One Size
Does Not
Fit All
For Openers
Moppets As Peacemakers
Notable Numbers
Jerusalem (JTA)
ookie Monster and his friends are
breaking down stereotypes that
Israeli and Palestinian children
have of each other.
That's the conclusion of a group of edu-
cational media experts who met in
Jerusalem this week to evaluate the first 18
months of Rechov Sumsum/Shara'a Simsim,
the joint Israeli/Palestinian versions of the
popular U.S. educational children's televi-
sion show Sesame Street.
"We believe tolerance begins at home,"
said Michal Arbel, director of Israel
Educational Television, which produced
the Israeli version. We have opened a
small window of mutual respect for
Palestinians and Israelis."
For the Palestinians, the primary goal
was emphasizing Palestinian culture.
"Palestinian identity and self-respect will
have to come before mutual respect," said
Daoud Kuttab, the Palestinian executive
producer. "The aim is not to make a sea
change.
e It is to make it normal for a
Palestinian to see an Israeli in a different
fashion, and vice versa."
According to the scholars, before the
show began, 61 percent of the Palestinian
children surveyed had negative stereo-
types of Israelis while 19 percent of
Israeli Jews had negative stereotypes of
Palestinians.
After viewing the show, children from all
test groups tended to use more positive
attributes to describe the other, but
Palestinians had developed additional nega-
tive attitudes as well.
The study also showed that in "con-
flict resolution" scenarios, such as an
Israeli or Palestinian child confronting
someone from the other side on a swing,
both had developed a greater tendency
to choose a friendly solution to resolve
the conflict.
— Avi Machlis
Palestinian Opinion
C
"Little or no change has taken place in the way the Palestinians view the
peace process compared to our last survey one month ago."
Peace Process Favor: 75 percent
Attacks Against Israel Oppose: 52 percent
View Of Ehud Barak Trust: 19 percent
Collecting Unlicensed Weapons Support: 86 percent
Source: Center for Palestine Research Studies poll of 1,316 Palestinians ages 18
years and older, conducted October 14-16, 1999.
Yiddish Limericks
A doctor's wife once known as Dinnick
Said, "Go ahead, call me a cynic.
But how's it look, Misha?
The Chevra Kadisha*
Is headquartered next to your clinic!
* Jewish Burial Society
— Martha Jo Fleischmann ...
The
Virtual
voter
Results from
last week's poll
(47 respondents)
Should we continue to
annually commemorate
Kristallnacht?
Certainly (85%)
0 Possibly (11%)
0 Absolutely not (4%)
-
What's The Real Deal With Kabbala?
!
!
.
A
ctually, I can't tell you what kabbala is unless you're a married
man who's at least 40 and a talmid chachum (student of the wise). Because of
its potency, the medieval rabbis limited the study of kabbala to those who
possessed these characteristics. So although Hollywood celebrities such as Madonna
and Rosie O'Donnell have taken an interest in "pop kabbala" or "kabbala-lite," let's
not confuse that with the real thing.
Kabbala is a system of mystical beliefs that some believe penetrate the Torah's
inner meaning. Toward the end of the 13th century, Moses de Leon compiled the
teachings in the Zohar. Kabbalists generally speak of God as the Ein Sof, or "that
which is without limit."
God is inaccessible and unknowable yet shows himself through a series of 10 sfirot
(manifestations of His energy). Those who become immersed in the ways of kabbala
believe its power can change the course of nature and even bring about miracles.
With these kinds of capabilities, the rabbis rightly saw danger in allowing just any-
body to study something that has so much potential for good and evil. Therefore, as
stated in Louis Jacob's The Jewish Religion: A Companion, "there are very few practical
Kabbalists nowadays, but many charlatans to prey on the gullible."
— Steven H. Pollak
Sources: Louis Jacob's "The Jewish Religion: A Companion" and Rabbi Joseph Telushkin's
"Jewish Literacy."
Write: Judaism 101, The Jewish News, 27676 Franklin Road, Southfield, MI'48054; by
fax: (248) 354-6069; by e-mail, rsklar@thejewishnews.com
Check out JN Online, www.detroitjewishnews.com; click on Judaism 101 on the home-
page.
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