May's People
By: Gad Nahshon
The Jewish Post's senior staff writer, Marilyn Silverman, has been the recipient of numerous awards. She was appointed as a judge in the Deadline Club's journalism award competition. The New York Press Club reprinted her article, "The Hero the Jewish World Forgot for 56 Years," in their official publication, Byline. Marilyn was also quoted on the cover of Alan Dershowitz's Vanishing American Jew: In Search of Jewish Identity for the Next Century, published by Simon & Schuster. An accomplished portrait artist, she sold one of her charcoal portraits of Leonard Bernstein to his son.
The author of a book she edited, Hatem Shareef Abu-Lebdeh (Conflict and Peace in the Middle East: National perceptions & United States - Jordan Relations) acknowledged her editing expertise on WERE Radio, Cincinnati, Ohio.
Before joining The Jewish Post and deciding to devote her career to Jewish causes, Marilyn, a Brooklynite, was a business consultant with the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce and was appointed to the Mayor's Small Business Advisory board.
We applaud her achievements and are proud to have her aboard.
"My Family," a series of black and white photographs by Miriam Abraham, is shown in special exhibition at the Henry Street Settlement's Gallery, 466 Grand Street in the lower East Side. It is a special exhibition because Miriam Abraham grew up in a Hasidic Jewish community.
She has a degree from Pratt Institute of New York. The problem stems from the Ten Command-ments: Do not create a graven image.
The question of whether photography should be considered a graven image has long been debated amongst the religious Jewish sects known as Hasidim. Having been born into a Hasidic family, Ms. Abraham's desire to photograph her family members was therefore, not viewed with enthusiasm.
However, while studying photography, a growing fascination with her family became such, that she felt compelled to record the everyday, yet unique quality of their lives. Without the distractions of television, radio, or newspapers from the outside world, so commonplace in today's secular society, Hasidic daily life revolves around prayer, Talmudic study and the rituals of family life. It is these moments of interaction, to one another and to their surroundings, that inspires her work. Her photographs illuminate a rich and complex culture from a unique point of view.
Mrs. Iris Weinshall Schumer, wife of Senator-Elect Charles E. Schumer, and daughter, Jessica, became the first mother-daughter team to join the Advisory Board of the National Council on Women's Health mother's & daugh-ters race against teen smoking.
At a brief ceremony, held at Stuyvesant High School on Thursday morning, December 17, 1998, Mrs. Schumer and her daughter were inducted onto the Race's Advisory Board, along with the New York City School District students, Barbara Wex-elman and Iolet Francis. The stu-dents, who are student body lead-ers in their respective schools, will serve as advisors to the Race and assist in recruiting parent-student participation on Race-Day.
The event culminated a week of kick-off activities for this brand new teen anti-tobacco initiative, and also celebrated the Race's association with the New York City School District in the interest of ending teen tobacco use.
Also in attendance at the cere-mony were former Congress-woman Pat Schroeder, and Marianne J. Legato, MD, Part-nership for Women's Health Founder at Columbia University, both members of the Race's Ad-visory Board and Dr. Clarita Herrera, National Council on Women's Health President.
Race Background: More than a year ago, the New York City-based National Council on Women's Health, alarmed at the dramatic increase in smoking among teens, especially among teenage girls, decided to confront the problem, head-on, through positive, fitness-oriented action: the mothers & daughters race against teen smoking.
This cause-related run/walk, proposed by Manhattan psychia-trist and past President of the Na-tional Council on Women's Health, Dr. Julie Hatterer, is crafted to provide a means for generations of mothers and daughters to publicly emerge as community co-leaders in the campaign against teen tobacco addiction, while providing young women with healthier routes to self-esteem.
Taste of eternity, 'A Musical Shabbat' (part I: Friday night service and table songs, a CD (Zmirot) released, recently, by The Western Wind recording company (201-567-8108).
It is a great production by the noted musician Matthew Lazar, who is conducting the choir. The leading singers are Alberto Mizrachy, Robert Paul Abelson, Benji Ellen Schiller, and the narrator is Leonard Nimoy. The narration was written by Rabbi Gerald S. Skolnik.
"The Western Wind" has contributed to the success of the Jewish music in America and the same is true for the acclaimed authority, Lazar.
Israeli Minister of Commerce and Industry Natan Sharansky, commemorated the 80th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by a symbolic walk (Dec. 9, 1998), from Crowne Plaza Hotel to the 'Sharansky steps' at the Isaiah Wall opposite the UN, corner of 42nd-43rd Streets and First Avenue.
Eddie Portnoy, a scholar of the Yiddish humor, presented at the Sholem Aleichem Shul 21, 3301 Bainbridge Avenue, Bronx, his unique presentation of "satire and parody in the Yiddish press." He used slides and video in order to show the greatness of the Yiddish humor which had such a great influence on the American humor and comedies.
The Freilachmakers Klez-mer String Band announces the release of their first CD, The Flower of Berezin. These vibrant, rough-edged, yet nuanced interpretations of klezmer standards, along with original compositions and Irish, and old-timey dance tunes, make this album a certain hit with klezmer and folk music aficionados.
Founded in 1995, The Freilach-makers have brought their unique sound to many audiences in Northern California and Oregon. While in some ways reverting to an older string-based Eastern European approach to klezmer, the music is also highly influenced by their backgrounds as Celtic and old-timey musicians. The bank features Andy Rubin on clawhammer banjo and mandolin, Dave Kidd on fiddle, balalaika and pennywhistle, Elaine Fingerett on accordion, David Rosenfeld on guitar and mandolin, and Lou Ann Weiss on string bass.
The title tune on The Flower of Berezin was written by Andy Rubin as a memorial to his grandmother, who emigrated to America from Belarus around 1920. Other tunes on the album include Der Heyser Bulgar, Papirosn, Ragtime Annie, the Flowers of Antrim, Baym Rebn in Palestina, Tantsl firm de Makhetonim, The Odessa Bulgar, Shtil di Nacht, Leibedik un Freilach, Sonny's Mazurka, Horo, The Medyatsiner Waltz, the Minsker Corporal's Waltz, Der Rebbe iz Gegangen and The Kishiniever Bulgar.
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