76 Friday, June 28, 1985 THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS BOOKS Calendar On The Agenda: Dates Strewn With Facts these are only a few of the features you'll find weekly in The Jewish News order a subscription or gift subscription today! 1 The Jewish Newt- I 20300 Civic Center Dr., Suite 240 I Southfield, Mi. 48076-4138 1 1 Gentlemen: Please send a (gift) subscription: II NAME I ADDRESS Holy Days and Days of Awe are still some months away, but the creative urge to produce proper calendars is already in evidence. There will be many such prod- ucts, some richly illustrated from Israel. The information- providing calendars are espe- cially valuable as educational media serving as guides for reli- gious observances as well as in keeping individuals and com- munities aware of historical backgrounds. Often a product intended for children becomes equally attrac- tive and valuable for the elders. Such is the case with My Very Own Jewish Calendar, 5746 – 1985-1986. Kar-Ben Copies, already pos- sessing a good record in -chil- dren's book publishing, is respon- sible for this illustrated product authored by Judyth Saypol Groner and Madeline Wikler. A list of participating illus- trators is appended to the vol- ume. Notable in this brochure-type calendar is the list of numerous New Years observed through the year. Here is the commencing in- troductory note in this calendar: "When we think of the Jewish New Year we think of Rosh Hashanah, but the Mishnah ac- tually mentions four New Years. The first of Nissan is the year for calculating the reign of kings and seasonal festivals; the first of Tishri is for reckoning years; the 15th of Shevat is the New Year for trees; the first of Elul is for the tithing of cattle. This should not seem strange to us, however. Jan. 1 is the calendar year, but businesses have their fiscal years, and schools their academic ones . . . not to mention our birthdays and anniversaries." Serving the needs for a 16- month period, commencing with September 1985 through De- cember 1986, each page contains relevant data and informative historical facts. The first page sample of contents helps define the entire product. It contains the following: • - "The commandment to observe Yom Kippur says, 'Ye shall afflict your souls.' We cannot eat or drink, wash or wear leather shoes. The rabbis interpreted all of these as forms of physical pleasure. Leather, by tradition, symbolizes comfort. Removing one's shoes was also a symbol of awe. Moses was told to remove his shoes at the site of the burn- ing bush because he was standing on holy ground." The Hebrew word for calendar is Ruakh. Kar-ben Copies treat the children's calendar as a "Luakh with Ruakh The Calendar with Charisma." It is just that and it'll appeal to pos- sessors of all ages. While calendars in the main become capitalizing media for advertising purposes, those pro- viding historical data emerge valuably and can be retained as relics to come. In that instance, many even attain a monetary value. One such calendar, already is- sued in advance of Rosh Hashanah, is the annual product — STATE I CITY ZIP From: I If gift state occasion 1 year -421 — 2 years = $39 — Out of State $23 — Foreign - $35 I Enclosed $ 1 1 of the Women's League for Con- servative Judaism. Its "Calendar Diary for 5746" commemorates the 100th anniversary of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America. As a photographic chronology of the JTS anniversary, historic and current pictures trace the complete record of the seminary dating back to the first school building on Fifth Avenue and 19th St. in New York. The track to the present campus facilities in New York, Los Angeles and Jerusalem provide a history of teaching and rabbinic training. Spiral bound, pocketbook- sized, the Women's League calendar provides a record of the personalities who had their roles in the establishment and con- tinuity of the Jewish Theological Seminary. Thus, in addition to all the basic characteristics of a calen- dar, this one is commemorative of an important movement. It is in that capacity that it becomes especially important in the his- torical sense. Asner Home Defaced Ed Asner Los Angeles (JTA) — A neo- Nazi group claimed responsibil- ity for the anti-Jewish deface- ment of the home of actor Ed Asner last week. The group promised more incidents if Asner continued his "activities in the interest of international Com- munism and Zionism." Vandals scrawled "Kill Jews" and spray painted a swastika on the front door of Asner's Studio City rented home. There was no other damage and no one was home at the time of the early morning incident, according to police reports. An unidentified man tele- phoned the offices of the United Press International claiming to represent the National Socialist Liberation Front and said, "We claim responsibility for the at- tack on the home of the Com- munist Jew pig Ed Asner." Pork Ban Jerusalem (JTA) — A bill ban- ning the raising, marketing and sale of pork in Israel passed its first reading in the Knesset last week by a 57-23 vote and was re- ferred to the Law and Constitu- tion Committee. rr:444KONLIMEIMEE.1.113iiipAlic. . StAlsri 494,1101#1.0,4e