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February 07, 1992 - Image 131

Resource type:
Text
Publication:
The Detroit Jewish News, 1992-02-07

Disclaimer: Computer generated plain text may have errors. Read more about this.

c0 Staying Sharp On
DLit/ 'sly' Environmental Issues

By MARY KORETZ
There was a time when a
young man hot dergraycht shaving
age, he was farzorgt with a razor
and a razor strap, to keep it sharp.
The razor lasted him for his gantsn
lebn. Sometimes he afile passed it
on to his zun. Civilization marched
on and the gawlung was replaced
by a safety razor and blades.
Civilization marched on vider
amol and planned obsolescence
entered the bild. At that time, it
became necessary to buy blades
and replace them more oft mol. At
present, we hobn disposable razors
as well as blades. What has pasirt,
in the process of disposing azelche
items, is the creation of
environmentally threatening
garbage.
We've kimat run out of landfills.
We have rendered many of them
toxic and have poisoned undzer
waters with waste.
There was a time, ven very few
people hobn gefort in cars. There
was very little noyt. Streetcars,
trolleys, buses and in etleche cities,
subways were available and
efficient. One would console a

We zeinen, after all, the
beneficiaries as well as
the victims of our
particular time in history.

antoysht lover by saying, "girls/boys
are azoy vie streetcars. If you miss
one, don't zorg zich, another will be
along in five minutes."
Today, many areas have no
public transportation or a very poor
one. Each of the other means of
conveyance, other than cars, hobn
getrogn 40 plus people. Automobiles
generally carry one or two
mentshin. There's no question but
that the large number of cars
contribute heavily to tuft pollution.
There was a time when a sach
people lived in the zelber home
from the cradle to the grave. Very
often the heizer were lived in for
generations of the same mishpoche.
Other edifices were dos gleichn
maintained for a great length of
time. Buildings were oyfgehitn
livable, rather than replaced by new
ones. The forests were not
decimated by constant building of
new places. The lives of animals
and fayglech were not endangered
by the destruction of their habitats
for new condos.
Should we go back to the old
teg? Hardly. There are too fil
advantages that mir enjoy because

of innovative measures. We zeinen,
after all, the beneficiaries as well as
the victims of our particular time in
history. However, there are
measures that can be oysgenitst to
control our present problems.
The creation of non-
biodegradable garbage, the
oysshepn of forests, the pollution of
air, the poisoning of our waters, can
all be handled. We have but to turn
undser concern toward that
objective. We can join the
environmentalists in practicing gute
personal habits. We can also fodern
of our public officials az they pass
and enforce legislation protecting us
from ourselves.
Maybe our young men would
like to learn how to use a straight
razor and a strap ...

Vocabulary

hot dergraycht
farzorgt
gantsn lebn
afile
zun
gawlung
vider amol
bild
oft mol
hobn
pasirt
azelche
kimat
undzer
ven
hobn gefort
noyt
etleche
antoysht
azoy vie
zorg zich
hobn getrogn
mentshin
tuft
sach
zelber
heizer
mishpoche
dos gleichn
oyfgehitn
fayglech
teg
fil
mir
zeinen
oysgenitst
oysshepn
undser
gute
fodern
az

reached
provided
lifetime
even
son
razor
again
picture
often
have
happened
such
almost
our
when
drove
need
some
disappointed
like
worry
carried
people
air
many
same
homes
family
likewise
kept
birds
days
many
we
are
taken
depletion
our
good
demand
that

Mary Koretz of Oak Park has taught
both children's and adult classes
in Yiddish at the Workmen's Circle.

Famous Facts

Q. Who introduced the tomato as a salad vegetable
in colonial America?

English-born Dr. John De
Sequeyra, 1712-1795, came to
Virginia in 1745 with a medical
degree from the University of
Leiden and opened a practice in
Williamsburg. Thomas Jefferson
credits him with introducing the
tomato to the American salad
plate. First brought to Europe
from Spanish America in the
early 16th century, the tomato
was variously thought to be a
poison (it is related to
nightshade), a love potion, or
simply "more a flower than a
vegetable," but Dr. De Sequeyra
believed that regular eating of
tomatoes could greatly lengthen
one's life span. It was still not
until about 1900 that the tomato
achieved its current popularity.

The doctor's family, of
Portuguese Jewish background,
had settled in England in the 17th
century, and had produced a
number of physicians. John's

brother, Joseph Henry, was a
doctor in the West Indies.
Dr. John De Sequeyra also
served as the physician and a
member of the board of directors
of the first mental hospital in
America, at Williamsburg in 1773.
In his regular practice he treated
a number of well-known people
including members of George
Washington's family.
In early colonial Virginia,
there were few Jews, and they
seem to have been tolerated as
long as they kept their religious
practices and options quiet. Dr.
De Sequeyra was known to his
contemporaries as a Jew, but he
did not practice his religion
openly, if at all. The doctor's
house on Duke of Gloucester
Street near Botetourt Street in
Williamsburg is today fully
restored as a historic exhibit.

Compiled by Dr. Matthew and
Thomas Schwartz.

THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

L 3

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