Tag Archives: Israel

Roundup: Solidarity Rally, Community Gardens, Leaf Blowers …

Posted on October 9, 2023 | 1 comment

Following Hamas’ invasion, the Jewish Federation of Greater Fairfield County quickly organized a “We Stand with Israel” solidarity gathering.

It’s tonight: Monday, October 9, 7:30 p.m. at Temple Israel (14 Coleytown Road, Westport). Registration is required; click here.

The event will also be livestreamed; click here for the link.

Hosts include:

  • Jewish Federation of Greater Fairfield County
  • Temple Israel
  • The Conservative Synagogue
  • B’nai Israel
  • Chabad of Westport
  • Or Hadash
  • Temple Shalom
  • Beth El Norwalk
  • Congregation Shir Shalom
  • Congregation for Humanistic Judaism
  • ADL CT
  • BBYO CT
  • Chabad of Fairfield
  • Chabad of Ridgefield
  • Ahavath Achim
  • Beit Chaverim
  • Congregation Rodeph Sholom
  • Congregation Ahavath Achim
  • Congregation Bikur Cholim
  • Congregation Mishkan Israel

Attendees are asked to not bring large bags or purses.

The Federation has also opened a fund to help victims of terror, and provide trauma support. Click here to donate.

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Amid controversy over its future, the Westport Community Gardens held a 20th anniversary Fall Harvest Party yesterday.

Kids got tattoos. The Big Green Pizza Truck served pies, salads, cappuccino and gelato.

And the band played on.

(Photos/Lou Weinberg)

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Also yesterday:

The Small Car Company’s annual Air-Cooled Charity Car Show on Veterans Green.

The event raised funds and awareness for 2 non-profits: Northeast Community Cycles (which provides bikes free of charge to underprivileged children) and the Bikeport Co-Op (a program where youth earn bikes by attending bike safety and maintenance courses, and performing volunteer hours with local organizations).

The show featured dozens of vintage Porsches, Volkswagens, Corvairs and other rare and special air-cooled cars and motorcycles from around the tri-state area.

Among the air-cooled vehicles on display at Veterans Green. (Photo/Sarathi Roy)

Meanwhile, adjacent to the Artists Collective of Westport trunk show in the Taylor parking lot, Earthplace naturalist Rachel Grella showed off a ball python, on Jesup Green. Its audience had a variety of reactions.

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For this week’s 3 candidate debates, questions must be submitted in advance. They will not be taken from the floor. Questions should be emailed to lwvwestportct@yahoo.com.

Planning & Zoning Commission candidates take the Town Hall auditorium stage Wednesday (October 11, 7 p.m.). They’re followed by a double-header on Thursday, October 12: the Board of Education at 7 p.m., Board of Finance at 8:15.

The debates are sponsored by the League of Women Voters of Westport.

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A reminder: Beginning next Monday (October 15), gas-powered leaf blowers are allowed every day from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., except holidays.

Property owners are responsible for informing landscapers who work on their property.  

Homeowners doing their own yard work have extended hours: weekdays 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.; weekends and holidays, 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Beginning May 15, no gas-powered leaf blowers will be allowed through October 15, except in specific situations (for example a health or safety emergency, or storm cleanup).

Property owners should inform landscapers now, so they can plan to buy any necessary equipment before May 15. (Hat tip: Kristin Schneeman)

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Speaking of the environment: Spotted lanternflies continue to be an invasive pest.

Westporters have been stomping on them like crazy.

Here’s another idea, spotted (ho ho) at Sherwood Island State Park yesterday:

(Photo/Johanna Keyser Rossi)

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Lauren Bullock recently resigned, after teaching for 16 years in the Westport Public Schools.

But she had another career too. She wrote, directed and produced a short film, “Tough Love.” It’s been nominated for Excellence in Directing and Outstanding Lead Actress awards by the 2023 Pitch to Screen Festival.

“A young, attractive bartender is crazed by a traumatic childhood after the death of her father. Constantly questioning her self-worth and duplicity, Lana struggles to find love as she seeks affection from strangers. She is burdened by the remnants of patriarchy, religion, and bad choices as she is faced with her own reflection. Lana must look in the mirror and confront her past in order to move on.”

