B'nai Shalom's

The Shofar 2000

A Journal of Jewish Culture, History, and Genealogy from the Latter-Day Saint Prospective

In this issue:Front Page—Letter from thePresidentPage Two—-How to Help YourFamily Tree Grow Using theFamily History Library CatalogPage Four—Slutzk AfterWorld WarHPage Five—The Gospel andthe SabbathPage Seven—Jewish Tradi-tions in MarriagePags Seven—Plain and Pre-cious Things Lost from the To-rahPage Eight—Relationship be-tween Man and Wife and Manand GodPage Nine—Service opportu-nities, for B'nai Shalom mem-bersPage Ten—The Last "Oy Vey"

The Shofaris a

Semi-annulpublication of the

B'nai Shalom

Spring Meeting AnnouncedOnce again it is time for our semi-annual get-together before GeneralConference. We will meet on Thursday, March 30, 2000 at 6:30 pmat the LDS Chapel located'at 2nd North & We^Feaafle, in Salt LakeCity. We will begin with a pot-luck dinner and afterwards convene inthe Chapel to hear a speaker. Our speaker will be Hartman Rector Jr.and Glenn Kimber. Their topic will be on the excavations of the CityofLehi.

In addition to our Thursday evening meeting B'nai Shalom is invitingall its members to attend the Salt Lake Temple as a group earlier thatday for the 2:45 pm session. You'll want to get to the Temple earlierthan that so you can change and meet in the Temple chapel at 2:30.

Letter from the President,

Dear friends, I am bumbled and enthusiastic that you chose me as thenew president of B'nai Shalom. I'm grateful for those who started our groupof kindred saints almost half a century ago and the selfless leadership thathas kept it functioning through the present day. With your help I would liketo encourage our organisation to progress to the next level of growth and ser-vice.

Some improvements have been made by thoughtful policy decisions ofour leadership group. By moving our meeting day to the Thursday beforeGeneral Conference instead of Friday, we avoid conflicts, with mission, reun-.ions both for individual's time and reserving meeting space that busy week-end. Qur new meeting spot at 2ndljprjb 8c West Tamgle, ia gait Lake City,would not nave been available on Friday, neither would we have been able toparticipate as a group in a Temple session earlier -that afternoon, as the SaltLake Temple closes to the general membersMp /that,weekend. •

As I meet new brothers and sisters in the church, often through somecombination of hearing my last name, seeing my face, or finding put I comefrom New York City, they will guess that I might come from a Jewish back-ground. Invariably, once I confirm that I am indeed Jewish by birth and areturned missionary, they start sharing names of other Jewish converts theyhave known across the United States and the world. When I bear this I bavea deep desire to let these other kindred saints know that we, B'nai Shalom,exist to fellowship with one another, share our similar trials and blessings,

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(Continued from page 1)Letter from the President Continued:

cific responsibilities for these needsif we are to function reliably. For if

and move forward in the redemption we are to become a truly useful re-of our dead, and the salvation of the source to our Jewish brothers andliving. It is from this natural love sisters, who are being gathered byand concern that I take my direction the Lord into his fold in these laterin leading our group. days, we must each take upon our-

With Nancy Goodstein's help we selves some responsibilities in ourhave secured a meeting place only growing organization. Please bringsfootsteps away from Temple Square these completed forms with you toand the new meeting hall. It ap- the meeting, or mail them in if youpears we can have this on a continu- are unable to attend.

HOW TO HELP YOUR.FAMILY TREE GROWUSING THE FAMILYHISTORY LIBRARY

CATALOGby Nancy Goodstein-

ing basis. It is our hope that if wemeet in the same place, centrallylocated for those of us in NorthernUtah, and in the midst df GeneralConference for those members thatarrive from across the world, ourmeetings will be easier to find andplan for; both for our current mem-bers and those we hope will find us.This means we will have to do abetter job carpooling for those whofind transportation to Salt take dif-ficult, but I think we can rise to thischallenge and others that face us aswe seek to lengthen our stride.

This brings me to a unique as-pect of this edition of the Shofar.

Finally you'll notice that wehave planned a time for those of uswith current Temple recommends togo through a session together' at' theSalt Lake Temple earlier in the af-ternoon the same day as our meet-ing. Our session begins at 2:45 pm,you'll want to get to the Templeearlier than that so you can changeand meet in the Temple chapel at2:30. We will have some of ourfamily names to share, or you canbring your own. If this goes well,we hope to continue this Templeservice as a part of our biannualmeeting schedule.

I look forward to seeing you thisInside this newsletter you will find a next meeting on March 30, at 6:30form that offers you several options pm and hearing from our guestfor service and involvement inB'nai Shalom. As you read throughthe list of jobs you will recognizethat many have been done fromtime to time by members as the •spirit moved them to be of service,•and we are all grateful for their ser-vice, but we need to delegate spe-

speakers, Hartman Rector Jr. andGlenn Kimber. As a preview to ournext meetings Robert J. Mathews,Truman Madsen, and Reed Bensonhave all agreed to speak to ourgroup in the future.

