Why
0;;:iC O INFINITI
Please Pass The Garlic
Before Heading For The Shul
NED LAVERY
1994 J30
ELIZABETH APPLEBAUM ASSOCIATE EDITOR
Q: Are any Hollywood stars relat-
ed to Shimon Peres?
A: An extended Peres family
reunion would not be complete
without the presence of one
famed actress, the great love of
the late Humphrey Bogart: Lau-
ren Bacall.
Ms. Bacall, now holding the
prestigious title of spokesman
for Royal Caribbean ("Day One.
Just look at those fresh flow-
ers!"), was born Betty Joan
Perske in 1924 in New York
City. Her films include The Big
Sleep and Key Largo.
Shimon Peres, Israel's effu-
sive and vivacious foreign min-
ister, was born Shimon Perske
in 1923 in Byelorussia. He set-
tled in Palestine in 1934, later
serving as minister of defense,
prime minister, minister with-
out portfolio and minister of
transportation and communica-
tions. Are there really any politi-
cians in Israel other than
Yitzhak Rabin, Shimon Peres
and Yitzhak Shamir?)
Ms. Bacall and Mr. Peres are
first cousins.
Q: Why does shiva, the Jewish
mourning period following burial,
last seven days?
A: According to the Jerusalem
Talmud, the seven-day period
was instituted by Moses. It
draws a parallel between the
verse "I will turn
your feasts into
mourning" (Amos
8:10) and the seven-
day holidays of Pe-
sach and Sukkot.
The Zohar, the
major book of Kabal-
lah (Jewish mysti-
cism), gives another
reason for shiva. It
states that for seven
days the deceased's
soul goes back and
forth from house to
grave, mourning for
the body.
The Babylonian
Talmud says that
shiva is among the
most ancient of prac-
tices. It interprets
the verse "Seven
days passed, and the
flood waters were
upon the earth" (Genesis 7:10)
to mean that God waited to
bring the flood until after shi-
va for the righteous Methuselah
(Genesis 5:27).
Q: What does Judaism have to say
about garlic?
A: Garlic, or shum, in Hebrew,
is mentioned in the Torah
(Numbers 11:5) as one of the
foods the Israelites ate in Egypt
and which they craved as they
wandered through-
out the desert.
Health-food gurus today
claim garlic has powerful
cleansing powers for the body,
and the Frugal Gourmet thinks
it's the tastiest food ever
invented. Judah ha-Nasi
(135-220 CE), head of the Pales-
tinian Jewish community, also
had something to say about
garlic: If you're going to eat it,
don't come to synagogue. And
Ezra, the fifth-century scholar
and Jewish leader, is at-
tributed with saying that garlic
had aphrodisiac powers and
should be consumed on Friday
night.
Shimon Peres: Family ties.
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