xt7n028pgp9p https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt7n028pgp9p/data/mets.xml Jewish Federation of the Bluegrass Kentucky Jewish Federation of the Bluegrass 1994-02 Newspaper of the Jewish Federation of the Bluegrass, previously named the Central Kentucky Jewish Association and Central Kentucky Jewish Federation. Published ten times annually. The Federation seeks to bring Jewish community members together through holiday parties, lectures, Yiddish courses, meals, and other celebrations of Jewish heritage and culture. They also host fundraisers and provide financial assistance for Jews in need, both locally and around the world. This collection is part of the Jewish Federation of the Bluegrass records, 2016ms010. newsletters 2016ms010 English Central Kentucky Jewish Federation Inc Contact the Special Collections Research Center for information regarding rights and use of this collection. Jewish Federation of the Bluegrass records Jews -- Kentucky -- Lexington Jews -- History Shalom, February 1994 text image Shalom, February 1994 1994 1994-02 2025 true xt7n028pgp9p section xt7n028pgp9p

t t
halom

SPEAK ON CHRISTIAN—JEWISH -
RELATIONS

On February 22, Clark M. Williamson, Indiana Professor of
Christian Thought, Christian Theological Seminary,
Indianapolis, will present a lecture at Transylvania
University. The lecture, "Christians and Jews: Rethinking
Christian Thinking" will be in Mitchell Fine Arts Center,
Recital Hall at 7:30 in the evening.

Williamson's work has concentrated on Christian-Jewish
relations for over 25 years. Among his books are "A Guest in
the House of Israel," 1993; "The Church and the Jewish
People." ed., 1994; "A Mutual Witness: Toward Critical
Solidarity Between Jews and Christians," ed., 1992; "The
Teaching Minister" (with Ronald J. Allen), 1991;
"Interpreting Difficult Texts: Anti-Judaism and Christian
Preaching" (with Ronald J. Allen), 1989. He has edited three
volumes of essays in honor of colleagues and is editor of

"Encounter”, a theological quarterly. As a member of the
theological wmmni: «ion of the (‘liri~»?é:i:a i‘h’ui‘l‘t! lllli>.'lpl(‘9 if

CM he wrote "Baptism-z Embodiment of the Gospel/f»

1987.

Professor Williamson has lectured widely. He is a member
of the Christian Scholars Group on Judaism, the Association
of Disciples for Theological Discussion and the American
Academy of Religion, He is also a member of the church
relations committee of the US. Holocaust Memorial Council.

He holds BD, MA and PhD degrees from the
University of Chicago and the BA degree from Transylvania
University. He has been a visiting professor at the School of
Theology in Clarmont and at the Graduate School of the
Ecumenical Institute (Chateau de Bossy) in Switzerland.

In teaching and in writing, Professor Williamson has
sought to engage persons in reinterpreting the faith of the
church. He believes that in every historical situation the
biblical community of faith has been reinterpreting its faith.
Acknowledging the fact of Christian complicity in the
Holocaust and the explosion of concern with all aspects of
relations between Jews and Christians beginning in the
1960s, he seeks to reconstruct Christian thinking "in the
light of the searching critique to which examination of its
anti-Jewish past subjects it."

CKJ F Non-Phrﬁt 0.;
340 Romany Road U.S.PPX)‘SII;AGE
Leiungton, KY 40502 Permit No. 719

Lexington, KY

Bulletin of the Central Kentuelm
lewish Feberation

FEBRUARY 1994

FIRST CHAI AWARDS
RECIPIENTS NAMED

Georges Birenbaum

'IheJewﬂi Gmmm'tyd'
Cent ral Kent uekv submitted a
number , of

annual Chai Awartk (f the CKJF.
The Chai Awards, two to be
given, will recognize those
individuals who have given of
themselves to the Jewish and to
the general communities. The
presentations are scheduled
for Saturday evening, February
19thfrrxn 8pmthrough 11pm at
the French Quarter Suites in
Lexington.

