RAYMOND WEIL GENEVE Sure, Those Mink Are Dead; At Least They Were Born ELIZABETH APPLEBAUM ASSOCIATE EDITOR Q: Famed actress Brooke Shields once opined, "Smoking kills. If you're killed, you've lost a very important part of your life." Has anybody Jew- ish said anything equally profound? A: Brooke is a tough act to fol- I8 K Gold and stainless Steel Water resistant to 90 ft P A R S I F AL Is K Gold and Steel Collection Dion's Crosswinds Mall 4301 Orchard Lk. Rd. West Bloomfield World of Watches 539-1181 Mon.-Wed. 10-6 Thurs. & Fri. 10-9 Sat. 10-6 Personalized Custom Embroidery and Design, Monogramming & Initializing Sale sa w low, all right, but let's see what we can come up with! Like Brooke, another major dramatic talent of our time is for- mer Playboy Bunny Barbi Ben- ton. She said "I believe that mink are raised for being turned into fur coats, and if we didn't wear fur coats those little animals would never have been born. So is it better not to have been born or to have lived for a year or two to have been turned into a fur coat? I don't know." Producer Samuel Goldwyn commented, "Anybody who goes to a psychiatrist should have his head examined." Other great Goldwynisms: while at a public celebration he introduced Field Marshal Montgomery as Mar- shall Field Montgomery; "I've been laid up with the intention- al flu"; "I had a great idea this morning, but I didn't like it"; "I love the ground I walk on." New York politician Bella Abzug, speaking at an Equal Rights Amendment rally, said, "We need laws that protect every- one. Men and women, straights and gays, regardless of sexual perversion...ah, persuasion." Another New York politician, Albert Blumenthal, keenly ob- served, "We find ourselves in this pickle because you bought that jar and filled it not with pickles but with water, and now you're trying to jam it in the public's face." Sportscaster Howard Cosell said, " I think I've made a differ- ence in my phase of the broadcast industry, but I don't think I've impacted on the world in the manner of Franklin Roosevelt." S ale Sale sa w Cn LU saW Add a Touch of Class to Your Bar/Bat Mitzvah: w I— CD CC I--- uJ uJ 41 GREAT FOR: Gift Giving, Bar/Bat Mitzvahs, Business/Promotional/Advertising/Logos, Golf Towels, Wedding Blankets, University Wear. Individual to Large Orders. BUY I ITEM, GET IT MONOGRAMMED FREE! With ( Fw,r•, h 11 ' , I La Mirage Center 29555 Northwestern Hwy. , Southfield, Mi 48034 (8 1 0) 356-0070 Hours: Monday-Friday 10 - 5 Howard Cosell: He's no FDR. Ellis Island: The name's the same. And how about this brilliant quently accused of changing observation by one of Einstein's names) merely confirmed the in- instructors: "It doesn't matter formation contained in the what he does. He will never records of the ship that brought a certain immigrant. amount to anything." Immigrants' names sometimes (Some of these quotes ap- peared in The 776 Stupidest were, however, unwillingly Things Every Said (Main Street changed. There were ships' cap- Books) by Ross and Kathryn Pe- tains or shipping agents who ei- ther misspelled immigrants' tras.) names or changed names that were hard to spell or pronounce. Q: What was the Hilsner Case? A: The Hilsner Case began (Since 1820, passenger ships ar- April 1, 1899, when a gentile riving at U.S. ports are required seamstress was found murdered to submit a passenger list to gov- in Bohemia. Her neck had been ernment authorities.) Immi- grants who came from countries cut. Authorities arrested 22-year- that did not use the Latin alpha- old Leopold Hilsner. Evidence bet -- such as those from Russia against him was flimsy and and Bulgaria, which used the Hilsner's trial was riddled with Cyrillic alphabet - were especial- anti-Semitism. He was found ly vulnerable to unwanted name guilty and sentenced to death. As changes. There also were cases where anti-Semites throughout Europe promoted the case as a blood li- schools changed students' names bel, and as Jews in the area fled at registration. Sometimes, the Bohemia's shtetls in fear for their pupil's family adopted the new lives, the case become a cause name in the belief that the school must be right, or to ensure uni- celebre. Among the famous figures in- formity in the family. volved: Q: What is a megila? *Prosecutor Karel Baxa, whom A: The word megila means the anti-Semitic press dubbed "the savior of Christendom." scroll. It most commonly refers (Baxa later refuted his position to the Scroll of Esther. There are, in fact, five megilot in the case. In 1923, with the sup- port of the Jewish Party, he was in the Jewish canon, publicly read on specific holidays. They elected mayor of Prague.) *Thomas Masaryk, later the are Shir HaShirim (Song of first president of Czechoslovakia, Songs), read on Pesach; Esther, who condemned the persecution read on Purim; Ruth, read on Shavuot; Eicher (Lamentations), of Hilsner. *Charles I, who, upon suc- read on Tisha B'Av; and Kohelet ceeding to the Hapsburg throne, (Ecclesiastes), read on Sukkot. Megila also is the tenth trac- pardoned Hilsner. Hilsner spent the rest of his life tate in the Talmudic order Mo'ed that deals with, among other as a beggar. He died in 1927. things, the regulations concern- Q: Is it true that immigrants' names ing the reading of Megilat Esther. were changed by the clerks at Ellis Island? A: There is no documented case Send questions to "Tell Me Why" of a U.S. immigration officer ever c/o The Jewish News, 27676 changing an immigrant's name. Franklin Rd., Southfield, MI Registry clerks (those most fre- 48034