COMMUNITY
Local Teens Collect $432
For Operation Exodus
A Russian-born teen last
week made a donation to
Operation Exodus while
soliciting pledges from
American teens in a youth
campaign phonathon for the
rescue and resettlement of
Soviet Jews in Israel.
Thirty teen-agers secured
55 pledges totaling $432 in
the first-ever youth phona-
thon conducted under the
auspices of the Jewish
Welfare Federation's Allied
Jewish Campaign. Another
Operation Exodus youth
phonathon will take place
June 5 at the United Hebrew
Schools building.
The children and youth
campaign will distribute
more than 8,000 Operation
Exodus tzedaka boxes to
Jewish summer camps,
elementary-age children and
to participants in the Jewish
Experiences For Families
(JEFF) program. During the
summer, teens and their
organizations will plan a city-
wide Operation Exodus fund-
raiser for the fall.
On June 4, an Operation
Exodus gathering of major
donors and their adult
children will take place at
Knollwood Country Club
where author Leon Uris will
relate his experiences from a
trip to the Soviet Union.
The Jewish Welfare Federa-
tion's Young Adult Division
will have an Operation Ex-
odus fundraiser 7:30 p.m.
June 13 in the home of
Federation Past President
Joel and Shelley Tauber. The
dessert reception will feature
a talk by Tauber about his re-
cent visit to the Soviet Union.
Admission is by invitation to
contributors of $500 or more
to the 1990 Allied Jewish
Campaign.
At a YAD board of directors
gathering last week, the divi-
sion raised $77,768 for Opera-
tion Exodus.
Synagogues and organiza-
tions will contact their
members in phonathons at
the United Hebrew Schools
building 1-5 p.m. June 14 and
5-9 p.m. June 19 and 21.
Locally, more than $13
million has been raised for
Operation Exodus. "It's the
largest response we've had to
any appeal outside of the
regular Allied Jewish Cam-
paign," said Campaign direc-
tor Allan Gelfond. "More in-
dividuals have responded
than ever before to a special
appeal."
Contributors of $5,000 or
more (including an Operation
Exodus gift) to the 1991 Cam-
paign are eligible to par-
ticipate in the Exodus Mis-
sion Sept. 5-16. Three pre-
mission options — to Poland,
Hungary or Russia — and an
Israel-only trip will be of-
fered. Each of the pre-mission
groups will convene in Israel
for a combined celebration
and to see the absorption of
Soviet Jews first hand.
Annual JARC Meeting Hosts
TV Producer Braverman
Michael Braverman, ex-
ecutive producer and creator
of ABC's drama series "Life
Goes On," will speak at
JARC's annual meeting and
election of officers 7:30 p.m.
June 14 at Congregation
Beth Abraham Hillel Moses.
Braverman's groundbreak-
ing show about the Thatcher
family is the first prime-time
series to feature an on-going
actor with Down's syndrome.
The character is the teen-age
son Corky, played by
Christopher Burke.
Braverman will receive the
JARC Humanitarian Award
for his belief in the abilities
of people with developmental
disabilities.
JARC president Cheryl
Guyer is slated for a second
one-year term. Other officers
include vice presidents
Eugene Mondry, Barbara
Nusbaum and Michael Pitt;
secretary Nora Barron;
treasurer Rob Kaplow.
Directors nominated for an
additional three-year term
are Nora Barron, David
Frank, Arthur Horwitz, Nan-
cy Jacobson, Robert Kaplow,
Eugene Mondry, Jiy
Richman, Judy Richmond,
Beverly Talan.
Nominated for a first three-
year term are Arthur Berlin,
Harriet Gelfond, Michael
Kramer, James Zack.
Continuing board members
are Rabbi Bruce Aft, Marvin
Aronovitz, Penny Blumens-
tein, Marilyn Brose, Annie
Cohen, I. William Cohen,
Paul Feinberg, Irving L.
Goldman, Nancy Grosfeld,
Seymour Greenstein, Rita
Haddow, Evva Hepner, H.
John Jacob, Joel Jacob, Lois
Katzman, Sally Krugel, Ellen
Labes.