The Chai Award
presentation evening will be
led by Master of Ceremonies,
Alan Stein. Jerry Sanders and
Bonnie Krasick, local media
personalities, will present
the awards. Designed by local
graphic artist Gloria Katz, and
hand crafted by Jack Sharer,
the original, one of a kind
awards, have been created
exclusively for this occasion.

Hors d'oeuvres and
desserts will be served with a
cash bar open through the
evening. Following the
presentations and ceremonies,
guests will be invited to join
Mardi Gras celebrations,
including live jazz bands,
hosted by the French Quarter
Suites.

Bmed m the Ixminating
petitions for the Chai Awards,
the judging committee selected
the following to receive the
ﬁrst awards: For exceptional

outstanding .
. ." . ﬁrm. mew“

contributions to the general
community. local. national and
international, Georges
to the Jewish community, Jerry
and Rose Rita Wurmser.
What Gauges Baum
does for the community at large
is a well kept secret. One of
the people who nominated

Georges described his
contributions as "With no
fanfare or personal

recognition, Georges Birenbaum
has made ﬁfteen trips to Third
World nations to do volunteer
teaching and eye surgery. He
has given sight back to
hundreds of poor, blind
individuals who would
otherwise be unable to afford
or even have access to the
necessary surgery. He travels
at his own expense..." Georges
has traveled to Oaxaca, Mexico,
Vietnam, Romania, Haiti, St.
Lucia, Brazil and Hadera,
Israel. In January of this
year he travelled to Chad.
Prior to each of his
trips to help suffering
individuals in Third World
nations, Georges prepares by
learning enough of the language
of the nation so that he can
communicate without the aid of
a translator. This saves time
in the operating room and
enables him to become a part of
the community which he is
visiting.
Having survived World

CK$JF

Rose Rita and Jerry Wurmser

War II as a Hdden Jewish
child, Georges came to the

Unitethtates at the ageof 22. ,
over. He understands what it
means to need help and to be
able to help others. By giving
sight back to the blind and in
offering education to those who
can, in turn, help the blind,
Georges offers people around
the globe a better quality of
life. He exempliﬁes the
Jewish concept of tzedakah.

T h e a w a r d f o r
outstanding contributions to
the Jewish community goes to
Jerry and Rose Rita Wurmser.
This couple has, in large part,
been responsible for the
furniture in all of the
apartments set up for former
Soviet Jews settled in Central
Kentucky. They have single-
handedly collected the
furniture from donors, stored
the items, and lovingly
arranged the apartments that
each new American receives on
his arrival. Anyone who visits
the apartments ﬁnds a stylish,
well coordinated decor with
every detail complete.

One of the nominating
petitions stated "It's payback
time. We have had a great
life! Jerry and Rose Rita have
undertaken their many
volunteer activities on a full

Cont. pg. 14
see CHAI

Page 2

THE TORAH THIS MONTH

BY: RABBI ERIC R. SLA'ION

February 5, Mishpatim
Exodus 21:1-24:18

The word Mishpatim
means laws. This parsha,
which Moses receives on top
of Mt. Sinai, contains many
laws on a variety of subjects
which include:
- Proper treatment of
Hebrew slaves.
- The punishment for
murder and unintentional
murder, injuring or cursing
a parent, and kidnapping.
- Fair compensation for
personal injury.
- Punishment for killing or
injuring a slave.
- When a pregnant woman
is unintentionally injured
and miscarries, the injurer
must pay monetary
compensation. From this
law the Rabbis derived that
a fetus does not have the
same status as a human, as
there can be no monetary

Published
ten times annually by the

Central Kentucky
Jewish Federation, Inc

CK$JF

Please send address
changes to :

340 Romany Road
Lexington, KY 40502
(606) 268-0672
fax: (606) 268-0775

I I I
Ellie Goldman, President

Howard L. Ross,
Executive Director

Sharyn Sharer,
Program Director

Iris Roman,
Office Manager

Sara Chamey-Cohen.
Editor

Samye Miller.
Advertising

'Ihe appearance of any advertising
in this publication does nor

the part of CKJF or any other
agency or organizatim

represent a kashrm endorsement on

compensation for killing

another person-

compensation is only paid

for personal injury. In this

case, the fetus is considered

as part of the mother's body.

