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SEEWEKG ICLSIASXA AND IOWA StKCE 1C20

Vol. LXIII No. 21

Dr. Eric Ray ie described in Cnltifrafrec Magazine as "one of the two best Hebrew calligraphers in the United States." He ia a renowned authority on Jewish art and a practicing Torah Scribe. He will give a lecture-demonstration at the JCC on Feb. 12 at 7:30 p.m. This program is sponsored by the Jewish Cultural Arts Council. Admission is free but participants are asked to RSVP by calling 334-8200. The subject of the lecture-demonstration will be how "Sifrei Torah," Torah Scrolls are made. Dr. Ray will discuss the materials employed, and how the script developed. Differences and similarities between Asb. kenazic (western) and Sephardic (eastern) Torah scrolls will be shown. He will demonstrate calligraphy with a quill-pen, using Kosher ink. He will also describe how parchment is pieced together in the construction of the Torah scroll. Dr. Ray will be in Lincoln through the week for the purpose of repairing Torah scrolls at Tifereth Israel Synagogue. Thus Dr. Ray's appearance in Omaha is made "possible. "The ability to bring a Torah back to congregational life ia a special joy," said Dr. Ray, "but my private joy is when I'm working alone. I move on to a different spiritual plane and I converse with my colleagues over the centuries; they become alive." Dr. Eric F.L. Ray, is internationally renowned as an authority on Jewish art, i l luminated Hebrew manuscripts and synagogal architecture. He holds a Masters Degree in Art History and a Ph.D. in Symbolism in the Arts of Religion from the University of London, England. He is a consultant to museums, universities and television programs in the United States, Israel and Europe. Dr. Ray was, for a quarter of a century,

ByHughOrgel TEL AVIV (JTA) — Dr. Josef Mengele, the Auschwitz death camp doctor responsible for inhuman medical experiments that cost the lives of at least 30,000 inmates and permanentlyjn aimed, manythousands more, is being tried in absentia in Jerusalem this week. Nazi-hunter Simon Wiesenthal, who has come to Israel for the public trial, said that the eye-witness evidence it will produce of iMengele's crimes is more important than the fate of the criminal. Mengele's "life is absolutely without any importance, and believe me that throughout the 25 years I have been occupied in the search for him, we have had many propositions, from people who could do it, to kill him," Wiesenthal said. "And I have always said no, no. His life is absolutely without any importance at a time when we have a generation after the Holocaust, when in the world there are groups which deny the Holocaust. They talk about the 'Auschwitz lie' and they deny the existence of the gas chambers," Wiesenthal noted. Yesterday was the 40th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz.

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prior to his arrival in New York during the Fall of 1978, the Director of Visual Arts for the University of Judaism (West CoaBt campus of The Jewish Theological Seminary of America) at Los Angeles, California. !.-> that capacity he served as the director of the University's Jewish Museum and University Press and as Chairman of the Visual Arts Dept. of its School of Fine Arts. In addition, he served as consultant on motion pictures and television programs and appeared regularly on television for the Jewish Federation Council of Los Angeles, the Israel Consulate General of Los Angeles and on the university's own television programs. As a practicing artist, book-designer and Torah scribe, Dr. Ray has been featured in both the New York Times and the Los Angeles Times for his book designs; for designing and creating the art of over twenty synagogues in Canada, South America and the United States; for re-writing a centuryold Russian Torah; and for originating the current renaissance 6f the Ketubah (Illuminated Jewish Marriage Contract). Dr. Ray is represented in the collections of art museums in the United States and around the world, at the U.S. White House, Israel's Knesset and in major private collections. In 1948, he created the first map ' department for the State of Israel's armed forces in the newly formed Israel Navy during the War of Independence.

"A trial against Mengele would be the big historic lesson," the Nazi-hunter said. "It will be this lesson the young people need. And this will be a battle won against all the deniers, whether simple people or university professors. What he (Mengele) has done cannot be punished. How. can you punish a man who was responsible for the deaths of 300,000 people, for such cruel experiments?" Wiesenthal added, "The only thing we can do for the world is to put him on trial and speak the'truth." He said he was "99 percent certain" that Mengele is still living in Paraguay under the protection of powerful friends within the military dictatorship of that country. A public meeting was held here, attended by some 1,200 Auschwitz survivors and their children. A similar gathering was held at Oswiecim (Auschwitz) in Poland, site of the death camp, to mark the 40th anniversary of the liberation. The gathering here was described as a memorial to those who died and an event .to keep the memory of the Holocaust alive so that such barbarities can never occur again.

By Alan S. Katchen , Editor's Note; Alan S. Katchen, director of ADL's Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana .Regional Office, was hoad of the Plains States Office during the height of the controversy about which he writes. This article is reprinted from the February 1985, issue of the ADL Bulletin, national publication of the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith.. Boot Hill Cemetery sits just above the recreated notorious Front Street of Dodge City, Kans. A visit to this his' torical site evokes memories of Bat Masterson, Wyatt Ear^, hard cattle drives and frontier violence* Yet today,: this

The- Omaha Jewish Arts Council, in cooperation with Amit Women, one of it3 member organizations, is sponsoring a lecture at the Jewish Community Center by Israeli educator. Dr. Naomi Cohen. Dr. Cohen is on a twoweek speaking tour of the United States made possible by the Amerij can Zionist I Federation. She |_ [ will speak Feb. 17 at 7:30 p.m. Dr. Naomi Cohen The topic of Dr. Cohen's talk is "Education in a Changing Society." Dr. Cohen serves as assistant professor in the Department of Jewish Philosophy at Tel Aviv University. She has a strong commitment to Israel, Jewish education, and the status of women within them. This makes her an ideal spokesperson for the interests and goals of the organizations sponsoring her Omaha appearance, a Cultural Arts spokesman said. Dr. Cohen was born in New York City in 1930 to Rabbi and Mrs. Herbert S. Goldstein. Her father was the first American born and educated Orthodox rabbi. In 1949, she made aliya to Israel, where she married Rabbi Shcar-Yashuy Cohen. "~ .Sho studied at the Hebrew; UMvefeity'at1 Jerusalem^ where she earned her MA in 1958, her Teacher's Certificate in 1961 and her PhD in 1971. In addition to her teaching

duties,'she serves on the Boards of several educational institutions: The Rothschild High School for Girls, Efrata Teachers' Seminary for Women, ond a founding member of the Judith Lieverman Institute for the Study of the Woman in Judaism at Ramot Shapiro. She was a Government representative from 1970-1974 on the National Council for Consumer Interests. Sho currently serves on the Women's Advisory Committee to the Mayor of Haifa and on the Advisory Committee of the Office of the Prime Minister for the Advancement of the Status of Women in Israel. Dr. Cohen resides in Haifa with her husband, who is Chief Rabbi of Haifa. Dr. Cohen's talk is made possible by the cooperation of several organizations with the special sponsorship of Amit Women, formerly known as American Mizrachi Women. The Omaha Chapters, Hatikvah and Kalah Franklin are two of the more than 375 chapters in the US. Amit takes an active role in Jewish and Zionist affairs. It supports educational and cultural activities, and participates in community efforts to achieve more fully the ancient Jewish ideals of justice, brotherhood and peace. Amit Women is a member organization of the American Zionist Federation; the Coordinating Committee for Youth Aiiyah, and the Conference Committee of National Jewish Women's Organizations, Amit W^pmfeS^obperhtes^'frlly^wjtii the' United ' Jewish Appeal, actively supports the State of Israel Bond Drive, The Jewish National Fund, and NJRC.

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Jewish heritage in the eye of the camera Tel Aviv's Beit Hatefutso'th Museum recently selected 169 photos from 4,000 entries to offer an exhibit showing living documentation of contemporary Jewish life. This photo of a Jewish family from Afghanistan before emigrating to Israel won top honors for Moshe Shapiro, who had been a Jewish Agency official stationed in Persia after the creation of Israel in 1948. His work traces the aliya of Kurdish and Afghan Jews —- the makeshift markets in the first transit camps; the removal of the Torah scrolls by the last Jews to leave a small village; and finally, the convoy of rickety cars leaving for the Land of Israel.

county-seat town of 18,000 people, standing in the wheat plains of southwestern Kansas is far removed from 19th century lawlessness. . Imagine then, the community's reaction on Jan. 21,1983, to a "religious".broadcast over radio station KTTL-FM, entitled "Victory With Jesus," by William P. Gale. A few excerpts from that broadcast: "Yes, we're gonna cleanse our land. We're gonna do it with a sword. And. we're gonna do it with'violence. 'Oh,' they say, "Reverend Gale, you're teaching violence.' You're damn right I'm teaching violence! God said you're gonna do it that way, and it's about time somebody is. telling you to get violent, whitey."

And it continued: "You better start making dossiers, names, addresses, phone numbers, car license numbers, on every damn Jew rabbi in this land, and every Anti-Defamation League leader or JDL leader in this land, and you better start doing it now. And know where he is. If you have to be told any more than that, you're too damn dumb to bother with. You get these road-block locations, where you can set up ambushes, and get it all working now." On Jan. 24, Bob Kirby, the 30-year-old general manager of a competing Dodge City radio station, KGNO, in a broadcast,editorial said: •• , (continued on page 2)

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February 8,1985

The station that broadcast hate (continued from page 1) "The time has come to take a critical look at the programming practices of KTTL Radio . . . It is absolutely necessary for. this county to voice its approval, or lack thereof, of two religious programs aired daily, which, in our opinion, are offensive and embarrassing."

. Broadcasters... are expected "to serve in ih-3 public interest" Mr. Kirby reminded listeners that when broi'dcadera receive their federal licenses they ere expected "to torve in the public interest" — "to act as good [stewards." He asked: "Is this type of radio programming in the public interest . . . The suggestion that Christianity is not a religion, but a race consisting only of white, Anglo-Saxon Protestants? Is it a public service to openly suggest that listeners . . . kill Jews?" In a second editorial, on Jan. 26, Mr. Kirby explained listeners' rights, outlining a number of possible steps. He warned against complaints to the Federal Communications Commission about "program content" (court case after court case has shown that the FCC is powerless to act on matters of program content, unless judged to be obscene — of a sexual or pornographic nature). He urged concerned citizens to file "a petition to deny" the KTTL license, up for its seven-year renewal in May, 1983. Such a petition, he noted, filed by an individual or group, setting out firm, hard evidence that a station has not acted responsibly during its current term of license must be investigated by the FCC. Mr. Kirby also recommended: —writing letters asking Kansas Attorney General Robert T. Stephan to prosecute the owners of KTTL; —urging the Dodge City Ministerial Alliance to oppose such "religious" broadcasts; —contacting both the Anti-Defamation League Plains States Regional Office in Omaha and the National Black Media Coalition in Washington, D.C. ADL'B Plains States Regional Office had become aware' of James P. Wickstrom and William P. Gale during their 1982 visits to groups of farmers and others in the rural heartland of Nebraska and Kansas. Wickstrom and Gale were leaders of the Posse Comitatus, an organization composed of loosely affiliated bands of vigilantes and survivalists in existence since 1969. ADL monitors the group and has produced evidence of its violence and anti-Semitic nature. The name, "Posse Comitatus," is Latin for "power of

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Fridoy, Feb. 8: Beth Israel Adult Shabbaton Saturday, Feb. 9: Music Concert, Klezmer Band 8 p.m. Beth Israel Adult Shabbaton Daniel Simon - Bar Mitzvah - Temple Israel Sunday, Fob. 10: CPA Executive Committee Meeting 1 p.m. Men's Club Meeting, Temple IsraeMO a.m. UTTO Seder Tu Blshevat 5:30 p.m. Beth Israel Monday, Fob. 11: Y.E.S. 10-a.m. College of Jewish Learning 10:30 a.m. College of Jewish Learning 7:30 p.m. Conversational Spanish 7 p.m. Intermediate Bridge 7 p.m. Tuocdcy, Fob. 12: Algebra 11:30 a.m. Old Timers 10 a.m. Bureau of Jewish Education Board of Directors Meeting 7:30 p.m. Photography 7 p.m. French Conversation 7 p.m. Gerontology 7:05 p.m. CampingServices Committee Meeting 7 p.m. UTTO, Faculty Meeting 6:15 p.m. Beginners Bridge 7 p.m. Beth Israel Sisterhood Regular Meeting 12:30 p.m. Wodnosdoy, Fob. 13: Children's Performance Workshop 4 p.m. Home Decorating 7 p.m. Duplicate Bridge 6:45 p.m. High School of Jewish Studies 7 p.m. B'hai B'rith Breadbreakers, Noon, Howard Johnson's Hadassah Board Meeting 9:30 a.m. Board of Commission 7:30 p.m. Beth Israel Board of Trustees Meeting 7:30 p.m. Temple Israel Opera/Omaha, Verdi's Folotoff Thursday, Fob. 14: Algebra 11:30 a.m. .,« NCJW Board Meeting 9:15 a.m. French for Travelers 7 p.m. Novice Bridge 7 p.m. Walk-in, Drop-in, Beth El 10 a.m. . For quostions on activities contact Joanollo Fcrrin at 334-8200 Ext. 271 The Jtwlih Preti is not responsible for tho accuracy ot tho above events.

'All events held at tho JCC unless otherwise indicated.

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the county." The Posse believes that all government power is rooted at the county level. When Wickstrom or Gale preached the Posse's beliefs against such "enemies" as the Internal Revenue Service, the Federal Reserve banking system, federal agricultural agencies, government agencies committed to regional plannine end urban planning, and the like, they found many in their audicnecu of (eccssion-ridden farmers receptive to simplistic, conEpiratorial solutions to their problems. Wickiitrom and Gale told their listeners that behind the government end its policies stood a conspiracy of Jews.

A corollary ^s that Jaws-Ere the S23d of the i Isvit For confirmation, they pointed to the theology of the "Identity Churches," a pseudo-ChriGtian movement which holds that white Anglo-Saxons, not Jews, are tho "true Israel," and God's chosen people. A corollary is that Jews are the seed of the devil. Posse Comitatus implements its ideology through intimidation including legal harassment such as liens and lawsuits against public officials who challenge its activities, disruption of public hearings and court proceedings and the open flaunting of weapons. ' Gale was an instructor at a Posse Comitatus-led survival school in March 1982, on a farm near Weskan, KS, in a lonesome area on the high plains. The attendees, many in camouflage combat fatigues, listened to lectures with racial and anti-Semitic overtones and were instructed in the use of explosives. During this period, Wickstrom and Gale supplied tape, recordings to the owners of KTTL-FM, Nellie and Charles Babbs. Nellie Babbs claimed that they broadcast the tapes for a fee paid by the Identity Churches and other donors. KTTL-FM, the only country music station within a 60mile radius, is a 100,000 watt-station, reaching into eastern Colorado, southwestern Kansas, and northern Oklahoma. It began broadcasting in 1977 and stirred up controversy almost immediately as Kansans complained that some of the music was too lewd for their tastes. When Nellie Babbs began playing the Posse tapes in June, 1982, she began a controversy unlike any the area had seen in years. Reaction was swift. The Jewish Community Relations Bureau (JCRB) of Kansas City asked the FCC to forbid the broadcasts but they were judged to be protected by the First Amendment. Principal opposition came from a small, courageous gathering of Dodge City citizens. Inspired by Naomi Kauffman, a young attorney, two groups of her fellow townspeople — including blacks, whites and Hispanics; Christian and Jewish — organized to fight KTTL. On May 2,1983 one group, "Dodge City Citizens for Better Broadcasting" filed a petition to deny KTTL's license with the FCC. The other group "Community Service Broadcasting, Inc.," filed an application to take over KTTL's license. The same day, the Black Media Coalition filed a formal petition to deny, in response to the racist content of the broadcasts. The groups were guided by James M. Weitzman, a Washington attorney specializing in communications law.

