62 Friday, July 22, 1983 THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS Bar Mitzva -Vietnamese Style 1 NEW YORK — The Viet- namese food served earlier this summer at the Bar Mitzva of "Today" show producer Ron Steinman's son Paul was more than just an attempt to do something trendy. Paul Steinman's mother, Josephine, is a native of Vietnam who met her husband-to-be while he was on assignment for NBC News in Saigon during the Vietnam War. The couple married in Hong Kong and later came to the United States, where Josephine converted to Judaism, the New York Times reported in a recent feature story on the Bar Mitzva. According to Mrs. Stein- man, the Bar Mitzva pro- vided the family with a chance "to put on a party in one's own image." However, when the Steinman's de- cided to take care of all the preparations themselves, including the food, the Re- form synagogue where the event was to be held had second thoughts about the affair. Concessions were made by both sides and the party went on as planned, with Vietnamese recipes calling for pork or shellfish using beef or veal as a substitute. A dish calling for water buf- falo was eliminated from the Bar Mitzva menu. Black-Jewish Relations Tensing By RABBI MARC H. TANENBAUM Seven Arts Features NEW YORK — Black- Jewish relations, unhappily strained in recent years, may yet suffer further de- terioration unless states- men in both communities move swiftly to steer a wise, moderate course. The appointment by President Reagan of three new members of the U.S. Ci v il Rights Commission — foremost among them the distinguished Jewish leader and human rights advocate, Morris B. Abram — has been vigorously attacked by several prominent black KEEPING THE DREAM ALIVE By Don McEvoy LET'S LOOK AT THE RECORD M orris Abram is one of my "most admired human be- ings." He is one of the genuine heroes of Civil and Human Rights of this century. Morris Abram is, also, one of President Ronald Reagan's three nominees for the United States Com- mission on Civil Rights. As such, he is currently being scourged and scorned. Both the old liberal establishment and their too-young- to-remember colleagues have dragg- ed the pillory out in the public square and placed Abram on display. Someone had to step forward and put the record straight. Assuming this responsibility is Charles Wittens- tein, southern civil rights director of the Anti-Defamation League in Atlanta. As a young attorney, fresh out of Columbia Law School, Charles joined Morris Abram's firm in Georgia. He later served as the southern director of the American Jewish Committee, and for the past several years has continued his work for human decency and justice with the ADL. Few, if any, are as ... qualified as Wittenstein to rise to Morris Abram's defense. In a bylined article in the Atlanta Constitution, Charles writes that "suggestions that Morris Abram has not been an energetic, committed civil rights advocate and' activist more than make me bristle. They turn me, a mild-mannered man, into an arous- ed porcupine." He bristled at the offhand com- ment by Mayor Andrew Young that Abram was just a lawyer who got Martin Luther King out of jail on a traffic ticket." That jail was the max- imum security penitentiary in Reidsville, Georgia. The situation was so serious that Dr. King's wife and closest colleagues were fearful that he would be brutally beaten or murdered while behind those walls. Abram's intervention was decisive. It was Morris Abram who courageously led the 15-year-long battle against the notorious and discriminatory county-unit system in Georgia voting. That victory not only enfranchised all urban voters, but empowered blacks for the first time in statewide politics. It also made it possible, a few years later, for a young black minister named Andrew Young to successfully run for the US Congress. It was Morris Abram who took on the case of five young people, both black and white, in Sumter County and defended them against charges of sedition for conducting voter registration activities. .It was Morris Abram who helped raise millions of dollars and bring thousands of black young people into the mainstream of American life while serving as chairman of the United Negro College Fund. It was Morris Abram who headed a drive to raise a quarter of a million dollars to keep the Southern Chris- tian Leadership Conference afloat in the aftermath of the assassination of Martin Luther King. It was Morris Abram who was the chief architect of the United Nations Treaty outlawing all forms of racial discrimination. President Jimmy Carter first of- fered him a seat on the Civil Rights Commission. Those who applauded then should do so now, as well. leaders. While there are legitimate differences among Jews and others over whether the President's dismissal of commission members compromises the civil rights group's inde- pendence, anyone even re- motely familiar with Morris Abram's record of advocacy of civil and human rights causes could not but con- clude that he is a superb choice for that post. Nevertheless, Mayor An- drew Young of Atlanta and Georgia State Senator Ju- lian Bond chose to trivialize Abram's role in civil rights. Their statements were nothing