The Dan Hotels
are pleased to announce
the June 15th, 1996
opening of the

DAN PEARL
HOTEL
JERUSALEM

Ideally located in the center of Jerusalem
near Jaffa Gate and the old city.

• BEAUTIFUL ROOMS
• FAMILY SUITES (4 BEDS AND A KITCHENETTE)
• LUXURIOUS DELUXE & PRESIDENTIAL SUITES
• INDOOR SWIMMING POOL
• HEALTH CLUB WITH SAUNA & JACUZZI
• ELEGANT LOBBY - LOUNGE
• RESTAURANT & COFFEE SHOP
• MIKVA & SYNAGOGUE

BOSTON page 111

Freedom Trail. You follow a
wide red line painted on the
sidewalks and stroll by the old
statehou,e, Paul Revere's home,
the Burying Ground where Joh,
Hancock and Samuel Adams
are buried, and the Old North
Church.
Other interesting sites to vis-
it during good weather are the

Commons and the Public Gar-
dens.
An all-year-round tourist mec-
ca is the Faneuil Hall Market
(also called Quincy — pro-
nounced
— Market).
Shops and restaurants greet
every taste; there are outdoor
performing artists and the place
is open day and night.

❑

St. Thomas:
More Than Shopping

LEWIS ERIC LACHTER SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS

Meeting Rooms for Conferences & Simchas
Accommodating up to 500 people

OUR INAUGURAL OFFER

1 NIGHT FREE

INCLUDING BREAKFAST FOR GUESTS
STAYING AT LEAST 5 CONSECUTIVE NIGHTS (4 + 1)
LIMI1ED PERIOD UNTIL JULY 25TH ONLY!

RESERVE NOW!

For information and reservations,
please call your travel agent or

Israel Hotel Representatives

(212) 752-6120 or outside New York
State Toll Free: 800-223-7773/4
or FAX: (212) 759-7495
INTERNET SITE: www.danhotels.co.il
E-MAIL: danhtls@danhotels.co.il

t9Stel& ffi "ael

EL-AL
FLIES FROM

w

CI)

$1,075

Experienced and

(roundtrip w/land booking)

Personal Service

METRO DETROIT
ISRAEL EXPERT

LL1

810-FLY EL-AL

THE DETRO

F-

112

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lmost all the cruise ships bat service continuously since
1833.
in the Caribbean stop
Everything in the synagogue
there. Many people vaca-
tion there. It's a favorite dates back to 1833. The benches,
spot for honeymooners. It's a the ark and bimah are all made
from mahogany. The chandeliers
shopper's paradise.
But if you don't like to shop, are from Europe, probably Hol-
St. Thomas has some of the most land. The central fixture looks
beautiful sandy beaches in the French in design, and each lamp
world, clear water to swim in, wa- is made of Baccarat crystal. The
ter sports, friendly English- peripheral chandeliers have been
speaking people and an electrified, but the central ones
interesting and long Jewish his- are still lit by candles on impor-
tant holidays.
tory.
The walls of the syna-
How long? It starts
with the Jewish inter- A view of boats gogue are specifically de-
preter who landed on the docked i n the St. signed to be hurricane
island with Christopher Thomas harbor. proof, as are the windows.
The cement that holds the
Columbus in 1493 ( the
bricks together is a mortar made
second voyage).
From 1684 to 1687, St. from sand, limestone and mo-
Thomas had the first of its three lasses. The story is told that in
Jewish governors. In the mid- earlier years children attending
1700s, many of the islanders a service would lick the walls to
turned from agriculture to com- taste the sweet molasses.
An unusual feature of the
merce; and our people became
shop owners, brokers, entrepre- small shul is the inch of fine
neurs in sugar, rum and mo- white sand on the floor. One sto-
ry is that the sand is symbolic of
lasses.
The first synagogue, B'racha the desert that the ancient Is-
V'Shalom (Blessing and Peace), raelites wandered in for 40
was built in 1796. The present years. Another explanation goes_
shul was erected in 1833 and is back to the Spanish Inquisition —\
called B'racha V'Shalom U'gemi- when the Jews were forced to
lat Hasadim (Blessing and Peace practice their religion in their
homes. This was an offense pun-
and Acts of Piety).
Located high above the sea ishable by death. Since religious
on Synagogue Hill, the congre- worship had to be practiced in
gation holds the distinction of secrecy, Jews met in cellars and
conducting the first confirma- used the sand on the floors to
tion ceremony (October 1843) in muffle the sounds of their
the Western Hemisphere, and prayer.
Rabbi Bradd Boxman has
there has been a weekly Shab-