Agenda-English

Vol. 1, No. 7
February 17, 2000
11 Adar I, 5760

SAY NO TO HAIDER, SAY NO TO HAIDER MONEY!

The World Zionist Organization has rejected outright a proposal to negotiate with Haider's coalition for compensation for Holocaust victims and is leading a campaign to boost public opinion against bringing the Freedom Party into the coalition

More in this issue...
Anti-Semitism Threatens Austria's Jews
New Anti-Semitic Book in Belarus
British Youth Protest Against Haider
JAFI Against Domestic Violence
Presidents' Conference In Israel
British Teachers on the Line
A Yiddishe Kop
Boston Welcomes Gays and Lesbians
Facts & Figures
Arad Loves Immigrants
Russian Doctors In Beersheva
Rapid Absorption
No Minyan In Indonesia
This Week In Israel
Israeli-American Hi-Tech Cooperation
Tel Aviv Restaurants Turn Kosher

"We strongly condemn the cynical attempt of the right-wing coalition in Austria to soften the opposition to it, to attain recognition and sanction a government tainted with racism by waving money." This statement was made yesterday by WZO Chairman of the Executive, Sallai Meridor, and Treasurer, Chaim Chesler, at a press conference which marked the opening of a global campaign entitled "Say No to Haider - Say No to Haider Money." The two emphasized that the participation of the Freedom Party in the Austrian government is a threat not only to the two million Jews who live in Europe, but to Europe as a whole and to the free world.

Meridor sharply attacked the new Austrian government's proposals to negotiate for payment of compensation to Jews who were in Austria on the eve of World War II or who were sent to labor camps by the Nazis. Meridor stressed that the Austrian Holocaust victims are entitled to lawful compensation for their suffering and the property which they left behind. However, the intentions of Haider's coalition to conduct negotiations lack integrity. "It is contemptible to think that they are using the issue of negotiations with the Jews over a just issue to break through the wall which world Jewry is trying to erect around them - we can not be bought - there is no price tag on approving racism."

According to Meridor, the response to bringing Haider into the Austrian government by the American and European governments was positive. The real test, however, will not be in the short term, but rather in the on-going struggle against Haider's gamble that the world will adopt the approach of "business as usual."

WZO Treasurer, Chaim Chesler, who is coordinating the organization's opposition to Haider, announced that the campaign would open with a special event to be held at the Beit Ha'am in Jerusalem, the same place where the Adolph Eichmann trial took place. "Eichmann, like Hitler and Waldheim, was born in Austria," says Chesler.

He added that the committee which he chairs, set up to keep track of developments in Austria, will enlist Zionist youth movements and Zionist federations throughout the world to maintain vigils opposite Austrian embassies, where the names of Austrian Jews who perished in the Holocaust will be read out. Mass demonstrations will also be held all over the world in coordination with the Jewish lobby in the American Congress and European parliaments.

Immediately after the press conference, Meridor and Chesler participated in a session of the Knesset Immigration and Absorption Committee chaired by MK Naomi Blumenthal, to which the Israeli ambassador to Austria, Nathan Meron, was also invited. Chaim Chesler presented the WZO's stand against Haider and called for Knesset participation. After Ambassador Meron noted that although Haider is "the bad guy," he has never made any anti-Semitic statements and has been careful not to attack Jews, Meridor replied: "Latent anti-Semitism is the most dangerous form of anti-Semitism. A distinction must not be made between hatred of foreigners and hatred of Jews; such things were used against us during the Holocaust. We should make no mistake about a person who concluded his election campaign outside the house where Hitler was born, who accuses Churchill of Nazism. We cannot say it does not concern us."

The WZO Internet site provides updated information on the Haider coalition in Vienna: http://www.austriawatch.com

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FIRST INSIDE TESTIMONY: AUSTRIA'S JEWS FEARFUL ABOUT FUTURE

The fear of anti-Semitism once again looms over Austrian Jewry, says Dr. Chani Hinker, the first Austrian immigrant to Israel since Joerg Haider's inclusion in the governing coalition,. After the elections of October 1999, the Viennese Jewish community received hundreds of threatening letters, and Orthodox Jews were badly beaten on the streets of Vienna. "For a long time it wasn't modern to be anti-Semitic," says Hinker. It seems that anti-Semites once again feel they can act openly."

