the bserver inside: Jewish
Solo performer Jon Adam Ross creates new role for Our World’s Fair By Kathy Carlson
Do a world of good on Tzedakah Tzunday
2
Boehm to chair Editorial Board
3
Federations condemn extremism in Israel
4
NowGen website launched
6
Sections Letter Lifecycles Around the town
5 9 10
A
ctor Adam Ross will draw on his Tennessee roots and his experience in creating one-man shows when he performs in Nashville on Sun., Jan. 29, at Our World’s Fair, which kicks off the Jewish Federation of Nashville’s 2012 Annual Campaign. Ross will present a specially commissioned show in which local community members Metro Councilman Fabian Bedne, Helen Yazdian Hanai, Dr. Vlada Melekhin, Amanda and David Schwartz, Lana Sorin Pargh, and Dora Sorin tell about their lives in Jewish communities around the world.
“I can tell you it’s a one-of-a-kind experience,” Ross said from New York in a telephone interview. “We expect a huge crowd,” said Federation Campaign director Naomi Limor Sedek, “and I highly recommend people make their reservations early.” Sedek approached Ross about a possible performance based on fourminute video interviews with people from all over the world who have settled and become part of Nashville’s vibrant Jewish community, he recalled. “The challenge … is to tell one story out of all of the stories - five very specific, very unique narratives,” said Ross. One option was for Ross to simply act as narrator, imparting information and acting as a master of ceremonies between the videos.
MLK Day
T
he Jewish community usually has a group that joins the Martin Luther King Jr. Day march along Jefferson Street. This year it falls on Mon., Jan. 16. If you would like to participate and walk behind our community banner, please contact Judy Saks, Federation community relations director, at 354-1637 or judy@jewishnashville.org by the morning of Fri., Jan. 13. If enough people are interested, we will march. c
Adam Ross
But, he said, “The way into people’s hearts is through character, emotion.” He then had to decide, “Am I going to create a piece based on a character in one of the videos, a new character, more than one character? In solo theater, you have that option.” At Our World’s Fair, he’ll take the videos and other parameters, such as the mission of Federation and the goals for the event, and create a dramatic arc to satisfy all of the goals, he said. World’s Fair Co-chair Karen Yazdian has heard snippets of the script Ross has crafted. “I think people will have a good feeling in their heart” from his performance, she said. “It’s going to send a good message. It will touch all people, young and old. Even children are going to get the Continued on page 2
Persian Gulf tensions mount as U.S. engages Israel on Iran By Ron Kampeas
www.jewishobservernashville.org
A Publication of
www.jewishnashville.org VOL.77 NO. 1 January 6, 2012 11 Tevet 5772
WASHINGTON (JTA) — The Obama administration is engaged in a full-court press to persuade Israel that Iran’s nuclear threat can be contained short of war. The U.S. lobbying has received a mixed reception from Israel, where the Netanyahu government has not ruled out a unilateral strike on Iran. Iran, meanwhile, is taking an aggressive stance in response to mounting sanctions. Last week the Iranian naval chief, Adm. Habibollah Sayyari, threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz if Western sanctions intensified. The threat to close the strait — the passageway for oil from the Persian Gulf states — could presage a war, experts said. “We may be further along the road to war than most people believe,” said Michael Adler, an Iran scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International
The aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush, part of the 5th Fleet, transits through the Strait of Hormuz, Oct. 9 2011. Iran has threatened to shut off the strait, through which much of the world's oil travels, if it faces new sanctions. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Betsy Knapper)
Center for Scholars. Experts are divided as to the seriousness of the threat to cut off the strait and whether it will lead to war.
Adler said that a direct confrontation between the U.S. and Iran may be inevitable, and that the two Continued on page 12