Helping to make art, not war in Brookline
A bereaved family carries son's curtailed efforts to Middle Eastern youth
　
By Susie Davidson
　
He was born in rural California to a family of Methodist ministers.

Today, David Trimble is a Jew living in Brookline who has made it his mission to help bridge the divide between Israelis and Palestinians.

Trimble serves on the board of directors of the Artsbridge Institute, which brings young Jews and Arabs together to create murals, paintings, film and other visual arts.

It was a fatal accident on Route 93 five years ago that propelled Trimble into his peacemaking role, but he has a history of activism that stretches back nearly a half century to 1964’s Freedom Summer, when he registered blacks to vote in the Deep South.

Trimble, who earned a doctorate at the Harvard Department of Psychology and Social Relations, teaches family therapy at the Center for Multicultural Training in Psychology, an affiliate of the Boston Medical Center. His wife, Jodie Kliman, is a social-clinical psychologist and family therapist. They moved to Brookline in 1982, and he converted to Judaism in 2006.

The couple’s son, Jacob Kliman-Trimble – whom they had adopted as an infant – was killed after he lost control of the car he was driving on Route 93 in Milton in February. He was 19 and a senior at Brookline High. After his death, his parents learned that he had suffered from bipolar disorder and that had been exposed to drugs while a fetus.

Following the tragedy, Trimble found himself looking toward the Holy Land for a way to pay homage to his son. “After we lost him, we sought to become involved with peace-building projects with teenagers, as our Jacob was a peacemaker with his peers,” he said. “And as a convert to Judaism, I saw peace building between Israelis and Palestinians as an activity that affirmed both my relationship as a Jew with Israel, and my history as an activist in the civil rights movement.”

Among those Trimble has introduced to Artsbridge is Elias Audy, who owns two Mobil stations and has helmed numerous Brookline 　groups including the Chamber of Commerce.

“I thought the organization had great potential to help the future of the region,” said Audy, who is now an Artsbridge board member. The businessman moved to the United States from Lebanon at age 19.


During a sabbatical next year from her faculty position at the Massachusetts School of Professional Psychology, Trimble’s wife, Jodie. will be researching how the Artsbridge program has affected the lives of past participants. She is a member of the Artsbridge Task Force, as is pediatric psychiatrist Elizabeth Childs and town realtor and benefactor Chobee Hoy, who hosted an Artsbridge gathering last year at her home.

Trimble, who chairs Artsbridge’s Program Committee, has traveled to the Middle East twice with Artsbridge director and founder Debbie Nathan to assist in student orientation and lead professional education on the Artsbridge model.

During the past two summers, Artsbridge held three-week leadership development sessions at Boston 　College with Israeli and Palestinian students. In 2008, a session was held at Endicott College in Beverly.

Nathan, who lives in Swampscott, said that there will not be a summer program this year in the United States, but a reunion of all three years of students will be held in Israel this month. She will bring three Artsbridge graduates back with her in August: Lana, a Palestinian from Bethlehem; Ron, a Jewish Israeli; and Noor, an Arab Israeli. “We plan to have an event in the Brookline area to allow the community to hear their stories,” she said. Student artwork and films will also be showcased.

In the eulogy Trimble wrote for his son’s funeral service at Temple Sinai in Brookline, Trimble wrote of Jacob’s younger years at Brookline’s Pierce School. Already then, it was evident that Jacob was having learning and emotional difficulties, but he also displayed his innate strengths. “He had the ability to rise above these difficulties, as witnessed at his bar mitzvah here in this sanctuary, where he blessed us all with his generosity, his moral passion and his deep and thoughtful reasoning about his Torah portion,” he wrote.

In keeping with his son’s spirit, Trimble is putting his passion to work, helping people half a world away make peace with each other.　

Helping to make art, not war in Brookline

A bereaved family carries son's curtailed efforts to Middle Eastern youth

By Susie Davidson

Through working with kids, David Trimble brings together the past, present and future.

