160	The Story of the Jewish Defense League

bJewish federations of the United States Jewish. That month, bthe plush private offices of Federation President George C. bHeyman, Jr.—pause for a moment to savour that name for a bJewish leader—were the scene of a three-hour sit-in as the bnew Federation executive vice-president, Sanford Solen- bder, was initiated into his job. Demands were made for bFederation to reorder its priorities, limiting all nonsectarian bprojects and sharply increasing funds for Jewish day schools bas well as for Jewish neighborhood safety. After making the busual pro forma statements, including the one that a special bcommittee would give a report on the education question in bJune, Mr. Solander thought that the Federation had seen bthe last of the JDL. Hardly.

bThe following week was the holiday of Purim, during bwhich the Jews celebrate the great miracle of victory over btheir archenemy, Haman. One of the features of Jewish btradition is to gather together and listen to a reading of the bMegillat Esther (Scroll of Esther). Each time the name of the bvillain, Haman, is mentioned, the children who are listening bstamp their feet and whirl noisemakers. The coincidence of bthe names Haman and Heyman was too good to be true. bThus, on the day of Purim, the truly prestigious and baffluent Wall Street offices of stockbroker Heyman were bentered by some twenty to thirty youngsters, carrying with bthem the traditional noisemakers and a “scroll” we had bwritten, which we called “Megillat Heyman” or the Scroll of bHeyman. Then as $300-suited brokers sputtered in fury band secretaries and clerks broke up in laughter, the Scroll of bHeyman was read from the heights of the huge Wall Street bbuilding:

Megillat Heyman
(The Scroll of Heyman)