Eye on People 3
Israel recently paid respect to the many soldiers who died from 1947-2001, the martyrs who defended their country. Many Israelis attended ceremonies in the military cemeteries. Israel has a special Remembrance Day for all the victims of its wars or terrorism, as well. Afterward the country celebrated its 53rd Independence Day.
Israel was established on May 14, 1948 and Ben-Gurion read its 'Declaration of Independence' (this is not a constitution!). This year the new president Moshe Katzav held a reception to honor Israel's most distinguished military leaders and Israel's Chief of Staff, Gen. Shaul Mofaz presented awards to 120 special soldiers.
In Jerusalem, the 38th Annual World Bible Quiz took place on the same day. The official celebrations were closed as usual by the 'Israel Prize Ceremony'. It was attended by President Katzav, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, Knesset speaker Abraham Burg and Minister of Education Limor Livnot.
Israelis tried to celebrate but it was hard to do when the Palestinian-Hizbullah terrorists attack your women and children non-stop.
According to MidEast News (Vol. 3 No. 1-2), whose editor is Prof. George Cohen and Aman Al-Majd Prince Hasan of Jordan, is now in a political process of comeback. Hasan joined the prestigious board of the Jewish Center of Oxford University (Yarnot Manor) which was established in 1970 by Prof. David Paterson.
The Jordanian sources noted that King Abdallah "appreciated and was reassured by Prince Hasan's commitment to late King Husayn's decision to confine the throne to his children in the past two years following his death. Prince Hasan has not been observed to defy that decision in any manner. The sources noted that King Abdallah personally greeted his uncle Hasan at the airport upon his return from Pakistan with Princess Tharwat on Tuesday after attending the funeral of Princess Tharwat's mother.]
The sources believe that the King's initiative reflects a royal inclination to re-establish Prince Hasan's political role, noting that he has been away from the limelight since February 1999. The sources brought to mind reports that the King chose his uncle Hasan to be the first to know that he planned to pension off Lieutenant General Samih al-Battikhi, former head of the General Intelligence Directorate. This is significant in view of the well-known animosity between Al-Battikhi and Prince Hasan during late King Husayn's illness, which forced the King to stay in the Mayo Clinic hospital for several months."
He has a dream: to marry an Israeli woman as soon as possible. His name: Todd Schayes, a coach who participated in the recent Maccabia games in Israel. In the opening ceremony in Jerusalem, Todd, 36, held up a sign which called on Israeli women to call him for a date... Todd's original idea of a personal ad paid off - he received thousands of calls. After all, there is a surplus of women in Israel... (a demographic fact).
Attorney General Elliot Spitzer, manages an investigation against the 'Holy Land Foundation.' He wants to know about the links between this fundraising organization and the 'Hamas,' a terrorist organization. The Holy Land has ties to the sophisticated pro-Palestinian network in the U.S. It is not a secret that anti-democratic organizations use democracy for their goals. Fundraisers for the P.L.O. and others claim that the donation is only for socio-economic goals.
Is there a revival of interest in the Yiddish culture in America? In the scholarly world one can see some signs of a revival. Some people keep arguing that the language is dying. Only the Orthodox speak Yiddish (around 10% of the total American Jewry).
Miriam Weinstein decided to write a popular history of the Yiddish language. She is not a scholar. Her book Yiddish: A Nation of Words (Steerforth Press, Vermont 2001) is a good survey. Some celebrities such as Hadassah Lieberman, Molly Katz and Ari L. Goldman praised the book. Indeed one can see Miriam Weinstein's love for this great language. Miriam Weinstein grew up in the Bronx post-World War II, where Yiddish was standard fare. Once a documentary filmmaker, she is now a freelance journalist whose features have won awards from the New England Press Association. She lives in Manchester, Massachusetts with her husband and has two grown children. This is her first book.
It should be noted that Weinstein failed to relate to the many books and research of this language in Israel. And furthermore she does not discuss the work of the greatest expert on this language today: David Katz who runs projects (linguistic) of the Yiddish language in Vilna, Lithuania.
In the last 25 years, Katz has stimulated the revival of the Yiddish language more than anyone else. He also promoted his disciples such as Dov Ber Kerler to do more and more research of this language. I am sure that Weinstein's book will also stimulate the revival of the Yiddish culture. It is a popular book but it is a contribution to the survival of this culture
Tomer Karissi, 25, a computer programmer, changed his name to Tomer.Com, MA'ARIV reported. The name change was made possible only after he wrote several letters to Ministry of Interior officials explaining his unique request.
"Last names are so archaic," he said. "By changing my last name to .Com, everyone will know that I'm a technological person." He also holds the domain name Tomer.Com, which he sees as a "total linkage between my name and my website. My website becomes my identity."
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