Texas Jewish Post (Fort Worth, Tex.), Vol. 47, No. 9, Ed. 1 Thursday, March 4, 1993 Page: 3 of 28
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IN OUR 47TH YEARl-THURSDA Y, MARCH 4, 1993, TEXAS JEWISH POST 3 FOB tUTB
A Time to Remember Syrian Jews
By Charles Kaufman
Hundreds of North Texans last
year joined thousands of people
throughout the world in signing
the B ’ nai B ’ rith/Fligh14000 peti-
tion, urging the Syrian govern-
ment to honor its pledge to free
the 4,000 or so Jews living in that
country.
At the time petitions were
signed, Jews were leaving
Aleppo, Damascus and Qamishli
each month and joining family
and new communities in New
York.
The news of their departure was
heartening; the pace of the emi-
gration, however, was also un-
nerving. The precarious politics
of the Middle East made those of
us carrying the petitions realize
that the rate of emigration was
too slow. The number of Syrian
Jewish emigres swelled to 2,600,
then in mid-October it
unexplainably stopped.
It is at this time of year, none-
theless, that we stop and remem-
ber the plight of Syrian Jews,
especially the 1,400 or so who
remain in bondage and the
Sebbagh sisters, Laura, Farah and
Mazal, who were murdered in
March of 1974, along with their
cousin, trying to leave Syria. Their
bodies were left in the Jewish
quarter of Damascus as an ex-
ample to anyone else who
would try to escape.
In 1975, on the first
yahrzeit of the young
women’s deaths, the Beth
Tzedec Congregation in
Toronto, Canada, initiated
thefirstShabbatZachorfor
Syrian Jews on the Shab-
bat preceding Purim (dur-
ing which we remember
the rescue of Jews from
genocidal edicts). Since
that time, B’nai B’rith and
several organizations
around the world - the
American Sephardi Fed-
eration, the ADL of B’nai
B’rith, Canadian Jewish
Congress, Conference of
Presidents of Major Ameri-
can Jewish Organizations,
NJCRAC, and the Ameri-
can Zionist Federation - have used
Shabbat Zachor to educate others
about Syrian Jewry. This year
Shabbat Zachor falls on March 5-
6.
Jews in Syria have lived a life
of restrictions, with intimidation
from the Syrian secret police per-
vading their existence. Sales and
transfers of property have tradi-
tionally required the approval of
the Syrian government and prop-
erty of deceased Jews, who are
not survived by family members
in Syria, are turned over to the
Palestinian Refugee agency.
Before the recent tide of emi-
gration, free emigration for Syr-
ian citizens was prohibited. Those
Jews who were permitted to travel
for health reasons or business had
to leave family members and
monetary deposits behind
to ensure their return.
Life in the U.S. hasn’t
been easy for the Syrian
emigres. They have
learned, like hundreds of
thousands of Soviet emi-
gres, and millions this cen-
tury that freedom often re-
quires sacrifice. Please take
a moment during this sea-
son of freedom - Purim and
Passover - to remember
Jews, like those in Syria,
who still live in bondage.
There is evidence that a
Jewish presence in Syria
goes back to the time of
King David. The tradition
of a Jewish presence in
Syria goes back even fur-
ther when Abraham and
Sarah, en route from Ur to
Canaan, stopped with their large
flock of sheep in Aram-Zovah in
Northern Syria. The sheep were
producing plentiful quantities of
milk, which Sarah distributed to
those in need. To commemorate
this act of kindness, the popula-
tion renamed the area “Halab”
from the Hebrew word for milk.
Halab has remained as the tradi-
tional name for Aleppo.
During the late biblical era, the
area was subject to the same great
powers of Egypt Assyria and
Babylonia. But with the proxim-
ity to Jewish centers of learning
the community began to flourish.
The Conquest of Syria by Is-
lam led to conditions strongly
dependent on those in power.
