Ohio Jewish Chronicle, 1992-10-22

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The Ohio Jewish Chronicle
Serving Columbus and the Central Ohio
Jewish Community since 1922
VOLUME 70 OCTOBER 22, 1992
NUMBER 44 25 TISHREI 5753
DEVOTED TO AMERICAN AND JEWISH IDEALS
Court refuses to hear
Jonathan Pollard case
page '2
Exhibit details history of
Latin American Jewry
page 2
Oz to speak at Open IL
page 2
Geography before autonomy:
A different peace plan
- page 3
Babbi Berman honored
page 5
Block Golf Tournament
yields record amount
page 6
Dershowitz to be featured
at Advanced Gifts Dinner
page 10
At The JCC .'.  14
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Community  4-9
Federation «  10, 11
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Marketplace  15
Scoreboard  14
Synagogues •—  13
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ISRAEL FEATURE
IsraeVs newest gem: Bible Lands Museum
Nestled amidst the golden
hills of Jerusalem, enjoying
the most prestigious proximity to some of the country's
well known landmarks such as
the Knesset — the Israeli Parliament, the Hebrew University and its most immediate
neighbor, the Israel Museum
and the Shrine of the Book, a
modern yet outwardly unas-
. suming building has just been
completed.
This newest addition to the
cultural institutions - which
have served to enrich the city
of Jerusalem is the Bible
Lands Museum Jerusalem. It
is a unique museum, born of
the dream and persistence of
one man, Dr. Elie Borowski
and his wife, Batya. "I believe
that by understanding the Bible and our earliest history, we
can create a better environment than this century has
produced ... and help reawaken man's awareness of
the code of ethics and morality
intrinsic in the Bible," said
Dr. Borowski. He believes that
without a knowledge of the society and the surrounding cultures of the period, the Bible
cannot be understood.
Built entirely by private
funding on land donated by
the Israeli government, the
museum's mission is to instruct, visitors in the. life and,
cultures of the civilizations of
the region in periods men-
. tioned in the Bible. The museum is a non-denominational
international center for the appreciation of the history of the
Bible. The many artifacts that
are displayed are part of an
extensive collection of more
than 3,000 priceless objects,
including seals, bronzes, ivories   and   sarcophagi,  from
lands extending from Afghanistan in the east to the Mediterranean in the west and from
the Caucasian Mountains in
the north to Nubia in the
south. The objects date from
the Neolithic period (6,000
BCE) to 600 C.E. The displayed items are the result of
years of tireless collecting by
Dr. Borowski himself, enhanced by several gifts and
loans from many other countries.. :.'..:..,:B:.:^.b..:B A
The museum's interior, with
14,000 square feet of exhibition
space planned by museum designer Clifford LaFontaine, is
unique in that it presents the
objects according to historical
and periodic sequence rather
than their geographic provenance. Thus, the museum visitor will be able to view simultaneously the artifacts of Mesopotamia and Egypt of the same
period. Using this approach, the
visitor will have a clearer understanding of the various interactions between the different cultures.
The two story structure was
designed by Jerusalem architectZeev Schoenberg. The
museum has a Roman-like
court and a Hellenistic-like
theater, both decorated with
framed pieces of ancient mosaics. The court and theater
■•'- are located just at the entrance
to the museum arid are ideal
sites for any preliminary briefing. The museum's upper floor
is devoted entirely to the ex-,
hibits, while the lower floor
holds a 230 seat auditorium,
temporary exhibition hall, library, research and study
rooms, laboratories, offices
and a museum restaurant, offering indoor and outdoor
seating.
ISRAEL FEATURE
Seeking Bridges?
By Eetta Prince-Gibson
(WZPS) In July 1991, astonished Israelis watched as more
than 14,000 Ethiopian Jews
were airlifted in "Operation
Solomon" to their new homes
in Israel. Tired from their long
flight and bewildered by the
cultural passage, they were
welcomed by veteran Israelis
with unprecedented sympathy
and kindness.
In retrospect, the initial
dreams of a speedy and smooth
integration into Israeli society
seem to have been naive. Not
only have bureaucratic mishan-
dlings led to absorption crises,
but rifts and,.conflicts among
the Ethiopians themselves have
made their .transition even
more traumatic.
Stereotyped as a quiet and
passive community, Ethiopians quickly learned to protest
and demonstrate like the best
of democrats. They have picketed against temporary housing, inadequate social services
and unsuitable education for
their children. But the recent
17-day strike and sit-in of
"Kessim" (Ethiopian religious
leaders) was different. It commanded the attention of the
Israeli press .and public, but
for the first time was not simply a conflict between the
Ethiopians and the establishment but within the Ethiopian
community itself. v
The Kessim were protesting
the Chief Rabbinate's ban on
their performing marriages
and divorces. (Under Israeli
civil law, sole authority over
marriage and divorce is granted to the rabbinical courts.)
Taking a strident position, ini-
. tially rejecting all compromise
proposals,- they agreed finally
to suspend their protest while
a special committee of Ethiopians, government and Chief
Rabbinate officials meet to
seek solutionsto the dispute.
Even this interim suspension
was reached only after extensive formal and informal negotiations with Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, Absorption:
Minister Yair Tisaban, acting
Religious Affairs Minister Uzi
Baram, Sephardi Chief Rabbi
Mordechai Eliahu, Ashkenazi
Chief Rabbi Avraham Shapiro
and numerous others.
Ostensibly, the strike was
over Jewish tradition and law.
The Chief Rabbinate recognizes the Ethiopian immigrants as Jews, but refuses to
allow the Kessim to officiate
at marriages or divorces unless they study and pass a test
on Oral Law (the authoritative
interpretation of the written
jaw), which has never been
part of the Ethiopian tradition. Explained Ashkenazi
"Chief Rabbi Avraham Shapiro, "If we want the non-Ethiopian Israeli public and our
grandchildren to be able to
marry the children and
grandchildren of Ethiopian
immigrants, then there has to
be a marriage procedure recognized by everyone."
The Kessim acknowledge
that they do not abide by Oral
Law but demand that their
own traditions "be fully legiti-
trated. "Many of our Kessini
are in their 80s. Should they
have to go to school as though
they are in kindergarten?!" demanded protestor Kes Ber-
hane.
Some veteran Israelis viewed
the strike as further evidence of
the establishment's insensitivity
to Ethiopian immigrants. Others saw it as a struggle for religious pluralism. But many of
those more involved with the
Ethiopian community, Ministry
of Absorption officials, and
Ethiopians themselves, regard
the strike as a sign of a fundamental rift within the Ethiopian
community - a rift which could
even widen.
Most of the protestors were
elderly men who had been religious leaders in Ethiopia and
whose struggle generated little
support among young Ethiopi-
' ans. And callers to an Israel
Radio talk-show in Amharic
overwhelmingly expressed
disapproval of the strike and
its goals.
"The Kessim are presenting
this as though the Israeli establishment was forcing Israeli
see QiBSOti pg. 16