PURELY COMMENTARY
Chaim Herzog
Continued from Page 2
child's officials to study in
France, he had briefly
worked for Rothschild at
the northern settlement of
Metullah on his return to
Palestine. Subsequently he
explored the entire coun-
try, mapping its botanical
features, often crossing the
Jordan, and becoming a
leading expert on the local
flora and fauna.
On a field trip in 1906, he
had discovered on Mount
Hermon single-grained
wheat, "the mother of
wheat," or the earliest
known prototype of bread-
producing grain, a find of
importance both to
agronomists and to
students of the history of
civilization.
The discovery made him
world-famous, and, on a
trip to America, he secured
Jewish financial backing
for an agricultural
research station, which he
established at Athlit, on the
coast below Zichron
Ya'acov, near the ruin of a
Crusader fortress.
There, in the salt marshes
of the area, he grew pro-
duce where none had
grown before, and con-
ducted his agricultural ex-
periments, which became
famous in Europe and
America. The double line
of date palms, which he
planted, can be seen there
to this day. Athlit is a
flourishing farming village,
but only a shell remains of
the pioneer research
station.
I must recall here an in-
teresting episode relating to
Aaron Arronson. It was in the
mid-1920s. The famous
botanist had to come here to
speak at the lecture series
that was conducted every
Sunday afternoon as a tradi-
tional town meeting in the
then Central High School
auditorium on Cass Avenue,
that later became Detroit
Teachers College and Wayne
State University. After the
lecture I stood in the Central
High lobby with the world
famous botanist. Two Chris-
tian women came over to
thank him for his lecture and
one of them said to him:
"Mr. Aaronson, you have
blond hair and blue eyes. You
look just like Jesus."
The Herzog story about
Aaronson makes mention of
another aspect in Zionist
history. It relates to Richard
Meinertzhagen, whose career
became an important chapter
in Zionist and Palestinian
history. Herzog relates the
following:
Aaronson's brilliance as
a scientist did not detract
40
FRIDAY. AUGUST 4. 1989
from his devotion to the
Zionist cause. Colonel
Richard Meinertzhagen,
the British military in-
teligence officer who
became a strong supporter
of the Zionist movement,
recalled that he had been
inclined to anti-Semitism
before he met Aaronson, "a
Palestinian Jew, a man of
great courage and
superior intelligence, deep-
ly devoted to Palestine?'
Meinertzhagen said that
"many conversations with
Aaronson" had made him
an an ardent Zionist.
That's how a collection of
biographical sketches by
President Chaim Herzog has
developed into a Zionist
history. The facts assembled,
the 100 photographs, and
more than 20 in color, the
scores of episodes and anec-
dotes, enrich our fascination
with Jewish historical
records. That's how we again
become indebted to the Presi-
dent of Israel.
❑
First Names
Continued from Page 2
name Gitele, which was so
common in the past, is no
longer popular in Israel,
especially because it's not
a Hebrew name. Gitele in
Yiddish means "good" or
"good person," and you
can find lots of modern
Hebrew names that ex-
press the same meaning
such as Tova, Tovit or
Naamah.
3. You can look for a
modern Hebrew name that
is an abbreviation of
several names of relatives.
For example, the boys'
names Reuben and Nathan
together create a beautiful
modern name for a boy —
Ron means "joy" or "song."
The girls' names Rachel
and Nechama create a few
beautiful modern names
for a girl, such as Rona,
Ronit, Roni or Renana —
all meaning "joy:'
You can create an
original Hebrew name bas-
ed on the abbreviations of
several names, but if you
don't speak Hebrew fluent-
ly, you should discuss your
ideas with someone who
does. There's a joke in
Israel about a mother who
wanted to name her
daughter after her two late
grandmothers, Shula and
Chana, so she named her
baby Shulchanah. What's
so funny about this name?
Well, in Hebrew, Shulchan
means "a table."
Another possibility for
naming a baby after a
deceased relative is not us-
ing the relative's name but
choosing a modern
Hebrew name that reflects
your relationship with that
person. For example,
LeeAv means "I have a
father," to remember the
late grandfather, or Achi,
which means "my brother,"
to remember the late
brother. Unfortunately, the
variety of names in this
category is limited.
Sidi's skill in the designa-
tion of names is in providing
the Anglicized with the
chosen Hebraic and by appen-
ding them the transliteration
to assure proper
pronunciation.
The best way of ap-
preciating her guidance is by
resorting to one of the names.
Here is how names are offered
as choices by parents with the
properly appended
designations:
Chagai (Chah gahy').
From the Hebrew, "my
feast, holiday, celebration;"
in the Bible (Haggai), one
of the twelve Minor Pro-
phets. A popular name for
babies who are born on
one of the Jewish holidays.
