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