United States Senators and Congressmen are warning that a unilateral declaration by Yasser Arafat on Palestinian statehood could bring about a reassessment of the US relationship with the Palestinian Authority and result in an immediate end of economic aid. The American warning was included in a letter which was sent to President Bill Clinton by bi-partisan group of Senators, headed by the Republican majority leader, Trent Lott, and Senate Democratic minority leader, Thomas Daschle.

In the joint letter, both state that a unilateral declaration of Palestinian statehood will be an expression of withdrawal from the peace process and lead to an escalation of tension and violence. The two maintain that in the past the Palestinians already made threatening statements against Israeli settlements in areas, which they claim for themselves. "We therefore demand that you repeat and stress to Arafat, US opposition to a unilateral declaration of Palestinian statehood. He has to understand that such an act will cause a strong international response including a new assessment of US relations with the Palestinian Authority."

AIPAC President Tim Wuliger yesterday thanked the senators for having sent the letter. Legislation was recently passed in Congress against the unilateral declaration of Palestinian statehood. In such a case, any US aid to the Palestinians would be prohibited and the President would be entitled to instruct the US Ambassador to the United Nations to object to the acceptance of such a state in the United Nations.

Twenty one Jewish girl from throughout the FSU, students at the "Beth Chana" College in Dnepropetrovsk in the Ukraine, were guests at the President's Mansion in Jerusalem last week, following a four month in-service training in Israel. The in-service training in Israel is part of a four-year program for the teaching of Hebrew and Jewish content at Jewish schools in the FSU.

Earlier this week, Israeli president Moshe Katsav, and Jewish Agency Chairman Sallai Meridor, agreed to jointly promote projects of mutual interest regarding Jewish unity, to initiate projects on Zionist issues and to encourage aliyah. The two decided to hold periodic meetings in order to update and report on developments in the Jewish world. They asked Arieh Shumer, Director General, President's Mansion, and Aaron Abramovich, Director General of the Jewish Agency to identify appropriate projects for immediate action.

The "Beth Chana" College was established five years ago with the generosity of Israeli businessman Lev Levayev, President of the "Or Avner " Foundation. The foundation invests 6 million dollars every year in Jewish Education at the FSU and the brainchild of the Lubavitcher Rebbe who told Levayev more than a decade ago to look after the Soviet Jews. The teacher training program is supported by the Jewish Agency, the Ministry of Education, the Liaison Bureau, the joint program for Jewish Zionist Education, and the "Orot Israel" Teaching College.

The young students came to study in Israel following a three-year teacher-training course at the Beth Hanna College. While they were here they traveled all over the country, enhanced their knowledge of Hebrew and Judaism and became familiar with Israeli society and democratic government. Next week they will return to the Ukraine where they will study for another year before being sent to teach at Jewish schools and kindergartens all over the FSU. Following their teaching period, the girls will make aliyah and will be integrated in Israel's education system.

Uri Ohali, JAFI Director of Formal Education in the FSU, maintains that the Beth Chana and similar programs - supported by the Jewish Agency, are designed to train local teachers in the FSU, who speak the language of the pupils and are knowledgeable in Judaism and Zionism and have a sense of mission.

Amos Hermon, chairman of the Jewish Agency's Education Committee, addressed the girls and said: "Today you are not only teachers of Jewish identity, Judaism and Jewish tradition, you are also ambassadors for the State of Israel in the communities in which you will serve. It is important that you tell the Jews in those communities that there is one small country - the State of Israel, which is home to all Jews".

Israeli President Moshe Katsav said that the most outstanding achievement of the Jewish people in the last 2000 years is the establishment of the State of Israel, but nevertheless there are dangers threatening the Jewish people, such as assimilation. Amos Hermon said "you are not only ambassadors of the State of Israel but also ambassadors of the Jewish people setting out on a mission to prevent Jewish communities from becoming alienated from Judaism, the State of Israel and the Jewish religion."

