COMPILED BY ELIZABETH APPLEBAUM

An Appeal For The Children
With Canavan's

I

ts headquarters are hardly
impressive: a table in the
middle of a Manhattan
apartment.
Yet the story behind the
Canavan Foundation is
remarkable.
When their daughter,
Morgan, was 4 months old,
Orren Alperstein Gelblum and
her husband, Seth, discovered
she had a little-known ailment
called Canavan's, which
affects primarily Jews of
Eastern European ancestry.
The brain disease limits both
Morgan's physical abilities
(she is not expected to ever
walk or talk) and her life
span: Most Canavan children
don't live past childhood.
But instead of simply feel-
ing sorry for themselves, the
Gelblums decided to do some-
thing. "You can't just sit back
and hope for a discovery,"
Mrs. Gelblum told the New

York Times. "You have to
make it happen."
That's when the Gelblums
began organizing what would
become the first Canavan
Foundation. In three years,
they have raised $111,000.
The money has been given
in grants to three teams of sci-
entists and will be used to cre-
ate a prenatal test to check for
the disease. There is, at pre-
sent, no way to determine if
parents carry the Canavan
gene or whether their unborn
children have the affliction.
Today, Mrs. Gelblum serves
as president of the Canavan
Foundation. Its advisory
board consists of physicians
from throughout the world.
For information, contact the
Canavan Foundation at 320
Central Park West, Suite 19D,
New York, NY 10025, (212)
877-3945.

B'nai B'rith Seeks Alumni

THIS

OIN NOV) '11 1.)

UNITED
SYNAGOGUE (S.
CONSERVATIVE
IUDAISNI

USCJ
Adds TDD

A

s part of its ongoing
commitment to serve
the disabled, the
United Synagogue of
Conservative Judaism
(USCJ) has installed a TDD
telephone in its New York
office. Anyone with a TDD
machine can receive informa-
tion concerning USCJ pro-
grams and projects by dialing
(212) 260-7442.
In addition, the USCJ
recently published its sixth

Directory of Accessible
Congregations, which lists
synagogues that are accessi-
ble by ramps, elevators and
other means. For informa-
tion, contact the USCJ at
155 Fifth Ave., New York,
NY 10010, or call (212) 533-
7800.

New Israel Fund
Opens In Britain

Shown from left: Orren Alperstein Gelblum with Morgan; Foundation Vice President
Eileen Alperstein; Dr. Edwin Kolodny, a member of the organization's scientific advi-
sory board; and Arnold Alperstein, Canavan Foundation treasurer.

Some Fast Advice

I

f the idea of not eating
and drinking an entire
day on Yom Kippur makes
you, well, a little anxious,
consider these tips from
experts at the Hadassah-
Hebrew University Medical
Center in Jerusalem.
Dr. Elliot Berry, head of
clinical nutrition at the hospi-
tal, recommends taking fre-
quent drinks of water
throughout the day before the
fast begins. The last meal
before the fast should include
complex carbohydrates (like
macaroni, rice, potatoes and
whole-grain bread) which,
when stored in the liver, help
retain water so the body suf-
fers less dehydration.

Professor Ya'acov Bar-
Tana, head of the school's
department of medical bio-
chemistry, advises against
overeating before a fast.
Proteins and fats are
absorbed more slowly than
sugars and provide the neces-
sary energy, but the best
preparation for a fast is a bal-
anced meal comprising 55
percent complex carbohy-
drates and sugars, 15 percent
proteins and 30 percent fats.
Professor Bar-Tana says
that the fast should be bro-
ken by drinking (but not car-
bonated beverages) and eat-
ing a slice of bread or dry
cake. After an hour, you can
sit down to a full meal.

T

he New Israel Fund
recently opened its first
office in Great Britain,
with a ceremony that fea-
tured Knesset member
Avraham Burg of the Labor
Party.
More than 150 persons
attended the opening event,
held at St. John's Wood
Synagogue in northwest
London.
The Fund supports a num-
ber of programs in Israel,
including educational and
social activities that foster
Israeli-Arab cooperation, and
a battered women's shelter
and rape crisis center.

T

ie B'nai B'rith Youth
Organization (BBYO)
National Alumni
Association's first Israel
StiKly Institute is set to leave
for Israel on Dec. 27.
The 10-day trip, for BBYO
alumni in college
and graduate
school, will depart
from New York.
Highlights of the
trip will include
visits to the
Hebrew University
on Mt. Scopus, the
Harry
Karen
Institute
for
Propaganda
Research in Tel
Aviv, Masada, the
Diaspora Museum,
and a tour of the archaeologi-
cal sights in the Jewish
Quarter of the Old City of
Jerusalem.

The purpose of the Israel
Study Institute is to help col-
lege students maintain and
strengthen their Jewish
identity while living far from
home and without the struc-
ture provided by synagogue

and family.
For information, contact
the BBYO alumni office at
(202) 857-6633.

Reform Launches
Denmark Campaign

F

ifty years ago this
month, in an unprece-
dented display of nation-
al compassion and courage,
the Danish people saved its
8,000-member Jewish com-
munity from death at the
hands of the Nazis.
Throughout the High Holy
Days, the Reform movement is
holding a campaign to thank
the people of Denmark for
their heroism. Rabbis will
deliver sermons; temple bul-
letins will publish articles, and
children in religious schools
will be encouraged to write
Queen Margarethe II, the
granddaughter of the monarch
who led the massive rescue
effort, King Christian X.
Reform leaders hope that
at least 8,000 letters of

thanks — one for every
Danish Jew saved — will
reach the queen.
The story of the rescue
began shortly before Rosh
Hashanah 1943, when George
Duckwitz, a German marine
attache in occupied Denmark,
learned of a Nazi order to ship
all Danish Jews to concentra-
tion camps. He informed a
Danish leader who, in turn,
alerted the Jewish community.
The Danes then hastily
organized a secret under-
ground network to ferry their
Jewish fellow-citizens to neu-
tral Sweden. Men and women
from all walks of life took
part, providing money, hiding
places and secret transporta-
tion to the docks.

The Material Girl Does Israel

M

adonna (shown here,
having recently com-
pleted an extensive
analysis of the theory of rela-
tivity) is bringing her unique
talents to the Holy Land.
The Michigan-born enter-
tainer, whose unforgettable
hits include "Like a Virgin"
and "Like a Prayer" (Remem-
ber those lyrics, "In the mid-
night hour, I can feel your
power." Wow! Strong stuff?),
is going to be like a big hit,
no do313t, when she hits

Israel on Oct. 15.
Madonna and her 112-per-
son entourage will perform at
Hayarkon Park in Tel Aviv.