- Laws concerning a goring

ox.

- Compensation for damage

caused by an open hole.

- Penalties for stealing.

Damage to property by

grazing or ﬁre.

- The responsibility for

property left in someone‘s

care.

- Laws concerning the

seduction of a virgin, occult

practices, idolatry and

opression.

- When lending to the poor

one cannot charge interest
0 r p r e s s f o r

immediate repayment.

- Accept the authority of the

courts.

- Do not eat torn ﬂesh found

in the field.

- Laws concerning the

establishment of justice.

- What to do with stray or

fallen animals.

- The Sabbatical year and

the sabbath day.

- Observe the festivals.

- When entering the land of

Canaan, follow the

instructions of God’s

messengers, and do not

follow the practices of the

people nor make treaties

with them.

- The covenant is sealed as

sacriﬁces are made on a

twelve pillared altar. The

Walt Barbour
Store Manager

leaders have a mystical
vision of God.

- Moses ascends to the top of
the mountain to receive the
stone tablets, and remains
for forty days.

February 12, Terumah
Rash Hodesh
SHABBAT SHEKALIM
Exodus 25:1-27:19

Maﬁir Rosh Hodesh Adar
Numbers 28:9-15

Maﬁir Shekalim Exodus
30:11-16

The word Terumah
means offering. All those
who so desired were to give
an offering of various items
for the building of the
Tabernacle (Mishkan), the
portable tent of worship. An
ark (of the covenant) and
compartment was built.

The maftir refers to
the 1/2 shekel tax that was
used in the wilderness to
take a census. Rather than
counting the Israelites,
which is strictly forbidden,
the money that was paid by
each individual was counted.
In later time one half shekel
was paid at the beginning of
the pilgrimage season to pay
for clearing the roads. The
maftir is read on the first
Shabbat of Adar, before
Purim, which was when the
tax was collected. Today it
is still collected and given to
Tzedakah.

Being the ﬁrst day
(Rash Hodesh) of the month
of Adar, the special portion
retells the sacriﬁces made
on Rash Hodesh. This is

one of the few times of the

year when we read from
three Torah scrolls.

February 19, Tezaveh
ZACHOR
Exodus 27:20-30:10
Maﬁir Deuteronomy 25:17-
19

T h i s p o r t i o n
continues with a description
of building of the holy
objects of the Tabernacle
and garments of the priests.
The menorah and incense
altars which go into the tent
are described. Aaron wore
special garments and a
breast plate with twelve
semi-precious stones upon
which were engraved the
name of the tribes. The
consecration ceremony for
the priests and the
Tabernacle takes place

Shabbat Zachor
comes before Purim. The
portion read for the Maftir
describes how the
Amalakites, who attacked
the Israelites in the desert.
are to be eliminated,

Haman is considered to be a
descendant of Amalak.

February 26, Ki Tissa
SHUSHAN PURJM
Exodus 30:11—34:35

M o r e t h i n g 8
regarding the Tabernacle
are described in this portion.

A census is undertaken.
Rather than counting the
Israelites, which is strictly
forbidden, the half shekel
paid by each individual was
counted.

The instructions for
the building of the
washstand and the
ingredients for anointing oil
and incense are related.
Bezalel is chosen to be in
charge of building the
Tabernacle, and Oholivama
is his assistant.

God commands that
the Shabbat is to be
observed. The Rabbis
derived, from the
juxtapositioning of this
restatement of the laws of
Shabbat with the building of
the Tabernacle, that
Shabbat took precedence
over the building of the
Tabernacle.

