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OMPILED BY ELIZABETH APPLEBAUM
Art And Soul
Does Saddam Aspire to GQ?
lothes make the
man, the expression
goes, but to what
extent are they a clue to
the man? In the case of
Saddam Hussein, appar-
ently they tell a lot.
In a recent conference
on "Dress in
the Middle
East," Amat-
zia Baram of
Haifa Univer-
sity said the
Iraqi leader's
expensive
a ttire reveals
a desire for
upward social
mobility, a
\secular world
% view and a
passion for
\,-standing out
in a crowd.
"He's a
dandy," Mr. Baram said,
pointing to Saddam's
European-style suits and
perfectly matched ties,
along with his expensive,
ever-polished shoes.
Saddam's concern with
clothes is likely the result
of his poverty-stricken
childhood, when he wore
the traditional galabiyya,
a nightgown-like garment
in which he probably also
slept, Mr. Baram said.
Mr. Baram also noted
that, except
for one early
photo, Sad-
dam always
appears clean
shaven. Two
months ago,
the Iraqi
leader exhort-
ed members
of his coun-
try's Ba'ath
Party (which
he heads) to
dress cleanly
and tasteful-
ly, preferably
without a
beard — though a mous-
tache is acceptable. He
also advised them against
that once-cool "Miami
Vice" look, the five-o'clock
shadow.
Jewish History Contest
For High School Seniors
he 1993 Skirball
High School Essay
Contest wants to
know, "What Experience
in U.S. History Can Help
Build a More Livable
Community?"
The contest is open to
10th-, 11th- and 12th-
graders and includes a
grand prize of $5,000 and
a trip to Washington, D.C.
Essays should focus on an
YclneY,stialia
(tlTA) The Jewish
community in New
South Wales, Australia's
most populous state, has
pledged to "do everything
possible" to.stop the
introduction of. a law to
outlaw shechttah, the
kosher slaughter of ani-
mals.
Professor Graham de
Vahl Davis, public rela-
tions chairman of the
New South Wales Jewish
American value that can
be documented in the
nation's history and its
influence on the student's
life.
Entries must be post-
marked no later than
March 15. Winners will be
announced in early May.
For information, contact
the local AJCommittee at
646-7686.
:Board of bePuties, said a
report on cruelty to ani-
mals issued by the state
government's Agricul-
tural Ministry, which
recommended shechitah
be banned following the
example of "several
European countries," was
wrong in its interpreta
tion of how to humanely
slaughter animals.
The new law requires
electronic stunning
before slaughtering.
A Penny For
Your Thoughts
A
lways a partying
kind of guy, Abe
Lincoln celebrated
his birthday last week
(Feb. 12). Out of deference
to the late president, we
won't mention his age.
Everyone knows that
Lincoln was a great man
in many ways — but did
you know he also was
sympathetic to the Jewish
community?
Because of Lincoln's
support, Congress passed
a law in 1862 making it
legal for rabbis to serve as
military chaplains (previ-
ously, only Christian cler-
gy could do so).
The Lincoln penny was
designed by a Jew, Victor
Brenner (1871-1924). Born
in Lithuania, Brenner
immigrated to the United
States in 1890. His artis-
tic skills eventually made
him one America's fore-
most medalists.
A Chips Off
The Old Block
o longer content to
just dish out the
gefilte fish and
matzah to Jewish con-
sumers, the B. Manis-
chewitz Co. is set to begin
a new line of bagel chips
geared to the general pub-
lic.
The company will begin
test marketing the bagel
chips, available in golden
garlic, zesty onion, cinna-
mon spice and raisin, and
sesame toast, this month
in Atlanta and Tampa.
The goal is to move more
and more Manischewitz
products into the main-
stream market.
A report in Advertising
Age notes that the bagel
chip campaign will feature
the famous "Man-0-
Manischewitz" line.
N
T
he Torah portion,
Vayakhel, to be read
the week of March
14, extols the role of the
artist. The American
Guild of
Judaic Art
plans to echo
that theme,
designating
the week
National
Jewish Art
Week.
The goal is
to "encourage
greater public
awareness of
the Jewish
visual arts," a
guild spokes-
man said.
Participation in National
Jewish Art Week includes
exhibitions in museums,
galleries, libraries, syna-
gogues, community cen-
ters and schools.
The guild recommends
artists and art lovers hold
demonstrations and spon-
sor lectures, display
Jewish art books, and con-
duct tours of
3> Jewish art
installations
in syna-
gogues, gal-
leries and
parks.
The guild
will help pub-
licize pro-
grams held in
conjunction
with Jewish
Art Week.
For informa-
tion, contact
the American
Guild of Judaic Art at
P.O. Box 1794, Murray
Hill Station, New York,
N.Y. 10156, or call (212)
889-7581.
Purim Comes Alive For
Russian Jewish Children
T
his Purim, 13,000
Jewish children from
Tallin to Khabarovsk
will be face-to-face with
Esther, Haman and
Mordechai.
The children will meet
up with the trio with the
aid of a new animated
megillah,
produced
and dis-
tributed by
the Ameri-
can Jewish
Joint Dis-
tribution
Committee
(JDC).
The ani-
mated
megillah
(pictured)
is the first
of its kind,
a scroll in
Hebrew
and Russ-
ian, deco-
rated with full-color pho-
tos of three-dimensional
clay figures depicting the
story of Purim. A work-
book with games and exer-
cises also is being distrib-
uted.
The megillot will
become the property of the
schools for future use,
while the workbooks will
be given as a gift to each
child.
"What could be more fit-
ting than sending Megillot
Esther to the new Jewish
schools of the former
Soviet Union," said
Seymour
Epstein,
director of
JDC pro-
grams in
Russia.
"One
interpreta-
tion of the
origins of
the Esther
story is
that of a
political
satire
written
from the
perspec-
tive of a
lover of
Zion about life in the god-
less Diaspora. The 130
Jewish schools that have
revived the study of
Judaism on Russian soil
grapple daily with the
ongoing problems of life in
the Diaspora."
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