O
All the news that fits___ / Compiled by !Elizabeth Applebaum
N.Y. Jewish Population
Takes The Plunge
he Jewish population of the
New York City area plunged in
the last decade by more than
X 220,000, according to a new survey
published by the American
Jewish Committee.
The bulk of the decline
occurred in the borough
cig Queens and the subur-
ban regions of Nassau and
Westchester counties and
.3 due primarily to the
steady relocation of an ag-
ing population to the Sun
Belt and no significant
_replacement by younger
persons. By contrast,
;Manhattan during the
game period saw a jump of 15 percent
in the Jewish population.
Since the last demographic survey
of Jews in New York, conducted in
1981, the New York metropolitan re-
gion decreased in Jewish population by
1,3.2 percent, falling from 1,671,000 to
1,450,000.
The survey also noted increases and
declines in several other U.S. cities, in-
cluding two in Michigan. Ann Arbor's
r Jewish community is up by 500 to a to-
T
■-
tal of 5,000, or 11.1 percent of the to-
tal population, while Flint is down by
100, reflecting a trend of decreasing
Jewish populations in older medium-
and small-sized cities.
The total Jewish pop-
ulation of the United
States in 1991 was esti-
mated to be 5,798,000,
which represents a de-
crease from 5,981,000 in
1990. The estimated Jew-
ish proportion of the to-
tal U.S. population is 2.3
percent.
The five states report-
ing the largest Jewish
- populations are: New
York (1,644,000); California (923,000);
Florida (593,000); New Jersey
(426,000); and Pennsylvania (330,000).
Despite the drop in its Jewish pop-
ulation estimate, New York remains the
state with the highest Jewish concen-
tration, at 9.1 percent. It is followed by
New Jersey, where Jews comprise 5.5
percent of the total population. Massa-
chusetts and Florida, where Jews are
4.6 percent of the overall population,
tied for third place.
Bush, Duke And The Devil
laiming he is being hounded
by auditors, David Duke, the
former Ku Klux Klan leader
who ran for governor of Louisiana, has
written a letter to supporters in an ap-
peal for funds.
The World Jewish Congress reports
"i;lat Mr. Duke blamed President George
Bush and Vice President Dan Quayle for
instigating Internal Revenue Service au-
dits of him. The two "said they have
ways to deal with me," Mr. Duke wrote.
"The harassment is constant, and ob-
jously, the financial harm is devastat-
ing
'1
• "
Meanwhile, another former presi-
-
dential candidate, Pat Robertson, is
wholeheartedly endorsing the Bush-
Quayle ticket.
But it wasn't so long ago that the
Christian Broadcasting Network head
had a very different view of President
Bush. In The New World Order, pub-
lished last year, Mr. Robertson wrote
that Mr. Bush, along with former pres-
idents Jimmy Carter and Woodrow WI-
son, was "unknowingly and unwittingly
carrying out the mission...of a tightly
knit cabal whose goal is nothing less
than a new order for the human race
under the domination of Lucifer."
The King In The
Rabbi's Basement
hether in Memphis or
Kalamazoo, Elvis was nev-
er without his chat. The
man of a thousand jumpsuits wore a
necklace bearing both a cross and a
chat insisting he didn't want to be re-
fused entry to heaven "because of a
technicality." Today, that necklace is on
display at Graceland (in the Trophy
Room — in case you were planning a
visit).
Now it turns out Elvis had an even
more profound connection to Judaism.
"Elvis liked Jews and he included me
and several other Jewish guys in his in-
ner circle," writes Alan Fortas in his new
book Elvis: From Memphis to Holly-
wood, excerpted in last week's Nation-
al Enquirer. "He told us there was
Jewish blood in his family, on his moth-
er's side.
"But his fondness for Jews mostly
sprang from the fact that when his fam-
ily first moved from Mississippi to
Memphis and couldn't find a place to
stay, a rabbi let them live in his base-
ment."
W
Calling All Dentists
And Hygienists
ow dentists can really make
somebody smile. Licensed
dentists and hygienists are
needed to assist with new Ethiopian im-
migrants to Israel, the last of whom are
set to arrive in the coming days.
The American Association for
Ethiopian Jews, a nonprofit rescue and
relief organization, together with Alpha
Omega supporter Dr. Milton Dines of
Boston, has organized a work/travel pro-
gram for dentists and hygienists. Den-
tists will spend half their time working
with the new immigrants and may use
the other half to tour the country.
For information, contact Dr. Dines,
(617) 423-0970.
N
A
*
A New Tree Of Life
n organization started last year
to increase the number of Jew-
sh books read by Jewish chil-
dren is blossoming.
More than 40,000 students already
have enrolled in the Tree of Life Book
Club, founded by Steffi Aronson Karp of
Massachusetts. A member of the Union
of American Hebrew Congregations'
Commission on Religious Living, Mrs.
Karp said she started the club out of con-
cern that "Jewish stories and holidays
were somewhat hidden or diminished in
the eyes of many Jewish students."
In addition to books, the Tree of Life
club offers Jewish origami and music for
all ages.
For information, contact the Tree of
Life Book Club, P.O. Box 303, 290 Wood-
cliff Rd., Newton, MA 02161.
TREE OF LIFE 300K (lair)
Group Wants Investigation Of Crown
Heights Violence
he New Yorkers United
Against Racism and Anti-
Semitism/Jewish Action In-
ternational is spearheading a:
campaign to commemorate the
yahrtzeit of Yankel Rosenbaum.
Mr. Rosenbaum, 29, was mur-
dered last year after a Jewish motorist
accidentally killed 7-year-old Gavin
Kato in Crown Heights. Mr. Rosen-
baum's yahrtzeit is Sept. 8.
The group is circulating a "petition
for justice" calling for a federal in-
vestigation of "the pogrom and its
handling by New York officials."
"To date there has been a shock-
ing lack of action in these cases," a
group spokesman said. "Only one
person is in custody for the fatal stab-
bing of Yankel Rosenbaum, who was
brutally attacked in the street by a
T
mob of at least 20 men screaming
'Kill the Jew' The only other person
in custody at this time was indicted
only on a misdemeanor.
"Many other troubling questions
about this and other cases of terror-
izing Jews in Crown Heights still re-
main."
The group also is conducting a
campaign to fight bias crime against
all groups, "to expose hate mongers
wherever and whenever they emerge,
and not to let them broadcast hatred
and incite violence unchallenged and
unanswered."
For petitions or further informa-
tion, contact New Yorkers United
Against Racism at Box 176, 61 E. 8th
St., NewYork, N.Y. 10003 (212) 505-
1429.
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS 11