Jordan's King Hussein pays condolence calls to the fami-
lies of the seven Israeli schoolgirls killed by a Jordanian
soldier during a visit to the Israel-Jordan border ... Three
Israelis are killed and dozens more wounded in a Hamas
suicide bombing at a Tel Aviv cafe on the eve of Purim
... A little-known group of Orthodox rabbis inflames
Jews across the religious spectrum when they declare that
Conservative and Reform Judaism are not forms of
Judaism ... An Israeli pullback from rural West Bank
areas is delayed indefinitely after the Palestinian
Authority protests the scope of the first redeployment as
too small.

APRIL

Uncle Eli's Hagaddah, appearing on the World Wide
Web, includes a sublimely silly version of the Passover
story told in Seussian rhyme: "On all other nights you
sit nicely while dining/So why on this night must it all
be reclining?" ... The U.S. Postal. Service issues a stamp
honoring Raoul Wallenberg, the Swedish diplomat who
defied the Nazis and issued false passports to save more
an 100,000 Hungarian Jews ...
Many ranchers in the once economically depressed
area around Alamosa, Colo. had never seen a Jew before
Rabbi Mayer Kurcfeld rode into town two years ago.
Now, the ranchers are slaughtering 100 steers and 100
lambs a week in accordance with Jewish law and they're
back on their feet economically. How, pardner? They're
under the kosher supervision of Baltimore's Star-K certi-
fication board ... The Knesset gives preliminary approval
to legislation that would codify Orthodox authority over
onversions performed in Israel ... Israel's attorney gener-
al decides not to bring charges against Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu in connection with the Bar-On
affair ... B'nai B'rith headquarters is quarantined with
more than 100 employees inside in a daylong ordeal
until federal officials determine that a suspicious package
is not dangerous ...
Thousands rally on Capitol Hill as part of a lobbying
blitz aimed at convincing Congress to restore welfare
benefits ... Palestinian police help Israel locate the body
f Israeli soldier Sharon Edri, seven months after he was
kidnapped and murdered by Hamas members ... Israel
drops its request to extradite Hamas leader Mousa
Mohammed Abu Marzook from the United States,
pening the way for his deportation to Jordan.

MAT

The U.S. government releases a long-awaited report
about Swiss wartime financial dealings with the Nazis.
olocaust survivors could get millions of dollars in resti-
tution for gold looted by the Nazis ... The New York
State Court of Appeals rules that the creation of a public
school district in the Satmar Chasidic community of
Kiryas Joel is unconstitutional ...
Several Palestinians who sold land to Jews are found
murdeied after Palestinian Justice Minister Freih Abu
Medein declares that such sales are punishable by death
... The Israeli government decides to close Jerusalem's
Bar Ilan Street to traffic during prayer times on the
abbath and Jewish holidays ... The United States pro-
poses cutting aid to Israel and Egypt, and shifting the
funds to Jordan ... Israel's Labor Party endorses the
Palestinian right to a state with limited sovereignty.

Opposite page, top:
During a February tour of the White House that included lunch with first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton,
the two young sons of Binyamin Netanyahu and his wife Sara, at center, enliven the Oval Office.

Opposite page, middle:
In January, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu met with
Palestinian Authority President Yassir Arafat and U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright.

Opposite page, bottom:
The Hale Bopp comet, and its effect on the members of the Heaven's Gate cult in San Diego.

This page, top:
In July, thousands of Orthodox Jews hurl garbage and stones at a convoy of cars on Bar Ilan Street
in Jerusalem, where police on horseback drive back the Saturday crowds.
The thoroughfare becomes a symbol of the increasing bitterness between religious and secular Jews.

This page above:
In Vienna, Austrians line up for their first glimpse of artwork confiscated by the Nazis
from Austrian Jews in World War II. Some 400 pieces were identified and claimed.
The remainder went on sale, the proceeds from which went to Holocaust survivors.

9/26
1997

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