What does the "Family Tree of theJewish People" look like? Let uspicture a sturdy tree whose rootsare planted deep into the ground.The tree grows many branches, allinterrelated and complex. We arepart of the "Family Tree of theJewish People".

Why do we want to be a part ofthis family? How do we connectour generations together in an un-broken link? What is it in us thatyearns to know our ancestors?What is the thrill that we feel whenwe put on a microfilm, and turnpage by page looking for the namesof our family? What do we feellike when we see their names? Iknow that my heart beats faster andtears come to my eyes. I stare atthe names thinking about them,yearning to know about their lives.

I remember the first record Isearched. My parents grew up inMilwaukee, Wisconsin so I startedwith the 1920 Census. I was livingin Dallas., Texas at the time and

Marriage is part.of the divine plan, for in the Bible, at the first time G-d speaks to Adam,He says: "It is not good that Man should be alone; I will make a helpmate forhim" (Genesis 2:18). The use of the term "helpmate" in describing a woman has beeninterpreted within the Jewish tradition as meaning that the purpose of a husband andwife is to help each other reach a positive spiritual state, and not that a woman is subor-dinate to her husband within a marital union. A husband must love his wife as himselfand honor her more than himself (So'ta 47a). A husband who fulfills this obligation willmerit a household of peace (Yevamoth 62b). Moreover, the male/female union is requi-site for the first commandment addressed to human beings in the Bible: "Be fertile andincrease, fill the earth and master it" (Genesis 1:18). The entire success of the covenantbetween man and G-d rests on the marriage premise and its procreative impulse.

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was too impatient to order theJeremy Friedbauin Soundex. Instead I ordered all the

films for Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Ilooked at the names,line by line and thensuddenly I saw mygrandfather, WilliamSweet Listed withhim was my grand-mother Rose, mymother and her sister.I just sat there think-ing about William,the only grandparentalive when I was

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growing,up. I remembered his kind smile and caringnature. He was a quite man and very gentle. Tearswelled in my eyes. He died when I was 21 years old.Looking at his name brought him to life. I connectedwith him and my grandmother Rose that I never knew.

Last siimmer I went to a family reunion in Milwau-kee, Wisconsin. I was told that I had a cousin that waspossibly related to my great grandmother DoraShapiro. I contacted her and we went to the vital re-cords office in the court house. I knew that my greatgrandfather, Simon Rabinowitz re-married from a pro-bate record. But I didn't know when. I was allowedto look in the books and find this record. With inspira-tion I fo'und it. On 'the record "were 'the names of my3g grandparents. I also found the death certificate formy 2g grandmother, Dora Shapiro. Her parent'snames, Borah Shapiro and Ester Nusbaum, were listedon that document Dora Shapiro's parents were thesame as the gg grandparents of my cousin. We provedthat we were related, 3h one hour, I was given the giftof reaching back in time to find out the names of myancestors as well as reaching forward to the present toadd to my existing family. A welding link was cre-ated.

This is why we search. This is the yearning that wefeel. This is the joy that lights up inside of us whenwe discover their names. This is the fulfilhnent of thehearts of the children turning to their Fathers. We startto know our ancestors and their lives. They reach to-ward us and we reach toward them. We work togetherto find each other.

What is the best way to locate your ancestors andbuild your family tree? How can the Family HistoryLibrary and its Catalog help you accomplish this goal?I will list some suggestions for research that haveworked for me:1. Talk with your relatives and obtain all the infor-

mation you can about your families. Ask themwho else you can contact.

2. Organize your work in pedigree charts and familygroup sheets. PAF 4.0 can be downloaded from:www.familysearch.org.3. Decide what informatiori you seek and use re-

search logs to keep track of the films you searchand your results.

4. Begin your search using the records in the UnitedStates. I suggest that you search the following re-cords:

CENSUS - Check both Federal and State Census re-cords If you cannot find the names use all the variant

