•
BI 00111 BlOOM
•
PEOPLE
• Registered Electrologists •
Happy Outcasts
Come and let us remove your unwanted hair problem and improve your appearance.
Near 12 Mile Rd. bet. Evergreen & Southfield
Continued from preceding page
*‘‘
559-1969
Appt. Only. Ask For Shirlee or Debby
Course
offerings
begin
TIME C PLACE COURSE
7:30-8:30 p.m.
Oral Law $30
Rabbi Alon Tolwin
Mondays,
March 2-May 4
7:30-9:30 p.m.
This Is Not a How To Course...
But a Why To Course on Passover
and Shavt.rot $60
Ms. Marilyn
Finkelmon
Mondays,
March 2-May 4
8:30-9:30 p.m.
Salvation, Life After Death, Personal
Messiah - What Do Jews Believe? $30
Rabbi Alon Tolwin
Tuesdays,
March 3-May 5
10-11:30 a.m.
Beginner's Yiddish $45
Ms. Mary Koretz
Tuesdays,
March 3-May 5
12:15-1:30 p.m.
Basic Yiddish for Workers in a
Geriatric Setting $30
Ms. Mary Koretz
Wednesdays,
March 4-April 8
10:30-12 noon
A Reflection of Jewish History
Through Art $30
Ms. Sybil Mintz
Wednesdays,
March 4-April 29
7-8 p.m.
Nava Na Shiro: Let's Sing and Explore
Prayer Through Song $30
Mr. Irwin Weisberg
Wednesdays,
March 4-April 29
7:30-8:30 p.m.
Israeli Politics
Dr. Zvi Gitelman
Wednesdays,
March 4-April 29
8-9 p.m.
Midrash - Reading the Sources $30
Mr. Irwin Weisberg
Thursdays,
March 5-April 30
10:30 -12 noon
Advanced Beginner's Yiddish $45
Ms. Aliza Shevrin
Thursdays,
March 5-April 30
12:15 -1:30 p.m.
Lomir Shumuessn and Essn, "Let's
Converse and Eat Together" $30
Ms. Aliza Shevrin
Thursdays,
March 5-April 30
7-8 p.m.
Beginner's Yiddish 11 $30
Mr. Irwin Weisberg
Thursdays,
March 5-April 30
7-9 p.m.
Basic Hebrew Reading $60
Ms. Geri Levit
Thursdays,
March 5-May 14
7-9 p.m.
Biblical Culture and Thought $75
Dr. Tikva
Frymer-Kensky
Thursdays,
March 5-April 30
8-9 p.m.
So You Think You Can Write $30
Mr. Irwin Weisberg
Tuesdays,
March 10-31
7:30-8:30 p.m.
Adot Shalom
Synagogue
A Taste of Hebrew $15
Ms. Geri Levit
Tuesdays,
March 10-31
7:30-8:30 p.m.
Adat Shalom
Synagogue
A Taste of Yiddish $15
Ms. Rachel Kagan
Tuesdays,
March 10-31
7:30-8:30 p.m.
Adat Shalom
Synagogue
Israeli Culture - The Encounter with the New
Land from 1920 - 1987 (In Hebrew) $15
Dr. Abraham
Balaban
Tuesdays,
March 10-31
8:30-9:30 p.m.
Adat Shalom
Synagogue
Readings and Reflections of Amos Oz: A
Contemporary Voice of Modern Israel $15
Dr. Abraham
Balaban
Thursdays,
March 12,19,26
10-11:30 a.m.
Hadassah House
Understanding and Appreciating the Jewish
Life Cycle - An Original View $15
Dr. Joseph
Gutmann
2
MIDRASHA
21550 W 12 MI.RD.
•
- 12 MILE RD
„MILE RD
44
INSTRUCTOR
DATE
Mondays,
March 2-May 4
13 MILE RD .
-
at the Midrasha
$30-
Register at the Midrasha College of Jewish Studies
21550 West Twelve Mile Road,
Southfield
For further details call, 352-7117
Friday, February 20, 1987
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
Chairperson
Edwin Shifrin
Vice Chairperson
Matilda Rubin
President
Dr. Gerald A. Teller
Director
Renee Wohl
"There is a general lack of
intellectual freedom," says
Leonid. "It is really strange
that in the 20th Century, they
can take you to prison for read-
ing a book you are notsupposed
to read. A book," he adds "that
is very difficult to get. Most of
them are smuggled in by
tourists."
