THE DETROITF AMR NEWS
Jews of Tenerife,Canary Islands
By DR. SAMUEL GRAND
NEW YORK— Tenerife's
small Jewish community
consists of 14 families in
Santa Cruz and one lone
couple, Marco and Estrella
Cohen in the popular resort
center, Puerto de la Cruz.
Sinai Payment Ind icative of Society?
TEL AVIV (ZINS) — Is-
raeli newspapers continue _
to criticize the payments
given to the settlers who
were forced to leave their
homes in Sinai last April
when the area was returned
to Egypt. Some estimate the
total payments as high as
$500 million.
One Maariv reporter
wrote:
"We, the whole state of Is-
rael, are involved in a famil-
iar process. In the course of
30 years we have become
transformed from a poor
community, sustaining it-
self by its own means, into a
public which holds on to a
standard of living not in
keeping with its pos-
sibilities and efforts but one
that is dependent on sup-
port from foreign sources.
"Our attitude is that
`it's coming to us' from
our rich cousins in
America, which are not
only obligated to see to it
that we should have a
strong army but also that
we should enjoy im-
ported luxuries; fancy
apartments and travel
abroad.
"And inasmuch as the
residents of Yamit and the
Sinai settlements were at
one time different and now
have become just like us, it
is perhaps worth pondering
how this transformation
took place. Perhaps we
might learn something
about what is happening to
us . . ."
NY Hearing Test
NEW YORK (JTA) — A
program to test the hearing
of 5,000 yeshiva students in
the New York metropolitan
area is underway by use of a
hearing and speech van of
the Lexington School of the
Deaf, according to the Fed-
eration of Jewish Philan-
thropies.
The name "Segal" and its
variations is derived from
the Hebrew word meaning
"treasure."
Our first contact was with
Pinhas Abecassis, head of
the island's Jewish commu-
nity, who received us in his
busy office on Calle Villalba
Hervas. He introduced us to
Josef Assor who acts as our
gpiritual leader and vice
president of the Jewish
community.
Assor, 'originally from
Tangiers, smiled modestly
as he explained his role in
French-accented English. "I
can chant the Hebrew
prayers quite well but I
wish I knew more. There is
no one here in Santa Cruz
who can read from the To-
rah. The only time we open
the Scroll is on Yom Kippur
when we invite someone
more learned from Madrid
to lead our services on that
important holy day.
,
To appreciate the es-
sence and integrity of this
tiny community, one
must see the small
sanctuary, a converted
living room in a rented
apartment on the fifth
floor of Calle San Jose,
18-20. The focus of inter-
est is the Holy Ark which
contains a Torah from
Vienna in an embroi-
dered velvet mantle from
IT'S ANYBODY'S GUESS
T
he phrase has been showing
up in the papers with sur-
prising regularity in recent days.
What will the selection of Yuri An-
dropov as the new leader of the Soviet
Union mean for relations between
the USA and the USSR? It's
anybody's guess, say the pundits.
What will be the impact of Ted
Kennedy's decision not to seek the
presidency in '84 on the Democratic
party and the electorate as a whole?
It's anybody's guess, the analysts and
commentators respond.
What uniform will Steve Garvey
be wearing next season now that he
will no longer be in Dodger blue? It's
anybody's guess, 'answer the sport-
swriters. (This one may be answered
soon, if not already, unlike the other
imponderables mentioned above.)
That is true of much of life. We
simply do not know. We speculate
and then we await the unanticipated
outcome. Is the winter going to be
severe as predicted by the caterpillars
and the Farmer's Almanac, or mild
as seen by the federal weather
forecasters? When is the depression
going to bottom-out and the
economic upturn begin? It's
anybody's guess .
But there are some things that have
come about because it was
somebody's faith. Flip the switch and
the room is flooded with incandescent
light. That happens because it was
Edison's faith. Even after hundreds
of failures in finding a filament that
-
transforms electrical current into ra-
diance without burning away, he
stayed with the task.. Failures were
not counted as failures, but rather as
new knowledge of what would not
work. We have light because Edison
had faith.
