Prime Minister Ehud Barak pictured with Sallai Meridor chairman JAFI and WZO, Rabbi Joseph Wernick conference Chair, and Chaim Chesler JAFI and WZO treasurer

"No parliamentary trick will block the will of the Israeli people to move the peace process forward." This was Prime Minister Ehud Barak's statement following the opposition's victory in putting together a majority for the preliminary vote on a bill aimed at ensuring a relative majority in the referendum on the issue of the withdrawal from the Golan..

Barak spoke at the closing session of the 8th International Conference of the Jewish Media which took place in Jerusalem this week, hosted and organized by the World Zionist Organization, in cooperation with the Jewish Agency, Jewish National Fund, Keren Hayesod, Israel's Foreign Ministry, the Jerusalem Post and Bank Hapoalim.

Voting in favor of the bill were the Likud, Israel Ba'aliyah, National Religious Party, Shas, two Members of Parliament from Shinui and MK Maxim Levy of One Israel, brother of Israel's Foreign Minister David Levy. The other members of the coalition sharply criticized the bill as being anti-democratic since it is aimed at limiting the influence of the Arab vote. It also places those who oppose the withdrawal at an advantage by exploiting the non-participation of Israeli voters who reside overseas.

The proposed bill could be held up for some time in the Knesset Legislative Committee, where the government - together with the Arab factions - has a majority.

At the media conference Barak laid out his program for peace, security, the economy, society and Jewish peoplehood. In the area of security, Barak said that Israel is the strongest power within a 1,000 miles radius of Jerusalem. However, Israel is in a "bad neighborhood," and it must therefore preserve a secure military safety net in any future agreement. The current diplomatic process opens is a window of opportunity which may close within a few years as the extremist Islamic countries such as Iran and Iraq equip themselves with an arsenal of non-conventional weapons.

"I was elected by an unprecedented majority after presenting my platform, and I am therefore determined to move the peace process forward and achieve peace agreements with both Syria and Lebanon." Barak added that on the Syrian and Lebanese fronts, "I am committed to getting out of Lebanon by June, preferably within the framework of an overall agreement with Syria."

Barak did not directly address the issue of withdrawal from the Golan Heights to the June 4th 1967 borders, which borders the Sea of Galilee. He did say, however, that the border must be based on security issues, deterrents, water rights, etc, adding that an agreement can only be achieved by direct negotiations between Israel and Syria.

"War is no picnic," he said. "We are not afraid of war, but we would prefer a peace agreement utilizing this window of opportunity."

With regard to the Palestinian track, Barak presented his "red lines": 1) No return to the 1967 borders; 2) Jerusalem will remain united and under Israeli sovereignty; 3) Most of the settlers will continue to live in their settlements; 4) There will be no Arab army west of the Jordan River; 5) There will be no return of Palestinian refugees within the Green Line.

"I believe that it is possible to reach a settlement with Arafat within a year, but this is not dependent only upon us. It takes two to Tango."

The Prime Minister stressed that the peace agreements will promote Israel in both economic and social areas: "In order to close the social gaps we need economic growth and investments of billions dollars that are much easier accomplished in times of peace."

Education - Israel's only natural resource is the Jewish intellect which is why we must substantially increase the investment in education in a meaningful way.

The Jewish People - we may possibly lose parts of the Jewish people because of intermarriage, which is why we must develop a systematic approach to the intensification of Jewish identity and to expand the visits to Israel by Jewish youth through a program that the Jewish Agency is developing or through the "Taglit" (discovery) program in cooperation with the entire Jewish people.

Opposition leader Ariel Sharon, who spoke at a press conference that was held before the appearance by Barak, said that he supports the immediate withdrawal from Lebanon and redeployment along the border.

Sharon stressed that the issue of Lebanon must be considered separately from the negotiations with Syria since Assad has been employing the Hizbullah as a bargaining chip against Israel.

Sharon has been in the forefront of opposition to returning the Golan, and he was among the leaders of the movement to pass a law in the Knesset regarding the need for a relative majority in the referendum that will be held following any agreement with Syria.

The Chairman of the Jewish Agency, Sallai Meridor, spoke at the conference against changes proposed in the Law of Return and stressed the supreme value of Jewish unity and the Centrality of Israel. Meridor called for the promotion of joint efforts to increase Jewish identity and Zionist education while strengthening the ties between Israel and the Jewish communities.

Jewish Agency Treasurer, Chaim Chesler, called on the journalists to join the struggle that the World Zionist Organization is leading against Haiderism, and said that Haider's resignation is a trick to reduce pressure. Chesler is convinced that this struggle must continue until the Freedom Party leaves the Austrian coalition.

