more than a year ago, when she told me that such were her thoughts; hence, I should have been quoted in this way: "I see her (choosing to be) a Hillel or chaplain rabbi. I'm not sure (given the fact that I CONTENTS I she's only in her third year of rabbinical school) that she has (fully developed) the self- confidence and drive, at least not yet, to be a congregational rabbi. (That may account for Continued on Page 10 SPECIAL REPORT The New Exodus GARY ROSENBLATT HELEN DAVIS ( OPINION I Can the Jewish state absorb a million Soviet Jews? Individual Involvement Is Needed On TV MARILYN DROZ Special to The Jewish News 2 T he myth of Jews con trolling the media is just that. We too often stand silent while TV shows negatively stereotype Jews. We assume that the Jewish defense agencies will take care of the problem, but there is strong evidence that we, in- dividually, must be more in- volved in the media, not less. Recently, The Jewish News carried a letter to the editor about a rock group that sings WTVS received fewer than 100 calls after "Days of Rage" and they were fairly evenly divided. the praises of anti-Semitism with a catchy tune. Too many parents ignore the evidence of research which points out how much teens are influenced by the music they listen to. Also, the ma- jority of children can easily repeat the lyrics of whatever they hear. We can't allow this kind of violation of our civil rights to continue. Look what Hitler was able to do without even having a song about Jews in the Top 40. A famous talk show host, Oprah Winfrey, had guests on her television show who claimed to have witnessed ritual killings by Jewish peo- ple. These remarks were not edited or challenged, even though the producers knew in advance the topics of the guests. People believe what they see on television. They take it for face value. Many of the people who later heard Ms. Winfrey apologize felt "the Jews" made her do it. WTVS aired "Days of Rage," a blatant piece of propaganda, Marilyn Droz of Farmington Hills is former director of the Council for Children's Television and Media and a full-time special education teacher in Royal Oak. and the calls they received in Detroit were fewer than 100 and fairly evenly divided. It was only through the hard work of a handful of people that the program "A Search for Solid Ground" was aired. The number of calls the sta- tioned received thanking them, or favorably commen- ting, was less than impressive. The saddest piece of negative stereotyping I have ever seen on television was on the popular "LA Law" show. In one episode, a very Chasidic-looking Jewish man was trying to cheat a retard- ed boy by highly overpricing the cost of a ring. Since when is it a Jewish value to cheat, especially someone less fortunate? There are more examples, but let's leave the fictional shows and look at the news. Have you ever been upset by how the news is slanted against Israel? Perhaps you, like many other viewers, don't realize how selective news staffs are on what is shown. When several Arabs were killed by the PLO for refusing to burn their Israeli work cards, it made a small, three- line item in the newspaper. Yet the news stations stress- ed how angry the Arabs were and showed them burning their cards. Next time you see unfair coverage on an issue, call or write. On all these examples, the networks did not receive the number of letters they ex- pected or should have receiv- ed. The networks were sent formal letters from several Jewish organizations, but very few letters from in- dividual viewers. While I cer- tainly don't want to downplay the importance of group ef- forts, we must support them with our telephone calls and letters. It only takes 30 seconds to call the stations and ask to speak to the programming departments. It takes just a few minutes to write a letter. This makes a difference when the stations "weigh" the let- ters and phone messages. We must never forget that we the viewers make the dif- ference. ❑ 24 FOCUS No More Nice Guy 45 ELIZABETH APPLEBAUM The JDO is sick of the meek. Now they're fighting back. FITNESS 57 45 A Tip A Day HOWARD ROSS 365 health hints will help you live longer. ENTERTAINMENT Southern Showgirl 65 STEVE HARTZ A former Detroiter warms up N. Miami Beach. EDUCATION 80 Carnival! UHS students and Soviet Jews enjoy a Jewish living event. SINGLE LIFE 3,000 And Counting 80 89 RICHARD PEARL Our People Connector maven has some helpful hints. 92 LIFESTYLES Heart Of Gold CARLA JEAN SCHWARTZ Volunteer Hope Silverman garners communal gold. DEPARTMENTS 32 41 51 52 58 77 Inside Washington Insight Community Synagogue Sports Fine Arts 86 94 97 98 102 • 126 Cooking Engagements Business Births Classified Ads Obituaries CANDLELIGHTING 89 Friday, February 23, 1990 5:57 p.m. Sabbath ends Feb. 24 6:59 p.m. THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS 7 ONTENT I LETTERS