spellings.CITY DIRECTORIESSOCIAL SECURITY DEATH INDEX.- Order formSS-5 from the Social Security Office. I found thename of my gg grandparents and their town of originfrom this record.VITAL RECORDS - Marriage, Death and Birth.Check the same information for siblings if you cannotfind your direct family members or if the records areincomplete.NATURALIZATION RECORDS - Declaration of In-tent. Petition - This document usually gives you thename of the town of birth, the date of arrival, the portand name of ship, and Oath of Allegiance.PASSENGER LISTS - You must know the port.Check Naturalization records first. Some records areindexed. Information can also be found in Bookssuch as Russians to America,PROBATE RECORDS - These records give you thename and location of heirs, married names of childrenand location.SURNAME SEARCH - WORLD WAR I DRAFTRECORDS, RUSSIAN CONSULAR RECORDS,CEMETERY RECORDS, OBITUARIES, TOWNHISTORIES, PASSPORT RECORDS, COURT RE-CORDS,' LAND RECORDS.LOOK AT THE JEWISH INTERNET SUES SUCHAS lewishGen. org Avotaynu.com, Cyndi's list, andYad Vashem.LOCATE THE TOWN OF BIRTHLOOK UP THE MEANING OF YOUR FAMILYNAME AND ITS ORIGIN.CROSS THE OCEAN - When you are sure of thetown of birth then check the FHLC for records in thatlocation. Check lewish records, Jewish history, CivilRecords, Cemeteries, Census records, Revision lists,Gazetteers and Church records. Check all the recordsin that location even if it does not say Jewish, Lookthrough the records. There may be a film that includesJewish records within, a church record or a JewishCemetery within a Church Cemetery location.HAMBURG PASSENGER RECORDS - There is alsoan Internet site for a partial index to some of these re-cords. Itislocatedatwww.hamburg.de/LinkToYourRoots/english/welcome.hrml

I hope that this information will help you in your re-search. The last suggestion and most important of allis to pray for guidance and inspiration.

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SLUTZK AFTER WORLD WAR II(As seen by an eye witness)By MAURICE HINDUS

The writer of this article is a world-renowned au-thor and Journalist In 1944 he was probably the firstAmerican Jew, who was privileged as a Journalist, totravel together with the Red Army and enter with themthe city of Slutzk upon its re-occupation from the col-lapsed German armies.At that time, he related his observations in a series ofarticles in the New York Herald Tribune. The follow-ing article has recently been written by Mr. Hindus es-pecially for this publication.

We drove into Slutzk from the direction of the oldGutzeit flour-nlill. All the way to the bazaar I saw fewbuildings. The bazaar itself which, as you remember,boomed with trade in autumn was practically deserted.It seemed strange not to hear cackling geese, squawk-ing hens, grunting pigs in November in the Slutzk ba-zaar; and not to see a single peasant with sacks or bas-kets of the late autumn apples and pears for whichSlutzk and the surrounding countryside were famous.

I shall always remember the shock I experiencedwhen I walked along Broad Street I could not recog-nize the loveliest street in the city. The boulevard wasgone. Out of spite the Germans had cut down the treesand I saw nothing but stumps overgrown with weedsand grass. The houses, the finest in town, were nearlyall demolished. The Lutheran Church with its Gothictower and old clock, one of the architectural land-marks of Slutzk, was cracked and wobbly andabout to collapse. So the once beautiful playground ofSlutzk was now a wild and dreary waste.

Kapuler Street should be renamed Shekhita Street.Actually there was no street any more - nearly all thebuildings were levelled to the ground. But it was onthis street, behind barbed wires, that Jews were -herdedand slaughtered. Nobody could tell me how manyJews fell victim to German machine guns. All Ilearned was that out of a population of 23,000 aboutone-third were gentiles, and that not many had escapedthe slaughter. The tangled and rusty barbed wires thathad not yet been cleared away were the only silent wit-nesses of the Great Pogrom.

Slutzk was occupied three days after the war brokeout. Some Jews fled the moment they heard Germanplanes flying high over the city, which was in themorning of the first day of the war. Since trains,trucks, and all other forms of transportation were ei-ther paralyzed or mobilized by the army, walking was

the only mode of escape. Three of my nephews, Re-foel, Gershon, Shlomo Gendeh'ovitch just picked uptheir families and left on foot for the interior of Russia.Gershon finally reached a village on the Volga andsettled there. Refoel and Shlomo, who were membersof the Slutzk kolhoz, managed to get to a village in theprovince of Kostroma and joined a kolhoz there. Byfleeing from Slutzk before the Germans had arrived,they saved themselves from death.

From the information I gathered from party andSoviet officials, no more than about, one hundred Jew-ish families- walked out of the city and succeeded inmaking their way deep into the interior. Who theywere and where they finally settled, nobody could tellme.

The other Jews stayed in Slutzk. They didn't be-lieve the Germans were as wicked as they had beendepicted. They thought that they could somehow cometo terms with them and work and live. They could notimagine Germans killing men and women, let alonechildren, in cold blood. This was the grimmest mistakeour brethren made, not only in Slutzk but all overEurope.

