NEW BLOGS

yellow rubber gloves, kitchen sink, berkeley, ca
pastel on paper bag

My last post talked about Tisha b'Av, the Temple of Solomon and the Arch of Titus. Today in the mail, I got an article from Roby about, what else, the 'Jewish' Arch of Titus. I will scan it in and put it on the Robert Sandler blog a.s.a.p. I have been working on two new blogs:


My Paper Bag drawings can be seen here:
My Abstract paintings can be seen here: 
Both series were started in Berkeley.......

TISHA B'AV

Today is Tisha B'Av by the Jewish calendar, the ninth of Av. The saddest day in the Jewish year. It commemorates the destruction of the Temple of Solomon in Jerusalem in 70 A.D. by the Romans. Numerous other tragedies are also attributed to this date in Jewish history. Traditionally we read the book of Lamentations on Tisha b'Av which began last night as all Jewish holidays do, at sundown the night before. The photo below shows the Arch of Titus commemorating the destruction of the Temple. It  came from History of Art by Janson. It shows the Roman army carrying off the ritual objects used at the Temple of Solomon such as the Menorah and incense burners. 

My friend Debora spent a year working in Rome with her family and she told me that Italian Jews (who have a very long history in Rome dating back to Temple times) did not walk under the arch until the state of Israel was created in 1948.

I am still working on my 'Synagogue Project' which I started a long time ago about the connection between the Temple of Solomon and synagogue architecture. To see some drawings of the Temple and the Tabernacle in the Desert, click here. Scroll down past the photographs to the Writings section. You can also see some of my photographs of Boston before getting to the Writing section.

FENWAY PARK-BOSTON RED SOX

My cousin Ken sent me a piece of Red Sox history. How important and significant this is cannot be overstated ! The Sandler family has always consisted of loyal, die-hard Red Sox fans. My uncle Roby told me (recently) he originally wanted to be a professional baseball player. Here is an article he wrote about the time he went to see a double-header with his father, my Zaidy, at Fenway Park. (He Tipped His Cap, click here:) A double-header with Ted Williams in both games!

I know that Roby and Bernice are both Red Sox fans along with my Aunt Ruth. Roby gets all the games in Florida. The Red Sox are playing the Texas Rangers right now ! I have to go.

MY COUSIN ELLEN-EARLY YEARS

I'm not even exactly sure how I ended up with these Kodak Instamatic photos of Ellen and Robert with their young children, Julian and Eric.  

      

What a coincidence that Ellen had two boys she named Julian and Eric, while my mother, Shirley Miller married Julius Silverman who had a brother named Eric !  Ellen writes: "Ellen and Eric Slane, Jan.1971 in front of mural Ellen painted in the babies' room"  !!!

Ellen has a daughter, Amber who looks remarkably like Ellen and when I get a photo of her I will put it right here. (stay tuned) For now here is a link to Amber's blog:

On the back of this photo by the water, Ellen wrote "We visited Bob's family.  Bob is holding Julian and I am holding Eric. At left is Bob's mother and at right is his sister Susie."

Here is a photo of Eric and Julian, May 1972. Ellen wrote on the back: "Our backyard, the pool we got for the babies. Eric is practicing kicking his feet, and Julian is contemplating picking up his football."

MY COUSIN ELLEN

My cousin Ellen lives in paradise,   ( see photo of Hollywood Beach) with her husband Robert and her dog Joey. My cousin the bathing beauty in her red bathing suit, red baseball cap and big sunglasses.......so glamorous........and I really mean it ! She looks fabulous !

The last time I saw Ellen, she was five and I was seven, somewhere around there. It was in Boby's house when Roby was visiting with my cousins Ellen and Jeffrey. Ellen called me June 16, 1998, the night before my surgery in Berkeley, California. We hadn't spoken in over 40 years. I will never forget that.

SAY HELLO TO MS. LENA

My brother Barry is getting a puppy. "She'll be home in a couple of weeks !  it's official, I'M GETTING A PUPPY !!!!"  "happiness...wow."

TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES

Dear readers of the Sandler family archives blog,

We are experiencing some technical difficulties in uploading published articles.

Right now, when you click on links, you have to sign in to a Google account in order to read the article.






Hancock Tower, Boston, MA

MY AUNT BERNICE

JULY 30, 1997

A beautiful article was published in the Jewish Post &  Opinion about my lovely aunt Bernice and her excellent cantorial skills. Written by Morton Gold, he states: "After listening to that tape I have to state publicly that Bernice Sandler is a really fine soprano, and sings with taste, sensitivity and ability...."

"On the basis of her ability and professional experience, she should be given the honorary title of Hazzan....speedily in our days."

It seems that Bernice interviewed at Hebrew Union College School of Sacred Music in 1981 and was "......advised the program would be too rigorous and "also implied that she was too old to embark on such a program of studies. Gevalt and more gevalt."

Oy vay is right ! Well it's 2010 now and women are Cantors ......and ageism is still a challenge today.

click here for the link to read the article:

BERNICE SANDLER

  JULY 30, 1997