Despite a growing interest in Jews and Jewish history among the Austrian youth in the 1980s, particularly after the Waldheim affair -- instead of serving in the army, young men often do national service in concentration camps or Holocaust museums in Israel or the US -- Haider's simplistic solutions find a willing audience among many uneducated people who are unhappy with the general situation. A populist with a deep understanding of human nature, Haider is a master manipulator, says Hinker, who for the last five and a half years served as the secretary of the tiny Jewish community in Graz -- comprising 120 people out of a general population of 250,000.

Hinker sees great danger in Haider's growing support, which has risen from 5% when he was first elected party leader in the mid '80s to the 27% he achieved in the recent elections. His support is also growing in the provincial elections. While he cannot appear openly anti-Semitic, she says, he plays into the xenophobia, using Nazi-type slogans such as Osterreich Zuerst - Gegen UeberFremdung (Austria First - Too Many Foreigners) and propaganda posters evocative of the Hitler era.

Austria's Jews officially number some 8,000 individuals, most of whom live in Vienna. The others are divided into tiny Jewish communities, like Graz, where they are mostly elderly and assimilated. There are four Jews in the province of Carinthia, of which Haider was elected governor. One of these is a convert married to a Hapsburg heir.

While the Jews are intimidated by Haider's comments praising the SS or Hitler, they seek to cull friendship with all parties. Hinker who, in June 1998, converted to Judaism in an Orthodox ceremony in Vienna, relays that Haider sent the Graz Jewish community greetings for Rosh Hashana; she advised the president not to acknowledge the letter, lest he later use it to demonstrate his warm relationship with Jews.

Growing up in a small town, Chani, then Annemarie, knew nothing about Jews or Judaism -- other than her father didn't like them "In school, we never learned about Auschwitz, concentration camps, or Kristallnacht, " she says.

Her interest in Judaism began when she came across the works of an Austrian Jewish writer, while working on her doctorate in German literature at the University of Graz.

Hinker began devouring books on Judaism and doing volunteer work for the Jewish community, which she helped to revitalize. At present, the municipality is rebuilding the synagogue, which was destroyed on Kristallnacht, in 1938. Hinker's aliyah was facilitated through the Jewish Agency's Internet site, where she made contact with Eli Birnbaum, the site director. He counseled Hinker and helped her with her plans. The two met this week in Jerusalem.

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HABONIM-DROR CALLS FOR BOYCOTT OF HOTEL THAT HOSTED HAIDER IN LONDON

Student movements at different ends of the political spectrum joined forces this week to protest Joerg Haider's visit to England. Protesters from Habonim-Dror, associated with the Labor movement, and Tagar, the student branch of Betar-Tagar, associated with Likud, protested outside London's Park Lane Hilton Hotel, which hosted a press conference held by Haider. According to the hotel's spokesperson, "The booking was made by the Austrian Embassy as a private function. Habonim Dror called for the Jewish community to boycott the hotel.

The head of JAFI's delegation to the UK, Dubi Bergman reports that in a letter to Tony Blair, Habonim Dror's national director, Mandy Wilkins, called upon the British Prime Minister to speak out against Haider. "We cannot stand by and watch as a man . . . who has publicly praised both Hitler's employment policies and the Waffen SS, gains political influence on a country in the European Union," she wrote.

Haider was visiting in London and Paris in an attempt to improve his image abroad.

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MORE ANTI-SEMITISM A NEW BOOK IN BELARUS CALLS FOR THE EXTERMINATION OF JEWS

Yoffe Yisrael Yakoblevich, head of the Jewish community in Brest, Belarus, called on the President of Belarus, Alexander, to review the legality of anti-Semitic literature, and nip in the bud the attempt to revive Fascism in Belarus. Baruch Kamil, head of the Jewish Agency delegation in Minsk, reports that the call was made in an open letter following the dissemination of a new anti-Semitic book which advocates the annihilation of the Jews.

The book, which was published several months ago under the title, War According to the Rules of Nastiness, created a sharp reaction among the Jews of Belarus. "Our common Slavic home has been destroyed. All the good things we had were plundered by foreigners, misers .... The 20th century was the century of the Jewish struggle against Christianity, for the Jews have sworn to take over the world. The 21st century requires the creation of a new world order; resolving the Jewish problem will guarantee the rehabilitation of the peoples of Europe and the situation must be solved comprehensively..." say the book's authors.