Principal opposition came from a small, courageous gathering of Dodge City citizens \_ ADL wrote to the FCC on May 25,1983, indicating that KTTL-FM broadcasts constituted "incitement to imminent lawlessness" in violation of both constitutional protection to free speech and the FCC's own policy (excepting from protection "program inciting to riot"). The letter by Jeffrey P. Sinensky, director of ADL's Legal Affairs Department, noted: "While the parameters of radio service in the 'public interest' are broad, they are not infinite. The absolute limits of the 'public interest' regulation to speech on the airwaves are posited by the limits to the First Amendment protection of freedom of expression generally. One such limit is language which incites to 'imminent lawless action'.... Accordingly, we request that the

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Commission'deny renewal of radio station KTTL-FM license." It is important to note that a station cannot change hands without FCC approval and the station's license status must first ba resolved. If the FCC felt that character issues had been raised regarding tho current licensees of KTTL, those issues would be aired in the hearing given the competing applicant and renewal applicant. The key: Which group would best serve the public interest? In a November 11, 1983, letter to the Baltimore Evening.Cuti, Naomi Kauffman succinctly stated her case: "That the owners of KTTL have demonstrated their outright contempt for the legal processes of this country by disobeying its lows should be reason enough to deny renewal; that they have advocated or taught the overthrow of the government by force or violence is conclusive of their lack of fitness to serve the public interest as a public trustee of a scarce national commodity: an exclusive radio frequency." Concurrently, many informal objections were raised against KTTL-FM'B license, including those of the JCRB of Kansas City, U.S. Senator Robert Dole and Attorney General Stephan. According to the Attorney General — who received ADL's First Amendment Freedoms Award'for his bold work in exposing the Posse menace in Kansas — KTTL programming was inflammatory. "The potential for violence in Kansas is real and the station's programming is increasing the possibility such violence will occur," he told the FCC. • . ' : • . ' During the fall of 1983, the Babbses began airing the. Posse's hate, programs as daytime "news broadcasts," several times daily. The programs alleged.that Jews have concocted a scheme to sell the U.S. into war, ranted against the "Jew-controlled national news," stated that Jews control the State Department, American foreign policy and the nation. Once again, ADL wrote to the FCC requesting denial of KTTL-FM's renewal application.

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Nellie Babbs' troubles took on new dimensions. She was jailed briefly for non-payment of bills, her marriage faltered and her husband obtained temporary control of KTTL in a civil lawsuit seeking to dissolve their financial partnership. The Babbses were then charged with failure to pay property taxes since 1979 on the radio station's transmitter, cable link and antenna. The County seized almost $(J,000 in property for payment of back taxes, but the Babbses still owed $4,300. A warrant for Nellie Babbs' arrest for contempt of court was issued after she failed to appear at three county hearings. Mrs. Babbs filed a multimillion dollar lawsuit in Federal District court in .Wichita, KS, against Governor John Carlin, Attorney General Stephan and others. To read the complaint, which asked for the immediate recovery of her "rights, liberty and property" and alleged she was denied "due process of law," is to plunge into the bizarre "psuedolegal" world of the Posse Comitatus. On Dec. 8, 1983, Federal District Judge Patrick F. Kelly issued a terse order of dismissal to these "wholly inappropriate and inadequate pleadings." At this writing, the FCC has not yet held a hearing oh KTTL's license renewal. KTTL is still on the air, with a new "Top 40" format broadcasting music almost exclusively. The station has few' advertisements and the hate broadcasts have ceased. The Posse Comitatus continues its activity in Kansas and continues to be monitored by ADL. In September, 1984, Justin J. Finger, director of ADL's Civil Rights Division, advised an FCC hearing on deregulation of the boradcasting industry that elimination of the fairness doctrine rules governing television and radio would endanger American democracy and freedom.' He said such a move would make it impossible to call stations to account for breaches of public trust. The KTTL case seems to make the point.

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Jewish Prest

February 8,1985

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Hillel college directory available Choosing the "right" college is one of the toughest and most important decisions a young person can make. So who — or what — can you turn to if you want not only the "right" college academically, but the , "right" one "Jewishly" as well?

tact for additional information. . . • One important new feature, Fredman pointed out, is a 10-year calendar of Jewish holy days. "This has been included to assist college administrators and students in planning their academic, athletic and cultural events," she said.

Increasingly, younp people, their parents, and hi|;h school counselors are consulting Jewish Life on Campus, a directory that provides informutioii about Jewish campus agencies, Jewish enrollment, Jewish studies, and Jewish dining facilities at some 400 colleges and universities in the United States, Canada, Australia, Great Britain, The Netherlands, Israel, South Africa and Venezuela.

Once again, Brandeis University and Brooklyn College have the highest percentage of Jewish stu-' dents. Brandeis increased from 62 percent to 64 percent; Brooklyn remained at 00 percent. Others in the top 10 (excluding rabbinical schools and Yeshiva College) are Queens College, SUNY-Binghamton and Clark University, all at 50 percent; Oberlin University, 43 percent; Emory UniverPublished annually by the sity, 40 percent; Columbia/ B'nai B'rith Hillel Founda- Barnard Colleges, 39 pertions, the directory has cent; New York University, proven to be "a most helpful 37 percent; and the Univer"You must have been a beautiful baby . . . " Was this a party you attended? Help us to identify the parsource of information to sity of Pennsylvania, 36 perticulars of this festive occasion from the pact. Write the Nebraska Jewish Historical Society, 333 South thousands of Jewish fami- cent. The schools with the 132 Street, Omaha, NE 68154 or call on Sundays from 10-2, 334-8200, Ext. 270 ' lies," said Dr. Ruth Gruber most Judaic courses are Fredman, editor of the just- Brandeis, with 60, and off-the-presB 1985 edition. SUNY-Brooklyn, the UniLower Lung Cancer Risk versity of Toronto and Used along with the McGill University, each Smokers of filtered, low tar cigarettes have a lower lung highly acclaimed B'nai with 50. cancer risk compared to smokB'rith Hillel leaflet, "When ers of nonfiltered, higher tar a Jewish Student Chooses Cost of n copy is $7.95 cigarettes, says the American College," the directory can from B'nai B'rith Hillel Cancer Society. However, the answer nearly all of the Foundations, 1640 Rhode lung cancer risk for both types most frequently asked ques- Island Avenue, N.W., Wash- of smokers is substantially tions, said Dr. Fredman, the ington, D.C. 20036. A copy higher than the risk for nonorganization's research and is available in the Jewish smokers. publications associate. Federation Library. The objective of the directory, she added, is to enable a prospective student to learn what to expect at any of these colleges. In addition to total and Jewish enrollment figures, the directory lists the number of Judaic courses, how many Kosher meals and/or vegetarian alternatives each school may offer, and the name and address of a B'nai B'rith Hillel executive whom the student can con-

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Ftbfuary 8,1W5

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The station that broadcast hate (continued from page 1) "The time has come to take a critical look at the programming practices of KTTL Radio . . . It is absolutely necessary ,for this county to voice its approval, or lack thereof, of two religious programs aired daily, which, in our opinion, are offensive end embarrassing."

Broadcasters... Ere expscted "to serve in ilia pub!;c interest" ^ Mr. Kirby reminded liuUntra that when bi(.Ksc!ca::(ti;: receive their federal licenses they are exptcled "to turvc in the public interest" — "to act as good stewards." lie asked: "Is this type of radio programming in the public interest . . . The suggestion that Christianity i3 not a religion, but a race consisting only of white, Anglo-Saxon Protestants? Is it a public service to openly suggest that listeners . . . kill Jews?" In a second editorial, on Jan. 2G, Mr. Kirby explained listeners' rights, outlining a number of possible steps. He warned against complaints to the Federal Communications Commission about "program content" (court case after court case has shown that the FCC is powerless to act on matters of program content, unless judged to be obscene — of a sexual or pornographic nature). He urged concerned citizens to file "a petition to deny" the KTTL license, up for its seven-year renewal in May, 1983. Such a petition, he noted, filed by an individual or group, setting out firm, hard evidence that a station has not acted responsibly during its current term of license must be investigated by the FCC. Mr. Kirby also recommended: —writing letters asking Kansas Attorney General Robert T. Stephan to prosecute the owners of KTTL; —urging the Dodge City Ministerial Alliance to oppose such "religious" broadcasts; —contacting both the Anti-Defamation League Plains States Regional Office in Omaha and the National Black Media Coalition in Washington, D.C. ADL'B Plains States Regional Office had become aware' of James P. Wickstrom and William P. Gale during their 1982 visits to groups of farmers and others in the rural heartland of Nebraska and Kansas. Wickstrom and Gale were leaders of the Posse Comitatus, an organization composed of loosely affiliated bands of vigilantes and survivalists in existence since 1969. ADL monitors the group and has produced evidence of its violence and anti-Semitic nature. The name, "Posse Comitatus," is Latin for "power of

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Friday, Feb. 8: Beth Israel Adult Shabbaton Saturday, Fob. 9: Music Concert, Klezmer Band 8 p.m. . Beth Israel Adult Shabbaton - Daniel Simon - Bar Mitzvan - Temple Israel Sunday, Fob. 10: CPA Executive Committee Meeting 1 p.m. Men's Club Meeting, Temple IsraeflO a.m. UTTO Seder Tu Blshovat 5:30 p.m. Beth Israel Monday, Fob. 11: Y.E.S. 10-a.rn. College of Jewish Learning 10:30 a.m. College of Jewish Learning 7:30 p.m. Conversational Spanish 7 p.m. Intermediate Bridge 7 p.m. Tiiocdcy, Fob. 12: Algebra 11:30 a.m. Old Timers 10 a.m. Bureau of Jewish Education Board of Directors Meeting 7:30 p.m. Photography 7 p.m. French Conversation 7 p.m. Gerontology 7:05 p.m. CampingServlces Committee Meeting 7 p.m. UTTO, Faculty Meeting 6:15 p.m. Beginners Bridge 7 p.m. Beth Israel Sisterhood Regular Meeting 12:30 p.m. Wodnosdoy, Feb. 13: Children's Performance Workshop 4 p.m. Home Decorating 7 p.m. Duplicate Bridge 6:45 p.m. High School of Jewish Studies 7 p.m. B'nal B'rith Breadbreakcrs, Noon, Howard Johnson's Hadassah Board Meeting 9:30 a.m. Board of Commission 7:30 p.m. Beth Israel Board of Trustees Meeting 7:30 p.m. Temple Israel Opera/Omaha, Verdi's Fnlotaff Thurcdcy, Fob. 14: - Algebra 11:30 a.m. »* NCJW Board Meeting 9:15 a.m. French for Travelers 7 p.m. Novice Bridge 7 p.m. Walk-in, Drop-in, Beth El 10 a.m. For quostions on activities contact Jcanolto Fcrrin m 334-0200 Ext. 271 Theytw/a/i P r v i * is not responsible lor tho accuracy of tho obovo events.

•All events held at tho JCC unless otherwise indicated.

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Commission deny renewal of radio station KTTL-FM license." It is important to note that a station cannot change hands without FCC approval and the station's license status must first be resolved. If the FCC felt that character issues had been raised regarding the current licensees of KTTL, those issues would be aired in the hearing given the competing applicant and renewal applicant. The key: Which group would best serve the public interest? In a November 11, 1983, letter to the Baltimore Evening Gun, Naomi Kauffman succinctly stated her case: "That the owners of KTTL have demonstrated their outA..coro!!asy is that Jaws are th3 scad of • right contempt for the lcj;al processes of this country by disobeying its laws should be reason enough to deny rethatisvi!. newal; thut they have advocated or taught the overthrow For confirmation, they pointed to the theology of the of the government by force or violence is conclusive of their "Identity Churches," a pseudo-Chnstiun movement which lack of fitness to serve the public interest as a public trustee holds that white Anglo-Saxons, no); Jews, are the "true Is- of a scarce national commodity: an exclusive radio frerael," and God's chosen people. A corollary ia that Jews are quency." the seed of the devil. Concurrently, many informal objections were raised Posse Comitatus implements its ideology through intim- against KTTL-FM's license, including those of the JCRB idation including legal harassment such as liens and law- of Kansas City, U.S. Senator Robert Dole and Attorney suits against public officials who challenge; its activities, General Stephan. According to the Attorney General — disruption of public hearings and court proceedings nnd the who received ADL's First Amendment Freedoms Award for his bold,work in exposing the Posse menace in Kansas — open flaunting of weapons. KTTL programming was inflammatory. "The potential for Gale'was an instructor at a Posse Comitatus-led survival violence in Kansas is real and the station's programming school in March 1982, on a farm near Wcskarr, KS, in a is increasing the possibility such violence will occur," he lonesome area on the high plains. The attendees, many in told the FCC. camouflage combat fatigues, listened to lectures with racial During the fall of 1983, the Babbsea began airing theand anti-Semitic overtones and were instructed in ihe use , Posse's hate, programs as daytime "news broadcasts," sevof explosives. eral times daily. The programs alleged that Jews have conDuring this period, Wickstrom and Gale supplied tape cocted a scheme to sell the U.S. into war, ranted .against' recordings to the owners of KTTL-F-M, Nellie and Charles the "Jew-controlled national news," stated that Jews conBabbs. Nellie Babbs claimed that they broadcast the tapes trol the State Department, American foreign policy and the for a fee paid by the Identity Churches and other donors. nation. Once again, ADL wrote to the FCC requesting denial of KTTL-FM's renewal application. KTTL-FM, the only country music station within a 60mile radius, is a 100,000 watt-station, reaching into eastern The programs alleged that Jews have Colorado, southwestern Kansas, and northern Oklahoma. concocted a scheme to sell the US into It began broadcasting in 1977 and stirred up controversy almost immediately as Kansans complained that some of war the music was too lewd for their tastes. When Nellie Babbs Nellie Babbs' troubles took on new dimensions. She was began playing the Posse tapes in June, 1982, she began a jailed briefly for non-payment of bills, her marriage faltered controversy unlike any the area had seen in years. and her husband obtained temporary control of KTTL in Reaction was swift. The Jewish Community Relations a civil lawsuit seeking to dissolve their financial partnerBureau (JCRB) of Kansas City asked the FCC to forbid ship. the broadcasts but they were judged to be protected by the The Babbses were then charged with failure to pay propFirst Amendment. erty taxes since 1979 on the radio station's transmitter, Principal opposition came from a small, courageous gath- cable link and antenna. The County seized almost $6,000 ering of Dodge City citizens. Inspired by Naomi Kauffman, in property for payment of back taxes, but the Babbses still a young attorney, two groups of her fellow townspeople — owed $4,300. A warrant for Nellie Babbs' arrest for conincluding blacks, whites and Hispanics; Christian and Jew- tempt of court was issued after she failed to appear at three ish — organized to fight KTTL. On May 2,1983 one group, county hearings. "Dodge City Citizens for Better Broadcasting" filed a peMrs. Babbs filed a multimillion dollar lawsuit in Federal tition to deny KTTL's license with the FCC. The other group "Community Service Broadcastings Inc.," filed an District court in Wichita, KS, against Governor John Carapplication to take over KTTL's license. The same day, the lin, Attorney General Stephan and others. To read the comBlack Media Coalition filed a formal petition to deny, in plaint, which asked for the immediate recovery of her response to the racist content of the broadcasts. The groups "rights, liberty and property" and alleged she was denied were guided by James M. Weitzman, a Washington attorney "due process of law," is to plunge into the bizarre "psuedolegal" world of the Posse Comitatus. On Dec. 8, 1983, Fedspecializing in communications law. eral District Judge Patrick F. Kelly issued a terse order of to these "wholly inappropriate and inadequate Principal opposition cams from a small, dismissal pleadings." courageous gathering of Dodge City At this writing, the FCC has not yet held a hearing oh ' citizens KTTL's license renewal. KTTL is still on the air, with a ADL wrote to the FCC on May 25,1983, indicating that new "Top 40" format broadcasting music almost excluKTTL-FM broadcasts constituted "incitement to immi- sively. The station has few advertisements and the hate nent lawlessness" in violation of both constitutional pro- broadcasts have ceased. tection to free speech and the FCC's own policy (excepting The Posse Comitatus continues its activity in Kansas from protection "program inciting to riot"). and continues to be monitored by ADL. The letter by Jeffrey P. Sinensky, director of ADL's Legal In September, 1984, Justin J. Finger, director of ADL's Affairs Department, noted: "While the parameters of radio Civil Rights Division, advised an FCC hearing on dereguservice in the 'public interest' are broad, they are not in- lation of the boradcasting industry that elimination of the finite. The absolute limits of the 'public interest' regulation fairness .doctrine rules governing television and radio would to speech on the airwaves are posited by the limits to the endanger American democracy and freedom. He said such First Amendment protection of freedom of expression gen- a move would make it impossible to call stations to account erally. One such limit is language which incites to 'immi- for breaches of public trust. nent lawless action'.... Accordingly, we request that the The KTTL case seems to make the point. the county." The Posse believes that all government power is rooted at the county level. When Wickstrotn or Ocle preached the Posse's beliefs against such "enemies" as the Internal Revenue Service, the Federal IvcL.erva banking r.ystem, federal agricultural agencies, government agencies committed to regional planning and urban planning, and the like, they found many in their uudiencts of recession-ridden farmers receptive to simplistic, conspiratorial solutions to their problems. Wickstrom and Gale told their listeners that behind the government and its policies stood a conspiracy of Jews.