He worked as a voter registration volunteer in the 1964 Freedom Summer, and today, teaches culturally competent family therapy at the Boston Medical Center-affiliated Center for Multicultural Training in Psychology. This makes sense given his family history of generations of Methodist ministry. He was born in Visalia, California, but when he was a few months old, his　father, who served as Director of a government migratory labor camp, moved his family to Massachusetts in order to obtain a Ph.D. in theology and sociology at Boston University. His father led parishes briefly in Winchendon and Jamaica Plain before becoming Director of Research at the Massachusetts Council of Churches.　The family lived in　Duxbury and when David was 11, they moved to suburban New Jersey when　his father took the job of directing research interpretation at the National Council of Churches.　

David returned to Massachusetts for undergraduate studies at Clark. He later earned a Ph.D. at Harvard Department of Psychology and Social Relations.

“I would say that my interest in psychology was partly shaped by the spiritual challenges of my Methodist ministry ancestry,” he said.　His progressive activism was also shaped by that of his parents’. “Before they started a family, my parents were very active in the American Socialist movement,” he said.　“My father and his mentor, colleague and comrade Walter Muelder (who later became Dean of the Boston University School of Theology and, briefly, acting President of B.U.), used to go from theology class to organizing meetings at the local Workmen’s Circle.”

He moved to Brookline in 1982 with his wife Jodie Kliman,　a social-clinical psychologist and family therapist, and in 2006, converted to Judaism.

It was a family tragedy that compelled him to further expand the outreach of his work and life, and an organization for Israeli and Palestinian youth that provided the opportunity.

Jacob Kliman-Trimble, whom they had adopted at two days old while living in Brookline, died in a tragic drinking and driving accident in Milton in February, 2006 said to be spurred by a manic episode. The 19-year-old had long coped with substance abuse and mental health issues, and had just returned from a period of rehabilitation in Texas. He was seven months sober, but on that fated evening, his blood alcohol content was twice the legal limit, and the speed of his vehicle was 147 miles per hour before it hit a guardrail and overturned three times.

After his death, his parents learned that he suffered from bipolar disorder, and learned from their son’s birth family that he was exposed to drugs　in utero　(Jacob’s birth mother died at age 39 of lung cancer, days before a first meeting between them that had been arranged by Trimble and Kliman).

Many of Jacob’s friends, whom he lent great encouragement and support also struggled with emotional challenges and addiction. Following the tragedy, some, in his honor, were able to turn themselves around. Trimble looked for a way to contribute in a manner that best reflected his son’s gifts, and found himself looking toward the Holy Land for an answer. “After we lost him, we sought to become involved with peacebuilding projects with teenagers, as our Jacob was a peacemaker with his peers,” he said. “And as a convert to Judaism, I saw peacebuilding between Israelis and Palestinians as an activity that affirmed both my relationship as a Jew with Israel,　and my history as an activist in the civil rights movement.”

He joined the Board of Directors of the Artsbridge Institute, an international partnership-building program that trains Israeli and Palestinian youth in dialogue and the arts in order to build a supportive community between them.

Also on the Board of Directors is Brookline civic leader Elias Audy, who owns two Mobil stations and a used car dealership in the town. Audy’s numerous citations include　the “Citizen Award” from the Kids Clothes Club, the “Earth Day Award” from both the Brookline Chamber of Commerce and the Town of Brookline, the “Best Business Practice” award by the Brookline Chamber of Commerce, the 2000 “Friend of Education Award” by the Brookline Educators Association, and the “1996 Businessman of the Year Award” by the Brookline Chamber of Commerce. Audy, who serves on myriad boards and was President of the Brookline Chamber of Commerce for two years and then Chairman of its Board from 2003-2005, is active in the Brookline Rotary Club.

After Trimble introduced Audy to Artsbridge, he joined the Board. “I thought the organization had great potential to help the future of the region, and could advance the idea that people can live together peacefully,” he said. Audy, who moved to the U.S. from Lebanon at age 19, had helped the Rotary Club provide a kitchen for a senior home in Lebanon, and also, through Rotary, helped to furnish a floor in a Beirut hospital with furniture, equipment and beds. Audy approached Brookline　High School Headmaster Robert Weintraub, and in January 2010, an Artsbridge fundraiser was held in the foyer area of the main building. The evening featured　Middle Eastern food, live music and dance, and artwork. Food and drink was provided by several Brookline purveyors: Foley’s Liquors on Cypress St., which is owned by Palestinians, provided the soft drinks, and food was donated by the Lebanese-owned Temptations Restaurant, the Jewish-owned Shawarma King (both on Beacon Street in Coolidge Corner), and the Butcherie. A Lebanese group that included classical Arabic singer Nabil Ata performed, as did the Zamir Chorale.