Other dignitaries who addressed the media conference were Ministers Natan Sharansky, Yuli Tamir, Shimon Peres and Rabbi Michael Melchior; Israel's outgoing Ambassador to the United States Zalman Shoval, and Israel's Ambassador to Jordan, Oded Eran, who heads the Israeli negotiating team with the Palestinians. The visiting journalists toured the Golan Heights and met with settlers there. They also participated in on-site visits to Jewish Agency programs in Jerusalem.

An Argentine citizen of Syrian origin was recently arrested by the Buenos Aires police on suspicion of participating in the attack on the Jewish Community Center building in that city in 1994. According to Kito Hasson, head of the Jewish Agency's delegation in Latin America, the arrest followed the interrogation of other suspects in the attack, some of whom are policemen who were responsible for guarding the building.

The Jewish community in Argentina is the largest in Latin America and numbers some 200,000, most of whom live in Buenos Aires. For some time the community's institutions have been in a state of crisis and its sources of private financing have declined.

The inability of the authorities to find those responsible for the attack on the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires in 1992, and the attack on the Jewish Community Center building which left 86 people -- Jews and non-Jews -- dead and almost 200 injured, has contributed to anger in the community, and led to public criticism.

"Of the 20 people under arrest who are currently being interrogated on suspicion of involvement in the attack, many are senior police officers," says Hasson. "The suspicion of police involvement arose after it was found that no police were injured in either attack, despite the fact that at the time they were supposed to be guarding the sites."

According to Hasson, the investigation into the attack on the Community Center building has, until now, been conducted at a slow pace. The new government, led by Fernando de la Rua, who replaced former President Carlos Menem, has on several occasions made a public commitment to intensify the efforts to bring those guilty to justice.

"Perhaps now," says Hasson "this progress in the investigation can be seen as a result of de la Rua's promises. However, we should not forget that the investigation into the 1992 attack on the Israeli embassy, in which 26 people were killed, has not even begun."

Against the background of the difficulties faced by the local Jewish community and the attacks on Jewish institutions, the Jewish Agency has increased its funding to Argentina. In 1999 the Jewish Agency awarded the community a special grant of $400,000, in addition to the more than $4 million which are invested annually, particularly in Jewish Zionist education and immigration and absorption activities.

French Jewry has expressed firm support for the stand taken by French Prime Minister Lionel Jospin who severely criticized Hizbullah terrorist operations which are sabotaging the Middle East peace process. This was reported by Dov Puder, head of the Jewish Agency delegation in France.

Henri Hadjenberg, president of the French Jewish umbrella organization CRIF, and France's Chief Rabbi Sitruk, expressed their unequivocal support for the stand taken by Prime Minister Jospin. "Hizbullah is responsible for the death of 58 French citizens", stated Hadjenberg. He was speaking about the October 1983 explosion when a Hizbullah suicide bomber detonated a truck-bomb in a Beirut neighborhood where French soldiers were quartered. "Is an attack on French soldiers who were protecting the Lebanese civilian population not an act of terror?" exclaimed Hadjenberg.

"Those who refuse to accept the Prime Minister's position in practice support Hizbullah's military activity. Recognition of the Shi'ite movement as a military wing of the Lebanese government could have serious repercussions", warned Hadjenberg. "Those who are concerned about Lebanese interests, must understand that it is impossible to ignore the two partners - Syria and Israel. I am convinced that France must balance its foreign policy towards Israel", added the president of CRIF.

The French Prime Minister yesterday reiterated his statements on the terrorist nature of Hizbullah activity, before the National Assembly in Paris. "At a time when enormous efforts are being invested in building a peace agreement, balance must be preserved and any act which sabotages the efforts to reach a political solution must be condemned", said Jospin to the French Parliament.

The Jewish community's support for the Prime Minister was apparent immediately, following a stone-throwing incident during Jospin's visit to the Bir Zeit University within the Palestinian Authority. The disturbance at Bir Zeit erupted following Jospin's comments in which he called the Hizbullah attacks on IDF soldiers in Lebanon "acts of terror".

According to Jewish Agency estimates, the Jewish community in France numbers more than 600,000, half of whom live in and around Paris. The community's main institutions are: "Fonds Social" - which deals with social and educational issues, "Consistoire" - which is responsible for religious services, and CRIF - the umbrella for all Jewish organizations in France. The community's 150 Jewish educational institutions serve more than 25,000 students.

There are 18 Jewish Agency aliyah and education emissaries in France working in the community. Within this context, more than 7,000 students participated in Zionist youth-movement activities last year. There were 1,500 olim from France in 1999.

The American administration recently stepped up its efforts with numerous governments around the world to bring pressure on the Iranian government to free the 13 Jews who are being accused of espionage on behalf of the USA and Israel. This was reported by Assistant Secretary of State Ned Walker to the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations this week.