top at fe - Ffo; in for %

February 8,1985

Jewlth Press

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Hillel college directory available Choosing the "right" college is one of (lie toughest and most important decisions a young person can make. So who — or what — can you turn to if you want not only the "rirjht" college academically, hut the "right" one "Jewishly" as well?

tact for additional information. One important new feature, Fredman pointed out, is a 10-ytiir calendar of Jewish holy days;. "This has been included to assist college administrators and students in planning (their aca d e m i c, athletic and cultural events," she said.

Increasingly, young people, their parents, and high school counselors are consulting Jewish Life on Campus, a directory that provides information about .Jewish campus agencies, Jewish enrollment, Jewish studies, and Jewish dining facilities at some 400 colleges and universities in the United States, Canada, ( Australia, Great Britain, The Netherlands, Israel, South Africa and Venezuela.

Once again, Drandeis University and Brooklyn College have the Inchest percentage of Jewish students. Brandeis increased from 62 percent to 64 percent; Brooklyn remained at 60 percent. Others in the top 10 (excluding rabbinical schools and Yeshiva College) are Queens College, SUNY-Binghamton and Clark University, all at 50 percent; Oherlin University, 43 percent; Emory University, 40 percent; Columbia/ Barnard Colleges, 39 percent; New York University, 37 percent; and the Univer"You must have been a beautiful baby. .." Was this a party you attended? Help us to identify the parsity of Pennsylvania, 36 perticulars of this festive occasion from the past. Write the Nebraska Jewish Historical Society, 333 South cent. The schools with the 132 Street, Omaha, NE 68154 or call on Sundays from 10-2, 334-8200, Ext. 270 most Judaic courses are Brandeis, with 60, and SUNY-Brooklyn, the UniLower Lung Cancer Risk versity of Toronto and of filtered, low tar McGill University, each Smokers cigarettes have a lower lung with 50. cancer risk compared to smok-

Published annually by the B'nai B'rith Hillel Foundations, the directory has proven to be "a most helpful source of information to thousands of Jewish families," Gaid Dr. Ruth Gruber Fredman, editor of the justoff-the-press 1985 edition. Used along with the highly acclaimed B'nai B'rith Hillel leaflet, "When a Jewish Student Chooses College," the. directory can answer nearly all of the most frequently asked questions, said Dr. Fredman, the organization's research and publications associate.

ers of nonfiltered, higher tar cigarettes, says the American Cancer Society. However, the lung cancer risk for both types of smokers is substantially higher than the risk for nonsmokers.

Cost of a copy is $7.95 from B'nai B'rith Hillel Foundations, 1640 Rhode Island Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20036. A copy is available in the Jewish Federation Library.

The objective of the directory, she added, is to enable a prospective student to learn what to expect at any of these colleges. In addition to total and Jewish enrollment figures, the directory lists the number of Judaic courses, how many Kosher meals and/or vegetarian alternatives each school may offer, and the name and address of a B'nai B'rith Hillel executive whom the student can con-

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1. Each entry must be accompanied by the mnerseai Irom any size jar of MAXWELL HOUSE* Instant Colfee or a 2 ' square Irom the plastic lid ol a can ol MAXWELL HOUSE' Ground Coffee or MAXWELL HOUSE' Ground Decalleinated Coffco OR tho words MAXWELL HOUSE" printed in block letters on a 3" x 5" card. Enlrics must bo on thrj Oflicial Entry Blank or a 3" x 5" card and mailed to: Israel Sweepstakes. General Foods Corporation, PO. 3660 Grand Central Slalion, New York, N.Y. 10163. 2. NO PURCHASE REQUIRED TO ENTER SWEEPSTAKES. 3. Entries must be first-class mail, one entry per envelope, postmarked no later thanJune 1,19(15. 4. Winner will bo selected In a random drawing, on June 22.1985, from all entries received prior to the deadline. The drawinp will be conducted by Joseph Jacobs Organization, Inc.. an independent organization whose decision is final. In the event the winner declines the prize or if for any reason the prize cannot be awarded alter tho initial drawing, a supplemental .drawing(s) will be held to award the prizo. Winner will bo notilied by mail. Taxes on the prize arc the sole responsibility of the winner. The odds of winning depend on the number ol enlrics received. • . • . 5. Prize consists ol round trip airfare lor two via Pan Am to London or Rome and connecting jet to Tel Aviv, Israel, plus S1,000 in cash. Rclail value Is S2.2OO.OO. Prizes arc not supstitutable, transferable or exchangeablo. 6. This sweepstakes is open to all residents ol the United Slates who arc 18 years ol age or older, except employees (and their families) of General Foods Corporation, its advertising agencies, subsldiaricsor affiliates, or Joseph-Jacobs Organization. Inc., Sweepstakes subject to all Federal, Stale and local regulations. Void where prohibited by law. 7. For the name of the winner, send a scll-addrcsscd. postage-paid envelope to Winners Name. P.O. Box 3990. Grand Central Station. New YOIK. N.Y. 10163.

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Fifteen years ago. Supreme Court Justice John Marshall Harlan wrote an opinion that btars repeating. He said, "Government may not utilize its prestige, power and influence . . . to bring religion into the lives of its citizens," And what do we find today? A U.S. Department of Education official h:w distributed .a'speech characterizing America as a "Chriaian netion" that must return to "a Christian system of values.". This speech was distributed at government expense and with the approval of Gary Jone3, the Acting Secretary of Education. Henry Siegman, executive director of the American Jewish Congress, has announced that AJC will take legal action against Federal officials who use their government office to further religion. He said his organization is exploring "the most effective legal remedies" to what he described as "highly inappropriate behavior by members of the Administration." Mr. Siegman scored such activity as demonstrating "appalling insensitivity" as well as violating the principle of separation between government and religion. Legal remedies certainly are appropriate. What may be more effective, however, is a flood of comment directed to our elected officials in Washington.

A guide alerting parents and community leaders to the dangers posed by the 1984 Equal Access Act to Jewish children in secondary schools was published this week by the Union of American Hebrew Congregations. The act, which became law in August, permits extracurricular activities — including religious and political meetings —to be held on public school property before and after class hours. Cult and missionary groups, the Ku Klux Klan, neo-Nazi and other extremist or "hate" organizations could thus meet in the schools, the booklet explains. Although these meetings must be initiated and led by students, outsiders are permitted to participate on an "irregular" basis as long as they do not "control" the meetings, according to the UAHC guide. Enforcement of this provision is left to the individual school. Schools choosing not to abide by the terms of the Equal Access Act must prohibit all extracurricular activities, the guide points out. The 1984 law, whose passage was strongly opposed by major Jewish organizations, offers a "unique" opportunity for missionary and cult groups to spread their teachings, the guide says. It points out that the children covered by the law may not be old enough or mature enough to resist the peer pressure that will inevitably surround such meetings, and adds: "It is precisely the most aggressive missionary and cult groups that are most likely to encourage the children of their followers to 'voluntarily initiate' such clubs." The guide urges each synagogue to set up a committee to monitor religious activities in its community's secondary public schools and to form coalitions with other local organizations concerned about the act. Also, school officials should be encouraged to develop special training programs for administrators and teachers who supervise such, clubs. If problems arise, involved parents are told to inform the school board and its administrators. If the matter is not attended to, parents are advised to contact the state superintendent of schools. The guide also points out that any individual who believes his or his children's rights are violated can bring a lawsuit against the school. The UAHC publication is titled "Equal Access" and subtitled "Protecting Our Children: A Guide for Parents and Synagogues." It was prepared by Julie Vanek and Daniel Swartz. They are Eisendrath Fellows at the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism in Washington, DC.

(Founded in 1020) Don Klsln Press Bonn) President

Board members: Robert Opcrman, vico prosldent; Bert Lewis, treasurer; Susan Budwig, secretary; Penny Endolman, Robert Greenberg, Bonnie Horwich, Aaron Hostyk, Gary Javitch, Marshall Kushnor, Karen Levin, OPver Pollak, Suzanne Singer, Phill Spizman, Gcbriclla Stern. Morris Malino EditoMrvChiof Judith Marburg Managing Editor

Louisa Grchim Advertising Manegor SrJio Representatives Marilyn Warren ,•'•/•;'v ' Barbara Frcnkcl Tr® sgtmcte3 a M r o federation oro:. Community Relations Jewish Cormreinity Center Jewish Education •

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Doodllno for c!l nswo end cdvortlolng copy is noon Friday preceding locuo. The Jewish Press (USPS 275620) Is published weekly on Friday for $15 per year by the Jewish Federation of Omaha, 333 South 132nd Street, Omaha, NE 68154. Second class postage paid at Omaha, NE. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Tho Jewish Press, 333 South 132nd Street.Omaha, NE 60154 Telephone 402-334-8200

HAIFA — The train left Haifa at precisely half past the hour and rapidly picked up speed. In-less than a minute we were passing through the pleasant residential area of Bat Galim. Far above us, hanging on to a projection of Mount Carmel, was the freshly poured concrete of whet will he Haifa's newest tourist attraction, the cable car descending from the mountain-top Carmelite monastery, down to the very waterfront. The train made a slow 180 degree turn on the narrow strip of land between the mountain and the sea, making the circuit around the nose of the Haifa peninsula, before straightening out and heading due south. On our right, the sea, and on our left the elongated ridge of Mount Carmel. For a fraction of a moment we caught a glimpse of Elijah's Cave before the train whizzed by. That strange-looking structure built right into the Sea is the Israel Oceanographic Research Center, and immediately after it are the excavations of Shikmona, the ancient city which preceded Haifa in antiquity. Our gaze shifts to the left. The gleaming white, high-rise residential buildings stand on the site of what was once known as Shaar HaAliyah, Israel's Ellis Island, where hundreds of thousands of new immigrants were processed on their arrival in the years immediately following establishment of the State. In proper season the waterfront here will be filled with • thousands of bathers, enjoying sand, sky and sea at Carmel Beach. The other side, quick, see the mountaintop homes stepped and staggered down the side of the h:M, architecture adapted to the steep slope. In no time at all we pass the complex of science-based industries, where most of the city's high technology workshops and laboratories are located, giving the Carmel its new appelation, Microchip Mountain. Long rows of weather-beaten equipment which come next certainly can not be secret, since they're exposed for all to see. Much of it looks like vehicles captured in the Six-Day War. High above, peeping over from the other side of the mountain, are the top floors of Haifa University's 32-story tower. Now we are running parallel to the coastal highway,

and reckless motorists seek to race the train. The sea is still with us on the right. In season many of these fields are white with cotton. The mile after mile of broad-leaved vegetation are banana plantations. Note that the big bunches of green bananas are primly and puritanically covered with blue plastic baj;s. There's so much to see — which way do we look first? There, on the promontory out to sea are the picturesque ruins of Atlit, built up by the Crusaders almost 800 years ago. I'hese are not large swimming pools; they are shallow pans where sea water is allowed to evaporate in the sun, leaving behind their residue of clear salt. Not much further we come to pools of a different kind. These are fresh water ponds where carp and other finned and scaled creatures are grown for the local market. In season you will also see huge flocks of migrant birds, among them pelicans, who make this a picnic ground where they get a free lunch at the expense of the fish farmers. Modern Atlit is a pleasant farming community, and occasional trains stop here. A kibbutz on the right, another on the left, at the very waterfront — and then, off to the left, on the foothills of the Carmel, the spreading Arab village of Furadis, which we suppose could also be spelled Paradise. Just beyond it the outskirts of Zichron Yaakov become visible, and the unusual rest and vacation resort which won a prize for its contour-hugging architecture. Most of this time we have been on a single pair of tracks. Here the roadbed widens, and there are three or even four sets of tracks, providing opportunity for trains in the other direction to pass — thank goodness. Twentyrfive minutes have elapsed since we left Haifa, and we are about to pass the last of the Carmel. Ahead of us are Binyamina, miles of citrus plantations, lofty eucalyptus trees lining the tracks, reminders of the day when Hadera was a swamp. There's more . . . more . . . but the comfortable ride exacts its price, and we doze off, Sixty minutes have elapsed and we pull smoothly into Tel Aviv, having-missed the sights of half the trip. That's all right. We'll catch them on trie way back.1

