R oun d All the news that / Compiled! by Elizabeth Applebaum Just Say No To Boredom p i e ugust is more than just the hottest month of the year. It's also anti-boredom month. So in honor of that auspicious occasion, here's some news that's anything but tiresome: * Toshiba of Japan has decided to end its economic boycott of Israel. The American Jewish Congress led a letter- writing campaign to protest the boycott, resulting in more than 19,000 pieces of mail to the electronics giant. Toshiba also has announced it will begin a ma- jor marketing and promotion campaign in Israel. Now, the AJCongress is asking Americans to write letters to another company that boycotts Is- rael. Samsung, an electron- ics and construction con- glomerate based in Seoul, South Korea, recently re- sponded to an Arab report that it had opened an of- fice in Israel with this no- ,' tice: "We declare that the said article, stating that Samsung Electronics and Construction Compa- ny has opened a branch office in Israel, is not true absolutely and in addition we will never violate the Arab regulations." Letters may be sent to Mr. H.J. Chung, president, Samsung Electron- ics America Inc., 301 May Hill St., Sad- dle Brook, N.J. 07662. * The Jewish Restitution Organiza- A tion recently was established to help recover individual, communal and or- ganizational Jewish assets seized by Nazi and communist governments in Eastern Europe. Edgar Bronfman of the World Jew- ish Congress will serve as chairman of the organization, which will comprise representatives of the Jewish Agency for Israel, the World Zionist Organiza- tion, the American Jewish Joint Distri- bution Committee, the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Ger- many and B'nai B'rith. * The American Jewish Committee is protesting a decision by the Sunday Times of London to have "revisionist historian" David Irving transcribe the diaries of the late Nazi leader Josef Goebbels. In a letter sent to the paper, AJCommittee leaders describe Irving's "lifelong mission" as presenting Hitler as "not such a bad fellow." His books are published by the neo-Nazi press, alongside such works as The Protocols of the El- ders of Zion and Epic: The Story of the Waffen SS, the letter states. * A physician at the Children's Med- ical Center of Israel has discovered a cure for Laron-type dwarfism, a previ- ously untreatable ailment which affects many Jews of Middle Eastern origin. Henry The Hatter North o you need a new fedora for the holidays and you're not quite sure about which style? Try Oak- land University. A display on the second floor at the university's Varner Hall shows headgear from about 25 countries. The colorful head coverings are shown under the title, "Hats: A Common Need, Diverse Re- sponses" and "Oakland University rec- ognizes and grows from cultural diversity." Included in the display, which pre- sumably represents the countries of origin of some Oakland University stu- dents, are hats from Scotland, Greece, Africa, Kenya, Upper Volta, China, Sau- di Arabia, and a Palestinian kefiyah from the West Bank, among others. Representing the United States: a babushka from Hamtramck and a white yarmulke from Southfield. Oh, by the way. After straining our necks to read the inscription on the un- derside of the kippah, we, too, would like to congratulate Debbie and Stuart, Dec. 16, 1990. s Oscar The Grouch Says 'Shalom' halom Sesame," the TV se- ries that brought the Israeli Sesame Street, "Rechov Sumsum" to America, is now available in an 11-volume home video library. Produced by the Children's Television Workshop, "Shalom Sesame" features songs, animation, films and games with guest appearances by celebrities in- cluding Joan Rivers, Alan King, Mary CC Watch Out, Jose. . Natan's Here ibbutz Gezer's Little Leaguers, the country's national K champs, had a tough time of it in Germany, where they recently par- ticipated in the Little League interna- tional playoffs. They won just one game, but Michigan spokesmen for the Amer- ican Friends of Israel Association of Baseball report the team had a great time. Before the tournament ended, third baseman Natan Goldberg managed to get this faxed message to the American Friends: "Today we played our first game, it was against Norway, and we won. In the 6th inning we had 2 outs and no men on the base and then our pitcher hit a single, our clean-up hit a triple so it was 4-4 with 2 outs and runner on 3rd and I was up to bat. I hit the winning hit and then my team won." Move over, Jose Canseco. Looking For A Few, Good Photos ormer Detroiter Julian Preisler, now archivist for the Jewish Historical Society in Wilming- ton, Del., needs help on his project documenting American synagogue ar- chitecture and history. So far Mr. Preisler, who is funding the project himself, has photographed more than 400 synagogues up and down the East Coast and into the Mid- west. But he needs volunteers to take pictures of synagogues and temples in the metro Detroit area. He is willing to pay for gas and film. Mr. Preisler said the purpose of the project is to generate interest in syna- gogue architecture and the preserva- tion of older synagogues. Contact Mr. Preisler at 518 W. Fourth St., Wilmington, Del. 19801, (302) 655- 0365. F Tyler Moore, B.B. King, Jerry Stiller and ltzhak Perlman, among others. The program made its debut on PBS in 1988, when more than 300 stations carried the series to an estimated 20 mil- lion viewers across the country. Among the programs in the series are: 'The Land of Israel," "Tel Aviv," "The People of Is- rael," "Jerusalem" and "Kids Sing Israel." For information, call 1-800-428-9920. TV star Jeremy Miller of "Growing Pains" with Moishe Oofnik, Oscar's grouchy Israeli cousin. Sea World Goes Kosher ired of traveling to the Riviera? Looking for something a little more exciting than making goo-goo eyes at Tom Cruise from your hotel suite in Beverly Hills? What about a trip to Sea World! The big news: Sea World has gone kosher. No, no, no. The lobsters aren't see- ing red after being told to leave their tanks. The catfish haven't been forced to return to that dog-eat-dog world of the Big Blue. The issue here is boxed meals. Sea World of Ohio is now providing kosher lunches or dinners for groups of 25 or more. Choose from the "up- scale dinners" of salmon or chicken breast, and the "fresh and delightful lunch" of turkey, deli sandwich, fried chicken or tuna salad. Tuna salad? Yipes! Or, in the words of a thoughtful visitor who just returned T from Sea World, "Hope it isn't one of Shamu's friends." For information and orders, call Deb- ora Hansock, 1-800-63-SHAMU, ext. 2133. And speaking of kosher — here's another good reason to check it out. The U.S. government has just an- nounced it will allow American firms to purchase ground meat from abroad. It's been 70 years since this was legal, but now officials say they have the tech- nology to determine whether ham- burger is in fact what it claims to be — or whether it contains something like, say, a little ground kangaroo. Not everyone is convinced. Some consumer advocates have suggested that the new policy may keep out the kangaroo, but that technology is not yet sophisticated enough to weed out plen- ty of other unwanted tidbits, like blood clots. TIALUTDOIT IMAIICW_KICIA/C_4 4