UP FRONT
Einstein Paves The Way
In People's Republic Of China
NECHEMIA MEYERS
Special to The Jewish News
lbert Einstein is help-
ing to pave the way to
closer relations bet-
ween Israel and China.
That's the view of Professor
Joseph Shalhevet, now in
Beijing as head of the Liaison
Office of the Israel Academy
of Science and Humanities,
this country's unofficial
"embassy" in the Chinese
capital.
Mr. Einstein, Professor
Shalhevet points out, is a
great hero to educated
Chinese, who have con-
siderable respect for a coun-
try inhabited by "Einstein's
people." Also contributing to
their admiration for the
Jewish state is the fact that
Jews have won an extraor-
dinary number of Nobel
Prizes (even if Israelis have
not).
"Why then," I asked him
during his recent home visit,
"do the Palestinians have a
full-fledged embassy in Biej-
ing while we only have a
liaison office?"
Professor Shalhevet at-
tributes this to three factors:
"the widespread economic
A
interests that the Chinese
have in the Arab states, the
sympathy they feel for Third
World peoples who are
struggling against
`imperialists, and, most im-
portant of all, their in-
veterate caution."
Despite these considera-
tions, he notes, full diplo-
matic relations are to be ex-
pected before too long and,
Full diplomatic
relations between
Israel and China
are to be expected
before too long.
meanwhile, non-political
ties are developing quickly.
For example, there were 70
Israeli scientists visiting
Chinese research centers in
1990 and triple that number
in 1991. During the same
period, several dozen men of
science from China spent
time at parallel Israeli in-
stitutions.
As the former director of
the well-known Volcani
Agricultural Research In-
stitute, Professor Shalhevet
is pleased to point out that
the Chinese are especially
interested in this country's
innovative farming
methods. Israelis, he reports,
have already presided over a
workshop in Beijing that was
devoted to the efficient use of
water.
Now there are plans for an
Israeli-style model farm
near the capital, where
techniques developed here
can be demonstrated and
"turned over" to Chinese
agriculturalists, particular-
ly those who cultivate the 15
percent of China which, like
most of Israel, is arid or
semi-arid.
Professor Shalhevet has
also had contact with in-
dividuals who have a pro-
found interest in Judaism
and the annals of the Jews.
For instance, he recently
received a long letter from a
Chinese official who is anx-
ious to make his people
better aware of the Jewish
role in world history. Having
already read everything he
could find in European
languages about this sub-
ject, he now wants to learn
enough Hebrew "to read
your sacred texts in the
original."
The official concludes his
letter by declaring: "Now
---------------
Artwork from Newsday by Gary Viskupic. Copyright. 1991, News .y. Distr.:bed try Los Angels Twos Syndrata
that the road to peace in the
Middle East has commenced
in Madrid, please receive my
sincere greeting of Shalom
to you and all the people of
Israel."
For their part the
Shalhevets, both Joseph and
his American-born wife
Sheila, have done their best
to become acquainted with
the people and culture of
China, which, Sheila finds,
are changing quickly.
What has not changed,
they say, is Chinese
diligence.
Now the people of China
are striving to move ahead
in hi-tech spheres. ❑
Uri Brenner, who
emigrated 17 years ago from
Czechoslovakia, suffered
from kidney failure before
receiving a pancreas and a
kidney during a complicated
operation.
serve as a conduit through
which Americans could give
financial support to organ-
izations in Israel working to
strengthen relations and
build understanding bet-
ween Arabs and Jews.
Among the projects listed
in the directory:
• Neve Shalom/What al
Salam, a cooperative village
of Jews and Arabs.
• Yad Sarah, founded by
Orthodox Jews, comprises
more than 3,000 Arab and
Jewish volunteers who pay
home visits to the elderly
and infirm.
• The Beit Hagafen Arab-
Jewish community center in
Haifa, which sponsors a Jew-
ish-Arab folk dance troupe.
Dr. Eugene Weiner, coor-
dinator of advanced studies
in the department of
sociology at Haifa Univer-
sity, is founding director.
For information about the
directory, contact the Abra-
ham Fund, 477 Madison
Ave., New York, N.Y. 10022,
or call (212) 303-9421.
ROUND UP
Medical Ethics
Meeting Is Set
Physicians, nurses, rabbis
and other representatives
from Jewish communities
throughout North America
are expected to attend the
third annual International
Conference on Jewish
Medical Ethics, to be held
Feb. 14-17 in San Francisco.
Topics to be discussed at
the conference include pa-
tient autonomy, prenatal
genetic counseling, hospital
ethics committees, confiden-
tiality, an Israeli perspective
on AIDS, use of Nazi and
other immoral medical ex-
perimentation, the contribu-
tions of Moses Maimonides,
national health care and
cosmetic surgery.
Religious faculty for the
event include Rabbi J. David
Bleich, professor of Jewish
law and ethics at Yeshiva
University's Benjamin Car-
dozo School of Law, Israeli's
Minister of Education
Zevulun Hammer, and Fred
Rosener, director of the
department of medicine at
the Long Island Jewish
Medical Center.
For a brochure or more in-
formation, call the Institute
for Jewish Medical Ethics of
the Hebrew Academy of San
Francisco, a sponsor of the
event. The number is 1-800-
258-4427.
Israel's New
Lucky Four
Jerusalem — It's a club
with limited membership,
but the bonds of friendship
forged at Hadassah-Hebrew
University Medical Center
as a result of sophisticated
organ transplant surgery
will bind four patients for
the rest of their lives.
The men, all patients of
Dr. Ahmud Eid, an Israeli
Arab surgeon, are recu-
perating following some of
the most delicate operations
in modern medicine involv-
ing the liver, pancreas and
kidney.
Israel's first successful
liver transplant, 14-year-old
Soviet immigrant Michael
Yitzhak Ayalon, Uri Brenner, 'mad
Abu Ii Bdeh, Dr. Ahmud Eid and
Michael Ya'acobub.
Ya'acobub, was discharged
in early December.
Yitzhak Ayalon, 40, a
sabra from Jerusalem,
received a new pancreas
after suffering from brittle
diabetes for 25 years. The
organ was donated by a
Vietnamese tourist who suf-
fered a stroke at the Dead
Sea.
Imad Abu li Bdeh, a 31-
year-old teacher from east
Jerusalem, received a
kidney from one of his four
sisters. Mr. Bdeh now hopes
to organize an association
for kidney transplants living
in the administered ter-
ritories.
Abraham Fund
Publishes Guide
New York — The Abra-
ham Fund, a foundation cre-
ated to foster coexistence
between Jews and Arabs in
Israel, has published a direc-
tory describing 273 projects
on which the two groups co-
operate.
The 720-page volume took
two years to prepare. The
first comprehensive work of
its kind, it covers 22
categories including edu-
cation for living in a democ-
racy, protection of individual
and group rights, medical
care and advocacy, services
for children and the elderly,
peace groups, dialogue,
sports and women's issues.
Alan Slifka, president of
the Abraham Fund, said the
group was established to
Compiled by
Elizabeth Applebaum
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
11