FacT A DaY
American citizens. \o one cared if
you were'cl\ model of moral behavior
and an upstanding contributor to soci-
ety. If you were Jewish and lived in
Maryland anytime before the mid-
19th century, you were not allowed
to hold public office.
5. One of the earliest Jewish films,
and one that continues to be
praised by critics to this day, was
Yidishe Glikn, or Yiddish Luck,
which was made in 1925 in the
former Soviet Union.
Based on stories by Sholem Ale-
ichem, the film featured comedian
Solomon Mikhoels, who would go
on to become one of the most pop-
ular figures in Russian-Jewish enter-
tainment. (Mikhoels later died in a
mysterious accident; some believed
it was orchestrated by Stalin.)
The story of a poor fellow who
can never quite find his career, this
silent movie was the only one ever
made by Alexei Granovsky, founder
of the Moscow Yiddish State Art
Theater.
6. The 1976 raid at Entebbe, Ugan-
da, to rescue hostages aboard Air
France Flight 139 from Tel Aviv to
Paris, lasted less than 90 minutes.
7. A popular chasidic melody,
often heard at a wedding or brit, is
--,--hosed -on-a - military-tune played by
—en army- be nd--03 N40p4 eon
Marched into Russia.
Apparently a number of Chasidim
learned the song, sometimes called
"Napoleon's Marc.- h," then sang it
for the first Lubavitcher Rebbe,
Rabbi Shneor Zalman (1754-1813)
of Liadi, who liked it so much he
called it a "song of victory" (despite
Napoleon's unsuccessful bid to take
over Russia). The rebbe even direct-
ed his followers to sing
"Napoleon's March" at the end of
Yom Kippur — a tradition that is
practiced to this day.
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8. Just outside Berlin, in 1892, a
8/27
1999
6Detroit,JeWish News
young man named Otto Lilienthal
made the first-ever series of controlled
flights on a glider. Lilienthal designed
his own glider, which weighed 44
pounds, and made his initial jump off
a dirt hill into a canal.
Over the next four
years, he continued
to improve his glider
and made another
2,000 flights until his
death in 1896 (he
fell from one of his
creations).
9. In 1952, Albert .
Einstein was asked
to serve as president
of Israel, but he
declined.
10. One of the key
cities in the development of the
modern Zionist movement was
Manchester, England. Located in
northern England, Manchester was
first settled by Jews in the late
1700s. Among the city's residents,
from 1904 to 1916, was Chaim
Weizmann (later Israel's first presi-
dent).
Other leading Zionists from Man-
chester include Israel
and Rebecca Sieff,
Harry Sachar, Lord
Simon Marks and
Leon Simon.
11. Do you know in.
which European
country Jews have
resided for the
longest amount of
time? It's not England
or France. The
answer is Italy. In
140 B.C.E., Judah
Maccabee sent his
representatives to establish relations
with leaders of Italy, where they
were warmly received.
Get Hooked On Books
Get Your Art In ApoieTree
Children aged 3-12 are invited to put their artistic talents to work creat-
ing a poster for the 48th annual Jewish Book Fair, \1ov. 6-14.
Using the theme "Get Hooked on Books at the Jewish Book Fair,"
children entering the contest may use markers, crayons, paint or cut
paper to create a poster measuring 8-1/2 inches by 11 inches.
Entrants should not use pencils or light-blue crayons, and entries must
be_taped to cardboard for protection.
Place th-edirtISTS - name,
fq.l.plIn ne number and age on the
back of the art. Only one entry per child may be submitted. The dead-
line for submissions is Oct. 8.
The contest is divided into three age groups: up to age 6, 7-9, and
10-12. The winner in each group receives an autographed copy of
You're Officially a Grownup by Judith Viorst, who speuk3 at the book
fair on Nov. 8. The grand-prize winner will have his or her entry repro-,
duced on the cover of AppleTree, and the winn i ng poster wiiV b- e
copied and posted throughout the community to proMote the Jewish
Book Fair. All entries received will be displayed during the book fair at
both ACC locations, the D. Dan & Betty Kahn Building in West Bloom-
field and the Jimmy Prentis Morris Building in Oak Park.
Send or hand-deliver contest entries marked Children's Poster Contest
to Jewish Communiy Center of Meropolitan Detroit, Book Fair Dept.,
6600 W. Maple Road, West Bloomfield, MI 48322.
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12. The next time you're in London,
you can visit the office of N.M. Roth-
schild & Sons at New Court, St.
Swithins. This is the original headquar-
ters of the Rothschild family.
13. The state with the smallest Jew-
ish population, with about 400, is
South Dakota.
14. Adam Gimbel opened the
world's first department store in
1842 in Vincennes, Ind.
15. Believe it or not, there is a Jew-
ish Web site devoted to surfing. Cre-
ated by exercise and (of course) surf-_y
ing enthusiast Rabbi Nachum Shifren' T,
the Surf and Soul Web site and
newsletter features the rabbi's insights
on "Surfint the Wild Beautiful Blue
Wet Stu--- that God created so man
could ride the physical source of all
life on this earth — the Ocean!"
Replete with copy ending in exclama-
tion marks ("Ongoing classes weekly:
For individuals and groups! Call or e-
mail now!!), the site is based in
Israel, but members of Jewish Surfers
International come from Malibu,
Hawaii, South Africa, Mexico and
South America. Check it out, dudes,
at www.surfsoul.virtual.co.il .
16. The only museum in the country
whose sole goal is collecting arti-
facts regarding the American Jewish
experience is the National Museum
of American Jewish History in
Philadelphia. It opened on July 4,
1976, and is located directly
across from the Independence Mall.
ons'
17. The first Ameri ,--
,,,t,..--4-ro-a-TheSoviet government's
permission to work in the former
Soviet Union was NBC's Irving R.
Levine. Levine appealed to — and
received permission — directly from
Nikita Khrushchev.
18. The first Jewish governor in the
United States was Moses Alexander
of Idaho, elected in 1915.