Ronald Lauder, Chairman, and Malcolm Hoenlein, Executive Vice Chairman, said that "while no formal charges have been brought against the thirteen, the allegations of espionage for the US and Israel are groundless. For a year, these innocent people have languished without charges being brought and it is time to put their suffering to an end.

The efforts of the US, European as well as many other governments, including those of Moslem countries who recognize the injustice of this case, is a source of encouragement and hope. We are particularly gratified by Secretary Walker's report on the initiatives of the US administration, said Lauder and Hoenlein.

"We mustn't exaggerate reports of political anti-Semisitm in Hungary," says Janos Desi, Managing Editor of the Budapest political daily, Nepszava. Desi, in Israel for the 8th International Conference of the Jewish Media sponsored by the World Zionist Organization, was referring to recent remarks about Jews made by Deputy Prime Minister Kover; the high profile of the openly anti-Semitic Hungarian Justice and Life Party (MIEP) led by Istvan Csurka; and several worrisome incidents that have sparked concern about growing anti-Semitism in Hungary.

MIEP won 14 seats in the 386-seat Hungarian Parliament. Although not a member of the coalition, MIEP often supports government positions. The party publishes a weekly paper that is openly anti-Semitic, utilizing classical anti-Semitic accusations about control of the media and finance.
It also organizes large demonstrations with anti-Semitic themes several times a year. MIEP supporters demonstrated in front of the Austrian Embassy in Budapest. Deputy Prime Minister, Laszlo Kover, who was three weeks ago elected head of ruling party, Fidesz, has made numerous statements that many consider alarming. Although references to "Jews and Communists" according to the Jewish Agency emissary in Budapest, Eliezer Gilad, have been taken out of context, allusions to "the Jewish problem" arouse troubling Nazi-era memories and Hungary's collusion with the Third Reich.

Furthermore, Fidesz - which has less than 50% of the seats in parliament -- relies on several extreme right wing parties in its coalition.

While the situation must be monitored, there is no cause for undue alarm says Desi, who also serves as the Editor of the Jewish monthly Eretz. Although many Hungarians do not like Jews, there have never been any overt acts of anti-Semitism. "Maybe it's better if they're in the Parliament and not operating underground," he says. Although government plans to re-write the text of the Hungarian exhibit at Auschwitz to eliminate mention of Hungary's complicity with the Nazis were quashed due to protests, these and other incidents point to an official attempt to shirk responsibility of the country's role in persecuting Jews

On the other hand, this government has been supportive of its Jews in many ways. It recently gave $3 million to the community in return for community property -- 50% more than the amount offered by the previous, socialist government. April 17th, the day deportations started in Hungary, has been officially designated as Holocaust Day in Hungarian schools. The government has also announced its intention to fund a Holocaust museum and documentation center.

With the exception of the former Soviet Union, Hungary has the largest Jewish population in central and Eastern Europe. It is estimated at about 100,000, although the precise number is far from clear. About 90 percent live in Budapest, and the rest are scattered in 33 small communities.

For over forty years, under Communist rule, the study and practice of Judaism was illegal. As a result, Hungarian Jews are highly assimilated, with only a few thousand formally associated with the community. Since the fall of Communism, however, there has been a significant revival of interest in Judaism and Israel. The impoverished situation of the Jewish community has improved somewhat in recent years. This is due to support from the government in return for foregoing its claim to certain community properties that had been nationalized by the communists as well as an infusion of money from various funds from abroad.

The Jewish Agency has been conducting activities in Hungary since 1989. The 32 member delegation runs a variety of aliyah, education, and youth programs.

Two other communal organizations are active in Hungary --the JDC, which operates extensive community welfare programs, and the Lauder Foundation, which is concerned mainly with Jewish education.

There are three youth movements - Hashomer Hatzair, Habonim-Dror, and Hanoar Hatzioni. This past December, 2500 people attended a central Chanukah party conducted by the Jewish Agency in conjunction with the local community.

"This is a unique historic opportunity to fight those who deny the Holocaust," said Israel's Attorney General Elyakim Rubinstein this week, following his decision to release the Eichmann diaries and allow the general public access to them.

The Nazi war criminal's diaries, which were written while he was imprisoned in Israel, include 1200 hand-written pages. The diaries, written from a personal perspective, describe the annihilation of the Jews in Eastern European countries in great detail.

Thirty-eight years after Eichmann's execution, the State of Israel this week decided to order the immediate release of the diaries. The decision is an effort to assist in the defense of a libel suit which was filed in the UK, in which British author David Irving is suing American historian Prof. Deborah Lipstadt, and the Penguin publishing company, for calling him a Holocaust denier. Lipstadt's attorneys have asked for the diaries in order to refute Irving's claim that Hitler was unaware of the Final Solution until the final stages of the war.

While the diaries were this week transferred to the defense in the trial, they were also made available to the general public at Israel's National Archives in Jerusalem.