By M. J. Rosenberg Near East Report The Killing Fields is a magnificent new American film about the mass killings and destruction which followed the fall of Cambodia to the Communist Khmer Rouge in 1975. Specifically it tells the story of a courageous New York Times reporter, Sydney Schanberg, who helped expose the Cambodian carnage, and of his dedicated and heroic assistant, Dith Pran, who was left behind — in the killing .fields — when the Americans (and with them the press) pulled out of Cambodia. The Khmer Rouge, which took over Cambodia only to destroy it, had been portrayed by much of the Western media as peasant revolutionaries rather than as ideological killers. Even though their goal of forced collectivization of Cambodia was well known before their takeover, few in the West were willing to recognize that this goal would be achieved through the means of mass murder. The fact is that segments of the Western press viewed events in Indo-China through ideologically tinted lenses. Many reporters deplored the U.S. role in Viet Nam, Laos, and Cambodia. Accordingly they tended to look upon all the opponents of the United States with more than a little sympathy. But that is what happens when one applies an ideological yardstick to human rights offenses. And jt happens all the time. There are people on the left who are quick to denounce rightist repression but look away rather than condemn the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan and the tyranny that prevails in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union itself. Their right-wing counterparts relish condemning left-wing regimes but lose their sense of outrage when it comes to Chile, South Africa, or the Philippines. This kind of moral relativism is appalling. And it is downright pernicious when the left- and right-wing forces of tyranny feel that they can continue their crimes because they know that one side of the political spectrum will always make apologies for them. The makers of The Killing Fields clearly understand this, which makes it all the more offensive when one line in the film suggests that they, too, are willing to distort facts in the service of a particular world view. The line comes near the end of the film when the Sydney Schanberg' character is asked by another reporter why anyone should believe "refugee stories in the Readers' Digest about conditions in Cambodia." Schanberg replies — with some heat — that "maybe, in this instance, the Headers' Digest happens* to be correct." Then, sensing the reporter's skepticism about the Khmer Rouge atrocities, Schanberg asks: "Do you apply the same disbelief to stories which come out of Iran, and Palestine, and Chile?" - •• .• It is an incredible retort, one which clearly implies that Israel ("Palestine" in the Schanberg character's: inexplicable phrase) is a right-wing dictatorship and that its human rights record can be compared with the Shah's Iran or Pinochet's Chile. The question arises. Why did the makers of The Killing Fields insert this line into their film? It does not appear

in the magazine article on which the screenplay' is based nor is there any evidence that Schanberg himself ever spoke those words. Most likely, the line reflects the attitudes of the director or of the screenwriters. They simply couldn't allow the opportunity to libel Israel to pass. The line is there — with neither rhyme nor reason. To some, focusing on one line in a motion picture as significant as The Killing Fields may seem like nitpicking. It isn't. The very fact that it is only one line and that it is entirely gratuitous makes it especially damaging. Unprepared for it, most viewers will simply take the line at face value. But that may be the filmmakers' intention. It is so much simpler for them' to hit and run rather than to really look at Israel. This way they can ignore its democratic institutions, its free press, the West Bank Arabs who can challenge — and defeat — the Israeli government in an Israeli court. They can put aside images of the kibbutz, of mass protest demonstrations, of the Kalian commission. They can ignore a Knesset where Palestinian Moslems can vote not only on issues pertaining to them but on questions of "Who is a Jew." In short, they can ignore the reality of Israel and — in a single sentence — perpetuate all the myths. Surely a word of protest — and also an apology — is in order.

to The editors reserve the right to shorten letters for reasons of length or content. To the Editor: Although I have been away from Omaha the last 11 yearsI still consider Omaha my real home. I enjoy reading the Jewioh Prec3 every week and enjoy the publication very much. However, I get so depressed when I read of so many of my friends who have passed away. One, in particular, stands out: Phil Mandell. Now here was a kindly, compassionate man Who had left Omaha 45 to 50 years ago, and yet, never stopped keeping in touch with his many friends of his early years in Omaha. He kept in touch to the very last and was a life time member of the Younger Adult organization. He lived in Brooklyn' all these many years but never forgot his home town._My wife and-I express our heartfelt sympathy to my many friends who have goneon and their families. My wife and I extend our condolences to Rose and Nate : Mandell. , ' ' Sam Epstein . Sunnyvale, C a . To the Editor: : : I would like to thank everyone who has expressed concern and help after-the fire! I am pleased to be living in a city where people care about the well being of one another — I am glad I returned! ••'.-, , A special thanks to my colleagues who have been very supportive and thoughtful! / . , •_;. '••."",.. I am greatly moved by all you have done! ' . . . Alan Potash

February 8,1905

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What Americans can do to help Israel help itself

By Irving Greenberg President, National Jewish Resource Center The present Israeli economic crisis can be a constructive turning point in the relationship of the United States of America and of American Jewry to the State of Israel. The request for a fundamental economic revitalization plan, in the context of increased American aid for Israel, is George Shultz' contribution to the Jewish assumption of responsibility in history. American ideas, alongside American money, can be an enormous help to Israel at this time because they will help Israel to help itself. Prime Minister Shimon Peres has called on American Jewish business leaders to increase investment in Israel and to become involved in developing the high technology and productive sectors of the economy. A positive response should include honest feedback: increased productivity demands loosening the stranglehold of bureaucratic intervention and restrictive union work regulations in Israel. In speaking up for greater free markets, more deregulation and a cutback in the swollen government presence, American Jews will be reinforcing the message being sent by the United States government at this time. The single most stifling force in Israel's economy is the omnipresence of the government and the cumulative bloating of its budget. Of 1.34 million workers employed in Israel in the beginning of 1984, over 400,000 were employed in public service. Many of these jobs were set up to mask unemployment by creating jobs for people who had not sufficient skills when the emigrated to Israel. By the government's own estimate, 100,000 workers should be transferred from the public sector to the private industrial sector. There are not enough workers engaged in manufacturing and productive enterprises and the productive workers cannot carry the burden of the 30 percent in government. The government owns stock in 212 companies (100 percent of the shares in 175 and the controlling shares in the rest.) These government-controlled companies do an annual business of six billion dollars, or almost one-quarter of the Israeli gross national product. Political factors end up controlling appointments to boards of directors or wage scales or decisions to close or open facilities — all of which cut economic efficiency. Private businesses are discouraged by the combination of access to government financing and special help which these companies enjoy.

Th3 government owns stock in 212 companies The key to growth in Israel's economy lies in increasing its exports. However, the export sector is being distorted by the'government's manipulation of the currency rates. To put it simply: the government decides at what rate the shekel is converted into foreign currency, especially dollars. In many cases, the level is set artificially as to give a government subsidy to the business involved. At the present time, it is estimated that eight hundred

Six months ago, I authored an article entitled, "A Pound of Shekels", describing the plight of Israeli inflation. I remember from my last visit to Israel the deep concern everyone had for the almost weekly rise in the exchange rate. With inflation at. about the 12 percent level, it is incomprehensible to me to read the current exchange rate which is now approaching 700 to the dollar, and inflation estimates of 400-800 percent, (depending upon who you read and believe.) Imagine the difficulties of living in such an economy. How can businesses affix a price tag on anything or keep track of what their inventories cost? And I don't imagine vending machines being a very profitable venture. Can there be an incentive to save money if

By Allan Greene Executive vice president, Jewish Federation of Omaha the money earned today will buy as much 2-3 months from now? \ On my'last trip'tip Israel, I recall our group laughing at 'the's^ack of 500. shekel notes one of our group carried out of the bank after he had cashed in a $1,000 bond. Today he'd need a wheelbarrow were he to repeat this transaction. Consider also'the anxiety of hoping you'll have enough shekels tp do your shopping week to week, (especially for the less advantaged Israeli citizens). It appears that as the situation worsens, even governmental agencies, which, like ours, have to live with a budget, run but of money long before the year is up, causing difficulties in providing government services. The.Army, which recently started a policy of serving-eggs instead of meat once a week in 'order to save money, was recently denied delivery of its eggs because of a lack of payment. A group of economic experts from World Jewry should be called together by the Israeli government' for an "Economic Summit Conference" to select a course of action to improve the situation before the economy crumbles. The present,goyernment"does not seem to.be able to solve this ever increasing problem on its own. . \

million dollars' subsidy is undergirding the five billion-dollar export sector. The subsidies are a massive drain oh government and national resources; they block rationalization of the economy and a true market test as to what Israel can produce and sell competitively in the international markets. In many cases profitability is set by the rate of exchange more than by the actual production or efficiency of t he manufacturer. This diverts the producers into pushing for favorable exchange rates, as against concentrating on getting more productivity, or more reasonable wage levels from the workers, or lower interest raU'3 from the banks. This makes Israel less competitive in the international trade area. The socialist and social justice traditions of the founders of Israel have metastasized into universal involvement of the government on every matter. Subsidies on basic foodstuffs and transportation which keep these prices artificially low — even for the wealthy — totaled $700,000,000 last year. Ownership of the land is concentrated in the government. True to its socialist legacy, the government restricts land availability, which reduces building of private homes, although there is a tremendous pent-up demand in 1 Israel for such homes. To get people to put money into savings, special interest rates and accounts and the amount of days available to make the deposit are all set by government regulation and underwriting of the interest rate. When the textile firm Ata was in trouble, the government put up money to prevent its bankruptcy in the hope of selling it to foreign investors. When there was a crisis in the building industry, the association of builders called upon the government to put up money for a stabilization fund to prevent a depression in that sector. When apartments were built in the Ramat Aviv area of Tel Aviv, a price of $80,000 was set, which was beyond the capacity of the young couples who most desperately need housing. The Mayor of Tel Aviv announced that, by intervention of the government and the municipality, fifty-two of the eighty apartments would be made available at lower prices by waiving the value-added tax, personal property tax, purchase tax, and municipal registration tax. At a high cost, an accidentally selected group of people would benefit from special help, leaving the baBic problem of land availability and reasonable construction cost and quality of housing untouched.

The staggering cost of ail these interventions creates a voracious government appetite for taxes The government's role resembles nothing so much as the proverbial giving Jewish parent who never says no, but who makes the child dependent and resentful at the same time. The staggering cost of air these interventions creates a voracious government appetite for taxes. Taxes currently take 45 percent of the total national income. The official tax rate is so high that it distorts the compensation structures. Tax avoidance is widespread and the "underground" or black market economy has grown steadily. In many cases, the government takes in the money with one hand and gives it out in the form of subsidies with the other hand. But the intervention and handling itself becomes a breeding ground of inefficiency, waste, and swollen government payrolls. A classic example of the destructive effects of the government's role can be seen in the Israeli bank situation. For a decade or so, the Israeli banks grew steadily into a most powerful economic force. Again, government intervention in terms of setting interest rates, making possible special accounts, creating credit sources and selling bonds to the banks — all combined to give them extraordinary economic growth. The banks then began a process of buying up their own shares steadily. The net result was a dizzying upward stock price spiral which finally led to a major crash. At that point, the banks were so overextended that the government stepped in. The government bought up so many shares that it has become a major owner of the banks. To prevent further selling, the government guaranteed the other stockholders that they could sell back the shares to the government in 1988 at a set price, in effect guaranteeing them against loss of value of their shares. The result is that the government is exposed to a staggering financial obligation and another creative sector of the economy is now hamstrung and excessively dominated by government considerations. Of course, Israel is an independent democracy, and neither the United States nor American Jewry has a right to improperly intervene in the internal affairs of Israel. However, the extent of American Jewish philanthropy and particularly of American foreign aid removed some of the normal pressures that would have led to earlier, more effective Israeli government cutbacks, In a. democracy, understandably, painful cures that go down poorly with the electorate are last resorts. With the kind of backing Israel was getting from America, the government found the path of least resistance was to spend rather than exercise restraint.

of the national unity government itself. At a time of calls for belt-tightening and cutback, a time when welfare was being reduced in a country where it is still desperately needed, it proved easier to set up extra ministers without portfolios or deputy ministers in order to win the participation of the many small parties. The Labor newspaper Davar pointed out that the cost of each additional minister without portfolio was about $210,000 per year, and of each extra deputy minister, $155,000 per year, not including their deputies and additional civil servants which each appointment brings, nor the cost of $35,000 average for each minister's new vehicle (a Volvo). By holding back on expanded help until an economic plan is brought together, the American government stops the artificial shelter from limits which encourages extravagant behavior on the part of the government. '. The Israeli productivity growth rate was 5.1 percent an-, nually between 1965 and 1971, but dropped to 1.5 percent annually between 1975-1983. During the last decade, inflation skyrocketed to an 800 percent annual rate. There is no question that substantial cutbacks in the government and recession can play a major role in curbing inflation and stimulating productivity. There is resistance to such a program for fear that unemployment will lead to yeridah — an outflow of people — at a time when Israel has been cut off from immigration from the Soviet Union. The fear is real, but Israel cannot exist on artificial subsidies. Part of the cost of coming back into history is to take up the hard day-to-day road and to risk the falling out of those who are not up to the challenge. This comment is made with gravity and seriousness, for surely it is crucial to world Jewry that Israel not shrink. However, just as the inflation ultimately proved to be the cruelest tax on the poor — because indexation could not keep up with inflation, anyway — so is the artificial protection a burden on all in the Israeli economy: it is leading to a harder life, an economy unable to compete, and a slow population loss that is more deadening in the long run than a fallout now. But have not American Jews objected to past U.S. intervention in Israel's policies? There is the fundamental distinction between American pressure for Israel to heal its own economy — which should be welcomed — as against American dictation of Israel's security policies which could be a threat to survival. The single strongest guarantee of Israel's future ability to make security decisions that are in its own best interests would be to clean up the economy now and to prevent a permanent and crippling expansion of dependence on American aid.

Painful cures that.go down poorly with the electorate are a last resort Some of the national wage and labor settlements were too generous. The continual printing of shekalim, an outgrowth of the government deficits, set up the runaway inflation. That pattern continued down to the establishment

Shirley Goldstein, Chairperson of the Omaha Committee for Soviet Jewry speaks with Senator Tom Harkin at the Union of Councils for Soviet Jews Congressional Briefing recently.