Upon publication of the book, Leonid Levin, Chairman of the Jewish Confederation of Belarus, and Yaakov Bessin, leader of the Reform movement in Belarus, filed a suit in court against the publisher, accusing him of disseminating racist and Fascist writings.

This book is the latest in a series of anti-Semitic incidents. Anti-Semitic propaganda is reportedly disseminated freely in the media in Belarus, and slogans such as "the Jews are our Enemies," and "Beat Up the Jews" appear on the streets.

In 1999 2,692 olim from Belarus arrived in Israel - a 19% increase compared with 1998 (2,258). The Jewish Agency estimates that only 30,000 Jews now remain in Belarus.

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ISRAELI SOCIETY JEWISH AGENCY SUPPORTS STRUGGLE AGAINST DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

Miri (her name has been changed to protect her privacy) is 33 years old. Ten months ago she arrived at the Emergency Women's Hostel in Haifa. She and her four children had been continuously abused by her husband. A day after her arrival at the hostel, she filed a complaint against her husband with the police and four weeks later she moved to a shelter for battered women in Beersheva. Miri remained at the shelter for eight months. During this time, she divorced her husband, her children were registered for school in Beersheva, and the husband was tried and jailed. She is now studying social work and gives lectures on battered women.

The Emergency Women's Shelter in Haifa is one of dozens of projects supported by the Jewish Agency, against the background of increasing manifestations of violence within the family in Israel. The hostel provides an emergency haven for women who have fallen victim to domestic violence. A professional team grants the women and their children a temporary refuge, support, advice, treatment, and enrichment.

This week several severe cases of domestic violence in Israel were disclosed: in Tel Aviv a 30-year old man murdered his 24-year old girlfriend; in Jerusalem a saga of abuse and humiliation of an 8-year old child by the boy's mother's boyfriend was exposed. A man from Petach Tikvah was arrested on suspicion of sexually abusing his stepdaughter.

According to data released by the women's organization, Na'amat, in 1999 ten women were murdered in Israel by their partners. In three cases children were also murdered. The figures show that one in seven women in Israel is beaten.

Another figure released by ELEM (the organization that assists youth at risk and in distress) shows that 60,000 youth in Israel-- constituting 10% of all youngsters in the country -- are defined as marginal. They engage in anti-social behavior, drop out of school, and suffer from learning difficulties as a result of neglect, and physical, sexual and emotional abuse.

Following the rise in domestic violence in Israeli society, the Jewish Agency has increased its battle against such phenomena. The Jewish Agency spends millions of shekels annually to support dozens of projects that treat at risk and distressed population groups as well as those that seek to prevent domestic violence.

The victims of such violence who benefit from these projects come from all sectors of society. The various programs deal with education to prevent violence, assisting people who are in crisis and situations of distress, and providing treatment for the victims of such violence.

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PRESIDENTS' CONFERENCE VISITS ISRAEL

US AMBASSADOR MARTIN INDYK: "ASSAD DOESN'T "UNDERSTAND THE WEIGHT OF ISRAELI PUBLIC OPINION

US Ambassador to Israel, Martin Indyk, said that Syria is taking advantage of the situation in Lebanon to put pressure on Israel during the negotiations in Lebanon. "Assad doesn't understand the weight of Israeli public opinion in promoting the peace process, and this is damaging" he said.

Indyk expressed disappointment with the pace of the peace negotiations, and pointed out that the sides still need six to eight weeks to see whether it is at all possible to reach an agreement: "Even if there is no agreement with the Syrians, there is still much more diplomatic effort needed to overcome the problems on the Palestinian track and the issue of Jerusalem, the refugees, and permanent boundaries."

Indyk was speaking before the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations delegation led by Ronald Lauder and Malcolm Hoenlein that arrived in Israel yesterday for their annual visit to Jerusalem. Also participating in the delegation are past presidents Lester Pollack, Mel Salberg and others.

During the visit, the leaders of the Presidents' Conference will meet with Israeli political leaders and the leaders of the opposition and will be briefed first hand on the peace process, the political situation, and developments in Israeli society. They will meet with Prime Minister, Ehud Barak; Foreign Minister, David Levy; Chairman of the Jewish Agency, Sallai Meridor; Minister of Absorption, Yuli Tamir, and other dignitaries.

