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PAGE 4 THE SOUTHERN ISRAELITE April 18,
The Southern Israelite
The Weekly Newspaper For Southern Jev-'rv
Since 1925
Vida Goldgar
Editor and Publisher
Luna Levy
Associate Editor
Eschol A. Harrell
Production Manager
Leonard Goldstein
Advertising Director
Lutz Baum
Business Manager
Published every Friday by The Southern Israelite, Inc
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Vida Goldgar
A night to remember
. .L...„Ut I ilqc nrpnnrpfi hilt no a nt iri ~ _
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A prayer for freedom
For Anatoly Shcharansky, the significance of Passover this
year must be overwhelming. It is “This year in Jerusalem” with all
which that implies after so many years of Soviet imprisonment
and torture.
There have been reports that the Goldstein brothers, Isai and
Grigory, may be leaving the Soviet Union lor Israel this week,
after a struggle of more than 14 years.
As we gather for our Seders this year, let us acknowledge their
joyous freedom.
However, we must not forget that there are many more Jew's
who are still locked within the borders of the Soviet Union.
During our celebrations, let us pause a moment to remember them
and to pray that, for them, “Next year in Jerusalem” becomes a
reality.
During the course of any given year, you can tin
me at dozens of dinners honoring individuals for
worthwhile endeavors of one kind or another
Well, let me tell you, it feels a
heck of a lot different when the
honoree is me.
Tuesday night was the Jewish
National Fund’s spring event
w hich also honored my dear friend
Durwood McAlister. And what a
night it was. It was hard to settle
down to work Wednesday.
Early in January. Federal Ex
press delivered a letter from New York. It was on nice
creamv stationery with the JNE national headquar
ters address at the top signed by Dr. Samuel I. Cohen,
executive vice president. This is the way it opened. It
is my privilege to inform you that the Board of Direc
tors of the Jewish National Fund of America, in
recognition of your business and community leader
ship, has selected you...” I here was more but you get
the idea.
You better believe that 1 was delighted. It s alway s
nice to have somebody think you're doing a good job
and to say so. Even so. this was January, and the
dinner was three months away, so life settled down.
Then, the date drew closer. Each day’s mail
brought letters of congratulation, contribution cards,
tree certificates, this week there were even beautiful
flowers. Reading all these marvelously kind words
touched me so much. I confess, I’ve read and re-read
them and you can be sure each will be carefully pre
served. It is probably going to take me a good w hile to
acknowledge so many tributes so in the meantime,
know how appreciative I am.
All of a sudden, it was Tuesday night—this w as it.
1 thought i was prepared but no anticipation could
have really prepared me for this emotional evening
From the time I set foot in the Peachtree Plaza Hotel
there was such an outpouring of affection. | don’t
think I’ve ever been hugged and kissed so much in my
life, and I loved every minute of it.
Adding to my pleasure was the fact that my four
children were there. For a while it had seemed touch
and go for the three who live out of town but I should
have known that somehow they would juggle things
around to be w ith me. It gave me a lot of happmessfor
David, Deborah, Dirk and Dean to see their momina
different light.
From beginning to end. the program was beauti
fully planned. The choice of Martin Agronsky as
speaker was superb. He acknowledged his introduc
tion by say ing modestly, “Flattery is good tor y ou if
you don’t inhale.” When Scott Kaplan introduced me.
in a beautif ul tribute. I inhaled every w ord for just
that one evening.
It was difficult to deal with the emotion I felt
because I knew if the first tear rolled, I’d be done for.
There was something especially touching for meto
be honored by the Jewish National Fund, w hose work
I have long admired. I will never forget the feeling
when, some years ago. 1 knelt on a hillside in Israel
and planted my very first JNF seedling. 1 literally
watered it with my tears.
I’m looking forward to the dedication of the
Goldgar-McAlister project in Israel which will result
from Tuesday evening’s event and know how proud
I’ll feel to have played a small part in the greening of
Israel.
The evening is over, but the memory will never
fade.
Bits and pieces
by Carl Alpert
- Haifa
Life in Israel is never dull or
monotonous. Quite aside from the
big news that makes the headlines.
even ordinary, everyday incidents
have their ow n excitement, drama,
humor and sometimes tragedy. For
example, from recent weeks:
Precedent — the matriarch
Sarah. Social benefits for Israel’s
women, as listed in the regulations
of the National Social Insurance,
prov ide that a w oman who receives
the automatic grant for the elderly
(given to women at age 60) will not
thereby forfeit her right to the
grant given for the birth of a first
child.
With a little hit uj luck. .4 new
immigrant from England will need
more than a little bit of luck to
make a living in Israel—or he will
have to undergo vocational retrain
ing for a new occupation. Hereto
fore he has earned his livelihood as
a croupier in a casino.
A spaceship is not a home. If an
Orthodox Jew were to be an astro
naut, would he require a mezuza
on his spaceship? Rabbi Israel Lau
ruled in the negative, since the craft
is no more his home than a plane or
an automobile.
A Schuster’s kinder. A loud blast
shattered the stillness in Safed and
at once drew a large team of police
and soldiers. Investigation revealed
that an electric hot water boiler
had exploded because it had no
thermostat safety valve. The owner
°f the building was quickly located
ath.s store, which sells thermostat
safety valves.
Arabs demand kosher supervi
sion. Arab producers of meat pro
ducts in Ramallah and Nablus have
asked for kashrut supervision of
their products to enable them to
sell to the Jewish market in Israel
4n<Tabroad o,.. • . • .
tance, the rabbis came to the con
clusion that the Arabs would offer
their wares anyhow, and it might
be better to ensure their kashrut.
Mashgichim (ritual supervisors) from
the religious settlements in Sama
ria now provide such supervision.
On the other hand. Hecht’s
Butcher Shop in Kfar Shmaryahu
specializes in pork products. He
had the chutzpa to advertise spe
cial priced shopping baskets for
the High Holy Days. At least Hecht
closes early on Fridays and remains
closed on Saturdays.
It's against the law. Jay-walking
or parking in forbidden areas are
v iolations of Torah commandments,
according to a safety guide drawn
up for yeshiva students by a group
of Bnai Brak rabbis. A rabbinical
court has also ruled that observant
Jews should refrain from riding
with drivers who disobey traffic
rules.
Israel’s underworld in America
The first industrial shipment frorr
Israel to the U.S. to qualify unde
the terms of the new free trad
agreement was a large dispatch c
underwear from the Delta Hagai
textile company.
How good? A crash course n
English has been set up for men
bers of the Knesset after it w
revealed that one MK who h<
been sent abroad to represent I
rael at an international conterem
knew only two words of Eng 1
which he repeated again and agt
at dinners, cocktail parties, con
ence sessions and during smal t.
with other delegates.
The t
words were: "Israel good!