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JERRY ROSS BAND
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Q:I notice that in Samaria (the
Q: I don't understand women's
"West Bank") there is a city the fascination with guys like Fabio and
Arabs call Nablus and the Jews call Brad Pitt, who probably spend their
Sh'chem. I am familiar with evenings reading poetry and have
Sh'chem from the Torah. Usually, hair that's halfway down their
Arabic names of Jewish towns are backs. Is this supposed to be sexy?
based on the Hebrew original, but Hey guys, take a trip to the
Sh'chem and Nablus are so differ- barber!
ent. What's the story behind the
Me, I'm a man's man. I like bowl-
names?
ing and hunting. An evening of beer
A: In most cases, Arab settle- nuts and "Baywatch" — now that's
ments throughout Judea and heaven!
Samaria are built on the ruins of
Jean-Claude Van Damme is, of
ancient Jewish towns and vil- course, my favorite actor. But re-
lages and the Arabic names do, cently I heard that another one of
indeed, reflect the original He- my favorites, Robert De Niro (I skip
brew. But unlike most other Arab the artistic stuff and catch him in
towns, modern Nablus is built mob films), starred in the first
not on Jewish ruins but on a Ro- X-rated film ever. Is that
man foundation.
true?
The remains of ancient
A: Bring on the beer nuts. It's
Sh'chem are identified with the
mound Tel al-Balata, one mile time to celebrate!
Robert De Niro, the son of a
east of Nablus, Since 1913, it has
been in an almost ,.ontinuous Jewish mother and an Italian-
state of archeological excavation. Catholic father, starred in the
Sh'chem was a prosperous Jew- first film to receive an X from the
ish city, but eventually became a Motion Picture Association of
America. It was Brian De
Hellenistic stronghold.
Palma's Greetings, which pre-
In 107 BCE, John Hyrcanus miered Dec. 15, 1968, in New
(son of Shimon the Hasmonean), York.
high priest and ruler
of Judea, destroyed
Sh'chem and had the
remains buried under
tons of earth, hence
the mound.
Nablus owes its ex-
istence to the Roman
emperor Vespasian,
Q:Please settle an ongoing dis- who founded the city
pute about Bob Rosburg. Mr. Ros- in 72 CE as Flavia
burg was a golfer, and is now an Neapolis ("the new
city of Flavius,"
announcer. Is he Jewish?
From reader H.S. in Boynton Vespasian's family
name). Built on the
Beach, Fla.
A: Never has Tell Me Why had site of a Samaritan
to go to such lengths to find the village, the city com-
answer to a question. Who would monly was known as
have thought something so seem- Neapolis. In 636 CE,
ingly simple would be so difficult? it was conquered by
Tell Me Why contacted the the Arabs, who re-
PGA, local sports experts, ABC named it Nablus (thE
Sports and numerous biogra- "p" sound does not ex-
phies, among others. Nobody had ist in Arabic).
Since talmudic
the answer.
times,
Jewish sources Robert De Niro: From the X - files.
A special thanks goes out,
though, to sportscaster Don have referred to
The first movie ever to receive
Shane of Channel 7, who was cer- Nablus as Sh'chem. A
tainly the most helpful (and one Jewish community existed there an X was Life Begins Tomorrow,
of the nicest guys in the business, until 1900, but fanatic Arab na- produced in 1951. It received an
tionalists prevented Jews from X from the British Board of Film
to boot).
resettling in Nablus after World Censors because of its discussion
And now, the answer.
Mr. Rosburg, a 1959 PGA War I. According to the Tanach, of artificial insemination. 0
champ and current sports an- the remains of the patriarch
nouncer, is not Jewish. (The an- Yosef (Joseph) are buried in
swer came from the national Sh'chem (Joshua 24:32). A build
office of the Jewish Sports Hall ing in Nablus traditionally has Send questions to "Tell Me Why"
of Fame, and Shel Wallman, been identified as the site; since c/o The Jewish News, 27676
sports columnist for the Jewish 1967, it has been officially desig- Franklin Rd., Southfield, MI
nated a Jewish holy place.
48034 or send fax to 354-6069.
Post and Opinion.)
Q: I'm certain I don't need to in-
form the wise and insightful Tell
Me Why that the name "du Pont"
is all over the news these days.
That got me thinking. tt seems I re-
member that back in 1974, when
Irving S. Shapiro was named chair-
man of Du Pont, he was said to be
the first Jar to head a major Amer-
ican company. Is that true?
A: The first Jew to lead a ma-
jor American company was Ger-
ard Swope, who in 1922 was
named president of the General
Electric Co. Of course, at the time
GE was still a relatively young
concern that served mainly in-
dustry; its chief consumer prod-
uct was light bulbs. Under
Swope's leadership, however, GE
grew to become the giant com-
pany it is today.
Swope was born in St. Louis,
Mo., in 1872. A 1895 graduate of
MIT, he took a job with Western
Electric Co. and served with dis-
tinction in the U.S. Army during
World War I. In 1918, he became
the first president of Interna-
tional General Electric. Henry
Ford I called him "the world's
best salesman."
Mr. Swope retired from GE in
1940. He married a gentile and
took an interest in Jewish affairs
relatively late in life. Not long af-
ter his first visit to Israel, in 1957,
he died. In his will, he left sever-
al million dollars to the Technion.
-
GARY R. ILLER
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