Question of the Week: With the new millennium, putting
together time capsules is all the rage. The first serious attempt
at a time capsule, however, was made as early as 1940,
when the president of Oglethorpe College in Atlanta, Ga., cre-
ated the Crypt of Civilization time capsule. The size of a swim-
ming pool, the capsule still lies beneath the college and will be
opened in the year 8113. Among its contents are records by
what Jewish artist?

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H honor of the start of
winter, here are some truly
chilling facts aoout Israel anc
Jewish life.

Elizabeth Applebaum
AppleTree Editor

1. Two years ago, virtually the
entire State of Israel shut down.
Was there a mass electrical prob-
lem? No, that would have been
manageable. Did everyone go on
strike? No, it was much more chal-
lenging than that. The issue: snow.
In 1998, several inches of snow
fell everywhere, from the Golan
Heights to the Negev Desert.
Israelis just didn't know what to do.
Schools were closed, shops shut
their doors, all transportation was

down and even the Knesset was
seriously contemplating not meet-
ing — despite the fact that it was
I to hold a critical session.
Fortunately, the snow melted
quickly, and the next day it was
1 business as usual.

2. Last year, California suffered
a harsh winter, including well-
below-freezing temperatures and
cold rain that lasted through
March.
This was anything but good
news for John Kirkpatrick, whom
the Wall Street- Journal labeled

An etrog is inspected
for blemishes.

"the only large-scale U.S.
producer of the etrog."
(Etrogim are large citrus fruit
used for the holiday of
Sukkot.)
Kirkpatrick, a Presbyterian
who lives outside Exeter
(about 40 miles from Fres-
no), Calif., said that
because of the weather, he
was unable to grow any
etrogim.
"It's a total failure," he told
thelerusalem Post of his crop.
Kirkpatrick, who has about
250 etrog trees, got into the

You can learn a lot by (earn-
ing a little. In Fact-A-Day,
AppleTree provides you with
fascinating tidbits about any
Jewish subject, past or pre-
sent. This month, in honor of
the start of winter on Dec.
21, you'll find a collection of
31 — one for each day of
December — great facts
about judaisrn and Jews and
Israel and cold stuff.
Do you have a suggestion
for Fact-A-Day? If so, please
drop us a line at AppleTree
Facts, 27676 Franklin Road,
Southfield, MI 48034;
fax, (248) 354-6069; call,
(248) 354-6060, ext. 308
(voice-mail only); or e-mail

philapple@earthlink.net

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