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PAGE 4 THE SOUTHERN ISRAELITE April 4, 1986 The Southern Israelite The Weekly Newspoper For Southern Je\ v rv Since 1925 Vida Goldgar Editor and Publisher Leonard Goldstein Advertising Director Luna Levy Associate Editor Eschol A. Harrell Production Manager Lutz Baum Business Manager Published even,' Friday by The Southern Israelite, Inc Second Class Postage paid at Atlanta, Ga i'ISSN 003881 (UPS 776060) POSTMASTER: Send jddress changes to The Southern Israelite. P O Box 77388. Atlanta. GA 30357 Mailing Address: P.O. Box 77388, Atlanta, Georgia 30357 Location: 188 15th St.. N.W., All.. Ga. 30318 Phone (404)876-8248 Advertising rates available upon request. Subscriptions: $23.00, 1 year; $41.00, 2 years Member of Jewish Telegraphic Agency; Religious News Service; American Jewish Press Assn.; Georgia Press Assn.; National Newspaper Assn. Treasure in the basement The Southern Israelite A Prize-Winning Newspaper Better Newspaper Contests Where will it end? And so it continues. This time two women, a man and an 8-month-old baby girl are dead. But for a fluke of altitude, the toll in this week’s bomb explosion of a TWA plane possibly would have exceeded a hundred. Proudly claiming credit is one of the myriad Palestinian ter rorist groups, this one identifying itself as the Arab Revolutionary Cells. Revenge, they say, for last week’s U.S. military confronta tion with Libya. Meanwhile, M uammar Qaddafi quickly washes his hands of a connection, leading one to wonder what it is he expects when his country plays host to terrorists, funds terrorists, gives moral and political support and training bases to terrorists. No doubt, Syria’s Hafez Assad is equally ‘’innocent” when murderers sally lorth from Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley, or even Damascus, to do their dirty work. We hear a lot of talk about reprisals and sometimes even our allies in Europe nod their heads when their countries are involved, but they still tend to be more accommodating than not to terrorists’ demands. It doesn’t seem to help. If the toll in human lives has not brought forth a concerted effort to end the cycle, perhaps the economic impact will. by Carl Alpert — HAIFA A man went dow n into the base ment of his home and began to dig. For weeks and for months he dug away, going ever deeper into the ground, boring his way through impacted rubble and debris. He did not strike either oil or water. He found no buried gold —but he did strike historic treasure. That, in brief, is the story of Theo Siebenbcrg, son of a family of Belgian diamond merchants who tied from the Nazis and found a haven in the United States. Theo grew up with visions of a home, and after the Six-Day War found that home in Israel. He had the means to purchase a stone house on the hill overlooking the Temple Mount, on the edge of the Jewish Quarter, in what was known in ancient times as the Upper City It was a spacious home, by Israel standards, occupying four floors, but Theo Seibenberg was looking for roots. He watched the archaeol ogists busily at work excavating the Jewish Quarter, and his heart leaped at the sight of the streets and shops and ruined buildings dating back to the days of the Temple. It was then, he told us, that he decided to go home and explore what lay under his house. For weeks and months he dug away, carefully sifting every basket of sand and stone. He employed workmen to dig with him, each under instructions to dispose of no rubble until it had been carefully inspected. The excavation went deeper. Excited hopes rose when they began coming across charred remnants and soot-covered stones, all indicating a major fire and des truction on the site. It was soon thereafter that he struck gold, his torical gold, penetrating into the ruins of a Jewish home which had existed here almost 2,000 years ago. The relics were small—a ring, an inkwell, a perfume bottle, a bronze bell, buttons, keys, nails, stone weights and pieces of shattered utensils. The walls of the buried home were carefully uncovered. And still Siebenberg continued to dig down. It became necessary to put up retaining walls, and many tons of concrete went into the ever- widening pit, to prevent the house, and indeed the whole street, from caving in. For almost 10 years he dug away, and only a few people were in on his secret. After he had gone down the equivalent of lour floors, and he had installed lighting and convenient access, he let the world know what he had found. Proudly Siebenberg escorted us on a tour of his “dig,” pointing out the layout of the rooms, the loca tion of the family mikva—and the special mikva for guests. It was obviously a wealthy family—Jews who lived here when the Temple stood across the valley from them, Jews who met an unknown but presumably tragic end. Or did they manage to escape in time through the exit tunnel which they, and perhaps their neighbors as well, dug in their own basement, as emergency escape in time of need? Siebenberg has not yet followed the tunnel to its end, since it stretches under the street and under many other neighboring houses. The area did not remain com pletely unoccupied in the post- Temple period. A huge Byzantine cistern, in excellent condition, was uncovered alongside the house, and will soon be converted into a small concert hall. Initial experi ments with performance of baro que music give promise unique acoustic facilities. The history of the place precedes our anonymous Jewish family as well, for they had constructed heir home over what used to be burial vaults of about the eighth cent. r y, B.C.E., when the place was mu outside the city limits. We lea n from records that the vaults h<i been emptied, the bones take elsewhere, and the ground desanc tified when it became necessary tc accommodate Jerusalem’s ex pandink population—2.000 years ago. Jerusalem’s archaeologists have not been happy at Siebenberg’s digging, on the grounds that he is unprofessional. He gives them due credit for their magnificent recon struction of the Cardo and the old Jewish Quarter, but told us that he does not seek to compete with them. He wanted to establish his own, personal place in the chain of Jewish history—and found it here. Two chance finds served to empha size the continuity of that history, he said, and showed us flint arrow heads, dating back to the Roman period. On the same day that these were uncovered, he came across a rusty old machine gun, of Haga- nah vintage, which the Jews of the Old City had apparently hidden away out of sight of the prying British eyes. Theo and his wife, M iriam, have no children. They have established a foundation, the Jerusalem His torical Institute, to carry on their work and maintain the public mu seum which he plans to open in the house. Thus far, he says, he has put some three million dollars into the project. The knowledge of how much more there is still to be done keeps him young. A double blessing by David Amato I he (Mexico) News Proud of the fact that the Holy Land was one of the first to recog nize and appreciate Placido Do mingo's vast operatic talents, Israel gave him a warm home com ing recently after an absence of more than 20 years. As he walked about Tel Aviv and observed two decades of pro gress, he told friends that it was truly “an emotional experience” to visit Israel at this time. The cultu ral growth of all art forms was par ticularly impressive. When Placido was first studying at the Mexico City Conservatory ol Music, he received an attractive offer from the National Opera of Israel, which he accepted readily. He still cherishes the memory of those early years of his career in Israel, when he took part in 280 operatic performances. With a nostalgic smile, he still remembers that “the choir sang in Hebrew, the soprano in German, American Red Cmas A ii We’ll help.W ill you? t*!\ the baritone in Hungarian and 1 sang in Italian." It was in 1966, w hile in Tel Aviv, that he attracted the attention of Julius Rudel, di rector of the New York City Opera Company. Since then, he has had a meteoric rise to fame in his bril liant career. He has recorded more than 50 opera albums. His recording with the popular American singer John Denver has surpassed one million in sales. And he has made televi sion appearances and is now also a movie star. But in all his fame and glory, he has not forgotten the early years of his career in Israel. Placido has already promised the world-fa mous conductor, Zubin Mehta, to return in July of this year to sing with the Israel Philharmonic Or chestra. He has also signed a tele vision contract lor a Christmas special in the Holy Land, the in come of which will be donated to charitable activities of the Variety Club and his own fund to help Mexico City’s earthquake victims. Placido has been doubly blessed with a beautiful voice and a charit able heart. He will surely be re membered warmly for both.