AN AMERICAN JEWISH GERMAN INFORMATION & OPINION NEWSLETTER

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GERMANY EDITION September 23, 2012 Dear Friends: As they say in horse racing, Were in the home stretch. With six weeks to go we have an exciting race going on and in November we will crown the winner. The American election? Of course not! Im talking about the baseball championship and the World Series. In early November the playoffs and the Series will have been decided and well know who reigns supreme for the next twelve months. Oh yes! There is the national election and it has some importance. But for most of us red blooded Americans its the World Series winner that really counts even if our favorite team is not in race (My NY Mets are already mathematically eliminated). So for guys like me who are in the wait til next year mode, sadly, our major energy is now being rerouted to the election and world problems. If the Mets had a bad last eight weeks (they kept losing) Germany, as far as the Jews are concerned, did not fare much better. The circumcision mess is seen in the most negative of terms and the assault on a rabbi in Berlin didnt help matters. It goes without saying, anything that negatively affects Jews in Germany is taken seriously and these two issues certainly were. The UN General Assembly went into session last week. The unpleasant visit of Irans President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad takes place shortly and the possibility that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will again try to get a UN vote of some sort for Palestinian statehood will get some discussion. Both have become regular New York events like traffic jams annoying but not unexpected. Of course, the issue of Irans development of a nuclear bomb remains No.1 on the list of Jewish concerns. The U.S., Germany and the EU are all pushing for stronger trade sanctions while Israel seems to be slowly inching toward a military solution or, 1

at least, they say they are. Of the three major matters mentioned above, the U.S. election, the World Series and the Iran bomb, only one seems to have a clearer (but not totally clear) resolution in sight and that is the election. As www.fivethirtyeight.com reported. Friday was one such case: a reasonably strong day in the polls for Mr. Obama, but nothing that ought to alter our impressions of the race. Mr. Obamas chances of winning the presidential election are listed at 76.9 percent by the forecast model, an incremental improvement from 76.1 percent on Thursday. The trend over the last three days is clearer: Mr. Obamas forecast is up from a 72.9 percent chance of winning the Electoral College On to the news. IN THIS EDITION THE AMERICAN ELECTION & THE JEWISH VOTE Obama still in the lead. OBAMA, NETANYAHU & IRAN Attack Iran or each other? THE CIRCUMCISION MATTER A mess! CHARLOTTE KNOBLOCH The former Zentralrat president has tough words for Germany. CHRISTIAN ZIONISTS A force to be understood. WHO WILL LEAD? - Do the Jews have a leadership problem? How about the future? TILAPIA A fish story that might hook you. THE AMERICAN ELECTION & THE JEWISH VOTE Almost since the beginning of Pres. Obamas first term there have been rumors, discussions, media stories, etc. about his less than friendly attitude toward Israel. The accusation remains quite a conversation topic especially in Jewish circles. Of course, Obama supporters deny it pointing out all the positive things the Obama Administration have done for Israel. Haim Saban writing in The New York Times noted, Even though he could have done a better job highlighting his friendship for Israel, theres no denying that by every tangible measure, his support for Israels security and well-being has been rock solid.