During a sabbatical next year from her faculty position at the Massachusetts School of Professional Psychology,　Trimble’s wife　Jodie will be researching on how the Artsbridge training has affected the lives of the student participants. She　is a member of the Artsbridge Task Force, as is town realtor and benefactor Chobee Hoy, and　Brookline adolescent and pediatric psychiatrist　Elizabeth Childs.　“Hoy hosted a gathering last year at her home to introduce Artsbridge to local people,” said Trimble.

As a Jew, Trimble said he feels obliged to take moral responsibility for Israel in its relationships with its residents and neighbors.　His involvement takes him to each end of the effort. “As Chair of the Program Committee, I have traveled to the Middle East twice with Artsbridge Director Debbie Nathan, to assist in student orientation and to lead professional education on the Artsbridge model,” he said.

Nathan, who lives in Swampscott and　holds a Master’s Degree in Mental Health Counseling and Art Therapy from Lesley University, is　the Executive Director of The Salem Center for Therapy, Training, and Research. “I founded Artsbridge in 2007 because I felt that the unique combination of art and dialogue could be a powerful resource for working with youth in conflict,” she said. “I believe that by working with youth, as well as by them working with one another, we help them realize the potential to create real change both in the short and long term.”

Two　three-week Leadership Development　summer programs with Israeli and Palestinian students have been held at Boston College (the initial session was reported on in a July, 2009 Advocate article by Elise Kigner). The year-long component of Artsbridge includes Partner Programs with NGOs in Israel and the Palestinian Territories, and includes younger students as well.

Nathan said that while there won’t be a summer program this year in the US, a reunion for all three years of students will be held in Israel in July. “It will be an opportunity for them to meet each other as a whole group, and to reconnect with old friends,” she said. “We discuss where they are in their lives, and provide seminars on how to keep the momentum of the ideas they learned at Artsbridge.” Nathan will bring three Artsbridge graduates back with her in August from last summer's program: Lana, a Palestinian from Bethlehem, Ron, a Jewish Israeli, and Noor, an Arab Israeli. “We plan to have an event in the Brookline area Brookline area to host them and to give the　community the opportunity to hear their stories and meet the students,” she said. “We will also be displaying the artwork that all of the students have created over the years, and view their films.” The venue will be decided upon in the coming week.

Nathan’s son,　David Nathan, is a 2004 Brandeis graduate who serves as Artsbridge Director of Development who founded the North of Boston Jew Crew/Friendship Circle, a civic and social group for Jewish teens.

In January, the Israel Education and Action Committee of Temple Sinai in Brookline　hosted an evening that showcased Debbie Nathan's presentation on Artsbridge, along with a description of the program and an exhibit of photographs of　our students'　art work.

“We know that, for young people living in the relative comfort and safety of Brookline, just a few miles from areas of Boston where nearly every young person has had to face death, the possibility that you might actually die seems remote,” wrote David Trimble in his eulogy for his son’s funeral at Temple Sinai, which was read by Rabbi Andrew Vogel. “We know that Jacob did not get in his car Thursday night intending to die. Knowing Jacob, we believe that he knew that he had made a mistake and that he would have to confront the consequences of that mistake,” wrote Trimble. “He was trying to give himself such an intense feeling of excitement in the present that he could have relief from the painful awareness of this setback in his recovery.”

Trimble wrote of Jacob’s early years at Brookline’s Pierce School, which were sunnier, but were also when his learning difficulties manifested. “As he entered his teenage years,… Jacob had more and more difficulty handling his moods and his feelings of shame and anger,” he wrote. “He had the ability to rise above these difficulties, as witnessed at his Bar Mitzvah here in this sanctuary, where he blessed us all with his generosity, his moral passion, and his deep and thoughtful reasoning about his Torah portion.”

Trimble is seeing to it that his son continues to bless, and hopefully bring peace, to many others.