Aditional board members
are Dan Medow, Susan Pap-
pas, Donna Pearlman, Rhoda
Raderman, Jack Schechter,
Alan Stuart Schwartz, Joel
Shere, Richard E. Smitt, Gail
Stewart, Charlotte Tessler,
Richard Turel, Donald
Wagner and DeDe Weinberg.
Past presidents include
Sharon Alterman, Harry
Berlin, Morton Collins,
Michael Feldman, Meyer
Pearlman, Ronald Stone, Nor-
man Wachler.
State Senator Doug Cruce
will receive the JARC Civil
Rights Award for his advocacy
in the Michigan Legislature
on behalf of persons with
developmental disabilities.
A sign language interpreter
will be provided. For informa-
tion, call JARC, 352-5272.
B'nai B'rith To Open
Thrift Shop in Redford
SUSAN GRANT
Staff Writer
A
fter more than 20
years of doing busi-
ness in Oak Park,
B'nai B'rith Womens' Coun-
cil is moving its thrift shop
to Redford Township.
The council closed its thrift
shop on Coolidge Road, just
south of Nine Mile Road, for
good this week after 10 years
of selling used clothes and
other merchandise at the
location. The organization
first opened its thrift shop in
a Nine Mile Road building
near Scotia 20 years ago.
Volunteers spent this
week moving items in prep-
aration for today's opening
of the Council's new store on
Plymouth Road in Redford
Township.
Helen Tatarka, council's
thrift shop chairman, said
the shop was forced to move
when the rent was increased
by $400 a month.
The council had planned to
stay in the store for a long
time, she said.
"We feel very bad that we
have to move out."
Ronit Reger, second from left, gets encouragement at the Operation
Exodus youth campaign phonathon from Rabbi Bruce Aft, Sheri Schiff,
and Cheryl Litt.
The Event' Will Help
Disabled Community
SUSAN WDMER-GLIEBE
Special to The Jewish News
0
rganizers are calling
it "The Event" and it
promises to be major,
a mixture of politics and net-
working, entertainment and
enlightenment.
Fifty-five organizations,
ranging from the Alliance for
the Mentally Ill to United
Cerebal Palsy of Michigan,
have been involved in the
planning.
Between 600 and 1,000 per-
sons are expected to descend
upon the state capital on
June 4-5 to attend a series of
activities for the disabled.
There will be workshops on
issues such as self-defense
and assistive technology,
meetings with legislators, a
rally and even a dance.
"I think that the most im-
portant thing to come out of
The Event will be to show
ourselves and others that
there is strength in numbers,
that strength comes with uni-
ty," explains Marsha Katz
Johnson, 44, associate ex-
ecutive director of the
Washtenaw Association for
Retarded Citizens. Johnson
will be leading a workshop on
"Supplemental Security In-
come and Social Security
Disability Insurance." "It's
not one of the 'sexy' issues,"
admits Johnson, "but it's
about survivability."
Irving Zola, a professor of
sociology at Brandeis Univer-
sity, will be keynote speaker.
He is known in the disabled
community for his expertise
in disability rights. He's also
reknowned for his writings.
He wrote a speech for the
Society of Disability Studies
on "How's Your Sex Life
Ellery Queen?: The Portrayal
of Disability in the Crime
Mystery Genre." He also
wrote an article for a disabili-
ty magazine titled "Posing in
Playboy — A Step Forwards or
Backwards in Portraying
Disability?"
Zola's talk on June 4 won't
be on centerfolds. He will
discuss aging. "In the past
people thought that the
issues of the aged and the
disabled communities were at
odds with one another," says
Zola. "I am arguing that we
no longer have the luxury of
thinking that way.
Demographic and other fac-
tors show us that they have
much in common."
Zola's involvement in han-
dicap concerns is professional
and personal. Before his 16th
birthday he contracted polio.
He uses braces and canes to
walk.
His academic background
includes considerable scholar-
ship on minority groups but
it was with the women's
movement and its emphasis
on the "personal being
political" that Zola "came
out." "All of a sudden it dawn-
ed on me that I was a member
of a minority group," he said,
"the disabled community."
It's a community that has
increased its visibility over
the past decade. "There's an
audience," Zola says. At least
that's been his experience
teaching health care and
disability issues to
students.
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THEDETROIT JEWISH NEWS
47