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not drink everything from one's cup in
a single gulp; do not stand while eating
or drinking.
Johanan ben Zakkai also understood
the importance of common courtesies.
A leading sage of the Second Temple
period, ben Zakkai was so quick to greet
everyone that neither Jew nor gentile,
including only slight acquaintances, was
able to extend salutations first.
Halachah (Jewish law) provides ex-
tensive detail regarding man's behav-
ior toward his fellow man. Throughout
the Talmud, Jews are entreated
to treat their neighbors, friends
and family with kindness and
proper etiquette. To embarrass
another in public or in private is
regarded the same as shedding
his blood. One may never
shame his elders. Gossip is for-
bidden.
So detailed is Halachah regarding
proper behavior that the Talmud even
instructs man to be sensitive in every
moment of speech. Be careful to which
man you say "Hang up this fish for me,"
the Talmud warns, as it might be that a
member of this man's family was
hanged.

Ignorance Drives Negative Perceptions

idespread ignorance is be-
hind the Japanese popula-
tion's negative perceptions
about Jews, according to a new report
by the American Jewish Committee.
The Committee's booklet, "Japan-
ese Attitudes Toward Jews," notes that
Japan is home to fewer than 1,000
Jews. "The imprecise and often stereo-
typic images that do exist, such as the
pejorative association of Jews with
money and power, have come largely
from Western and other foreign
sources," authors Bruce Ramer and Dr.
Neil Sandberg write. "Moreover, Jews
are greatly admired by many Japanese
although they have very little specific

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knowledge of Jews and the Jewish ex-
perience."
The authors note that the Japanese
are fascinated by Jews, and that any
books dealing with the Jewish com-
munity are well read. This ranges from
works like The Diary of Anne Frank to

anti-Semitic treatises such as Masami
Uno's Understand Judea and the World
Will Come Into View.
No explicitly anti-Semitic organiza-
tions exist in the country, and there have
been virtually no attacks against Jews.
Yet, the authors report, some 85 anti-
Semitic books were in print in Japan by
the mid-1980s, including The Proto-

cols of the Elders of Zion.

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/ Compiled by Elizabeth Applebaum

Tidbits

Please Read This If You Don't Mind

arents, don't be surprised if on
Oct. 2 your teen-age son an-
nounces, "Mother and father, I
beg of you — let me fix dinner this
evening."
Or perhaps it will be your 11-year-
=.
old daughter with the request, 'Would
it be all right if I did the laundry today?"
Don't worry. Your children are still
sane. They're just doing their part for
that most auspicious of holidays, Na-
_-) tional Courtesy Day.
National Courtesy Day was estab-
lished by the Polite Society of
Great Britain (where else?),
founded six years ago by the
Rev. Ian Gregory. Today, the or-
ganization boasts 600 members
and publishes the Good Man-
ners Guide.
"The best reason for good
manners is that it helps other
people to get through their day," the
- Rev. Gregory writes in the Guide.
Rabbi Akiva was a man who knew
the value of good manners. The great
scholar invited students to eat with him
just so he could teach them proper so-
cial graces. Among the rules: hold no
piece of bread larger than an egg; do

.....

0 THANKS. That's the word from
the government of Somalia.
Thousands — including count-
less children — are dying of starvation
in the country, but the Somalian gov-
ernment is going to stand by the Arab
boycott. Last week, it announced it will
not accept any food or medical relief
from Israel.
Magen David Adorn recently started
a drive to aid the victims of Somalia,
with the New York office accepting con-
tributions from donors in this coun-
try. A spokesman for the American
Friends of American Red Magen David
said any donations received as part of
that drive will be returned.
• CONGRATULATIONS.
The City of Oak Park was honored
this week by the Michigan Municipal
League with first place Achievement
Awards for the Rothstein and Victoria
Park plazas. "The completion of 1-696
caused the city to lose recreational ar-
eas and experience a physical split of
the community," according to the
awards committee. "The city's response
was the creation of two park plazas
which serve as naturally attractive con-
necting points between neighborhoods
north and south of the freeway."
• SO THAT EXPLAINS IT.
The first U.S. Secretary of Defense,
James Forrestal, has been described as
a rigid disciplinarian and devoted sol-
dier. Now a new book sheds light on
why the head of the Navy during World
War II may have killed himself.
Driven Patriot: The Life and Times
of James Forrestal, by Townsend
Hoopes and Douglas Brinkley, describes
the depression that consumed Forre-
stal in his later years. He regretted his
1915 decision to break with his family
and his church, the authors write, and
was frustrated by his failure to protect
the United States against "communists
and Zionists."
• HISTORICAL HOME.
The American Jewish Historical So-
ciety (AJHS) in Waltham, Mass., is now
home to all archives of the North Amer-
ican Conference on Ethiopian Jewry.
The AJHS also houses the archives of
the Council of Jewish Federations, the
American Jewish Congress and the Na-
tional Conference on Soviet Jewry.

N

USD Publishes Guide On Jerusalem

he University Student Department
of the American Zionist Youth
Foundation (USD/AZYF) has pub-
lished a new Israel-on-Campus pro-
gramming guide, Jerusalem: The
Campaign for the Capital. The guide fea-
tures a concise history of Jerusalem
and its significance to the Jewish peo-
ple, as well as information on the strug-
gle for the recognition of a united
Jerusalem as the capital of the State of
Israel.
A nonpartisan college division of the

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American Zionist Youth Foundation, the
USD/AZYF Israel Action Center works
with student representatives on more
than 200 college campuses across the
country to educate students about Is-
rael and Zionism, to promote travel,
work, study and volunteer programs in
Israel, and to develop pro-Israel cam-
pus leadership.
For information about the guides,
contact the USD/AZYF, 110 E. 59th St.,
third floor, New York, N.Y., 10022, or
call 1-800-27-ISRAEL.

Shabbat In Algarve

ewish history was made in Al-
garve, a province in southern Por-
tugal, last July when, for the first
time in 40 years, an Erev Shabbat ser-
vice was held.
Fourteen men, 11 women and five
children attended the service, which

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took place at the home of Ralf and Ju-
dith Pinto in Portimao. Those attending
included Portuguese, British, Israeli,
French and South Americans.

The Jewish community of Algarve
was started by the Pintos, who already
have arranged get-togethers for
Chanukah, Purim, Israel Independence
Day and Shavuot.
Those planning to visit Algarve
should telephone the Pintos at (082)
416710.
Plans also are under way to renovate
the old synagogue and the Jewish
cemetery in Faro, the capital city of the
Algarve province.
Faro saw its first organized Jewish
community in the 15th century. The first
book to be printed in Portugal was the
Pentateuch, published in 1487. Jews
were expelled from the country in 1497,
though many families continued to live
there as Marranos. At the beginning
of the 19th century, Jews again settled
in Faro, opening a cemetery in 1820 and
a synagogoue in 1850.