Hanukkah
• Walter Adler, his girlfriend (Maria Parsheva), and two friends were on a subway car when someone wished them “Merry Christmas.” A Jew, he responded, “Happy Hanukkah.” This was enough for some anti-Semites to start a fight. One rolled up his sleeve to show a tattoo of Christ. Mr. Adler says that the man said, “Happy Hanukkah, that’s when the Jews killed Jesus.” Ms. Parsheva said, “They just came at us so fast. The first thing that came into my mind was, ‘Yeah, this is going to be violent.’” Approximately 14 people taunted the small group of four, calling them “dirty Jews” and “Jew b*tches.” During the fight, Mr. Adler’s nose was broken and his lip was busted. One person who came to his aid was a Muslim fromBangladeshnamed Hassan Askari. Mr. Adler said, “A random Muslim guy jumped in and helped a Jewish guy on Hanukkah — that’s a miracle.” Mr. Adler pulled the emergency cord, and police arrested 10 people. Mr. Askari, a modest hero who ended up with two black eyes, said, “I just did what I had to do. My parents raised me that way.” Mr. Adler invited Mr. Askari to celebrate Hanukkah with him; Mr. Askari accepted the invitation. According to a post on the Web site The Muslim Workplace, “Please note that Hassan Askari is not the exception among Muslims worldwide. He is what all Muslims are expected to be, and he behaved in the manner that all Muslims are expected to behave when they see a fellow human being needing help.” The following January both Mr. Adler and Ms. Parsheva attended an appreciation dinner given to honor Mr. Askari by the Islamic Circle of North America, which in a written statement said, “Mr. Askari embodies the principles of courage, strength and love for fellow Americans as taught by the Quran and Sunnah.”
Heroes
• In April 2010, 7th-graders Allyson Golden and Miriam Starobin laughed at something funny that their music teacher, Sanford Mauskopf, said at Long Beach (New York) Middle School. Allyson said, “I was chewing gum, which I shouldn’t. I was laughing hysterically and suddenly I realized I’m not laughing any more. I can’t breathe. Then Miriam goes, ‘Ally, are you choking?’ I can’t speak. So my arms are around my neck. I’m turning purple, and my legs are flailing.” Allyson was frightened when she was unable to breathe; she said that “it was the scariest moment of my life. I was thinking ‘I’m going to die. What will my parents think?’” Fortunately Miriam knew exactly what to do — a result, she thinks, of remembering a SpongeBob SquarePants cartoon that she had seen on Nickelodeon. Miriam said, “It was like a flash right in my eyes. I saw in my head Squidward with his clarinet lodged in his throat and then SpongeBob does the Heimlich maneuver and the clarinet comes flying out of his mouth. I had no clue what I was doing until it was done.” Miriam performed the Heimlich maneuver on Allyson, and the gum popped out of her mouth. Immediately afterward, Allyson gave Miriam “the biggest hug” and said to her, “Miriam, you just saved my life. I owe you big time.” Miriam replied, “Oh, no, no, you don’t. It’s no big deal.” Their music teacher, Mr. Mauskopf, did not see Allyson choking because his view was blocked, but he did see the gum flying through the air. He asked the girls, “What’s going on?” After learning what Miriam had done, he said to her, “Do you realize what you’ve just done? You’ve saved Allyson’s life. You’re a hero.” (By the way, a Nickelodeon spokeswoman later said that actually SpongeBob did not perform the Heimlich maneuver on Squidward; therefore, Miriam may be conflating the cartoon with a demonstration of the Heimlich maneuver that she saw elsewhere. Whatever. Miriam saved Allyson’s life, and that is the important thing.)
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Copyright by Bruce D. Bruce; All Rights Reserved
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