Lev Levayev called on the President to ask the prime minister to increase the budget for Jewish education in the Diaspora: "Jewish education in the FSU is the best in the Jewish world: better than Jewish education in the State of Israel, better than in the US, and better than Jewish education anywhere else in the world". Levayev added that US Jewry is disintegrating because it did not invest in Jewish education. In contrast, the process of assimilation in the FSU has been halted, thanks to investment by all entities involved in Jewish education, from the Jewish Agency, through the Ministry of Education and the Liaison Bureau.

Beth Chana is a residential school and takes in students from throughout the FSU. Thus for example, Lena Marokhnenko from Tutiev, 1500 kilometers away from Dnepropetrovsk, studies at the college, as a result of an advertisement that her uncle saw in the press. Lena says that before coming to the college she could not read a word of Hebrew, knew nothing about Jewish festivals or the names of any cities in Israel.

"I wish us to be one family with no one looking at another's identity card," said Ukrainian President Leonid D. Kuchma this week. "I dream that Jews will not leave Ukraine, and that together we will build the kind of state that will make those who left, wish to return," he made these remarks during a visit to the Choral Synagogue in Dnepropetrovsk, the "Golden Rose Choral Synagogue," scheduled to open following completion of extensive renovations.

During the visit, Kuchma met with Jewish community leaders in Dnepropetrovsk, including Rabbi Shmuel Kaminetzky, the region's Chief Rabbi, and Alexander Friedkiss chairman of the city's Jewish community. During the meeting Rabbi Kaminetzky made a special prayer for the well-being of the president, translated by Friedkiss from Hebrew to Ukrainian.

Following a long period of renovations, the "Golden Rose Choral" synagogue will be formally inaugurated next week, in a ceremony that will be attended by hundreds of Jewish leaders and activists from the Ukraine and other parts of the world. The ceremony will be attended by Rabbi Kamenitzky, Alexander Friedkiss, Genady Bogolovov chairman of the community's Board of Trustees, Nikolai Shavets, governor of the Dnepropetrovsk Region, Israeli businessman and philanthropist Lev Levayev, and other public figures.

The Jewish Agency will be represented by Amos Lahat, Director of the FSU Department, who said about the upcoming event: "We congratulate the community on the re-opening of the ancient synagogue, which is one of the key events in Jewish life in the Ukraine." "However, this is also a joyous occasion for the 15,000 olim from Dnepropetrovsk, who came to Israel within the last decade. To mark the occasion, the Jewish Agency will donate a unique mezuzah wrought in bronze, by Israeli artist Frank Meisler. This mezuzah will adorn the entrance to the synagogue and will symbolize the bridge between the local Jewish community, the people in Israel and the Diaspora".

Yaakov Roitman, head of the Jewish Agency's delegation in Dnepropetrovsk, said that the construction of the Golden Rose synagogue 150 years ago was, funded by the city's Jewish community (then called Yeketerinoslav). In 1924 the synagogue was appropriated by the Communist regime, which turned it into a workers' club and then into a warehouse. It was only at the end of 1996 that the Jewish community managed to repossess the destroyed synagogue, in accordance with a Ukrainian government decision.

For several years the Jewish community sought information pertaining to the synagogue's original design and in 1999 renovation began. The reconstruction was designed by a local Jewish architect, A. Dolnik. The foyer, the prayer hall and the Holy Ark were designed by the Israeli artist Frank Meisler. The community intends to establish adjacent to the synagogue a Jewish Museum to be named "Tkumah" (rebirth) as well as a community center that will incorporate a library, soup kitchen, class-rooms and offices.

Dnepropetrovsk is situated in the eastern Ukraine, on the Dneiper River and has an overall population of 1.2 million. According to Jewish Agency FSU Department estimates, there are 45,000 Jews in the region. Of those 29,000 live in the city. Jewish life in Dnepropetrovsk is vibrant and a large number of Jewish organizations are active, including the JDC and Habad.