Mitt Romney claims Mr. Obama has thrown allies like Israel under the bus, but in fact the president has taken concrete steps to make Israel more secure a commitment he has described as not negotiable. (For the full article click here) http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/05/opinion/the-truth-about-obama-and-israel.html Wayne Allyn Root writing on the Fox News website gives the opposite opinion noting, President Obama has gone rogue. As Ive said for 3 and a half years, the president is no friend of Israel. But I thought his betrayal would be timed for sometime after the election- perhaps on a quiet Thanksgiving or Christmas holiday weekend. The fact he has openly thrown Israel under the bus BEFORE the election is a disturbing sign for Jews (and for all Americans who support the right of our longtime friend and ally Israel to exist). Can you imagine what Obama is capable of after the Presidential election -- if he never again has to answer to Jewish voters? Click here to read the entire article. http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2012/09/04/why-obama-has-abandoned-israeland-jews-should-abandon-obama/#ixzz2787biSWH There are hundreds of opinion pieces on both sides of the issue aimed at trying to impact the upcoming election especially in the Jewish community. With this bombardment of fact and fantasy where does the Jewish community stand today? A few weeks ago a Haaretz piece reported, Among Jewish voters, President Barack Obama's lead over Republican challenger Mitt Romney is growing, according to recent unreleased Gallup daily tracking poll data reported on Buzzfeed.com. According to the polling data culled between July 1 and September 10, 70 percent of registered Jewish voters planned to vote for President Obama. Only 25 percent of voters said they were planning to vote for Mitt Romney, with 5 percent undecided. These results indicate a decline from earlier this spring, when 64 percent of registered Jewish voters said they would vote for Obama and 29 percent said they would support his Republican contender. The data Buzzfeed.com obtained from Democratic sources has a margin of error of 4 percent. If the poll data faithfully predicts the real voting data, the Jewish support for Obama would be more or less equivalent to the support the Jewish community gave in 2008, when some 78 percent of Jewish voters cast their ballots for Obama. More recently an AJC poll in Florida reported, More than two-thirds -- 69 percent -of Jewish voters in Florida say they will choose President Obama over Governor Romney, who will win 25 percent of the state's Jewish vote, according to a new American Jewish Committee (AJC) survey. Obama won 76 percent of the Florida Jewish vote in 2008. Jews comprise about four percent of the voters in Florida, which is widely considered to be a key

battleground state in the 2012 election. Now Florida is not the entire U.S. but the two polls together give us a pretty good idea of where the Jewish community stands in the election somewhere close to 70% in favor of Obama. Of course, some point out that that is less than the 76% he received in 2008 but, in my opinion, 70% isnt bad. However, Florida is an enormously important state with 29 Electoral votes and there are enough Jews living there whose votes might swing the state to one side or the other. We still have more than six weeks to go before Nov. 6th and much can happen before then. The two candidates have three national TV debates (plus one for the Vice Presidential candidates) coming up and that might have some impact. At the moment, while the poll numbers are still close, Pres. Obama seems to have a decided lead and appears to be pulling away somewhat. He has leads in most of the swing states (Those that could go one way or the other Remember, if a candidate gets more than 50% of the vote in a state he gets all their Electoral Votes). He certainly maintains a great lead among Jewish voters. OBAMA, NETANYAHU & IRAN In discussing the election and the Jewish community, I should at least mention the flap that took place when Prime Minister Netanyahu appeared on American national TV programs stating that there should be red lines over which Iran could not go in the development of its nuclear program. Fearing the possibility of Iranian nuclear weapons, while he did not mention Pres. Obama directly, he was critical of Obamas unwillingness to draw a line in the sand for Iran. Pres. Obama, who obviously doesnt want any more wars especially right before an election, also does not get along very well with the Prime Minister. Of course, they are always vocal about how close he U.S. and Israel are but the personal animosity is very obvious. Obama seemingly refused to meet Netanyahu at the UN General Assembly meeting (scheduling problems) but did talk to him for an hour on the telephone. Some in the U.S. feel Netanyahu overstepped his bounds by going directly to the American people on U.S. TV. They saw it as an attempt to support Gov. Romney politically, a no-no for a foreign leader. Some worried about Obamas attitude toward Netanyahu and Israel should he be re-elected and in a position of greater power. What are we to make of this personal animosity? When there are difficult Middle East problems I frequently turn to Aaron David Miller. He knows more than most. In a Washington Post piece he wrote, Yes, news flash, Obamas relationship with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is tense. But the overall U.S.-Israeli bond

