THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
ORT in Argentina on Rebound After Bombing
dressmaking in Dominguez,
one of the areas where
(Editor's note: The fol- Jewish colonizers in Argen-
lowing article is excerp- tina first- settled, and a
ted from the 1981 ORT small school to teach
dressmaking in Clara, some
yearbook).
Argentina, with the 250 miles from Buenos
world's fifth largest Jewish Aires.
Courses at the ORT
community, numbering
some 400,000 and the focus Technical High School in
of much of the world's atten- Buenos Aires include elec-
tion in the 1980's, is the site tronics, industrial chemis-
of the largest ORT program try, data processing and
in 'Latin America, serving building. Graduates receive
a highly valued diploma as
some 7,300 students.
In August 1980, the cen- technicians in their chosen
terpiece of that program, fields which insures them
the ORT Technical High employment. Many stu-
School in Buenos Aires was dents receive job offers even
rocked by a terrorist bomb. before they complete their _
The 1,100 students at the studies. The course of
school were not harmed. studies-also meets entrance
The television and compu- requirements for univer-
ter equipment, though ex- sities.
In 1977 ORT inaugu-
tensively damaged, was
eventually repaired or re- rated advanced courses
in data processing at the
placed.
Another bomb, placed in college level, courses
the Bialik School in the which were immediately
Villa Crespo district, a in high demand. Today
largely Jewish quarter of they form a part of the
Buenos Aires, was disco- ORT Institute of
vered in time and rendered Technology and are rec-
harmless, a further graphic ognized by Argentina's
example of the virulent National Board of Educa-
anti-Semitism pervading tion. Applicants to the In-
certain segments of Argen- stitute, who must be high
school graduates have to
tina's population.
Today, the ORT Tech- pass a tough entrance
nical High School in examination.
ORT Argentina is also in-
Buenos Aires is back in
operation, educating and volved in many other educa--
training Jewish students tional and training projects
— a tribute to the dedica- throughout the country, in-
tion of the ORT staff and eluding 23 Jewish day
the very real need the schools, where ORT pro-
school fills for Argenti- vides creative education
classes which have added
na's Jewish population.
ORT began operations in many fresh, innovative
Argentina in 1935 and educational ideas to teach-
opened the doors of its first ing methods that had grown
school in 1941. Housed in a rigid and stifling.
One highlight of the prog-
small rented building in
Buenos Aires, the school of- ram is a science lab for six
fered courses in mechanics, year olds, where first-
electricity and radio graders learn by actually
technology and, later, in performing simple scientific
experiments at school. At
television.
ORT also opened a school present some 4,500 children
for agro-mechanics an‘d benefit from these ORT
By AVI FEINGLASS
Seven Arts Features
Jerusalem Artichoke, Neither
Israeli or Artichoke, Writer Says
The history of the
Jerusalem artichoke, inac-
curately named, was recal-
led by New York Times food
expert Craig Claiborne.
According to Claiborne,
the vegetable has nothing to
do with Israel, nor is it an
artichoke. It is related to the
sunflower, called girasole in
Italian. Whether through
English translation or other
slips and quirks of lan-
guage, girasole began to be
pronounced Jerusalem.
Claiborne adds that the
Jerusalem artichoke is na-
tive to North America, indi-
genous to the central U.S.
and Canada. It first was
taken to France in 1616 by
Samuel Champlain. There
the French call the vegeta-
ble poires de terre (earth
pears) or artichauts de
Canada (Canadian ar-
tichokes).
Claiborne adds: "In to-
day's French kitchens it
is known as a topinam-
bour, again for an un-
usual reason: At approx-
imately the same time
that it was introduced
into that country, there
was an exhibition featur-
ing a tribe from Brazil
known as topinambours.
The vegetable was thus
christened and the name
stuck.
"One of the first artichoke
dishes was a puree know in
traditional French kitchens
as puree Palestine, proba-
bly because the chef who
created it had heard that
the vegetable was imported
from Jerusalem.
"Obvoiusly in the course
of the tuber's history, some
cook decided that it tasted
somewhat like the heart of
that much More aristocratic
food known as a globe ar-
tichoke, and upgraded its
name accordingly.
"For what it's worth, the
name of the original or true
artichoke came to us by way
of Spain — alcachofas, a
borrowering from the
Arabic al-kharshof."
Israeli cloud-seeding pro-
grams, declared "the best in
the world" by the U.S. Con-
gress, have increased rain-
fall in the Sea of Galilee
area by 20 percent.
programs.
In 1978 the World ORT
union, gave ORT Argentina
an IBM 360 Computer
(purchased through the
American ORT Federation)
which immediately proved
a vital asset to the Data Pro-
cessing Center. The cent-
er's work for private corn-
panies helps sustain ORT
operations in Argentina
while at the same time pro-
viding invaluable on-the-
job experience for ORT stu-
dents in the computer sci-
ences.
At present the ORT
Technical High School
includes courses on the
pre-college level and the
ORT Institute of
Technology prepares
over 400 students annu-
ally for careers in the
computer science,
chemistry and industrial
process control and
trains teachers in
mathematical sciences
for secondary school.
Despite the threats and
vicissitudes of an uncertain
political time, ORT Argen-
tina is flourishing and ex-
panding and looking to the
future. It will take more
than terrorist bombs and
anti-Semitic threats to im-
pede the progress of this
ORT operation which has
grown from a few small
Friday, December 18, 1981
-
classes in a rented building
over forty years ago, to the
extensive, highly regarded
network it is today.
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