The Jewish Agency runs 15 Hebrew ulpanim in Dnepropetrovsk and 13 surrounding towns, dozens of counseling groups, aliyah preparation, 10 youth and student clubs, preparatory programs for youngsters wishing to study in Israel, and summer and winter camps for children. Since the beginning of the year 550 olim have come to Israel from Dnepropetrovsk.

Golden Rose Choral Synagogue

• 1605 olim arrived in Israel this week, 1410 from Eastern Europe. The rest came from France, England, South Africa, Germany, Argentina, Chile, Brazil, Venezuela, Mexico, India, Ethiopia, the US, and Canada.

• 12,835 olim from Ukraine and Moldava arrived in Israel during the first 8 months of the year. 11, 667 came from Ukraine and the rest from Moldava. According to Jewish Agency estimates some 20,000 olim will arrive in Israel from Ukraine and 2,000 from Moldavia by the end of the year.

• $ 40,000 - Jewish Agency support this year for "World Yavneh" activities - the International Religious Jewish Student Organization, which offers Jewish students all over the world a social framework alongside a religious Zionist education. "World Yavneh" was established in 1984 in order to promote the centrality of the State of Israel, the Torah and the Jewish people and to emphasize the importance of aliyah.

• $158,000 - Jewish Agency budget for the "Otzma" program in 2000. Dozens of Jewish youngsters from North America, ages 19-25, come to Israel each year for an educational program lasting several months, which combines kibbutz life with the study of Hebrew, seminars, tours of the country and volunteer work in the community.

• $18.7 million - budget for the Partnership 2000 program for the year 2000. The program is run jointly by the Jewish Agency, United Jewish Communities of North America and UIA/Keren Hayesod. The program is designed to strengthen ties between communities in the Diaspora and areas of national priority in Israel. The Partnership 2000 program will raise an additional $16 million from external sources this year.

After an extended dispute between the orthodox Jewish community in Belarus and the "secular" Jewish community, the two sides met this week for a rapprochement, assisted by Jewish Agency and JDC representatives. The parties agreed to end hostilities and reciprocal insults and to make every effort to reach unity and cooperation before the Holidays.

The Belarus Jewish Communities Federation has 25 communities with more than 34,000 members. The Orthodox Union runs 13 communities and has several hundred members. Baruch Kamil, head of the Jewish Agency delegation in Belarus, said that the dispute between the two parties has been going on for a long time, but reached a peak on the subject of the erection of a monument to the victims of the holocaust, which was dedicated two months ago at the Yama Valley of Death in Minsk.

Yuri Doran, president of the Orthodox Community Federation in Belarus, attacked Leonid Levin, chairman of the Belarus Federation of Jewish Communities and Organizations, contending that the monument had been erected contrary to Jewish Law, as it depicted a human form in a burial site. In addition, Doran sent a letter to all the organizations that contributed funds for the erection of the monument, asking not to support the project that is a "desecration of the God's name". Doran's comments were accompanied by a series of severe insults that were directed against Levine and the organizations he heads.

Despite Doran's contentions, rabbis in the FSU and in Israel, including Israel's Chief Rabbi Israel Meir Lau, maintained that there is no problem with the monument, and welcomed the project which perpetuates the memory of the Jews of Belarus who perished in the holocaust. The monument was unveiled last July at a special ceremony in the presence of Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko, Jewish Agency Treasurer Chaim Chesler, and Jewish and non-Jewish leaders from around the world.

Following the breach in relations within the community, impartial Jewish Agency and JDC representatives from abroad, were asked to attend the meeting and act as a go between the rival parties. According to Kamil, following the extensive discussions, the parties agreed to end the dispute and meet again to discuss joint activities for the Rosh Hashana and Sukkot. Kamil welcomed the end of the dispute and said that "unity is important for both community organizations internally, and especially in order to represent Belarus Jewry to the authorities".