It’s available for public viewing online for 4 days only (October 12-16); click here for details. It then moves to the big screen, at Manhattan’s Dolby Theater, on October 20.

Half of the film was shot in and around Westport last spring. A few local actors were in the cast.

Winners of festival awards will be determined by viewers’ votes.

Click here for the Bullock Productions website. Click below for the “Tough Love” trailer.

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A Senior Center audience of over 120 attendees was entertained yesterday by the Gramercy Brass Orchestra.

The invitation came from Senior Center board member Molly Alger. She was on the Gramercy Board for 20 years, before moving from New York to Westport.

Her son Jason was a student at the United Nations International School, where orchestra leader/trumpeter John Henry Lambert taught — and took private lessons from him too.

Gramercy Brass Orchestra at the Senior Center. Leader John Henry Lambert is at far right. (Photo and hat tip/Dave Matlow)

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Today’s “Westport … Naturally” photo comes from Canal Road, on Saugatuck Shores. Humans have made their mark there — but it’s still filled with natural wonders.

(Photo/Gene Borio)

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Posted in Entertainment, Environment, Local politics, Politics, religion

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Roundup: Israel, Kids, Housing …

Posted on October 8, 2023 | 27 comments

Former 2nd Selectman and Board of Finance chair Avi Kaner and his wife Liz are in Israel, during these precarious times. Avi told “06880” this morning: “We arrived last night to spend a week, and flew into a country at war.

“The primary purpose of our visit was to dedicate a Torah scroll, which my grandfather rescued, to the Yad Vashem Holicaust Museum on Wednesday.

“This is a very resilient nation. All the terrorists succeeded in doing is reuniting the people.”

Liz added: “During our flight to Tel Aviv yesterday Israel became embroiled in war. I got teary-eyed at airport after seeing a young Israeli family – blond hair/ blue eyes — meeting their safta (grandmother). What did they do to elicit such hatred?

“This is so emotional, but I wouldn’t trade being here tonight for anything. We bonded with Avi’s cousins while going to and from bomb shelters 4 times.

“We witnessed the sights and sounds of rockets being launched by Hamas, which were then diffused by Iron Dome. First was the hissing of the rockets and then the “boom boom” of their decimation….

“While in the bomb shelter Avi’s cousin started singing ‘Am Israel Chi (The People of Israel Live’), which reinforced our love for and solidarity with Israel.”

The Kaners sent 2 emotional videos. Click below for their first-hand report:

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David Meth writes:

“My wife and I just returned from a very pleasant Friday night walk along Main Street for ice cream at Cold Fusion.

“Well, pleasant to a point. As we see often, some very negligent parents let their tweens and early teens loose and alone to ride their bikes, scooters, skateboards and electric 1-wheelers on Main Street. No helmet. No regard.

“Because … why bother to make sure their own children are safe? The kids uninhibitedly take their chances against traffic, zipping in and out of lanes and between cars, cutting them off without a thought.

“So it was very nice to see Officer Shawn Booth on foot patrol watching over the street, pedestrians, and diners coming to and from the restaurants, as well as checking on stores to see that all was usual.

“But a foot patrol is not usual, although it is absolutely necessary on weekends to prevent these children from causing an accident, getting hurt oe, God forbid, killed.

“The parents obviously won’t take care of their children, so let us thank the Westport Police Department for keeping their children safe.

“They must be kept away from and out of traffic and casual strollers on Main Street.”

Westport Police Officer Shawn Booth

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The “Fairfield County Talks Housing” series continues with October 17 (7 p.m., Westport Library), with a conversation called “Housing Matters: Connecting Housing and Education.”.

The discussion about the relationship between a resident’s address, quality education and opportunity includes Connecticut House Majority Leader Jason Rojas, CT Voices for Children executive director Emily Byrne, and ConnCAN executive director Subira Gordon.

The event is sponsored by the Fairfield County Center for Housing Opportunity and Fairfield County’s Community Foundation.

In Connecticut, Zip Codes and educational opportunity are tied closely together.

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After many months, Westport is getting a … nail salon.

The Nail Factory reopens Monday, next to CVS.

Owner Quiyang “Amber” Tian moved to the US from China in 2015. She worked as a cashier, then became a nail technician in the Bronx, Long Island and Orange (commuting from Queens.

