On June 17, I attended a performance of Tzofim Israeli Scouts at the Tucson Jewish Community Center, an event celebrating the group’s 40th anniversary. The pleasure I had taken in previous performances of Tzofim, and which I might have taken in this event, was marred by the over-the-top volume of the sound system. I could not tolerate the performance except by plugging both ears with my fingers. I felt that the situation was dangerous to members of the audience, since it is established science that exposure to excessive decibels of sound during early life is often reflected in hearing loss later in life.
As I left the auditorium, with my fingers firmly in my ears and my temples throbbing with a headache caused by the excessive volume, I discovered that in the rear of the auditorium, the sound equipment was being manned by a pair of adolescents wearing Israeli Scouts uniforms. They had no adult supervision.
I cannot imagine what possessed the JCC, as sponsor of the event, to put control of the sound system for a community event in the hands of a couple of teenagers. I will walk out of future events if this sort of thing becomes a precedent.
—Miriam Klaiman