Nor did the Germans show any particular hostilityto Jews when they first occupied the city. They toldthe Jewish community to choose a representative whowould speak for them in their dealings with the Ger-man commandant. Chipchin, the lawyer, was chosenfor the position and for several weeks he seemed to getalong well with the new masters of Slutzk. But whenrepressions began, he again and again raised bis voicein protest. Then one day German authorities sum-moned an outdoor-mass-meeting of Jews, presumablyto give them an opportunity to air their grievances inthe open. Chipchin was the first speaker and he had nomore than said a few words when the German officerwhipped out his revolver and shot him. This was the•first shooting of Jews in Slutzk,

The Jewish community was terrorized. For the firsttime they realized the devil was even blacker than hewas painted. They felt hopelessly trapped. Yet a fewof them, only a few, managed to escape. A womennamed Mishalova braved the terror of the Nazis andwalked out of the city with her two children. She hadprocured a false passport and her right hair and blueeyes protected her from the close scrutiny of the Naziguards. Three other men, the Neumark brothers, like-wise made their way to the Russian rear. There wereseveral others who were equally plucky and lucky,though nobody could give me their names.

Siutzk was surrounded by a powerful partisan

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army, and the Germans were soafraid of the partisans that theyrarely dared to travel of the mainhighways. I was in villages outsideof Slutzk where not even the geesewere molested. These villages layoff the main highways and the Ger-mans left them alone. They wouldn'teven risk going after the geese, andgoose as yon surely know is a favor-ite German food. Several youngJews in Slutzk joined the partisansand saved themselves. At the time I'Was in Slutzk they had already beenmobilized by the Red army andwere at the front so I didn't seethem.

But why didn't other Jews, espe-cially the young people, run off tothe partisans? Once with the parti-sans they would have been safeunless they perished in battle or fellvictim to a partisan's anti-Semitebullet. That there were anti-Semitesamong the partisans, nobody inSlutzk denied. But the mayor of thecity, who had been comrnander-in-chief of the partisan garrisons., as-sured me that Jews under his chargerarely suffered from anti-Semitism,and that he dealt harshly with parti-sans who offended their Jewish fel-low-fighters. Besides, as partisans,Jews were as well armed as non-Jews and could protect themselvesagainst attacks on their person. Thefact is that not only in Slutzk but inall Byelorussia, comparatively fewJews joined the partisans. Meyer S.Handler, a fellow correspondentwho was in Moscow for the NewYork United Press, made a journeyto Pinsk about the same time that Iwent to Slutzk. On his return toMoscow he and I compared notes.He brought back from Pinsk thesame sorrowful tale that I did from

Slutzk, from Minsk, from Pohostand from a few other communitiesin Byelorussia - very few Jewsthrew in their lot with the partisans.Why didn't they?

In. Slutzk I met a carpenter bythe name of Popoff. He told me thatone evening during the occupation,the wife of a Jewish barber, namedMelnick, rushed into his house andbegged him to save her children.Popoff went with her to her house,picked up her three children andbrought 'them to his house. He keptthem for a week. As it was danger-ous for him to keep them anylonger, the mother came and saidshe would take them back home.Popoff pleaded with her to run offwith the children to the partisans.He was one of their secret agents inSlutzk and offered to help her makeher way to partisan territory. Themother refused. "If I were alone",she said, I might try. But with the .children I'll never make it, and Iwon't go without them." DespitePopoff s entreaties and expostula-tions, she refused to follow his ad-vice. Soon afterwards she and herchildren were murdered.

There were many other in-stances when mothers, fathers, sons,daughters could have saved them-selves by running away to the parti-sans. But they would not leave with-out one another. So fathers andmothers stayed with their childrenand sons and daughters stayed withtheir parents. The terror of the Ger-mans had firmly solidified the Jew-ish families. If they couldn't live to-gether, they would die together.They ended up behind the barbedwire fences on Kapuler Street.^New York City, January 1958'

There's an old Yiddish expression: "Ah mentch tracht und G-tlacht" which translates to: "A person thinks and G-d laughs."

The Gospel and theSabbath

Article review from a chapter inThe Radiant Life by Truman G.Madsen.

These impressions concerningthe Sabbath by Jews were compiledby the author through experiencesacquired in Israel while visitingwith Jewish families during theirSabbath day observances. He cau-tions us however that opinions byJews about the Sabbath day varyall over the spectrum and uses thephrase "two Jews, three opinions!"to illustrate that fact. But I thinkthere are some ideas here that willhelp us Latter-day Saints to betterunderstand their dedication to Sab-bath day and help us appreciate thisspecial day.

Brother Madsen points out firstthat the Sabbath day is the only daythat is called holy in the creationstory. The first six days werecalled good, but not holy as wasthe seventh.

Some sources suggest that Godor the Gods also observe the Sab-bath day as well. The Jewishphrase "Remembering the Sabbathday," means more than just retain-ing it in our minds, it means to"memorialize", to actually dosomething to make the day special.In fact, God himself did somethingon the Sabbath, he created the Me-norah which approximates"tranquility". Six days were de-voted to work and creation, but onthe seventh day He created tran-quility and so must we. The Sab-bath day is a day were we must dosomething to make the day specialrather than just refrain from doinganything!