Jewish Prats

United Tfelmtid Torah of Omaha THIRD GRADE CONSECRATION All third grade students will be consecrated in their Talmud Torah studies in a special ceremony on Feb. 1G. 7:30 p.m. at Beth El Synagogue. Students will be presented a Giddur and Havdulah kit from the school. Third graders include: Cari Biniumovv, Michael Bailcn, Heather Bailen, Alex Cooper, Cnren Friedman, Leslie Golbitz, Kristopher Goodman, Jason Itkin, Carrie Jacobson, David Kricsfeld, Rebecca Kubart, Steve Levich, Puula McCreight, Rachel Mueting, Neal Ralner, Jeremy Rosenbaum, Andrew Ruback, Laura Senft, Shifra Shrago, Gary Shyken, Ann Silvermaii, Allison Skid, Edward Tayter, Alan Tipp, Steven Tomps, Angela Yaffe, Dana Zucker. UTTO OFFERS BABY-SITTING To assist those students who need care for their Cabbage Patch children during Talmud Torah hours, the UTTO offers a new service. Babies should be left with Mr. Mitchell before the beginning of class. He will see that they are taken care of. There is a charge of 5C per baby for each class or $1 for the rest of the semester. All money collected will be given to tzedakah. Questions may be directed to the school office, 556-3770.

B'nai s SERVICES: Saturday: 8:45 a.m. Sunday: 8 a.m.

February 8,1985

Some sour notes

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Mincha and Kabbalal Shabbat 5:30 p.m. Late Friday Night Services 8:15 p.m. The D'Var Torah will be presented by Susan Shyken. The Oneg Shabbat reception will be sponsored by Sisterhood. Saturday: Morning Service 8:45 a.m. A Kiddush follows the services in the social hall. Class with the rabbi 4:45 p.m. Mincha 5:30 p.m. Mincha will be followed by Shalosh S'udot, Ma-ariv and Havdalah. Sunday: Morning Minyanaire service 9 a.m. Breakfast and "Exploring Jewish Ideas" with the rabbi follows the service. Weekdays: 7 a,m. and 5:30 p.m. RETREAT FOR ADULTS A Shabbat Weekend Retreat is planned for the weekend of Feb. 8. at the Boy's Town Conference Center from Friday . afternoon, 4 p.m. through Saturday evening at 7 p.m. BARTON'S PASSOVER CANDY Beth Israel Sisterhood is the only source for Barton's Passover Candy. Treat yourself to a box or buy one to take as a gift at Passover time. Deadline for orders is Feb. 25. For information call: Bernice Cohen — 5583423; Beverly Franklin — 334-7365; Sally Ricks — 556-9578; BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS The next meeting of the Board of Commissioners will be held on Feb. 13, 7:30 p.m. in the Social Hall of the synagogue. KNOW THY NEIGHBOR SABBATH Beth Israel Sisterhood's annual "Know Thy Neighbor" Sabbath will be held on Feb. 15 at 8:15 p.m. Chairpersons are Beverly Franklin, Ina Levich and Rebecca Berehstein.

•Saturday: Services 9:30 a.m. Minchu-Ma'ariv 5:15 p.m. Kabbi Paul Drazen and Cantor Emil Berkovits will conduct the services. Sunduy: Services at 9 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. Weekdays: 7 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. LUNCH AND LEAKN The Lunch and Learn series with the rabbi will continue on Feb. 14, noon at the Conant Hotel. "SECOND SHABBAT" Beth El Mishpacha and Sisterhood will sponsor a family Shabbat dinner on Feb. 8, following services at 6 p.m. SEDER TU BISHEVAT United Talmud of Omaha will have a Seder Tu Bishevat on Feb. 10, 5:30 p.m. at Beth Israel Synagogue. Students in the fifth grade will participate. THIRD GRADE CONSECRATION Third Grade students will have a consecration ceremony on Feb. 16, 7:30 p.m. at Beth El.

Friday: 8 p.m. i Music Shabbat with Annie and Jerry Booster. Rabbi Kenneth and Jan White will host the Oneg Shabbat. Saturday: No Prophets study.

Friday: Early Kabbalat service 6 p.m. Saturday: Services 9 a.m.

Shaharit:: Monday and Thursday mornings at 7:15 a.m. Mishnah class: First and third Sundays 10 a.m.

LHaffffs SERVICES: First and third Friday of the month: 7:30 p.m. An Oneg Shabbat follows the service and everyone is welcome.

Arms deal SERVICES: Friday: 7 p.m. Daily and Saturday: The residents and staff of the Rose Blumkin Home invite the families, volunteers and friends of the residents to attend services in the Herbert Goldsten Synagogue. Kiddush following services on Shabbat.

PARIS (JTA) - France is about to deliver 20 Mirage-2000 jet combat aircraft to Abu Dhabi and is on the verge of signing a contract with Saudi Arabia for 20 or more of the highly sophisticated supersonic planes, the State-owned news agency Agence France Presse (AFP) reported.

uLuic C C C SERVICES: Fridcy: Ilahhi Kidney H. Brooks, Rabbi Stephan F. Barack and Cantor Harold I. Firestone will officiate. Rabbi Brooks will speak on "The right of life and the right of choice — the issue of abortion." The Oneg Shabbat following the service will be sponsored by Temple Israel Sisterhood. Saturday: Morning Service 11 a.m. RELIGIOUS SCHOOL Saturday, Feb. 9 — 9 a.m.; Sunday, Feb. 10 — 10 a.m. HEBREW SCHOOL Daled, Monday, Feb. 11 — 4 and 5 p.m. Bet, Tuesday, Feb. 12 — 4 and 5 p.m. Gimmel, Wednesday, Feb. 13 — 4 p.m. Aleph, Thursday, Feb. 14 — 4 and 5 p.m. CONFIRMATION Wednesday, Feb. 13, 4 p.m. RABBI'S CLASS Coffee with the Rabbi "A New Look at Torah" — Wednesday, Feb. 13 at 10 a.m., with Rabbi Sidney H. Brooks. BARMITZVAH Daniel Stephen Simon, son of Kathryn and Stephen Simon, will celebrate his Bar Mitzvah-during Shabbat Services Friday Feb. 8 and Saturday, Feb. 9. BOARD MEETING Temple Israel Board of Trustees will meet at 7:30 p.m., Feb. 13, in the Milder Conference Center. The Executive Committee will meet at 6 p.m. preceding the Board meeting. MEN'S CLUB Rabbi Sidney H. Brooks will be the guest speaker on Feb. 10, addressing Temple Israel congregants and their guests. Rabbi Brooks will speak on "Remembrances and guesses — a rabbi looks to past and future." Rabbi Brooks is a provocative speaker and always has something interesting to share with us. ". A lox and bagel brunch will be served at 10 a.m. in the Milder Center of the Temple. There is no charge for Men's Club members; there is a $2 charge for guests, who are always welcome.

SERVICES: Rabbi Leland Lifschiz conducts services in the Capehart Chapel every Friday at 8 p.m. An Oneg Shabbat follows the service.

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ist, in my view it has vioParashat Yitro By Rabbi Myer S. Kripke lated its purpose. A service Frankly, these thoughts is not a concert stage. belong to last week's Sidrah, One of the members of my B'Shalah. That was Shabbat Shiruh, and I had synagogue once said to me: planned these remarks for . "I hate to be sung at for 6 or 8 or 10 minutes at a then. stretch." But I became unwilling to Recently I have had opair them on Shabbat Shirah, for reasons which will be- portunity to be in half a come immediately evident. dozen different synagogues in ns many weeks. And my The point is that the em- . feelings on the subject have phai;is naturally last week been intensified. was on the Shirah — the One synagogue has two Song. And I became unwilling to sound some sour different melodies on Shabbat for Sim Shalom, one for notes. Shahrit and a second for Jewish Music Month is Musaph. Both are in the attached to the Shirah, and tempo and accented so, frequently, are cantorial rhythms of military concerts. This is as it should marches. They echo with be, and I enjoy the Jewish the um-pa um-pa of the tuMusic Month celebrations bas and evoke images of and cantorial concerts, wheeling columns of sol- which may be rich in special diers with guns at the ready. settings for the liturgy, as The congregation joins in well as Yiddish and Hebrew heartily — oblivious to the folk music, Hassidic music, use of military marches in and serious compositions pleas for Shalom — prayers for peace. with Jewish themes. The sour notes of which I hinted above have to do with my dislike for the intrusion, into a synagogue service, of compositions that belong on the concert or opera stage, and of melodies in the service that combat the meaning of the prayers. There is a difference between an opera and a religious service. In an opera the words and story may be and often are silly. We don't care, for it is the music we want to hear. In a service the words are. paramount. And the music must be used only to interpret them.

There are innumerable instances of the music simply trivializing or by-passing the prayers. When one hears Adon 01am — a versified "philosophy of Judaism" — sung to some snappy melodies now in use; he wonders if the Adon 01am (Master of the Universe) is not insulted at being addressed and described in so impertinent a manner.

involved are melodies, tempos, and rhythms. A cantor who is sensitive to, the meaning of the wbrdsbf the prayers will choose only that music that augments Prayers are prayers. And the feeling of the. prayers music in the service itself , and focuses attention on must be used — as a speak- their meaning — without ing or reading voice is — insistence on displaying his only to interpret the prayers other personal vocal exceland emphasize'their mean- lence. ing. • I told one cantor, during When the music of the my recent trip, that' I service — whether by can- thought his gentle and sentor or choir or instrument sitive interpretations of the — goes off on its own to cel- service were among the best ebrate the skills of the art- that I had ever heard. J.F/BLOOM a COP.1PANY 4431 N. 20th 2701 N. 90lh 451-6000 393-6222 Omaha, Nebraska Over 100 years' experience .with Jewish memorials and Hebrew lettering.

Builders ol Fine Memorials

February 8, 1985

Jewish Press

Sidney Feldman offers ' 'keys to happiness'' A regular columnist for the daily paper used her space recently to tell about an embarrassing habit: she tends to talk to her dog. She teemed to think she cither shouldn't, or else she should hide the habit. How hilly. I could tell her all about my Zadn, vvlio for many year;;, began each day by . conversing with the family cat. And completely in Yiddish too! There wasn't anything wrong with Zada, or for that matter with his practice of consulting the cat about whatever he planned to do. First of all, there wasn't anybody else around to talk to; Zada would hold these conversations wben he first got up in the morning. If it was winter, he would start his (and the cat's) day by saying "Ketzaleh, should we go stir up the furnace?" Try to imagine all that in Yiddish. Try also to imagine the cat doing figure eights between his ankles and mewing her answer. Maybe she was only mewing her good morning, but. Zada always took it for an answer! There were other times when the cat figured into human experiences. For example, if somebody was bugging Zada about something, and demanding an answer to something he chose not to answer, he often handled it like this: "Ketzaleh, should we go for a nice walk? What do you think?" That was guaranteed to make the other person give up in disgust — and Zada and the cat could rest undisturbed. You have to understand something. My Zada wasn't big on arguments. "You want to argue? Go do it someplace else. I'm not going to participate," seemed to be his attitude. He was a quiet man, and shrying was not his style. People didn't always catch on to that little trait, but you'd better believe the cat knew. And although I can't be positive, my own sense of logic tells me that through the years there must have been more than one cat. They all understood Yiddish, and for sure they all understood Zada. If somebody were to chide him for evading an answer, he would blush, giggle, and ask the cat if she thought it was going to rain. Or snow. Or if they should go tend to the furnace. This cat business goes way back into my early childhood. In his later years, there was no cat. I don't ever remember asking him if he missed having a ketzaleh around . . . but I'd bet on it. After all, why wouldn't he? The cat didn't" argue. The cat answered his questions quietly arid politely. The cat behaved nicely. Zada liked good manners!

BlftiiS

Karen and Larry Caulfield of St. Joseph, Mo. announce the birth on Jan. 15 of a daughter, Emily Suzanne. Grandparents are Leah and Marvin Brookstein of Omaha, Mary and Dale Caulfield of Davenport, Iowa. Great grandparents are J.E. Cohen of Omaha, Molly Brookstein of Omaha, and Thelma Garber of Baraboo, Wise. Harvey and Rose Cooper announce the Jan. 14 birth of a daughter, Jennifer Lau-

By Morris Maline Nutritional consultant Sidney S. Fcldrnan is 72 and still going strong. His formula for good health — a formula he wants to share with all who will listen — i!s simple: "Hygiene, both in body and mind is a way of life that prepares one for spiritual growth — the very purpose of life," Mr. Feldman maintains. "One cannot find happiness in an unbalanced body .. . hygiene and prayer are good together, and I've got a handle on how it works." According to Mr. Feldman, physical hygiene involves eating proper foods in the right combination and letting the body heal itself by resting and fasting. In his search for mental hygiene, Mr. Feldman has searched widely and has tried many forms of meditation. His conclusion is that daily prayer settles the nervous system and so far has proven to be the best approach for him. "I attend minyan twice daily at Beth Israel Synagogue, and this is the best meditation that I have encountered," Mr. Feldman said. In addition to the health benefits of prayer and good eating habits, Mr. Feldman said that his lifestyle has brought him good friendships and opportunities for expanding his happiness. At one of his classes, he met Immanuel Yosef Le-

A May 1985wedding is planned.

Immanuel Legomsky (left) and Sidney Feldman friends. gomsky, a 27-year-old re- lem to be met it they are to form Jew from .Pittsburgh, accomplish their goals. PA, who is currently workThis is where Mr. Felding for Agudas Yisroel as a man has developed a new inShaliach in Amsterdam, terest. He is looking for Holland. ways to help this young Jew"Immanuel has studied ish family solve their finanhealth and meditation and cial dilemma and thus help has spent almost two years bring to fruition a capable in a Torah Yeshiva in Israel. physician and a devoted He is now married to a rabbi. , Dutch girl who is studying With this third dimento become a physician, they sion added to his life of have a child, and Immanuel physical well-being and would like to continue his mental hygiene, Mr. Feldstudies toward becoming a man looks upon himself as rabbi." a thoroughly happy individMr. Feldman pointed out ual. that his friends have a good "I hope that,I can help deal of schooling to go Immanuel and Naomi so through, yet they want.to that they can settle down to have a large Jewish family, a productive life in Israel. so there is a financial prob- Perhaps, at that point I can think of Aliyah and taking hold of my own religious roots in Jerusalem.

Bunnies, fumbles, stars . . ,

Grandparehts are Mr. and Mrs. Zalman Friedman of Omaha arid Mr. and Mrs. Albert Cooper of Philadelphia, Pa. '

By Jennifer Graham and Morris Maline This week's trivia question is: Where can one see stars, bunnies, and fumbled-feet at play? The answer, of course, is the Jewish Community Center on March 3 at 4 p.m.' Marsha and Gary HenThis is when the Blue Stars basketball team plays the nings of West Palm Beach, Playboy Bunnies and the KOIL Fumble-Foot Five. Fla. announce the Jan. 3 The get-together was put-together as a fund-raiser to birth of a son, Matthew pay transportation expense for the Blue Stars to the Bradley. They have two annual tournament of the Western Region at Phoenix, other sons, Brian Scott and March 7-10. Michael James. According to Chuck Arnold, JCC physical education Grandparents are Mr. director, the $1 admission donation entitles the specand Mrs. William Susman tator to view as much as possible and to participate in of Houston, Tex. and Mr. , a drawing for prizes. and Mrs. Merle Hennings of Do the Playboy Bunnies hop, do the fumblers fumble, Wahoo, Neb. Great-granddo the stars star are additional trivia — answers on the mother is Mrs. Mollie Specday after the game. ter of Houston.

