Mild' Outrage At The Wall Though Conservative worshipers were heckled in Jerusalem, their Shavuot certainly wasn't as bad as last year's. LARRY DERFNER Israel Correspondent T he Conservative Jews put -up with chants of "Nazis!" and "Goyim!" They got hit with a few pebbles and a few plastic bags of chocolate milk. They got pushed and pulled by a throng of furious hared- im trying to break through the ring of policemen to get at them. All in all, it wasn't a bad Shavuot at the Western Wall for the Conservative prayer group. A year ago the black hat Orthodox Jews, known as haredim, reportedly threw feces (some say it was diapers) and rocks at the Conservatives, who in turn were dragged off roughly by the police. Last Tisha B'Av, the police wouldn't even let them pray at the Wall on orders of the Chief Rabbinate. This year, more than 200 Conservative Jews, men and women, came to the Wall for Sunday morning's Shavuot prayers. Actually, they stood a couple of hundred yards away from the Wall, in a far corner of the public plaza. "We tried to be as inconspicuous as we could possibly be. Anybody who hassled us had to go out of his way to do so," said Rabbi Andrew Sacks, who led the prayers. Police had warned the group that as soon as they started to pray, they would YU Student Found Dead New York (JTA) -- The body of a Yeshiva University sophomore who was last seen at the Manhattan school on May 12 was found float- ing in the Hudson River. New York police said there was no evidence of foul play or of sui- cide. F-amily and friends of Joshua Bender had launched a large-scale search after he had disappeared two days before a final exam. Report On SS Gold Faults Swiss Banks mainly teenage boys. Over the years, be forced to stop — to prevent a recur- they've developed two annual Shavuot rence of last Shavuot's melee. The customs at the Wall: First they harass police, however, changed their minds the Conservatives, and then — and allowed the prayers, forming a when the morning prayers are ring around the Conservatives to Peo Pie over — they storm through the keep the hundreds of haredim at prayi ng at Old City and do considerably bay. the Wall. greater violence to the Arabs in "The police really did a remark- the Moslem Quarter. Unlike the able job," Sacks said. The Conservatives Conservatives, the Arabs fight back. also got some moral support from a few In the Moslem Quarter on Sunday, members of the Orthodox Aish haredim and Arabs threw stones at each Hatorah yeshiva near the Wall, who other, and members of each group passed out leaflets reminding the hared- threw stones at police. A number of im that violence was a "desecration of Palestinian cars and shops had their God's name." Members of Jerusalem's windows smashed. Four Arabs, four modern Orthodox synagogue Yedidya haredim and two policemen were prayed alongside the Conservatives in a injured. Arabs say the haredim started show of solidarity. it, haredim say the Arabs started, and Sacks said an important precedent police aren't saying. had been set. The police had protected Bar-Ilan University Prof. Eliezer their right to hold prayers their way at Don-Yehiya, an expert in religious poli- the Wall — with men and women pray- tics, explained that with so many hared- ing together instead of being separated im living close to Arab east Jerusalem, by a partition — instead of giving in to "the proximity causes friction." the violence and threats by their detrac- He said the haredi attack on tors. Furthermore, Sacks said, the police Conservatives at the start of Shavuot defended the group even though the was mild compared to what happened Religious Affairs Ministry had urged the on previous holidays at the Wall. police to block the prayers. Noting that these violent incidents are "I don't think we're going to have an terrible for the public image, Don- easy time praying at the Wall on holi- Yehiya added, "I wonder if some of the days from now on, but I hope it will be haredi leaders didn't work behind the somewhat easier than it has been for us scenes this year to make sure that things in the past," Sacks said. didn't get out of hand." ❑ As usual, the haredi bullies were New York (JTA) — Switzerland's central bank made no effort to ensure that it was not getting Holocaust victims' gold when it purchased. $280 million in gold from Nazi Germany, according to a report issued by an international onded. panel of historians commis_sisai by the Swiss government to probe past. th e coun try's fiir m e drePep : e boda as u iai otnt w :u: a ron:h n „::: $, e24 p more me of thds fro N2azi 6 OsPo s un -4