She and a co-worker bought an established nail business in Westport in 2019, now known as The Nail Factory, where they became known for their designs. COVID struck soon, shuttering them for 3 months.

The property owner did not renew her lease after 3 1/2 years. She has built out her new location, investing in all new equipment. Welcome back! (Hat tip: Charlene Reiss Zeiberg)

The Nail Factory opens tomorrow. (Photo/Molly Alger)

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After decades of getting ready for the opening. bell, retired teachers have the luxury of sleeping in.

But former Staples High School educators find a variety of ways to stay active and engaged. They lead full, interestinglives.

Every so often they get together (though a bit later than dawn) to compare notes, and talk about their lives then and now.

They call themselves ROMEOs: Retired Old Men Eating Out.

How many of the legendary teachers in the photo below do you recognize?

They are (clockwise from lower left): Al Jolley, Jim Wheeler, Tom Owen, Bruce McFadden, Barry Curseaden, Pete Van Hagen, Stan Rhodes, John Pepe, Werner Liepolt, Jeff Lea, Bill Brookes, Ed Bludnicki.

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Today’s “Westport … Naturally” photo is as natural as it gets.

Peter Swift snapped this shot. He writes: “Never mind the politics — the show goes on at Westport Community Gardens. Early Saturday. Compost stacked. Birds singing. Bees buzzing. The compost guy.”

(Photo/Peter Swift)

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And finally … on this day in 1956, Don Larsen pitched the only perfect game in World Series history.

(Here’s a perfectly good idea: Please support local journalism, by clicking here. Thank you!)

 

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Posted in Downtown, Education, Library, Local business, Police, Politics, Teenagers

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Israel Apologizes To Lynsey Addario

Posted on December 1, 2011 | 52 comments

Today’s New York Times “The Lede” blog contains this story about Lynsey Addario — a Westport native and Staples graduate:

Israel’s Defense Ministry apologized on Monday for forcing a pregnant New York Times photographer to remove her clothes and submit to a physical search after she had already passed through an X-ray machine three times at a checkpoint in Gaza last month.

The photographer, Lynsey Addario, is a Pulitzer Prize-winning war photographer who was one of four Times journalists subjected to brutal treatment in March after being captured by Libyan government forces and held for six days.

Lynsey Addario

In a letter to the Israeli ministry last month, Ms. Addario wrote that soldiers at the Erez Crossing in northern Gaza had treated her with “blatant cruelty” when she arrived there on Oct. 24 and asked not to have to pass through the X-ray machine. Because she was seven months pregnant at the time, she had been advised by her obstetrician to avoid exposure to radiation.

Ms. Addario had phoned an official at the border crossing in advance to make her request and had been assured that there would be no problem. When she arrived at checkpoint, however, she was told that if she did not pass through the X-ray machine, she would have to remove all of her clothes down to her underwear for a search. To “avoid the humiliation,” Ms. Addario decided to pass through the X-ray machine.

“As I passed through,” she wrote, “a handful of soldiers watched from the glass above the machine smiling triumphantly. They proceeded to say there was a ‘problem’ with the initial scan, and made me pass through two additional times as they watched and laughed from above. I expressed each time that I was concerned with the effect the radiation would have on my pregnancy.”

She added:

After three passes through the X-ray, I was then brought into a room where a woman proceeded to ask me to take off my pants. She [asked me to lift] up my shirt to expose my entire body while I stood in my underwear. I asked if this was necessary after the three machine checks, and she told me it was “procedure” – which I am quite sure it is not. They were unprofessional for soldiers from any nation.

In an e-mail to the head of Israel’s government press office on Monday, the Defense Ministry wrote that, after “a deep and serious investigation into the matter of Ms. Addario’s security check last month,” it had concluded that her request to avoid the machine had not been passed on to the security officials at the checkpoint because of “faulty coordination between the parties involved.”

Lynsey Addario at work

Although the statement said, “We would like to apologize for this particular mishap in coordination and any trouble it may subsequently have caused to those involved,” the ministry dismissed Ms. Addario’s concern about radiation. “The relevant machine is situated at numerous borders and airports across the world and presents no danger for those who use it,” the statement said.

The ministry added that although the search “was carried out according to the accepted security procedure,” officials have “decided to hone the procedure for foreign journalists.”