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New plays sought

The Center Stage is accepting one act scripts for its new playwrights competition "New Horizons II; An Opportunity for New Playwrights". Unproduced authors may submit works, according to New Horizons II Officer TORONTO (JTA) — coordinator Wes Clowers. Harry Freedman of ToScripts received by March ronto, a composer and per- 15 will be judged by a panel former with the Toronto of anonymous theater exSymphony Orchestra, was perts and the top three will named an Officer of the Or- be produced on the weekend der of Canada in the New of May 24-26 at Center Year's List issued by the of- Stage. fice of the Governor General of Canada. Other Jewish Playwrights wishing to Canadians who were named enter this competition are to as Members of the Order in send one act scripts, 45 minthe list were: Sybil Shack of utes running time or less, no Winnipeg, educator and au- later than March 15 to the thor; Michael Hornstein of theater. A complete set of Montreal, businessman; guidelines can be obtained and David Azrieli of Mon- by writing or calling the treal, designer. theater.

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BERMAN/ETTEDGUI Mr. and Mrs. Morris Hoffman, formerly of Omaha, announce the engagement of their daughter Amy Sue Berman to Richard Jonathan Ettedgui, son of Rabbi and Mrs. Avraham Ettedgui. A December wedding is planned.

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HAWKINS/SPIZMAN Mr. and Mrs. Richard Hawkins announce the engagement of their daughter, Julie, to Randall Spizman son of Mr. and Mrs. Phillip L. Spizman. The bride-elect is a graduate of the Methodist School of Nursing. The future bridegroom will graduate in June from the University of Nebraska at Omaha.

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February 8,1885

Inquiring Photographer Claudia Sherman asks

By Dr. Murray Frost The most exciting news event in the past, month or so was the dramatic announcement of the rescue of thousands of Ethiopian Jews by Israel. Operation Moses, ass it wcs called, has not yet been commemorated with stumps. Hut sauce the earlier rescue mission to save Yemen's Jews (Operation Magic Carpet) was noted philutelically by Israel in 1960 and 1970, hopefully this proud moment in our history will too. Even without any stamps directly noting Ethiopian Jews, on interesting array of stamps can be related to this group indirectly. Perhaps since the premature publicity has stranded some of them in Ethiopia and refugee camps in Sudan, the primary stamp relating to them ought to be Israel's 1972 issue which proclaimed in Hebrew, English, Russian, and Arabic: "Let My People Go." But a brief paragraph in an account of Operation Moses in the Detroit Jewish Nowd suggested other stamps as well. The paragraph read, "Ethiopia's Jews claim descendency from Menelik, son of the union of King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba. So do Ethiopian Christians who have retained many Judaic practices. . . Other hypotheses about the origin of Ethiopia's Jews include a claim that they are the remnant of the lost Tribe of Dan, Samson's tribe; that they are descendants of an indigenous tribe that was converted to Judaism thou-

sands of years ago during e period of active Jewish prosblytizution in Africa, or that they are the product of migration from the ancient Jewish community of nearby Yemen." Most of that paragraph can be illustrated with stamps. Tlie Queen of Sheba was shown on n 19G4 Ethiopian stump. Her visit to King Solomon was shown on a 1971 cold-foil stmnp that is not considered a legitimate issue by Scott — the most popular stamp catalog in the U.S. — but is listed by the British and German catalogs. Similarly a set of stamps depicting the Queen ofSheba's visit issued in 19G7 by the Royalist Government of Yemen is recognized as a legitimate issue only by the German catalog. (She also appears in the background of a 1953 Hungarian stamp honoring Jewish composer Karl Goldmark who wrote the opera "Queen of Sheba".) King Solomon appears on Israel's New Years set issued in 19G0. He is also on a 1983 Grenada-Grenadines stamp featuring Raphael paintings, a 1969 Liberian stamp, and in an unusual painting by a native artist of Ivory Coast which is on a 1973 issue from there. The Tribe of Dan, symbolized by a set of scales, is on a stamp in the Twelve Tribes set issued by Israel in 1955-56. It is also in the set of Chagall windows from the Hadassah hospital in Jerusalem featured on Israel stamps in 1973. The reference to Samson could be illustrated by stamps from

m'" JSgtf &;ii:& By Estelle Rosenberg The USY First Annual Spaghetti Dinner was held Feb. 3 at the Tifereth Israel Synagogue social hall. This was an event for the entire family. ' Following dinner a film was shown. In charge of reservations were Jan Breslow and Suri Jacknis.

Betty Mellen, Leadership Development chairman as speaker. Her topic: "What Your Leadership is About — Where it is Going — What We're Doing to Get There." Refreshments will be served preceding the meeting by Rose Feuerberg and Rose Schneider.

Ceil Steinberg recently returned from a winter vacation in Del Rey, Fla. She visited Dorothy Swalsky of Lincoln and Fairbury, Neb.

Hosts for the South Street Temple Oneg Shabbat for the month of Jan. were: Rabbi Kenneth and Jan White, Sherry and Paul Vavra and Dorothy and Gerald Kohn.

The Lincoln Chapter of Hadassah meeting will be held Feb. 19, 12:30 p.m. at the Tifereth Israel social hall. The event for the afternoon — Nancy Coren, program chairman, will present

If you wish to commemorate a Simcha or sadness you make a donation to the South Street Temple Sisterhood Union program or call Laurie Tavlin, 865 NBC Center, Lincoln, Neb.

We are looking for warm, friendly and enthusiastic people! Be a part of welcoming Jewish Newcomers to Omaha by joining our Newcomers Committee. No matter what your age or marital status, we need you. Those interested call: Connie Slutzky Jean Ann Krupinsky

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Hungary, Israel, Monaco, Spain, an</Sweden. The importance of the link to King Solomon (and his father King David) in Ethiopian beliefs is tmply illustrated through their stamps. Ethiopia k'jue'd a stump in 1909 depicting King S'jlomon'u throne. An illustration of King David from a 15th century manuscript is depicted on a 1971 stump, the Ethiopian monarchs from 1286 until Haile Selassie's overthrow in 1974 proclaimed themselves as the "Conquering Lion of the Tribe of Judah." This symbol appeared on Ethiopian -stamps — e.g. on a design first issued in 1894, on a set issued in 1930 for the coronation of Haile Selassie, and on a 1947 and a 1967 stamp. The 1930 set also included a Shield of David (Mageh David) which they called a Shield of Solomon. Operation Moses was no doubt given tllat name because Mo3es is important to Ethiopian Jews. They believe Moaes reigned as King of Ethiopia for 40 years when he fled Egypt after killing an overseer of Jewish slaves. Another traditional tale says ho successfully led Egyptian forces against Ethiopia's rulers. Moses ap. pears on stamps from a variety of nations including Anguilla, Germany, Grenada, Lesotho, Mali, Nicaragua, Togo, Uganda, and Vatican City as well as on Israel's 1981 New Years set. One of the most important rulers in Ethiopia's history, Lalibela who ruled in the 12th century, claimed descent from the family of Moses citing Numbers 12 which says Moses married a Cushite woman. A stamp with a drawing featuring Moses and Aaron is included in a set of stamps showing decorated crosses issued by Ethipia in 1969. Ethiopian Jews were concentrated in the Gondar region of the country. Scenery from this area appear on a set of Ethiopian stamps issued in 1964 as well as on other stamps. Other Ethiopian stamps can be used to illustrate the history of the Ethiopian Jews. For example in 525 the Jewish King in Yemen was defeated by Ethiopian Christians led by King Kaleb. A 1962 Ethiopian stamp depicts Kaleb and the fleet with which he sailed to Yemen; the set also pictures Zara Yacob the 15th-century Ethiopian ruler who ordered Ethiopian Jews to convert to Christianity or die.

people" who attended the first meeting of the Mamalushen Society, a soda! organization whose members attempt to speak totally in Yiddish whi'a they're meeting, "Why are you interested in perpetuating Ykidish as a spoken language?"

Nate Berg We spoke Jewish when we were children. In fact, I had to learn English when I went to grade school. It's like coming back home again — the full cycle.

Ann Bolmont I love speaking it. It brings back the warmth of my Mother and Father.

Herbert Wintroub Helen Schwartz I personally feel that hav- To reacquaint myself with ing a Yiddish' speaking the mother, tongue. group in Omaha will help to enrich our Jewish lives. The Yiddish language has been in our history for perhaps 1,000 years, and in our modest way in Omaha, hopefully, we will be able to perpetuate it.

Marcia Lipoman Because tjie beauty of the language is' being lost, and it's imperative that for future' generations we retain our language. " -

Charlie Guss For years, I've had a latent desire to learn Yiddish because we grew up with it. We spoke Yiddish in our homes, and it's so meaningful. It's very expressive.

Ironfman going to Soviet Union By Aviva Cantor VIENNA (JTA) — World Jewish Congress president Edgar Bronfman revealed his plans to go to the Soviet Union towards the end of March for talks with Soviet officials in his dual capacity of business executive and a leader of diaspora Jewry. He is the head of Joseph Seagram and Sons Company.

Bronfman told a news conference at the Hilton Hotel here, where the WJC Governing board is winding up its three-day meeting, that the Soviets had extended him an invitation to visit in both capacities and he was practically on his way just before Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev died. The timing of his visit,

Paula Alison Rock, daughter of Joseph S. Rock of Shaker Heights, Ohio, and the late Patricia M. Rock, was married to Dell Edward Perelman, son of Mr. and Mrs. Harold Perelman of Omaha, on Jan. 26. Ms. Rock, a graduate of Swarthmore College, Stanford University and Cornell University, is an attorney with Pierson, Ball and Dowd in Washington, D.C. Mr. Perelman, a graduate'of

Northwetern University and Creighton University, is currently working toward a master's degree in environmental and energy law at George Washington University and is counsel for state government affairs at the Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Institute in Rosslyn, Va. The couple honeymooned in Barbados and is now residing in Washington, D.C.

Bronfman told reporters, "is better now than at any other (recent) time because the U.S. and the Soviet Union are beginning to talk, and things are now in a state of thaw."r He expressed the view that the situation of Soviet Jewry fluctuates with the state of relations between the two superpowers. "Soviet Jews are basically hostage to the cold war and the U.S.-USSR climate," he said. If there is a relaxation of tension on other issues, a realization of the situation of Soviet Jews "will be much easier to accomplish." Bronfman has been to the Soviet Union before as a business executive, and this time he will be leading a business delegation. The Soviets, he said, want to talk business, but are willing to talk with him, in his role as WJC president, on "Jewish matters."

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Jewish Press

February 8, 1985

Fried's grocery PIONEER WOMEN Pioneer Women/Na'umut will have a social-cultural meeting at the home of Magda and Snm Fried, 12732 Harnt-y: I rctt on Feb. 16 nt 8 p.m. In obssCrviiti-cc of Jcvvkh Arbor Day, John Mulhull of Mullinll's Nursery will speak. An o])cn hoard meeting will be hold Feb. 24 at 1 p.m. in the homuof Anne Jor.eph, 9674 Ames avenue. HADASSAH By Juice Katzman The Omaha chapter of Hadassah will hold a Board meeting; on Feb. 13 at 9:30 a.m. at the home of Martha Lerner, 14817 '"A" Circle. The Board meeting will feature the Hadassah National Treasurer's Report from 1984. This multimedia presentation, entitled "The Coat of Many Colors" presents an overview of Hadassah projects and activities for the past year. The meeting is open to the entire membership.

B'NAI B'ltlTH WOMEN By Juice Katzman IJ'nai B'rith Women o"

; The Gieater Omaha Friendship Force will hold interviews for persons interested in joining the June 12?6, 1985 exchange to Belgium. The places, dates and times are as follows:

Sign contracts BOGOTA (JTA) — Israeli Minister of Energy and Infrastructure, Moshe Shahal, negotiated important petroleum and coal contracts with Colombia and Mexico at "the beginning of January, it was reported here by informed sources. Under the terms of the agreement with Mexico, Israel will purchase $800 million worth of petroleum annually, covering approximately 40 percent of its consumption. This makes Mexico Israel's largest- acknowledged oil supplier, followed by Egypt. Mexico, in turn, has agreed to purchase $100 million worth of Israeli industrial products yearly. This represents a 20-fold increase over Israel's best level of exports to the oilrich Central American country, and traditional supporter. The coal contract with Colombia, a renewal of an existing accord, is for a total of $200 million over a fiveyear period. In exchange, Colombia will buy a variety of Israeli products valued at $500 million over the fiveyear span.

Ornaha will host a "Sweetheart Day" at the Rose Blurnkin Home on Feb. 14 at 2 p.m. Goldye Goldberg, Social Services c h a i r \voni;;n, is coordinating the event, ,';,-,:;i;.ttti by .Sylvia Davis. Drcorationa will be prepared by Br.bc Aronoff. The aiurnoon'c pro: ram will f;:;.Ujie a inuacal \no\entntion by Maxine Noudfll, accompanied by Esther Wax. Refreshments will be served following the program. The event is open to the public and all members of B'nni B'rith Women are encouraged to nttend. NCJW BOARD N O W — Omaha Section will hold u board meeting on Feb. 14 in room 10 at the JCC. The .9:30 a.m. meeting will be preceded by the serving of rolls and coffee at 9:15 a.m..

BREADBREAKERS Lawrence R. Myers, director of the Nebraska Equal Opportunity Commission, will speak to B'nai B'rith Breadbreakers, Wednesday at noon in Howard Johnson's restaurant.

Swanson Library, 9101 West Dodge Road, Feb. 7,57 p.m.; First-Methodist Church, 7020 Cass St., Feb. 16, 10 a.m.-2 p.m.; Willa Cather Library, 44th and Center, Feb. 19, 5-8 p.m.; Interriorth Activities Center, 2223 Dodge St., Feb. 23, 10 a.m.^2 p.m.; YMCA Southwest, 13010 Atwood Ave., Feb. 24, 1-4 p.m. Friendship Force merri-' bership is $6 per family. This enables them to receive a national and local newsletter, to attend parties and to have the opportunity to be hosts or ambassadors for exchanges with other countries. Friendship Force members from Omaha have taken part in exchanges with Costa Rica, England, Germany (twice) and with Chiapas, Mexico. They have been to the USSR, China, Poland, Brazil and will be going to India, Feb. 16. In the June exchange, the ambassadors will stay in homes in the Ghent area of Belgium and will experience the daily life of their host, families. The cost is $1,047 from Omaha, with an optional side tour available.

The following essay by Lisa Fried won the $100 first place award In the Grades 7 through 12 division of the 1984 Morris Fellman Memorial Essay Competition sponsored by the Nebraska Jewish Historical Society. When my great-grandmother, Wittie Fried, fut.t came to the United States from Germany in

1908,

she

WJSS a

widow with four children ranging in age from two to u t v u i - T h e y were Ro:•••?, O:i-

enr, Leo (my urandfrih.-i), and f'.'uriun. Wittie had no knowledge of English and hardly any money. The story of how she built her business! is an inspiring one of an immigrant who came to this country, as did Lisa Fried many others, to turn dreams into reality.