Some leaders like the Ummayad
(630-750 C.E.) and Saladin Dy-
nasties(1170-l 260C .E.) were not
inclined to persecute, while other
periods brought rulers and invad-
ers who meted out harsher treat-
ment for the Jews. Under the
Ottomon Empire, which con-
quered Syria in 1516 and ruled
for 400 years, the same pattern of
uncertainty existed.
In 1947, there were approxi-
mately 15,000 Jews living in
Syria Ten years later there were
no more than 5,300 and by 1992
no more than 4,000 remained.
Most left Syria during the late
1940s with growing tensions and
rioting connected with the cre-
ation of the State of Israel.
Charles Kaufman of Austin is presi-
dent-elect of B’nai B’rith District 7.
Charles Kaufman
Dallas Coach Says Running Backs Weren’t Outstanding
By Harlan C. Abbey
When a team wins a Super Bowl as
decisively as the Dallas Cowboys did
over the Buffalo Bills, one might expect
all the winning coaches to be claiming
credit for their contribution to the victory.
But honesty seems to be the major policy
of Joe Brodsky, running backs coach for
the Cowboys, who said, “My guys played
well, but not good enough to win the game
by themselves.”
His “guys” were halfback Emmitt
Smith, who carried the ball 22 times for
108 yards and one touchdown, and full-
back Darryl Johnson, who did most of the
blocking for his teammate and also gained
6 yards in one carry.
Brodsky, who became a National Foot-
ball League coacji at the age of 55, after
coaching the running backs at the Univer-
sity of Miami with Dallas head coach
Jimmy Johnson, said the final score of 52-
17 was deceiving:
In. the first quarter it didn’t look like
we’d be doing anything except fighting
for our lives. We had a punt blocked for
the first time in the four years I’ve been
here. But you can’t win when you have
nine turnovers. We didn’t destroy the
Joe Brodsky
Bills because of our magnificence, we
helped them to self-destruct.”
Brodsky, who spent the game in the
coaches’ box high above the Rose Bowl,
said he felt the key
players in the win were
defensive stars
Charles Haley, Russell
Maryland and Kenny
Norton, while quarter-
back Troy Aikman
“had a great streak go-
ing. Those four were
the stand-outs.”
And he also admit-
ted he wasn ’ t even sure
of the amount of the
winners’ share (about
$64,000) except that
“It’ll put a lot of hot
pastrami on the table.”
“For many of the
players, it’s a cut in
their two week’s sal-
ary, but not for me,”
he added. “But after
Uncle Sam gets his
share, it’s 38 percent
less.
“And after you spread it around to your
children and grandchildren—as you
should —there’s not a huge amount.”
Brodsky said the young Dallas team
“did a great job of being in focus, like
they’d been in the Super Bowl 20 times
before.”
For the coaching staff, it was back to
work once the celebrations were over.
Brodsky, who had two operations over
the summer, said he was “feeling great”
and ready to travel to the scouting com-
bines to evaluate talent, then to come
back to Dallas “and start mapping strat-
egy for the college draft and decide what
we want to do with our offensive
playbook.”
After the draftees and free agents are
signed, “It’ll be back to the playbook and
working with the new coaches.”
Concerning his team’s needs, Brodsky
says, “Emmitt needs some rest to extend
his career as long as can be. I think the
coaching staff took advantage of my boy.
If he’s going to continue to make the same
kind of plays in the future as he has in the
past, he needs more rest.
“I also think we’ll be looking for tight
ends, young offensive linemen and line-
backers, trying to make the team better.”
Brodsky will certainly have a strong
input in improving the Cowboys, because
he admitted “I can pick talent.”
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Wisch, J. A. & Wisch, Rene. Texas Jewish Post (Fort Worth, Tex.), Vol. 47, No. 9, Ed. 1 Thursday, March 4, 1993, newspaper, March 4, 1993; Fort Worth, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth754961/m1/3/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; .