Insight

Remember
When • •

Madam Secretary

Madeleine Albright closes out the Jewish Book Fair.

V•.*-
Rockettes benefit raises $955,000
for JARC.

12OrT

HARRY KIRSBAUM
Staff Writer

crowd of more than 750
packed the Jewish
Community Center audito-
rium in West Bloomfield to
hear Madeleine Albright on Nov. 16.
Charming, funny and using no notes,
the former U.S. ambassador to the
United Nations and former secretary of
state summarized her autobiography
Madame Secretary and commented on
today's world situation.
Her father was a diplomat in
Czechoslovakia, and the family escaped
to London when the Nazis invaded in
March 1939.
"We lived through the Blitz," she
said. "I did emerge from an air raid
shelter every morning as a little child to
see bombed buildings. That is a distin-
guishing factor in the way you see the
world."
After the war the family returned to
Czechoslovakia, where her father
became ambassador to Yugoslavia. In
1948, when the Communists took over,
her father asked for political asylum in
America.
"I tried desperately to become an
average American teenager," she said of
life in Colorado. "Not easy, given the
fact that my parents were very uptight
Europeans. My father used to go fishing
in a coat and tie."
She briefly mentioned her xarr i
("three days after graduating f*.
Wellesley"), moving to Chicagifi'arid
raising twin daughters while working
on a doctorate.
She also touched on her role.as U.N.
ambassador, but spent most other time
on her role as secretary of state. in the
Clinton administration.
'-
She said she discovered her Jewish
heritage at the same time she was being
vetted for the position.
My youngest daughter is. rriarri4d to -
a Jewish man," she said. "So tiiires.-eihe
set of in-laws that's really very thrilled.
"What was not good was when a
reporter revealed, first to my daughter,
that three of my grandparents had been

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

Mr7t

4

Hebrew University announces the
establishment of a $10 million
Golda Meir Endowment Fund on
the fifth anniversary of the former
prime minister's death.

Detroit conservative rabbis
announce a unanimous decision to
no longer officiate at marriages that
are followed by a non-kosher din-
ner.
The United Synagogue of
America passes a resolution at its
biennial convention allowing
women to be counted in
Conservative minyans.

Madeleine Albright

in concentration camps. This news
came about just as I was to be sworn in,
and it was unbelievable," she said. "I
feel desperately, desperately sad for my
parents who lived with this kind of
tragedy their whole lives and for what-
ever reason decided not to tell their
children."

Witness To History

As secretary of state, she said spent lots
_ of time on the Middle East, and wit-
nes'se&Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat
and Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin of
Israetkakirigliands-oil the White
Hatise- IaWn in X993 Rabin was slain
by
trOiciiretir*larer.
"It was a morrierit;bf such great
hope," she said. "Every . sassinatioh is
terrible, but that one, I think, rea lk did
change the course of histar);."
She also described the bureauer4tic
struggles that took,pl- ceas well als)khat
it's jike.to put togethq4.diplorri44:,
and
ii=nidortance...df
y exhausting every- diplomatic step
before you actually use force."
The diminutive Albright also
described her meeting with North

Korea's equally short leader, Kim Jong II.
"Having our pictures taken, I looked
at him," she said. "We're both the same
height. I had on high heels, but so did
he. His hair was a great deal poofier
than mine, but we did manage to have
about. 12 hours of substantive conversa-
tion, and I think we were working on a
way to try to make sure that they
stopped their missile technology and to
freeze their nuclear program. I'm very
sorry that those talks were not pursued."
In closing, she said, "I believe in the
goodness of American power. I have
seen it reflected throughout my life. The
United States is an indispensable nation.
I saw it every single day, in whatever
meeting I was in. If the U.S. didn't start
something, nothing happened.
"I believe America's strength comes
from having allies and friends. We need
to act and be engaged proactively with
others."
After waiting in a long line to have a
book signed by Albright, Judy
Desenberg of Huntington Woods called
it an honor and a privilege to hear her.
"She's very knowledgeable and taught
me that we can't always believe what we
read," Desenberg said. "I found her to
be amazingly fair, forthright and bril-
lia-ht." [11

Allen A. Warsen says he will retire
from active service at Adas Shalom
Synagogue in Detroit. He has served
Jewish schools for nearly 40 years.

. ,. ,. ,. .

,

4 k,

Samuel Rubiner, president of the
Detroit Jewish Welfare Federation,
will act as discussion leader at a
workshop session of large cities on
financial Jewish responsibilities at
the 22nd general assembly of the
Council of Jewish Federations and
Welfare Funds in Cleveland.

kr-mxr.

Congregation Beth Tefilo Emanuel
announces that the synagogue at
Taylor and Woodrow Wilson in
Detroit, built in 1924, is now free
of debt and will conduct a mort-
gageburning ceremony.
Detroiter Mrs. Joseph M. Welt
was elected president of the
National Council of Jewish Women
at the 17th triennial convention in
Chicago. 1-1

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

AIN

11/21

2003

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