Camp Snbra, the Jewish Community Centers Association resident camp on Lake of the Ozarks in Missouri, is offering an eight week program for current 10th and 11th graders. The program, beginning June 10, 1985, will include four weeks in. Israel'and four weeks at Camp Sabra.

the program," said Mr. Brown. The trip includes visits to Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Haifa, Jaffa, Tiberias and Shikun Dalet,-St. Louis' Sister City in Israel. An Israeli group leader and professional tour guides will accompany the trip as they also tour the Western Wall, Yad Vashem, Michael Suffian, Camp Masada, Ein Gedi, a kibbutz Sabra chairman, in making and moshav, Israel Muthe announcement, stated, seum, the Northern Golan, "This is one of the most ex- Knesset and more. The group will return to citing programs ever offered at Camp Sabra. A trip to Is- spend the final four weeks rael combined with four as counselors-in-training at weeks of leadership training Camp Sabra. Group particin a Jewish camp setting is. ipants will be assigned to cabin and specialty groups a terrific combination." at camp. They will be reThe trip was planned by sponsible for planning proScott Brown, Camp Sabra grams resulting from their director, and Ora Cohen, Is- travel experiences. raeli schlicha at the ;JCCA. Participants are required It is being co-ordinated with to register for the full -eight the Jewish" Welfare Board week program, which costs and American Zionist Youth $2250. The price may be Foundation. The trip will be subject to a slight change led by Jon Goldman, last due to the Israel economic year's Masada Unit Head. situation. Scholarship and "Jon has been to Israel on loan assistance is available. a previous JCC trip. His exThe group is limited to 15 perience and leadership participants. Application skills, along with a great and a formal interview are rapport developed with last v required. year's Masada campers, For more information, or makes him a natural for the a personal interview, please trip. We are excited about call the Camp Sabra office, .having him involved with (314) 432-5700.

1984-85 Jewish Youth Council Basketball League Schedule

Fair chance BONN (JTA) — Agriculture Minister Ignaz Kiechle has promised that the Bonn government will support in principle Israel's demand that its agricultural exports be given a fair chance to retain their present share of the European market after

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When Wittie first came to Omaha, where her brother, A. Fischer, had previously settled, she did not want to be a burden on relatives. She took her first job immediately, working in the kitchen of Wise Memorial Hospital. Because she had helped out in her parents' grocery store when she was young, as soon as. she had enough money saved she rented a little building to start a grocery store of her own. It was called simply, "Fried's Grocery" and was located «t 5124 South Twenty-Fourth Street in South Omaha. Her first month's rent was $10. Living accommodations, the rooms in the back of the store, rented for $5. The store itself was very modest in size, "about the size of the first floor of a very .small house," recalls Gary Gross, Wittie's nephew. "It had wooden floors. There were maybe one or two aisles of food packed to the ceiling. In front of the counter there were barrels of coffee, nuts, cookies, crackers, beans, hard candy and potatoes," describes Gary. "In the middle of the store was a big iron stove. On cold days ninny of her immigrant customers would come in to warm up," he adds. Gradually adding to the German, Bohemian und Polish she already knew, Wittie also picked up English, a smattering of Rumanian, and a small amount of Spanish and Italian. "Learning languages seemed to evolve naturally for her, out of doing, and what was important in those days was to be able to communicate in various languages," stresses her nephew. Wittie Fried's store was on the main street of a workingclass neighborhood filled mostly with immigrants, few of whom could speak English. "She had a monopoly (of the grocery business) because she could talk to them. Everyone in the neighborhood traded with her," states Gary Gros3.He also said that "she used to put the prices on her products in two or three languages." This helped her immigrant customers feel more at home in her store. Wittie ran her entire business alone, except for some help from her children. "She kept her own books, did her own accounting,'and waited on all trade. She stocked the store, bought goods, and paid the bills. No one had hired help in those days — no one could afford it!" laughs Gary. Wittie did no promoting for her store, attracting customers only by,word of mouth. She earned her store's good reputation by '.'treating them (her customers) nice, like human begins, trusting them and speaking their languages." Also, in spite Of the store's small size, customers "felt like you feel when you walk into a big grocery store today," says Gary. The store was, in the words of her nephew, "most remarkable — it had everything that every store in town had. When people would ask for something she didn't have, she would write it down to be sure and get it for the next time." Her store had a "very nice, personal atmosphere," he continues. Finally, the little grocery store's main attraction was Wittie Fried herself. "If you had no other reason to go down there, you'd go because of her. She had a wonderful personality; everyone who ever met her wanted to go back," says Gary admiringly. "She was always cheerful and smiling." Wittie Fried started out with a grand capital of just $100. Through her hard work and determination in running her store she built that up to $100,000, an amount that today would be worth one million. Though no one gave much credit to women in Wittie's time, she did such an outstanding job with her business and her children, that the Omaha World Herald took notice and wrote a feature article about her. This appeared in the Sunday Magazine Section, June 29, 1930, twenty-two years after the Fried family's arrival in the United States.

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Jewish Prats

February 8, 1085

Moms and Tots , plan meetings

February Jewish best-seller list WASHINGTON — Based on a sampling of Jewish bookstores in cities across the United States, The EJ'nai B'rith International Jewish Monthly has selected in its February issue the following as best-selling books of Jewish interest. They are listed alphabetically by title. Reprinted from The B'nai B'rith International Jewish Monthly. HARDCOVEU Paperback ' •• , Th,e Abandonment of the Jews Hooray for Yiddish: A Book About English David S. Wyman. Pantheon. $19.95 Leo llosten. Touchstone. $6.95 American's response to the Holocaust Humorous dictionary. In the Liuid of Ismel Back to the Source , Amos Oz. Vintage. $5.05. Edited by Barry Holtz. Summit $19.95 Conve'r.''-ati--)!!s with Israelis. A modern guide to the great books of Jewish tradition. Isiraol in the Mind of America Begin Peter Gros,f. Schocl'.cn. $9.95 :; . ' > Eric Silver, Random House. $17.95 America's 150-yeor fascination with the idea of a Jewish A comprehensive biography. state. . ', . • .'•;•':' From Time Immemorial Jewish Trivia end Information Book Joan Peters, Harper & Itow. $24.95 Ian Slmpolsky. Stoimatzky. $5.95 Origins of the Arab-Israeli conflict. Q & A in Bible, current events, personalities, culture, history, geography. Heritage My People Abba Eban. Summit $32.95 Jewish influence on Western civilization. Compunion to Abba Eban. Behrman House and Itandom House. $14.95 The history of the Jewish people. PBS series. ,

By Joseph Cohen WALTER BENJAMIN: MARTYRDOM IN PORT BOU Of the incalculable losses we have all suffered in the Holocaust, not the least of those losses to twentieth century literature was the death in 1940 of Walter Benjamin, the ,. German-Jewish literary critic, philosopher and mystic. An early friend of Gerehom Schplem, Benjamin, unlike Scholem, chose in the 1920s not to go to Palestine, hoping to secure an academic post in his native Germany. It was a fatal decision. :• The professorship in modern German literature at Frankfort University to which Benjamin aspired and for which he was eminently qualified was denied to him. Like Ludwig Lewioohn who was unable to obtain an academic post after completing his doctoral studies in America, Benjamin's only alternative was to become a free-lance writer. Attracted simultaneously to Maraist dialectic and Jewish Mysticism, Benjamin produced through the tensions between these conflicting modes of thought some of the most brilliant literary criticism of our age, revealed particularly in his essays on Kafka, Proust and Baudelaire. These critical studies and much of Benjamin's other writing is marked, as Scholem has noted, by a pervasive sadness which intensified as Benjamin was forced both as an artist , and a Jew into the role of an alien in his homeland. Scholem credits him with a willingness, however melancholy, to confront the ramifications of his alienation, recognizing as did Freud and Kafka, that he was not an apostle of German culture and tradition. He thereby escaped a delusion which trapped a number of other well-known German-Jewish writers including Arthur Schnitzler, Jacob Wasserman, Franz Werfel and Stefan Zweig. Benjamin often wore, his Judaism lightly, but that did not preclude his taking it very seriously. Like so many others, he tarried too long in Germany after Hitler's rise to power, hoping for the miracle that never came. When the Second World War started, he fled first to Paris and then sought to cross the Pyrenees into Spain. At the border town of Port Bou, the customs officer, acting arbitrarily, admitting some and denying others, turned Benjamin back just two days before Spain officially granted safe passage to the refugees gathered in the mountain village. At the end of his resources, his energies flagging, Benjamin, without any prosjject of rescue, committed suicide. For nearly two decades Benjamin's name, the circumstances of his life and death and his writings; were veiled in obscurity. Remembered by Scholem and a few other friends, his surviving works were republished, and since the 1960s Benjamin's reputation has grown steadily. . As part of his re-emergence, Benjamin has become a kind of cult figure. He is a symbol ofthe now all top familiar Jewish emigre intellectual, fighting against the Overwhelmingly brutal totalitarianism of the twentieth century; losing;in the end, heroically achieving martyrdom. diven the drama of his flight and death and his symbolic app'eal, it was inevitable that his image would be invoked in the literary reconstructions ofthe Holocaust. In Elaine Feinstein's new novel THE BORDER (St. Martins/Marek; $10.95) it is Benjamin's spirit that both infuses and suffuses her story of a once-Jewish Viennese intellectual couple Excellent Income for part time home assembly work. Electronic Automotive Arts and Crafts. For info., call 312-741-8400, Ext. 1349.

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whose path crosses Benjamin's first in Paris and again in Port Bou where tragedy also awaits them. THE BORDER is, of course, far from being dependent for its impact upon the haunting epectre of Benjamin, alive and dead. His presence and his fate are elements that enhance rather than dominate Feinstein's novel. By virtue of those elements the particular dimension of loss is universalized in this delicately but masterfully told story. The narrative, set fortb' in diaries and letters, concerns the plight of Hans and Inge Wendler. He is a poet, ohe io a physicist. Both are thoroughly assimilated people of high culture, shocked into the reality of having to acknowledge their Jewish roots. Long oblivious to their Jewish ancestry, they are astonished to find themselves forced to respond for the first time in their lives in 1938 to the condition of being Jewish in central Europe. In her astute and perceptive command of this subject, Feinstein reminds us of Aaron Appelfeld. This is a story of an ambivalent and shifting love in a marriage between people of opposite natures. Polarized both by the external oppression of the Nazis and the internal oppression of an affair Hans has with a younger woman, the Wendlers find endless opportunities to re-examine their own and each other's realities, raising questions of fidelity versus independence, humanism versus science, subjectivity versus objectivity, male rationality versus famale intuition, mysticism versus materialism and power versus powerlessness. However imposing these questions are, Feinstein manages to avoid didacticism and prosaic exposition. These questions are not marshalled before us like troops on a parade ground. This book is so sensitively written that the philosophical disputations do their parading off in the distance while the tormented lives of the characters are played out directly before us. We share their torment as they seek an accommodation for and a resolution to not only their opposed natures but to the overriding infidelity that threatens the survival of a union in which the spouses, despite their difference, are nonetheless heavily dependent upon each other. One could almost reduce the relationship to the mathematical formulas of a magnetic field were it not for the poignance and beauty of the tale, heartwarming and heart chilling and touching, told with a gracefulness that escapes the somber oppressiveness of so many Holocaust stories. Up to now, Elaine Feinstein has been little known in. America. In her native England, she has a well deserved reputation as a novelist (THE BORDER is her seventh fiction), a pjpetl a television dramatist and a translator. The daughter of Ulrfaniari-Jewish immigrants, she was educated •at Cambridge, taking a degree in English literature. Subsequently, she read for the Bar. In a recent interview in London, where she lives, she said that Walter Benjamin had long been one 6f her heroes. By virtue of her attraction To him and her use of his story in THE BORDER she has extended and accelerated the recovery of one of this century's most remarkable Jewish writers, at the same time, adding luster to her own name. '. • '" Copyright 198^ Joseph Cohen Jewish studies program Tulane University

The Moms and Tots group of Pioneer Women/ Na'amat has scheduled four meetings open to the community during February: Feb. 12 ut 10 a.m. in the home of Rita Weinberg, 11408 R street; Feb. 18 at 10 a.m'. in the home.(if Maurine Strain, 13013 Kmiline street. (Millard); Feb. 20 at 10 a.m. .in, tin; homu of Flora Hubin, 678 North 58 street and Feb. 28 at 1 p.m. in the home of Edith Robert, U517 North 101 street. For information, phone Sonya Ilatner atft51-1525or Linda Levich 493-9449.

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ffl® HERMAN LEVINSON Word was received in Omaha that Herman Levinson, 74, formerly of Omaha, died in the Balboa Naval Hospital in San Diego, Calif. Interment was Jan. 29, at the Rosenkrantz Naval Cemetery, San Diego. Mr. Levinson was a retired Colonel in the United States Army. His wife Josephine, also a native of Omaha, died sevr eral years ago. His parents were Charles and Esther Levinson, whp operated the Star Store located at 24th and, Parker'Streets. Both parents are buried in

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Matchmaker, oh matchmaker... By Lisa Ann Brusman

Free lance writer It's Saturday night You're doing laundry and watching "Love Boat" it runs on ABC, surrounck'J by Doritos. Again. In St. Louis, this liilimtion can be remedied bj L call to the local match'maker: Martin Finer. He is the founder of the St. Lu 1. Jewish Photo bating S-r vice. Since starting the service two years ago, he's been partially responsible for 10 marriages and 18 engagements. Seven additional engagements are pending. Mr. Finer, an Orthodox Jew, founded the St. Louis Jewish Photo Dating Service as an "antidote to intermarriage. It's also a way for everyone to meet new friends, which is equally important," he stresses. "Most of the members are between 22 and1 38- years old,", he says, "although we even Have some people in their 60S. there's no age limit." i The-group has'600 active participants. • Twice a week Mr. Finer, 30, and his wife Tammy, 25, invite members to their home to look at' photos of potential dates. "Too often, well meaning parents and friends set a participant up with' someone not to his or her liking physically," he remarks. "People like to see what their dates will look

So that everyone would feel welcome to "ohoot the bull," Martin Finer brought a 1,000 pound Brahma bull to one of his recent parties. Mr. Finer, the founder of the St. Louis Jewish Photo Dating Service, is well known for his practical jokes. like before meeting them. "We aren't just going on looks," he notes. "I try to get to know each person and match him or her with others of similar interests." The Finers sponsor a large party for St. Louis Jewish singles every few months. Nearly 800 people attended their most recent party — which featured a

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Michael Jackson look-alike, break dancers, a caricaturist, and a live band. It was the largest Jewish singles party given in St. Louis in the last 10 years. All of the proceeds from the party — as well as the Finers' other parties — went to the General Israel Orphans Home for Girls. The couple pays for the parties themselves. The dating service is free. "We count mitzvahs, not money," Mr. Finer explains. When he finds a participant depressed about not meeting that special someone, he encourages the person with the words: "Giving up doesn't get the job done. If you're going to meet your intended, you've got to keep looking." Several new names and phone numbers are usually included with the advice.

