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The University of Michigan Library provides access to these materials for educational and research purposes. These materials may be under copyright. If you decide to use any of these materials, you are responsible for making your own legal assessment and securing any necessary permission. If you have questions about the collection, please contact the Bentley Historical Library at bentley.ref@umich.edu

October 12, 1990 - Image 5

Resource type:
Text
Publication:
The Detroit Jewish News, 1990-10-12

Disclaimer: Computer generated plain text may have errors. Read more about this.

I UP FRONT

The Sun Belt Fluctuates
In New Jewish Population Totals

STAFF REPORT

S

ome Jewish corn-
munities in the South
and West have re-
ported significant fluctua-
tions in Jewish population in
1989 — both up and down —
compared with 1988 esti-
mates, according to the
American Jewish Com-
mittee's just-published an-
nual collection of local data.
The most dramatic shifts
are in the Miami-Dade
County region of Florida,
where the Jewish population
figure dipped by 12,000, and
in Dallas, Texas, where it
increased by nearly 10,000.
These demographic trends
emerge from the updated
population survey in the
1990 edition of the AJCom-
mittee's American Jewish
Year Book.
According to the authors of
the study, Miami-Dade
County dropped from a 1988
Jewish population estimate
of 238,000 to 226,000, a 5
percent decrease, as a result
of demographic trends in re-
cent years, such as an aging
population, an increase in
the number of non-Jewish
immigrants settling in Jew-

ish areas, and a preference
by Jewish newcomers to
Florida to locate further up
the coast in Broward and
Palm Beach counties. Dallas
raised its Jewish population
count by nearly 39 percent,
from 24,500 to 34,000,

Declines in Jewish
population have
occurred in some of
the older, medium
and small-sized
cities in the
Midwest, East and
Northeast

following a scientific survey
of the community.
The yearbook lists the
metro Detroit Jewish
population at 70,000, the
same as last year, although
the Detroit Jewish Welfare
Federation's demographic
study of the area, reported
last spring, put the figure at
96,000. Dr. Barry Kosmin,
director of the North Ameri-
can Jewish Data Bank and
top researcher on the

AJCommittee project, said
the Federation study results
came out after the book went
to press.
The yearbook did,
however, show 84,300 Jews
in Michigan, up 300 from
last year. But it was not
enough to change the
percentage of total popula-
tion (0.9 percent), because
the overall state population
also increased (from
9,145,000 to 9.2 million).
Regarding the several
other communities in the
yearbook in which the Jew-
ish population remained the
same as for 1988, Janice
Hyman, public relations co-
ordinator for the New York-
based AJCommittee said,
"It's a good bet when the
numbers remain the same
over a few years that the
Jewish population numbers
have not been updated.
"This is an estimate. It is
not a scientific survey. You
cannot count every Jew in
the area."
Dr. Kosmin said the
population figures are
"estimates based on local
knowledge and local data
collection. We don't have
procedures like the U.S. cen-

sus. They are guesstimates, I
guess you'd call them.
"There is no way to fine-
tune it year by year," he
said. "In the yearbook, nine
out of 10 of the figures will
be from the previous year.
We have to wait until the
local federation does a
survey."
When all those local esti-
mates are put together, the
yearbook found the total
Jewish population of the
United States in 1989 to be
about 5,941,000, hardly any

statistical change from the
.figure of 5.935 million re-
ported in 1988 and still rep-
resenting 2.5 percent of the
overall U.S. population.
The authors noted that the
renewal of large-scale Soviet
emigration that took place
in 1989 will be reflected in
next year's estimates.
The five states with the
largest Jewish populations,
in absolute numbers, are:
New York (1,844,000);
California (909,000); Florida
Continued on Page 10

Congregation Shaarey
Zedek.
The collection comprises
material of early Zionist vi-
sionaries, literary journals,
political tracts, theater,
poetry, fiction, history and
humor. Among the authors
are Shimon Frug, Joseph
Opatoshu, Sholem Asch,
Peretz Hirschbein and
Yisroel Zinberg.
The collection will be made
available to scholars
throughout the world via
computer.

Search, 97 Orchard Street,
New York, N.Y. 10002. To
receive a list of the more
than 1,000 persons already
identified as having lived at
97 Orchard Street from
1863-1935, enclose a self-
addressed, stamped
envelope.

ROUND UP

Ron The Mailman
To The Rescue

Just about everybody in
Oak Park knows Ron the
mailman. Ron Howell has
been working the route for
years, and he's come to the
aid of observant Jewish
families on more than one
occasion.
Just last week Ron — who
is even friendly to barking
dogs — averted a near crisis
when a neighborhood
family's sukkah was damag-
ed in the harsh winds. Under
Halachah, Jewish law, the
family was not permitted to
repair the sukkah during
the first two days of the holi-
day or on Shabbat.
"Ron came to the door and
asked if we were enjoying
our sukkah," said the
woman of the house. "We
had to tell him the top had
blown off.
"Right away, he put down
his mailbag and came to fix
our sukkah. We didn't even
ask him. He said, 'If it had
been my holiday, you would
have done it for me, too.'
"Ron is like that," she

said. "He asks about our
daughter in Israel and he's
always there in emergen-
cies, like calling doctors for
families on Shabbat. And
earlier this month, he wish-
ed my husband L'Shana
Tova (Happy New Year)."

Kibbutz Produces
A New Gas Mask

Jerusalem (JTA) — Among
the various creative enter-
prises that have started up
in Israel since the country
has been under threat of an
Iraqi attack is one by an Or-
thodox kibbutz producing
what could be considered a
sort of disposable gas mask.
Kibbutz Chofetz Chaim,
affiliated with Poalei
Agudat Yisrael, manufac-
tures various forms of
saturated disposable tissues,
like the American "Wash
and Dry," used for personal
hygiene and other cleaning
purposes.
Now, the kibbutz has
expanded its market to in-
clude tissues saturated with

a solution of sodium bicar-
bonate — baking soda —
which offers protection
against some forms of poison
gas.
Each tissue may be used
for 10 minutes.

WSU Acquires
Yiddish Books

The Wayne State Univer-
sity Library recently receiv-
ed a collection of some 1,800
Yiddish books — including

Museum Seeks
Former Residents

Yiddish novelist Joseph Opatoshu

works published in pre-
World War II Europe and
the United States — from

New York — The Lower
East Side Tenement Muse-
um is conducting a national
search campaign for the
former residents of 97 Or-
chard Street, where the mu-
seum is located, and their
descendants.
An estimated 10,000
residents lived at the ad-
dress.
Former residents of 97 Or-
chard Street should contact
the Lower East Side Tene-
ment Museum, Resident

Union Leader
Creates Program

New York (JTA) — Black
union leader Charles
Hughes, president of Local
372, which represents
23,000 board of education
employees, has established a
three-year, $45,000 scholar-
ship program for Ethiopian
Jews studying at Bar-Ilan
University.
The program is predicated
on a self-help concept that
expects students to maintain
a level of academic success,
support themselves to the
greatest extent possible and
volunteer hours to work for
the Ethiopian Jewish com-
munity.
Compiled by
Elizabeth Applebaum

THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

5

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