Moses has been gone
a long time and the people
ask Aaron to fashion a
molten calf for them. Moses
angrily descends and breaks
the tablets given to him by
God. The Levites join Moses
and go through the camp
killing the idolaters. Moses
goes back up to the
mountain to plead that the

‘35-.“

("tint pit l3

see TORAH

CORRECTION

In the December/January edition an article about the
'93 campaign listed Women's Division donors who had given
$1500.00 or more. Phyllis Scher should have appeared on

the list.

THE FIRST YEAR

by Harvard Ross,
Executive Diredor

_ Over the past year, I
have been asked on a number
of occasions why I do not
write a column in "Shalom".
My response has been
consistent: "Who would want
to read it?" Although I still
follow that thought, I agree
with many that a year-end
analysis is in order. What
has the Federation done this
past year to merit your
attention and participation?

Having arrived in
Lexington on January 1,
1993, I immediately set out
to study the history of the
Jewish community of Central
Kentucky. I spoke to as
many members of the
community as I could: l
learned from numerous
perspectives. I tried to
assimilate as much of the
information as possible and
then to stir it all up and
attempt to set in my mind a

plan for the future
development of the
Federation.

One of the

most
illlkttillillll '
information that I was able
to refer to was a long range
plan established in May of
1992 by the leadership of the
community. [first and
foremost on the list was a
JCC (physical plant. for full
educational, social, physical
and cultural programming for
all ages). ()ther items on the
list included a newspaper
with paid staff, a site to
support Camp Shalom, a
more enthusiastic and larger
campaign, a family service
agency, public relations,
upgrading of the technical
equipment of CKJF and a

lllt‘L't'.‘ .tl

Federation Endowment
Campaign.

We (the staff and
leadership of CKJF)

examined these long range
plan goals and determined
what was feasible at this
time. Public relations and a
newspaper became project
number one. The result --
"Shalom", the vehicle that
you are reading now.
Thanks to the skillful
work of our editor, Sara
Chamey-Cohen, "Shalom" is
a professional quality
document which educates
and informs the Jewish
community. Thanks to the
dedicated efforts of Samye
Miller. our advertising

manager, "Shalom" is paid
for by the advertisements
each month.

Camp Shalom met for
two weeks last summer at a
magnificent site. The
Woodman of the World
campsite, with cabins, a full
kitchen and a swimming
pool, made Camp Shalom
1993 the best ever. Thanks
to the efforts of our program
director, Sharyn Sharer. and
camp chairman Jessica Ross.
each camper had, a fabulous
camping experience.

The CKJF / UJA
campaign. that effort which
pays for all of the programs
and raises the necessary
dollars for Israel and Jewish
needs around the world. saw
a 3% increase over 1992.
Although this effort was a
credit to all of those who
participated. a special thank
you must be given to the
campaign leadership. tilorta
l\';it/,. general chairman. lieon
t‘ooper. men's division
chairman and Marilyn Gall,
women's division chairman.
(lne ofthe too often forgotten
.l\‘,it'\‘i:~ t>l ilii‘ t'itllilnitgtt
Super Sunday. Austin
Cantor and Sue Ezrine co-

chaircd Super Sunday and it
was one of the most
successful in the history of
CKJF.

The technical
facilities of the CKJF office
are now as up to date as is
possible. A new computer
with electronic financial data
programs makes the
accounting effort of CKJF
more accountable and
accurate. A FAX brings us
into communication with
members and agencies in
Central Kentucky and
around the globe twenty four
hours a day. Thanks to the
efforts of Austin Cantor,
CKJF is on lntemet E-Mail
(llillel@ukcc.uky.edu) which
has proven to be a
tremendous savings on the

phone bill. And thanks to
foundation grants, CKJF is
now accessible to the
handicapped.