Democracy? A free society in
which government is the servant of
the people and not their master. We
have it because it was the faith of peo-
ple like Jefferson and Madison and
Franklin and Paine.
Yellow fever and polio? They are
no longer scourges to the human
family, because of the faith of men
like Walter Reed and Jonas Salk.
People dream and those dreams
come true. Persons of faith and
courage and perseverance grab hold
of daring dreams and refuse to leave
the results to chance.
The unity of the family of
humankind? A society free of pre-
judice and bigotry and discrimina-
tion? A land where white children
and black children can grow up
together with mutuality and respect?
A nation where equality of oppor-
tunity is the birthright of every girl
and boy? These are things that we
cannot leave to anybody's guess.
These are dreams we must make
come true.
Friday, December 11 1982
Passover Tour Planned
Morocco. Above the Ark
stands an elegant
wrought-iron seven-
branched candelabrum.
In the center of the
sanctuary is a reading
desk decorated with a
red velvet cloth.
The Comunidad Israelita
de Tenerife was officially
recognized by the Spanish
government in 1972, and,
more recently, has acquired
cemetery grounds. Abecas-
sis explained that these in-
stitutions are mainly by a
monthly assessment paid by
each family.
The Jewish residents of
Santa Cruz include a
silversmith and merchants
who deal in children's clo-
thing, furs, electronic
equipment and also a,
pharmacist. Most of the
Jewish families are
Sephardic, largely from
Tetuan and Tangiers in ,
Morocco. There is, however,
a Jewish woman physician
who originally came from
Germany. -
Accoring to Abecassis,
the Jews of Santa Cruz are
well integrated into the
total community. Their
children attend the local
schools and receive their
Jewish religious instruction
from their parents. Some of
the youngsters, especially
the teenagers, supplement
this instruction with vaca-
tion trips to Israel.
Bahama Princess Hotel in
Freeport.
Universal Kosher Tours
is offering a kosher
Passover tour from March
28 to April 5 at the Dip-
lomat Hotel in Hollywood,
Fla.
Families can participate
in a group Seder conducted
by Cantor Jerry Markovitz.
Additional hotels will be
available in the Bahamas
on the tour. They include
the Ambassador Beach
Hotel and the Nassau Beach
Hotel in Nassau and the
Space is limited. For de-
tails, contact Universal
Kosher Tours, 5 Penn Plaza,
New York, N.Y.10001.
1
L LARRY
AR R Y FREEDMAN
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25511 SOUTHFIELD RD., SOUTHFIELD'',
LEADING CANADIAN CAMP
Is LOOKING FOR A
REPRESENTATIVE
CAMP WALDEN, CANADA —A co-educational summer camp for
young people ages 7-16 is looking for a camp representative in your area.
The Camp, in operation since 1970, is based in Toronto and has 300
campers from Canada, the U.S.A., and Mexico.
Camp Walden is a Jewish cultural group-oriented camp which offers
all age groups a wide variety of activities including all water sports, land
sports, visual and performing arts and a variety of special programs.
The Camp is located in a beautiful private woodland setting north-
east of Toronto and northwest of Montreal, in Ontario. The site has 1000
acres and two private lakes. The food is kosher style.
If you are interested in such a position, you should:
• have contacts in the
Jewish community with families
who have children of camp age
• have knowledge of camp life
• be interested in actively
representing the camp
For further information regarding the position and commission, or if
you would like to receive one of our brochures, write or call collect:
TED COLE—DIRECTOR
3995 Bathurst Street, Suite 206
Downsview, Ontario, Canada
M3H 5V3 • (416) 635-0049
Staff applications are now being accepted for the 1983 season.
Our fees are in Canadian Currency –
with the favorable exchange rate, U.S. dollars go further in Canada.
(Don McEvoy is Senior Vice President of
the National Conference' of Christians and
Jews. The opinions expressed are his own.)
,fi"!4"7.