Twelve young Israeli women left for Frankfurt and Berlin in Germany this week to teach Jewish identity in the local Jewish communities. Half of the group came within the framework of the Bat Ami National Service program; the other six, have recently completed their army service.

According Jewish Agency emissary in Germany Eli Stern, who coordinates the program, this is the first time Israel is officially sending representatives to Germany for this purpose. The young women will work with the Jewish populations of 24 small Jewish communities throughout Germany, particularly children and youth, and teach them about Judaism, Jewish traditions, and Israel. They will also build up an infrastructure for youth work and encourage young people to assume leadership positions in their communities.

Every third weekend, a community Shabbat will be held. Children from the entire region will be invited , together with their families, to spend Friday through Sunday with the young volunteers to Berlin and Frankfurt for festive meals, Shabbat services, and learning.

The program was the initiative of the ZWST, the Central Welfare Board of Jewish communities in Germany. The volunteers were recruited by the B'nei Akiva youth movement, and trained by the Jewish Agency. The program is also supported by the L.A. Pincus Fund for Jewish Education in the Diaspora. Benny Bloch, Executive Director of the ZWST, would like to establish similar programs in Dusseldorf and Munich next year.

With 93,000 Jews spread out over 85 cities and towns, Germany has the third largest Jewish population of Western Europe. Some seventy percent are from the former Soviet Union; each year, 7,000 new immigrants arrive in Germany.

More than 50 Jewish students and youngsters last Shabbat celebrated five years since the opening of Jewish Agency's youth club in Birobidjan, formerly capital of the autonomous Jewish republic in eastern Russia. Members and youth leaders who have been active in the club in recent years were present at the event, including several graduates who came from Khabarovsk specially for the event, a distance of 180 km. The youngsters shared memories and experiences from their years of joint work and discussed the expansion of Jewish activity in the area.

Micha Spiegel, head of the Jewish Agency delegation in the Khabarovsk region, said that this is the first Jewish youth club in Birobidjan in many years, attracting Jewish youngsters in the town. "Today this is one of the few places in the town where dozens of Jewish youngsters and students can meet and learn together about Jewish culture and the State of Israel."

The club runs a range of activities in the areas of culture and the arts. Participants in the club celebrate Jewish festivals together, organize events with the local Jewish community and engage in voluntary social activities. Several experienced youth leaders, who have been trained at Jewish Agency leadership programs such as "Lechet" and "Bar Giorah," are active at the club and in some instances youth leaders from Israel serve as counselors at the club for short periods of time.

Birobidjan is situated in Russia's far East region, on the banks of the River Birah, close to the Chinese border, and it is the central town in the Birobidjan district. Birobidjan was established by Stalin in the 1930's as a Jewish homeland in the USSR and the region was considered an autonomous Jewish Republic. The Soviets hoped that this would help them improve their relations with the western world and would even benefit from donations from world Jewry.

During the 1930's Jewish immigrants streamed to Birobidjan from the US, South America, Europe and even from Palestine. 130 Jewish schools opened in the region and taught Yiddish and numerous cultural institutions, Jewish cooperative farms (kolkhoz) and synagogues were established. Yiddish was declared the official language on an equal footing with Russian, and Jews were integrated in key local government positions. After the Second World War thousands of Jews from the FSU migrated to Birobidjan and the Jewish population in the Republic exceeded 30,000.

However, persecution by the central Soviet government was halted the development of Jewish life in the area beginning with the end of the 1940's. In 1958 then Soviet Secretary General Nikita Kruschov stated that the attempt to establish a Jewish republic had failed on the grounds that the Jews were "undisciplined and do not like cooperative work". After this Birobidjan began to lose its Jewish character and in 1970 Jews accounted for just 6% of the overall population in the province.

