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12
Friday, June 19, 1987
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
UP FRONT
Modern-Day Moses
Continued from preceding page
settle in Israel. He also felt
that the best people to com-
prise that link were ex-Soviet
Jews. "Our obligation is the
most direct and critical one.
For us it's our families and
our friends."
Maintaining
strong
communication with re-
fusenik families and activists
in the Soviet Union is the
primary focus of the SJEIC.
The group translates the
latest news from Russian into
Hebrew and English for dis-
tribution to the media: The
group also works with the
Knesset to heighten aware-
ness. " We are the Soviet
Jewry lobby par-excellence,"
Shtern boasted.
The Center functions on
a larger scale. Within ten
days of learning that the
summit between Reagan and
Gorbachev would be held in
Reykjavik, Iceland on Erev
Yom Kippor, a "major inter-
national operation" was
planned. The group organized
a minyan in front of the
building where the Soviet
delegation stayed. The sym-
bolic action showed the world
that even in a place devoid of
a single synagogue, on the
most holy Jewish holiday,
Jews would not be absent,
Shtern said.
Lachman noted the simi-
larity between his group and
the Detroit Soviet Jewry
Council (DSJC). The DSJC is
a 45-50 member committee
within the Jewish Commu-
nity Council whereas the
Friends of SJEIC has 450 ac-
tivists who do grassroots
work. Both groups, however,
recognize that the leading
role in the Soviet Jewry
movement must come from
the activists within and out-
side the Soviet Union.
Yuri Shtern
Lachman supported his
theory with the example, "
Imagine the effect of (a re-
fusenik) hearing an ex-Soviet
who put his head in the lion's
mouth. To hear a voice from
Jerusalem that's the inspira-
tion to them to keep them
from going crazy."
"We're not trying to take
over" the role of the DSJC,
he cautioned. "The most im-
portant thing we can do is
help Soviet Jews who have
chosen to become Israelis."
Similarly, Shtern fondly
calls SJEIC, "Soviet Jewry
Project Renewal. We're in the
community building
business."Concerned Ameri-
can Jews can take a personal
step by 'picking up paper and
pencil and writing a letter to
their congressmen, news-
paper or a refusenik," Shtern
suggested.
"I have a spiritual vision
of activism," Lachman ex-
plained. "The context of your
involvement should be some-
thing you do personally that
specifically affects someone
else on a personal level."
Church Panel Waters
Down Israel Position
Biloxi, Miss. (JTA) — A
compromise draft document
on Christian-Jewish relations
that recognizes Israel "geo-
politically" was passed here
last week by a committee of
the Presbyterian Church
(U.S.A.) holding its 199th
General Assembly.
Compromises came on the
document's backing of Israel
and a suggestion that Jews
should not be considered as
possible converts because of
an existing covenant with
God. In addition, the status
of the paper was downgraded
from "policy statement" to
"study document."
The changes also include
reference to obligations of the
Jews to the Palestinians as
told by the "Hebrew prophets."
Moreover, while acknowledg-
ing God's promise of a home-
land to the Jews, the docu-
ment rejects the notion that
.
this is fulfilled in the State of
Israel. It says, "The State of
Israel is a geopolitical entity
and is not to be validated
theologically."
The paper, "A Theological
Understanding of the Rela-
tionship Between Christians
and Jews," had been in
preparation by the church of
3.1 million members for six
years.
Opposition to the original
document came from Presby-
terians who have worked in
Arab countries, notably the
Rev. Benjamin Weir, who was
a hostage in Lebanon for 16
months and just completed a
term as leader of the
Presbyterian Church.
Weir told the assembly that
he would find it "very dif-
ficult to live with the paper"
if it included a section calling
Israel the promised land for
Jews.