UP FRONT
Jewish Community Focus
Of Dependency Forum
KATIE ELSILA
Special to The Jewish News
RNS/Wide World
I
World Jewish Congress Vice President Isi Leibler affixed the mezuzah to the doorpost Feb. 13,
marking the opening of a Soviet government recognized Jewish cultural center in Moscow.
f you convince yourself that be-
cause your child or husband or
friend is Jewish, alcohol and
drugs can't be the reason for their
disturbing behavior, you may miss
your opportunity to help them;' says
Southfield Judge Stephen C. Cooper.
Renee Gerger, a clinical social
worker in West Bloomfield, agrees. "It
is becoming more and more clear that
the percentage of Jewish families that
are in need of treatment is on the in-
crease," she says.
"It is a misconception that only
people who don't do well or don't have
strong family ties fall into chemical
dependency:' says Gerger. "Alcohol
and other drugs, particularly cocaine,
are an increasing problem in the
Jewish Community. Cocaine use can
very quickly get out of control and,
without intending to, many people
have been known to have created ex-
. treme stress for themselves and their
families because of the need to con-
tinue using the drug."
In addition to her private practice,
Gerger is an intervention specialist at
Maplegrove Chemical Dependency
Treatment Center, an affiliate of
Henry Ford Hospital in West
Bloomfield.
Continued on Page 18
Hadassah Bone Marrow. Test To Feature Awareness Day
ALAN HITSKY
Associate Editor
T
he Detroit Jewish communi-
ty's third bone marrow blood
testing drive in the last six
months is being sposnored by the
Greater Detroit Chapter of Hadassah
on March 12.
Results of the March 12 testing
will be placed not only in the Na-
tional Bone Marrow Donor Registry
in the United States, but in the
Hadassah-Hebrew University
registry in Israel as well.
Last October, 350 Detroiters were
tested in search for a compatible bone
marrow donor for a person afflicted
with leukemia. A drive in August
sought donors for a second individual.
The results of both drives, partially
funded by the Life for Brandon Foun-
dation, were sent to the national
registry.
Hadassah is not able to fund the
March 12 testing. Mimi Markofsky,
one of the testing organizers with
Barbara Nusbaum and Dr. Elaine
Soleymani, said persons volunteering
to be tested will be asked to pay the
$50 test costs. Hadassah is
establishing a fund for donations to
help defray costs for those who can
not afford the full cost.
Hadassah, Congregation Shaarey
Zedek, Hillel Day School, United
Hebrew Schools, Yeshivat Akiva, the
National Conference of Synagogue
Youth and the Jewish Community
Center will sponsor a family
awareness day on March 5 at the JCC
in preparation for the March 12
testing. The program, from 2 to 4:30
p.m., will include Purim crafts and a
magician for children while adults
learn about the testing program and
bone marrow matching.
Persons who sign up at the March
5 program for the March 12 testing
will be able to complete their test
paperwork in advance and need less
time for their March 12 appointment.
The informational and entertainment
programs March 5 are scheduled on
a drop-in basis — it is not necessary
to stay through the entire afternoon.
"We need people to sign up in ad-
vance," said Markofsky. "We have to
make sure we have enough people
and testing materials to accom-
modate everyone." Appointments can
also be made by calling Hadassah,
357-2920 or 683-5030.
At the October testing, 50 persons
were turned away-because they arriv-
ed too late. The last appointment for
testing March 12 will be at 4 p.m. so
that the blood samples can be placed
on an afternoon flight to a testing
laboratory in New York.
Persons must be age 18-55 to be
tested. Those unable to be tested are
being asked to donate funds to the
program.
Bone marrow transplants have
been used to arrest aplastic anemia,
leukemia, Hodgkin's disease and lym-
phoma. But only one in 15,000 poten-
tial donors is a match.
Bone Marrow
Donor Found
Jerusalem — A 30-year-old Israeli
woman suffering from acute leukemia
has undergone a successful bone mar-
row transplant at the Hadassah-
Hebrew University Medical Center —
the first in which the bone marrow
donor was identified through Israel's
national registry.
The donor, Jonathan Reiss, 42, of
Kibbutz Machanayim, also became a
father on the day that specialists
withdrew marrow from his hip bone
to save the life of the leukemia victim.
ROUND UP
Florida Case
Nets $5.5 Million
Miami — What started as a
complaint about a veal chop
ended this week in the courts
with a Jewish businessman
ordered to pay a Florida
restaurant owner $5.5 million
for falsely accusing him of
anti-Semitism.
In its ruling, the Third
District Court of Appeals said
that defendent Arthur Green
had libeled and forced the
closing of Denis Rety's La
Belle Epoque restaurant in
Bay Harbor Islands.
The case began in
September 1982 when Green
overheard an acquaintance
complain that a veal chop was
too tough while dining at La
Bell Epoque. Green wrote Re-
ty about the incident, after
which the two engaged in a
phone conversation described
as heated.
Green later wrote a letter
accusing Rety of calling him
"a rotten, stinking Jew." He
did not send the letter to the
restaurant owner, but cir-
culated it among prominent
Jews in the community.
In less than a year, Rety's
restaurant was forced out of
business.
Ultra-Orthodox
Lambast Rushdie
Jerusalem (JTA) — Ultra-
Orthodox Jews have joined
Moslem clergy in Israel in de-
nouncing Salman Rushdie's
novel The Satanic Verses,
which will soon appear in
Israel in Hebrew translation.
Rabbi Avraham Ravitz,
Knesset member and leader
of the Degel HaTorah Party,
told the Knesset Education
Committee this week that
Rushdie had "abused the
freedom of expression to hurt
religious feelings of hundreds
of millions of Moslems
throughout the world."
Islamic fundamentalists
contend the book blasphemes
their faith.
Sheik
Mohammad
Hubeishi, the kadi or Moslem
religious judge, of Acre, warn-
ed that publication in Israel
of The Satanic Verses would
sour the "delicate relations"
between Jews and Arabs.
Keter, one of Israel's largest
publishing houses, announc-
ed this week it had contracted
to publish the book and is
seeking a translator.
Official Wants
Ladispoli Closed
Jerusalem (JTA) A Jewish
Agency official last week
demanded the closure of a
facility in Ladispoli, Italy,
where he said some 7,000
Soviet Jewish emigrants are
waiting for visas to the
United States.
Uri Gordon, head of the
Jewish Agency's aliyah
department, told a meeting of
the agency's board of gover-
nors that the facility "cost the
Jewish people $25,000 a day:'
How Do Chinese
Say Goo Goo?
Beijing — A top Israeli
gynecologist recently return-
ed from China, where he
discussed new developments
in helping infertile couples.
During his visit, Professor
Joseph Schenker met with
various Chinese physicians
and medical experts. They ex-
pressed great interest in his
talk, despite the fact that the
Chinese ask couples to have
no more than one child.
Schenker's trip paved the
way for further Chinese-
Israeli productions: The
Chinese will participate in an
upcoming Israeli conference
on test-tube babies.
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
5