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Signer quickly dismissed a familiar starting point for Jewish-Christian dialogue — namely, that adherants of both religions worship the same God. "That is an unfair and inac- curate picture . . . and apologetics in the worst sense of the word," he said. Judaism is much more than the Bible: "Judaism as we know it is rabbinic Judaism. We are rab- binic Jews whether we are Orthodox, Conservative or Reform Jews. We still all ac- cept to varying degrees the authority of this vast literature?' Instead, Signer said, Jews and Christians share the corn- mon bond of studying God's words and trying to integrate them into their lives. One way in which this is done is through holidays, Signer said. He believes this is because, in the words of Professor Jacob Neusner, in- dividuals transcend themselves through lifecycle events, which allow them to feel both rooted in the past and building for the future. The most celebrated Jewish holiday is Pesach, Signer said. While surveys would prove the same, he said, Signer illustrated his remark with an example from his own life: "You can't get my family to sit still for five minutes to read a story — except at one time — Pesach." Closely linked to Pesach, Signer said, is the holiday of Shavuot. For many years he wondered about the tie bet- ween the Exodus from Egypt and the giving of the Torah. At the same time, the most celebrated Christian holidays are probably Christmas and Easter. Easter is closely associated with another Christian holiday — the Pen- tacost, Signer said. Pentacost, observed the seventh Sunday after Easter, commemorates the descent of the holy spirit upon the Apostles. The Pesach-Shavuot and Easter-Pentacost observances are similar for several reasons, Signer said. One of the similarities is the univer- sality expressed by both. The rabbis believed that the gift of the Torah was for everyone; and, according to Luke, the Apostles believed the revelation of the holy spirit at Pentacost was universal. Shavuot and Pentacost also mark a time when Judaism and Christianity should be empowered, Signer said. Jews must consider how to rededicate themselves to rIbrah as Christians reflect on how to rededicate themselves to the spirit. Signer suggested that perhaps this challenge is what makes Passover and 'That is the secret of scripture. As you turn it and turn it, it reveals new insights: Easter more popular than the two holidays which follow closely behind them: It's easier to sit around the table and tell the story of Pesach or to sit in church on Easter than to embrace the message that one must act on the word of God. Yet being a witness to the word of God means much more than telling the story of the Exodus, Signer said. It means to act on that word, and to bring it to the community. ADL Applauds Jail Sentence New York (JTA) — Common criminality, not his political extremism, was the undoing of Lyndon LaRouche Jr., the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith said last Friday, following LaRouche's senten- cing to 15 years in prison for tax evasion and fraud. The 66-year-old politician, who ran three times for presi- dent, was sentenced by Judge Albert Bryan of federal district court in Alexandria, Va., along with six co-defen- dants. They were found guilty of scheming to defraud the In- ternal Revenue Service and deliberately defaulting on more than $30 million in loans from LaRouche sup- porters, many of them elderly. "The sentencing sends a strong message that this anti- Semitic extremist cult leader cannot use his 'political' ac- tivities as a shield for criminal wrongdoing on a na- tionwide scale," said 4•0 Abraham Foxman, national director of the ADL. "This case was not about politics; it was about crime. It was about defrauding the