OOST
dO3N 090T0E06
SERVING NEBRASKA, IOWA Vol. LXI No. 44
Omaha, Neb., Fri., July 15,1983
Zero population growth endangers Jewish survival Study shows decline NEW YORK -±- The world Jewish population U dropping below the point of Zero Population Growth and in beginning a numerical decline that will accelerate in year* to come, according to a study now being published by the JDC/Brookdale Institute of Gerontology ond the Hebrew University institute of Contemporary Jewry. The study notes that despite the decrease in total Jewish population there will be an increase in number of Jewish elderly, particularly among the "old-old," people over age 75, and particularly in Israel, where the number in this category is txpected to jump lf>0% in the quarter century between 1075 and the year 2000. JDC President Henry Taub called the report "a significant study with implication* that demand the immediate attention of thoiic concerned with the viability of the Jewish community." JDC Executive Vice-President Ralph I. Goldman described the report n» offering "a major world-wide challenge which, in I«racl, will roach crisU proportions." While the study, "Elderly Jews in the World," which was written by Professor U.
O. Schmelz, predicts a drop in the number of Jews in the Diaspora from 9.6 million to 8 million in lens than twenty yean — the study also predicts a sharp rise in the number of elderly, particularly among the "old-old" whose numbers will reach an es-. timoted 910.000 by the year 2000. Nearly 100,000 of these are expected to be living in Israel. One consequence of the shifting demographics noted in the study is the fact that by the end of the century one out of every five elderly Jews will live in Israel, as compared with one out of right today. The JDC/Brookdale Institute of Gerontology in o project of the .IDC and was funded by the Brookdale Foundation complex of New York, the JDC and the Israel government. JDC is the overseas arm of the American Jcwixh community and is actively engaged in the rescue, relief and rehabilitation of Jews and Jewish communities in over 30 nations around the world. It receives the hulk offts income from the campaigns of the American Jewish communities through the United Jewish Appeal.
Conference planned NEW YORK - The first nationwide conference of major Jewish organizations to deal with the "catastrophic" decline in the Jewish birth rate over the past half-century that has made Jews "on endangered species" will be convened Oct. 31. The conference, sponsored by 25 national, educational, cultural, civic and roligious Jewish organizations, which will take place at the Minskoff Cultural Center, 164 East (58th Street, in New York City, will attempt, according to the organizers, to halt the projected acceleration of the decline in the next few decoded. Stressing the vital need for the National Conference on Jewish Population Growth, Yehuda Itosenman, director of the Jewish Communal Affairs department of the American Jewish Committee, one of the organizeni of the Conference, stated that by the end of the century, the Jewish community in the United States would be reduced by approximately 25 percent. Dr. Robert Gordis, editor of Judaism. Professor Emeritus of Bible and Rapoport Professor in the Philosophies of Religion at the Jewish Theological Seminary, and chairman of the Conference, asserted that "the drive to avoid oblivion answers deep human instincts that transitory fashion and fleeting life styles may obscure and even suppress, but not permanently destroy." Dr. Gordis added: "There is growing evidence that the deep human instinct for children which has been out of fashion during
the recent post has not been destroyed. Rachel's pathetic cry to Jacob, 'Give me children or I perish,' is deeper than the vagaries of fashion or the shifting tides of style," A key element in the formation of the Conference was n major article by Dr. Gordis in the August-September, 1982 Midstream, entitled "Be Fruitful and Multiply", in which he cited that injunction as the first commundment of the Bible. Endorsing Dr. Gordis's approach to the Jewish birth rate problem, Mr. Rosenman noted that "we recognize that the decision to hove children is personal, and that the community as a whole cannot tell people what to do.1' Hut, terming the Jews "an endangered opecies" at a time when the povertystricken communities of the world are experiencing a population explosion, Mr. Rosenman said that the community "can create a climate of opinion and raise the consciousness of people — both on a personal level and in terms of the Jewish community." The American Jewish Community's concern with the Jewish family is evidenced by its role in the National Conference on Jewish Population Growth, Mr. Rosenman said, and by its sponsorship of the William Petschek National Jewish Family Center, which determine? the major stresses threatening Jewish family life and seeks to ameliorate them.