Dubi Bergman, head of the Jewish Agency delegation in England, added that the British government took the decision to mark Holocaust Day in England at the end of January, beginning from the year 2001, in memory of the Jews who were freed from Auschwitz. Bergman stressed that this commemoration will take place in the public school system in the UK and in public institutions, and not just by the Jewish community.

• Israel is one of the most densely populated countries in the world. With well over 6,000,000 people, the population density is currently 272 people per square kilometer and rising. Children up to the age of 14 constitute 29% of the population, while close to 10% are 65 or over.

• The Jewish Agency participates in the funding of immigrant associations, which comprise a bridge between newly arrived immigrants and Israeli society. The organizational infrastructure of most of the associations is funded largely by the Agency.

• Some 50 families from South America are currently living in the Jewish Agency's Absorption Center in Ra'anana. Many will soon participate in vocational retraining programs.

• $3,000,000 were spent in 1999 by the Jewish Agency in renovating absorption centers. This included installing elevators, emergency exits, air-conditioning in classrooms, water boilers; the building of new classrooms, club rooms and computer rooms; replacing furniture where needed and on-going maintenance.

• $57,000 has been budgeted by the Jewish Agency for the year 2000 for promoting art as a tool for social and cultural integration. Integrated groups of immigrants from Ethiopia and the former Soviet Union, along with veteran Israelis living in the same neighborhoods, work together within the framework of multicultural art workshops and receive marketing advice. The workshops are currently located in Ofakim, Kiryat Gat, Kiryat Malachi and Afula.

• $16,000 will be allocated by the Jewish Agency in 2000 to the Orr Shalom Children's Homes as part of the Agency's program to help fund innovative and creative projects that impact on or improve Israeli society. Orr Shalom is a network of small residential facilities for abused or neglected children, designed to provide an alternative to large institutions, thus enabling children-at-risk to grow into healthy well-adjusted adults. The Jewish Agency has allocated funds to Orr Shalom since 1996.

The Israel Defense Forces Center for Locating Missing Soldiers is attempting to locate blood relatives of 45 victims on the convoy to Mount Scopus who were killed in 1948 during the War of Independence. They were interred in a common grave in the Sanhedria section of Jerusalem, where their names are inscribed on a monument. The convoy included 77 doctors and nurses at Hadassah Hospital who were ambushed and slaughtered by local Arabs.

Close kin have already been found for most of the victims in Israel and in the US; the IDF is seeking blood relatives of the following victims in order to obtain DNA samples: Shmiel Cohen; Zvi Eliyahu; Shabtai Frenkel; Raya Horowitz; Yosef Kangor; Dvora Kitejewicz; Binyamin Klar; and Avraham Rosenmacher.

Anyone who has any information is requested to contact the IDF at: 972-3-569-5567 or 972-3-569-4985 or by fax 972-3-569-6097.

Under the slogan "There's an Equal Way to Marry as a Jew," The Israel Movement for Progressive Judaism (Reform) and the Masorti (Conservative) Movement launched a campaign this week calling upon the public to examine new wedding alternatives.

The campaign was advertised in national and local newspapers and also on the radio, and it is a continuation of the publicity campaign which began before Rosh Hashana under the slogan "There's More Than One Way To Be A Jew."A poll conducted by the movements found that 46.5% of the public expressed willingness to have their weddings performed by a Reform or Conservative Rabbi. The poll was conducted by Shiluv Institute in Israel with a representative sample of 501 interviewees.

President of the Conservative Movement, Rabbi Ehud Bendel, says: "In view of the fact that there are growing calls for solving the problem of Psulei hitun - those barred from getting married by the orthodox rabbinate - the present campaign serves to encourage and offer a solution, firstly for 'kosher' couples who can marry under the Rabbinate but do not want to, since they prefer the halachic-Jewish (Conservative) way with which they can identify".

Chairperson of the Progressive Rabbis' Council, Rabbi Meir Azari, welcomes the campaign: "In the past few years there has been a dramatic surge in the number of those married with the help of Reform Rabbis. More couples choose to marry with an equal ceremony in the spirit of Judaism, which emphasizes the tradition of Israel as well as the concept of modern and renewing Judaism".

Two couples volunteered to record the campaign's radio jingles - Idan Lamdan and Sarit Nevo for the Reform Movement and Dror and Idit Lev for the Conservative Movement - who were recently married in the Movements' ceremonies and explain the reasons for their choice in the broadcast.

Last week, with no connection to the campaign, Minister of the Interior Natan Sharansky decided to allow couples who immigrated to Israel under the Law of Return -even though they are not Jews according to Halacha - to be married in civil ceremonies in the consulates of their countries of origin. Until today, the most common practice was for these couples to get married in Cyprus.