Jawfeh Prtu

Pagtii

Book review

Pioneer Jews. A New Life in the Far West, by Harriet and Fred Rochlin. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1984. 243 pages. $17.95. Reviewed by Oliver,B. Pollak, Vice President, Nebraska Jewish Historical'Society. Harriet Hochlin was raised in Boyle Heights, a thriving Jewish community in east Los Angeles that i.ince the Second World War has faded out of existence. Fred Rochlin, a native of Nogales, Ariz . is an architect. Their joint labor of love for the Southwest exudes in dozens of mini stories and vignettes, accompanied by old photographs. They start with the first arrival of Spanish Jews in the early 16th century and conclude their informative and entertaining tales in 1912. The primary focus is the, latter half of the 19th century. Jew migrated all over the sometimes very wild West. Throughout Arizona and New Mexico they engaged in commerce, and opened stores to supply miners, Indians, travellers and fledgling communities. They ranched, farmed, freighted and peddled. It was a story of isolation and success, though the ghost towns of the west are examples of short lived prosperity. The largest Jewish com: munity was in San Francisco and dated from the gold rush of 1849. San Fran-

cisco maintained its prominence until the turn of the century when eastern European emrnigration to Los Angeles swelled the Jewish population of Southern California. Western Jewish patterns differed from those in the old work! and in New York. The communities, initially, were much smaller. Intermarriage appears to have been more common. The conflict between established German Jews and the later Eastern European arrivals wus joined by a significant Sephardic population. Orthodoxy and Reform went through their mutual growing pains. The Rochlins have an interesting style. They do not demand a long attention span from their readers. It might be called photo-journalism. Whether the story is about the Goldwaters of Arizona, Alice B. Toklas of San Francisco, Josephine Sara Marcus, the consort of Wyatt Earp, they convey

their facts in a few paragraphs, and then move on to their next subject. The spirit of their writing, and perhaps the times, was individualism. The Rochlins have taken advantage' of the wealth of literature on Jews in the West and packaged it in a most readable and enjoyable book. The seven page bibliography is an invitation to further und deeper reading. This book is available in the. Jewish Federation Library.

Divorce JERUSALEM (JTA) — The incidence of divorce in Israel is growing and has reached the level of 1.3 divorces per 1,000 citizens, Nitza Ben-Dor, a lecturer at Haifa University, told a recent symposium on divorce. However, this figure is still far below the 5.5 divorces per 1,000 citizens in the U.S. and 2 to 3 per 1,000 in Europe, he said.

youtr Sweetheart to "Cafe of the Couple" for a opeclai VALENTINE' EPIbsa W.. Ccmflci? Lunch r-'.on.-Sot. 11:30-2 Dinner Mon.-'Sat. 6-10

Bagel baking The College of Jewish Learning will have a baking bagels workshop. On Feb. 12 and Feb. 14 from 1:30-3:00, Pam Cohn will demonstrate how to bake bagels and discuss other traditional and holiday baked goods. Persons interested in participating in the workshop may call the Jewish Community Center, 334-8200 ext. 232. 1

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Moe Kanoudi (.lust west of Millurri I'luzu) 14120 " 8 " Street Mon.-Frl. 11 um-'i pm lunch Mon.-Sut. 5:30 pm dinner

P»0* 12

Jewish PTWM •

February t , 1M5.

The American ORT at 60 By Boris Smolar (Editor-in-chief emerltiu, JTA) Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Inc.

Sixty years ago,1 when the American ORT Federation was formed, Jews in this country hardly knew that ORT was already in existence for more than 40 years. It is in fact one'of the oldest Jewish organizations in the world. ORT was established in Czarist. Russia in 1880 by a group of prominent Jewish leaders and philanthropists in St. Petersburg, then the capital of Russia, and now known as Leningrad. Its purpose was to provide vocational and technical training for the masses of Jews in Russia who lived in great poverty under the Czurist regime. They were restricted to reside in certain areas of the country; tens of thousands of them hardly eked out a livelihood. It was necessary to help them stand on their own feet. Training them to become skilled artisans and technicians could do it. ORT was created to accomplish this. The reason American Jewry did not know anything about ORT for 40 years was because the founders of ORT, and the leaders of Russian Jewry in general, never asked for aid from Jews abroad for their millions of Jews. They took care of their needy with funds raised only in Russia — large donations from the few wealthy Jews and smaller contributions from middle class Jews. Even during World War I, when tens of thousands of Jewish families were uprooted by the Czarist military authorities and ordered to leave their home towns in the war zones on 24-hour notice under the pretext that they were likely to act as spies for the German army, Jewish leaders of national organizations in Russia conducted relief for waves of Jewish refugees and their resettlement without appealing to American Jewry for financial aid. They formed their own relief agency, ECOPO, which — like the United Jewish Appeal in the U.S. now — raised contributions from givers in more than 800 cities and towns in the interior of the country.

Today, ORT is very popular in the U.S., not only among Jews but also in Washington where the government has, since 1960, begun arrangements with ORT, through the American ORT Federation, to render technical assistance to developing countries. More than 40 projects of U.S. government technical aid to developing countries are currently being implemented by ORT in Africa, with 21 more under study. Since 1960, ORT has implemented 134 U.S. aid projects in 51 developing countries. In Africa alone it h;::> implemented, since I960, 101 project;; in 31 countrit-K. The primary thrust of OUT's cooperation with the U.O. Artnry for International Development (AID) under contracts, into foster self-reliance in under-developed countries tlm>u;;h manpower training and upgrading capabilities in ureas critical to rural economy — agriculture, read construction and energy. Last, year, ORT signed a $5 million cooperative agreement with AID.

ORT and J D C . . . are proud of their partnership in Jewish survival

The American ORT Federation does not conduct any fund-raising campaign of its own. However, it accepts contributions from its members. It also receives an annual allotment from the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee which recognizes the importance of ORT and works hand-in-hand with ORT in various countries. Last year, JDC granted ORT $4.7 million towards operation of ORT vocational and technical schools and training centers serving communities throughout the Jewish world. Lay and professional leaders of ORT and JDC meet from time to time to discuss common interests and to explore potential opportunities for broadening future service to various Jewish communities. Both are proud of their partnership in Jewish survival. An ORT-JDC operation for the Jews in Ethiopia was started in 1976. It aided about 2,000 Jewish families there O R T . . . never asked for aid from Jews by providing oxen, tools, seed fertilizer and agricultural instruction. In 1980, an additional Ethiopian Jewish families abroad received aid through training which included carpentry, The expansion of ORT into a worldwide organization metal work, welding, pottery and sewing. There were 22 training Jews in skills and professions in many countries ORT-JDC schools in the Gondar province with about 3,000 took place after the Communists came to power in Russia. students who were instructedby special teachers, but the The ORT headquarters were moved to Berlin from where Ethiopian government closed them in 1981. Now the JDC operations were directed primarily in Poland, Rumania and is permitted to conduct relief operations on a large scale other East European countries where a large part of the for victims of the famine in the Gondar province, where most of the Jewish families reside. Jewish population was in need of vocational training. It was then that ORT sent a delegation from Berlin to As a Jewish organization of international scope, ORT has the U.S., headed by Dr. Leon Bramson, its president — a survived more than 100 years all the vicissitudes which have prominent jurist and member of the Duma, the short-lived affect the world, and particularly the Jews in Europe, over parliament in Russia under the Czar — to acquaint Amer- the century, and is now flourishing as never before. ican Jewry with the ORT activities and to stimulate Jews It has taken more than 100 years of hard work, knowlin this country to provide funds for these activities. edge, innovations, adjustments, proper implementation and It was then that the American ORT Federation was much more to enable ORT to reach the stage of being the formed in New York. . universally acclaimed global network it is today. During Today, the great majority of Jews in the U.S. know of that period, several million young and adult Jews graduated ORT and its programs, the largest of which is now in Israel. from ORT schools arid training centers. They became ecoToday, there exists the American ORT Federation com-. nomically secure as highly qualified workers in many fields. prising the National ORT League, American Labor ORT, Israel now occupies the first place in the ORT network Business and Professional ORT, and Women's American worldwide. ORT operations in Israel began a few months OR-T. The latter is one of the largest Jewish women's or- after the proclamation of the State; with the establishment ganizations in the U.S., with 160,000 members in branches of workshops in Jaffa for the rehabilitation and training of throughout the country. demobilized and wounded soldiers of the Israel Defense

By UJA Press Service Recently, Menachem Perlmutter, Chief Engineer of Israel's Negev region for the Jewish Agency, the main beneficiary of United Jewish Appeal/Community Campaigns, was interviewed by United Jewish Appeal Press Service Editor Gerald S. Nagel. Here are excerpts of that interview. Q. Menachem, you have been chiefly responsible for Israel's miracle in the desert — bringing forth vegetables and flowers where for thousands of years there had only been shifting sand. How did you do it? A. Thank you, but there have been many of us, thanks to the Jewish Agency's Rural Settlements department, working to do this. First, we Israelis have the spirit, the sense of cooperation, the holding together, the determination to succeed. This is a very important factor. Second, we exploit the natural advantage of the area. In the Negev, where I have lived for 32 years, we have long days and months of sunlight. So we grow summer vegetables in the wintertime without artificial heating. Holland, Denmark and England all grow vegetables but in greenhouses, in glass houses. They must be heated by oil. Oil is energy. Energy costs money. We don't have that cost so we are better able to compete and sell our produce in Western European markets. We also use the water. It is too brackish, too salty, for, the leaves of most crops, but not the roots. So we apply drip irrigation, which was developed by Israeli engineers. This is mainly a series of long, thin pipes, with narrow holes dripping water at the roots. It allows us to overcome water scarcity to provide usable water as necessary — and increase crop nutrition as well. . i Q. What crops do you grow in the Negev? A. Tomatoes, cucumbers, dates, eggplant, melons, peppers — whatever we can as soon as we figure out how to grow it in the desert climate. Kibbutz Gemesad is growing.

Force. Since then, the ORT program in Israel has expanded

in many directions. More than 60 subjects are now being taught in the ORT network in about 50 locales. About 80,000 students are enrolled there this, year, and the teaching staff exceeds 4,200 specialists. The subjects taught range from aeronautics, computers, robotics and data processing to diamond cutting, fashion design, hair dreeing and home economics. Thousands graduate from the ORT school Byisteni every year. They'are now pluying a vaxy important role in Israel's army, navy and air force as rpecialista in radio communications, radar, and as technician;;. Many of the graduates replace specialists in factories who have been mobilized to serve in the armed forces.

ORT is planning to buiid a residential school in tii3 Msgev ORT in Israel offers the resources of its technical and vocational network to counteract unemployment in the country. It is ready to undertake the retraining of 10,000 Israelis who find themselves unemployed due to the economic recession. Such training may also serve those who are dismissed from jobs found to be superfluous in a given industry. ORT is also planning to build a residential school in the Negev which will emphasize teaching specialized technical skills needed by an advanced aircraft construction industry. It is also in the process of preparing Israel's first Bachelor Degree level teacher-training program for teachers of technological education, in order to offset the shortage of 600 teachers in the fields of electronics, mechanics and plastics. The program will be offered at the ORT School of Engineering at the Hebrew University. Next to Israel in ORT schools enrollment is France. About 9,000 pupils are enrolled in 40 training programs in Paris and in other cities in France with substantial Jewish populations. ORT schools in Argentina have an enrollment of about 9,000 pupils in close to 40 training unitsSi. ORT also conducts training programs in Chile, Peru, Brazil and Mexico among the other countries in the world where ORT operates, keeping in mind that the younger generation is a hi-tech generation. In the U.S., ORT conducts the Bramson ORT Technical Institute in New York which has hi-tech courses in com-' puters, robotics and electronics, and serves as a resource center for yeshivas and Jewish day schools. ORT also provides high level computer and robotics training for students in the Jewish High School of South Florida. A new ORT Technical Institute — the third in the U.S. — is slated to open next year in Los Angeles to provide top-flight technological training in a Jewish atmosphere to local students. The 1985 worldwide ORT program will be conducted on a budget of approximately $100 million, with two-thirds of • this sum to be spent in Israel. About 78 percent of last year's budget was met within the communities in the countries in which ORT operates. The American funds contributed to ORT included a $4.7 million grant from JDC, some $5 million from Women's American ORT, and more than $1.1 million from the American ORT Federation, of which Alvin Gray, a prominent Cleveland lawyer, is president. Gray is an active leader of national Jewish organizations, including UJA, the Council of Jewish Federation, J WB, the National Conference on Soviet.Jewry, and others.

source of desert irrigation and energy, Q. Turning to the droughts and famines in sub-Sahara Africa, and the terrible starvation there and in many other desert climates, how can the Israeli experience benefit other peoples? A.Many countries already benefit — 52 right now. But we have no diplomatic relations with many of them. Still, 'we are working in quieter ways — to develop local agriculture and food production which will help end famines on many continents.

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UJA Preta Survitr Photo by Richard Lobelt

Menachem Perlmutter, Chief Engineer of Israel's Negev Region for the Jewish Agency, in the Arava. Perlmutter, the man chiefly responsible for having brought Israel's desert to flower, has spoken in many communities in the United States this month on behalf of the UJA/Community Campaign, which provides most fiinds for the Jewish Agency's miracles in the desert. a very unique banana. It's bigger than average and has a much longer shelf life — you know what happens to bananas after two or three days. It's white on the inside — but the outside is red. Q. What should we call it? There's Chiquita Banana, Maybe Shoshana (rose) Banana? A. You can call it Moishe Yankel's Banana. (Laughter). Q. Drip irrigation is yesterday's miracle. What is today's? A. Geothermal water, which we have discovered about a mile below ground, in the Negev's Arava, a strip of land about 120 miles long near the border with Jordan. The water is very salty and very hot, though; 120°F. We are learning to cool it and use it too. It will be an important,

For the immediate emergency, food must be rushed in. But there are problems, such as inadequate roads for distribution. In the longer run, people will benefit if they develop the spirit of cooperation that marks Israel kibbutzim and moshavim, Israel settlements. Then the people must learn what to eat, and to take other steps to improve their health, such as develop and use local medical services and provide education for further development. Some of this is beyond villages, of course. Many people must work hard and in a concentrated way to solve world hunger. Q. How is the Israeli economic crisis affecting settlements within Israel's pre-1967 borders, which is where UJA/Community Campaign funds are applied? A. Every community is affected by the economic crisis, which is very serious. Inflation at home cuts into the profit margin on overseas sales. Some settlers and their families need extra financial help. The government is less able to provide services — build schools and electric power. Q. What can American Jews do?

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A. Contribute as much as they can to the Jewish Agency through the UJA/Coirimunity Campaign. Every dollar is appreciated, every dollar is needed. We will continue to do the impossible' if you American Jews — our brothers and sisters — do your share. You see, we are building a country for all the Jewish people, not just the 3.3 million Jews now ' is Israel.