Newspaper Page Text
Baby Bluming’s bris!
by 14m Celdbart
Rabbi Shlomo Blumir<’ of the
Atlanta Chabad-Lubavitch Center
believes in taking a bris to the
people.
Most brissem are festive but this
one was unique: it was the first to
be held at the Atlanta Jewish
Community Center and was
scheduled to replace Rabbi
Bluming’s regularly scheduled
Talmud Luncheon.
The crowd was a melting pot.
Many of Rabbi Bluming’s friends
and family from Atlanta and out of
town attended. And of course the
regulars from the Talmud
Lucheon were there.
Why was Rabbi Bluming’s son’s
bris held at the AJCC?
“One of the basic principles of
Chabad is that one’s religion and
Jewishness should not be limited
to the synagogue, but should be
brought into our homes, our
businesses and certainly our
centers. 1 firmly believe that a
Jewish community center must
also serve as a ‘center’ for the
community to learn and practice
its Jewish heritage. A Talmud
Luncheon was scheduled so I
thought ’why not have the bris at
the AJCC in its place,’ " Rabbi
Bluming said.
The tables at the bris Were filled
with breads, meat, gcfilte fish.
vodka, beer and fruit. All the food
was flown in from New York so it
would be kosher.
. The bris rituals began as the
women were motioned to move
towards the back. The mohel was
Rabbi H. Ceitlin from Montreal, a
relative of Mrs. Bluming. Rabbi
Bluming explained that he had
arranged for a police escort to rush
the mohel to the airport for
another bris in Nashville later that
afternoon.
As soon- as the rituals of the bris
had been completed, Rabbi
Bluming cried out, “One more Jew
enters into the Jewish people!
What do you say to that?"
The crowd answered with •
resounding maze! tovs. And until
the celebration ended there were
mazel tovs everywhere along with
Chassidic singing and dancing.
A toast was made by Sidney
Feldman, followed by David
Dubin who compared Rabbi
Bluming to Judah Maccabee.
"I think Hanuka is a great time
for this to be taking place. Rabbi
Bluming can be compared to
Judah Maccabee. Judah was a
great non-coaformer who
withstood force and influence to
defend Jerusalem and Yiddishkeit.
Rabbi Bluming is also a non-
conformer with his style, substance
and methodolgy. He is surrounded
by a world of apathy and
conformity. He is fighting the same
forces that Judah had to fight. But
when people meet Shlomo it has a
multiplying effect. People are
naturally attracted to him," Dubin
said.
Rabbi Bluming then came to the
microphone and Explained the bris
and what it means.
First Rabbi Bluming told the
group how his son was named.
“The name of a child signifies
perfection. As with a tree, it
doesn't have a name until it
becomes a house. The name gives
symbolism. It takes the child out of
the nonentity into a human being.
The baby was named Schneur
Zalman after the great saint and
scholar Rabbi Schneur Zalman of
Liady, founder of the Chabad-
Lubavitch movement. The baby’s
grandfather’s paternal great
grandfather, eight generations
back, was the brother of Rabbi
Zalman which makes the baby his
‘great-great nephew,’ ” Rabbi
Bluming said.
Then Rabbi Bluming’s eyes
twinkled as he thought fondly of
his son.
“A father has three obligations.
For his son to get circumcised,
educated and married off. I have
observed the first and hopefully
See Bris, Page 22
SuTT photo by Un GcMbart
Like father, IRte son...
The Southern Israelite
* ^
The Weekly Newspaper For So
_ * Out 54th
vol. Lm ‘"’t •• * m
Am I really in
■he
by Dr. Yitschak Ben Gad
CAIRO—It has been said that
journalists are supposed to be
above emotion. So perhaps I
should switch professions, because
I am extremely emotional and to a
certain extent even astonished.
I am here in Cairo, and it is not a
dream. Cairo, the capitol of the
biggest and most influential Arab
state, is welcoming the Israelis.
Egyptians smile at us warmly,
shake our hands willingly and
anxiously do their utmost to make
us feel at home.
The words “El Al Israeli
Airlines” decorated the plane
which brought us here with the
Israeli delegation. In Cairo today
you can hear Hebrew being spoken
and Israeli songs on the radio.
More importantly, you can feel the
warmth, friendship and respect of
your hosts. What an interesting
world this is, what a crazy Middle
East we live in, what a dream, what
a beautiful dream.
As an Israeli you ask yourself:
“Am I really in Cairo? Am I in the
country which fought Israel four
times in the past, causing the death
and injury of tens of thousands of
our men? Am I standing in the
country which conducted a bitter
war of propaganda against Israel
in various international forums?"
And you ask yourself: “Am I
actually shaking hands with
Egyptians whom I might have
faced many times in the past on (he
battlefield?"
Then in a state of astonishment
you query: “Are we going to
achieve peace this time? And if not,
will we find ourselves face to face
with these Egyptians on the
battlefield once again?” You
cannot help but feel that your
Egyptian host is asking himself
these same questions.
Despite the warm atmosphere,
you cannot help but feel som:
concern—concern not for the
physical risk you as an Israeli at:
taking being in Cairo, but concern
that the mutual goodwill and
cooperation will not be sufficient
to close the wide gap between the
Arab and Israeli positions.
Where is the point of
compromise between the
traditional Arab demand for
complete Israeli withdrawal from
lands occupied since June, 1967,
and Israel’s refusal to accept this
demand? How can the gap be
closed between the Arab’s
insistence upon the establishment
of a Palestinian state and Israel’s
stiff opposition to such a state?
What about Jerusalem? Will it be
divided once again, as the Arab
demand, or will it remain united,
as the Israelis desire?
All these and other questions
occupy your mind. Standing here
in Cairo you understand the full
meaning of these questions and the
implications of their answers.
Afterwards, you sense some
optimism. You remind yourself
that the Middle East is
unpredictable and at times even
miraculous. After all, who would
have expected Sadat to come to
Jerusalem? Who could have
anticipated him proclaiming
before the world that the Yom
Kippur War would be just? And if
these and other unpredictable
things have happened, then
perhaps even peace is possible.
The Egyptian officials, meeting
here in the Mena House Hotel,
share the belief that President
Sadat is a very courageous and
determined leader who knows
what he wants—and he wants
peace.
Israelis may not agree with
Egyptians about Sadat's real
readiness to compromise on the
issues of territories and the PLO.
However, it is wrong to deny the
fact that he is a very daring man
who knows when, and perhaps
more important, how to make
decisions and to pursue them.
Furthermore, he knows how to
surprise his enemies completely
and to take advantage/Of their
unpreparedness.
When Anwar Sadat took power
in 1970, the common feeling was
that this ordinary and non-
charismatic leader would not last
long. Some speculators gave him a
few weeks or months to maintain
his rule over Egypt. His opponents
immediately prepared themselves
to remove him from power. Yet
Sadat proved that he was quicker
than all his enemies. In May, 1971,
with one strike he removed,
arrested or exiled all those who
opposed him.
His next step was against the
Russians. Sadat’s predecessor
Gamal Abdel Nasser, had
See Cairo, Page 22
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