Luxembourg is on the map of the party scene for young Jewish people. The Union des Jeunes Gens Israelites du Luxembourg and the European Union of Jewish Students is holding a three-day happening in Luxembourg City this weekend, whose major goal is to offer a chance to meet other young Jewish people from all over Europe.

The events include a romantic millennium ball, an exciting Shabbat, Israeli dancing, several work groups, and lectures by well-known European speakers, including Jacques Santer, the former president of the European Commission. Participants will have the opportunity to learn more about being Jewish in Europe. They will also tour Luxembourg, and become acquainted with its history, luxury and international flavor.

The Jewish community in Luxembourg numbers some 400 families, most of whom are affiliated with Jewish organizations and have close ties to Israel, says Moshe Ben-Zaken, the Keren Hayesod emissary who works with the community. The synagogue in Luxembourg also functions as a community center.

As there are not many young Jews in Luxembourg, an outreach such as this Jewish European Seminar will provide an excellent opportunity for young adults to form new friendships and contacts in a comfortable and traditional atmosphere, says the Jewish Agency's aliyah emissary Neta Be'eri, who is stationed in near-by Belgium.

The young Turks are creating a silent revolution. Turkish Jews are thirsty for Jewish knowledge. On Tuesday evenings, seventy Jewish women flocked to the office of the chief rabbinate in Istanbul for a class in Torah. The weekly program is one of the new activities that have been instituted within the past two years by the dynamic young rabbi of the community, Naftali Haliwah.

Turkey's Jewish population numbers some 25,000, about 18,000 of whom live in Istanbul. Ismir has the country's second largest Jewish community, numbering 2,500. Although not necessarily observant, Turkish Jews tend to be traditional. Istanbul boasts an array of religious services and facilities: 16 kosher butcher shops and food stores, five rabbis, 15 ritual slaughters, and three mohelim (ritual circumcisers). There are two rabbis in Ismir.

Yet of the 5,500 elementary and high school age Jewish youngsters in Istanbul, only 350 study in the city's three Sunday schools, and several synagogues lack rabbis. "The main problem is ignorance," says Rabbi Haliwah, citing the paucity of books on Judaism in Turkish. The 30 year-old graduate of Yeshiva University in New York, who is the principal of the Sunday school in his neighborhood, has initiated the publication of 40 Jewish books in Turkish, as well as publications in English, over the past two years. He also prepares special sheets on the Torah portion - which are distributed to 2,500 individuals each week. Although one young member of the community is now studying in Jerusalem, the community is in desperate need of trained educational personnel. "The people are thirsty for Jewish knowledge," Haliwah says.

Every Tuesday night, a group of Jews, led by Rabbi Roberto de la Rocca, meet in Venice for several hours of Torah study - and spaghetti. For eight years de la Rocca, a native of Rome who traces his ancestry 2000 years back to the Roman exile of the Jews from the Land of Israel, has been helping rehabilitate Jewish life in the city that housed the first Jewish ghetto in the world.

A mere 500 Jews live in Venice today. While the nucleus of the community is still the ancient ghetto -- built in 1516 -- many live outside its walls. "When they realized that they couldn't survive on Holocaust remembrances alone," they began to study about Judaism," says de la Rocca. The ghetto has three synagogues. In the Sephardic synagogue, services are held on Shabbat, holidays, and on the first day of the Jewish month. There are also Jewish museums, a home for the elderly with a kosher restaurant on premises, a ritual bath, and a Talmud Torah which holds classes twice a week.

Small Jewish communities remain in other northern Italian cities as well: Padua, Verona, and Trieste. De la Rocca has organized monthly get-togethers, held in Venice or Trieste, where North Italy's Jewish families meet for Torah study and socializing. Nor does he reject intermarried couples. "I try to welcome them into the community," he says "on condition that they wish to become closer to Judaism."

"After my studies I would like to work in Israel's hi-tech industry as an electronic engineer. However, more than anything else I want to help Ethiopian youngsters with their education, particularly in the sciences." This comment was made by 31-year old Pentahon Asefa, a fourth-year undergraduate at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering at the Technion. Asefa is the second Ethiopian student to be absorbed at Intel's Haifa plant.

Pentahon has already begun tutoring Ethiopian high school students in Physics, Math and English as part of a unique program to promote Ethiopian youngsters in the areas of science and technology. The project is run jointly by the Jewish Agency, the Koor Conglomerate and the Technion.

Sixty youngsters currently participate in the Project for Scientific-Technological Advancement of Ethiopian students. The youngsters are 10th graders from the north of Israel who were chosen from 150 candidates. For the next two-and-a half years they will participate in a weekly and intensive enrichment program, focusing on technology and science, which will be held at the Technion. Pentahon is one of a group of Ethiopian students at the Technion who consider their work with the high-school students from their own community to be a true mission.

