As I Stand Here ...

he TV show
"Fear Factor"
has had, I'm
told, some really scary
situations for folks to
muddle through.
Though hardly on
the same level, the
idea of public speak-
SY
ing is enough to
MANELLO reduce many of us to
Editorial
a quivering mass.
Assistant
Many would proba-
bly opt for eating
cockroaches instead.
Having taught public speaking for

U-M's Martin Feted

rambles. How can you hope to main-
tain interest if you are on a trip to
Who-Cares-Land? The audience does
not care to be a part of every fond
memory of every departed relative
who would have loved to have been
present.
We do not have to be treated to
your thanking every individual
throughout your life who, in some
way, was responsible for you being
where you are today. If your audience
is talking louder than you, you've lost
them: Tune in, and turn off the jabber.
• Be tasteful. Even though the situ-
ation is not a formal one, no one real-
ly wants to be exposed to crude
humor. A small gathering of close
buddies at a bachelor party is one

ed the fund-raising event that raised
about $100,000 for the Washtenaw
Federation, and about half the crowd
was Jewish, said Jeffrey Levin,
Federation executive director.
"It's not intended to be a Jewish
education event for the non-Jewish
community, but we do
try to make the point
that you don't have to
be Jewish to live a life
that's infused with
Jewish values," he said.

in their midst," he said.
current situation in the Middle
"The Palestinian Arabs sure-
East, Morton Klein, Zionist
ly understand a real peace
Organization of America
with Israel will benefit their
national president, issued a
economy dramatically, and
warning at Congregation
that
their personal material
Shaarey Zedek on Holocaust
lives
will increase dramati-
Mmemorial Day May 5.
cally. But they choose con-
"We thought the problem
with [pre-war] Germany was
Morton Klein flict over real conciliation.
"Whether we give them a
their economy was no good, but
there were other ideological issues that state or more land will not resolve the
underlying issue that's causing this
were involved," he told a crowd of
conflict."
180. "This devastating and unique
Klein was outraged at the concept of
event happened at least in part
Hamas
terror group members running
because the world and even we Jews
in Palestinian elections, and said Israel
ignored and were silent in the face of
should not pull out of the Gaza Strip.
an emerging and later unbridled
Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin gave
hatred."
The same, he says, can be said about away 88 percent of the Gaza Strip to
the Arabs in 1994; the 12 percent left
the Arab world. "Their hatred of Jews
should remain Jewish, Klein said.
is not about economics — it's because
— Harry Kirsbaum, staff writer
of nationalism, religious differences
and not accepting a non-Muslim state

Jewish Federation of Washtenaw
County's president, Neal Elyakin, pre-
sented the Humanitarian Award to
Bill Martin, University of Michigan's
athletic director at the
Federation's biannual
awards dinner in
Ypsilanti on May 2.
Martin has served on
the United States
Olympic Committee. He
was president of the
Washtenaw Land
Conservancy for 10 years
Neal Elyakin, president of
and donated parkland to
the Jewish Federation of
Ann Arbor, and has served
Washtenaw County, pres-
on U-M's Center for the
ents
the Humanitarian
Education of Women's
Award
to Bill Martin,
advisory board.
U-M's
athletic
director.
About 450 people attend-

'ha
Don't Know©

thing; a gathering of family and
friends at a rehearsal dinner is anoth-
er. I do not want to be a part of "pri-
vate jokes" about the groom's proclivi-
ties or the bride's indiscretions. TMI!
(too much information)
• Be brief. I always advised speakers
to stop before the audience wants you
to.
Whether you are giving a toast, a
roast or a word of thanks, you can do
it.
Just remember, it's only for a few
minutes and it could be worse: You
could be forced to be surrounded by
cockroaches in your underwear.
(No, I do not know how they came
to be wearing your underwear; thank
you, Groucho Marx!)

many years, I feel that I can offer
some caveats about such performances
that will aid you should you be called
on to say a few words. Armed with
these, you will be less likely to com-
mit a goof or embarrass yourself as
you face the public to speak.
• Use notes. Memory is so unreli-
able in the best of situations; don't
risk forgetting. It is not necessary to
write out every word so that you
could have played a recording or your
talk. Also, nothing is more intimidat-
ing to an audience to see a manuscript
being plopped on the podium and
knowing that they are trapped into
listening.
• Be relevant. Nothing is more bor-
ing to an audience than someone who

I

2005

Why do Jews recite a prayer at the end of the holi-
day of Sukkot requesting that next year's sukkah
be made of fish skin?

— Harry Kirsbaum,
staIfwriter

ZOA
Warning

Comparing the
Holocaust during
World War II to the

❑

Yiddish Limericks

Do You Remember?

"With flayshiks* so costly," said Harv,
"I'll have to eat milchiks** or pareve***.
These kosher meat prices
Are causing a crisis.
It's pay the mashgeeach****, or starve!"

May 1985
Israel's Arabic television station, a leading heart
surgeon and a Yiddish poet were among the win-
ners of the year's Israel Prize.
Arabic TV "found proper balance as a key
medium"; Professor Henry Neufeld established
the first intensive care unit at Sheba Medical
Center for victims of heart attacks; Avraham
Sutzkever was described as "a unique poet from
his early days in Vilna to present day Israel."

— Goldftin

— Martha Jo Fleischmann

-sudaq E1D DTITETS
-saw atp s-e inDoo on palpipaJd sT tjaTTlnn ctretpETAaT
jo up's alp Aq paianop aq 1PM timpins
Follyq
sc.reaA ixau a-e tp skeId 2u!ssam ata :Jamsuy

meat pro ducts
** dairy pro ducts
"* "neutral" foods
**** supervisor of kosher dietary law

— Sy Manello, editorial assistant