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UP FRONT
SCA Buys Time To Settle Rift
By Delaying Meeting With Pope
IRA RIFKIN
Special to The Jewish News
looming confronta-
tion between Or-
thodox and non-
Orthodox members of the
Synagogue Council of
America (SCA) has been
temporarily averted by the
postponement of a scheduled
meeting at the Vatican bet-
ween Jewish leaders and
Pope John Paul II, it was
learned this week.
The conflict resolves
around the composition of
the SCA delegation that will
meet with the pope. At issue
is whether one SCA consti-
tuent agency has veto power
over a member of the delega-
tion chosen by another SCA
agency.
The SCA, founded in 1926,
serves as the spokesman for,
and coordinates policies of,
national rabbinical and lay
synagogue organizations of
Orthodox, Conservative and
Ira Rifkin. is an assistant
editor at our sister paper, the
Baltimore Jewish Times.
Reform branches of
Judaism.
At its core, the dispute
reflects the degree to which
the growing Orthodox ver-
sus non-Orthodox split has
impinged on Jewish com-
munal unity. But it is also a
measure of the SCA's con-
tinued ability to function as
a unified voice for the main-
The dispute reflects
the depth of
Orthodox and
non-Orthodox
polarization.
stream of American re-
ligious Judaism.
The Union of Orthodox
Jewish Congregations of
America and the Rabbinical
Council of America, the
SCA's two Orthodox mem-
ber agencies, are insistent
on the right of veto.
The four Conservative and
Reform congregational and
rabbinic SCA members
maintain that the SCA con-
stitution — which they ad-
mit is vaguely written —
does not give one agency a
say over another agency's
delegate selections. The
Conservative and Reform
agencies insist that a veto
may only be extended within
the SCA on policy
statements.
Rabbi Joel H. Zaiman, the
Conservative rabbi who is
the SCA president, said "you
can say there's a difference
of opinion in the Synagogue
Council over the cir-
cumstances in which an
agency can extend its veto."
The Vatican meeting,
originally set for Nov. 14-15,
is the first between the
Roman Catholic leader and
an official Jewish delegation
since 1987. It has been ten-
tatively rescheduled for Dec.
5-6.
The delay means it will
now follow the Orthodox
Union's Thanksgiving
weekend national conven-
tion, at which a new presi-
dent will be elected to suc-
ceed Sidney Kwestel, the
current OU leader.
Non-Orthodox SCA
leaders are hoping the new
OU president will be less an-
tagonistic toward the SCA
Pope John Paul:
Awaits meeting.
Seymour D. Reich:
Got the delay.
and willing to put the veto
issue aside, at least for now.
Mr. Kwestel, a New York
attorney, is against OU
membership in the SCA,
which he contends
sometimes advocates posi-
tions or takes actions that
compromise OU principles.
Non-Orthodox SCA officials
argue privately that Mr.
Kwestel has pushed the veto
issue at this time solely in
an attempt to split the SCA
along Orthodox and non-
Orthodox lines prior to the
end of his presidency. They
also insist that Mr. Kwestel
has acted without official
OU backing.
Mr. Kwestel denied that
he is attempting to derail
the SCA. Asked if he had of-
ficial OU backing, he said:
"we follow appropriate pro-
cedures whatever we do."
Rabbi Pinchas Stolper, the
OU executive director, said
"one must say that an
organization supports its
president. Has there been a
vote of the membership
about this? That's another
matter."
Rabbi Stolper declined to
elaborate. However, another
well-placed OU official, who
declined to be identified,
said that "it is very clear"
that Mr. Kwestel's stand
lacks official OU backing.
Continued on Page 20
ROUND UP
Israel Welcomes
100,000th Oleh
Jerusalem — Israel recent-
ly welcomed the 100,000th
Soviet Jewish immigrant for
1990. He is Isaac Krasilesik,
86, a shoemaker from Len-
ingrad.
Mr. Krasilesik wept for joy
as the plane landed in Israel,
where he said the
"Shehekiyanu" blessing.
Mr. Krasilesik is one of
thousands of Jewish elderly
ohm(immigrants) who will
receive state pensions from
Israel, though they have not
paid into the fund. (Soviet
emigrants must leave any
pension funding behind
when they receive exit
visas.)
Among those contributing
to Mr. Krasilesik's free
medical care is Shaare
Zedek hospital in Israel.
Shaare Zedek has recruited
numerous volunteers to help
with Soviet Jews' medical
needs, as well as helping
them find jobs, study Heb-
rew and enroll children in
schools.
One of the latest projects of
Elchanan Pels, director of
public relations at the
the universalism of human
rights, is on exhibit at the
Hebrew University's Harry
S. Truman Research In-
stitute for the Advancement
of Peace.
The six-meter-long banner,
attached to one of the
balconies facing the atrium
of the Truman Institute, was
the brainchild of Brazilian
artist Otavio Roth. Mr. Roth
was in Jerusalem earlier
this year as a guest of the
Truman Institute to conduct
a bridge-building art project
for Arab and Jewish youth.
hospital, is organizing a
used clothing depot where
immigrants may purchase
reasonably priced- apparel in
top quality.
Mazon Creates
Leland Grant
Houston — Mazon, a Jew-
ish response to hunger, has
established a $10,000 grant
in memory of U.S. Rep.
Mickey Leland, killed last
year in an airplane crash on
a relief mission to Ethiopia.
The first Mickey Leland
Memorial Grant was pre-
sented to the Houston Food
Bank. Among those present
at the ceremony was Rep.
Leland's widow, Alison
Walton Leland, and his
mother, Alice Rains.
Rep. Leland, who repre :
sented Houston's 18th
District, was chairman of
the House Select Committee
on Hunger and a member of
the Congressional Black
Caucus. A staunch advocate
of black-Jewish cooperation
and a strong supporter of
Israel, he established an an-
nual internship program
that sent 10 minority
The late Mickey Leland.
youngsters from Houston's
inner city to Israel for six
weeks each summer.
The Mickey Leland
Memorial Grant will be
awarded each year to a
Texas-based or international
nonprofit organization work-
ing to alleviate hunger.
Youth Give A Hand
To Peace Project
Jerusalem — A new work
of art, bearing the hand
prints of Jewish and Arab
children and proclaiming
In one of the workshops,
Jerusalem-area Jewish and
Arab children, aged 6 to 9,
dipped their hands into
various colors and left their
prints on a huge sheet of
paper handmade by Mr.
Roth. Mr. Roth later turned
the thumbs of the hands into
heads of birds, creating the
effect of a flight of doves, the
symbols of peace.
The inscription at the
bottom of the paper is a Heb-
rew and Arabic translation
of the first article of the
Universal Declaration of
Human Rights, adopted by
the United Nations in 1948.
The article reads, "All
human beings are born free
and equal in dignity and
rights. They are endowed
with reason and conscience
and should act toward one
another in a spirit of
brotherhood."
Telephone Links
Old, New Citizens
New York (JTA) — Ameri-
can volunteers can help new
Soviet immigrants improve
their knowledge of English
through the Telephone
Language Companion Pro-
gram introduced by the Jew-
ish Board of Family and
Children's Services.
Volunteers make a com-
mitment to call their assign-
ed partners three times a
week for at least five
minutes each call. They and
the immigrants agree to par-
ticipate in the project for
three months.
For information, call the
Jewish Board of Family and
Children's Services, (212)
582-9100, ext. 232.
Compiled by
Elizabeth Applebaum
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
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