Page 4-THE NEWS-February 1992 World Beat Matzoh Bulls on Maui? LOS ANGELES (JTA) — With the opening of the Shaloha Restaurant in Honolulu, Hawaii now has what is reportedly its first-ever certified kosher eatery. One is not likely to find luau- roasted pig there, but the new facility promises that customers “will always be greeted with ‘Shalom’ and ‘Aloha,’ ” which accounts for the restaurant’s name. The glatt kosher restaurant is located on the ground floor of the Island Colony Hotel, in the Waikiki area of Honolulu. Offering seating for 45, a catering facility and take-out food, the Shaloha is also ready to send freshly prepared meals to major hotels on the islands of Hawaii, Maui, Kauai, Molo kai and Oahu. The restaurant is under the certification of the Rabbinical Council of California. Israeli Scientists Announce Method to Detect AIDS Virus JERUSALEM (JTA) — Is raeli scientists have devised a simple, quick, inexpensive meth od of detecting HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, as well as other viruses in the human system. According to Professor Alex ander Honigman, who heads a team of researchers in the De partment of Molecular Genetics at the Hebrew University-Ha- dassah Medical School, the new method is especially effective in identifying HIV in infants born to parents with the virus. The technique is based on a gene found in a common firefly and the ease with which the presence of light is detected, Honigman explained. The gene responsible for the firefly’s glow is isolated and, through a bio-engineering pro cess, creates a row of cells in which the gene lights up in the presence of the viruses. The light shows up on sensi tive film within a short time of exposure. It is a positive indi cation that the virus is in the blood. In addition to detection, the new method will permit scient ists to follow the progress of patients being treated for ac quired immune deficiency syn drome and evaluate the effec tiveness of AIDS-inhibiting drugs in tissue cultures. Slovak to Seek Removal Of Tiso Plaque PARIS (JTA) — A Slovak minister has agreed to seek the removal of a plaque recently dedicated to the memory of Father Josef Tiso, the Roman Catholic priest whom Adolf Hitler installed as leader of the Slovak puppet state created by the Nazis when they occupied Czechoslovakia in 1939. Tiso deported 72,000 Jews from Slovakia between 1942 and 1944. He was hanged as a war criminal after the war. The plaque was put up in his hometown, Bytca, by the Hlinka Youth Party, a direct descendant of Tiso’s fascist Slovak national- THE NINTH ANNUAL smsm Join Maxine and Gary Silverstein, tlie Staff of Mann Travels, and Over 20 Cruiseline, Airline and Tourist Board Representatives at The Ninth Annua! Mann Travels Cruise Show Sunday^ February 16,1992 Charlotte Apparel Center 2-5 p.m. Register to win exciting prizes including a 7-day cmise on Norwegian Cmise Lines’ Westward MANN TRAVELS GarisonThtvel Network m For additional information please caM our SouthPark ofRce 366-8311 ist Party. The European director of the Los Angeles-based Simon Wies- enthal Center, Shimon Samuels, met in Bratislava with the Slov ak minister of culture, Ladislav Snopko, to protest the honoring of a war criminal. Snopko, founder of the Public Committee Against Violence, the Slovak branch of the Czech Civic Forum Party, agreed the plaque was a disturbing chal lenge to the democratization of Czechoslovakia. He promised to do what he could to have it taken down. Rabbi Learns What Makes Coke the 'Real Thing' TEL AVIV (JTA) — The giant Coca-Cola Corp. has yielded to an Israeli rabbi a secret hitherto known only to the soft drink’s founding family and a handful of the corporation’s most trusted executives — the formula for making Coke. There was a need to know, says Rabbi Moshe Landau of Bnei Brak, an Orthodox town ship northeast of Tel Aviv. The Israeli businessmen who just acquired local bottling rights applied to him for a “Hechsher,” the kashrut certif icate which assures the pious they may consume a product without violating divine law. But first the rabbi had to be sure Coca-Cola is indeed kosher according to strict Orthodox standards. To do so, he had to be told the ingredients it con tains — knowledge Coke’s com petitors presumably would die for. The would-be bottlers con tacted Coca-Cola headquarters in the United States, where it was decided to let the rabbi in on one of the great corporate secrets of all times. Still the rabbi, to satisfy himself, had to visit Coca-Cola plants in Europe and the United States, where the syrupy liquid is produced. Some of his aides also got free trips to the Far East to examine how a secret herbal root essential to the formula is processed. The Bnei Brak hechsher is expected to be issued shortly. Emigres Seeking Asylum in Holland Turning to Russian Orthodox Church AMSTERDAM (JTA) — The Russian Orthodox Church in Holland has taken up the cause of about 150 emigres from the former Soviet Union who came here from