THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS Friday, January 16, 1981 61 Beit HaKerem's New Synagogue Technion Effort Aids Sephardim in Gaining University Admission By DVORA WAYSMAN World Zionist Press Service JERUSALEM — The dedication of a new synagogue in Jerusalem, a city of synagogues, is not usually a newsworthy event, but for the hundreds of people who recently attended the ceremony at Beit HaKerem's new Cen- tral Synagogue this time was different — and not only because of the striking modernistic look of the new building. The congregation began its dedication by attending afternoon prayers in the d Yellin Teachers' nary, where they had "temporarily" been praying for the last seven years. From there, the eight Torah scrolls were removed and - 2— under a nuptial canopy sig- nifying Israel's marriage to the Torah — were brought in honor to their new home, accompanied by dancing and singing in the streets. Designed by architect Mordechai Ben-Horin, the building is an elegant and striking domed structure, very modernistic in design. The exterior is still to be finished with mosaic tiles, but the interior is complete to the last detail . . . the Ark supported by a large menora; a tall panel of stained glass; stippled Beit HaKerem's Central Synagogue mushroom carpeting; rich children. The middle level burgundy velvet and gold will be a club for varied ac- embroidered coverings for tivities — cultural and so- the desk and the curtain in cial — for women, youth and front of the Ark. elderly citizens. The The synagogue furniture, synagogue itself seats 275 functional and very attrac- men, and has a tive, was designed and beautifully-designed made in Israel by Kibutz ladies' gallery with extra Lavi. seating downstairs for 133 The new synagogue is women. also unusual for Israel The synagogue was a in that it is to be more joint project of the congre- than a place of prayer. gation and the Jerusalem Like many such Muncipality. The Ladies' structures overseas, it is Guild is active and another planned as a ',complete first for Israel is that the community center on women -have full repre- three levels. sentation on the synagogue On the ground floor, two committee and are involved kindergartens are already in all phases of decision- operating — large, airy making. rooms in a garden setting with all kinds of outdoor climbing equipment for the DID YOU REMEMBER to send someone a gift subscription to r The Jewish News? To: The Jewish News r '7 515 W. 9 Mile Rd. Suite 865 iuthfield, Mich. 48075 Please send a year's gift subscription to: NAME ADDRESS I CITY I I FOR: STATE state occasion FROM ❑ $15 enclosed ZIP HAIFA — The percent- age of students of Sephardic background at the Technion - Israel Institute of Technol- ogy has risen in recent years from five percent to close to 25 percent. This increase is a result of a special compen- satory education program established at the institute in 1964 for army veterans from disadvantaged families, who might other- wise not meet the Techn- ion's admission require- ments. Students take part in in- tensive classes in math- ematics, physics, chemistry, English and Hebrew. At the completion of this preparat- l'Imud Put on Microfiche NEW YORK (JTA) — A technique for greatly reduc- ing the size of units of printed materials, called microfiche, has been applied to creation of an educational tool to encour- age the study of Jewish sac- red lore, according to the developers, the Rudman Foundation of Far Rocka- way, N.Y. Rabbi Joseph Rudman, president of the Founda- tion, and his son, Reuben, president of Orthodox Jewish Students, are the major figures in the de- American Sees the Chinese Softening Towards Israel NEW YORK — An American Jew who has spent the last 35 years in China, including 16 years in Chinese prisons, says that China is no longer seeking the destruction of Israel or parroting the Arab line. Sidney Rittenberg of Charleston, S.C. told Re- form Judaism magazine, "Until recently, China sup- ported the Arab position in the Middle East with no publicly-stated reserva- tions about a policy seeking the destruction of Israel. "Today, however, China openly supports secure bor- ders.for all Middle East na- tions and has reacted favor- ably to the Camp David ac- cords, which it believes de- fused a potentially explo- sive superpower confronta- tion in the area." Rittenberg said the 1978 rescinding of the rule prohibiting U.S. citi- zens from teaching in China has helped to end a number of stereotypes in China. He added that a Chinese official referred to the coun- try's cultural revolution as a "second Holocaust" in a magazine interview earlier this year. Rittenberg said the Holocaust had never be- fore been publicly men- tioned in China. "The Jews, like the Chinese, are an ancient people with an ancient reli- gion that has survived since the beginning of recorded time," he said. "We share many traditions and out- looks, including the impor- tance of family, the supre- macy of scholarship, and an emphasis on a life of right- eous actions rather than words. The program is part of a nationwide project under the auspices of the Ministry of Education, the Israel universities and the Israel Defense Forces. All costs are covered, and bed, board and academic tutoring are provided as part of the pro- gram. "If this were more widely known among the Chinese," he said, "it would bring about better Israel-China relations as well as improve U.S.- China ties." Rittenberg was sent to China by the U.S. army in 1945. He joined the United Nations Relief Agency just as China and the U.S. se- vered relations. Despite his 16 years in prison, he plans to remain in China. velopment of the Torah Microfiche Library. Reuben is a professor of chemistry at Adelphi University. Rabbi Rudman, an active businessman, said the li- brary contains the entire 13,000 folios of the Babylo- nian Talmud, with com- mentaries, on a packet of 186 four-inch by six-inch microfiche cards totalling one-and-a-half inches in thickness. He said the non- profit foundation was mak- ing the TML available at cost to interested individu- als and organizations. The cards are used with a hand-held portable reader- projector, weighing less than 1 1/2 pounds./ ory work, they compete in the Technion's entrance exams with all other candi- dates; 80 percent of them succeed in passing the ad- mittance test, as compared to 30-40 percent of other candidates. "Our experience shows that these students par- ticipate in study in every faculty, with success, once -they have earned admission," explains Yael. Rom, head of the unit for Advancement of Students. Research done by Mrs. Rom showed that students of Asian and African des- cent who received preparat- ory training to make up for disadvantages in their edu- cational background scored virtually the same in their academic work as their counterparts born in Israel, or of European background, who had all theadvantages of academic high schools. The program was origi- nally conceived in the early 1960s after the late Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion noted that though Sephar- dic Jews made up 50 percent of the general Israel popula- tion — and 60 to 70 percent of the kindergarten popula- tion — they made up only five percent of Israel's uni- versity students. r To: The Jewish' News 1 75 1 5 W. 9 Mile Rd. Suite 865 Southfield, Mich. 48075 WE'VE JUST Education Films NEW YORK (JTA) — The first comprehensive guide to films for children to use in Jewish education — in schools, camps, Jewish community centers, and youth groups — has been prepared by the Jewish Media Service (JMS). Compiled and edited by Nama Frenkel, a program associate of the JMS, the 25-page guide — "Films for Children of All Ages" — de- scribes 90 films in 10 categories. From: Paste in old label Move Opposed JERUSALEM (ZINS) — Foreign Minister Yitzhak Shamir has issued a state- ment opposing the transfer of the prime minister's office to the Old City of Jerusalem. Shamir said such a move would have no practical significance and would only complicate Israel's diploma- tic relations with a number of countries. Similar views were ex- pressed by Zevulun Ham- mer of the National Reli- gious Party and by Moshe Dayan. NAME Effective Date • ,;