Ethan Bronner, the Jerusalem bureau chief of The Times, said in response to the statement:

The Times remains shocked at the treatment Lynsey Addario received and shocked at how long the investigation has taken since our complaint was lodged a month ago. The careless and mocking way in which she was handled should not be considered accepted security procedure. We welcome the announcement by the Defense Ministry of plans to hone that procedure.

In a message posted on Twitter on Monday night, Ms. Addario’s husband, Paul de Bendern, referred to the incident as one of “terrible humiliation for my pregnant wife.”

Ms. Addario’s experience came nine months after a pregnant Arab-Israeli journalist working for Al Jazeera was denied entry to a cocktail party hosted by the Israeli government because she agreed to take off some of her clothes for a security check but refused to remove her bra. Before the same event, other journalists, including the bureau chief of The Wall Street Journal, were also strip-searched.

52 Comments

Posted in People, Staples HS

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Sunday In Elvira’s With Joe

Posted on November 29, 2011 | 50 comments

You never know who you’ll run into in Westport.  I’ve seen Diana Ross, Brian Williams and Manute Bol, to name 3 random famous folks.

Last Sunday at Elvira’s, Sef Brody saw Joe Lieberman.

The 1990 Staples graduate did more than just say, “Good morning, Senator.”  Here’s his story, direct from his Tumblr, “Brody Post.”

He was wearing a baseball cap in front of the deli counter, standing with his wife and 2 friends, wondering out loud what kind of egg sandwich to order.  I had just rolled out of bed but there was no way I could miss that face.

Half-hidden under my green hoodie, I told the former vice president-elect that they make delicious spinach and feta at this place.  He wanted to make sure it was vegetarian.

He asked me my name and what I did. We talked about our shared Hebrew name and its origins.  He told me a related story about his wife.  I told him I grew up in the neighborhood and that I got my first job in this same deli when I was 15, they put me to work integrating the various sections of The New York Times in the back garage before dawn on weekends, that now I’m a clinical psychologist living in Paris.

He said that sounded pretty great, how’d I manage that?  Not wanting to get into it, I said, “It seems you’re not doing too bad yourself.”  He introduced me to his Westport friends.  For a man who I’ve come to see as a total disgrace, whose politics I detest, I found this guy very charming in person.  I imagine he must share this trait with most successful politicians.

Joe Lieberman, the senior senator from Connecticut.

Itching to talk politics, after we both ordered I started asking him questions.  I shared my concern with him that the next financial crisis will be worse than the last one, asking him how realistic our chances were to break up the mega-banks before it’s too late.  He said that funnily enough someone just asked him the same question— as if “too big to fail” was a new concept— and went on to blame Republicans for blocking reform.

I said, mistakenly, “You’re caucusing with them now, right?” He looked down and away sheepishly, replied that he’s still caucusing with the Democrats.  I responded, “But you can understand why I could make that mistake, right? Everybody’s like, ‘What happened to Lieberman?’”

Wondering about the best way to broach US-Israeli injustices towards Palestinians, a topic of deep personal concern to me and one in which he holds unique power, I asked the chairman of the US Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs another crucial question:  “Don’t you wonder whether we’re endangering both US and Israeli security by lending full support to Israeli aggressions?”

He responded that “it’s not a blank check” we’re giving Israel.  He claimed that Israel has so few discussion partners in the region that they’ve become “paranoid”— he puffed his chest out and balled his fists to demonstrate what he meant.

When I bemoaned the lack of real public debate on such a serious issue in the US compared to the relatively vibrant debate happening in Israel, he corrected me that there’s actually plenty of debate happening in the US — “just not in public.”

Sef Brody, the clinical psychologist from Paris.

I very much wanted that conversation to continue but he eluded further clarification, and left to join his wife and friends at the picnic tables outside.  I stood there thinking that despite the mysteriousness of that last response, it was very revealing about how he views American democracy, about how he understands the way it’s supposed to work.

What would you say or do, given a surprise opportunity to face a contemptible politician mano-a-mano?  Throw your shoe?  Spit in his general direction?  Curse him out?

It might have felt good to let out some real anger, to at least remind Lieberman of his deep betrayal of Connecticut voters, or about how profoundly he has shamed himself and the United States.  I might have liked also to ask him which country he wants to invade next.  Or about how many civilian deaths he thinks he might be personally responsible for across the Middle East and Central Asia.

