Editor’s note: This new feature called Remember When will appear in the second issue of every month and look back at what was in the Jewish Exponent the same week a varying number of years ago.
Twenty years ago, the Exponent’s cover led with a JTA story that explored the aftermath of what came to be known as the Tel Aviv Central Bus Station Massacre. Two Palestinian suicide bombers detonated themselves outside the station, killing 23 civilians and injuring more than 100.
While the incident wasn’t nearly on the scale of the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks, it does show how tenuous peace and safety always can be in Israel. And the early 2000s were an especially tense time, as suicide bombings occurred with some regularity. There were at least a dozen bombings in Israel in 2003, many at bus stations, and at least 135 deaths.
Also on the cover on Jan. 9, 2003, was a story no doubt spurred by the 9/11 attacks a little more than a year earlier. The Exponent reported that while there hadn’t been a case of smallpox in Pennsylvania since 1942, concerns were growing about whether terrorists might consider fomenting an outbreak of the deadly disease.
“As a result, a debate is now taking place in this country on the following questions: Should so-called front-line health workers — first responders in cases of emergencies — be vaccinated? If so, when — now as a preventative measure or only in the event of an outbreak?
“Also, should the smallpox vaccination be available to the general public?”
On a lighter note, the paper’s back page featured an “interview” with Gollum from “The Lord of the Rings: Two Towers.” Gollum noted that the mythical Jewish monster Golem came from “a different side of the family.”