is strong and will only grow stronger and that would be even more certain should Romney win the presidency. The relationship has transcended Democratic and Republican politics. The confluence of shared values, a powerful pro-Israeli community in the United States, support for or acquiescence in the special relationship among the broader nonJewish and non-evangelical American public, and institutionalized strategic cooperation with the Israelis produces a bond that is hard to tear asunder. That doesnt mean that there cant or wont be tension, for instance on the IsraeliPalestinian peace process. But it does mean that on the larger issues of peace and war, American presidents will have no choice but to win Israels approval. And while Washington may seek to exert pressure at times, the main instruments will be suasion and coaxing the Israelis with all kinds of goodies and benefits. So, my anxiety is reduced and Im going to relax on this issue until the election is over. You really should read the entire article which you can do by clicking here. http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/under-obama-or-romney-us-mideast-policy-wontchange/2012/09/14/5acaa358-fdd0-11e1-a31e-804fccb658f9_story.html?hpid=z3 THE CIRCUMCISION MATTER I cannot think of anything that raises the anger level of Jews (or members of other religious groups) more than having someone voice criticism of their religious beliefs and practices. When one questions or criticizes an essential practice held for thousands of years you must expect, at the very least, a strong if not violent reaction. So it was when a District Court in Cologne ruled that circumcision observed by both Muslims and Jews on religious grounds was tantamount to grievous bodily harm. The reaction of Jews around the world was one of genuine outrage. President Peres of Israel wrote to President Gauck on the matter. DW reported, Israel's president has defended the practice of male circumcision in a letter to his German counterpart. He's the latest high-profile figure to weigh in on a debate over a German court ruling which declared it illegal. In the letter sent to German President Joachim Gauck on Thursday, President Shimon Peres asked that Germany protect the religious practice. Circumcision is "a Jewish ritual that has been at the core of Jewish identity for thousands of years and defines the Jewish people, from the time of the first commandment given by God to Abraham," he wrote.

To make things worse and add fuel to the fire, a court in Bavaria was considering criminal charges of committing bodily harm against a local rabbi, in the first known case to arise from an anti-circumcision ruling in May. The investigation against Rabbi David Goldberg, who is a mohel - or ritual circumciser, was undertaken after a complaint was filed against him with police by anti-circumcision activists. It meant that the May decision in the state of Hesse had been applied in Bavaria, confirming the fears of Jewish leaders here that the local ruling would have a wider impact. The charges were later dropped but the damage was done. I wont reprint all the criticisms that were written and published in the AmericanJewish press. There were many and a question was raised as to Why Germany of all places? One person who realized the awful public relations that would emanate from the court decision was Chancellor Merkel. She had a letter written to Menachem Margolin, director of the Rabbinical Center of Europe. In it according to Israel Hayom, Dr. Rufolf Teuwsen, the chancellors representative to Churches and Religious Communities, wrote that the German government sees a special obligation to cultivate Jewish culture and religion. The chancellor is grateful that Jewish life has, once again, found a home in Germany. For this reason, the German government is working hard to find a solution to the circumcision problem, the letter continued. Teuwsen stressed that religious freedom is an essential part of Germanys democratic society. I thought that, perhaps, the Teuwsen statement and the widely reported on feelings expressed by the Chancellor would put a damper on the circumcision matter until the Bundestag had a chance to consider it and pass some sort of a national law. I was wrong. The Jerusalem Post reported, The representative assembly of Berlins Jewish community objected on Thursday to an administrative order issued by the Berlin senator for justice and consumer protection outlining stringent new conditions for circumcision. Sen. Thomas Heilmann from the Christian Democratic Union party posted his directive on the citys website, including the specification that Jewish ritual be performed by a doctor rather than a mohel. The Jewish assembly of the 10,500-strong community wrote in a statement that it took notice of Heilmanns decree and slammed the decision as a flagrant intervention in the over-3,000-year tradition of Judaism.

The assembly said it unanimously rejected the statement of the Senate for justice and consumer protection administration. This seemingly provocative ruling really poured fuel on the fire. We were to hear more from one of Germanys most important Jewish leaders. (Keep reading) CHARLOTTE KNOBLOCH According to Spiegel Online. Charlotte Knobloch, the former head of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, wrote a stinging editorial on Wednesday attacking the circumcision debate, calling talk of a Jewish revival a sham and wondering whether she was right to spend her adult life defending Germany. Germany has been debating the rights and wrongs of circumcising infant boys ever since a German court ruled in June that the ritual, a core part of the Jewish religion, was unlawful. Now Charlotte Knobloch, 79, the former president of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, has had enough. In a furious editorial published on Wednesday in one of the country's top newspapers, Sddeutsche Zeitung, she said the controversy was calling the existence of Germany's small Jewish community into question and asked: "Do you still want us Jews?" "For 60 years I have defended Germany as a survivor of the Shoah. Now I ask myself if that was right," she wrote. Knobloch is president of the Munich Jewish community and vice president of the World Jewish Congress. "It didn't occur to me even in my nightmares that I should have to ask myself the question ahead of my 80th birthday whether I was allowed to survive the murder of the Jews to have to witness this," wrote Knobloch. Knobloch wrote that circumcision was at the core of Jewish identity. "The zeal with which the self-appointed are unfeelingly and thoughtlessly dragging our religious foundations through the mud is unequalled. People who apparently have no idea of the religious significance of the Brit Mila (circumcision ceremony) who presumably have never spoken to a Jew, now want to tell us whether and how we can follow our religion. "I don't want to go on bearing that silently. Not after all we Jews had to suffer in Germany," wrote Knobloch. "And I'm no longer prepared to go along with the sham in which people are talking about a new, fresh, flourishing Jewry in Germany, to give Germans the feeling that time can heal even the greatest conceivable wound. The fact is that German Jewry has never gotten over the Shoah. The few who survived it are marked and defined to this day by the absence of that Jewish life that existed at the start of the 20th century."

