24 Friday, December 3, 1982

THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

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Jewish Units Promote Costa Rica

By GABRIEL LEVENSON

NEW YORK — A delega-
tion representing six na-
tional Jewish organizations
has just returned from a
four-day visit to Costa Rica.
A spokeswoman for the
group reports that "Yid-
dishkeit is alive and well" in
that small Central Ameri-
can republic.
Zelda Bloom, director of
Bnai Brith Tours, led the
mission of 17 officials —
from Bnai Brith, the Ameri-
can Jewish Congress, the
Union of American Hebrew
Congregations, the Na-
tional Council of Jewish
Women, the United
Synagogue of America and
Bnai Zion — on a first, for-
mal tour of Costa Rica.
"We made the journey to
express appreciation for
Costa Rica's consistent pro-
Israel policies and to
explore the possibilities fbr
substantial Jewish travel
there," says Mrs. Bloom.
"Costa Rica was one of the
first nations in the world to
recognize the new Jewish
state in May 1948," Mrs.
Bloom adds. "It has main-

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tained a record of friendship
ever since; and, by moving
its embassy from Tel Aviv to
Jerusalem, it is today the
first — and only — country
to recognize the Holy City
as Israel's capital."
The American delega-
tion was given "red car-
pet" treatment from the
moment of arrival, via
Lacsa, the national air-
line, at San Jose, the capi-
tal city.
Doris Yankelowich de
Monge, the First Lady of
Costa Rica, was their hos-
tess that first evening at a
state dinner given in their
honor at the Presidential
Palace. Senora de Monge is
the wife of the country's
recently-elected president
and herself an active
member of the San Jose
community.
Other guests included
David Tourgeman, the Is-
rael' ambassador to the
country, and several local
Jewish dignitaries.
There are approximately
2,000 Jews in Costa Rica,
and they are concentrated
in San Jose. The Sephardim
who settled there, migrat-
ing from Jamaica and
Curacao in the 18th Cen-
tury, have long since been
assimilated; and the pre-
sent, identifiably - Jewish
population is derived from
the waves of immigrants
who fled Eastern Europe
and Turkey after World
War I and those who es-
caped Hitlerism in the
1930s. -
Enjoying absolute ac-
ceptance as citizens of
Costa Rica and free of
threats of anti-Semitism
which plague the rest of
Latin America, the Jews
of San Jose nevertheless
maintain a close-knit and
self-contained infra-
structure.
They support the Chaim
Weizmann Comprehensive
School, with more than 200
students; a monthly period-
ical, in Spanish, which is
circulated throughout Cen-
tral America; a large
synagogue; a suburban cul-
tural and sports center;
adult and youth Zionist
organizations; and a Bnai
Brith lodge.
There were more than
500 present at the Sabbath
eve services which the dele-
gates attended — "the
majority under 40"," says
Mrs. Bloom, "and there was
a definite, and successful,
attempt to get young prople
involved. I saw a number of
teenage girls at the service,
feeling very much at home
in their designer jeans!"
The evening praYers,
entirely in Hebrew, were
conducted by a 13-year-old
boy, who had just celebrated
his Bar Mitzva. The congre-
gation presently has no
rabbi, and various members
take turns in running the
weekly services.
Mrs. Bloom calls Costa
Rica "the only demo-
cratic country south of
the Rio Grande." The
elected president may
serve but a single, four-
year term; in a region
beset by revolutions,
counter-revolutions, ter-

rorism and dictatorship,
Costa Rica stands out as
a "citadel of freedom,"
she says. There is neither
army nor navy nor
marine corps.
With 98 percent of the
population literate, the
country ranks number one,
in the respect, in the entire
Western Hemisphere.
Where 30 percent of the
budget is devoted to educa-
tion, there are twice as
many teachers as police-
men.
Sandwiched between
Nicaragua on the north and
Panama to the south, Costa
Rica contains an area the
size of West Virginia and a
population of 2.25 million.
Its topography ranges from
beaches and tropical low-
lands on both the Atlantic
and the Pacific, to a 12,000
foot-high mountain range
and a central plateau,
where most of the people
live and which enjoys a
year-round temperate cli-
mate.
The economy is based on
agriculture, and the princi-
pal exports are coffee,
bananas and beef.
The first of a series of
Jewish tours has been
scheduled for Jan. 23,
when a Lacsa jet leaves
John F. Kennedy Airport
for a direct, four - hour
flight to San Jose. Offi-
cially termed a "Mission
of Appreciation" from
the American Jewish
community to the Costa
Rican government, the
eight-day visit will fea-
ture a number of gala
dinners with members of
the local Jewish commu-
nity, and a final dinner to
be hosted by President
and Mrs. Monge.
Details on the initial,
Jan. 23 trip can be obtained
from the Jewish organiza-
tions' respective tour de-
partments or from Global
Travel Sources, 76 Silver
Lake Ave., Newton, Mass.
02160.

Anti-Semitic
Incident Mars
Soccer Match

AMSTERDAM (JTA) —
An anti-Semitic distur-
bance marred a soccer
match between the Go
Ahead football club of De-
venter and the Feyenoord
club of Rotterdam in De-
venter last month.
Supporters of the
Feyenoord club carried
banners which included the
slogan, "Death to all Jews."
The Deventer public pro-
secutor, who was attending
the match, ordered the ar-
rest of 14 of the Feyenoord
supporters.
A similar disturbance oc-
curred recently in Amster-
dam when Feyenoord
played against the home
team soccer club, Ajax.
There, too, some Feyenoord
supporters displayed an
anti-Semitic banner.

Never fear the want of
business. A man who qual-
ifies himself well for his cal-
ling, never fails of employ-
ment.
—Jefferson