less than outrage- ous, especially since they know better. Black-Jewish relations The Family of the Late will also be strained by the commemoration of Dr. Martin Luther King's March on Washington in August. The fact that the sponsors insensitively decided to schedule that event on a Saturday — the Shabat — and have invited pro-PLO groups to join in the march has offended many Jews. Add to that the possible presidential race of the Rev. Jesse Jackson — whose anti-Jewish and anti-Israel tirades scandalized Ameri- can Jewry — and you see how combustible black- Jewish relations could be- come unless tended to in- tensively by both responsi- ble black and Jewish lead- ers. LILLIAN FISHMAN Announces the un- veiling of a monument in her memory 11 a.m. Sunday, July 31, at He- brew Memorial Park. Rabbi Yolkut and Can- tor Adler will officiate. Relatives and friends are asked to attend. / The Family of the Late ROSE FOLTYN Brooklyn Hospice to Apply Grant to Training, Education By BEN GALLOB (Copyright 1983, JYA, Inc.) ated with terminally ill patients. Liss-Levinson said the Hospice Team provides services to patients in their homes, working in coopera- tion with the dying patient's family and doctor. He said the team services include nursing supervision; coor- dination of in-home and personal care servides; pain and symptom control; indi- vidual and family counsel- ing; social work services; pastoral care; volunteer home calls; telephone reas- surance and other volunteer service. Also provided is 24-hour, seven-day-a-week emergency coverage and bereavement services for up to one year after the victim's death. As to financing, he said the Brooklyn Hospice pro- gram has not been a direct recipient of any third-party reimbursement from its start. He said it had sur- vived through philan- thropic grants, grants from the Federation of Jewish Philanthropies, of which it is a beneficiary agency, do- nations and private fee charges. A sliding fee schedule is used, he de- clared, adding that the cur- rent fees "do not cover half our actual costs." But he added, no applicant "has or will be turned away because of inability to pay." He declared that the Community Fund grant, "while enabling us to offer a specific focussed consulta- tion and education service" to the three hospitals "is neither our sole means of support, nor our initial ef- forts in the area of consulta- tion and outreach." One of the few hospice programs developed in the United States under Jewish auspices, the Brooklyn Hospice of the Metropolitan Jewish Geriatric Center (MJGC), is using a $120,000 grant to expand an ongping education and training pro- gram for medical profes- sionals involved in treat- ment of the terminally ill. Hospice is the term for the concept that dying persons should have the opportunity to live out their final days in the familiar surroundings of their homes and in the presence of loved ones, in- stead of in such institutions as hospitals and nursing homes. Terminal patients need both medical and psycholog- ical care but hospice concept supporters contend that the costs of such treatment in a hospice setting are far lower than in a medical institu- tion. Dr. William S. Liss- Levinson, director of the Brooklyn Hospice, said the grant of $120,000 from the New York Commu- nity Trust was for five years. He said it enabled the Brooklyn Hospice to start an Educational and Consultation which — in addition to training med- ical personnel in the handling of terminally ill victims — also enables the Hospice to reach and help more such victims. Liss-Levinson said the Hospice contracted to work with three Brooklyn Hospi- tals — Lutheran Hsopital, Kingsbrook Jewish Medical Center and Coney Island Hospital. He said the train- ing of professionals at the Milton Hines had a popu- three hospitals involves lar children's show in De- nurses, doctors, chaplians troit for many years under and social workers associ- the name of Soupy Sales. "Over 65 years of traditional service in the Jewish community with dignity and understanding." HEBREW MEMORIAL CHAPEL Announces the un- veiling of a monument in her memory 11:30 a.m. Sunday, July 31, at Oakview Cemetery. Cantor Louis Klein will officiate. Relatives and friends are asked to attend. The Family of the Late BLANCHE KUTINSKY Announces the un- veiling of a monument in her memory 11 a.m. Sunday, July 31, at He- brew Memorial Park. Cantor Larry Vieder will officiate. Relatives and friends are asked to attend. The Family of the Late BESS WERNEY MILLS Announces the un- veiling of a monument in her memory 11 a.m., Sunday, July 31, at Machpelah Cemetery. Rabbi Steinger will of- ficiate. Relatives and friends are asked to attend. / The Family of the Late JULIA RING Announces the un- veiling of a monument in her memory 11 a.m. Sunday, July 31, at Machpelah Cemetery. Rabbi Rosenbaum will officiate. Relatives and friends are asked to attend. The Family of the Late JEROME WOLFSON Announces the un- veiling of a monument in his memory 1 p.m. Sunday, July 24, at Nusach H'Ari Cemet- ery. Relatives and friends are asked to attend. / 543.1622 SERVING ALL CEMETERIES 26640 GREENFIELD ROAD OAK PARK, MICHIGAN 48237 Alan H. Dorfman Funeral Director & Mgr.