I UP FRONT

ALAN HITSKY

Associate Editor

T

wo teacher unions are nego-
tiating with Detroit area Jew-
ish schools on the eve of the
new academic year, but ad-
ministrators for both Hillel Day
School and Yeshivath Beth Yehyudah
expect little trouble in reaching
agreement with their teachers.
Hillel Executive Director Marcia
Fishman said this week that the
Hillel teachers are negotiating a new,
two-year contract. "I don't forsee any
problems," said Fishman. The

Hillel Day School and
Yeshivath Beth Yehudah
are bargaining on new
contracts with their
teacher units.

teachers and the Hillel administra-
tion agreed Tuesday night to set Sept.
6 as the first day of school. Hillel has
55 teachers.
The school has named its two
assistant principals as co-principals
for the next two years, replacing head-
master Rabbi Robert Abramson who
took a new position in New York as
director of education for the Conser-
vative movement. Dr. Mark Smiley
will head Hillel's Judaic studies pro-
gram and Mrs. Rochelle Iczkovitz will
direct general studies.
At Yeshivath Beth Yehudah, 40
Hebrew teachers are negotiating a
new contract. According to ad-
ministrator Rabbi E.B. (Bunny)
Freedman, "only a few outstanding
issues" separate the two sides. The

yeshivah's secular studies teachers
have a separate contract in force for
one more year.
Hebrew classes begin at the
yeshivah on Aug. 31, with secular
studies starting Sept. 7.
Temple Israel, with one of the
largest Jewish education programs in
the area — 1,600 students — will open
classes Sept. 14. The school has in-
dividual contracts with its 120
teachers and 80 aides and specialists.
Congregation Shaarey Zedek had
a turbulent year with ite teachers in
1987-88. The teachers were given pay
cuts after their contracts expired last
August, but both the Beth Hayeled
nursery school teachers and the
religious school teachers signed three-
year agreements with the congrega-
tion this year. The religious school
will begin classes Sept. 7-8. Beth
Hayeled starts the same week.
Yeshivat Akiva has individual
contracts with its 30-35 teachers. "We
notified the teachers at the end of the
last school year that there would be
a pay freeze, and the reasons for it,
and it was accepted without problem;'
said Akiva President Michael
Greenbaum.
Akiva, Yeshivath Beth Yehudah,
Hillel and United Hebrew Schools all
had budgetary problems last year and
raised tuition for the 1988-89 school
year. Akiva will open classes on Aug.
29 and United Hebrew classes will
begin Sept. 6.
Temple Beth El classes are
scheduled to begin Sept. 11 and Tem-
ple Emanu-El's classes start Aug. 30
for the Hebrew curriculum and Sept.
11 for the Sunday Jewish studies
curriculum.

Fe in bIatt/Med ia Images

Few Teacher Negotiations
As Schools Start New Year

Rev. Jimmy Swaggart and 350 of his followers visited Israel last week. Swaggart is shown
meeting with settlers in the Jewish town of Tekoa in the Gush Etsion bloc south of Jerusalem.
Swaggart told settlers the Arab uprising is "the devil's work." (Related story, Page 82)

Rabbi Aft Takes Over Helm
At UHS High And Midrasha

KIMBERLY LIFTON

Staff Writer

R

abbi Bruce Aft is optimistic
that declining enrollment
soon will be a problem of the
past for United Hebrew Schools.
With the help of UHS Director
Ofra Fisher, the new Community
Jewish High School principal and
director of the Midrasha hopes to suc-
cessfully implement an updated cur-
riculum next month which aims to
boost staff morale and attract more
students.
UHS officials blame a lack of
leadership and the trend of Jewish
families to move to the northwest
suburbs for the high school's enroll-

ment problems. Enrollment for the
upcoming school year is at 135.
"I hope to project the importance
of Jewish education through a lot of
personal contact," says Rabbi Aft, a
former college baseball player. "The
most difficult thing in playing
baseball is hitting the ball. And in
Judaism, it is reaching out to the high
school kids.
"Attitudes are just down, but we
plan to fix them," Rabbi Aft says.
"When we are winning, people will
want to be part of it. Enrollment is go-
ing to shoot way up."
Rabbi Aft wants to launch joint
programs for parents and children.
He also hopes to start outreach pro-
grams for youth groups, including

Continued on Page 12

ROUND UP

Last Chance
For Gasoline

Rochester, Wis. (JTA) — At
$1.77 a gallon, the average
price of gas in Israel isn't
cheap, but it's a bargain com-
pared to the $4.24 a gallon
drivers pay in Abidjian,
capital of the Ivory Coast.
Besides, Israelis looking for
a bargain can always drive a
little south — to Cairo, say,
where good neighbors help
keep the price of a gallon
down to a reasonable 58
cents.
According to a survey by
Runzheimer International, a
management consulting firm
based in Rochester, the
world's cheapest gas is found
in Caracas, Venezuela, at 16

cents a gallon. The most ex-
pensive is in Abidjan, follow-
ed closely by the $4.13 a
gallon drivers pay in Tokyo,
the world's most expensive
city.
The cold war, by the way, is
being won by the United
States — at least according to
gas prices. In New York, the
average price for a gallon of
full-service unleaded is $1.11.
In Moscow, full-service
superleaded will run you
$2.95 a gallon.

Jews Urged
To Back GOP

New Orleans (JTA) — Max
Fisher, the dean of Jewish
Republicans, made a personal

appeal to American Jews
from the podium of the
Republican National Conven-
tion Monday to end their
traditional support for
Democratic presidential
candidates.
"I say to you, my fellow
American Jews, come join
with me, and with this great
(Republican) political party
which shares your values, and
which has labored steadily to
earn your trust," Fisher said.

Israeli, Syrian
Exchange Words

Geneva (JTA) — The Syrian
delegate at the United Na-
tions headquarters here
sharply attacked Israel Mon-
day, accusing it of racism and

comparing Israel and Zionism
to the apartheid regime in
South Africa.
Addressiing the U.N. sub-
commission on human rights,
which is meeting to debate
the issue of racial discrimina-
tion, the Syrian delegate,
Sami Glaiel, claimed that
criteria of color, race and
religion were the pillars on
which both Israel and South
Africa were establisihed.
"Both egimes are odious
and constitute a crime
against humanity,"he
declared. He said that while
apartheid is aimed at the
slavery of blacks, Zionism is
aimed at the dispersion of
non-Jews and the usurpatin
of their land.
When the Israeli delegate,
Rafael Walden, rejected the

Syrian charges and declared
that Israel and Zionism are
not racist and cannot be link-
ed to South Africa, the Syrian
diplomat replied that the
United Nations already
adopted a resolution equating
Zionism with racism in 1975.

Jerusalem In
No Man's Land?

New York — Until recently,
the U.S. consulate in
Jerusalem has been a
diplomatic post without a
country.
According to the office of
Sen. Daniel Patrick
Moynihan, D.-N.y., the latest
edition of the diplomatic
phone book places Jerusalem
in Israel.

THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS 5

