Allied Jewish Campaign Volunteer Forces Register
Record Conclusion, Concept of Unity Is Reaffirmed
An assembly of more than 900 volunteers, meeting Tuesday evening in the main sanctuary of Cong.
Shaarey Zedek, concluded months of solicitations for more than 60 causes and reaffirmed two principles
which have guided fund-raigng activities here for more than half-a-century. This was done through the
establishment of a new record for generosity and by demonstrating the unity of the Jewish community.
The projected total fund for the 1982-1983 Allied Jewish Campaign activities, including the separate
Israel Emergency Fund and Project Renewal campaigns, were announced as $21,122,467 by Jewish
Welfare Federation Executive Director Wayne L. Feinstein. The total is based on 17,986 pledges or 92
percent of last year's pledges. With eight percent of the pledges remaining to be called, the record total'
should rise even higher.
Campaign leaders tempered their congratulatory messages to the audience with the knowledge that
the Campaign achievement came in the midst of difficult economic times and many needs for the AJC-IEF
funds.
Chairman-elect Jack A. Robinson was introduced to the audience as 1984 chairman for the
Allied Jewish Campaign. He lauded the community and the Federation's professional staff for
their efforts, but added that the community is facing the challenge of needing "higher levels of
capacity giving."
"I promise to exceed our goals," he said. "I look forward to working with you in this noble came."
Robinson introduced the Campaign Division chairmen and co-chairmen who reported on their di-
vision's achievements: Alan E. Teitel, Mercantile; Paul D. Borman, Professional Service; Melvin Wallace,
Industrial and Automotive; Michael W. Maddin, Real Estate; George Tarnoff, Food and Services; Dr.
Marvin Siegel, Professional Health; Edward Gordon, Metropolitan; James A. Safran, Junior; and Marlene
(Continued on Page 10)
Shown at Tuesday's closing event for the 1983 Allied Jewish
Campaign are, from left, Jewish Welfare Federation Executive
Vice President George Zeltzer, Rabbi Irwin Groner of Cong.
Shaarey Zedek, Federation President Avern Cohn, folksinger
Theodore Bikel, Campaign Chairman Joel Tauber, 1984 Cam-
paign Chairman Jack Robinson, Federation Executive Director
Wayne Feinstein and Associate Executive Director Michael Be-
rke.
--
Tribute to Martyrs
an Admonition of
Duty to Assure
Knowledgeability
in Jewish Ranks
THE JEWISH NEWS
A Weekly Review
of Jewish Events
Gisi Fleischmann
Martyrology
at Highest Peak,
Perpetuating
Memory of
Noble Heroine
of Holocaust Era
Joan Campion's
Story on Page 64
Editorial, Page 4
Copyright © The Jewish News Publishing Co.
VOL. LXXXIII, No. 8
$15 Per Year: This Issue 35c
17515 W. Nine Mile, Suite 865, Southfield, Mich. 48075 424-8833
April 22, 1983
Four Israelis Leave Warsaw
After Wreath-Laying by PLO
Committee Raising Issue
of Public Dissent on Israel
By BORIS SMOLAR
—
Editor-in-Chief Emeritus, JTA
NEW YORK — A small group of 10 Jewish intellectuals — most of
them little known on the national American Jewish scene — have'now
embarked on forming an organization to fight certain policies of the
Israel government. The group calls itself
"The Committee of Concerned American
Jews." It has already started a national
campaign for membership and for tax de-
ductible contributions from an office in
Washington.
The group is especially opposed to
Israel's present policy with regard to the
West Bank which involves the projected.
autonomy for the Palestinian Arabs in
that area and in the Gaza Strip. Israel
committed itself in the Camp David
agreement to grant the Arab population
in these areas some form of autonomy and
is ready to move ahead with negotiations
(Continued on Page 6)
BORIS SMOLAR
JERUSALEM (JTA) — Four leaders of the Israeli delegation to the Warsaw Ghetto
memorial ceremonies have cut short their visit, angered that the Polish authorities failed to
prevent a Palestine Liberation Organization representative from laying a wreath at the
monument to the Warsaw Ghetto fighters. Israel Interior Minister Yosef Burg likened the
incident to the desecration of a grave.
But the 40 other members of the Israeli delegation remained in Poland to tour Nazi death
camp sites. They have demanded an apology from the Polish government which had given its
assurances that the PLO would be allowed no role whatever in the memorial tribute. The group
visited Treblinka on Wednesday, although Israel Radio reported from Warsaw that they would
boycott the official ceremony there as a sign of protest.
The four returning to Israel were Mayor Shlomo Lahat of Tel Aviv, Avner Shaky of
the Education Ministry, Hahn Kubersky of the Interior Ministry and David Rivlin of the
Foreign Ministry.
In its official note of protest, the Israeli delegation called the placing of a wreath by the PLO
on a monument to Jewish martyrs a "cynical act and a desecration of the memory of the victims"
of the Nazis. Lahat praised Polish hospitality but described the behavior of. the Polish
authorities in this matter as "cheating."
The Warsaw media has ignored the incident and there has been no official meeting between
the Israeli delegation and the authorities, Israel Radio reported. However, in unofficial contacts
with the Israelis, Polish officials explained that the PLO representative placed the wreath
Tuesday afternoon without the knowledge of the authorities. They said a PLO wreath laid on the
monument on the morning prior to the memorial ceremonies had been removed before the
ceremonies began.
(Continued on Page 14)
Patrilineal Descent and Splintered Jewry
By DR. IRVING GREENBERG
—
National Jewish Resource Center
On March 15, the Central Conference of American Rabbis (Reform) voted to declare
"that the child of (any) one Jewish parent is under the presumption of Jewish descent."
By an overwhelming margin (3-1), the collective voice of the American Reform Rabbinate
voted to abolish the distinction between matrilineal and patrilineal descent as a source of
Jewishness.
Adoption of the resolution is a triumph for ethics, feminism, sociology and
Americanism and a defeat for Halakha (Jewish law), Klal Yisrael (the totality of the
Jewish people) and respect for tradition. Above all it is a warning of stormy weather
ahead for Jewish unity and community.
There is less to the resolution than meets the eye. The resolution did not state
that a child of a Jewish father shall automatically be considered to be Jewish just
as the child of a Jewish mother is, according to Halakha. Rather, the resolution
stated, "This presumption (of Jewish descent) is to be established through
DR. IRVING GREENBERG
(Continued on Page 12)
Did the U.S. Promise
Syria Talks on Golan?
JERUSALEM (JTA) — Israel is seeking "clarification"
from the U.S. of a recent letter President Reagan sent to
President Hafez Assad of Syria, reportedly intimating that
Washington would include the return of the Golan Heights
to Syria on the agenda of broadened Middle East peace
negotiations based on United Nations Security Council
Resolution 242.
Israeli policymakers were not reassured by the asser-
tion of Administration officials that Reagan's message to
Assad contained nothing new and was no more than a
reiteration of longstanding American positions on the
(Continued on Page 15)