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(Continued from page 5)

Second, the Sabbath was the reward of the first sixdays and indeed the first six days were to prepare manfor the Sabbath! The Sabbath was not to impose awork stoppage but that all the work that came before itwas to enhance its importance. As the Savior said the"Sabbath was made for man, not the man for the Sab-bath." (Mark 2:27)

Some have pointed out that ability to work is im-proved greatly by not working on the seventh day.Traditions say that Moses talked pharaoh into givingthe children of Israel the Sabbath day off with this ar-gument However, this is not the reason for the Sab-bath day observance as suggested by the Jews, it is tore-enforce the concept that on the Sabbath day, eveiyman is a king and every woman is a queen! To forgetthat a man or a woman is the son or a daughter of aking is the worst evil in the universe to the Jews. Thiscertainly goes along with the LDS concept of each ofus being the son or daughter of our Heavenly Father.

Third, the Sabbath day as said by many Jews is ' •what kept the Jews from being destroyed as a people.They had lost the inspiration of prophets, priesthood,leadership by kings, temples and even their language,but they kept the Sabbath. For many Jews the com-mandment, of observing the Sabbath day outweighs allme other'commandments.

Next the author points out some of the things thatthe Jews do to observe the Sabbath day which we Lat-ter-day Saints might think about in relation to how im-portant we think this day is. First the Sabbath is asanctuary in time. Even though it is seen as a day of"thou shalt net's" it is actually a day to have joy! Itmay be a disciplined joy, but nevertheless a day of joyand celebration. It is a sin, according to Judaism, to besad on the Sabbath day! The Talmud says that we willbeheld personally accountable before the judgment ofGod for every legitimate Sabbath pleasure we did notenjoy! WearecoTnmaraferftohavejoy. To miss joyis to miss it all. This is in stark contrast to the puritanfear that someone, somewhere is enjoying him or her-self.

To increase the joy of the Sabbath day, the Jewshave a special dress, special table cloth in the eveningand special food-sumptuous food. The Jews serve themost beautiful meal of the week on the Sabbath eve.The mother often has to prepare for as many as twodays before. One of the traditional dishes is a kind ofstew which stays simmering all night long the nightbefore the Sabbath and then only needs to be served.

The feast is even for the poorest man in the poorestghetto. It is a requirement that the local synagogue inthe area see to it that every man has all that he needs tohave Ms own Sabbath feast.

Second, the Sabbath is heaven on earth. It's obser-vance is a foretaste of paradise in their eyes. They saythat nature herself observes the Sabbath. The riversrid themselves of rocks and dirt so they can be calm onthe Sabbath. If you check out one of our churchhymns "Come Away to the Sunday School," you willfind the line "Nature breathes her sweetest fragranceon the holy Sabbath day.'3 Even hell celebrates by let-ting those who are in torment be released for one day.The host of heaven also celebrate by gathering to-gether to sing and have tranquility.

Third, the Jews speak of the Sabbath as a queen, asa bride. The creation of the Sabbath is equated with aking who has made a bridal chamber but it lacks abride. When creation was finished what did it lack, aSabbath! The Sabbath is therefore to be celebratedlike a wedding, and the bride is to come lovely and be-decked and perfumed. In short, the Sabbath is to besanctified. And in Jewish thought, sanctification isassociated with marriage.

Much of the world traditions about God say thatwhen He finished the creation He walked off and gaveit no more thought. However "if you1 ask some Jewswhat God has been doing since then, they will tell you"making marriages." For Latter-day Saints, we onlyhave to think of the Temple to have that same conclu-sion.

On the idea of the Sabbath as bride, the authorquotes a letter he received from a Jewish mother: "Themother is responsible for the atmosphere of piety andreverence..;.She prepares the Sabbath dinner (by theway, the men are encouraged to help), and gathers herchildren around while she pronounces the blessingover the -lights. The woman prepares the home foreach festival. She creates the mood of joy. She isgeneral councilor. The Talmud says no matter howshort your wife is, lean down and take her advise.And for the husbands-how can a man be assured ofhaving a blessed home? Answer: By respecting hiswife." rn some homes, Proverbs 31, the famous versesabout who can find a virtuous woman, who is moreprecious than rubies, is often read aloud to the familybefore the meal.

The bottom line in all these activities relating to theSabbath day is that it involves the act of creation.You must do something to make it a time of joy. Allthe earthly pleasures of this world were put here so we

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could enjoy the Sabbath experi-ence. It is not a day of avoidingdesecrating it, but a day of rejoic-ing and feeling pleasure. The Sab-bath, day is God's and ours-thevery climax and meaning of whathas gone on before.