The planning and
efforts of the social services
committee has paid off with
the gift of "seed money" for
the salary of a social worker
for four years to start a social
service agency for the Jewish

community of Central
Kentucky. At this time,
interviews are being

COMIVIUNITY RELATIONS
COMMI'I'I‘EE

The CRC is having a very active and productive
year. Plans for the ﬁrst Chai Award Evening are moving
ahead. You can read details of this event on the ﬁrst page of
this issue of the Federation newspaper. Georges Birenbaum
and Jerry and Rose Rita Wurmser will be honored on

February 19th.

Other matters discussed at the January 5th meeting
of the CRC were a concern for possible increased anti-
Semitism in the former USSR and the implications for

those Jews remaining

in that country, and the recently

signed agreement between Israel and the Vatican and how
we in Lexington might mark this historic event. .
Bill Leffler read a copy of a letter that he sent to

Mayor Miller

Minority Affairs

and Lauretta Byars of the UK Office of
expressing

unhappiness and

disappointment of the CKJF at not being included in the

planning for
observance in Lexington.

this year's Martin Luther King,

Jr. Day

., The CRC also considered a letter from the editor of
the Encyclopedia Britannica admitting to a number of anti-
Israel statements in its 1993 edition and agreeing to correct

them in the next edition.

Steve Caller has written an article for ACE Magazine
to respond to an anti-Israel article that appeared in the

December issue.

This article will be sent to ACE for

publication to correct a number of inaccuracies in the first

article.

Simone Salomon has

been appointed to the

Lexington Fayette County Human Rights Commission and
we are pleased to report this and have a Jewish

representative on this body.

conducted and the social
worker should start on our
behalf on March 1,

In sum. it has been a
busy year. But the first wish
of the long range planning
effort has not been
approached, that of a JCC, a
building to house the
educational, social, physical
and cultural programming of
the Jewish community of

the level that can sustain

such a project. It is my hope
that. 1994 will begin the
process. lt is my hope that
you will become involved in
the process of continuing the
growth of the Jewish
community of Central
Kentucky.

May 1994 be even
better than 1993 and may
this year-end report in

Page .3

CAMP SHALOM
COMMI'ITE
CHAIRS CHOSEN

Lynn Cooper

Lynn Cooper and
Starr Gantz (not pictured)
are the co-chairs for the
Camp Shalom Committee.
This will be the 26th year of
Camp Shalom. The pair
have been hard at work
coordinating plans for this

, year's camp session.

COUNSELORS
NEEDED

It's not too soon to be
thinking about your summer

plans. Camp Shalom is
“W ' ' " " Ion-forthis
year's summer session.

Campers and counselors had
a great summer last year at
our new site and we are
looking forward to an even
better summer. If you are
interested in a rewarding
summer as a counselor in a
Jewish environment, please
submit a letter of interest to
the Central Kentucky Jewish

Central Kentucky. January of 1995 list all of the Federation. For more
I n o r d e r t o accomplishments that YOU information call 2680672-
accomplish this goal, the wish for YOUR community.
campaign must increase to
CKJF CONIMUNITY CALENDAR
FEBRUARY
1 OZS Board Meeting
TAI Board Meeting
REALTORS 6 Hadassah - An Afternoon at the Kentucky Theater

Paul Semonin Realtors
3358 Tates Creek Road
Lexington, Kentucky 40502

CHARLES STERN
Realtor

OfflCG:
(606) 269—7331

Home:

(606) 277—0350
Pager

(606) 232-9853
Voice Mail:
(606) 293—7139

i.“ I”
0mm

Semonin Sells with Service

8 Hadassah Board Meeting

10 Leisure Club Meeting ~ "Managing Your Life Lightly

TAI -2:00 pm

12 OZS - Sisterhood Sweetheart Dance - 8:00 p.m. _
l5 CKJF Resettlement Committee Meeting - 7:30 p.m.
17 Hadassah Women’s Discussion Group

