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Bgp Pumrrjspielep
It’s the principal of the thing
At a press conference in which
the electricity and ebullience were
overwhelming, it was announced
that Bette Midler has been chosen
as the first principal of Atlanta’s
newest Day School, Yeshiva of the
Stars. “We’ve been after Ms.
Midler from the start,” explained
Connie Zitz, chairwoman of the
search committee, “but for a while
there, she had us in limbo. We were
about to go to our second choice,
Bob Dylan. We’re very pleased at
the way this has worked out. And
Mr. Dylan has assured us that he
will work with us in the back
ground, developing curricula and
interviewing staff.”
The executive committee, which
has just completed its highly suc
cessful fund-raising campaign, is in
the process of finalizing renova
tion of an Atlanta landmark, the
Fox Theatre, which will be the site
of the Day School. “We needed a
facility which would have an ade
quate performance area, in order
to properly produce theatrical and
musical productions, since theater
and the related arts are the focus of
our institution. We’ve worked out
a suitable arrangement with the
Fox, whereby outside productions
can be mounted, if we at the
Yeshiva don’t have performances
of our own on the stage,” explained
Denver Cohen, fundraising chair
man of YOTS.
This reporter was curious about
the choice of location of the new
school, especially in light of the
recent Atlanta long-term study of
the Jewish population. Also intri
guing was the relative ease with
which funds were raised, in the
midst of tax season and bad
weather. Ms. Zitz answered, “We
knew that parents would carpool
and pay for the right kind of Jew
ish school, based on our own de
sires and the needs of our very tal
ented daughters and sons. The
proximity of parking lots and ac
cessibility of good shopping were
also attributes which we took heav
ily into consideration. We wanted
our children to see all kinds of
people, but of course not to go to
school with them. We think we’ve
done a masterful job.”
Hy Chapenecas, who has been
retained as the renovation superin
tendent, spoke reverently about
the decorative magnificence of the
Fox and its educational impact on
the students, “One can never over
estimate the eternal influence of
studying Bible in an art deco en
vironment, or the increased under
standing of Israeli dance in the
Egyptian ballroom And I shall
never forget the yearning I felt for
my own ‘mama loshen,’ Ladino, in
the Spanish ballroom.” At present
the YOTS curriculum does not
include Israeli dance or Ladino,
but it was generally felt by Cohen,
Chapenecas and Zitz that Mr.
Dylan, as curriculum adviser,
might well consider these subjects
in the next few years.
When questioned about the se
lection of Bette Midler as princi
pal, mindful of her considerable
performing obligations through
the year 1992, Ms. Zitz com
mented, “There was general dis
agreement as to whether a north-
ener or a southerner should be
our first principal. Ms. Midler’s
hailing from Hawaii alleviated
quarreling. Her obvious Jewish
pride in keeping her “Jewish” sur
name, which unfortunately we
could not claim for Mr. Dylan, was
a further reason for choosing her.
It is true that Ms. Midler will be on
the road quite a bit, but her influ
ence will be felt. After all, although
King David has been out of the
picture for several thousand years,
we still sing about him, don’t we?
We don’t feel that a person needs
to be physically there, so much as
spiritually there. And everyone
knows that Bette Midler is a very
spiritual person.”
Ms. Midler could not be reached
for comment.
And if you believe this..
In a stunning discovery, walls of
ancient Persia were found, deco
rated with drawings which appear
to tell the story of how Purim cos
tumes were made. The digging
around the site of the famous Sta
bles of Ahashverosh uncovered an
astonishing series of freestanding
walls, evidently the precursors of
our contemporary billboards.
Many of them bore the rather
pedestrian images of tooth powder
and corrective arches, but one ser
ies of three of these structures
depict the raising, shearing, and
finally sewing into costumes of an
apparently extinct sheep-like
animal, with long, silky wool. Tra
ces of words at the foot of each of
these “walls” have been deci
phered, and archaeologists believe
the animal was known as a “moh.”
“It is our considered, although
still tentative, opinion that moh
hair was the stuff from which
ancient celebrants of Purim, which
at that time was close to the actual
incidents of Shushan, made their
costumes,” suggested Stan Dof-
fish, organizer of the Stables of
Ahashverosh dig. “We were fairly
certain that ancient costumes were
not made from plastic or rayon,
but until now we really had no evi
dence. We had heard of the‘moh,’
of course, from other scrolls
unearthed near the stables, and
some of us even conjectured that
the ‘moh’ was a domesticated
animal which lived in a symbiotic
relationship with the horse. Let
other investigators attack the puz
zle of that exact relationship. We
are overjoyed that at last we have
unlocked the mystery of what the
‘moh’ looked like, and what its
domestic purpose must have
been!”
Moh
Moh hair, apparently white and
with a velvety sheen, besides being
the material of choice for cos
tumes, seems to have been popular
as the yarn used in many button-
down sweaters of ancient times,
according to the Mohtown scrolls
mentioned by Dr. Doffish. Some
experts also believe that moh hair
was common in wigs and serving
vessels, but this is largely unsub
stantiated. Dr. Doffish and his
staff will continue their research
under a joint grant from Woodruff
Foundation and Rokeach Scour
ing Pads.
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PAGE 19 THE SOUTHERN ISRAELITE March 21. 19JM