—
THE
limit
JEWISH NEWS
•:" :47%.
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Friday, October 23, 1970-43
Attorney Embarks on Campaign
Jews of Soviet Union Reach Out
to Young Detroiter on Tour
Civil Liberties Union and their
wives on a three-week jaunt
through the steppes.
place to visit. So he joined 29
Berk got much, much more than
other members of the American he bargained for.
With a small Mogen Dovid pin-
ned to his lapel, the 29-year-old
bachelor sought out fellow Jews
in the synagogues and streets of
eight Russian cities. He found them
— some reticent, some outspoken,
some with strong Jewish ties, some
with none — and came away with
the conclusion that were the gates
to open tomorrow, most would
leave for Israel.
As a result of his experiences,
he has made the cause of Soviet
Jewry his own.
Berk had studied Russian lan-
guage and history in college, so
he went with some advantage over
his fellow travelers. He knew a lit-
BY CHARLOTTE DUBIN
To young Detroit attorney Daniel
Berk, Russia looked like a great
DANIEL BEEK
Oct. 14—To Mr. and Mrs. Law-
rence Kaluzny (Barbara Sill),
21940 Sunset, Oak Park, a son,
Todd Alan.
• • •
Oct. 13—To Mr. and Mrs. Jerry
Gordon (ElLssa Ptashne) former
Detroiters of Granada Hills, Calif.,
a son, Steven Scott.
• • •
Oct. 12 — To Mr. and Mrs. Bar-
ry Charlip (Marilyn Pine), 14291
Talbot, Oak Park, a daughter, Julie
Ann.
• • •
Oct. 11 — To Mr. and Mrs.
Stephen Gutman (Barbara Min-
kow), 21726 Stratford CL, Oak
Park, a son, Michael Todd.
• •
Oct. 10 — To Mr. and Mrs. Al
Katzen (Linda Berman), 14661
Borgman, Oak Park, a daughter,
Sheryl Beth.
o
Oct. 6—To Dr. and Mrs. Arnold
tle of the alleged mistreatment of
Soviet Jews, and "I was hopeful
I might be able to have contact
with them," he said. "But I never
anticipated what occurred. It got
so that the overriding purpose of
the trip was to meet Soviet Jews."
Intourist carefully booked the
biggest and best tours for Sat-
urdays. With another couple who
shared his *win interest, Berk
made -a point of visiting those
spots on Thursdays, then head-
ing for the local synagogue the
following Sabbath.
On their last Saturday in Russia,
Berk and his friend were given
aliyas in Leningrad's sole syna-
gogue (Choral), a large, Moslem-
like structure saved by its mem-
bers following the siege of
Leningrad.
The prayers were the same, the
Hebrew the same as that chanted
back home, "but the impact on
us was considerable. Knowing that
we were In a Russian synagogue
gave us a strange feeling." They
were probably the youngest men
there, at a service attended by
some 100 elderly men. Without
these men, said Berk, the syna-
gogue would have been closed by
the government long ago.
In Kiev and Tbilisi, Berk viewed
two contrasts in Jewish life. The
former, located in the Ukraine,
"was very depressing. In order
to exist, the Jews we met in the
synagogue had sold their souls to
the government. A bad situation
Grant (Barbara Margolis), 29651
Rutherland, Southfield, a daughter,
Julie Lynne.
• • •
Sept. 22—To Mr. and Mrs. Je-
rome Moss (Marsha Moskovitz),
21620 Kenosha, Oak Park, a son,
Marc Jeffrey.
0 0
•
was obvious right from the first.
To Dr. and Mrs. Jerome Fran- We were getting the party line,
kel (Susan Waxman), 27939 Inde- along with copies of `Sovietish
pendence, Farmington, a daughter, Heimland.' When I saw the picture
Jodi Lynn.
of Lenin under the glass top of
• • •
the president's desk, I figured
To Mr. and Mrs. Richard Morris there was no point in making con-
(Ardele Teplitsky), 21961 Clover- tact. I had no desire to return."
It is In the Ukraine, outside
lawn, Oak Park, a daughter, Stacie
Ilene.
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Cabinet OKs Extension
of Gen. Bar-Lets Term
as Army's Chief of Staff
TEL AVIV (JTA) -- The cab-
inet approved a year-long exten-
sion of Gen. Hahn Bar-Lev's term
as chief of staff of the Israeli
Army .
He was scheduled to complete a
three-year term next January, but
was recommended for an extension
by Defense Minister Moshe Dayan.
Bar Lev is the third chief of
staff to be so honored, the first
two having been Gen. Dayan and
Gen. Itzhak Rabin, the latter now
- ambassador to the United States.
Premier Golda Meir, in a letter
to Gen. Bar Lev, noted the gov-
ernment's "great esteem of your
work as chief of staff during a
period in which our security prbb-
lems are so difficult and complex."
Mrs. Meir expressed her "de-
light at the continuation of our
joint work, which to me is a
source of confidence and satisfac-
tion."
Gen. Bar Lev, who was born in
Yugoslavia and educated at Co-
lumbia University in New York,
will be 46 on Nov. 16.
Some 2,11 Jewish high school and college sew'
dents from more than 55 communities gathered for
a two-day mobilization protesting suppression of
religions, cultural and communal rights of Soviet
Jews. They were members of 24 national Jewish
youth movements affiliated with the North Ameri-
can Jewish Youth Connell, es-organizer of the event
with the Jewish Cosannudly Connell of Greater
Washington. Brandishing ages and banners, they
marched near the Soviet Embassy (top); Partici-
pated in outdoor aftersooa and evening rallies
to hear speaker after speaker, including author
Meyer Levin (bottom' assail the Soviet Union's
discriminatory pollees; attended a briefing at the
State Department on U. S. Maldives for Soviet
Jews; and met in workshops with community af-
fairs specialists to plan local action programs&
Youth groups in 4S cities will hold sada programs
this month.