According to Dr. Dalia Fisman, who is responsible for Jewish Agency projects designed to assist special populations, there are only 18 Ethiopian engineers in the Israeli workplace today. Fisman also claims that the number of Ethiopian students enrolled in the areas of technology, engineering and hi-tech at colleges and universities is very low.

The new program should improve the chances of such students to be accepted for academic studies in the sciences and later for employment in Israel's hi-tech industries. This week the students hosted their parents at the Technion laboratories, as part of a special day organized by the project leaders.

Fifteen 15 Jewish Agency leaders, in Jerusalem for the tri-annual Board of Governors meetings, visited Beit New York-Jerusalem, located right near Jerusalem's City Hall. Beit New York-Jerusalem is a Partnership 2000 program jointly sponsored by the UJA-Federation of New York, the Jewish Agency and the Municipality of Jerusalem. It provides residents of New York City, Long Island, and Westchester with the opportunity to become directly and personally involved with the people and the city of Jerusalem by offering dozens of hands-on volunteer opportunities to its participants through "People-to-People" Partnerships.

The group was made up of New York Federation leaders and their colleagues from other partnership regions, including Bobi Klotz from New York; Sara Sanditen from Tulsa, Oklahoma; and Sandford Hollander from the Metro-West region.

Following a meeting with Jerusalem Mayor Ehud Olmert, who is also a member of the Jewish Agency Board of Governors, the group visited the Jerusalem College of Engineering, a lead project of the Partnership working to change the economic face of Jerusalem.

"The visit enabled people to see how we address various issues through our programs," says Bobi Klotz, Co-Chair of the Israel Department's Budget and Finance Sub-committee, who also serves as the Chair of the Organizational Review Committee of the UJA-Federation of New York. Beit New York-Jerusalem is a two-way bridge between Israel and America, which offers volunteer and hospitality opportunities.

This past month, fifteen teenagers from Zimbabwe - members of the Habonim-Dror youth movement -- completed a Jewish Agency seminar in Johannesburg in neighboring South Africa to help train leadership for the movement. The Jewish Agency emissary, Ronen Segal, reports that despite the tiny size of the Jewish community- they are striving valiantly to maintain communal life.

The approximately 800 Jews, whose ancestors emigrated about a century ago from Eastern Europe in search of gold, are a minority within a minority - there are 100,000 whites out of a total population of 14 million. Six hundred Jews, divided into Sephardic and Ashkenazi communities, live in Harare; the rest reside in Bulawayo.

It is an affluent community - made up primarily of businessmen and professionals. As in neighboring South Africa, they enjoy a high standard of living in large houses staffed by servants. There are two Orthodox. synagogues, a school , a kindergarten, and various Jewish organizations.

However the community is aging and dwindling, with an average age of 65. There are only about 18 youngsters between the ages of 14 and 18, and a small number of children under 14. Out of the 170 pupils at the Jewish school, only 20 are Jewish!

Like other young Jews from Zimbabwe, Danny Hasson, formerly deputy secretary of the Habonim Dror youth movement, left the country to attend university. He is now in Israel on kibbutz ulpan after graduating from the University of Capetown. He reports that another active member in the movement, David Plein, who recently spent a year in Israel, has gone back to Zimbabwe to work with the youth and try to revitalize the Jewish community.

In an attempt to enhance ties with Israel, Ruth Regev, Director of the English-speaking desk at the Jewish Agency's Education Department, visited Zimbabwe earlier this winter, returning an earlier visit to Israel by community leaders. A joint work plan was developed to strengthen Jewish-Zionist identity that includes youth visits to Israel and sending two young teachers on National Service to Zimbabwe.

Drori Lamdan, the Jewish Agency emissary in Tashkent, has reported that the University of Tashkent in Uzbekistan decided this year to add Hebrew as a foreign language to its curriculum. The initiative followed a letter received by Noah Gal Gendler, Israel's ambassador to Uzbekistan, from the rector of the university, Dr. Gameldin Buranow, who asked that Hebrew be added to the list of 20 other languages taught the university.

Following the request, the Israeli ambassador contacted Meir Tal, head of the Jewish Agency delegation in Asia and the South Caucasus, to assist in implementing this program. Erella Lamdan, a Jewish Agency education emissary, has accepted this assignment and has begun preparing a four-year course; forming contacts with a parallel academic institution in Israel; finding suitable teachers; and collecting study materials, books and equipment to set up an Israeli center.

In the meantime, even though all the preparations have not been completed, it was decided in consultation with the Israeli ambassador to open the Hebrew language course at the university immediately. Eight students have already registered.