Knobloch said Jews in Germany had to put up with a lot: Nobel Laureate Gnter Grass writing about the risks Israel posed to world peace, "obsessive world improvers" calling for boycotts of Israeli products, sympathy for Palestinian suicide bombers, and the Prague Declaration in which "some civil rights activists equate the crimes of communism with that of the Holocaust." She also mentioned attacks on Jews such as the assault on a rabbi in Berlin last month. She said German Jews had spent decades justifying their continued presence in Germany to their families and friends abroad. "For six decades I have had to justify myself because I stayed in Germany -- as a remnant of a destroyed world, as a sheep among wolves," wrote Knobloch. "I always readily carried this burden because I was firmly convinced that this country and these people deserved it. For the first time my basic convictions are starting to shake. For the first time I feel resignation. I seriously ask if this country still wants us." All I can say that those are pretty strong words coming from Frau Knobloch. There is very little I can add other than to say that the circumcision ruling and the attack on the rabbi in Berlin have touched deep emotional feelings in the hearts and minds of many Jews. The ball is now in the court the leadership of the Federal Republic. Well have to see what they do with it. CHRISTIAN ZIONISTS I have written before about Christians United for Israel (CUFI) which continues to be a major political force in the U.S. when it comes to Middle East policy and particularly the Israel Palestinian dispute. However, I decided to include this article which might flesh out your understanding of their enormous impact. Israel Hayom, Israels largest newspaper recently reported, Millions of evangelical Christians are working day and night to protect Israel. They stage conventions, they exert political pressure on their representatives and they raise awareness in the world on issues like the Iranian threat and Palestinian incitement. They do this not only in the name of justice, but because it is an integral part of their faith in Jesus. Some 6,000 Christian activists and community leaders from all over the United States gathered in the oppressive Washingtonian heat last month for the seventh annual Christians United For Israel summit. David Brog, the executive director of CUFI, explained to me that the summit included two days of study, interspersed with massive events with speakers from Congress and the Senate, and a third day in which the thousands of participants go to Capitol Hill to meet with their states' representatives and find out one thing from them: whether they are protecting Israel.

