IS • • •

COMPILED BY ELIZABETH APPLEBAUM

41 "4"..11

Israel Honors
Ethiopian Woman

fter being widowed
when she was 19,
ehavit Yoni walked
through Ethiopia for a
month. A baby on her back
and her daughter holding
her hand, Mrs. Yoni came
to Sudan to be airlifted to
Israel.
Upon her arrival in Tel
Aviv, she signed her name
with a thumb print. She
worked days as a factory
seamstress and studied
Hebrew at night.
Now, 12 years later,
Mrs. Yoni has been hon-
ored with the Harry Rosen
Leadership Award at the
Knesset. She was selected
for her work with new
immigrant mothers.

Az

L

Everything Old Is New Again

R

euven Prager is not
the ordinary advo-
cate for tourism to

Israel.
He doesn't talk about
the holy sites or the histo-
ry. He speaks of Jeru-
salem as "a city for lovers,"
and he's doing his utmost
to see that more and more
Jews exchange their wed-
ding vows in Israel's capi-
tal city.
Mr. Prager, a Miami,
Fla., native, is the head of
Beged Ivri, a Jerusalem
store that sells clothes
based on biblical designs.
' There are long dresses for
women, tunic-style shirts
and hand-woven kippot for
men, all made of wool and
cotton and all, Mr. Prager
says, typical of what
Moses or Aaron or Ruth
might have worn.
Mr. Prager's latest pro-
ject also harkens back to
an earlier time and, he
nopes, will bring more
lovebirds to Israel.
Mr. Prager has designed
a chuppah and golden
crown, based on a biblical
'design, once used by
Jewish brides at their
weddings. The crown was
made of pure gold, depict-
ing the walls of Jerusalem.
Mr. Prager also has cre-
ated an aperion, or sedan
chair, used to take the

women to the chuppah.
(Pictured above, at a wed-
ding, and below.) Its gold
curtains are made from
fabric produced in Damas-
cus for King Fand of Saudi
Arabia, Mr. Prager says.
After the destruction of
the Temple in 70 CE,
these customs disap-
peared. But now, for about
$1,000, Mr. Prager and his
team will put on a wed-
ding that includes use of
the chuppah, crown and
aperion and yes, even the
guests. (This figure does

not include the cost of
food).
For information, contact
Mr. Prager at Beged Ivri,
111 Agrippas St.,
Jerusalem.

Shanker Bemoans
U.S. Education

T

he United States
must bring its educa-
tional system in line
with other major countries
if it expects to be competi-
tive in the global economy,
the president of the
American Federation of
Teachers said during a
recent visit to Michigan.
Speaking before the
House Democratic Educa-
tion Task Force, Albert
Shanker said, "The U.S.
education system is miles
behind foreign countries.
When an institution is
turned into something that
is multipurpose, there is
no way that it can do a
good job."
Mr. Shanker suggested a
number of components to
provide a quality educa-
tion, including higher
standards than now in
place; a more defined cur-
riculum; better trained
and higher-paid teachers;
textbooks that are more
relevant in subject matter;
better mechanisms of
assessing progress of stu-
dents; and incentives to
achieve, as well as conse-
quences for failing to work
hard.

Group Seeks Volunteers To Work
With Disadvantaged Youth In Israel

I

f you want to visit
Israel again but you've
had enough of the
usual sites, consider this
new program being coor-
. dinated by FAACI, the
Friends of African and
Asian Children in Israel,
Inc.
Achvah '94 — The
Yemin Orde Volunteer
Experience will allow a
group of selected partici-
pants to live for two
weeks at Yemin Orde
Youth Village, one of
Israel's most successful
communities for disad-
vantaged teens. Achvah
'94 members will join in
children's activities,
attend classes and semi-
nars and tutor students in
English.
"Many repeat visitors to
Israel would like to get
the flavor of the country
by becoming involved in
some aspect of Israeli
life," said FAACI Pres-
ident Robert Goldman.

No teaching experience or
knowledge of Hebrew is
required. The trip will
depart April 14, 1994 and
return April 28. The
$1,500 cost covers all
transportation, fees,
taxes, double-room occu-
pancy and meals at
Yemin Orde..
Yemin Orde Youth
Village sits atop Mt.
Carmel, 20 minutes from
Haifa. The village is home
to 500 disadvantaged or
displaced teens, aged 11-
18, from more than 12
countries. Its school pro-
vides college preparatory
and vocational training
curricula. For informa-
tion, contact Bob or
Barbara Goldman, who
are organizing the visit,
at (617) 639-1772, or
write FAACI at 4
Whittier Rd., Marblehead,
MA 01945.
Applications must be
received by Nov. 15.

Professor Koenigsberg Says Hello

I

t started out as "hal-
loo," believe it or not.
In the 19th century,
nobody said "hello,"
though the British used
"hullo" and Americans at
times called out "halloo."
How "halloo" trans-
formed into "hello" for
years remained a mystery.
But now, at long last, it
has been solved by
Brooklyn College classics
Professor Allen Koenigs-
berg (no relation to Woody
Allen).
Professor Koenigsberg
reports that Thomas
Edison can be credited
with "hello."

Professor Koenigsberg
credits his discovery to an
Aug. 15, 1877 letter stored
for more than 100 years in
the AT&T archives. Sent
to an Edison assistant
named David, who was
about to introduce the
telephone in Pittsburgh,
Pa., the letter reads: "Dear
David, I don't think we
shall need a call bell as
`hello' can be heard 10 to
20 feet away. What do you
think? Edison."
From that point on,
"hello" became the accept-
ed introductory greeting in
telephone operating manu-
als.