"Perestroika" and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in the early 1990's led to the revival of Jewish life in the region. According to Jewish Agency's FSU Department some 6,700 Jews are estimated to be living in Birobidjan. The town has a synagogue, Jewish day school sponsored by the Russian Ministry of Education, Jewish Sunday school run by the Israeli Center together with the local Jewish community, and several other Jewish organizations, including the Jewish Agency.

The Jewish Agency runs Hebrew ulpanim, a youth club, summer camps and an aliyah coordinator in Birobidjan, which provide counseling for those who wish to make aliyah. Over the last three and a half years, 3,400 olim have arrived in Israel from Birobidjan.

The congregants of Temple Beth Shalom of Succasunna, New Jersey recently "adopted" the Progressive Jewish Community in Zvenigorodka, Ukraine. There are 160 Jews living in Zvenigorodka out of a total population of 15,000. The local government in that city returned the synagogue building - that had been confiscated prior to World War II -- to the Jewish community.

The Jewish Federation of MetroWest, New Jersey has twinned with Cherkassy, and Beth Shalom is one of the first congregations to take up the initiative and adopt a tiny congregation in the Chekassy region.

Beth Shalom's rabbi, Joel Soffin, and 10 members of his New Jersey congregation, donated a Torah scroll to the congregation, and joined in a Bar Mitzva celebration for 18 young people. The congregation is currently raising funds to renovate the entire synagogue building, which had formerly been used as an eye clinic. It will also restore the Zvenigorodka Jewish cemetery.

"This is a unique initial step," said Rabbi Alex Duhovny, Chief Rabbi of Kiev and Ukraine for the Progressive Jewish Congregations. "Beth Shalom decided to renew the synagogue building as well as renew religious life in Zvenigorodka, which was a former shtetl. The entire Jewish community has joined the new congregation, which has decided to call itself Beth Shalom as well. It will serve as a synagogue center for the small towns in Cherkassy that have no synagogues of their own," he said.

"There are 35 Progressive congregations throughout Ukraine, and five have recently had their synagogue buildings returned by their municipal governments. We need to find more congregations to follow the example of Beth Shalom, and help us refurbish these buildings," said Rabbi Duhovny.

New comprehensive research in the area of eye disease particularly glaucoma conducted by Carmel Hospital in Haifa will help in the prevention of blindness among Ethiopian immigrants. The disease, which is widespread among Ethiopian immigrants, is one the major causes of blindness among them. The research is made possible by a special grant by the Haifa-Boston Connection.

According to the representative of the Haifa-Boston Connection in Israel, Yossie Gluzman, the program includes in-depth eye examinations and immediate treatment when necessary.

The research, initiated by Dr. Orna Geyer, Director of the Eye Department at the Carmel, and conducted in collaboration with Dr. Michael Cooper, an expert in ocular medicine from Harvard University, is part of the cooperative effort between the Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Greater Boston and Haifa to advance medicine in Haifa. Haifa and Boston are linked as partner communities within the Jewish Agency-United Jewish Communities Partnership 2000 framework.

The Boston-Haifa Partnership committee for Ethiopian immigrants, headed by Prof. Bill Friedman, has provided some $125,000 in assistance to absorb Ethiopian Jews in Haifa in the areas of education, employment as well as disease prevention.

A new Jewish Agency initiative will engage high-school students in a "personal commitment" program for the absorption of aliyah and give them the opportunity to volunteer in other areas in which the Jewish Agency is active including strengthening the bond with Jewish communities in the Diaspora. The decision was made this week at a meeting between Jewish Agency and Ministry of Education representatives. Within the framework of the "personal commitment" program, 10th graders at Israeli high schools volunteer three hours a week in the community for a year.

According to Jewish Agency Chairman, Sallai Meridor, the initiative is designed to increase the involvement of high-school students in immigrant absorption in their neighborhoods. "The personal contact that will be created between veterans and new immigrants, will ease much of the hardship of immigration experienced by the olim" said Meridor. He added that contrary to the prevailing impression that Israeli youth is indifferent, meetings with them show that many wish to increase their social involvement understanding the difficulties of the olim and are willing to help them.