To be Jewish is to be even
more oppressed. "Officially
there is no anti-Semitism.
Every Soviet citizen is equal,"
says Leonid wryly. "The
reality is very different."
Religious practice is virtu-
ally impossible. Hebrew, offi-
cially classified as a dead lan-
guage, may not be formally
taught. Willingness to assimi-
late affords no protection
against discrimination, as the
ID papers issued to each citizen
at age 16 clearly state his na-
tionality.
Particularly disturbing to
the Makar-Limonovs was the
educational discrimination,
which had increased since they
were in school. Its implications
for Sergei, who was discover-
ing a growing interest in being
an observant Jew, were some-
thing they were not prepared
to tolerate. "It would be im-
possible to ensure his educa-
tion on a level he deserved,
even though I was well con-
nected," says his father.
The procedure for entrance
to Moscow University, for
example, was completely un-
fair for Jewish kids, "who were
given a more difficult oral
examination," he explains.
Some unjustifiably failed the
physical eXamination. Others
were foiled by evasive
bureaucracy, subjected to end-
less variations of: "You have
the wrong form. Come back
tomorrow."
"Olga's department," says
Leonid, "refused to discrimi-
nate against Jews. But it was
not so elsewhere."
"For a long time," agrees
Olga, "I did not want to emi-
grate, just because I liked what
I was doing and I had good
friends. I thought I could do a
good job for those who would
not be accepted (to the univer-
sity) otherwise. I felt I was
doing the right thing. But
when my son started growing
up and I would have to teach
him to go and lie, because
that's the only way to survive
." She shrugs expressively.
"That's not the kind of life you
want for your kids."
Eventually, after the death
of Olga's father and the great-
aunt who lived with them, the
Makar-Limanovs decided to
apply to leave.
There followed an anxious
and exacting 18 months.
Forewarned by others' experi-
ence and to avoid prejudicing
their chances of escape, "We
quit our jobs in advance," says
Leonid. "We didn't wait to be
fired. My job was considered
highly political because I was
connected to the publishing
business, my magazine par-
ticularly because it was for
young people. As a person who
wanted to emigrate from Rus-
sia, I could naturally only
poison the young generation.
Similarly Olga, because she
was working with the young."
Olga supported the family by
tutoring, conforming with the
legal requirement that one
parent must work. It was dif-
ficult for Leonid to supplement
their income by casual labor,
"Shopping took me
hours. You had to
make a choice!
When I had time, I
would go and read
the boxes."
since a change of occupation
could have invalidated their
exit application.
Twice during this period
Leonid was arrested and im-
prisoned by the KGB. With
four friends, he was picked up
on his way to a meeting follow-
ing the traditional Simhat
Torah demonstration to com-
memorate the Prisoners of
Zion. Imprisoned for ten days
in different cells, the five were
not badly treated by the other
inmates ("Mostly drunkards,"
he remembers,) or—by the reg-
ular police who had "no liking
for the KGB."
The second time he was
taken from his home. "Very
unpleasant," he recalls, "espe-
cially for Sergei." And more
frightening since, until his re-
lease 15 days later, he had no
idea why he was all about.
"I had planned on that day to
have a roundtable discussion
between the five of us who had
been in prison and an NBC
correspondent in Moscow," he
explains. "One of us had
pneumonia and I cancelled the
meeting and forgot about it.
The KGB had found out about
the meeting, but not about the
cancellation."
"It was bad, but it could have
been worse," he says, remem-
bering a non-Jewish friend
currently serving a seven-year
prison term for publishing in-
formation on educational dis-
crimination.
The warmth of the Jewish
community's welcome in De-
troit went a long way to com-
pensate for past tribulations.
The Makar-Limonovs re-
member with gratitude the
furnished apartment and
well-stocked refrigerator pro-
vided by the Jewish Family
Service and the warmth and
help of colleagues and
teachers.
Culture shock was less pro-
nounced for Leonid, who had
travelled professionally in the
West and who spoke good
English, thanks largely to his
mother who had taught