I instead asked myself, What approach is mostly likely to have a desirable effect? Looking into the sympathetic eyes of a man who has successfully mastered an enormous, complex and corrupt political system, I found myself taking the polite-but-critical tack.

Leaving the store, still groggy and hooded, I headed toward Compo Hill Road, coffee and egg sandwiches in hand.  He waved goodbye, and called out to me by name.  I swung around past his table, put my hand on his shoulder and reminded him of one short-term need that might possibly get through.  “Break up the mega-banks, Joe.”

He turned and called out, smiling:  “That’s the message of the day.”  

50 Comments

Posted in Beach, People, Politics, Staples HS

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Catching Up With Harvey Brooks

Posted on May 16, 2011 | 8 comments

What do Bob Dylan, Miles Davis, the Doors, Jimi Hendrix, Richie Havens, Stephen Stills, John Sebastian, Seals & Crofts, Boz Scaggs, Judy Collins, Loudon Wainright III, Phoebe Snow, John Cale, Phil Ochs, the Fabulous Rhinestones and Fontella Bass have in common?

Harvey Brooks.

Harvey Brooks (left) and Mike Bloomfield in Electric Flag.

Anyone who has read a liner note knows the name.  The gifted bassist laid down some of the most famous lines in music history, including “Like a Rolling Stone.”  His work was the hook on the Doors’ “Touch Me.”

Brooks — Davis’s 1st electric bassist — played on “Bitches Brew,” the best-selling jazz album of all time.

And, for many years, Harvey Brooks lived on North Compo Road, right here in Westport.

He and his wife Bonnie Behar have moved to Israel — that’s a whole other story — but he’s still in the news.  The International Guitar Hall of Fame recently inducted Brooks.  He joins legends like Muddy Waters, Willie Nelson, and Westonites Keith Richards and Jose Feliciano.

Bass Musician Magazine also featured Brooks.  After showcasing his career — his big break at age 20, when his friend Al Kooper hooked him up with Dylan; his iconic playing in rock, folk and jazz for over 4 decades; his new life in Israel — the interview included these tidbits:

I had an apartment on Thompson Street and the Au Go Go was around the corner on Bleecker Street, and I became the house bass player there.  I would play with whoever was on the bill that evening, with no rehearsal and just a quick run-through backstage.  [To] be a musician in Greenwich Village in the mid-sixties…was AMAZING!

Monterey Pop was [Electric Flag’s] 1st gig.  We were pumped.  [Mike] Bloomfield kept using the word “groovy” in all its variations, in his excitement to describe the scene that was set out before us.  We played in the afternoon so we able to see people dancing and the expressions on their faces as we played.  Their feedback was amazing.  The band was nervous and tense, but once we started performing and the audience accepted us we relaxed enough to play a decent set.

When I began to do session work after the Highway 61 Dylan album, I was expected to read music on some of the more structured sessions.  I could read chord charts but not bass clef, so I had to learn to read.  I began to acquire books on rhythm, scales, chords, composing, ear training and method books, and all kinds of fakebooks (books of tunes).

At the same time that this literary musical awakening was going on, I was getting all kinds of sessions that were pure instinct, demanding only my heart and soul.  No problem– I have always been a melodic player who could at the same time “keep it simple.”

Over the years my ability to hear the music has evolved and my technique has grown to accommodate what I’m hearing.  I’ve learned enough guitar and piano to harmonize the music and bass parts I compose.  I’ve also been blessed with the most wonderful wife and partner Bonnie, who inspires me to create and continue to grow.

As for Israel:  Brooks — who was born Harvey Goldstein — “caught the Zionist bug” from Bonnie, who for years took her daughters backpacking there.  In 2009, the couple moved permanently.

Harvey Brooks

“I’m very relaxed here.  I’m with my people,” Brooks told the Arizona Jewish Post.

Though not religious, Brooks says he “feels spiritually connected to Judaism” after long years in which music was his “only religion.”  He’s gotten into the Israeli music scene, and performs at local clubs.

He continues to write and record, too.

Who knows?  The multi-talented Harvey Brooks might soon add bass lines to klezmer music.

It couldn’t hurt.

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Posted in Arts, Organizations, People

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