A joint steering committee of both bodies will prepare, in the next few days, a list of the projects and assignments in which the students will be involved, and will also offer community schools in Israel the option of adopting projects according to grade levels.

Students in grade 10 will be encouraged to adopt individual olim who come to Israel as part of the Jewish Agency programs for young olim, such as Na'aleh, Selah and Chalom; they will be able to adopt teenagers at youth villages; and ease the absorption of Ethiopian children by providing social companionship and tutoring; they will be able to help adult olim to learn Hebrew and will help them become familiar with the Israeli establishment.

The students will also be able to strengthen the ties with Jews in the Diaspora, by forming joint study groups for Israeli and Diaspora youth on the Internet. They will also be offered the opportunity to help disadvantaged sectors of the Israeli population such as the elderly, single-parent families, at-risk and disadvantaged youth.

Next week, a seminar will be held at Haifa University under the banner of "Jewish Communities in the Diaspora" dealing with the changes that have taken place in Jewish communities in the Diaspora in recent years and their implication on the relations with the State of Israel.

The seminar is the initiative of the Jewish Agency, the Haifa University and the Center for Local Government. Heads of local authorities in Israel, community center directors, academics, representatives of Jewish communities in the Diaspora and activists from various regions of the Jewish Agency/United Jewish Communities Partnership 2000 program will be attending.

Zvi Kahana, Director of Northern Region at the Jewish Agency says that the aim of the seminar is to expand the dialogue and partnership between communities in the Diaspora and the State of Israel, as well as to examine ways in which Israeli society can contribute to the communities in the Diaspora.

Subjects of discussion include: The role of the Jewish Agency's Partnership 2000 program in building bridges between the Diaspora and Israel, and various partnership models in Israel-Diaspora relations.

The Jewish Agency's Partnership 2000 program is one of the key components in strengthening the bond between Jewish communities around the world and Israel. In 1999, the Jewish Agency supported more than 600 programs in 28 national priority areas, linked to more than 500 Jewish communities all over the world. The joint programs concern Jewish education, social issues, regional development, leadership development, and strengthening ties between the residents of different parts of Israel and Jewish communities overseas.

This year the Jewish Agency is expanding partnerships to additional locations in the center of Israel, and to Jewish communities in the FSU. The Agency also plans to expand its ties on the basis of common interests between various communities in Israel and overseas, through private initiatives.

A new $2-million fellowship fund designed to encourage advanced studies by women scientists was dedicated this week at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. The first fellowships will be awarded to three female graduate students in mathematics, computer science and applied chemistry.

The fund, known as the Dalia and Dan Maydan Fellowship Endowment Fund, was established by Dan Maydan, president of Applied Materials Inc. of Santa Clara, Calif., as a memorial to his wife Dalia, who died of a brain tumor four months ago at the age of 64. Dalia Maydan received a Ph.D. in physical chemistry from the Hebrew University in 1962.

Both Dan and Dalia Maydan were born and educated in Israel and have made a major impact on the advancement of science and technology in the world. Since Dalia Maydan had devoted her professional life to teaching science to young people at the Hebrew University and universities in Britain and the U.S., her husband felt that giving young people - especially women - the opportunity to pursue their scientific education was a meaningful way for his wife's legacy to continue in future generations. "It is my hope that Dalia's love of science and her zeal for education for women will live on in each scholarship recipient," he said.

Acting Foreign Minister Shlomo Ben Ami announced in New York that negotiations with the Palestinian Authority would continue in an effort to reach an agreement in the coming weeks. The Central Council of the PLO decided this week to postpone the date of declaring a Palestinian state from the 13^th of September and to begin preparations for a constitution and for the running of an independent country.

Prime Minister Ehud Barak announced that Israel's Ambassador to Vienna will not be returned, in spite of the decision by the European Union to lift sanctions against Austria. Barak condemned the decision by the European Union and stressed that the members of Joerg Haider's party had not left the coalition.

