UP FRONT I
Ann Arbor Emigres
Thank The Community
SUSAN LUDMER-GLIEBE
Special to The Jewish News
f the 50,000 Jewish
refugees who will be
allowed to emigrate
to the U.S. in 1990, approx-
imately two dozen will settle
in Ann Arbor. They'll be corn-
ing within the next few
months and most will be join-
ing friends and families.
"It's a lot for a small com-
munity like Ann Arbor," said
Martha Oleinick, ad-
ministrator at Beth Israel
Congregation. Ann Arbor has
just resettled five new
households who arrived since
October. (A family may con-
sist of two households,
especially if it contains three
generations as is often the
case.)
The Soviet Jewish com-
munity in Ann Arbor now
has 50 families, many of
whom came to the U.S. in the
late 1970s.
Unlike larger cities where
assistance for new Jewish
emigrees is often handled
through formal organizations,
Ann Arbor has used a dif-
ferent approach. In part, it's
a function of necessity. "We're
unique. We're trying to do this
all with volunteers," said
Helen Aminoff, who, since
1978, has been involved in
the resettlement process.
"It's all one-on-one,"
Aminoff said. Aminoff and a
half dozen other volunteers
are members of the Sov:et
Jewry Absorption Committee
of Ann Arbor which has been
instrumental in working with
Soviet Jews. The SJA has pro-
vided help with housing,
medical care, job referrals and
just about anything else
that's needed materially and
spiritually.
"As we have touched them
and their lives they have
touched us and ours," said
Aminoff. "We consider our
endeavors a labor of love."
Last Sunday, Ann Arbor's
Soviet Jewish community
thanked the community at
large. A dinner-dance was
held at Beth Israel Congrega-
tion. Two hundred people at-
tended and $5000 was raised
after expenses.
Aminoff said the money
will be used to assist in the
resettlement process. Aim Ar-
bor is also receiving money
for resettlement from HIAS
grants. The United Jewish
Continued on Page 12
Jennifer Chang, Nancy Li and Kevin Wong show their instruments to Ruth Caplan and Matilda Kraus at
Borman Hall on Jan. 29. The Jewish Home for Aged's day-long celebration of the Chinese New Year included a
kosher Chinese meal, fortune cookies, decorations, an ink drawing art project, and dances, music and a movie
from the Detroit Chinese Cultural Service Center.
Program Plays Musical Chairs
SUSAN GRANT
Staff Writer
R
epeated changes in
personnel have made
it difficult to get a
program for young teens off
the ground.
Since Teen Connection
was introduced in the
Detroit area by co-sponsors
B'nai B'rith Youth Organ-
ization and the Jewish
Community Center three
years ago, the program for
12- and 13-year-olds has
gone through six staff
changes.
"The change of staff has
been difficult," admits Arnie
Weiner, BBYO director who
supervises Teen Connection.
The program, which is
designed to get younger
teens interested in BBYO,
had two directors in the first
year, a three-month span
without a director, an
interim director and two di-
reCtors earlier this year.
Weiner would not comment
Continued on Page 12
discontinue its use on their
public forms," State Records
Manager and Forms Ad-
ministrator Bassett wrote to
State Sen. Jack Faxon.
Prompted by a letter from
Oak Park resident Phillip
Applebaum, Faxon last year
requested that the city
remove A.D. designations
from its documents.
Bassett said in his letter to
Faxon that as soon as ex-
isting state documents are
used up, the A.D. will be
removed from all future
printings.
Chodos said the Jesuit
magazine, Compass, deals
with issues like the Holo-
caust and social problems,
similar to those discussed at
his own temple.
For those who think a Jew
editing a Jesuit paper is a
fluke, Chodos points to this
historical parallel: The first
editor of Canada's earliest
Jewish publication, The
Jewish Times, was an Irish
Catholic.
ROUND UP
Catcher, Deenie
Top The List
Half of the 10 most fre-
quently challenged books in
public schools from 1982-
1989 were written by Jewish
authors.
Attacks on the Freedom To
Learn, issued by the Wash-
ington-based People for the
American Way, cites cases
in which parents object to
literature and other educa-
tional material.
The report noted that
among the books about
which parents voiced con-
cern are The Catcher in the
Rye by J.D. Salinger; Then
Again Maybe I Won't, For-
ever and Deenie by Judy
Blume; and A Light in the
Attic by Shel Silverstein.
Parents in Los Angeles
County, Calif., in 1989 filed
a complaint over Catcher in
the Rye, saying it was
"filthy." Parents registered
complaints with Blume's
novels for raising sexual
issues, while a Texas parent
said a poem in A Light in the
Attic exposes children to
suicide. In the poem, a little
girl threatens to die if her
parents don't buy her a
pony.
The report notes that com-
plaints were registered in 42
states, including four in
Michigan.
Ark,
/LIR FRANCE
EGYPTE ET SOUDAN
()C.:1Ung,
• 2S Ma; f. ■ :,';;;::
No.16
Israel Omitted
From Brochures
The Simon Wiesenthal
Center has uncovered a
widespread practice by some
of Europe's leading airlines
to omit references to Israel
in all their Middle East
publications.
In letters to officials at Air
France, Alitalia, Austrian
Air, British Air, Olympic,
Swissair and Scandinavian
Airlines, Wiesenthal Center
Associate Dean Rabbi
Abraham Cooper condemned
the "policy of systematically
deleting any references to
the State of Israel in the
timetables and maps
distributed to Middle East
airports and travel agencies
which serve the Arab
world."
The exception is Lufthan-
sa, the West German airline
that lists Tel Aviv in all its
timetables and includes
Air France:
A Middle East without Israel.
Israel in all its Middle East
maps, Wiesenthal officials
said.
State Drops
A.D. Listing
The State of Michigan has
agreed to drop the use of
A.D., the abbreviation for
Anno Domini meaning "In
the year of our lord (Jesus),"
from all public forms.
"After considering the
matter, it appears to be a
valid concern and this office
will prompt state agencies to
Where Jews And
Jesuits Mingle
Toronto (JTA) — One
would expect religious and
spiritual attributes in a man
who has been at the helm of
a major Canadian Jesuit
magazine for three years.
But one wouldn't expect
that Robert Chodos, the 42-
year-old editor of a magazine
published by the Jesuit
Center for Social Faith and
Justice, would be a member
of a Reform Jewish con-
gregation and a part-time
Hebrew teacher.
Booklet Describes
Violent Groups
New York — The Ameri-
can Jewish Committee is
offering free a new booklet
aimed at helping individuals
and organizations recognize
and deal with violent groups
like the "skinheads."
"Skinheads: Who They
Are and What To Do When
They Come to Town" traces
the history of the skinhead
groups from their beginn-
ings in England to their cur-
rent activities, ranging from
white supremacist literature
to more violent acts.
Compiled by
Elizabeth Applebaum
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
5