Each month in this space,
L'Chayim will look back into issues
of The Jewish News to see what
was happening in the local Jewish
community or in the Diaspora 10, 20
and 40 years ago.

TEN YEARS AGO

El Al Israel Airlines canceled a
$10 million charter flight deal due to
pressure from Orthodox groups
objecting to Friday night departures
that violate the Sabbath.

414C t i

fIV

V

—Submitted by Rabbi Ernst Conrad,
Temple Kol Ami

-

of Jewish Welfare Federation.

40 YEARS AGO

20 YEARS AGO

The Xerox Corp. withdrew 3,000
reprints of an 1895 edition of Mother
Goose Nursery Rhymes following a
complaint that two verses contained
anti-Semitic and anti-black
stereotypes.
Mrs. Joseph H. Jackier was
renominated to a second term as
president of the Women's Division

All uncircumsized immigrant
children reaching Israel were
circumsized at the government's
expense.

For the first itme in its history,
the Michigan State Dental
Association named a Jewish dentist
to the office of president-elect, Dr.
David Seligson of Detroit.

Parshat Achare:
Atone For Sins

Parshat Achare Mot: One of us
does something which we
subsequently regret: We hurt a
member of the family or do
something we know to be wrong: In
ancient days, while the Temple was
standing, on Yom Kippur, (Leviticus,
Chapter 16) the High Priest, on
behalf of the community, would
confess all our wrong-doings by
placing his hands on a goat to be
dispatched into the wilderness and
thrust from a precipice. By the
animal's death, it would serve as an
atonement for the sins of individual
Jews. With the destruction of the
Temple, the custom was abandoned.
Prayer and individual confession
replaced the ritual of the scapegoat.
Do you think we still transfer our
guilt feelings to someone else and
thus look for an excuse for our
shortcomings? What can we do
"better" in our relations at home?
Israel is 41 years old. Let's all
have a family kumsitz (party with
family discussion). What makes a
meaningful birthday celebration for
a family member? For a country?
For the country that served to
ingather all the Jews who had no
other place to go? What can we do
now to better appreciate what Israel
means to us and how to interpret
the significance of the only Jewish
state to our non-Jewish friends and
neighbors?
Hitler died 44 years ago, and
the slaughter of our brothers and
sisters ended. It is hard to imagine
the loss of a third (six million,
among them, a million and a half
children) of our entire people. Also,
it is so sad to recall so much
cruelty. Shall we continue to mourn
these losses? What would you do to
recall the events? And, what about
an annual family visit to our own
Holocaust Memorial Center?

L 4

Adat Shalom Synagogue
installed Rabbi Efry Spectre.

FRIDAY, APRIL 28, 1989

THE ISLAND

By URI ORTER

ON BIRD
STREET

, translated by

Eleven-year-old Alex

HILLEL HALKIN

is forced to
abandoned building at
78 Bird Street live in an
War II. The author
has added an during World
help youngsters
understand what in it troduction
was
to
Poland
during
the
like in
war. Age 8-12.

JERUSALEM HILLS

A Play by FLORA ATKINS

A collection
of folk tales that grow
from
an
experience with archeolo
digs i n for
the Middle
vecle families East. An excellent
of Jerusalem t
to explore the history
ogether. Age 8 and up.

Check your synagogue
library for availability.

Independence Day

U.S. and Israeli-Style

Continued from Page L-1

decided that the parade was no
longer necessary for instilling pride
in Israeli citizens.
Israelis still celebrate with
dancing in the streets and songs,
but the spontaneity is gone. It has
become a holiday which celebrates
the past; it is a holiday of nostalgia.
Today, celebrations are orchestrated
by the government. A nation-wide
torch lighting, symbolizing the unity
of the state, is conducted atop Mt.
Herzl. The celebration is marked by
the International Bible Quiz and the
Israel Prize, the state's equivalent of
the Nobel Prize, is awarded.
Israel's independence
celebration is similar to that of the
United States in that both had
something to do with the British.
Israel declared its independence
from the British at the end of the
mandate period. In the U.S.,

Americans declared their
independence at the end of the
Revolutionary War.
But there are differences too.
The U.S. celebration is not as
personal as the Israeli celebration.
In Israel, many Israelis can say that
they grew as the state grew, or that
they were present at the founding of
the state. Israelis can say that they
saw the miracle of the creation of a
Jewish state. Who in America can
say that they were present at the
declaration of the United States'
independence from Britain?
Americans take for granted that the
U.S. will exist a year from now. Each
Yom Ha'atzma'ut, Israelis are
thankful that the stale has made it
through another year.
Israel's independence
celebration used to be far different
from that of the U.S. It was a

country-wide festival in which
everyone participated with singing
and dancing in the streets: It was a
tradition in the past for children to
get new sandals and clothes,
particularly white shirts and blue
shorts, and for adults to drink, sing
and dance. In America, families
celebrate July 4 with picnics in the
parks, backyard barbecues and
fireworks. Most of the Israelis are
doing the same in different
recreation sites around the country,
but the celebration is more
community-wide than in America.
Americans aren't as unified in their
celebrations as are the Israelis.
Perhaps someday the Israelis
will be able to celebrate Yom
Ha'atzma'ut like the American July
4, with detachment, but happy in
the knowledge that statehood is well
established.