Diaspora
Naturally Jewish
IRA RIFKIN SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS
erusalem is a city in which
it is easy to become awe-
struck. The soft hues of
the city's stone buildings
at sunset, the sense of spirit
that pervades every nook and
cranny of the Old City, the ten-
sion that is palpable when, as a
Jew, you enter the city's Arab
neighborhoods: they all join to
produce profundities that else-
where are elusive.
So it was for me one day
while standing outside an El-
dan office next to the King
David Hotel, waiting for my
rental car papers to be com-
pleted. It was Passover, a time
j
We've always k)oked for quality.
Only Therfrowbridge measures up.
in all its incredible diversity. I
was awe-struck — and de-
lighted at being so.
But how, I wondered, are
black Africans and fair-skinned
Slavic-looking Soviets part of
the same extended family if we
Jews share common tribal ori-
gins? How does that work ge-
netically? Is there really a blood
link between Ethiopian Jews
and Ashkenazi Jews such as
myself?
Jared Diamond, an evolu-
tionary biologist and professor
of physiology at UCLA Medical
School in Los Angeles, has
asked the same question.
Go ahead. Shop around. No community matches our level of service. Sure, we may
be a little more, but you'll get the quality you deserve. So look at them all, then visit
The Trowbridge. We're confident you'll go with the best. Write or call (313)352-0208.
*Spacious, elegant apartments •Flexible transportation service
•Restaurant style dining nightly •24-hour concierge
•Weekly housekeeping service •Valet parking
•Snack shoppe
•Weekly linen service
Rill
activities
&
events
calendar
•Full service hair salon
•
oll
Name
address
cit. ~
State
zip
MAIL TO: 24111 CIVIC CENTER DRIVE, SOUTHFIELD, MI 48034
TH E
A PREMIER RENTAL RETIREMENT COMMUNITY
$ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $
'THREE WAYS TO
BUY A CAR
We Take
It All! $
s Buy Outright or Consignments
$ MEN'S, WOMEN'S, $
$ CHILDREN'S Si $
$ HOUSEHOLD $
$ Bloomfield-Keego $
$
Resale Shop
4;
ARNIE WEISS MIKE GERMANSKY
CJD
w
TAMAROFF
BUICK • HONDA • NISSAN • IZUZU • DODGE
L_,
68
New - Used or Leasing
Open Mon. & Thurs. Til 9
28585 TELEGRAPH ROAD
ACROSS FROM TEL-12
Southfield
Open Tues. , Wed., Fri. Til 6
353.1300
$ 3425 Orchard Lake Rd., Keep Harbor $
$ mon .. c i l t C1c(75mcja c i : le Rd.} 68!-5424 A
$
or Dr:r 5fCR°: gnmm "t. $
$
$$$$$$$$$$$$$
CASH
FOR LIKE-NEW
WOMEN'S & CHILDREN'S
DESIGNER
fashions
& accessories
CONSIGNMENT
C1,01111ERS
Call today for a FREE
housecall appt. or
in-store appt.
347-4570
43041 W. 7 Mile • Northville
An Ethiopian girl is reunited with her family in Israel.
of pilgrimage to the City of
David, and as I waited I wit-
nessed two processions that
quickly followed one another.
The first was a group of 50 or
so recently arrived Ethiopian
Jews, each carrying a small Is-
raeli flag given them by the
Jewish Agency on this, their
first visit to Jerusalem from the
outlying town where they had
been settled. Most wore the
clothes of their homeland, and
they were a beautiful and up-
lifting sight.
Minutes later, the second
group appeared; an equal num-
ber of Soviet Jews, also newly
arrived and also carrying Israeli
flags and dressed in their Dias-
pora best. Like the Ethiopians,
they also sported big smiles;
and watching them parade by
I felt joy and pride in being part
of the stream of Jewish life that
has flowered over the centuries
Thankfully, he also is thor- °
oughly knowledgeable about
what the modern science of ge-
netics posits as the answer.
Writing recently in Natural
History magazine, Dr. Diamond
poses the question this way:
"Are the scattered groups of
modern Jews really modified
descendants of ancient Jews of
the Old Testament? Or are
some groups of them instead
converted Gentiles [non-Jews],
and others so diluted by inter-
marriage with Gentiles that lit-
tle remains of their originally
Jewish genes?"
Dr. Diamond notes that Di-
aspora Jews have tended to re-
semble their Gentile "host"
population no matter where
they landed for any substantial
time. Germans tend to be more
fair-skinned and blue-eyed than
Egyptian Arabs and so do
Ashkenazi Jews when corn-