Attorney General Elyakim Rubinstein recommended to the Israeli police to begin an investigation against Hadash Party Chairman, MK Mohammed Barakeh, on suspicion of inciting violence against the police.

Ninety seven people have recently fallen ill due to White Nile fever, which is spreading in Israel. The Ministry of Environment is blaming the epidemic, which is spread by mosquitoes, on the fact that pesticide spraying against mosquitoes carrying the virus had not taken place in time. This week the local authorities in coordination with the Ministry of Health increased spraying in various cities throughout Israel.

The first rains fell this week in Tel Aviv. The temperatures are moderate and the air is clean.

Tens of thousands of people will visit the Third International Solomon Mikhoels Arts Festival that is scheduled to open in Moscow next week and will last 9 days. More than 500 artists and troupes from all over the world, including the greatest Jewish artists in the areas of music, ballet, theater and film, will take part in the Festival that will take place under the auspices of Russian President Vladimir Putin. The festival will open at the Bolshoi Russian State Theater, with the festive performance "Jewish Motives in Global Culture" and the participation of Israeli tenor Dudu Fisher, the Russian State Orchestra conducted by Moshe Katz from France, Igor Butman's Russian Big Band, the Keshet Chayaim dance troupe from the US, violinist Dorah Schwartzberg from Austria, the Kibbutz Dance Groupe and many other performers. "Jewish Film Week" and an International Jewish Folklore Festival will also be featured in the Festival.

The festival is being organized by the president of the Federation of Russian Jewish Communities, renowned artist and composer, Michael Gluz, with the support of the Jewish Agency and other organizations. Jewish Agency treasurer, Chaim Chesler, who will attend the opening of the festival, said that the "Jewish Agency attaches great importance to the development of Jewish culture and the connection of Jews in the FSU to their roots, from which they were cut off for more than 70 years. We welcome the dedication of this festival, which symbolizes the revival of Jewish life in Russia, to the memory of Jewish artist Solomon Mikhoels."

Solomon Mikhoels was one of the greatest Jewish actors and directors of the previous century, who was assassinated by the Communist regime during the 1940's. Mikhoels was born in Minsk in 1890. He began his artistic career at the age of 28 at the Jewish School of the Arts and Theater in St. Petersburg. Thanks to his outstanding acting talents, Mikhoels quickly became a leading actor in the Moscow State Jewish Theater.

In 1929 he was appointed to head the National Jewish Theater's Board of Directors and in 1931 he established the first actors' training college for all Jewish theaters in Russia. Mikhoels directed and performed in a series of plays including "King Lear," "Tevye the Milkman," "Freilichs," and many others. He became extremely popular all over the world and many Jewish groups in North America and Europe regarded him as their representative in Communist Russia. Mikhoel's reputation was exploited by the Soviet authorities for propaganda purposes. During the Second World War Mikhoels headed the Jewish Anti-fascist committee, and at the request of the authorities led fund-raising campaigns in the US, Canada and England for the Red Army.

On January 13th 1948, Mikhoels was murdered, in all probability at Stalin's instruction. He was run over by a car. The murder, which was later presented as a "road accident" marked the beginning of the repression of Jewish culture and activity in the FSU. In 1952, during the public "doctors' trial," Mikhoels was declared an agent of the JDC and an enemy of the people. His name was cleared only after Stalin's personality cult was exposed and books about his activities began to appear. His daughter, Natalya Vovsi-Mikhoels, now lives in Israel.

A one-day seminar on the subject of funding municipal projects took place this week at Tel Aviv University's Leon Recanati Graduate School of Business Administration. The program was jointly sponsored by the Tel Aviv-Los Angeles partnership, Tel Aviv University, the Tel Aviv-Jaffa municipality, and the Milken Foundation.

