70 Fritlay, -A0i1 - 0,1984 THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS NEWS Labor victory could derail settlements: Likud MK Woman wants feminist input Newark — An appeal to include the feminist perspective in Jewish- Christian dialogue was made to a blue ribbon panel of Christian scholars engaged in interreligious affairs. The feminist point of view must be heard if women are expected to take part in, and contribute to, Jewish- Christian dialogue, said Annette Daum, coordinator of the Department of Inter- religious Affairs for the Union of American Hebrew Congregations. Ms. Daum addressed the Judaica project Cincinnati — The He- brew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion (HUC-HIR) has launched a project that will make available curriculum re- source packages for in- structors in various areas of Judaica. The American Jewish Experience Curriculum Project has been funded with an initial grant of $100,000 from the Joseph and Ceil Mazer Endowment Fund. r Christian Study Group on Judaism and the Jewish People, formerly the Israel Study Group, sponsored by the National Conference of Christians and Jews. She said, "Interreligious dialogue as currently con- ducted can be described .. . as a dance, choreographed and performed by men — who control not only the steps, but the process, the content, the form and the focus." Ms. Daum was invited by the study group to discuss her recent article on Jewish-Christian Feminist Dialogue in the Union Sem- inary Quarterly Review. "Men have a vested inter- est in exclusivity, both theologically and institu- tionally," she declared. "The channels through which most Jewish- Christian dialogue now op- erate are very much part of an 'Old Boys' Network,' excluding both women and feminist •nterpretations," said Daum. The study group is com- prised of American Chris- tian scholars who meet semi-annually to discuss, study and write about Israel and the Jewish people. 1 To: The Jewish News 17515 W. 9 Mile Rd. Suite 865 Southfield, Mich. 48075-4491 The committee has ap- proved 11 new settlements during the past two weeks and Neeman is said to have several more on his agenda. But there are further obsta- cles to settlement building. Premier Yitzhak Shamir told representatives of the West Bank settlers this week that settlements will face the same budgetary constraints that apply to all other government activi- ties. JTS retreat New York — The Jewish Theological Seminary of America (JTA) will hold its initial Chancellor's Council Retreat here April 29-30. Speakers for the two-day event include JTS Chancel- lor Dr. Gershon D. Cohen and Dr. Robert Gordis. BORIS SMOLAR from Paste in old label IC: NAME Effective Date delay unimportant, spoke a day after a fierce argument erupted at a Settlement Committee meeting be- tween Science Minister Yuval Neeman of the Tehiya Party, acting chairman of the committee, and Laborite Raanan Weitz, a co-chairman. BETWEEN YOU & ME WM JUST L Jerusalem (JTA) — Ad- vocates of accelerated set- tlement building in the West Bank before the elec- tions apparently suffered a setback when it became ap- parent last week that the string of new settlements recently approved by the Government-World Zionist Organization Settlement Committee could not possi- bly get underway before Is- raelis go to the polls on July 23. Film star Barbra Streisand, right, gets a refresher course in Likud MK Benny Shalita science from neurobiologist Michal Schwartz, left, at the admitted this Thursday in a Weizmann Institute of Science during her recent visit to radio interview. He said Israel. Mrs. Sara Sela, wife of Weizmann President Dr. that the committee's deci- Michael Sela, looks on. sions were valid because they reflected the basic pol- icy of the government. But the actual building, he said, Gas weapons condemned will have to wait until after New York — Harold M. of the most dedicated and the elections. Settlement advocates are Jacobs, president of the Na- ruthless enemies sworn to concerned that if a Labor- tional Council of Young Is- the destruction of Israel." led government is voted into rael, has issued a call for office, Likud's program of "all civilized nations to con- massive settlements in the demn Iraq's reported use Negev water occupied territories will be and production of poison gas Tel Aviv (ZINS) — Prof. reversed. Labor Party pol- weapons." The Young Israel leader Aryeh Issar believes that icy calls for locating settle- cited "the horrifying specta- Israel will be able to turn ments on the basis of secu- cle of Germany, which last the Negev Desert into a rity needs and keeping used poison gas to murder garden because of the reser- them away from heavily millions of Jewish civilians voir of 70 billion cubic feet of