JEWISH TRADITIONS INMARRIAGE

The importance of marriagein the Jewish tradition issummed up in the Talmudicstatement that when onemarries, one becomes acomplete person. Marriageis regarded as the idealstate. In the very first bookof the Bible, God tells Adamthat "it is not good for man tolive alone."

Marriage is considered amitzvah, a divine command-ment. When a Jewish couplemarries, it becomes possibleTor them to fulfill Judaism'sfirst Biblical obligation - "befruitful and multiply." A Jew-ish marriage celebrates thecreation of a new Jewishfamily.. For this reason, theZohar says, "Gocf is con-stantly creating new worldsby causing marriages to takeplace." Thus, Judaism hasalways viewed marriage asa sacred covenant.

Your wedding day will likelybe one of the most signifi-cant occasions in your life.It is a consecration, a sancti-fication of life itself. Indeed,the Hebrew word for mar-

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Plain and Precious ThingsLost from the Torah

by Charles Smith

In Nephi 13:26, we are told by Nephi that "many plain and preciousthings" would be taken from the Bible. If someone were to asked youwhat "plain and precious- things" have indeed been taken from the Bible,could you answer them?. What things have been removed on purpose orlost through careless "transcribing? See if you can'make a list before read-ing on.

First lost concept: Turn to the topical guide in the back of your Bibleto the topic "Holy Ghost" You'll see that the references are first listed inthe Old Testament, then the New Testament, and finally latter-day scrip-ture. How many references do you see in the Old Testament for the HolyGhost? There are nonel What happen to the Holy Ghost in the Old Tes-tament? Are we to believe that the third member of the Godhead did notmake his first appearance until the baptism of Christ? Are we to believethat his influence was not felt by man until the day of Pentecost as re-corded in Acts?

A check of the Book of Mormon shows that the Holy Ghost has indeedbeen active before the New Testament. In 600 BC, Nephi records his de=sire to "see and hear and know of these things, by the power of the HolyGhost." as written in 1 Nephi 10:17. Even the apostate Sherem asked fora sign by the power of the Holy Ghost. Amulek warned the Zoramites tostop contending against the Holy Ghost (Alma 34:38).

A check of the Pearl of Great Price shows us that the Holy Ghost influ-enced Adam and all righteous people since then. No one can testify thatJesus is the Christ unless he is under the influence of the Holy Ghost. Soall those who have testified of Jesus whether before or after his birth havebeen influenced by the Holy Ghost. In fact, when the Holy Ghost is notpresentj a society will eventually perish-.

Second topic: Satan. Look him up and you will see only three. If youare a Jew relying on the Torah, you might think that there was no suchthing as a devil. What happen to satan? If you read the New Testament,you find all sorts of references to people being possessed by devils. Didsatan suddenly appear on the scene after Christ's birth?

The Book of Mormon reveals to us that satan was indeed active beforethe meridian of time and even tells us of methods he has been using sincethe beginning to bring people under his domination. In the Pearl of GreatPrice, we read of Moses' encounter with him. It's no wonder that thisstory did not make it into the cannon of scripture because satan did notwant people to read of his defeat.

Third topic: Baptism. Again there are no references to this ordinancein the Old Testament. However we see again in the Book of Mormon,this ordinance was practiced by the Nephites. Nephi tells us that "But,behold, rny beloved brethren, thus came the voice of the Son unto me,saying: After ye have repented of your sins, and witnessed unto the Fatherthat ye are willing to keep my commandments, by the baptism of water,

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and have received the baptism offire and of the Holy Ghost, and canspeak with a new tongue, yea, evenwith the tongue of angels, and afterthis should deny me, it would havebeen better for you that ye had notknown me." (2 Nephi 31:14). Thiswas about 550 BC.

Two hundred years previous,Isaiah also spoke of baptism. In theBrass Plates, Nephi quotes Isaiahwhen he says "HEARKEN and hearthis, O house of Jacob, who arecalled by the name of Israel, and arecome forth out of the waters ofJudah, or out of the waters of bap-tism, who swear by the name of theLord, and make mention of the Godof Israel, yet they swear not in truthnor in righteousness." (1 Nephi20:1). In Joseph Smith's translationof the Bible, Joseph restore theword Baptisms to Genesis 17:5.

Fourth topic: Repentance. Theword only appears once in the To-rah. The word "repent," however,appears 23 times. In almost all ap-pearances it refers to God repentingfor His actions, not man repentingof his sins. It is evident that satandoes not want men to repent of theirsins, but wanted men to blame Godfor the situation we are in here onthis earth.

These are but a few of the "manyplain and previous things" missingfrom the Torah. However, Nephialso mentions that "many covenantsof the Lord have they takenaway." (1 Nephi 13:26). Can youname those covenants?

