Stars of David

March 13, 2008 - Michael Elkin, Arts & Entertainment Editor

Dinner guests: Hope they have a big table for these honorees, being applauded and lauded the evening of March 13 at Har Zion Temple in Penn Valley, where the Delaware Valley Region of Jewish Educators Assembly is touting 28 "Stars" from the region. No odd coupling this -- each of the 14 synagogues of the Mid-Atlantic Region/United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism has named its own pair of participants, teaming an educator and lay leader. Hold your breath -- but not the applause -- for Linda Herring-Hill and Claudia Figelman, Temple Adath Israel, Merion Station; Celia Katz/Jan Frisch, Congregation Adath Jeshurun, Elkins Park; Michelle Ravitch/Sherri Leibowitz, Beth Sholom Congregation, Elkins Park: Sharon Levinson/Dr. Amy Brosof, Beth-Tikvah-B'nai Jeshurun, Erdenheim; Susan Yefet/Deborah Slotnick, Har Zion Temple, Penn Valley; Dr. David Rabeeya/Marsha Peltz, Or Shalom, Berwyn -- breathe -- Phil Kohler/Helene Berkowitz, Suburban JCC/Bnai Aaron, Havertown; Judy Wilner/Larry Nathanson, Temple Beth Hillel/Beth El, Wynnewood; Marilyn Carp/Judy Caplan, Temple Sinai, Dresher; and a host of others from temples in Jersey; Allentown, Pa.; and Wilmington, Del. What was that? You didn't get it all the first time and want "Stars" to repeat them?

Andrew Wechsler, M.D., has been granted the 2008 Scientific Achievement Award of the American Association of Thoracic Surgery. The Drexel Dragon is the Stanley K. Brockman Professor/chair, cardiothoracic surgery department, at Drexel's College of Medicine.

Barbara Black

Can't beet this: Barbara Black is chairing the "Borscht on Broad" upcoming gala of the Gershman Y. Knowing that the "Star" of the evening is Susie Essman -- the comical cut-up with a mouth that roars -- shouldn't that be the "Broad on Borscht"? (Meant lovingly, but of course. Or, as Susie once told me in her comic guise: Ah, go #!!#**!)

Blue and White and Read All Over: That's Olney High alum Beverly Magid, a Hollywoodian in the know whose Flying Out of Brooklyn is flying off bookshelves. It's all about a woebegone Williamsburg maidele and her affair to remember.

Give peace a chance? Such a mantra gladdens little Aliza Glatter's heart. The 12-year-old from Fort Washington doesn't believe the world should be a fortress of solitude; she's raising money for "Peacing It Together," which buys netting to ward off mosquitoes in malaria-plagued sections of Africa. The Against Malaria Foundation is very much pro-Aliza, placing her as a top five fundraiser in the project worldwide.

Amy Gutmann

Penny for your thoughts? How about for your memories? That's Jenna Steinbrink's project, on the brink of accomplishing the near impossible: Collecting 6 million pennies to commemorate the slaughter of the Six Million during the Holocaust. (What's with these kids today? Don't they know the benefits of taking naps?) It's part of the Ambler resident's Bat Mitzvah effort; the Congregation Beth Or extraordinary member hopes to send funds to the Simon Wiesenthal Center. And, please, don't send "Stars" your pennies; ask MillionsToRemember@comcast.net where they should go. No, send "Stars" your millions.

Be prepared: Amy Gutmann, prexy of the U. of P., had a chocolate covered mint moment the other day, receiving a Take the Lead Award from the Girls Scouts of Philadelphia at ceremonies held at the Four Seasons.

Hankus Netsky

Hankus Netsky, the "Klezmer Professor" whose professed love for the muse has found him performing on stages worldwide -- remember when he and Itzhak Perlman jammed on Jewish jazz one hot summer night on the Mann stage -- will be part of "The Party of Your Life," March 30 at the Meadowlands County Club. What lands him back on his native turf, alongside dean of sound Gerrie Dean and other musicians and dancers? This function is sponsored by the Jewish Federation of Greater Philly's Kehillah of Bux-Mont, and presented in partnership with the National Yiddish Book Center, of which Hankus Pankus -- affectionately called that by his friend "Stars" -- is veepee of education.