LIFE IN ISRAEL Caltv- 47e2- (AA- ituarice.. wails -ro and fo you \Jay' 05 a . .t:ret- . IG--fk ... Sp m. -Fora gala celebration .. pF Our opemil_.- Ccrme6ez otiY wearable arfr Israel's Sephardi Chief Rabbi Speaks Out On U.S. Jewry handbag 3 cce6N)rie, 50-mel-i49 JOEL REBIBO . Jewel rc Special to The Jewish News and d;-Ffere:i4---- -fte ever.. crosswinds mall • orchard lake rood . e west blcomfield • (313) 737-1977 4, . . • LUPUS ERYTHEMATOSUS More people have it than know about it. Lupus Erythematosus affects an estimated 500.000 Americans. You can learn more about Lupus by writing r The Michigan Lupus Foundation 19001 E. Eight Mile Road East Detroit, Michigan 48021 ❑ Please send me information on Lupus. ❑ Id like to help in the fight against Lupus Name Address State City Amount Contributed zip All contributions are tax deductible. Four Winds Gallery and Tutavik present Legacy in Stone, carvings from the Canadian Arctic Now thru October 16 A major exhibition of the finest in contemporary Inuit sculpture. Four Winds Gallery 340 E. Maple, downtown Birmingham (313) 644-2150 erusalem — One of the most serious problems Ilill facing American Jewry is the growing number of women who end their mar- riages without a Jewish writ of divorce (get), says Israel's Sephardi chief rabbi, Morde- chai Eliahu. In a High Holy Day inter- view, the 56-year-old chief rab- bi, or Rishon Le-Zion (first in Zion) as he is called, also ex- pressed concern about Jewish education in the United States and about anti- Semitism, of which, he believes, Americans are not sufficiently aware. Rabbi Eliahu, who is fre- quently consulted by American rabbis and lay leaders, says that American Jews must emphasize to divorcing couples the need to obtain a Jewish divorce. According to Jewish law (halacha), women who remarry without a get are considered adulterers, and their future offspring are mamzerim. A mamzer is not allowed to marry most Jews, setting the stage for a serious rift in the next generation. "lb my great sorrow, the problem is getting worse by the day" he says. "It is caus- ing such heartbreak among young couples." Eliahu, who was ordained a rabbinical court judge at the age of 30, spends much time trying to help such couples. In one recent case, a newly 'observant woman wanted to marry a yeshiva student but the rabbi refused to perform the • ceremony when he learned that her mother had received only a civil divorce and had been remarried by a Reform rabbi. The yeshivah student's rabbi turned to Jerusalem for help. The case is still pending. Rabbi Eliahu was elected chief rabbi in 1983 by an "electoral" college of 80 rab- bis and 70 public represen- tatives (cabinet ministers, Knesset members and heads of local authorities). Rabbi Avraham Shapira, former head of Yeshivat Mercaz Harav, was elected Ashkenazi chief rabbi. Each serves a single 10-year term. Through his travels to the U.S. and his contacts with American Jewish leaders, Rabbi Eliahu feels that he Joel Rebibo is a writer who lives in Israel. Rabbi Mordechai Eliahu has a grasp of the problems facing U.S. Jewry. "Jewish education there — and I mean real Jewish educa- tion that instills the fear of God and the love of 'lbrah — is a serious problem. Living in a non-Jewish society is dif- ficult and parents have to be on their constant guard if they want to prevent assimilation," he says. As a matter of policy, Rab- bi Eliahu receives any Israeli seeking halachic or spiritual guidance, provided they have first visited their local rabbi. He feels just as obligated to be accessible to Diaspora Jewry, especially in cases when a community needs ob- jectivity to resolve a dispute. In one such case, a large Jewish community was at odds with its rabbi over his edict that they submit to AIDS testing before mar- riage. Young couples claimed that the requirement was an invasion of their privacy; moreover, a positive test, which could result from a blood transfusion, would un- justly brand them as homosexuals. The chief rabbi ruled in favor of the rabbi because the tests could save lives, but stipulated that they be done by aprivate doctor and that the results be given to the rabbi, not the parents. In general, American Jews aren't aware enough of anti- Semitism in the U.S., says Rabbi Eliahu. "They are too accepting of outer ap- pearances. If people say 'hello' nicely they take it at face value, but don't see what's hidden beneath the surface. Of course, there are righteous gentiles, but in general anti- Semitism is a problem." Still, the chief rabbi praises America's extraordinary generosity. "When there is hunger in the world or disease, the only country that consistently comes through with food and medicine is America. It doesn't make political calculations — Is the needy country friend or foe? — it gives." American Jews share that propensity for giving and helping one another, he adds. "They want a strong Jewish state here, and they do everything they can to help make • that happen. I met some Jews who didn't have a synagogue in their own com- munity, but they wanted to donate money to build one in a settlement here." _ Rabbi Eliahu was born in 1932 in the Old City of Jerusalem. His father was one of the city's great kab- balists, Rabbi Zalman Shlomo Eliahu. In the 1948 War of In- dependence, he served in an Israel Defense Forces brigade of yeshivah students. He was a dayan (rabbinical court judge) in Beersheba and Jerusalem before being ap- pointed in 1971 to the Rab- binical Supreme Court. In what seems to be a Sephardi quality, Rabbi Eliahu doesn't draw clear-cut distinctions between Or- thodox and secular. "Most people here are Dati (religious) by my definition," he says. "They eat kosher, they try to observe Shabbat, they visit the synagogue. Someone who doesn't believe in God wouldn't turn up at synagogue on Rosh Hashanah. "When I visit so-called non- religious settlements, the first thing people ask me for is synagogues, Torah scrolls, a rabbi. I'm not surprised. Whatever their outer ap- pearance, people want this for themselves and their children." Ban On Israeli Boxing Reduced Tel Aviv (JTA) The five-year ban on Israel Boxing Associa- tion participation in interna- tional tournaments has been reduced to one year, according to Yitzhak Ofke, chairman of the Israel Olypmics Committee. The ban was imposed after Israeli boxers competed in South Africa, which is boycot- ted by the International Box- ing Association because of its apartheid policies.