UP FRONT
L.A. Jews Rush To Aid,
Reappraise Their City
Despite at least one death, Los Angeles Jews
largely escaped the full brunt of the rioting that
followed the Rodney King verdict.
TOM TUGEND
Special to The Jewish News
L
ast Sunday morning,
70 members of Temple
Israel of Hollywood
drove past torched buildings,
smashed storefronts and
armed National Guardsmen
to the Messiah Baptist
Church in South Central Los
Angeles to deliver
truckloads of clothing and
food to the black congrega-
tion and to join it in an emo-
tional solidarity service.
At the same time, another
70 Temple Israel volunteers
were wielding shovels and
brooms to clean up the riot-
caused rubble along
Hollywood Boulevard, about
a mile far from the site of
their synagogue.
Similar efforts were made
- by half-a-dozen, mainly
Reform, Los Angeles syn-
agogues in hastily organized
_: and almost instinctive re-
sponses to the suffering left
behind by 60 hours of arson,
looting and murder trig-
gered by the acquittal of four
white police officers in the
beating of black motorist
Rodney King.
After three nights of dusk-
to-dawn curfew, the 600,000
Jews of metropolitan Los
Angeles, like their fellow
citizens, struggled this week
to put together the pieces of
a city that days earlier view-
ed itself —naively, it turns
Jewish leaders
were virtually
unanimous in
condeming the
acquittal of the four
white policeman.
out — as a model of multi-
ethnic harmony, but now is
being described as more akin
to Beirut.
Besides participating in
relief efforts, most of the
city's mainstream Jewish
organizations have joined in
demanding action by the
U.S. Department of Justice
in the King case and urging
passage of a far-reaching
reform plan for the Los
Angeles Police Department.
The measure is on the
California June 2 primary
ballot.
Across the board, Los
Angeles Jewish groups
criticized the jury verdict
rendered in the King trial.
The comments of regional
American Jewish Congress
executive director Rabbi
Laura Geller were typical.
Jews, she said, "join all
those in the Los Angeles
community who are shocked
and angered by the stunning
verdict. We join in the
outrage and frustration in
the wake of the verdict."
About 100 Jewish commu-
nal and institutional leaders
met Monday in an emergen-
cy session to exchange in-
formation and chart the
Jewish community's re-
sponse to the violence. As a
result of the rioting, nearly
60 people died, 3,328 were
injured, more than 10,000
were arrested. Damage from
6,405 reported fires and
countless looting incidents
was estimated at more than
Volunteers clean up riot caused rubble.
-
$750 million. Some 8,400
businesses were burned out.
Their response was to put
together an immediate ac-
tion project to get large
quantities of food to people
living within the riot area,
and to give the aid a visible
Jewish presence and im-
print. Speakers also urged
an outreach program to the
300,000-strong Korean
community, which was
heavily maligned and vic-
timized during the riots.
The Jewish leaders also
noted that the economic and
psychological root causes of
the civil strife will have to be
addressed after the immedi-
ate emergencies have been
met.
Despite the grim statistics,
however, the Jewish com-
Fifth Ave., Suite 1007, New
York, N.Y. 10010, or call
(212) 255-6144.
discovered a home away
from home.
For information, contact
Elaine Frayne, (609) 348-
7040.
ROUND UP
Jewish Journal
Prints Final Issue
Search: The International
Journal for Researchers of
Jewish Genealogy, has just
printed its final issue.
"Some of those most close-
ly associated with Search
have developed additional
demands on their time, tal-
ents and energies," writes
Alan Spencer, Search editor.
The journal, based in Nor-
thbrook, Ill., published for
more than 10 years before
folding.
Anti-Semitic 'Hood'
Removed From Radio
Amsterdam (JTA) — An
anti-Semitic song version of
Little Red Riding Hood was
removed from a compact disc
and the recording artist
apologized — but not before
it soared to No. 3 on the list
of the top 10 hits.
The song was called "Joods
Kapje," "Little Jewish
Riding Hood." In it, the
grandmother is filthy rich
and has a large hooked nose.
A complaint lodged by
CIDI, the Center for Infor-
mation and Documentation
on Israel, got the song
withdrawn. According to
spokesman Ronny Naf-
taniel, the same CD contain-
ed other anti-Semitic in-
nuendos but the organiza-
tion decided not to press the
matter.
Jewish History
Written In Russian
The Shvut Ami Interna-
tional Center for Soviet Jews
recently published Jewish
history books written in
modern Russian.
It marks the first time
Jewish history books written
in Russian have been
published since the
Bolshevik Revolution.
The History of the Jews, by
Dr. Moshe Auerbach, was
translated by the Jerusalem-
Here's the story, comrade.
based Shvut Ami for,
distribution to Russian im-
migrants in Israel and North
America. The organization
also has published the first
Russian-language kosher
cookbook and philosophical
works by modern-day schol-
ars including Rabbi Joseph
Soloveitchik and Rabbi
Norman Lamm.
For information, contact
Morris Jacobs, c/o American
Friends of Shvut Ami, 156
Does This Camp
Bring Back
Memories?
The countless Jewish
soldiers who passed through
Camp Boardwalk, during
World War II the largest
civilian/military base in the
country, are about to have
the chance to take a sen-
timental journey.
Camp Boardwalk, in
Atlantic City, N.J., is
preparing for its 50th an-
niversary with a gala
celebration at the Mery
Griffin Resorts Hotel and
Casino May 31 through June
2.
The event will feature a
banquet and entertainment
and is likely to bring back
fond memories of the JWB-
USO and the Atlantic City
Jewish Community Center,
where Jewish soldiers
Gepmany May Pay
For Yellow Stars
Bonn (JTA) — The state
pension fund was put under
court order last week to con-
sider the time Jewish sur-
vivors of the Nazi era were
forced to wear a yellow Star
of David in calculating their
pensions.
The injunction was issued
by a court in Kassel, which
has been dealing with the
complaint of a Jewish
woman who was rejected by
the state-owned pension
fund in Dusseldorf when she
asked for recognition for the
time she wore the star.
The pensioner was told she
was too young at the time for
membership in the fund.
Compiled by
Elizabeth Applebaum
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
11