Uncle Shmuel Wants You
At HiHers Auction
KIMBERLY LIFTON
Staff Writer
U
ncle Shmuel wants you to be
as American as apple pie
(with yogurt) by joining a
Passover weight gain program on
Saturday at Hillel Day School's an-
nual fund-raising auction.
Auction goers will bid for more
than 500 items, including gift cer-
tificates for yogurt and ice cream for
Cindy's Sundae Lovers and shopping
sprees to help you gain weight at
Hillel Day School's 1989 Passover
candy sale.
Billed as the best political party
around, auction organizers hope to at-
tract at least 400 patrons to the event,
which begins at 8 p.m. at Hillel with
a silent auction. Auctioneer Dr. Con-
rad Giles, president of the Jewish
Welfare Federation of Metropolitan
Detroit, will take bids at 10 p.m. for
a live auction.
The silent auction includes a spot
on the Detroit Free Press book review
page, a day of sailing at the Great
Lakes Yacht Club, a one-day trip for
two to Atlantic City, a Florida golf
vacation, furniture, clothes, phones,
stereo equipment, sporting events
tickets, autographed Pistons basket-
balls and more.
Available on the live auction
block are such items as a heart
shaped diamond bracelet, diamond
earrings, a keyboard synthesizer, a
week at Space Camp, a fax machine,
a trip to Las Vegas, Red Wing hockey
tickets in a private suite with a Red
Wing jersey and an autographed
photo mural of team captain Steve
Yzerman, and the ultmate political
party with an hour of strolling guitar
and vocal musicians and a Dodge
Caravan.
On hand will be a few politicians,
who event chairperson Diane Lutz
says will "help Hillel campaign for
support?' Lutz says Hillel's auction
last year raised about $34,000 for its
general fund and Parent Teacher
Organization activities.
"We are playing on the political
season," Lutz says.
Memento posters which depict
Uncle Sam — or Uncle Shmuel —
with six-pointed stars on his hat with
the directive, "Do a mitzvah today"
will be for sale. A dessert buffet will
be served throughout the evening.
Her new job and country have been good to Svetlana Braun.
A Year Filled With Change
Has Suited Svetlana Braun
ALAN HITSKY
Associate Editor
vetlana Braun this week com-
pleted a busy year in the
United States. Changing coun-
tries, languages, families, homes and
professions seems to have been taken
in stride by Detroit's most famous
Soviet Jewish immigrant.
Svetlana arrived in Detroit last
Nov. 3 after a three-year battle wag-
ed by her attorney-husband Keith to
win her emigration from the Soviet
Union. Since then, the couple has
moved from an apartment in
Southfield to a home in West Bloom-
field, a move that prompted
Svetlana's decision to start a new
career.
"I didn't know (at the time) that
I will work in real estate," said
Svetlana. Although her training is in
engineering, she admitted that she
"didn't like it too much.
"I watched the woman selling our
home. When I saw an ad in the
newspaper, I took (real estate)
classes?'
Svetlana said her lack of strength
in written English presented a
challenge in the class. "I had to
translate every second word with my
dictionary."
She was not allowed to use the dic-
Continued on Page 20
ROUND UP
Keiss-Kunas
Will Emigrate
Soviet Jewry activists in
Detroit were informed this
week that the Keiss-Kuna
family of Leningrad received
permission Monday to
emigrate from the Soviet
Union. The family first ap-
plied 14 years ago.
Elana Keiss-Kuna, her hus-
band George, and their son
Andrei were adopted by the
Greater Detroit Chapter of
Hadassah and Congregation
Beth Shalom. Elana's sister,
Israel Philharmonic violinist
Anna Rosnovski, discussed
the family's plight when the
IPO visited Detroit in August.
According to Esther Adler of
Hadassah it will be two
months before the family
leaves the Soviet Union for
Israel.
Detroit Soviet Jewry ac-
tivists credit Adler with in-
volving violinist Isaac Stern
in the case. They say the
Keiss-Kuna release is signifi-
cant because Andrei, 18, was
scheduled to be drafted into
the Soviet Army.
Germans Rap
Shoah Studies
"If You Want More
`Holocaust Studies' in Your
Schools, Vote for Mike
Dukakis," reads a leaflet
distributed by the German
American National Political
Action Committee.
The Nov. 7 issue of the Na-
tion quotes Hans Schmidt,
chairman of the PAC, as say-
ing that a national Holocaust
studies program would not
"show both sides" of the story.
Schmidt argued that the
figure of six million victims
"distributed by the Holocaust
establishment is totally in-
vented."
The group did not endorse a
presidential candidate this
year but, said Schmidt, "As a
rule we stick to Republicans."
Hebrew Teachers
Face Dilemma
Moscow (JTA) — Hebrew
teachers and other Jewish ac-
tivists face a serious dilem-
ma, despite the more liberal
policies of Soviet leader
Mikhail Gorbahev.
At present, they are not
bothered by the Soviet
authorities. But they live in
constant fear of persecution,
harassment and even im-
prisonment, because Hebrew
teaching is not recognized as
an occupation in the USSR.
Consequently, those who
practice it are considered
jobless and unwilling to work.
That is a serious offense
under Soviet law, punishable
by long prison terms, said
Mikhail Chlenov, a veteran
Hebrew teacher.
Chlenov and his colleagues
are striving, so far without
success, to gain official
recognition for Hebrew
teachers. Official sanction
would remove one of the ma-
jor obstacles to revitalizing
Jewish cultural life in the
Soviet Union.
Waldheim
Protested
New York (JTA) — A New
York rabbi and Nazi-hunter
Beate Klarsfeld of Paris were
in Istanbul this week to pro-
test the planned reception of
Austrian President Kurt
Waldheim by Turkish Presi-
dent Kenan Evren.
Rabbi Avi Weiss of River-
dale, N.Y., said that he and
Klarsfeld would try to protest
at a dinner reception plann-
ed for Wednesday.
Weiss said the two would
try beforehand to present
Evren with the file on
Waldheim compiled by the
World Jewish Congress, in an
attempt to convince the
Turkish leader not to see the
Austrian president,
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
5