THIS ISSUE
SERVING DETROIT'S JEWISH COMMUNITY
DECEMBER 9, 1988 / 1 TEVET 5749
Super Sunday Leaders Optimistic
STAFF REPORT
Allied Jewish Campaign leaders
expressed optimism this week that
Detroit Jews will "rise above the
issue" of "Who is a Jew" and respond
generously on Sunday to the annual
Super Sunday phonathon.
"Our community has faced dif-
ficult challenges before," said Super
Sunday chairman Edie Mittenthal. "I
am sure that we will rise above this
issue?' She said representatives of all
segments of Judaism have volun-
teered to make the telephone calls
from the United Hebrew Schools
building. Super Sunday is the largest
phonathon effort of the year for the
Allied Jewish Campaign. More than
400 volunteers will try to reach
thousands of Detroiters for their 1989
pledge.
"We will be working for the
maintenance and enhancement of
Jewish institutions all over the
world," Mittenthal said. "We need to
speak out as one voice against disen-
franchisement and on Sunday we will
have the opportunity to do so?' Mit-
tenthal's co-chair, Howard Tapper,
called Super Sunday an opportunity
for unity.
The annual Allied Jewish Cam-
paign of the Jewish Welfare Federa-
tion of Detroit funds more than 60
agencies at home, overseas and in
Israel.
Larry Jackier is responsible Sun-
day for training the volunteer workers
and would have to deal with persons
who mght want to withhold contribu-
tions because of the "Who is a Jew"
issue in Israel. But Jackier sees
evidence of unity in the Detroit
Jewish community.
"This is an established communi-
ty, we've seen a lot, we are more
thoughtful than younger com-
munities and we don't have knee-jerk
reactions. We have encountered, at
least so far, no harsh objections
because of 'Who is a Jew?
"This community opposes vigo-
rously anything that may divide us,"
Jackier said. "We stand together. On
Sunday there will be Reform, Conser-
vative and Orthodox Jews working
together on the phones?'
Jewish institutions in Detroit
that are funded by the AJCampaign
are dealing with a growing number of
families and elderly persons in finan-
cial distress. More elderly and single-
parent families and the hidden
Jewish poor require services.
Campaign funding helped Jewish
Family Service offer more than 3,600
Detroit area families counseling and
other forms of assistance this year.
JFS has identified more than 350
Jewish families living at poverty
level, who are eligible to receive
federal grants to purchase food. Other
Jewish Family Service clients receive
emergency financial assistance, rent
subsidies, kosher Meals on Wheels
and other support services. With ris-
ing costs and a shifting economy, this
agency counts on increased Federa-
tion support.
Within the past year, 100 im-
migrants from the Soviet Union join-
ed their families in Detroit. Most of
the immigrants needed the services
of several Jewish agencies. It is an-
ticipated that 150 more Russian im-
migrants will be arriving in Detroit
during the next 12 months.
The Jewish Home for Aged has
waiting lists for its facilities — Bor-
man Hall, Prentis Manor and
Fleischman Residence — and is in
need of additional funding because of
low state Medicaid payments.
At Borman Hall and Prentis
Manor, 312 residents receive
specialized nursing care. For those
who are not private-pay, Medicaid
covers only a portion of the $75-per-
day cost for each resident. With the
increasing frailty of the Home's
residents and the need to subvent
recipients without financial means,
the Jewish community will be called
upon to give greater assistance.
Continued on Page 20
Arafat Says PNC
Recognizes Israel
The Palestinian National Council
has recognized Israel and renounced
terrorism, according to a joint state-
ment by Yassir Arafat and a group of
American Jews meeting in Sweden.
The statement came following a
meeting between Palestine Libera-
tion Organization chairman Arafat
and five American Jews in Stockholm
"for the purpose of trying to help the
peace process," one of the participants
said.
According to the text of the joint
statement (see box on page 18), ob-
tained by the Jewish Telegraphic
Agency, Arafat and the Jewish
delegation affirmed that the PNC's
declaration of independence in early
November both accepted the existence
of Israel and rejected and condemned
"terrorism in all its forms."
The joint statement also affirmed
that the PNC's declaration called for
a two-state solution of the disputes
between Israel and Palestine, agreed
to enter into peace negotiations on
the basis of U.N. Resolutions 242 and
Continued on Page 18
GOING PLACES
Hedonism whispers
`choose pleasure.'
Judaism calls on us
to 'choose life.' The two
are not synonymous.