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But be assured, it is not "That Question You Always Wanted To Have Answered But You Didn't Know Who To Ask" or "Interesting Tid- bits of Stuff." It is Tell Me Why. And if you don't believe me, look at the top of the column. There it is, my friend. 4,0 12 MILE RD. BECK RD INSz..,9_ 4;94, DON'T WAIT FOR YOUR FURNACE TO FAIL ON A COLD NIGHT OR WEEKEND... ACT NOW! Save up to Q: Is it true that Dropsie Univer- Q: I heard that Julius Caesar was sity in Philadelphia was started by a friend of the Jews. What can you a convert to Judaism? tell me about that? A: Yes. The school, which shut A: Big Julie was indeed the its doors several years ago, was 40% on your heat bills with a 4150 High Energy Furnace Financing Available 0 DOWN* *Upon Credit Approval 6 Months Some As Cash 58MVP FREE ESTIMATE $6 : wlcoupon. Expires 3/31/95 U) LLJ U) LLJ CC 4111110 CARBON MONOXIDE DETECTOR 10% OFF With Coupon Konbon Room of Hair Fashions MARCH WIG SALE. a\ r. I , u. Man® Gradual Hair Additions For Men and Women "eleate Rees t'arz 70a 74e %weal& Velle_Aeoce" LJ_J LLJ Easy Care and Very Affordable 1-- 32 Private Consultation By Appointment • 427-4264 ME 31219 Five Mile Road • East of Merriman • Livonia 07, — Caesar permitted Jews in the Diaspora to send support for the Temple in Jerusalem. A founded by Moses Aaron Drop- most. The Roman leader (100-44 sie (1821-1905), an attorney and BCE) declared edicts that estab- businessman. Dropsie was born in Philadel- lished a precedent in providing phia, the son of a Jewish father freedom and protection for Jews. Under Caesar, Jews: and a Christian mother. When • Were given complete free- he was 14, Dropsie converted to Judaism. He later served as the dom of religion. • Were exempt from military leader of a number of Jewish or- ganizations in Philadelphia and service (because serving in the was a major supporter of Mai- army would pose conflicts with monides College, the first Jew- observing the Sabbath and keep- ish theological seminary in the ing kosher). • Were allowed to establish country. their own courts to deal with In an effort to combat what he considered "extremism" in the Jewish issues. Additionally, Caesar allowed Reform movement, Dropsie, also a founder of the Philadelphia Re- the walls of Jerusalem (destroyed publican Party, assigned much by Pompey) to be rebuilt, and per- of his fortune to go toward the es- mitted Diaspora Jewry to send tablishment of Dropsie College funds to Eretz Yisrael for the sup- for Hebrew and Cognate Learn- port of the Temple. According to the Encyclopedia ing. "The increasing need in the Judaica, Jews were so saddened United States for a more thor- at Caesar's death that "he was ough and systematic education mourned by (them) more than by in Jewish lore has long been felt, any other nation, and for a long and is a matter of solicitude to time after they continued to weep true Israelites, who cherish the over his tomb both by day and religion of their ancestors," he night." Q: What is a kollel? wrote in his will. "(Therefore), I A: A kollel (literally "compre- order and direct that there be es- tablished and maintained in the hensive") is an institution where City of Philadelphia a college for married men study Torah and the promotion of and instruction Talmud. (A "yeshiva" is reserved in the Hebrew and cognate lan- for children and unmarried stu- guages and their respective lit- dents.) The term came about in 1878 eratures and in the rabbinical when an anonymous donor gave learning and literature." Dropsie's instructions, written a large sum of money to Rabbi Is- in 1895, further specified that the rael Lipkin (1810-1883) of Kovno, school's admission policy would Lithuania, to establish a school contain no restrictions "on ac- for married men. Rabbi Lipkin called the new school the kollel count of creed, color, or sex." The charter was signed in perushim ("separatists," a refer- 1907, with Cyrus Adler serving ence to those who separate them- selves from the rest of the as the school's first president. community so as to totally dedi- cate their lives to study). While initially Rabbi Lipkin's institute was known as the kol- lel, the term soon expanded to all institutions of learning for mar- ried men. Rabbi Lipkin, incidentally, also was the founder of the Musar movement, which stressed moral behavior as defined in Jewish ethical writings. During the 1848 cholera epidemic in Vilna, he urged Jews to do everything pos- sible — including working on Shabbat — to fight the disease, a job he said must not be left to gentiles alone. He was much beloved by his students and pub- lished numerous major writings. Rabbi Lipkin died in Koenigs- berg, Germany. Q: How could a Jewish play- wright with the last name Chayef- sky get an Irish first name like "Paddy"? A: Mr. Chayefsky's first name was actually Sidney. Among Mr. Chayefsky's screenplays, for which he won Academy Awards, were Marty and Hospital. His first play was No Time Out for Love, written while he was in the hospital re- covering from wounds sustained during World War II. It was while serving in the army during the war that Sidney Chayefsky became Paddy Chayefsky. In an effort to avoid K.P. duty one Sunday morning, Sidney told his supervisor that he had to go to mass instead. The lieutenant promptly labeled him "Paddy." Mr. Chayefsky died in 1981.111 Send questions to "Tell Me Why" c/o The Jewish News, 27676 Franklin Rd., Southfield, MI 48034 or send fax to 354-6069.