19 CKJF Chai Awards Reception - 8:00 - 11:00 p.m.

20 CKJF SUPER SUNDAY

22 CKJF Community Relations Committee Meeting -
7:30 p.m.

22 Transylvania University lecture - 730 p.m.

23 CKJF Board Meeting - 7:30 p.m.

27 OZS Purim Carnival - 1:00 p.m.

lPagei 4

NATIONAL NEWS

RADIO STATION IN NEW YORK IS
FIRST TO OFFER ALL-JEWISH
PROGRAM

BY: KENNETH DANCYGER

(NEW YORK, JTA) - Thanks to modern technology
and a bit of "Chutzpah on the Hudson," citizens of Nanuet,
NY are now able to tune their radio to Jewish broadcasting
24 hours a day, everyday. Except for the Sabbath, of course.

WLIR, 1300 on the AM dial in New York, is the ﬁrst
radio station in the country to offer listeners all-Jewish
programming, and it promises to be "the voice of the Jewish
community," said Zev Brenner, president of Talkline
Communications and chairman of WLIR.

Listeners can tune in to programs such as the "Torah
Psychologist,” hosted by practicing psychotherapist and
rabbi, Reuven Bulka; a contemporary music show labeled
"The Rapping Rabbi," and "Chutzpah on the Hudson," a talk
show modeled after "The Oprah Winfrey Show."

MEDICAL TEAM DISCOVERS THE
GENE RESPONSIBLE FOR CANAVAN
DISEASE

NEW YORK, (JTA) -
Medical researchers have
discovered the gene
responsible for Canavan
disease, a rare brain disorder
that primarily strikes
Ashkenazic Jews whose
ancestors emigrated from
Poland, Russia or Lithuania.
Researchers at Miami
Children's Hospital Research
Institute now want to test
affected families to search for
all the genetic mutations that
cause the illness. Dr. Reuben
Matalon, head of the genetics
department at Miami
Children's Hospital, believes
Canavan disease may be
more common than Tav-
Sachs, which has been
considered the most familiar
so-called Jewish genetic
disease.

The importance of the
discovery of the Canavan
gene, said Matalon, is that
"now we can determine the
frequency of the gene in the
Jewish population, which was
not available before."
Canavan disease, which
mostly strikes infants, is
r e l a t e d t o
adrenoleukodystrophy, a
disease made known by the
book and ﬁlm "Lorenzo's Oil."
Both illnesses attack the
protective myelin sheathing
around nerve cells.

There is currently no
treatment or cure for
Canavan disease, which can
arise when both parents

carry the defective gene and
pass it on to a child. By

locating the gene, scientists
are one step closer to
developing a fully reliable
screening test for carriers of
the defective gene. At
present, a test can determine
with 90 percent reliability
whether a person is carrying
the defective gene. Initial
research indicates that as
many as one in every 30
descendants of Eastern
European Jews may be
carriers.

Persons who believe
that they may be carriers or
who have children with the
disease can contact two
foundations that are helping
to screen for and educate
about Canavan disease.

SPIELBERG BREAKS? NEW GROUNIS
WITH "SCHINDLER'S LIST'

BY: TOM TUGEND

LOS ANGELES (JTA)
- Steven Spielberg, just past
his 46th birthday, is the most
successful ﬁlmaker in the
history of motion pictures.
Four of the ﬁlms he directed
are among the all-time top 10
hits: His "Juraissic Park" is
the highest-grossing ﬁlm
ever, with his "ET." in
second place.

Spielberg's latest
movie, "Schindler's List,"
represents a radical change
and a calculated risk.

Based on the book by
Thomas Keneally, the ﬁlm
tells the story of Oskar
Schindler, a veteran Nazi
party member who came to
Krakow shortly after the
German conquest of Poland
in 1939 to make his fortune

as a free-wheeling
entrepreneur.
Schindler employed

1,100 Jews in his
enamelware factory and, at
some point, the hard-
drinking, womanizing, black
market-dealing German

.Cethglicdsciiied i9. “88 his
fortune and‘risk his” nec ‘ to

save every one of his
"Schindlerjuden" from certain
death in the nearby
Auschwitz extermination
camp.