One of these missing covenants

is the part of the covenant Godmade with Abraham concerning theother inhabitants of this earth. InGenesis 12:3 we read, "Anil willbless them, that bless th.ee, and cursehim that curseth thee: and in theeshall all families of the earth beblessed." This is the only referencein the Old Testament to the fact thatother people who are not direct de-scendants of Abraham will beblessed. And just exactly what Godmeans by "all families of the earthbe blessed" is somewhat obscure.

However, if you check in 1Nephi 22:9 we read: "And it shallalso be of worth unto the Gentiles;and not only unto the Gentiles butunto all the house of Israel, unto themaking known of the covenants ofthe Father of heaven unto Abraham,saying: In thy seed shall all the kin-dreds of the earth be blessed."

The Book of Mormon tells usthat the covenant will apply to anyperson who repents and comes unto"Christ That the covenant can betaken advantage of by any persontrying to live righteously and that .being a descendant of Abraham isno guarantee of anything.

Satan does not want the Gentilesto know they also can benefit fromthe covenant that God made withAbraham. He would like the Gen-tiles to think they are just out of thepicture and will never be the recipi-ent of such promises. Therefore,that part of the covenant was left outof the text.

It should be a little clearer nowthat the Jews would indeed"stumble" because these plain andprecious things are missing. See ifyou can find more for yourself.'

A blind man is sitting on a park bench. A rabbi sits down next to him Therabbi is chomping on a piece of'matzoh. Taking pity on the blind man, hebreaks off a piece and gives it to the blind man. Several minutes later, theblind man turns, taps the rabbi on the shoulder and asks, "Who wrotethis?!!"

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riage is kidushin- "holiness."It is derived from the Hebrewword kadosh, which meansto be holy, separate and dis-tinct. When you enter thebonds of kiddushin, you en-ter a relationship that says toyou and to the world thatyou are now set apart fromeveryone else. Your livesare now inextricably boundtogether by a holy bond. TheBa'al Shem Tov, founder ofhassidism, said it well:"From every human beingthere arises a light thatreaches to heaven. Whentwo souls are destined tofind each other, theirstreams of light flow to-gether, and a single brighterlight goes forth from theirunited being."

Relationship between Manand Wife and Man andGod

According to Jewish, thought,the relationship that mostclosely parallels the relation-ship between man and G-d isthe marital union between aman and a woman. "If a manand wife are worthy, the DivinePresence is with them" (Sotah17a). "A man cannot live with-out a woman, a woman cannotlive without a man, and the twoof them cannot live without thepresence of G-d" (Berachot9:1).

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MatzohBemie, a young Jewish, boy, decided lie wanted to bean aeronautical engineer and build airplanes. Over theyears lie studied hard, went to the best schools, andfinally got his degree. It didn't take long before hegained a reputation as the finest aeronautical engineerin all the land, so he decided to start his own companyto build jets.

His company was such a hit that the President ofthe United States called Bernie into his office."Bernie," the president said, "the President of Israelwants to commission your company to build an ad-vanced jet fighter for his country. You have our ap-proval—go out and design him the best jet fighter evermade."

Needless to say, Bernie was tremendously excitedat this prospect The entire resources of his companywent into building the most advanced jet fighter in his-tory. Everything looked terrific on paper, but whenthey held the first test flight of the new jet, disasterstruck. The wings couldn't take the strain—they brokeclean off'of the fuselage! (The- test pilot parachuted tosafety, thank G-d.) Bernie was devastated; his com-pany redesigned the jet fighter, but the same thing hap-pened at the next test flight—the wings broke off again.

Beside himself with worry, Bernie went to hisSchul to pray...to ask G-d where he had gone wrong.The rabbi saw Bernie's sadness, and naturally askedhim what the matter was.Bernie decided to pour his heart out to the rabbi.

After hearing the problem .with the jet fighter, therabbi put his arm on Bemie's shoulder and told him,"Listen, I know how to solve your problem. All youhave to do is drill a row of holes directly above andbelow where the wing meets the fuselage. If you dothis, I absolutely guarantee the wings won't fall off."

Bernie just smiled and thanked the rabbi for his ad-vice...but the more he thought about it,the more he realized he had -nothing to lose. Maybe therabbi had some holy insight. So Bernie did exactlywhat the rabbi told him to do. On the next design ofthe jet fighter, they drilled a row of holes directlyabove and below where the wings met the fuselage.And...it worked!! The next test flight went perfectly!

Brimming with joy, Bernie went to the Schul to tellthe rabbi that his advice had worked. "Naturally," saidthe rabbi, "I never doubted it would." "But Rabbi,

how did you know that drilling the holes would pre-vent the wings from falling off?"

"Bernie," the rabbi intoned, "I'm an old man. I'velived for many, many years and I've celebrated Pass-over many, many times. And in all those years, not on-ce~NOT ONCE—has the matzoh broken on the perfo-ration.

G-d and the GolferThe rabbi was an avid golfer and played at every

opportunity. He was so addicted to the game that if hedidn't play he would get withdrawal symptoms.