Haig on Haig: one year later
Israel Ballet to appear The Iirael Ballet is scheduled to perform In Omaha on April 30,1984, during the 1084 tour of 40 cities. The ballet company baa not performed in the United States since 1081, Following Its successful tour here, the company entered the International Dance Festival at Santiago, Chile, where it won first prize for choreography. The work which won the award, "Dvorak Variation*" by Berts Yampolsky, co-founder of the company, is expected to be performed during the 1084 tour. The Israel Ballet, founded In 1967 By Hillel Markman and Berta Yampolsky, has attracted the attention of many International choreographers such as George Balanchine and has had many great artists such as Edward Vlllela, Alexander Gudonov and Leslie Browne.
You were accused of "jumping Mp" in mid-cruu during the war in lxtbanon taut year. How true is thixi Haig: It's not true. It won not my intention to resign in the middle of the crisis. It was the president's decision that I leave at that precise time last June, How did you feel about leaving during that sensitive period? Haig: I really regretted having (had) to remove myself from a fast-moving situation which I continue to believe could have been influenced more positively by continuity. On the other hand, the problems with the White House had become so unmanageable that I found the staff taking positions directly opposed to my own — merely to be doing so, and devoid of substantive insight. This reality tempered my concern about the as Marsh v. Chambers, asking the Supreme timing of my departure. Actually, however, Court to declare the practice unconstitu- it was my intention to resign later in the year, if the unsatisfactory organizational artional. rangemonts relating to the conduct of our The complete statement follows; "The Supreme Court's decision to uphold foreign policy were not remedied. a» constitutional the practice of the Ne- Former President Jimmy Carter recently braska legislature of employing a paid chap- charged that in your final days in office you. lain of the same faith over an extended gave Israel the "green light" to invade Leperiod of time is disappointing. Such a banon. What's your response to this charge? policy suggests endorsement of a particular Haig: Nothing could be further from the truth. Most of my energies — for a long sect as the "official religion" of the state. period of time — were designed to prevent We feel that the Supreme Court was wrong the conflict Also, I did not — as some in and that the practice, violates thfl funda- the Reagan administration would have mental concept of church-state separation wished — refuse Israel the right to defend as enunciated in the Constitution. We hope itself. However, I did insist, during a that in spite of the court ruling, state leg- number of conversation* with Prime Minislature* throughout the country will rec- ister (Menacbem) Bagis (of Israel), with ognize the dhrisiv* and unwis* nature of Dtfshas Minister ( A I M ) Sharon and wita such a practice and retrain on'their own Foreign Minister (Yttaaak) Shamir, that from pursuing i t " .'•'
AJCongress criticizes Supreme Court's ruling A Supreme Court decision upholding the constitutionality of the Nebraika legislature's policy of employing a single paid chaplain of the name faith over an extended period of time has been criticized by the American Jewish Congress. Phil Baum, associate executive director of the organization, released o statement calling the high court ruling "disappointing." The statement said the practice suggests that the state endorses a particular religion, a violation of the fundamental concept of church-stats separation. AJCongress said it hoped that in spite of the Supreme Court decision, state legislatures would recognizs that such a policy is "divisive and unwist" and Would refrain from following it. . • ' Earlier, AJCongrwa had submitted an amicus brief in tht Nsbraska case, known
One year ago, Alexander M. Haig, Jr., stunned the world by abruptly resigning as Secretary of State. Because he was Israel's best friend in tho Reagan Administration, his departure signalled the beginning of downhill relations between Israel and the United States. Now, in an exclusive interview with Washington correspondent Trudo Fcldman, Haig gives bis personal reflections of that period. By Trade Fcldman Washington correspondent
Alexander M. Haig, J r . any Israeli action in Lebanon should be only the result of an internationally recognized provocation, and that the response should be proportional to that provocation. Following his charge, President Carter explained to me that he had received his information from what he termed a reliable source in Israel. He implied that when he brought it to the attention of the national security council in the White House, it was •never denied, inferring he then felt free to mako the public charge. In retrospect, did Israel do the right thing (to invade Lebanon)? H a i g : History will have to judge. But clearly, the outcome — a year later — suggests that the consequences of the Israeli action for reasons not under Israel's control, have not improved the situation; indeed, may have set the peace process back, and raised the risks of broader conflict. Was the Israeli incursion into Lebanon a. surprise to you? > Haigi Hardly. Israel had put^he United States, the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), and the world at large on notice that its patience had been exhausted and that there would be a sharp reaction on the occasion of the next attack on Israeli' citizens within larasi or abroad. In fact, I raised' (CMttnued on page 2) •