I UP FRONT
Shlichim Seek Ways To Attract
New Immigrants To Israel
ELIZABETH APPLEBAUM
Features Editor
A
Glenn Triest
Dorothy Whitledge and her new neighbor Rose Mathis inspect their
new homes in the just opened Teitel Federation Apartments in Oak
Park. The new building has 149 units and will house 170-180 persons.
Yeshiva To Expand
Overcrowded School
SUSAN GRANT
Staff Writer
I
f all goes well, by next
fall Yeshiva Beth
Yehudah will no longer
have to turn offices into
classrooms at its Joseph
Tanenbaum School for Boys.
In April, the yeshiva plans
to demolish its Southfield
administrative office
building and begin construc-
tion on a $1 million,
11,800-square-foot addition
to its school. The new Rabbi
and Mrs. Moses Fischer
Memorial Wing is expected
to open in September.
Yeshiva Administrative
Director Rabbi E. B. Freed-
man said the existing
building, which houses the
Continued on Page 18
mira Dotan believes
aliyah is at a junction
of change. Zionist
organizations must be up-
dated, she said. Americans
must understand that Israel
is a state, not just another
Jewish community. And
Americans and Israelis must
begin to understand each
other.
"It's not just a question of
language," said Dotan, chair-
man of the World Zionist
Ogranization's delegation to
North America. She pointed
to support within the U.S.
Jewish community for allow-
ing Soviet Jews with Israeli
visas to settle in the United
States.
"To us, that's like a slap on
the face — physically and
emotionally."
Dotan was a participant in
the shlichim (emissary) con-
ference, held this week at
the Butzel Conference
Center and the Jewish
Community Center. Hun-
dreds of shlichim, men and
women sent by the Israeli
government to disseminate
information about Israel and
to recruit new olim (im-
migrants) to the country, at-
tended the conference.
Federation Executive Vice
President Robert Aronson
spoke before the shlichim,
discussing what he called
the principles of the
American Jewish communi-
ty. These included that no
Most younger Jews
"do not have the
same, strong
feelings about
Israel" as earlier
generations.
single voice speaks for all
American Jewry; that other
than giving support, U.S.
Jews offer no consensus on
Israel; that U.S. Jewry is not
like a pyramid with a single
group at the top, but rather
functions "as a mosaic, with
different groups interacting
and changing roles at
different times"; and that
the word "Zionist" attached
to organization names is no
longer necessary.
"The issue is not Israel,"
he said. "The issue is the
love of Israel."
Aronson also said that
most younger Jews "do not
have the same, strong feel-
ings about Israel" as earlier
generations. Instead, they
are interested in issues af-
fecting their local Jewish
community, he said. "The
concept of Israel is becoming
more and more distant for a
generation of American
Jews."
The power of the Jewish
community lies with the fed-
erations and their network
of social service agencies,
Aronson said. Increasing
numbers of Israel programs
are emanating from the fed-
eration, he said.
Following Aronson's talk,
the shlichim broke into
various groups hosted by
Federation leaders, local
rabbis, the Jewish Com-
munity Council and repre-
sentatives of Jewish schools,
the JCC, youth organiza-
tions and movements.
In a meeting with Rabbi
David Nelson of Beth
Shalom Synagogue,
Continued on Page 18
ROUND UP
Poet Yevtushenko
Makes Appeal
New York — Poet Yevgeny
Yevtushenko, author of
"Babi Yar," has joined with
a group of Jews in the Soviet
Union in an appeal to the
Supreme Soviet to condemn
anti-Semitism.
The move was prompted by
Soviet Jews' fear of growing
anti-Semitism, according to
the Student Struggle for
Soviet Jewry.
Adding their name to the
appeal were Moscow Rabbi
Adolf Shayevich; author
Victor Magidson, member of
the Anti-Zionist Committee;
and Mikhail Gluz, director of
the Mikhoels Jewish
Cultural Center in Moscow.
Ivan Bloch
Retains Sardi's
An item in the Dec. 1
Jewish News stated that
Detroiter and Broadway
producer Ivan Bloch had lost
ownership of Sardi's restau-
rant in Manhattan. Bloch, in
a statement to The Jewish
News, said this information
was incorrect.
"The fact is," Bloch wrote,
"I did not lose Sardi's nor am
I going to lose Sardi's, as an
agreement was signed by
myself and Vincent Sardi
settling our dispute."
The New York Times
reported in November that
Sardi had sued an ownership
group headed by Bloch
because monthly payments
were missed in April and
July after the debt was
restructured. The Bloch
group purchased Sardi's in
1986.
Detroiter Mandell Ber-
man, president of the Coun-
cil of Jewish Federations, is
an international chairman
of the International Jewish
Committee for Sepharad '92.
Will Holiday Make
Its (Postal) Mark?
The Jewish Folk Arts
Society of Washington is
spearheading a campaign for
Committee Cites
Sephardic Jewry
New York — Israel MM-
ister of Education Yitzhak
Navon has been named
founder and chairman of the
new International Jewish
Committee for Sepharad '92,
which is planning worldwide
events to commemorate the
500th anniversary of the ex-
pulsion of Jews from Spain.
Some of the events include
museum exhibitions, resto-
ration programs, films,
publications and tours to
Israel, Spain, Turkey and
Morocco.
Looking for the stamp of approval.
the first U.S. stamp to com-
memorate a Jewish celebra-
tion.
The society recently sub-
mitted a drawing,
"Chanukah, Freedom of
Religion," by graphic
designer Avrum. Ashery to
the U.S. Postal Stamp Ad-
visory Board. The board is
now considering the draw-
ing, designed to increase
U.S. awareness about
Chanukah.
New Jewish Books
For The Blind
New York (JTA) — Jackie
Mason, Ruth Westheimer
and Natan Sharansky are
among the authors whose
work is now available
through the Jewish Braille
Institute.
The institute recently
expanded its "Talking
Book" program, which pro-
vides free audio cassette
tapes of Jewish interest to
visually impaired American
Jews.
Among the titles recently
added to the institute's
library are Dr. Ruth's
autobiography All in a
Lifetime, Sharansky's Fear
No Evil and Mason's Jackie
For information, contact
Joanne Jahr, 110 E. 30th St.
New York, N.Y. 10016, (212)
889-2525.
Hey Yall, It's
Real Fine Music!
Houston (JTA) —
Mordechai Ben-David and
Moshe Yess probably don't
sell many albums in Texas,
but a local Jewish radio host
has made Houston the
unlikely scene of the First
Annual Mazel Tov Jewish
Music Awards.
Aaron Howard, who hosts
"Mazel Tov," Houston's only
Jewish radio program, re-
cently announced the
awards for some 24 Jewish
artists in 17 categories.
Among the awards: Best
Contemporary American
Jewish Recording, to Safam
for "A Brighter Day"; Best
Original Song, Instrumen-
tal, to Andy Statman for
"Flatbush Waltz"; Best
Spoken Word, to Elie Wiesel
for "Reading from his
Works" and Best Frum
(religious) Recording, to
Mordechai Ben-David for
"Just One Shabbos."
Compiled by
Elizabeth Applebaum
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
5