The Presidents Conference delegation arrived in Jerusalem after a two-day visit to Moscow, designed to monitor the situation in the Jewish community in Russia. In Moscow, Conference leaders met with Yuri Luzhkov, mayor of Moscow, Foreign Minister, Igor Ivanov, and former Prime Minister and Member of Parliament, Yevgeny Primakov. The high-level American Jewish delegation also met with presidential candidate Gregory Yablonski. At the opening ceremony the delegation was welcomed by Pinchas Goldschmidt, Chief Rabbi of Moscow, Alexander Osovtsov, director of the Russian Jewish Congress, and Alla Levy, head of the Jewish Agency delegation.

The Presidents Conference was hosted in Moscow by the Russian Jewish Congress headed by Vladimir Gusinsky. Levy thanked the Conference for its concern that Jewish activity in Russia continue, and particularly for its help in ensuring the continuity of Jewish Agency activity after the crisis with the authorities in 1996.

After their visit in Jerusalem, the mission will go to Jordan for a brief visit.

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BRITISH EDUCATORS VISIT CONFRONTATION LINE

Next week, early childhood educators from the United Kingdom will be visiting the Confrontation Line area, where childhood is clouded by the threat of katyusha rockets. Tension along Israel's northern border has abated in recent days, following Hezbullah attacks on IDF soldiers last week.

The visit, designed to enrich early childhood educators from both countries, is conducted by the Jewish Agency Department of Jewish Zionist Education and implemented within the Partnership 2000 framework.

On Sunday, a group of 24 early childhood educators from 15 pre-schools from the various streams in England is scheduled to arrive in Israel for a nine-day educational seminar, which will include visits to early childhood facilities and meetings with Israeli colleagues. Participants will also learn about the role of Israel in the Judaic studies curriculum.

The teachers will spend four days in their partnership region, which is located along Israel's northern border with Lebanon, and includes 45 rural settlements. There, they will take part in workshops given by early childhood professionals from the region, and tour the area to understand how the particular context influences the practice of early childhood education.

The relationship between the two communities in the area of early childhood education began in the summer of 1998 when three educators from the UK participated in the International Teachers conference sponsored by the Education Department in Jerusalem. A long-range professional development plan was set up that includes ongoing in-service training for both groups of professionals and on-going contact based on exploration of the same issues and mutual visits.

Because of its law mandating public education from age three upward, the State of Israel has developed curricular materials and set professional standards in the area of early childhood education -- something that is for the most part lacking in Jewish communities around the world.

Similar early childhood partnerships exist between San Francisco and the Galilee Panhandle, and between Atlanta and Yokneam-Megiddo.

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A YIDDISHE KOP

A novel solution was found to enable the boys' basketball team at the Hebrew Academy of Tidewater, Virginia to play Sweethaven Christian Academy.

The Hebrew Academy team, made of sixth through eighth grade boys, was preparing to play when the referee, asked the boys to remove their kippot in case the metal clips used to secure the kippa come loose and stick someone in the eye.

Coach Nathan Drory chose to forfeit the game. The wearing of kippot is not "something we are going to be flexible on," he said. "Our kids were very happy to uphold something they believe in."
But with typical Jewish ingenuity, a solution was found to enable the team to play in the future - to sew plastic clips into their kippot!

Some 20,000 Jews in the Tidewater region of southern Virginia, near the North Carolina border, with about 4,000 affiliated families, reports Segavit Ben-Moshe, the Jewish Agency's education emissary to the area. There are three large synagogues and about half a dozen smaller ones. The Hebrew Academy, an Orthodox institution, has 250 students from all the streams.

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BOSTON WELCOMES GAYS AND LESBIANS

"Excluding any part of the Jewish community will reduce our effectiveness in the future. We need to struggle with traditional texts and find a way to reach out and include every drop of Jewish life in a community of compassion, charity, justice and Torah." With this statement by Barry Shrage, President of Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Greater Boston, the city's Jewish leadership recently opened a community dialogue on "Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender (GLBT) Inclusion." The first meeting, which took place at the Newton Jewish Community Center last week was attended by Jewish leadership from throughout Boston.

The Jewish Agency emissary in Boston reported that participating organizations included the American Jewish Committee, the Jewish Community Centers, the Jewish Big Brother and Big Sister Association, the Jewish Community Relations Council, Jewish Family and Children's Services, and Keshet, Boston's Jewish GLBT advocacy and education congregation.

