Insight

Updates

Maryland Terror

stayed away right after Sept. 11, 2001.
Next door, at the Royal Dragon
glatt kosher Chinese restaurant, the
manager drummed his fingers on the
counter and surveyed the empty tables
not a single diner in the place.
One person, though, has seen a rise
accounted for prior to dismissal.
in business and that's the manager of
GEOFFREY MELADA
Changes have been made at other
the Pizza Hut on nearby Nicholson
Philadelphia Jewish Exponent
Jewish schools, according to
Lane. Since the shootings began,
Washington Jewish Week newspaper.
deliveries have increased five-fold.
Rockville, Md.
For example, at the Children's Learning
But there is much more than the bot-
ne morning last week, 30
Center Jewish Elementary School in
tom line at stake. The shootings are tak-
men were arriving at the
Rockville, parents now drive up to the
ihg a considerable toll on area residents.
Magen David Sephardic
door to pick up their children instead of
"I can't stand to live like this," said
Congregation in Rockville
letting them walk out to the car.
Aimee Avissar Lyani, a 25-year-old
to begin their daily minyan. A few
native of Israel who was
blocks away, on 'tree-lined
shopping at Israeli Accents,
Tilden Lane, three women were
a Judaica store.
jogging in tandem.
"I'm always looking for
Across from the joggers, a
white trucks because the
gray-haired man stood alone on
police say the killer uses a
a public tennis court, hitting
white
truck. I'm scared to
ground strokes with the help of
pump gas, and when I do, I
an automatic ball feeder.
turn on the pump, get in
Ordinarily, there would have
my car and lean back in my
been nothing unusual about any
seat so no one can see me. '"
of this, but in suburban
Another visitor to Israeli
Washington, D.C., the site of
Accents, a middle-aged
several deadly sniper attacks, such
Jewish woman who declined
activities now seem courageous.
to give her name, said Oct.
There have been 13 shootings
14 marked her first venture
since the "Beltway Sniper"
outside in more than a week.
began his rampage Oct 2.
"You think about it every
Six of these murders occurred Tim Goldsmith looks over his shoulder as he walks on
time
you look out the window,
around Rockville, a heavily
Rockville Pike this week in Rockville. Goldsmith, paid to
and
you
look up everywhere
Jewish community of roughly
wear this Disc-o-rama CD exchange store billboard is
you go," said. Ken Karbeling,
50,000 residents.
a slow-moving target, vulnerable to the D.C.-area sniper.
the manager of American
Rene Nissim, a Magen David
Reprographics, a printing firm
congregant and mother of three,
on Rockville Pike, just 100 yards from
was out of town when the first shoot-
And at the Hebrew Day School of
where one of the victims was shot.
ing took place. "I didn't believe the
Montgomery County in Silver Spring,
"It's all we talk about here," said
news," she said.
Md., dismissals are monitored and stu-
Karbeling, who is Jewish. "Everyone's
Who could blame her for being sur-
dents are kept inside during school hours. on edge, and constantly listening to
prised? Montgomery County rarely sees
the radio. It makes me hope people
violent crime, a fact touted on the coun-
here in America understand the situa-
ty's Web site. The median price for a
Tight Security
tion in Israel [better]."
single-Emily home is almost $400,000,
"All of our institutions — including
Even people who say they don't feel
and the schools are considered first-rate.
60 synagogues, eight day schools and
affected by the shootings are making
Now those same schools are on a
three community centers — have
changes in their lifestyles.
"Code Blue Alert," with all field trips
taken dramatic steps to increase secu-
Retiree Aaron Greenberg, 71, still
and outdoor activities canceled until
rity," said Robert Hyfler, chief operat-
comes to the Rockville Borders Books
further notice. •
ing officer of the Jewish Federation of
& Music store every morning to read
The story is much the same at
Greater Washington.
the paper and shop. Relaxing back in
Jewish schools. At the Charles E.
Safety concerns are also affecting
an upholstered chair, hands clasped
Smith Jewish Day School in Rockville,
a number of safety measures have been Jewish businesses. Katz's Kosher Market behind his head, he said, assuredly,
off Rockville Pike — a miles-long
he's been unaffected by the shootings.
implemented in the past two weeks.
melange of strip malls — is usually
A minute later, he corrected himself.
Students now need identification
packed with shoppers in late afternoon.
guess I have changed one thing. I
badges to enter the building; off-cam-
But last week, it was nearly empty.
don't take the sidewalk up here. Now,
pus driving privileges for 12th-graders
Owner Shirley Katz Kaufman blames I weave between the cars to avoid the
have been suspended; and each of the
the
sniper, adding that shoppers also
sniper's aim." ❑
school's 550 students must be

Fear of sniper changes how D. C. Jews live.

'TN

10/25
2002

34

Remember
When •

From the pages of the Jewish News for
this week 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 and 60
years ago.

aria,4.04,
The Vaad Harabonim (Council of
Orthodox Rabbis) in Far Rockaway,
N.Y., has established a fund to aid
agunot, women abandoned by their
husbands.
Jewish Family Service and Jewish
Vocational Service conduct local
workshops for the unemployed.

w.44,010,10; .tmrv--P

Dr. Richard C. Steiner, a Yeshiva
University professor in New York,
has deciphered an ancient manu-
script in which portions of Jewish
psalms are addressed to Egyptian
gods — an example of an ancient
religion borrowing another's rituals.

"v‘elpn

A local strike threatens the United
Hebrew Schools and B'nai David
school systems.
Michigan. Jewish War Veterans
gives copies of The Jewish War
Veterans Story to the Detroit Board
of Education for placement in every
high school library.

VWW:t*VVV:MVA.,

Primrose Benevolent Club plans its
28th annual local donor luncheon.
Marguerite Kozenn-Chajes is
named artistic director at the
Detroit Conservatory of Music.

More than 3,000 women are in
Detroit for the 38th annual nation-
al convention of Hadassah, the
Women's Zionist Organization of
America.
Morris Canvasser, vice president
of the Detroit Businessmen's Group
of the City of Hope, will again
head the fund-raising drive.

.

40
4
Q.e% k-AA'sVF:mk V ;
Jewish community activists have
been invited to a wartime emergency
conference and rally in Detroit.
The War Department has awarded
the Distinguished Flying Cross and
Silver Star to First Lt. Roy Bright of
the U.S. Army Air Corps in Detroit.

— Compiled by Holly Teasdle,
archivist, the Leo M. Franklin
Archives, Temple Beth El