COMPILED BY ELIZABETH APPLEBAUM
Will The (Jewish) Stars Shine
When It's Oscar Time?
os Angeles (JTA) —
The Oscar nomina-
tions have been
announced, and now the
obvious question must be
asked: Is it good for the
Jews?
In the glamour sections
of best actor and actress,
Jews must take what con-
solation we can from the
nomination of Robert
Downey Jr. as best actor
for his title role perfor-
mance in Chaplin. Mr.
Downey, whose family
name at birth
was Elias, is
the son of a
Jewish father.
Martin
Brest is the
only Jewish
double nomi-
nee as produc-
er and director
of Scent of a
Woman, nomi-
nated for best
picture. Rob
Reiner was
nominated as
co-producer of
A Few Good
Men, but was
not picked in the best
director group for the
same picture.
Robert (The Player)
Altman, who is vying for
the director Oscar, is, con-
trary to popular assump-
tion, a Protestant rather
than a Jew.
There is some cheer in
the writing departments,
once considered a virtual
Jewish monopoly. Amid
L
and Wives.
In the adapted screen-
play slot, Michael Tolkin
is in contention for The
Player and Ruth Prawer
Jhabvala, whose family
fled Germany before the
war and settled in
England, for Howard's
End.
the
On
musical side,
Alan Menken
and the late
Howard
Ashman are
nominated for
Oscars for the
songs in
Aladdin, and
Jerry Gold-
smith is up
for his score
in Basic In-
stinct.
A special
case is the
nominated
documentary
Liberators:
feature:
Fighting on Two Fronts in
World War II. The film
depicts the alleged libera-
tion of Dachau and
Buchenwald by an all-
black U.S. Army unit.
Under detailed charges
that Liberators distorts
and falsifies history, the
producers have withdrawn
the film from public
screening.
Young Israel Sponsors
Student Essay Contest
he National Council
of Young Israel
Youth Department
and El Al Israel Airlines
are sponsoring an essay
contest on the theme,
"The Relationship
Between the State of
Israel and Torah
Judaism."
Open to high school
students, the contest will
feature two grand prizes
of one economy-class
round-trip ticket to
Israel for. each winner.
Other prizes include an
T
f you think finding
'
lawsuits and domestic
storm clouds, Woody Allen
managed a nod (as the
Hollywood trade papers
have it) for his original
screenplay for Husbands
Israel Bonds certificate
and a U.S. savings bond.
The entry deadline is
Israel
26,
April
Day.
Independence
Winners will be
announced May 19,
Jerusalem Reunification
Day.
For entry forms, con-
tact the Youth
Department, National
Council of Young Israel,
3 W. 16 St., New York,
N.Y. 10011, or call (212)
929-1525.
Center Sponsors
Art Contest
he Jewish Com-
munity Center of
Denver is seeking
entries for its seventh
annual Judaic Art Show.
The show is open to any
artist whose work conveys,
suggests or reflects a
Judaic theme or expres-
sion. Any media is accept-
able. Deadline for entries
is March 22.
The show will open May
2 in conjunction with a
community-wide Israel
Independence Day cele-
bration. It will continue
through June 13.
For information, contact
the Jewish Community
Center of Denver, P.O.
Box 6196, Denver, CO
80206, attention: Arlene.
Or call Arlene at (303)
399-2660, ext. 118.
T
Humongous
Hamantash
N
ew York (JTA) —
The Guinness Book
of World Records
has made it official:
Seventeen students at the
Hadassah Hotel Manage-
ment College in Jerusalem
have baked the world's
largest hamantash.
Actually, they put
together 1,800 small
hamantashen and cement-
ed them together with a
sugar, jam and crumb
paste. The triangular
cookie weighed 550,
pounds and included 198
pounds of flour, 350 eggs,
17.6 pounds of poppy seed,
50.6 pounds of margarine.
It was 4.5 feet long on
each side and 3.5 feet
high.
Lawyers from the
Guinness Book of World
Records approved it as an
entry for next year's edi-
tion.
the afikomen is the
most exciting part of
Pesach, it's time for you
to wake up and‘smell the
matzah, buddy.
Three new Haggadot
are available to add to
your seder — starting
with the Jewish Braille
Institute of America's
Haggadah in Braille,
large print, or audiocas-
settes. They are free to
visually impaired adults
and children.
Available in large print
are a traditional Hag-
gadah, edited by Dr.
Philip Birnbaum, and the
Reform movement's New
Union Haggadah.
Braille Haggadot from
the JBI include a one-vol
ume edition edited by the
late Dr. Cecil Roth, the
Silverman (Conservative)
edition, with four vol
umes, and the Goldstein
edition for children.
On audiocassette is the
"Koren Haggadah," edit-
ed by Edward Fisch
and recorded by the
late antr Paul l war–
tin and the choir of
Union Temple in Brook-
lyn, N.Y.
For information, con-
tact the JBI at 110 E.
30th St., New York, N.Y.
10016, or call (212) 889-
2525.
Feminists should check
out a newly revised
Haggadah available from
the American Jewish
Congress-Los Angeles
Jewish Feminist Center.
In English and Hebrew,
the Haggadah costs $12
and may be ordered
through the AJCongress,
6505 Wilshire Blvd.,
Suite 417, Los Angeles,
CA 90048, or call (213)
651-4601.
Non-meat eaters cer
tainly won't have a beef
with the Haggadah
for the Liberated Lamb
and its shorter version,
the Haggadah for the
Vegetarian Family. For
information, contact
Micah Publications,
255 Humphrey St.,
Marblehead, MA 01945.
American Red Cross Launches
Magen David Adom Package
he American Red
Cross announced
this week the nation-
wide distribution of the
Red Cross-Magen David
Adom Information Kit, a
key com-
ponent of
awareness
efforts re-
garding
the rela-
tionship between the two
organizations.
The purpose of the kit,
disseminated to American
Red Cross field units, is to
T
educate and increase
awareness of Magen David
Adorn in communities
around the country and to
describe the Red Cross'
policies and programs
American Red Cross
aimed at bringing MDA
into membership in the
International Red Cross
movement.
Wolf Foundation Awards Prize
he Wolf Foundation
of Israel has award-
ed its 1993 chem-
istry prize to Ahmed
Zewail, an Egyptian-born
American professor at
the California Institute of
Technology.
Professor Zewail pio-
neered the development
T
of the new field called
"femtochemistry," which
makes it possible to follow
the development of an
elementary chemical
reaction in real time, from
its inception, through
its transitory states,
to the formation of the
products.