The politicians on Capitol Hill aren't normally visited in Washington by more than a dozen constituents from their district. During this annual summit, they are liable to meet more than 700 constituents at one time. This event has a dramatic effect on the political activity of these representatives. They understand that there is strong grass-roots support for Israel in the U.S. "Every year, we give them three issues we want them to raise with their congressmen," Brog explained. "This year we wanted to focus on three issues: legislation aimed at preventing Iran from achieving nuclear weapons; improving cooperation on defense issues between the U.S. and Israel and supporting American aid to Israel; and ending the anti-Israel incitement in the Palestinian Authority." The evangelical Christian community in the U.S. boasts between 50 and 100 million members. For the sake of discussion, let's say the number is 75 million. Of those 75 million, about 50 million are in some way and the combination of these two words is difficult for us Jews to grasp Christian Zionists. We're talking about a significant religious core of Americans who support Israel and the Jewish people without question. They repeatedly emphasize that they are not interested in converting Jews (this is in fact one of their clearest rules), nor are they motivated by a desire to expedite Judgment Day Armageddon to them, Gog and Magog to us on Israel's soil. They simply support Israel because it is one of the basic tenets of their faith. In the last edition I pointed out that since the American Jews made up less than 2% of the American population and a slightly larger percentage of Americans who vote, it was not their numbers that were important but rather their financial contributions to the election campaign that made them a target for both political parties. With evangelical Christians it is quite the opposite. Given their numbers, they are sought after for their votes, not their dollars. The Hayom article does not deal with the Evangelicals and the election. It mostly has to do with the basis of their religious commitment to Israel but it should be clear that, being religiously and mostly politically conservative, they are a genuine target especially for the Republican Party. A major problem for Jews in thinking about Evangelicals is their history of wanting to convert Jews to Christianity. Needless to say, that desire has caused great pain and suffering for Jews throughout the millennia. However, the article notes, After centuries of bloody conflict between Jews and the church, it is difficult for the average Jew to believe that there actually is a revolution underway in the way Christians at least some of them view us. The ancient tenet on which the attitude toward Jews has traditionally rested is called "replacement theology," which argues that when the Jews refused to accept Jesus as their messiah, they violated their covenant with God, nullifying it and releasing God from his obligation to them.

God abandoned His people and chose the church. Since then, the true Israel, the "Israel after the spirit," is the church, while the Jewish people remain merely the "Israel after the flesh" the biological descendants of the biblical Israelites. The revolutionary concept introduced by the evangelicals is the complete rejection of replacement theology. I do not like to question peoples sincerity. If the above is, indeed, the case, their numbers and political strength are welcome. WHO WILL LEAD? Since almost all Jewish organizations are of the non-profit, voluntary variety they must have quality staff who can raise funds, a cadre of volunteers who technically have the responsibility for the health and continuity of the organization who are also called upon for their financial support and, last but not least, a high caliber executive director who leads it. Non-government organizations in Germany are pretty much in the same boat with the exception that most (all?) of their funding comes from either the government or foundations. Im sure there is some person to person fund raising but it seems to be pretty much absent. In any case, three of the U.S.s leading Jewish organizations now have directors who are in their 60s and 70s. Since we do not have mandatory retirement in the States, there is no law that forces them into retirement. However, with these key roles being taken by men who are ageing, there is a question about who will replace them. There is even a bigger question and that revolves around whether these organizations continue with such key and important leaders can maintain themselves after these giants retire. Israel Hayom columnist Isi Leibler raised questions about future leadership by noting, The Diaspora is undergoing a Jewish leadership crisis. In the United States, where the vast majority of Jews outside Israel reside, the key professionals dominating the scene are close to retirement, yet failing to groom successors. With a few notable exceptions, the situation in most of the smaller Jewish communities is even worse. In most of these communal umbrella bodies, professionals occupy a lesser role than in the U.S. and talented younger people are even more averse to accepting leadership responsibilities. After addressing the American Jewish community Leibler turns his attention to Europe. He wrote, On the global level, the World Jewish Congress is confronted with a similar problem. Donors to the formerly successful mail fundraising campaigns lost confidence in the organization as a consequence of the scandals associated with financial irregularities under the former management. Thus, today the WJC is almost entirely reliant on the financial largesse of its president and benefactor, billionaire Ronald Lauder, who provides the bulk of the funding required