Arab-populated areas. Shalita, who hopes a in World War II, selling fresh water deep below the Likud victory will make the poison gas technology to one sand. J COMMUNAL CURRENTS: There was a time — only a generation ago — when Jewish graduates from American universities entered into the various fields of social work ambitious to secure positions in federal, state and munici- pal services. They considered such positions prestigious, holding possibilities for a good career, and providing for a solid pension when retiring. They did not choose to go into "Jewish civil service," which offered the same, if not better, opportunities for advancement to executive posts. Non- Jewish graduates also preferred to look for positions in the government system rather than in voluntary social welfare organizations and institutions. There were exceptions. Jews who went into social work had no reason to regret it. They became pillars of Jewish communal life. In their executive positions they contrib- uted immensely to the development of organized Jewish communities and national organizations. Suffice it to cite Harry Lurie who, as executive head of the Council of Jewish Federations (CJF), strengthened Jewish communal life to a very great degree by upbuilding the CJF into the central organ it is today, directing and serving about 800 organized Jewish communities in the United States and Canada. Philip Bernstein, who succeeded him after his retire- ment, brought the Jewish federations to their present vigor and influence as the backbone of the entire communal system of American Jewry, with reverberations in Israel and other Jewish communities abroad. Dr. John Slawson, a prominent figure in Jewish social service who at one time served as president of the organiza- tion of Jewish social workers, has an enviable record of converting the American Jewish Committee — during the years of his service as executive vice president of the organ- ization — from a small group of notables into the large, democratic membership body it is today. He expanded the activities of the AJCommittee and directed it to great achievements, including the initiation of talks in the Vatican which eventually led to the issuance by the Ecumenical Council of its historic Declaration on Jews removing the age-old stigma that Jews are guilty for the crucifixion of Jesus and condemning anti-Semitism. Leading organizations and institutions of American Jewry were in great need of qualified, highly-educated staff members but met with difficulty in attracting them since government positions were wide open to them; also because most of the Jewish graduates who went into social work were not Jewishly motivated. Their indifference to Jewish communal interests was due to their lack of Jewish educa- tion and to their growing up in a home atmosphere in which no strong Jewish feelings prevailed. JEWISH IDEOLOGY: Times change. World War II, the Holocaust, the establishment of the State of Israel have created a generation of Jewish communal workers imbued by Jewish ideology. Many university students, after ob- taining degrees qualifying them as social workers, began consciously to seek careers in Jewish communal service. During the last years, when cuts were made in the Federal budget, particularly in the fields of social welfare, a number of Jewish social workers transferred to the field of Jewish social work. The growing postwar scope and complexity of the re- sponsibilities of the Jewish federations — and the greater sophistication of the services required — has compelled an increase in federation staffs. A Federation Executive Re- cruitment and Education Program (FEREP) was estab- lished which undertook to recruit young men and women of exceptional ability and Jewish commitment, with the potential for outstanding professional leadership. The FEREP provided a program of graduate education and training for the requirements of the Federations, in- tegrating Jewish studies and field service in federations and institutions financially supported by the federations. The CJF provided scholarship loans and grants. The FEREP also started an alternate-track program of recruit- ing and training people from professions and from middle management and executive positions in other fields who wished to transfer to careers in Jewish federations. A continuing education program for federation staff was also initiated by the CJF in 1979 by establishing a Philip Bernstein Training Center. The center endows this program financially. It conducts courses in various parts of the country which focus on Jewish community values and Jewish community organization, planning, fund-raising compaign techniques, professional and lay leadership rela- tionships and fiscal management.