COMPILED BY ELIZABETH APPLEBAUM It's A Wonderful Day In The Neighborhood Jewish Library Association Sponsors Manuscript Competition ailing all budding William Shakespeares! The Association of Jewish Libraries is sponsor- ing the ninth annual Syndey Taylor Manuscript Competi- tion for aspiring authors of chil- dren's books. A cash award of $1,000 will be given for the best fiction manuscript appropriate for readers aged 8-11, written by an unpublished author. The story should have universal appeal, yet serve to deepen the understanding of Judaism and reveal positive aspects of Jewish life. Deadline for submission of manuscripts is Jan. 15, 1994. Winners will be announced May 1, 1994, and awards will be pre- sented at the 29th annual convention of the Association of Jewish Libraries in June 1994 in Atlanta, Ga. For entry forms and rules, contact Lillian Schwartz, coordinator, 15 Goldsmith St., Providence, RI 02906. HUC Archaeologist Discovers Biblical Royal Document rofessor Avraham Biran, director of Hebrew Union College- Jewish Institute of Religion's Skirball Center for Biblical and Archaeological Research in Jerusalem, has discovered Israel's first royal stele (com- memorative stone inscrip- tion) mentioning the king of Israel and House of David. The 9th century BCE stele, uncovered at HUC- JIR's excavations at Tel Dan near the Lebanon border, is the first material evidence outside of biblical text that documents the existence and importance of the House of p David in early Jewish histo- ry. Originally 3 feet high, the inscribed basalt slab was smashed at a later period, leaving 13 truncated lines of Aramaic text on a stone frag- ment measuring 11 x 12 inches. Professor Biran notes that the fragment "mentions the king of Israel and the House of David, and it speaks of horsemen and chariots." Professor Biran is study- ing the rest of the text, which will be published in the Israel Exploration Journal later this year. Tel Aviv University Hosts Special Education Conference T el Aviv University will host an international conference on "Pro- moting Excellence and Expanding Opportunities in Jewish Special Education" Dec. 26-29. The conference will focus on Jewish children requiring specific education- al programs due to dyslectic disabilities, Down syndrome and other special needs. Participants include pro- fessors Jannette Fleischner of Columbia University; Melvin Semmel of the University of California- Santa Barbara; Linda Siegel of the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education; Reuben Feuersteln of Hadassah-Wizo-Canada Research Institute in Jerusalem; Susan Vogel of the University of Northern Illinois; Joel Mittler of Long Island University; Rabbi Martin Schloss of the New York Board of Jewish Education; Hersh Fried of New York; Leora Isaacs of JESNA New York; and Aryeh Davidson of the Jewish Theological Seminary. H Jan Maxwell and Varda Avnisan Hebrew Paper Makes Debut H ere's big news about an innovative way to learn Hebrew. Ivriton is a new Hebrew language paper for students outside of Israel. Published by Jewish educator Jan Maxwell and author-journal- ist Varda Avnisan of Rockville, Md., Ivriton prints stories in Hebrew that students hear about in the news in English. Ivriton, which will be cir- culated next month to day schools throughout the United States and Canada, includes an extensive teacher's guide to maximize Hebrew reading, writing and conversation. The paper will be published eight times each school year and is tar- geted to students in grades three to eight. For information, contact Ivriton Press, Inc., 10824 Brewer House Rd., Rockville, MD 20852, or call (301) 984-7234. India Awards Honorary Degree R etired Professor Alex Aronson, now a guest lecturer in the English department at the University of Haifa, recent- ly became the first Israeli to receive an honorary doctor- ate degree from a university. in India. . Visva-Bharati University in West Bengal gave the award just months after the Indian government formally recognized the State of Israel. The honorary Desikot- tama degree is the Bengali institution's highest award. owdy, boys and girls! Ready to take the Neighborhood Trolley to visit King Friday and Mr. McFeely, and how about Itzhak Perlman? The famed violinist is set to visit "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood" during a new week of programs titled "Then and Now" airing Aug. 30-Sept. 3. "Then and Now," part of the Neighborhood's 25th anniversary season with PBS, helps children under- stand life and their unique place in it. Mister Rogers tells viewers, "Each one of us in somebody special, no matter what we can do or cannot do, no matter how old or young we are, no mat- ter how we look or sound. We're the only one in this life exactly like us. I believe it's worth it to be all we can be." (Is everyone having a sugar overdose?) Itzhak Perlman, who had polio as a child, will discuss how much he has learned since he began playing the Itzhak Perlman with Mister Rogers violin when he was 5. He will appear on program No. 1670. New Program Teaches Children About Death ewish school teachers throughout the country are receiving this month a curriculum guide to help children cope with death and learn Jewish tra- ditions for honoring the dead. Prepared by CAJE, the Coalition for the Advancement of Jewish Education, with the assis- tance of the Jewish Funeral Directors of America (JFDA), the curriculum aims to structure a learning experience for the class, while at the same time pro- viding the teacher with a resource to help a bereaved child adjust in a difficult ej time. "The CAJE curriculum on death and mourning is an important tool to help edu- cators teach the meaning of death as well as the funeral traditions and the Jewish way of honoring the dead," said Kaufman Chapel funer- al director David Techner, a spokesman for the JFDA and a member of the adviso- ry council on the guide. "The mourning customs present- ed are intended to reflect what a child might observe in the course of a bereave- ment." For information, contact CAJE at (212) 268-4210, or the JFDA at (212) 628-3465. Calling All Retirees To Israel RI, the Active Retirees in Israel, will host ne-month trips to Israel from Jan. 17-March 14, and from April 4-May 3, 1994. The trip, which includes volunteer activities ; a chance to learn Hebrew, dis- cussions and social events, is open to anyone 50 years and older who is in good health and a member of B'nai B'rith. Participants are based at a kosher hotel Ao in Netanya. The winter program costs $3,550 a person (double occupancy), while the April trip is $2,600. The price includes round-trip airfare from New York, meals, lodg- ings, tours, gratuities and other program expenses. For information, contact the B'nai B'rith Israel Commission-ARI, 1640 Rhode Island Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20036, or call (202) 857-6584.