Israel during the past year and now face expul sion. Church officials have asked the Dutch Jutice Ministry to allow them to remain in the Netherlands until they can find another country willing to ac cept them, preferably the United States or Canada. The Dutch authorities have returned more than 50 former Soviet Jews to Israel after de nying their request for asylum on grounds they were not in danger of persecution in Israel. Some of the emigres now say they are, in fact, Christians and claim they suffered discrimina tion in Israel because of that. A few turned up at a Russian Orthodox Church Christmas service in The Hague. The Dutch authorities are investigating reports that a Russian travel agency is selling would-be immigrants a list of Dutch families willing to put them up as tourists while they apply for political asylum, which they are unlikely to be granted. The travel agency is said to charge $2,500 for the list, a sum the average Russian cannot pay. The people who have utilized the agency’s services are believed to have raised the fee through criminal activity. Memorial Foundation Produces Mini-Library NEW YORK (JTA) — A mini-library of five Russian- language books about Jewish history, holidays and heroes has been produced by the Memorial Foundation for Jewish Culture to help Jewish families in and from the former Soviet Union discover their Jewish heritage. The Israeli-made paperback volumes were selected from the Orot library, a collection of close to 500 Russian-language books, magazines, songbooks and au dio- and video-cassettes on Jewish themes published by the foundation in cooperation with the Israeli government, the Jewish Agency and representa tives of Jewish groups in the republics of the former Soviet Union. The books will be distributed in Israel to new Russian-speak ing immigrants and to organi zations that work with Russian- speaking Jews around the world. The Memorial Foundation for Jewish Culture, the only international body devoted sole ly to advancing Jewish cultural activities, was established in 1965 with reparations funds from the government of West Germany. Tulane Offers Law Scholarship To Jewish Soviet Immigrants NEW ORLEANS (JTA) — Prospective law students who are Jewish and recent immi grants to the United States from the former Soviet Union are encouraged to apply for a new Tulane Law School scholarship. The scholarship covers full tuition costs for three years of law school. Any recent Soviet Jewish immigrant who wishes to apply for admission to the Class of 1995 is eligible for consideration. The scholarship has been made available through a dona tion by James Schrieber of New York on behalf of the Herbert W. Nurnberg Trust. Applications for admission to Tulane Law School and addi tional information can be ob tained by writing to the Dean of Admissions, Tulane Law School, 6801 Freret St., New Orleans, La. 70118. The suggested completion date for applications for admis sion to the class of 1995 is March 1, 1992. Greek Inscription Found In Beit She*an JERUSALEM (JTA) — A Greek inscription found recently in Beit She’an by archaeologists from Hebrew University, sheds new light on the status of a prominent Samaritan family who lived there, and on the date of the construction of a magnif icent commercial street in the town. Beit She’an was the central city of northern Israel under the Romans and was known at the time by its Roman name of Scythopolis. It later became the capital of what was known as the Second Palestine (Palestina Secunda) under Byzantine rule. The inscription is one of only a few archaeological finds ever uncovered in Israel that talk about people who have been known until now only from historical texts of the period. The eight-line inscription was etched into a large stone block about 3.5 feet wide, which sat atop an archway that was part of a stone portico lining the front of a row of shops along the main thoroughfare of Byzantine-era Beit She’an. The portico col lapsed during the severe earth quake that shook the town in the year 749. The inscription tells of the construction of the portico between 500 and 515, with funds provided by Byzantine Emperor Anastasius. Initiators of the project are given as the brothers Salustius and Silvanus, the sons of Arsenius, all jurists from the city of Scythopolis. Silvanus, known from histor ical sources as the owner of substantial properties and also a high city official, was a mem ber of an important Samaritan family with close ties to the Byzantine emperors of those days. See WORLD BEAT page 7 Todd’s Flowers and Plants Serving Charlotte for 50 years Best Wishes For A Happy Valentine’s Day • We have a beautiful selection of roses, spring flowers and blooming plants. • Asl( about our wine/candy/rose combination. • We offer city-wide delivery and worldwide wire service. SouthPark Mall 364-5697 Eaatland IMall S35-2505 Cannal Commona 542-8769 1800 E. Indapandanoa Blvd. 332-5167 Indapandawca Canlar—Uptown 376-0131 TOGO’S FLOWERS