PURELY COMMENTARY
PHILIP SLOMOVITZ
A Fascinating Addendum To History Of
Jewish Agriculturists in U.S.: The Steinborn Chapter
A vast literature has been accumu-
lated dealing' with Jews who pioneered
in agriculture in this country. The most
recent column on this page dealing with
the Jewish farming projects attracted
wide attention and gave occasion for
many reminiscences.
This is a natural result of historical
reminiscing. While Jewish farming ven-
tures were especially prospering in New
Jersey, Michigan, as was indicated in
the recollections on this page last month,
had its .exciting roles.
Therefore, another reminiscence
merits total acclaim. Stanley D. Stein-
born, chief Michigan assistant attorney
general, therefore the major associate of
Michigan Attorney General Frank Kel-
ley, not only recalls his father's role in
one of Michigan's Jewish agricultural
taskS. He also adds facts of great value
to illuminate the Michigan experience.
Steinborn's recollective message to
me is of such great value as an
addendum to the history of Jews in
Michigan that it compels deep attention.
Here is his message:
I did not realize when Frank
Kelley and I had lunch with you
a few years ago that we shared a
common interest in the "Pales-
tine Colony" near Bad Axe.
Actually, my interest in the
project was triggered by a 1972
article in Michigan History which
my friend Avern Cohn was kind
enough to send on to me. That
article, which I expect you are
familiar with, listed the original
16 settlers. Among them were my
grandfather, Samuel Steinborn,
and my great-uncle, Uriah Stein-
born.
After I received a copy of the
article, I took the matter up with
my father who said that he did
have some vague recollection of
his father talking about his in-
volvement with the colony. How-
ever, neither my father nor I had
any idea as to how my grand-
father and his brother came to
join the colony. Your June 27 ar-
ticle has now resolved that ques-
tion.
My grandfather came from
Kurland. For that reason, I noted
with interest the fact that a
number of the other participants
in the colony were also Kurlan-
ders. It would appear that this is
the connection that explains my
grandfather's participation in the
"Palestine Colony" project - the
family had not previously been
involved in farming.
In any event, the "Palestine
Colony" was apparently my
grandfather's last attempt at be-
coming an American farmer. He
went on to become, what else, a
peddler, but unfortunately died
young. His sons in turn became a
bricklayer (my father) or carpen-
ters (his two brothers).
This meritorious message contrib-
utes toward the enrichment of an impor-
tant historical record. The Steiriborn let-
ter is indeed an addendum to the history
of Jews in agriculture in Michigan.
When Questions Are Posed, Answers Will Enlighten
With proper questions, enlightening
answers can be anticipated. This is
applicable to public lectures which usu-
ally conclude with the interrogation of
lecturer by audience.
It is in the question-answer method
that information is superbly provided in
works intended to supplement textbooks.
When properly treated, this is the
emerging result. When the authors set
out in search of the entertaining as well
as• the instructive, they create the ur-
gently needed in an educational fashion.
Barbara Spector attains this goal in
what could be described as an intrigu-
ingly fact-providing collection of 836
questions in her The Great Jewish Quiz
Book.
It stands to reason that many -
perhaps most of the queries have the
prompt explanations expected from the
fairly, knowledgeable, by some of the
explanatory answers; and there are also
the very amusing. •
Barbara Spector's assembled queries
embrace every aspect of Jewish life. It
deals with people and events. Music and
literature, religious aspects, sports -
think of any subject that arouses interest
and The Great Jewish Quiz Book,
(Jewish Publication Society); as the
Spector volume is entitled, covers them
impressively.
Here is a sample of the contents of-
fered to acquire an appreciation of the
Spector researched treasures. Dealing
with the language questions as they af-
fect Jewish experience, and the dialects
involved, the questions are knowledge
testing and the answers are, in the
main, uniquely-intriguing. From the He-
brew, Yiddish, and Ladino section, they
are:
.
1. The only American president
able to read Hebrew was
(a) Abraham Lincoln;
(b) James Madison;
(c) Franklin D. Roosevelt;
(d) Richard M. Nixon.
2. What Hebrew letter begins the
Ten Commandments?
3. What is the traditional -
2
Friday, July 18, 1986
response to the greeting "Shalom
aleichem"?
4. In Hebrew, me is "who," who is
"'he," and he is "she." What is
"what"?
