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LA,LL- 21.

An American Finds His Forebear,
and an Idea Is Born: `Year 'of the Ari'

By DAVID LANDAU
JERUSALEM—Dr. Norman V.
Laurie, born in America 60 years
ago and today deputy director of
public welfare in the state of Penn-
sylvania, has had "no real link
with Judaism throughout his life,
nor any connection with Zionism
or the state of IsraeL"
This assertion comes from his
longtime personal friend Moshe
Albert. The two men renewed their
friendship when Dr. Lourie visited
Israel, for the first time, in summer
1970, en route to a welfare con-
ference in the Philippines.
In casual conversation, Albert
mentioned to his friend that the
Lourie family was one of the most
distinguished in Jewry. He told
him he was possibly a descendant,
or at least an indirect relation, of
the Ari,- Rabbi Isaac Luria, who
died in Safed in 1572, at age 38.
Albert told him what little he then
knew of the great Kabalist and
mystic.
Something sparked inside Dr.
Lourie and his response in turn
sparked an idea in Albert, who
heads Israel Events Ltd., a
private firm which organizes
congresses, conventions, and
other public events. While Dr.
Lourie sought his roots, Albert
mused over ideas he thought
would be suitable to mark the
400th anniversary of the Ari's
death, which was to fall in 5732
(1971-72).
Albert sent his ideas to President
Shazar and other officials.
There is now an honorary com-
mittee of public figures, headed
by the president and the prime
minister, and an organizing com-
mittee of rabbis and scholars,
headed by Dr. Shmuel Z. Kahane,
curator of Mount Zion.
The year will include study days
on the Ari and the Safed Kabalists
in many cities.
On Tu b'Shevat, an "Ari Forest"
will be inaugurated near Safed,
and a number of books will mark
the centenary.
In the spring, a performance
of "The Nights of the Kabalists" is
to have its premiere in Safed.
The Safed Festival of Hasidut in
June will devote a large number
of its performances to the Kabala
and related subjects. In July a
special Ari stamp will be issued.
The Year of the Ari will be used
as a vehicle for reviving neglected
Sephardi cultural traditions and
bringing them to the public, in

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the form of musical programs, and

symposia.
The most original of the year's
events will be the "World Luria
Conventions," from April to July.
The estimated 4,000 -to 5,000
Luria and related f a mi lie s
throughout the world today, as
well as those attracted by the
personality of the great mystic,
will gather in Israel.
Israel Events Ltd. has sched-
uled 11 week-long conventions, the
first to begin on April 25, and the
last; the main convention, on July
13, to coincide with the anniver-
sary of the Ari's death, on July 16.
The establishment of an "Ari
Foundation," will be announced.
This will support research and
publicatiqns on the Ari and Kabala,
and help the upkeep of the Ari's
tomb and synagogues in Safed and
of his birthplace in the Old Jeru-
salem Jewish quarter.
A team of scholars is preparing
"The Luria Book," described as "a
ramified genealogical tree on the
Luria lineage through six cen-
"taxies." The name Luria '(or
Lourie, Lorin, Lurie, Luri, Lurja,
Lurje) probably originated from
the small town of Luria, near
Venice (though some authorities
trace it to the River Loire in
France.) The first recorded Luria
was Rabbi Aaron Luria who lived
in--Alsace in France in the 15th
Century and was a ,descendant of
Rashi (Rabbi Shlomo Yitzhaki),
the great commentator, who was
himself of the lineage of King
David.

U.S. Black Educators
to Learn Israeli Way

NEW YORK—The presidents of
five black colleges leave Monday
for a 16-day study-tour of Israel
arranged by the urban affair de-
partment of the Anti-Defamation
League of Bnai Brith.
They will meet with Israeli ed-
ucators at the Hebrew University,
the Weizmann Institute and Afro-
Asian Institute.
Kenyon C. Burke, director of
the ADL department which col
ordinates the race relations pro-
gram, said the black educators
will examine Israeli methods of
education for youth and the dis-
advantaged, health and immigra-
tion projects, and the handling of
ethnic problems.
A purpose of the trip will be
to set up a student exchange pro-
gram.
Abraham Harman, president of
Hebrew University of Jerusalem,
will act as host. He said a similar
tour was arranged by ADL for
black publishers and journalists
more than a year ago.

1S—Friday, October 29, 1971

NEW YORK—"My child is one
year old and-has never seen his
father," says Rita Gluzman, whose
husband has been denied as exit
visa by the Soviet government.
Mrs. Gluzman arrived in this
country recently to plead the cause
of Soviet Jews denied the right to
emigrate before United Jewish Ap-
peal audiences across the country.
Her husband, a former student at
Moscow University, has been de-
nied permission to leave Russia
and join his 1-year-old son whom
he has never seen.
Now a chemistry student at Tel
Aviv University, having emigrated
to -Israel in 'February 1970, Mrs.
Gluzman lives with her baby and
her parents in Tel 'Aviv. Her fath-
er, who spent three years in prison
in the Soviet Union,-tried to leave
Russia for 15 years before his exit
visa was granted finally.
Mrs. Glazman's decision to
leave her husband in the Soviet
Union was a painful appraisal of
a situation where her whole fam-
ily's emigration was threatened
if she did not accompany them
without further pressure on the
authorities. She was assured that
an affidavit from Israel would
implement her-husband's permis-
sion to leave.
An Aug. 6 this year, he was
finally officially denied an exit visa
after months and months of effort
by a young wife and mother.
"The atmosphere in the Soviet
Union for Jewish students has de-
teriorated since the Six-Day War,"
says-Mrs. Gluzman.
"There are increased incidents
of anti-Semitism within universi-
ties, a result of Soviet concern
about increased national conscious-
ness, among Jewish students. The
combination of increased pride in
Israel and Jewish -identity.' along
with stepped-up anti-Jewish acts
have caused a complete turnabout
in the attitudes of young Jewish
students, who formerly were very
involved in Soviet life. They are
now ready to give - everything up
to go to Israel."

Blessing of Heritage
That man is best able to advance
on the road to moral perfection,
who starts with the accumulated
spiritual heritage of righteous an-
cestors.
—Felix A. Levy.

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The Torch of Learning Award has been
created by the American Friends of Hebrew
University as a mark of recognition for leaders
of American Jewish communities who have
influenced the course of higher learning in
the United States and Israel.

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AJCongress Assails
Civil Service Census
by Race, Ethnic Origin

NEW YORK -- The American
Jewish Congress has called for a
full public hearing on an.executive
order by the mayor that would
-require a racial and ethnic census
of city employes.
In a telegram to Sanford Gare-
Iik, president of the city council,
the AJC voiced "anxiety and con-
cern" that such a -census "could
be misused to destroy the civil
service merit system."
Theodore J. Kolish, chairman of
the New York Metropolitan Coun-
cil of the Anierican Jewish Con
gress, urged an "immediate probe
before any city department takes
action to put the census into - ef-

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