ROSH 11111151111111111 Holiday SERVICES FOR SIIIGIES Juggling Jig Rabbi Dannel I. Schwartz Makes A Return 11011'.. Senior Rabbi, Temple Shir Shalom Thursday, October 2, 8 p.m. TEMPLE SHIR SHALOM 3999 Walnut Lake Road West Bloomfield Services will be followed by refreshments Prior to serving at Shir Shalom, Rabbi Schwartz was senior rabbi at Temple Beth El and assistant rabbi at Temple Israel in New Rochelle, NY. The author of two books, he also wrote a bi-weekly column in the Detroit News and has con- tributed articles to national Jewish publications. In his spare time, he serves as a technical consultant on Jewish mystical practices on the TV show, The X Files. The Shabbat Services program is sponsored by the Michigan Board of Rabbis in cooperation with The Jewish News and the Community Outreach and Education Department of the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit. For information, call Kari Grosinger at Federation, (248) 642-4260, ext. 241. PARTICIPATING CONGREGATIONS REFORM Congregation Shir Tikvah Temple Beth El Temple Emanu-El Temple Israel Temple Kol Ami Temple Shir Shalom Ofaiunrad .wiAhra • • • CONSERVATIVE Adat Shalom Synagogue Congregation Beth Abraham Hillel Moses Congregation Beth Achim Congregation Beth Shalom Congregation B'nai David Congregation B'nai Moshe Congregation Shaarey Zedek Ault Ali2n riel I frintthrth Lind _witted diczniA Ph imatth, pkazipolf9 and 120121Wihing gaffe in ROYAL INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL 31455 Southfield Rd., Birmingham (248) 644-1600 out-stare only (800) 521-1600 CL Opening Soon tX) 61keeM,d/ U from... 0 rd 4-, 9/26 1997 R10 The Boardwalk,West Bloomfield Candy Greeting Cards Frames (—/ T he Talmud has a number of references to the art of jug- gling, the most famous being Rabbi Shimon Ben Gamliel's (the head of the Sanhedrin or High Court — 1st Century CE) virtuoso act during the all-night water-drawing cele- brations in the intermediate days of Sukkot. The feats of three other Jewish sages and jugglers are also described in the Talmud: the sage Levi bar Sissa (150-220 CE), who juggled eight knives, author and teacher Samuel bar Abba (180-275 CE), who manipulated eight cups of wine without spilling a drop, and the distinguished scholar Ray Abaye (280-339 CE), who mastered the risky business of juggling eight eggs. Today, juggling seems to be reemerging as a form of entertainment in modern Israel and a popular pas- time. Juggling acts, frequently with fire, are often preformed at religious weddings in Israel, and even this year's Israel Festival opened with a five-man juggling act, adding fanfare to the main event. A jugglers club was started by clown-about-town Charles Sofair, for- merly of Sidney, Australia, who had received formal training as a clown. On his arrival in Jerusalem, he found many talented people with a variety of skills, so he went into action. Today the group consists of about 15 men and women of all ages who hold conven- tional day jobs — teachers, writers, artists, students, lawyers and soldiers — but on Thursday night, from 7-11 p.m., shed their personas and come to practice and show off new skills. Click into his Website on the Internet (Alta Vista: Scott Seltzer), which includes drawings of tricks with knives, torches, eggs and all kinds of dangerous objects. "I am so thrilled that I actually have my own Internet page. There used to be a culture of jug- gling in ancient Israel and it is definite- ly on the upswing today," says the obsessive juggler off to meet another obsessive juggling friend in the park. Almost in the same juggling league as the venerable sages is 22-year-old musician Joseph Rosenberg, who jug- gles with five lighted torches. Originally from New York, Rosenberg started jug- gling when he was 12. "I bought a copy of the book Juggling for the Complete Klutz. It came with three bean bags. American-born Raphael Harris, a professional juggler, recently organized a one-day juggling festival in Jerusalem. Besides having long been associated in Jewish tradition with joy, Harris points out that "it is taught in corporate c'\ workshops because it is an excellent training tool for patience, coordination, and learning to deal with failures. It also helps develop ambidexterity, dex- terity, enhanced right brain/left brain function and increased attention span," he says. With so many mind/body benefits, juggling's growing popularity should come as no surprise. —WZPS 1 Genetics And Biblical Tradition A Technion-Israel Institute of Technology research team has reported genetic evidence indicating that mod- em-day Jewish priests (Kohanim) appear to be descendants of a single common male ancestor — presumably --/ the high priest Aaron. This finding is based on the analysis of genetic markers in the DNA of Y- chromosomes of Jewish male priests from different countries of origin in 7/ comparison with corresponding mark- 1 ers in their Jewish male lay counter- parts. The Technion team is headed by Professor Karl Skorecki, director of the Molecular Medicine Laboratory at the Faculty of Medicine and director of Nephrology at the Rambam Medical Center, Haifa, and his colleagues in Israel and abroad. The Y-chromosome is uniquely use- h fill in this analysis because the Y-chro- mosome of any one individual can be traced back even over many generations to only one male ancestor. This is not the case for other chromosomes, each of which carries representation from many different ancestors on both the maternal and paternal lineages. Accordingly, since the Jewish priest- hood designation is transmitted from father to son, the DNA of the found- ing ancestor is reflected in the Y-chro- mosome markers of modern-day Jewish priests. Of particular interest is the preservation of the distinguishing Y- (±\ chromosome markers among Jewish priests of both Sepharadi and Ashkenazi origin, despite the cultural and geographic separation of these groups for more than a millennium. Some biblical tradition dates the establishment of the Jewish priesthood to 3,300 years ago, it may be possible to utilize analysis of the Y-chromo- some DNA of modern-day Jewish priests to deduce rates and mecha- nisms of DNA mutation and Y chro- mosome evolution.