FOR THE ULTIMATE IN QUALITY BANDS... LOK)-QOSS He Brought Good Things To GE JERRY ROSS BAND SIMONE VITALE A Jewish native of St. Louis helped make this company what it is today. ELIZABETH APPLEBAUM ASSOCIATE EDITOR RUMPLESTILTSKIN SUN MESSENGERS REFLECTIONS RADIO CITY CHEERS BILL MEYER NORMA JEAN BELL THE CONTOURS REFLECTIONS 505 S. Lafayette Royal Oak, MI 48057 (810) 398-9711 SKYLINE & THE BACK STREET HORNS SKYLINE & THE BACK STREET HORNS RUMPLESTILTSKIN JERRY ROSS BAND SIMONE VITALE HOT ICE VIZITOR NOTORIOUS WE PROVIDE CONTINUOUS MUSIC WITH EITHER BANDS AND/OR DJ'S Let us arrange for music during your wedding ceremony and cocktail hour too! Call to View Any of These Bands on Video PARTY THEMES • BALLOONS FLOWERS • WEDDING FLOWERS & SYMPATHY FLOWERS FULL SERVICE FLORISTS PARTIES, SYMPATHY, HOSPITALS Cell Stocker Larry Stocker • Sandi Stocker Since 1930 MCs • Disc _jockeys • Dancers ery SinuLCcasts • Big Sdreens • Lighting • Karaoke Rick Benton e-% 6 &If (810) 626-9550 t00% 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 PHOTOGRAPH Y 05103 3.50--1.550