COMPILED BY ELIZABETH APPLEBAUM
Does This M00000vee You?
I
f you live on a farm, or
simply have a family pet,
you might be interested to
know that Judaism has
many laws regarding how
animals should be treated.
Halachah (Jewish law)
not only forbids abuse or tor-
ture of any animal, it makes
clear that God demands
compassionate treatment of
all His creatures. Shabbat
rest, for example, is for both
man and animal. Exodus
20:10, 23:12 and Deuteron-
omy 5:14 state, "Thou shall
not do any manner of
work...nor thine ox, nor thine
ass, nor any of thy cattle," and
"on the seventh day thou shalt
rest; that thine ox and thine
ass may have rest." Jews may
Tidbits from
Jewish history.
B
abi Yar is a ravine just out-
side Kiev, in the Ukraine,
where 33,771 Jews died
at the hands of the Nazis.
With support of Ukrainian mili-
tia men, a special SS unit killed the
Jews Sept. 29-30, 1941. Although
the Germans tried to hide their
crime, the incident was widely re-
ported after the war.
For many years, Soviet officials
left the ravine without a marker and
made no special mention of the
atrocity against Jews committed
there. But a number of Russian
writers continued to speak out —
among them novelist Viktor
Nekrasov, who in the Literaturnaya
Gazeta demanded a memorial be
placed at Babi Yar, and author Ana-
toly Kuznetsov, who wrote a docu-
mentary novel on what happened
at Babi Yar.
Probably the most famous work
of art about the incident was writ-
ten by poet Yevgeni Yevtushenko.
At great risk to his career (and in-
deed, after its publication he was
denounced by Soviet leader Niki-
ta Khrushchev), Mr. Yevtushenko
111'1961 published the poem "Babi
Yar," which also included a de-
nouncement of anti-Semitism.
Composer Dmitri Shostakovich lat-
er put the poem to music in his 13th
Symphony.
Today, a monument does stand
at Babi Yar, telling in Yiddish,
Russian and Ukrainian of the
tragedy that occurred there.
I Remember
Marna
Did you know that October
is Family History Month?
In what ways do you hon-
or your relatives and an-
cestors? Here are some
ideas for fun projects that
will help you think about
family:
* Look through old photo
albums and get your par-
ents to tell you about those
pictured.
not kill an animal and its
young on the same day, and
one is obligated to remove the
burden of a suffering animal.
Pet owners also should
know that they must feed their
dogs, cats and other creatures
before they themselves eat.
Maybe your name is bibli-
cal, like David or Shmuel
(Samuel), or maybe it's
the name of a flower
(like Lilach, or lilac), or
maybe it's an expression
(Aliza means "joyous").
In Beyond Sarah and
Sam: An Enlightened
Guide to Jewish Baby
Linda
Naming,
Rosenkrantz and Pamela Red-
mond Satran cite some of the
most popular names for Jew-
ish babies in recent years. The
only ones with a Jewish and/or
Yiddish connection for girls are
Ariel (though this is actually
a boy's name) and Kayla; for
boys: Adam, Benjamin, Jacob,
Jeremy, Jonathan, Joshua and
Samuel.
Baby, Baby
B
efore you were even born
you had a name — or
maybe two. Most Jewish
children have not only an
English name but a Hebrew
one, as well.
Do you know what your He-
brew name is, what it means
and why it was given to you? If
you're Ashkenazi, chances are
good you were named in mem-
ory of a relative; what do you
know about the person whose
name you share?
There are a number of books,
including The Complete Book
of Hebrew Baby Names by
Smadar Shir Sidi, that can help
you learn more about your He-
brew name.
Parsha Project
I
he coming week's
Torah portion, Gene-
sis 6:9-11:32, is
Noach.
The parsha of Noach re-
counts the life and times of
Noach (Noah), including the
famous flood: the construc-
tion of the ark, the loading of
the animals, the rain for 40
days and nights, the resting
of the ark on Mount Ararat,
Noach's dispatching of the
dove, leaving the ark, the
covenant symbolized by the
rainbow.
Noach later falls into a
drunken stupor and, upon
waking, curses his son,
Cham, and blesses his sons,
Shem and Yafet.
Verses 11:1-9 recount the
well-known story of the Tow-
er of Babel: The people who
lived in the land of Shinar be-
gan building a tower to reach
heaven. They spoke a single
language, but God caused
them to speak different lan-
guages and scattered them
across the earth.
The parsha includes lists
of Noach's descendants. Spe-
cial mention is made of Nim-
* Make it a point to visit
or phone relatives in an old-
age home, or who live a far
distance from the rest of the
family. Ask them to tell you
about their experiences as
children.
* Have a film festival fea-
turing home movies. You
can even serve popcorn and
Coke and make tickets.
* Make a genealogy chart.
You can expand this into a
booklet, too, and add photo-
copies of pictures.
rod, the hunter and ruler of
Babylon. Noach'S genealogy
is traced down through his
son, Shem, to Avraham.
For a project, draw a pic-
ture of Noach's ark on
construction paper.
Look through mag-
azines and cut out
eaw, sen
all the pictures of
al
tAppleha
animals you can
is
Fun, 0 The tie-wish
find. Put them on
4;76 Franklin ft-ti.,
the ark — you
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may have to pile
()t buctline the
them on top of each
ropefty of Theti
other. See how high
arm
they will go!