A case study on funding the construction of an underground parking garage at Tel Aviv's Kikar Habima was presented, followed by a discussion on ways of issuing municipal bonds to fund infrastructure. This is the first time that such a seminar has focused on a specific project.

The seminar featured a variety of sessions and panel discussions. These were led by experts from the United States with experience in the area of municipal bond issues to fund municipal projects and leaders in the Israeli capital investment market. One of the speakers, Stanley Gold from Los Angeles, who is active in the Tel Aviv-Los Angeles partnership, has helped in the funding and development of projects for the Los Angles municipality. Minister of the Treasury, Avraham (Beiga) Shochat, and Mayor of Tel Aviv-Jaffa, Ron Huldai, also participated in the program, which was moderated by Prof. Niv Achituv, Vice President of Tel Aviv University.

Tel Aviv-Jaffa and Los Angeles are linked as partner communities within the Jewish Agency-United Jewish Communities Partnership 2000 framework. The partnership has been involved in promoting educational, cultural, economic, and other projects in the Tel Aviv-Jaffa area.

Eighteen youngsters from Mexico, Venezuela, Columbia and Argentina arrived this week in Israel to begin a high school studies in Israel as part of the Jewish Agency's expanded Na'aleh 16 project. They will begin their studies in 10^th grade, where they will study Hebrew intensively and receive tutorial instruction preparatory for their full integration in 11^th and 12^th grades.

The youth came as part of a special Zohar ("Splendor") framework within the Na'aleh program that was developed by the Jewish Agency in conjunction with the Israeli Ministry of Education specifically for youngsters from Latin America.

The Na'aleh program (a Hebrew acronym for "Young People Immigrating before their Parents") was launched in 1992 to bring young immigrants from the former Soviet Union to study in high schools in Israel. The young fifteen and sixteen year-olds come to Israel without their parents, and reside at Israeli boarding schools. In February this year, the first group of some 50 youngsters from Argentina arrived in Israel. Following their first half year of preparatory studies the Argentinean teens will now enter 11th grade on the high school matriculation track.

Jewish Agency emissaries in Argentina report that in light of the success of the first group, an additional group was formed, which just arrived.

Small cookies, filled with a sweet, milk-based filling. The actual cookies can be baked in advance and kept for a long-period in the freezer. The milk jam is kept in the refrigerator, so that if unexpected guests arrive the cookies can be ready in a few minutes.

Ingredients for 35-40 cookies

Pastry:

2 cups sifted flour (250 gm.)
21/3 cups cornflour (300 gm.)
1 cup sugar (200 gm.)
200 gm margarine
3 egg yolks
2 tsps baking powder

Milk Jam:

41/2 cups milk
11/2 cups sugar (300 gm.)
1 tsp. baking soda
1-2 tsps. vanilla essence
1/2 cup milk
2 tbsps. cornflour
1 tbspn. butter
100 gr. Grated coconut
greaseproof baking paper or wax paper

Preparation

• Place the flour and cornflour in a large bowl. Add the sugar, margarine, yolks and baking powder. Knead into a smooth pastry.

• Flour the working surface and roll out the pastry to a thickness of 1/2 cm. Cut small circles in the pastry, 2 cm. In diameter. Grease a baking tray and line the base with greaseproof paper, or reverse the paper (so that its greased surface faces upwards). Place the pastry circles on it, about 1/2 cm. apart. Bake for 15 minutes in oven pre-heated to 350 F. Leave to cool.

• Pour 4 cups of milk into a deep pot, add the sugar and cook over very low flame for 11/2 hours. Add the baking soda and vanilla essence and stir well. Mix the corn-flour with the remaining 1/2 cup milk in a small bowl, pour into the milk/sugar mixture and cook stirring constantly. Within a few moments the mixture will thicken. Add the butter to the mixture and cool.

• Take a cookie, spread with the filling and place another cookie on top. Roll the edges in coconut and serve.

B'Te'avon! Bon Appetit!