5. All but one of the following
English words are derived from
Hebrew. Which one is the
exception?
(b) amen;
(a) jubilee;
(c) synagogue; (d) sabbath.
6. True or false: Some Christian
churches in Israel conduct
services in Hebrew.
Salem,
of
town
7. The
Massachusetts, was named for a
Hebrew word. Which word?
8. Two letters in the Shema
prayer are written larger than
the others. Which two letters?
(a) aleph and dalet;
(b) ayin and dalet;
(e) shin and dalet;- (d) yud and shin.
9. Which word, said at the climax
of a popular board game, is a
combination of the Hebrew
words shach ("sheik") and met
("dead")?
10. B'teavon is the Hebiew
equivalent of which French
expression?
(a) "Au revoir"; (b) "Bonjour":
(c)'"Oon appetit";
(d) "Vine la France."
11. Who of the following would be
considered a jinjy or jinjit in
Israel?
(a) Golda Meir;
(b) Little Orphan Annie;
(c) Buddy Hackett;
(d) Bozo the Clown;
(e) Julius Erving;
a) Lucille Ball.
12. All but one of the following
words commonly used in
everyday English are actually
Yiddish words. Which one is the
exception?
(a) conniption; (b) bubkes;
(c) goniff; (d) kishke.
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
13. What is the most frequently
used letter in the Five Books of
Moses?
14. If you wrote down the first,
middle, and last letters of the
Hebrew alphabet, in that order,
the word that you would make
would mean
(a) truth; (b) -mother; (c) amen;
(d) I.
15. Which of the • following
universities does not. have
Hebrew letters on its coat of
arms?
(a) Yeshiva University;
(b) Brandeis Uriiversity;
(c) Yale University;
(d) University of Pennsylvania.
16. The term sabra is used to
mean a native-born Israeli, but it
also has another meaning. What
is it?
17. Which letter is at the exact
middle of the Torah?
18. At various times Ladino has
been spoken in all but one of
these countries. Which one is the
exception?
(h) Australia;
(a) France;
(c) Yugoslavia; (d) Romania: .
19. The first Yiddish newspaper
in the world was published in
1686-1687. Where was it
published?
(b) Poland;
(a) Germany;
(c) Amsterdam;
(d) New Amsterdam.
20. True or false: When the Soviet
Union was first founded, Yiddish
was made one of the sixty-odd
official languages of the country.
HEBREW, YIDDISH,
AND LADINO ANSWERS
1. (b) James Madison. 2. Aleph.
3. "Aleichem shalom." 4. Mah. 5. (c)
synagogue. (It is from Greek.)
6. True. (Hebrew is an official
language.) 7. Shalom. 8. (b) ayin
and dalet. 9. Checkmate. 10. (c)
"Bon appetit." 11. (b) Little
Orphan Annie, (d) Bozo the
Clown, and (f) Lucille Ball. (Jinjy
means "redhead.") 12. (a)
conniption. 13. Vay. (It occurs
76,922 times out of the 815,280
letters in the Torah.) 14. (a) truth.
15. (d) University of
Pennsylvania. 16. Cactus plant.
II. A vav (in the word gahon
("belly") in Lev. 11:42). 18. (b)
Australia. 19. (c) Amsterdam.
20. True.
.
The very simplicity of some of the
questions, especially in what could be
judged the most important for
knowledgeability, add to the uniqueness
of the Spector approach. Here is a lone
one, marked by a variety of tests,
entitled "The World History Quiz":
1. Which one of the following
people was never arrested?
(a) Menachem Begin;
(b) Haym Salomon;
(c) Rabbi Akiva;
(d) Theodor Herzl.
2. Which of the following groups
has never ruled the city of
Jerusalem? '
(a) the Greeks; (b) the Persians;
Cc) the Romans;.
(d) the Argiintinians.
.
3. Which king was also .•known as
Xerxes?
(a) Antiochus; ( b) Ahasuerus;
(c) Ramses II;-(d) Herod.
:
4. The first Jewish, book to be
printed on a printing press (Italy,
1475) was
(a) the Bible;
(b) the prayer book;
(c) Rashi's commentary
on the Bible;
(d) the Talmud.
5. Were the inhabitants of the
shtetls
Ashkenazim or
Sephardim?
6. In what country did the Golden
Age of the Jews flourish in
medieval times?
Contirthed on Page 10