January's People
By: Gad Nahshon
In his first meeting with any group since assuming his position as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Richard Holbrooke told Conference of Presidents leaders that American priorities for the United Nations include attacking treatment of Israel by the world body, its exclusion from any regional group, as well as blatant anti-semitism within certain U.N. quarters.
He also noted the American commitment to pursuing U.N. reform and indicated that other priorities with respect to the United Nations include Kosovo, Timor and Iraq. Ambassador Holbrooke displays a "tree of life" mezuzah presented to him by the Conference.
Amnon Lipkin-Shahak, founder of Israel's National Center Party and former Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces, has been appointed Israel's Minister of Tourism by Prime Minister, Ehud Barak.
Amnon Lipkin-Shahak was born in Tel Aviv on March 18, 1944, a descendant of Jewish settlers who left Russia six generations ago and settled in Hebron.
He graduated from the Military Boarding High School for Officers in Haifa in 1962 and then enlisted into the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) where he served until July 1998. During his military term of duty, Lipkin-Shahak held various commanding posts in the paratroopers forces and armored brigades including, in the rank of General, the posts of Commander of the Central Command and Head of Military Intelligence.
In March 1991, Lipkin-Shahak was appointed Deputy Chief of Staff of the IDF and was assigned by the last Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin to head the Israeli military team in negotiating the Gaza-Jericho Agreement with the Palestinians.
In 1995, Lipkin-Shahak was promoted to Lieutenant-General and appointed Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces. As Chief of Staff, he was sent by Prime Minister Rabin to Washington for summit negotiations with Syrian counterpart General Hikmat Al-Shihabi on security arrangements in preparation for the advancement of the peace process between Israel and Syria. Lipkin-Shahak's awards for peacetime and combat service include two Israeli citations for Valor and an American Legion of Merit Citation signed by President Clinton, awarded in June 1997 by the American Chairman of the Join Chiefs of Staff.
Lipkin-Shahak holds a BA degree in history from Tel Aviv University, and is married to Tallie, with whom he has six children.
He retired from the Israeli Defense Forces in July 1998. In October 1998, he was chosen "Man of the Year" in Israeli politics and society by the most popular newspaper in Israel. He then went on to form the Center Party, which was to attract a variety of senior political personalities to its ranks.
Israel's Ambassador in the U.S., Zalman Shoval, was the host of the ceremony of the opening of Israel's Pavilion at the Millennium Village 2000 in Orlando, Florida. This next century Israeli Pavilion became 'famous' because of the protest of the Arab-American community against the way that Israel depicted Jerusalem, of course, as one united capital of Israel. The Arabs are threatening to boycott 'Disney World' as a sort of punishment. Sad to say, the Arab's blackmailing was successful. The American Jewish community has ignored the fact that these Arab-Americans and many Muslim organizations in this country do not support the peace process.
Jaacob Baal-Teshuva, the famous internationally known expert on the works of Marc Chagall, published a new book (publisher: Taschen) on this legendary genius. The book is on the carpets which were produced by Chagall in his last 30 years. The three first carpets which depicted the Jewish history are to be found in.The Israeli Knesset, Jerusalem,
Recently, New York learned that the famous art dealer, Leo Castelli, died at the age of 91. Castelli was an artistic institution in America. He discovered and promoted many great artists such as Andy Warhol, Jasper Jones, and Roy Lictenstein. Only few people knew that Castelli was born in the city of Triest as Leo Kraus! He was Jewish!
"Yiddishland" is the title of a 587 page book which is a new: ".powerfully emotive pictorial record of a world that has disappeared from our midst." The authors who fell in love with this world that disappeared with the shoal are: Gerard Silvain and Henry Minczeles.
In 1939, over 11 million Jews spoke Yiddish and today there are only one million. Well, we must preserve their heritage and we should never forget them. Therefore, we should salute the two scholars: Gerard Silvain is the descendant of a very old Jewish family that has its roots in Alsace and Lorraine districts of France.
In an introductory essay he discusses the history of the postcard and explains how it has become a fundamental vehicle of collective Jewish memory. Over 35 years he has collected many tens of thousands of Judaic postcards and his fields of research have embraced the Dreyfus affair and the rise of Nazism. Yiddishland is his fifth book, the first to be published in English.
Henri Minczeles traces the religious, social, cultural, intellectual and political evolution of Yiddishland from 1791, when Catherine the Great created a 'zone of residence' for the Jews, through to the Shoah and beyond. He concludes, "The Jewish people has always been fragile and vulnerable but, curiously, it is precisely this which has ensured its survival."
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