Four terrorists were killed this morning in the Arab town of Taibeh, within the green line, during an assault by a special Israeli Police Unit and the General Security Service. An Israeli policeman was wounded in the assault, he was taken to hospital, where doctors had to amputate his foot.
Last night three men and a woman from the Palestinian Authority arrived in Taibeh, where they rented an apartment on a monthly basis. The police who arrived at dawn in the town, surrounded the building. The terrorists blockaded themselves in the building with explosives, which they had prepared for an attack in Israel. During the assault one of the terrorists opened fire and the second blew up an explosive charge which injured the policeman. The Israelis returned fire and killed both terrorists. A dog from the Police Sabotage Unit was sent into the house and killed by an explosive device. Later on the bodies of the two other terrorists who were apparently killed by explosive devices during the assault were found in the house. The security forces are checking if there was a connection between the terrorists and any of the residents of Taibeh who are all Israeli citizens.

71-year old Roman Ashurov from the northern Caucasus region in Russia has just begun a new chapter in his life. Last year he was on his way to the Jewish Agency emissary in Pyatigorsk, when he was attacked and taken hostage by a Chechen gang. Yesterday he landed in Israel after successfully renewing contact with the Jewish Agency emissaries following his release. He was flown to Israel without further delay.

"It was a year of torture and suffering", he relates. "The kidnappers heard that I had family in Israel and demanded a million-dollar ransom." In fact, the kidnappers found Roman's daughter Isabella who lives with her family in Israel in Ofakim, and threatened that if she did not send them the money they would send her father's body in pieces in the mail. In order to convince the daughter that they were serious, they would torture Roman in front of the phone so that she could hear him crying. The kidnappers hit him on the head, crushed his fingers, pulled out his toenails and even fired over his head. During one of these calls, his daughter, who was seven months pregnant, passed out.

For almost the entire period of his captivity, Ashurov was held in a dark basement in Martanchuk, and was not allowed to wash or change his clothes. This town is some 30 miles from Grozhny, the capital of Chechenya. When Russian forces approached the capital in November, the kidnappers moved Roman to a mountain area near the border with Georgia. The elderly man had to make the long 150-km journey on foot, while his armed escorts rode on horseback.

During his captivity, the kidnappers informed him that they would be pleased to decapitate his Jewish head and send it to his daughter in Israel. "Allah gave Jerusalem to us, and we must kill all the Jews", they said and continued to torture him. Roman Ashurov's fate could have been much worse if not for the presence of mind he showed when treating one of the Chechen commanders who had been injured in the fighting with the Russians. Ashurov, who specializes in herbal remedies, helped the severely injured officer. When he recovered, he repaid Ashurov in his own way by freeing him and smuggling him out of the area, thus saving his life.

When Ashurov reached his niece with the help of the Russian forces, it was almost impossible to identify him. From his niece's home, he contacted the Jewish Agency who sent him a special emissary. Abba Faigin, the Jewish Agency's emissary in Pyatigorsk, said that he found Ashurov in very bad condition. He provided him with basic medical treatment, new eyeglasses and warm clothes. Within a few days, Ashurov was flown to Moscow, where he was received by Jewish Agency representatives who helped him obtain an aliyah visa as quickly as possible.

Yesterday, Ashurov arrived in Israel at last accompanied by a Jewish Agency representative. He immediately went to see his daughter and other family members. It was an emotional and tear-filled reunion. "I consider Israel to be my birthplace. I hope that here, together with everyone, my wounds will heal and I can make a fresh start," said Ashorov, 71, with tears in his eyes.

Two beggars sit outside a church. One holds a card which reads - "Mercy for a blind Jew", the other holds a card which reads "Mercy for a poor man". The can held by the blind Jew is empty, whereas the poor man has collected a large number of coins.

The priest walks out of the church, looks at the two beggars and sees that the blind Jew has nothing while the poor man has a can full of coins. The priest says to the Jew: "I don't want to poke my nose into your affairs, but maybe you would be better off collecting outside a synagogue?" "Thanks for your help," says the blind Jew.

Once the priest had gone, the Jew turns to the other beggar and says - "Nu, Moishele, the priest thinks he can teach us how to collect money!" This joke is published in a book called "Jewish Humor" by Selsia Landman which was recently published in Holland.

A special day dedicated to Jewish humor from Biblical times will be marked this month in Amsterdam by the Dutch Cultural Society. Some 150 Hebrew teachers and students from the society will participate in the event. According to the Jewish Agency emissary in Holland, Melvin Rach, says that cooperation between all the streams in the Jewish community in Holland is expressed by continued support of Israel and the struggle for restitution of Jewish property. He estimates that every year, 30% of the community's younger members visit Israel.

According to Ruti Arenson, organizer of the convention, besides an abundance of Jewish jokes, the day will include a review of Jewish humor from various periods in history; the uniqueness of Jewish humor; the messages which lie behind the jokes, and more. The event will be held at the Maimonedes Jewish School in Amsterdam. Among the lecturers who will appear at the convention: David Lilienthal, Rabbi of Amsterdam's Liberal Jewish Community who will discuss Jewish humor during the biblical era; Mans Wikler, an academic who will lecture on the role of jokes in Jewish history; and Yitzhak Moed, chairman of the Cultural Association.