Kiev In fact, where almost leave his country — it, too, is
34,IIS Jews were murdered by recorded. Demotion, or worse, can
the Nazis and damped into a result.
Such was the experience of a
pit at Bab' Yar. Their Jewish
identity has never been acknowl- family whose hospitality was a
edged by the Soviet government. highlight of Berk's trip. On two
Although Berk found the Russian evenings, including the Sabbath, he
people, generally, to be very and his two traveling companions
were wined and dined in a manner
he felt that anti-Semitic
that belied the family's meager
bias among the Ukrainians prob-
circumstances.
ably is common.
The host, a construction worker
Despite the undisguised attempt and sometime cantor, had been out
at propaganda In the Kiev syna-
gogue, said Berk, there was a of a job since filing for -a permit
small indication that the members to leave for Israel.
He, his wife and three children
were not completely intimidated.
"Someone accompanied us back to were fluent in three languages, in-
cluding
modern Hebrew — the lan-
the bus and took great pains to
point out that 'Sovietish Heimland' guage they would need when, and
if,
they
got to Israel. Although
is published by the government,
not by the Jewish community." there are no schools for the teach-
ing of Hebrew, it can be learned,
In Tbilisi, by contrast, Berk and Berk said, either on a one-to-one
his companions found the Georgian basis or from Kol Israel, the na-
Jews to be more alive, happier tional Israel radio, that is beamed
with their lot. The one synagogue, via shortwave into the Soviet
old and in need of some repair, Union.
was the only one Berk visited in
"After the toasts to Dayan,
the USSR that had both younger
to a good marriage for me, to
and older men in the congregation.
our good health, he told us be
He figured the median age was in
wished he had a tails and a
the mid-40s. Most were tradesmen.
prayer book. My friend gave
But while their circumstances him his own. The man cried
were visibly better than those of as he draped the tells over his
the ghostlike Jewish community son's shoulder. He said he would
of Kiev, the Georgian Jews to keep it for the boy's Bar Mitz-
whom Berk spoke made it quite va."
plain that they would like to leave
Berk said there were no restric-
for IsraeL
tions on his movements within the
An occurrance in Moscow, where cities he visited; however, he
Berk visited the university, struck could not leave the urban limits.
him as characteristic of the situa-
Althogether, he and his com-
tion with Soviet Jewry. "I talked panions visited 10 synagogues, a
with student who approached me few of them — as in Samarkand
because of the Mogen Dovid pin — consisting of two synagogues
I was wearing. He was Jewish in (Bukharan and Ashkenazic) with-
name only — a member of the in one enclosure.
Komsomol (Y oung Communist
Berk had difficulty locating the
League), his father in the army, synagogue in Bukhara. "It was
never attended a synagogue, and quite obvious that our Intourist
so on. Yet, he described housing guide didn't want us to go there.
discrimination, and said he feels She wouldn't tell us where it was,
he• will have problems when he then said it would be locked when
looks for a job.
we got there." Berk's Russian (he
"He said his second dream was had mastered the words, Where
to live in some city in Russia. His is the synagogue?) helped them
first dream was to go to Haifa." reach the "old town," but there
There is no set pattern to the was little open conversation out-
Soviet policy on emigration. side the synagogue on a weekday.
The Jews of Samarkand and
Some Jews who have spoken np
have been permitted to leave, Bukhara, and to some extent
"but the number is pathetically
Tashkent — all in Uzbekistan —
struck Berk as being less aware
small."
Most who have filed their papers of what's happening in the world
for an exit permit can only wait, than are the Jews of other Soviet
and hope. If they're lucky, they republics. Not far from the border
keep' their jobs. Berk pointed out of China, the people are more
that every working man must isolated, more primitive.
It was Bark's- feeling that con-
carry an identification card and
ditions are worse for Jews in
a workbook, in which there is
space for comments on his per- Tashkent than in the other two
formance. If he is a troublemaker Uzbek cities. Because it Is the
— if be expresses the desire - to more important of the three,
the local residents have greater
contact with the Communist
Party, and the Jews are more
aware of life around them. Con-
sequently, there is greater Erie-
tion, Berk said.
He could recall only one in-
stance where a Jew actually ex-
pressed the desire to be left alone.
The apprehension of authorities
was always there. "but in general
they wanted to talk to us." --
"We were surprised at how much
they know about what American
Jews are doing on their behalf,"
Berk said. He expressed disfavor
at the sending of greeting cards
to individual Soviet Jews ("it only
causes them problems") but said
the campaign to send holiday
messages to synagogues could
serve some purpose.
"The Soviet Jews do know what
we are doing," he said. "Every
time we have a program here,
the Israeli consulates notify Jeru-
salem, and Kol Israel beams in
the information to Russia. Although
the Soviet government has tried,
it can't jam the station entirely."
Additionally, he said, Moscow is
very sensitive to public opinion.
Protests do have their effect.
And so, Berk is carrying on his
own protest, offering to address
and show slides to groups that
request it through the Jewish
Community Council. He will
speak Sunday before the Soyiet
Jewry Conference at the Jewish
Center.
Berk takes heart from the ex-
perience of his tourist friend, who
had contact with a young man in
Moscow: "As Joel was leaving,
he said the traditional 'Next year
in Jerusalem.' The fellow drew
back and said, 'No, THIS year in
Jerusalem.' We learned that he
since has got out and reached
Haifa."
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