DETROIT
750
THE JEWISH NEWS
9 SHEVAT 5754 / JANUARY 21, 1994
Emigres Finishing Five-Year Plan
Back Talk
1994 marks a new beginning for 60,000 Soviet Jews who soon will be eligible for naturalization.
RUTH LITTMANN STAFF WRITER
CLOSE UP
Rebel
Without
A Cause
At 23, David Cole is
becoming one of the
leading spokesmen
for the Holocaust
*revisionist movment.
He is outspoken.
He is determinied.
And he is .Jewish
that figure escalated to 800
when former Soviet leader
Mikhal Gorbachev reopened
the doors to this group to exit
the country.
Because of the anticipat-
ed influx of Soviets to the al-
ready backlogged INS offices
in Detroit, officials at Jewish
Family Service last week be-
gan making inquiries to help
these future Americans ex-
pedite the process.
"We are very grateful that
this great country will give us
the opportunity to become cit-
izens," Ms. Gorivodskaya
said. "This country gave us a
feeling of security, safety and
a new life."
Said Galina Gordon of
West Bloomfield, whose fam-
Berkovich, Bella Gorivodskaya, and sons
ily arrived from the former Lazar
Boris and Ilya.
Soviet Union in 1988, "I will
Ms. Hyman hopes that JFS will
be glad to become a citizen. It is great
become a testing center for the exam,
to be an American."
Resettlement Services Director and she would like to provide cours-
Sandy Hyman last week made prelim- es to prepare the immigrants. To
inary inquiries to Educational Testing pass the exam, immigrants are test-
Service in Pasadena, Calif., one of two ed on civics, English and history.
agencies which writes and administers
CITIZENSHIP page 8
citizenship exams for the INS.
Photo by Glenn Triest
azar Berkovich and his wife, Bella
Gorivodskaya, can't wait to become
part of the American family.
In September, the Russian couple
from Oak Park and their two teen-
age sons will celebrate their five-year
anniversary of life in the United
States. First on their list of priorities
will be applying to the U.S.
Immigration and Naturalization
Service (INS) for citizenship.
Mr. Berkovich and his family are
among the ranks of some 60,000
Soviet Jews who came to the United
States during the 1988-89 and 1989-
90 fiscal years and who will be part
of the first massive wave in more
than a decade to be eligible for nat-
uralization.
Immigrants are not eligible for cit-
izenship until they have lived in the
United States for five years. When
they arrive, these immigrants apply
for alien resident status, and they re-
ceive green cards which permit them
to work and to travel outside the
country.
Between June 1988 and May
1989, the number of Soviet Jews ar-
riving in Detroit was a relatively low
160. But the following fiscal year,
between June 1989 and May 1990,
udy Miller's son has Down
syndrome, but that didn't stop
him from learning Hebrew
and celebrating his bar mitz-
vah last year.
"The only thing missing at
the bar mitzvah were other
Jewish 13-year-olds," Ms.
Miller said.
In a plea for Federation funding of pro-
grams for children with disabilities, Ms.
Miller told community leaders that im-
paired youth are isolated from the rest
of the Jewish community.
Ms. Miller was one of 33 local Jews
who voiced sometimes stern opinions
about Detroit's Jewish community at the
Feb. 13 Open Forum sponsored by the
Jewish Federation of Metropolitan
Detroit.
The Federation intended the forum as
a venue for people to vent and make sug-
gestions about community budgeting pri-
orities. Planners say it accomplished this
goal.
The four-hour forum attracted near-
ly 100 people to the Max M. Fisher
Building in Bloomfield Hills. Participants
delivered speeches outlining personal
needs and general complaints. Results
of the forum will be considered when
Federation decides how to allocate mon-
ey raised by the annual Allied Jewish
Campaign, officials say.
J
KIMBERLY LIFTON STAFF WRITER
VOICES page 10
BUSINESS
Computer Safe?
A Livonia firm tests
monitors for radiation.
Page 38
CAMP GUIDE II
Love Letters and
other fun stuff
Page 63
ANN ARBOR
Side-By-Side
A temple and church
expand a unique arrangement.
Page 109
Contents on page 3