The Cultural Association runs 42 classes at Hebrew ulpan centers around Holland, in which 300 adults aged 18-80 participate. The Jewish community in Holland numbers some 30,000, 17,000 of whom live in Amsterdam. Some 30% are orthodox, 20% Liberal (Reform) and the remainder are self-declared secular Jews. Israelis account for 35% of the Jews in Holland.

Arkadi Weiman was born in the ghetto 58 years ago, next to Nir Venezia in the Ukraine. Even now he is unable to understand how he remained alive. His mother, Riva, was incapable of telling her children how they had been saved - every time she attempted to do so, she broke down sobbing.

This is just one of the emotional stories connected to the allocation of money from the Swiss fund for holocaust victims, which Reuven Weinstein, Jewish Agency representative in Kazakhstan has encountered.

At the beginning of the month Weinstein began to allocate money from the fund at the request of the WJRO, which is not represented in a large number of Central Asian republics. WJRO Director Eli Spanic, said that the organization has established 50 local committees together with the Jewish Agency and the JDC in an effort to reach those eligible for assistance all over the world. Jewish Agency emissaries operating in Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyyzstan and other Central Asian republics have set out to locate those eligible for such assistance. JDC representatives operating in other areas are doing likewise.

After assisting the candidates to fill out the relevant forms, the emissaries pay another visit to the home of each and every survivor to give them the $400 as a down payment against the $1400 they will each receive under the agreement.

"Each and every one of the people has his own painful story, and was affected by Nazi persecution during the Second World War. In western terms, this assistance is not particularly great, but here it is a substantial amount and may make a significant difference to them, guaranteeing them self-respect in the future," said the head of the Jewish Agency delegation in Kazakhstan.

The exhibition on the Jews of Yemen was opened by Mrs. Nava Barak, wife of the Israeli Prime Minister

Connecting the artifacts of the past with the living culture of today is the aim of the first major exhibition on the Jews of Yemen that opened this week at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem. Jewish history in Yemen dates back at least two millennia, and - even more remarkable - the community managed to preserve some of the oldest Jewish traditions known today. The exhibit offers a glimpse into the lifestyles, rituals and arts and crafts of one of the most ancient Jewish communities.

Marking the 50th anniversary of the major immigration of Yemen's Jews to the fledgling state of Israel, the exhibition also provides a meeting point between the heritage of Yemenite Jews and the more Western-oriented culture in Israel. Following their mass aliyah half a century ago, a distinctly Israeli-Yemenite style has emerged in Israel which is also portrayed in the exhibition.

The Yemenite contribution to the diversified cultural life of Israel has been prominent, particularly in the fields of music, dance, jewelry and embroidery. "There is much we can learn from such an important Jewish community," said Nava Barak, wife of Israel's Prime Minister Ehud Barak, at the exhibit opening. "The culinary arts of the Yemenites have also been well-preserved," she said.

The centerpiece of the new exhibition is a reconstructed Jewish home, including a typical courtyard and room interiors, and an open arts and crafts market. "It is not an easy task to convey the sense of a culture through artifacts, " said Esther Muchawsky-Schnapper, curator of the new exhibit. "Yet by looking at a single object, it is sometimes possible to glimpse the whole world lying behind it."

In recent years there has been a surge of interest in Yemenite culture in Israel, both on the part of the Yemenites themselves and the public in general. Many young Yemenite couples now choose to marry in the old traditional style, and ethnic events involving Yemenite dress, music, jewelry and food are becoming very popular.

The following recipe can be used as a meal in itself or as a side-dish, served with grated tomatoes and traditional Yemenite hot sauce "schug,"

INGREDIENTS

1 kilo of flour (2.2 lbs)
1 cup of sugar
1 packet of baking powder
1/2 cube of yeast
2 cups of warm water
200 (7oz) grams of unsalted margarine

PREPARATION

Mix all the dry ingredients (flour, sugar, baking powder).
Place the yeast in half a cup of warm water to dissolve.
Mix the dry ingredients with the yeast.
Add two cups of warm water.
Knead the dough.
Allow to stand 15 minutes.

Place a little bit of oil on the dough
Knead the dough once again and let it rise for about 1 hour

Then divide the dough into 10 balls

Melt 200 (7oz) grams of margarine (without salt)
Roll out each of the balls
Fold the dough in four, spreading the margarine on each side

Repeat these instructions for all the balls

Then place the balls in a tightly sealed oven-proof container

Bake in oven at 100 degrees C (212 F) from Friday night until Saturday morning, when you can eat with a boiled egg, grated tomatoes and hot sauce.

Bon appetit - B'teavon!