Pi" FRONT
Detroiters Share Selves
During The Holiday Season
DAVID HOLZEL
Staff Writer
T
he whole idea is to share your-
self for the holidays?' ex-
plained Marcia Davis,
spokesman for the Holiday Project,
which will sponsor some 20 visits to
Detroit-area nursing homes during
the month of December.
The program, which operates year
round, goes into high gear during the
Chanukah and Christmas holidays,
according to Davis. Groups of 15 to 20
people will pay calls to seniors'
facilities, including Prentis Manor on
Dec. 20 and Borman Hall on Dec. 22.
The Holiday Project boasts a
volunteer force of 250, including
about 50 Jews, but more volunteers
are always needed, Davis emphasized.
Davis and her husband, Donald,
are enthusiastic about their work
with local elderly. "From these visits
have come, for us, year-round relation-
ships," she said.
She explained that they have
found elderly Jews scattered in
pockets outside northwest Detroit: on
Grand Boulevard and Jefferson
Avenue, for example. For these elder-
ly, who often have no relatives and
face almost hermetic isolation, a
Jewish visitor is a special blessing.
"One woman said to me, 'Can you
tell me if you can still go out and get
corned beef to eat?' " -Davis recalled,
emphasizing how cut off these Jews
are from the rest of the community.
Although the Holiday Project
visits Jews on most Jewish holidays,
the emphasis is on Chanukah, despite
its status as a minor holiday.
"Chanukah seems to be a big one pro-
bably because of the association with
Christmas?' she conceded.
Other organizations also sponsor
nursing home and hospital visits dur-
ing this season. A group from the
Jewish Welfare Federation's Young
Adult Division will visit Sinai
Hospital and Borman Hall on
Christmas Day. On the same day,
about 50 members of the Jewish War
Veterans' Green Post and Auxiliary
will visit the Veterans Administration
hospital in Battle Creek.
Jewish Vocational Service's Pro-
ject Outreach will sponsor a
Chanukah party for about 50 of its
elderly clients on Dec. 23 at the
Jewish Community Center's Jimmy
Prentis Morris branch. Project
Outreach volunteers will distribute
clothing at the party, according to
Rhoda Raderman, JVS assistent ex-
ecutive director. Project Outreach
stays in touch with isolated Detroit
Jews throughout the year.
Some local Jews will give their
gentile neighbors a respite on
Christmas Day. Six members of the
Ibmple Beth El Brotherhood will fill
in for non-Jewish staff at the Ronald
McDonald House at the Detroit
Medical Center on Dec. 25, allowing
the regulars to spend Christmas with
their families.
Marcia Davis asserted that
volunteers get more in return than
what they invest in time and energy.
Through volunteering, one can learn
much about oneself, she said. "You're
kind of reminded that you have a lot
that you can give?'
Those interested in volunteering
for the Holiday Project may call its
24-hour line, 585-8659.
Rabbi Spivak addresses an anti-missionary rally in Manhattan.
Rabbi Says Kids Lack
`Spiritual Nourishment'
LINDA ROMAN
Special to The Jewish News
R
abbi Yaakov Spivak, known
for his efforts in protecting
Jewish youth from mission-
aries and cults, spoke Nov. 30 at
the Jewish Community Center in
West Bloomfield.
Rabbi Spivak told the 50-member
audience that 43 percent of all cult
members in the United States are
Jewish, although Jews comprise on-
ly 21/2 percent of the nation's
population.
As the leader of Cong. Ayshel
Avraham in his home town of Monsey,
New York, the Orthodox rabbi
believes that Jewish youth are easy
prey for cult recruiters. "We take a
chance with our children," he said.
"We teach them to question intellec-
tual authority. We don't just give
them a set of catechisms and say,
`Memorize this: We provide them
with different viewpoints. We say,
`This rabbi interprets it this way and
that rabbi interprets it that way?
"The problem is that these kids
grow up in homes where they don't
get enough spiritual nourishment,
and they're looking for something.
The worst cult a kid can get into is the
cult of nihilism — nothing. And that's
what Jewish parents are raising their
children in."
Citing statistics compiled by the
Continued on Page 14
ROUND UP
Authority Push
Worries Jews.
Bonn (JTA) — A recent
crackdown by the East Ger-
man authorities on members
of the Zion Church in East
Berlin, a Protestant con-
gregation known for its sym-
pathy toward Jews, has arous-
ed concern in East Berlin's
small Jewish community.
But members of the com-
munity said that no action
has been taken against Jews
and there seems to be no im-
mediate threat.
Flak Feared
On Appointment
New York (JTA) — Orthodox
Jewish leaders in New York
responded with surprise to a
report in the Israeli
newspaper Haaretz that Or-
thodox Jewish circles in New
York oppose 'e appointment
of a woman ab Israel's consul
general in New York.
According to Haaretz,
Israel's Foreign Ministry
fears that such opposition can
foil the appointment of Col-
ette Avital to the post, which
is presently held by Moshe
Yegar.
A Sucessor
To Waldheim?
Vienna (JTA) — Leaders of
the Socialist Party and the
conservative Peoples Party
were reported this week to be
seriously discussing a possi-
ble sucessor to President Kurt
Waldheim should he be forc-
ed to resign before his term
expires.
Israel Asked
To Help Pollard
Washington — Anne
Henderson-Pollard's father,
Bernard Henderson, appealed
to Israel to intercede with the
U.S. government on his
daughter's behalf, the
Jerusalem Post reported.
Henderson-Pollard, serving
a five-year prison sentence for
illegally posessing classified
documents, is reportedly suf-
fering from a rare gastro-
intestinal illness which has
not been adequately treated
in prison.
"My daughter . . . through
medical malpractice or
negligence, is slowly and
painfully dying . . . " Hender-
son said in a cable to New
York lawyer Leon Charney.
The lawyer, now in Israel,pro-
mised to raise the issue with
the Israeli leadership.
Anti-Israel Unit's
Closure Mooted
Washington (JTA) — The
deputy chairman of the Anti-
Zionist Committee of the
Soviet Public refused Tuesday
to confirm reports that the
Kremlin is planning to dis-
band the anti-Israel pro-
paganda organ.
When asked if the reports
were true, Samuil Zivs, in
Washington for Soviet leader
Mikhail Gorbachev's summit
meeting with President
Reagan, chuckled and refus-
ed to comment.
But on Monday, Zivs told
the New York Times, "No
public organization can last
forever?'
Program Helps
Russian Olim
New York — Russian Jews
are able to leave in
significantly increased
numbers, but will they pick
up the option to go, and to
what destination? In order to
help many decide, a hi-tech
program called SATEC, has
been launched by former
refuseniks and western in-
vestors to make successful
careers in Israel possible in
1988 for Russian-Jewish
scientists and engineers.
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
7