Also the name of a place
near Jerusalem. Also spell-
ed Hagai and Haggai.
Another form with the
same meaning is Chagi
(Chah gee'), in the Bible
(Genesis), a son of Gad.
Also spelled Hagi. Other
forms are Chagya (Chahg
yah') and Chagiya (Chah
gee yah') from the Hebrew,
"festival of God;" in the Bi-
ble (I Chronicles), also
spelled Hagya and Hagiya.
Dr. Alfred J. Kolatch of the
Jonathan David Publishing
House retains a pioneering
position in nomenclature. Dr.
Kolatch commenced that task
in the late 1940s. Several
books were published by him
subsequently. Now we have
another revised edition with
more than 10,000 names.
Under the title The New
Name Dictionary, Modern
English and Hebrew Names,
Jonathan David provides us
with the 1989 revision.
Again, the explanatory
chapters lend added value to
the science of treating names
and their evaluation as selec-
tions for their children by
Jewish parents.
The new revision contains a
10-page appendix of Yiddish
names. The additional names
in this section will enlighten
the general reader and will
provide an added thrill for
Yiddishists.
There is an appendix of 40
pages with 4,800 traditional
Hebrew names, published in
Hebrew. That has additional
value for the accumulated
record.
Among the numerous other
books on Jewish names is the
Schocken-published A Dic-
tionary of Jewish Names and
Their History by Rabbi Ben-
zion C. Kaganoff (1977).
The interest shown so ex-
tensively in this enriching
topic provides a thrill for
readers and is an encourage-
ment to publishing devo-
tions.
❑
More About
Ancient Aramaic
H
aving dealt in this
column last week
with Aramaic, an im-
portant additional comment
I
should not be ignored. In a
letter published in the New
York Times July 29, Max
Wohlberg, professor of liturgy
at the Jewish Theological
Seminary, wrote:
While Aramaic as a
spoken language may
disappear, a fear expressed
in your July 17 report from
Malula, Syria, on the
dwindling number of
Aramaic speakers, its close
kinship to Hebrew should
be noted.
Sections of the books of
Ezra and Daniel, are in
Aramaic. A number of
Aramaic prayers appear in
the traditional Jewish
liturgy. The Kaddish (dox-
ology) that is recited in
every service, as well as
certain passages in the
wedding service are also in
Aramaic.
NEWS I
Nice Israeli Girls
Won't Take It Off
ANDY GOLDBERG and
SUSAN L. WEIS
Special to the Jewish News
I
sraeli fashion models are
notoriously reluctant to
take off their clothes for
the camera. With the arrival
last week of a Hebrew edition
of the international Pen-
thouse magazine, Israelis
wonder who might be the first
local woman to plunge into
the icy waters of nude
modelling.
"The models' boyfriends are
actually the biggest pro-
blem," explains one observer
of Israeli society. "They don't
even like their mates to
model lingerie. When
underwear manufacturers
like Delta or Sabrina want to
hold fashion shows, they have
to get foreign models to come
and do the job."
Publisher Bob Guccione,
who launched the new Pen-
thouse with Israeli publisher
Galia Albin said he was "hap-
py and proud" to be in Israel.
About one third of the
material in the Israeli Pen-
thouse will be locally
generated, while the rest will
be selected by Albin from the
best that appears in the
magazine's international
editions.
The print order for the first
edition is 30,000 copies, and
Albin said her goal is to sell
100,000 of each issue. All
Israeli issues, including the
debut version was to go on
sale last Wednesday, will in-
clude some nude Israeli
models. Though an Israeli
was due to feature as this
month's centerfold, she
forfeited her place in favor of
Lynn Johnson, the Penthouse
"20th Anniversary Pet."
Most Israel bathing
beauties surveyed were wear-
ing mere slivers of cloth
which barely covered the
essentials. But all said they
would not be willing to
remove those slivers even for
the five-figure fees that the
U.S. Penthouse pays its Pets.
"Me? Go naked? You must
be joking! My family would
kill me. I'd have to leave the
country," Ilana Ettinger, 21,
said without hesitation. "I
don't really think there's
anything wrong with it, but
this is a small country.
Everyone would know. You
would be in disgrace."
"It's not respectable, or ac-
ceptable," said Sheli, 19, a
soldier. "In fact, it's
degrading. It makes you feel
like a piece of meat. If other
women want to do it, fine, it's
their choice, but I don't think
it's for me."
Actress Ilana Shoshan was
allegedly willing to pose in
her birthday suit for
Penthouse-Monitin — for a
cool $50,000. She appears in
the buff in a movie now play-
ing locally, but the publishers
evidently thought that the
asking price was too high.
Shoshan seems to be the on-
ly one of the legitimate ac-
tresses and models to have sat
at the new magazine's
negotiating table.
❑
Compiled from wire reports.