Terrorists; Thatcher and rabbis’ robes
Wonderful day became a nightmare
Machine guns were firing and grenades thudded and exploded. The wounded and terrified were screaming, “When is this going to end?” Smoke and the smell of burned flesh filled the bus. For the few minutes that the attack lasted, a cassette of Chasidic music continued playing.
The 31 Israelis on the Santa Maria Tours bus were looking forward to an eight-day excursion to Egypt when the attack came on Sunday, some 40 miles from Cairo. “It was a wonderful day, the weather was fantastic, and everybody seemed quite happy,” recalled Professor Yigal Barak. Suddenly, a loud bang came from the front of the bus. “We thought it was engine trouble, or something wrong with the silencer or a blow-out. We didn’t pay much attention,” he said. “I saw Arabs or Egyptians, I don’t know who they were, holding guns,” said Mr Nicholas Aharonovitsch, a 27-year-old kibbutz volunteer from Sweden. “They told the Egyptians to get off, and then they began throwing grenades and shooting at us.” Mr Noam Lahav, 60, of Moshav Mevasseret Zion, near Jerusalem, was shot in the arm after he punched one of the gunmen outside the bus.
The terrorist attack left nine Israelis dead and 17 more wounded.
Thatcher ‘too dear’
Students have asked for grants to attend next week’s £50-a-head Board of Deputies anniversary luncheon with the Prime Minister. UJS chairman Mr Jonny Mendelsohn said the UJS was asking for help for its deputies because “I don’t know any student who can afford 50 quid for lunch.” A deputy for the left-wing Zionist group Mapam, Ms Debbie Barrett, is organising a separate £7 lunch at an Indian vegetarian restauant for deputies who want to mark the Board’s 230th anniversary but can’t afford to eat with Mrs Thatcher.
Rumpus over robes
On Friday night, Shabbat and festival services, ministers are expected to wear their “robes” — the black full length “canonicals”. But some rabbis insist on going about ecclesiastically naked — they just wear lounge suits. The matter was raised at the US council last week with the representative for Muswell Hill, North London, Mr Alan Kennard, calling for an end to regulation number Q2b in the US byelaws, which requires the donning of canonicals. His fellow members, however, were in no mood to ditch tradition. So for the time being, robeless rabbis will continue to be law-breakers.