IUP FRONT
Leon Cohan Steps Down
From JCCouncil Helm
KIMBERLY LIFTON
Staff Writer
ewish Community Council Pre-
sident Leon Cohan steps away
from the podium this week
after three years in office, leaving "re-
energized leadership" and a blueprint
for the future.
Those who have worked with
Cohan say his dynamic leadership
skills strengthened the organization.
Before Cohan's term, they said, rela-
tions were tense between the Jewish
Welfare Federation and the Jewish
Community Council, an umbrella
organization for some 300 fraternal,
religious, social and community rela-
tions groups.
His co-workers also credit Cohan
for implementing the Council's first
strategic plan, improving relations
with the ethnic and non-Jewish com-
munities and opening his door to the
entire community.
"I am a vigorous advocate of the
community and am not afraid to
speak out," Cohan said. "We have
strengthened the relationship with
the Jewish Welfare Federation,
building on mutual respect and
recognition of the importance of each
agency to the other."
During his three years, Cohan led
the executive board through vigorous
changes. Most important, he said, the
board became a more noticeable ad-
vocate of the community and Jewish
interests.
Among the changes, new profes-
sional staffers were hired, and non-
active community members were
recruited for volunteer positions. The
Council established stronger rela-
tions as well with many ethnic, racial
411
The west face of Phase IV Jewish Federation Apartments.
HUD Commits $7.1 Million
For Federation Apartments
ALAN HITSKY
Associate Editor
ewish Federation Apartments
has received a $7.1 million
commitment from the U.S.
Department of Housing and Urban
Development to construct 150 apart-
ments east of its two buildings in Oak
Park.
Groundbreaking will be schedul-
ed for early summer and the
building is expected to be completed
in a year, said JFA Executive Direc-
tor Helen Naimark. The 150 new
units will house 170-180 residents.
HUD has mandated that JFA
establish a new waiting list for the
new building. JFA currently has 800
names on its lists for Prentis Federa-
tion Apartments in Oak Park and
Hechtman Federation Apartments in
West Bloomfield. Naimark estimates
j
the wait at these facilities at nine
months for a studio apartment and
five to six years for a one-bedroom
apartment.
The new building, known as
Phase IV, will be constructed east of
the Jewish Community Center
driveway, behind the two homes on 10
Mile located between the JFA and
Temple Emanu-El. JFA now owns the
homes; the former owner of one has
a life-time lease, and although the
other is vacant JFA has no plans for
its use.
JFA, the Jewish Center and the
Neighborhood Project have establish-
ed a campus committee to plan
changes at the 10 Mile site. The corn-
mittee will study site plans, locations
of driveways, landscaping, parking
and traffic patterns.
A second deck over the 1-696
Continued on Page 12
and other religious communities.
"In his three years, Leon Cohan
has brought the Jewish Community
Council to a new level of perfor-
mance," said Jewish Welfare Federa-
tion President Dr. Conrad Giles. "He
had the foresight to plan so that the
Jewish Community Council could
function into the 1990s and the next
century."
Cohan said he accomplished the
original goals he set three years ago.
But, he added, the JCCouncil still has
obstacles to overcome. The communi-
ty, he said, isn't adequately reaching
out to the non-Jewish community.
"We can't always look for ways to
separate ourselves," he said. "We need
to break down barriers and eliminate
sources of friction between the Jewish
community and blacks and Arabs. We
shouldn't look for ways to aggravate
tensions."
Cohan added that the Jewish
community has become too defensive
toward the media.
"Sometimes we view any story
that doesn't agree with our view as a
plot or a conspiracy. On occasion the
press is unfair, but we need to work
with the media in the positive rather
than adversarial sense."
And, he said, the Jewish com-
munity needs to recognize contribu-
tions to the community that aren't
monetary. Too often, he said, people
who donate time and effort don't get
credit for their contributions.
Cohan has received several
awards for his leadership skills, in-
cluding the 1987 National Associa-
tion for the Advancement of Colored
People-Detroit Branch's Judge Ira W.
Jayne Award, given annually to one
Continued on Page 12
ROUND UP
Israel To Limit
Granting Visas
Tel Aviv (JTA) — Israel will
soon initiate a drastic change
in its policy of granting visas
to Jews seeking to emigrate
from the Soviet Union. Effec-
tive shortly, they will be
issued only to those definite-
ly bound for Israel, the news
media reported over the
weekend.
Soviet Jews wishing to im-
migrate to countries other
than Israel presumably will
have to obtain visas from
those countries.
Premier Yitzhak Shamir
and Foreign Minister Shimon
Peres agreed on the change
because of the liberalization
of Soviet exit visa policies last
year and the soaring number
of dropouts — Soviet Jews
who settle in countries other
than Israel after leaving the
UUSR with Israeli visas.
Terms Reduced
For Terrorists
Jerusalem (JTA) — Three
members of a Jewish terrorist
underground serving life
sentences for crimes of
violence against Arabs had
their prison terms reduced to
15 years by President Chaim
Herzog May 20, before the
Shavuot holiday began.
Uzi Sharabaf, Shaul Nir
and Menachem Livni were
convicted of murder in 1985
for their part in an armed at-
tack on the Islamic Universi-
ty in Hebron. They have
already served about a third
of their reduced sentences.
They were among 80
prisoners, 26 of them lifers,
whose prison terms were
shortened by Herzog on the
occasion of Israel's 40th
anniversary.
Kosher Beef
Supply Ends
Monarch Packing Co., the
Detroit area's only local
source of kosher beef, is per-
manently closing both its
kosher and non-kosher
slaughtering lines today.
The only other slaughter-
house sanctioned by the
Council of Orthodox Rabbis of
Greater Detroit is Weiss Pack-
ing near Pittsburgh.
Rabbi Chaskell Grubner of
the Council of Orthodox Rab-
bis said the change should not
affect prices. The Council, he
said, is seeking additional
suppliers both locally and
nationally.
Stewart Gottlieb of
Monarch said, "It's been a
couple of rough years" for the
beef industry. Monarch, he
said, will continue to handle
"box meat" from other
sources, all non-kosher.
Soweto Official
Visits Israel
Jerusalem (JTA) — The
president of the Soweto Civic
Association is in Israel on an
official visit to determine
whether there has been a real
change in Israel's policy
toward South Africa.
Dr. Nhtato Motlana, one of
the most prominent black
South African leaders, is on a
seven-day visit as a guest of
the Israeli Foreign Ministry.
Upon his arrival May 20,
Motlana said that many
black South Africans are rais-
ing questions about the true
nature of relations between
Israel and the apartheid
regime in Pretoria.
The head of the Foreign
Ministry's South Africa desk,
Allon Liel, said that
Motlana's visit is part of a
new Israeli policy to reduce
ties with the government of
South Africa while improving
those with black South
Africans.
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
5