SILO ppLLHA DHSS 1111 Mal** - . III riiii WHY Are Any `Non-Children,' `Non-Male' Types Reading This? ELIZABETH APPLEBAUM ASSOCIATE EDITOR sivis the price of Series® silver-Mannington Silver floors-is going down.* vinyl From September 19 through November 15, every Mannington Silverade Sterling:' quicksilver, 'Th -floor is on sale and Resolution These stylish floors start out looking beautiful and will stay beautiful tor years to come, Stop in today. Your chance to save 5 only lasts until November 1. This Fall, SILVI SERIES MSS See retailer for details. ©1994 Mannington Mills, Inc. Froor Covering Trus, Inc. 2258 Franklin Road, Bloomfield Hills, MI 48302 1 block East of Telegraph, North of Square Lake Road 332-9430 Mon. & Wed. 9-7, Tue., Thur., Fri & Sat. 9-5 D ETRO IT J EWI SH N EWS National Award Winning Studio w 44 WORKOUT Co EXERCISE STUDIO Telegraph at Maple • 855-1033 Our Private Trainers maintain the finest quality in your home. • all weight training equipment 50% OFF first exercise session A: Brit, or bris in the Ashke- nazi pronunciation, means "covenant." In Hebrew, the Jew- ish circumcision ritual is known as brit milah, "the covenant of circumcision." The cove- nant referred to is that between God and Abra- ham as recorded in the Torah (Genesis 17:1-14): Abraham and his descendants must recognize and worship God and, in return, receive the Land of Israel as their eternal home- land. The sign of the covenant is cir- cumcision. Through the generations, especial- ly in Yiddish-speaking communities, the prac- tice arose of abbreviating bris milah to bris. Q: Why do so many people use the term "non-Jew"? A: Who knows why? It's like *Discount off regular y. price. Materials on uded. Installation not incl INTRODUCTORY OFFER 0: Why is a circumcision called a bris? • free weights • aerobic training -- all kinds • exercise evaluation CALL SHARON Private Training Division 855-1033 goyim, meaning "nations" other than the Jews. Q: Why does a Jewish bride walk seven times around her groom? A: No one knows for certain why, but the rabbis and tradi- tion have produced several rea- sons. Primary among these is that the number corresponds to the seven times the Torah states "a man takes a wife." Tradition says that by walk- ing around the groom, a bride makes a safe enclosure for her beloved, to protect him from harm. The number seven, in refer- ence to a new couple, also corresponds to the seven bless- ans were Jews. The term came into use in the late 1800s when it referred to members of the Zionist move- ment committed to a Jewish homeland only in Palestine. "Palestinian" thus became a syn- onym for "Zionist." It was not until the 1920 Ver- sailles (World War I peace) con- ference that "Palestine" came to designate a specifically delin- eated territory, administered by Britain under a mandate from the League of Nations. Until then, Palestine vaguely referred to the biblical Land of Israel, or to the territory around the Jor- dan River. Numerous institutions incor- porating the word "Palestine" and "Palestinian" existed before 1948, and it always was clear they referred to Jewish institu- tions. For example, before 1948 the United Jewish Appeal was known as the United Palestine Appeal. The all-Jew- ish volunteer force in World War I was known as the Palestine Brigade. Because the term smacked of British colonialism and Jewish nationalism, the Arabs of Pales- tine refused to call themselves Palestinians. Instead, they re- ferred to themselves simply as Arabs. After the new Jewish state let asking why some people volun- tarily eat Brussels sprouts (film- maker John Waters refers to them as "little balls from hell"), or pay good money to see movies like Avalon, or watch cute sitcoms with cute kids say- ing such cute things you could vomit. There's no need to say "non-Jew" any more than there's a need to say "non- male" to refer to a woman, or "non- Christian" to refer to a Jew, or "non- adult" to refer to a child. The appropriate term for individuals who are not Jewish is "gentile." (Inter- estingly enough, Mormons also use the word — to refer to anyone who is not a Mormon.) Some have re- WZPS PHOTO frained from using Early Jewish Palestinians building a school in Yavne'el, Israel, in 1912. the word because they have the mis- taken notion that "gentile" ings, sheva brachot, said at it be known its name would be the wedding ceremony and Israel, the Arabs appropriated means "pagan" or "heathen." In fact, "gentile" is an adap- at grace after meals for newly- "'Palestinian." ❑ tation of the Latin gentilis, be- weds. Q: Has the term "Palestinian" al- longing to the same gens, "clan" or "family." Later, gentilis meant ways referred to Arabs? A: Until the creation of the Send questions to 'Tell Me Why" "foreign," that is, other than Ro- man. It was then adapted by the modern state of Israel in May c I o The Jewish News, 27676 Vulgate, the Latin version of the 1948, the only people who iden- Franklin Rd., Southfield, MI Bible, to translate the Hebrew tified themselves as Palestini- 48034 or send fax to 354-6069.