The JAFI aliyah emissary in Boston, Margalit Toledano reports that the meeting was designed to reach out to homosexual, gay, and bisexual Jews after Keshet launched a new project last month to encourage Jewish institutions to proactively welcome GLBT Jews.

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DID YOU KNOW?

  • 4,114 new immigrants from the former Soviet Union arrived in Israel in January 2000. This represents an 8% increase compared with January 1999.

  • 10,600 new immigrant students are receiving JAFI-funded Student Authority scholarships for academic studies in the 1999-2000 school year.

  • 6,000 Jewish youth from the US took part in long-term Israel Experience programs in 1999, including study at universities, yeshivot, and other frameworks.

  • It costs the Jewish Agency $120 for every oleh taking part in the five-month basic ulpan program.

  • The Jewish Agency spent $6,900,000 for "freight substitute" in 1999, as compensation to new immigrants who left their belongings in their countries of origin.

  • The Jewish Agency pays a monthly pension of $235 to 850 former Prisoners of Zion now living in Israel.

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ARAD LOVES OLIM; OLIM LOVE ARAD

When Dr. Dvorah Berenholtz, a psychologist from La Jolla, California, arrived at the WUJS Institute in Arad this past June. She was uncertain about her future. At age 39, she was older than most of her fellow students; she missed the active community role she had been accustomed to back home; and she was skeptical about her ability to master Hebrew sufficiently to fully integrate into Israel.

But within one week after completing the ulpan program in January, she was offered a position as an educational psychologist by the city of Arad; she passed her driving test on the first try; and she landed the lead female role in Carousel, the production of LOGON (light opera group of the Negev). "The combination of ulpan, volunteerism, seminars, and touring that WUJS provides, gave me a foundation from which to build a new life in Israel," says Berenholtz. "

Arad's legendary hospitality to newcomers -- combined with employment opportunities, a fine educational system, and clear air -- has made this small desert town not far from the Dead Sea a magnet for new olim. Over 40 percent of its residents have made aliyah within the past decade. With immigrants from English speaking countries, Eastern Europeans, Latin Americans, and Ethiopians in addition to the aliyah from the former Soviet Union, Arad has become a true cultural and ethnic mosaic.

The same month that Berenholz arrived in Arad, the town's mayor, Bezalel Tabib, and Moshe Almoznino, director of the Jewish Agency's Southern Region, accompanied by Luis Castel, head of the Arad chapter of Latin American Immigrants in Israel, traveled to Argentina and neighboring countries to interview and offer employment options to potential immigrants, as part of the Aliyah 2000 framework. Two weeks later, they returned with a list of 70 families. Twenty-five families, mostly from Argentina, some from Uruguay and Brazil, have already made aliyah. Fourteen of the new immigrants are taking part in a re-training program to work in the hotel industry while living at the Jewish Agency's Yafit absorption center in Arad; the others are studying in ulpan.

"The Russian immigrants have gone out of their way to help the South Americans integrate," says Monica Zelinger, director of the Arad-Tamar Partnership 2000 region.

Berenholz, raves about the sense of support and mutual help she encountered everywhere in Arad. . "I feel very fortunate that people have given me so much support," she says. "The residents of Arad have made settling here feel like coming home.

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NURSES IN BEERSHEVA

When Pavel Yarushlemski traveled 20 hours from Simpropol to Kiev for an aliyah interview as part of the Jewish Agency's "Aliyah 2000" program, in 1994, he did not know that his life was about to change. As a result of the interview, Pavel, together with dozens of other young men and women, registered for a professional retraining project in Israel for health professionals, run by the Jewish Agency in conjunction with the Soroka Hospital in Beersheva.

A short time later Pavel arrived in Israel and began his studies at the Soroka University Medical Center, where he later met Jana, his wife-to-be. In 1996 after qualifying as a male nurse, he was drafted into the IDF; after his military service he obtained a position on the hospital staff. He now plans to continue his studies at the university center.

Three hundred and thirty three male and female nurses from all over the world, underwent professional retraining at the Soroka Hospital in Beersheva between 1990-1999, as part of the Jewish Agency program. Today, most of them are employed at the hospital and many have continued their studies to obtain higher academic degrees.

This week, during his tour of the south, Jewish Agency Chairman, Sallai Meridor, visited the Soroka Hospital for a close look at the integration of the olim in the hospital. One hundred and forty three new immigrants are currently in various stages of the program; 63 of them are expected to receive their nursing qualification this coming April.

