fund will honor Michael Bien and Jane Kahn at the group’s annual Guardian of Democracy Dinner on Sept. 14 at the Four Seasons Hotel, San Francisco. Both are longtime leaders at NIF and in the Jewish community, and Bien is currently chair of NIF’s regional board and a member of the international council. In addition, Naomi Orensten, will receive the New Generations Leadership Award (see story, page 8). Keynote speaker for the event is Amal Elsana Alh’jooj, founder of the Arab-Jewish Center for Equality, Empowerment and Cooperation. She was the first Bedouin woman in Israel to attend college and holds degrees from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev and McGill University. The event, which celebrates NIF’s 35 years, is co-chaired by Toby and Robert Rubin. Visit www.nif.org/guardian to register.
In the beginning, in glass
Nancy Katz, formerly of Berkeley, and colleagues Mark Liebowitz (who is Katz’s husband) and David Punches at Wilmark Studios in Shelburne Falls, Mass., have created 32 stained-glass panels that tell the Genesis creation story. Katz moved to the Boston area several years ago. In the Bay Area, she was primarily a fabric artist, and her hand-painted silk fabrics, which are often compared to stained glass, are on display in local congregations and homes. The panels, commissioned by Temple Emanu-El in Closter, N.J., will be installed in time for Rosh Hashanah. They are composed of roughly 4,500 individual pieces of colored glass. Katz did the design and her partners, the fabrication. Visit their website at www.wilmarkstudios.com.
Short shorts
Isaac Kort-Meade of Santa Rosa spent his summer in Washington, D.C., as a Machon Kaplan intern at the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism. The program engages students on critical social justice issues … Yael Dinur is the new Jewish Agency for Israel fellow at Hillel of Silicon Valley … Mazel tov to philanthropist John Goldman, whom President Obama is nominating to the board of trustees of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Goldman is former president of the S.F.-based Jewish Community Federation and Endowment and the San Francisco Symphony (among many leadership roles).
This columnist can be reached at [email protected].
by Suzan Berns