One Yom Kippur, the rabbi thought to himself,"What's it going to hurt if I go out during the recessand play a few rounds. Nobody will be the wiser andI'll be back in time for services."

Sure enough, at the conclusion of the morning ser-vice, the rabbi snuck out of the synagogue and headedstraight for the golf course.

Looking down upon the scene were Moses andG-d.

Moses said, "Look how terrible - a Jew on YomKippur. And a rabbi besides!" G-d replied, "Watch,I'm going to teach him a lesson."

Out on the course, the rabbi stepped up to the firsttee. When he hit the ball, it careened of a tree, struck arock, skipped across a pond and landed in the hole fora HOLE IN ONE!

Seeing all this, Moses protested: "G-d, this is howyou're going to teach him a lesson? He got a hole inone!"

"Sure", said G-d, "but who's he going to tell?"

"Rabbi! What a Surprise!"A rabbi who's been leading a congregation for

many years is upset by the fact that he's never beenable to eat pork. So he devises a plan whereby he fliesto a remote tropical island and checks into a hotel. Heimmediately gets himself a table at the finest restau-rant and orders the most expensive pork dish on the-menu.

As he's eagerly waiting for it to be served, he hearshis name called from across the restaurant. He looksup to see 10 of his loyal congregants approaching. Hisluck, they'd chosen the same time to visit the same re-mote location!

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Just at that moment, the waiter comes out -with, ahuge silver tray carrying a whole roasted pig with anapple in its mouth. The rabbi looks up sheepishly athis congregants and says, "Wow - you order an applein this place and look how it's served!"

Jewish FoodLatkes:

A pancake-Like structure not to be contused withanything the House of Pancakes would put out La alatka, the oil is in the pancake. It is made with pota-toes, onions, eggs and matzo meal. Latkas can be eatenwith apple sauce but NEVER with maple syrup. Thereis a rumor that in the time of the Maccabees they lit alatka by mistakeand it burned for eight days. What is certain is you willhave heartburn for the same amount of time

Matzoh:The Egyptians' revenge for leaving slavery'.' It con-

sists of a simple mix of flour and water - no eggs orflavor at all. When made well, it could actually tasteEke cardboard. Its redeeming value is that it does fillyou up and stays with you for a long time. However, itis recommended that you eat a few prunes soon after.

Gefflte Fish:A few years ago, I had problems with my filter in

my fish pond and a few of them got rather stuck andmangled. My son (5 years old) looked at them and

commented "Is that why we call it 'GeFiltered Fish'?" 'Originally, it was a carp stuffed with a minced fish andvegetable mixture. Today it usually comprises of smallfish balls eaten with horse radish ("chrain") which isjudged on its relative strength in bringing tears to youreyes at 100 paces.

Kasha Varnishkes:One of the little-known delicacies which is even

more difficult to pronounce than to cook. It has noth-ing to do with Varnish, but is basically a mixture ofbuckwheat and bow-tie macaroni (noodles). Why abow-tie? Many sages discussed this and agreed thatsome Jewish mother decided that "You can't come tothe table without a tie" or,G-d forbid "An elbow on my table?"

Bagels:How can we finish without the quintessential Jew-

ish Food, the bagel? Like most foods, there are leg-,ends surrounding the bagel although I don't know any.There have been persistent rumors that the inventors ofthe bagel were the Norwegians who couldn't get any-one to buy smoked lox. Think about it: Can you pic-ture yourself eating lox on white bread? Rye? Acracker?? Naaa. They looked for something hard andalmost indigestible which could take the spread ofcream cheese and which doesn't take up too muchroom on the plate. And why the hole? The truth is thatmany philosophers believe the hole is the essence andthe dough is only there for emphasis.

tniai Shalom's mission Statement

Membership in B'nai Shalom is open to all membersof the Church of JESUS CHRIST of Latter-day Saintsinterested in promoting the objectives of theorganization, whether or not such persons are ofJewish ancestry.

Objectives of this organization shall be carried onwithin the framework of existing LDS programs andas follows:a To promote the faith and activity of Jewish

members in the Church,b . To encourage, assist and promote Jewish

genealogical research and Temple work amongthe House of Israel.

c To promote greater understanding of Jewishculture, language, traditions and attitudes throughan organized educational program,

d To offer assistance in all authorized LDS Churchprograms oriented towards Jewish peoples,

e To engage in other activities deemed appropriatein carrying out the objectives of the organization.

B'nai Shalom OfficersJeremy Friedbaum, President 375-1995Albert Ostraff, 1st Councilor 756-7953EUssa Moiling, 2nd Councilor 224-5355GwenBardsley, Sec/Tres 374-2371Christina Heath, Music 224-6188Nancy Goodstein, GenealogyCharles Smith, The Shofar & FamilyHistory 785-6114

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