The Jewish Agency conducts the immigrant nurses retraining programs at four hospitals in Israel: Soroka in Beersheva, Hadassah Ein Karem in Jerusalem, Bnei Zion in Haifa and the Safed Hospital. The program includes sending representatives of the hospitals, together with Jewish Agency representatives, to the former Soviet Union and South American countries to recruit nurses. When they arrive in Israel, the olim are sent to a professional ulpan. Upon completion of a retraining course, they receive a nursing degree. During their studies, the Jewish Agency provides housing and other services. Successful graduates of the program are guaranteed employment at the hospital at which they trained.

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RAPID ABSORPTION

The "outbreak" of cell phones which has hit Israel in recent years has also "taken its toll" among new immigrants. Jewish Agency Chairman, Sallai Meridor, was amazed when, while delivering a lecture at the "Ye'elim" absorption center in Beersheva, an oleh who had arrived from Yemen just a few weeks earlier pulled out his cell phone and began chatting with a relative. The sight of an oleh in traditional Yemenite garb, who barely knew any Hebrew, but had already mastered the art of the cell phone, astounded everyone present.

The Ye'elim absorption center in Beersheva is home to almost 500 new immigrants from 28 countries.

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NO MINYAN IN INDONESIA'S LONE SYNAGOGUE

Indonesia is one of the few places in the world today where Jews do not enjoy Jewish communal life. Seven journalists from the Pacific republic who were in Israel as guests of the Foreign Ministry toured Jewish Agency sites in Israel this week, accompanied by Michael Jankelowitz, JAFI's Liaison with the Foreign Press, shed some light on the situation of Jews in their country.

With the change of government in their country, Israeli-Indonesian relations have been on the upswing, the journalists reported. During their visit, they were introduced to Israeli's achievements, particularly in the political, economic, and social spheres.

The Jewish population of Surabaya, capital of Indonesia's East Java province, comprises five families out of over three million residents. They are all that remains of a once vibrant community; during the Dutch colonial era, Jewish merchants and businessmen were members of the city's high society. As late as the 1950s and 1960s Surabaya was home to dozens or even hundreds of Jews.

Indonesia's sole Jewish house of worship, known simply as "the Synagogue," is located on a small street in the center of this port city. Although the synagogue's origins are unknown, a plaque on the wall states that the money to purchase the structure was given in memory of Joseph Ezra Isaak Nassiem. A replica of the Art of the Covenant contains a Torah scroll.

While the city has grown, synagogue attendance has dwindled, as members died, moved away, or intermarried. Every Friday evening, for nostalgic reasons, the sexton, Joseph Sayers, whose family originated in Baghdad, opens the synagogue and turns on the lamps -- but there is no one to come and pray.

Occasionally Jews come from other cities in Indonesia, such as Jakarta, Bandunk, and Medan, to celebrate a bar mitzvah or other occasion. The synagogue has also become a tourist attraction for visitors from abroad.

Although only four religions are officially recognized besides Islam -- Protestantism, Catholicism, Hinduism, and Buddhism -- people of other faiths, such as Jews and Confucians are protected, says Mohammed Taufik, a leading Muslim preacher in Surabaya. This was confirmed by the visiting journalists.

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THIS WEEK IN ISRAEL

  • Another soldier, Sergeant Tzachi Itach, fell last weekend in Lebanon as a result of a missile strike at the Beaufort Castel. Prime Minister, Ehud Barak, said: "We shall leave Lebanon in July, even without an agreement."

  • Rise in unemployment: According to Employment Services statistics made public this week, there was a 1.5 % rise in the number of people seeking employment in January. The number of unemployed seeking work reportedly reached 164,200 in comparison with 163,4000 in December 1999. This represents a rise of 8,000 unemployed, compared with January 1999.

  • Ofra Haza in Serious Condition: Singer Ofra Haza is hospitalized in the Respiratory Intensive Care Unit of Tel Hashomer's Sheba Hospital, in serious but stable condition. She is connected to respiratory devices and is undergoing dialysis. Friends and relatives of the singer are keeping mum about the circumstances of her hospitalization, and the details of her condition, but it apparently is related to pneumonia. Many fans are waiting in the hospital's halls.

  • Photographer Gil Mezuman from National Geographic magazine photographed a jackal near the Sheikh Bader cemetery in Jerusalem last week. He thus confirmed reports about the existence of jackals in the area near the Knesset and the government buildings.

