Sheli Teitelbaum, The Jerusalem Report's Los Angeles correspondent, spent the evening of January 16 just prior to the massive California quake attending a fundraiser for the Weizmann Institute of Science held at Universal Studios. The event included a visit to the studios' Earthquake Exhibit, a special-effects simulation of an earthshaker measuring 8.0 on the Richter scale.
"I wasn't overly exercised by the experience," he says. Teitelbaum, who lives in Granada Hills, three miles from the quake's epicenter at Northridge, wasn't so nonchalant when he got a taste of the real thing a few hours later.
"I opened my eyes with the complete and immediate realization that this was the Big One, and we were all dead. Screaming, I bounded out of bed and got hit in the back by a dresser which flew out of the wall. I served in Lebanon with the Israeli army, but this was definitely the most terrifying experience in my life."
Teitelbaum managed to round up his three young children his wife Lillith, a nurse, was on duty at a nearby hospital and herd them outside. His house suffered extensive damage. Even as he gathered information on how the L.A. Jewish community is coping with the quake's aftermath for this issue's cover story, Teitelbaum and his family were dealing with their own recovery.
"Weeks after the event," he says, "nerves remained frayed and many of us are afflicted with a fatalism that borders on depression."
This issue introduces In&Around, a new Back-of-the-Book section incorporating the Snapshot and People features. It will also include two new elements: Report Card, a collection of intriguing and informative facts and figures, and Good Taste/Good Times, a column of recommendations (and sometimes warnings) on food, fun and fashion. See pages 52 and 53.