His motives remain a
mystery.

"I was always trying
to discover through the
survivors who knew him, who
saw him, who were saved by
him why he did this,"
Spielberg said in an
interview, "And most of the

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survivors said, "We don't
know why he did this. We
only know that he did."

Filmed in black and
white, the movie has the feel
of a documentary and
includes some of the most
graphic Holocaust scenes
ever shown in a Hollywood
picture.

The director ﬁrst
thought about making
"Schindler's List" in 1982,
but he did not make the
movie until 1993, when it
overlapped with the
production of "Juraissic Park"
by three months.

"I could have been
much easier and kinder to
myself and my family by
simply waiting until January
'94 to start "Schindler's List,"
but I had just seen too many
things on television that
horriﬁed myself and my
wife," Spielberg said.

"What was happening
in Bosnia - it was so familiar
and it was so much a part. of
what I thought could never
possibly happen again," he
said. And I just felt that
sooner rather than later, a

’ mdvi'e‘like this should come

out and at least stir the pol."

When Spielberg was 3
and living in Cincinnati, he
learned to read numbers
from an Auschwitz survivor
by using the concentration
camp numbers on the man's
forearm. The survivor
enlivened the lesson with a
ﬂip of his arm and magically
changed a 9 into a 6.

"I had familiarity as a
second-hand witness to the
Holocaust from my family,
who kept the memories of
those years alive. It was
something I grew up with,"
Spielberg said.

"I recollect a lot of
stories, mainly from my
grandparents, who had come
from Austria and Russia.
They suffered heavy losses on
both sides, relatives, cousins.
aunts, who were all in
Eastem Europe and never
came out alive."

The director also
experienced anti-semitism as
a teenager in an affluent part
of northern California.

"I was physically
abused. I was beaten up," he
said. "At one point it became
so bad that I had to stop
going to physical education
because most of the abuse
happened then. And that's
when I was struck many

“:1;

times and knocked down.

"I mean I am not
feeling sorry for myself when
I say this, it was just an
experience I wasn't prepared
for," he said.

When Spielberg
proposed making this film, a
studio executive suggested
that the director make a
donation to a Holocaust

museum and save the

distributor grief.
Instead, the

suggestion added to his

motivation to make the ﬁlm.
"I felt that was a message,"
he said. That was sort of a
very, very quiet message to
be passed on to me, which
kind of capped my resolve to
make the movie immediately.

T h e b i r t h o f
Spielberg's son in 1985 led
him to re-examine Judaism
and to a road that also led to
"Schindler's List."

"When I began to
read books to him, I had to
make a choice," he said. "Do
I read books about Santa
Claus or do I read books
about Moses and Abraham
and Isaac?

"I made a very strong
choice to raise him Jewish
with, my ﬁrst wife, Amy

' ‘I‘z‘iriiig, th‘was’liiilf-‘Jeﬁshfﬁ

billi‘llH‘I‘g'S second
wife, Kate Capshaw,
converted to Judaism.

"Her conversion was
a beautiful experience for all
of us because I studied along
with her," the director said.
"She studied and I was the
beneﬁciary of everything that
she was learning that I had
forgotten.

"I re-emerged (to

Judaism), I would say.
through the birth of my
children and through a

decision I had to make about
how I was going to raise
them.

"I think that's what
led me, that and events
around the world, very
naturally and I think in a
very smooth way, to the
decision to make "Schindler's
List," he said.

When Spielberg
began to look for movies to
inspire him as he prepared to
tell Oskar Schindler's story.
he could not find any.

"It occurred to me
that the predominant number
of studio heads in the golden
era of Hollywood were all
Jews," Spielberg said.

"But they did not

. Cont. pg. 12
see SPIELBERG

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