  • Summer is Coming: Minister of Interior, Natan Sharansky, announced this week that summer time will begin this year on April 14, and will end on October 22.

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ISRAELI-AMERICAN COOPERATION TO DEVELOP THE HIGH-TECH INDUSTRY IN THE HEART OF THE GALILEE


The first conference for regional-economic development in Carmiel took place this week, and was attended by academics, economists, and experts from Israel and the US. The conference explored the possibility of regional economic development in Carmiel and the Misgav district, to be based on high-tech and human resources. The meeting followed a previous conference held in Pittsburgh, PA a year ago.

During the three-day convention, the participants took part in tours to acquaint themselves with the local economy, and examined models for the development of the area, which in the 21st century will be based largely on information, rather than on a manufacturing economy alone. The goals are to develop attractive sources of employment in Carmiel-Misgav, and to expand human resources in order to double the region's population to 120,000 by the year 2020.

The conference was attended by the representatives of two partner communities within the Carmiel-Misgav's Jewish Agency's Partnership 2000 program - Baltimore and Pittsburgh.

Pittsburgh participants included Federation Board Chair, Karen Shapira; Federation President, Howard Rieger; Partnership 2000 Chairman, Jeff Markel; Chairman of the Partnership 2000 Economic Forum, Dr. Stuart Hoffman; Partnership President for Regional - Economic Development for Pittsburgh, Timothy Parks; President of Pittsburgh's Carnegie Mellon University, Jared Cohon; Prof. Richard Florida, an expert on regional economic development; Dr. Norman Chigier of the Faculty of Engineering, and Dean of the Heinz School for Public Policy, Dr. Mark Kamlet. The Baltimore representatives included Partnership 2000 chairman Sue Liebman, and director of the Maryland-Israel Business Development Center, Barry Bugage.

The participants were addressed by Jewish Agency Treasurer, Chaim Chesler, Chairman of the Organization of Local Municipalities and Carmiel Mayor Adi Eldar, industrialist Stef Wertheimer, and others.

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EVEN IN TEL AVIV THERE ARE KOSHER RESTAURANTS

Two prestigious Tel Aviv restaurants -- Israel Ahroni's Tai Chi Chinese restaurant, and Lilith, owned by Keren Kremerman have recently "kashered" their kitchens.

According to Ahroni, most catered events are weddings, where kosher food is generally served. The kosher kitchen can also help his catering business. According to Ahroni it is easy to make a Chinese kitchen kosher: the number of items on the menu has to be reduced to eliminate those containing pork or seafood.

There is a story behind the Lilith restaurant. In the past Lilith was a California-style gourmet restaurant. A month ago it was reopened, this time as a kosher dairy Mediterranean restaurant.

The most significant change at Lilith is not the menu, but the cooperation with the ELEM organization, the Tel Aviv municipality, and the Dan Hotels chain.

ELEM, which is supported by the Jewish Agency, develops and runs programs to assist youngsters in distress, and help them become productive, contributing members of society. The organization's programs include hostels and shelters for youth, night patrols to locate and assist youngsters on the street, and a chain of information and advice centers.

Restaurant manager, Ophir Ben Yonatan, said that the professional staff trains the youngsters in all facets of restaurant work, including cooking, waiting, acting as barmen, baking, and managing the business. All the restaurant's profits are dedicated to running this social project.

RECIPE OF THE WEEK - LILITH'S SPECIAL CHOCOLATE PECAN CAKE

Pastry
180 gm. dark chocolate
180 gm. butter
4 eggs - separated
¾ cup of sugar
1 cup of chopped pecans
2 cups flour

Icing
180 gm. chocolate
120 gm. butter
melt together in pan

  1. Melt chocolate and butter.

  2. Beat the yolks and ½ cup of sugar until a pale cream is obtained, add chocolate butter mixture, pecans and flour. Put aside.

  3. Whip egg whites and add remaining ¼ cup sugar until egg whites are stiff.

  4. Fold a small quantity of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture and then add the rest of the whites.

  5. Pour mixture into greased pan, lined with greaseproof paper.

  6. When cake is cool, turn it onto a plate and coat with a first, thin layer of icing; cool for 10 minutes and then pour on the rest of the icing so that it drips down the side of the cake.

Bake for 35-40 minutes at 1500

Bon Appetit    B'teavon!

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