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to run the organization. Should he retire or curtail his funding, the WJC would face financial collapse. Many of the smaller Jewish communities suffer from a dearth of funds and frequently have difficulty recruiting qualified voluntary laymen to assume communal roles. This applies especially in Europe where demonization of Israel has morphed into anti-Semitism reminiscent of the 1930s. During such tough times, strong and courageous Jewish leadership is of immense importance to maintain morale. The crucial challenge facing leadership is the ability to raise funds in order to operate community organizations. Philanthropists and foundations are loath to finance umbrella organizations unless they are directly involved. As a consequence, in recent years there has been an ever-growing trend of Jewish billionaires "adopting" organizations or assuming leadership in return for providing the funds to meet budget requirements. Although far from democratic, this has become a reality of life. There are numerous precedents where wealthy Jewish individuals contributed to the benefit of the community. For example, the 19th century British patrician Sir Moses Montefiore was totally unaccountable but in his role as a shtadlan an independent Jew who interceded with the authorities on behalf of his people he made important contributions to the welfare of the Jewish people. At the end Leiber indicates It is therefore the obligation of the Israeli government to set up a coordinating body, together with Jewish community leaders particularly those outside of the United States to provide guidance and assistance in this critical deteriorating arena of Diaspora Jewish life. Far be it for me to even be critical of the opinion of a noted journalist such as Isi Leibler. However, while Israel could provide a meeting place for the various representatives of world Jewry and offer guidance and assistance, I doubt seriously that any inclination that Israel might have to do more would end up in failure. Jewish groups are very sensitive about their independence. Of course, more dialogue would help but there is already, perhaps, an overabundance of that already. In addition, I do not think that the Diaspora is on the verge of collapse or destruction. In the U.S. (and probably Europe as well) organizational structures change according to needs and the financial underpinning available. Organizations come and go, new ones are formed and new methods of fund raising developed. During the last 45 years that I have been associated with AJC it has changed dramatically. (Some day Ill write about that). I expect that the same thing will happen in the next

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45 years and AJC (or whatever it will be called then) will be dealing with whatever the most important questions of the day are then. Jewish life is going to continue as it has for 3,000 years. Organizations and agendas will change but the basics will not. Any group that has survived the Holocaust is not going to go out of business. Period! If youd like to read the entire Leibler article (its not long) click here. http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_opinion.php?id=2422 TILAPIA Im not the greatest fish eater (usually too many bones) but when it comes to tilapia on a menu I usually order it. Its white, soft and inoffensive. So, when I read that someone somewhere is trying to improve the numbers and quality of this tasty dinner treat it does my heart good. When I read a little further and find that that such a program has been hatched up (Pardon the pun) by Israel, Germany and an African country, Kenya I am genuinely thrilled. Sharon Udasin reporting in The Jerusalem Post wrote, Israelis, Germans and Kenyans have teamed up to increase the tilapia (St. Peters fish) population and improve wastewater treatment in Lake Victoria. Last week, high-level representatives from the three parties signed a trilateral agreement in Kenya for a project that has been in the works for roughly a year, to upgrade commercial fishery and wastewater purification systems in Africas largest lake, officials from the Foreign Ministry told The Jerusalem Post on Wednesday. Lake Victoria has regional influence its very important water-wise, Ilan Fluss, director of policy planning and external relations at MASHAV, the Foreign Ministrys Agency for International Development Cooperation, said then. Lake Victoria is a small lake that is three times the size of the State of Israel. Present at last weeks ceremony from the Israeli side were Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon; Ambassador Avi Granot, head of the Foreign Ministrys African Department; and Ambassador Daniel Carmon, head of MASHAV. German Economic Cooperation and Development Minister Dirk Niebel was accompanied by a delegation of 50 people, including four parliamentarians, Carmon told the Post on Wednesday. Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga presided over the ceremony, and was joined by four members of his cabinet. The signing event was held at the teams brand-new excellence center for research and development, on the grounds of at the Ramogi Institute of Advanced

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Technology in the lakeside town of Kisumu in western Kenya. Before the signing, professional work had already begun to increase the commercial strength of tilapia in fish ponds around the lake. In the lake itself, tilapia have been facing fierce competition of a predator of theirs, Nile perch. Two or three projects relating to the fish growth have already begun, and Israeli experts on fisheries have been to the region to help instruct the trainers of the local men and women who work at the lakes fisheries, according to Carmon. He emphasized that the Kenyans were not simply receiving help, but were active partners in the endeavors. The Kenyans, who are also participating, they are not only recipients its a trilateral cooperation, Carmon said. I think we should all be thrilled by this sort of cooperation. No! Its not submarines but it will be a great help to an African country that can use the help. The fact of the matter is that Africa needs a great deal of Western assistance and, probably for different reasons, both Germany and Israel seem to be committed to this sort of activity. Friendship comes from the little things as well as those larger matters. I hope all sides keep it up. ************************************************************************************************ See you in October before the election and again in November to go through the results and see what happened. DuBow Digest is written and published by Eugene DuBow who can be contacted by clicking here Both the American and Germany editions are posted at www.dubowdigest.typepad.com Click here to connect.

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