Jewish Deaf Meet
in Canada
THE
Erni TIM '11 13
UNITED
SYNAGOGUE OF
CONSERVATIVE
JUDAISM
The Association of
Conservative
Congregations
Cuban Congregation
Joins Conservative
Movement
T
he United Synagogue of
Conservative Judaism
(USCJ) has a new mem-
ber: Congregation Casa de la Co-
munidad Hebrea de Cuba
(Patronato) in Havana. The 100-
member synagogue, founded in
1953, is the first Cuban congre-
gation to affiliate with the USCJ.
"Now that they have joined the
United Synagogue, we can help
meet their spiritual needs by pro-
viding items such as a Sefer
Torah, prayer books and holiday
materials — translated into
Spanish," said Alan Ades, inter-
national president of USCJ.
The Havana synagogue has no
permanent rabbi or cantor. For
the past several years, Rabbi
Samuel Szteinhandler of
Guadalajara, Mexico, has been
going to the synagogue every few
months to perform events like
marriages, circumcisions and
conversions. Last December, he
officiated at the first bar mitzvah
at the synagogue in 35 years.
In addition, the rabbi has
trained laypeople to teach He-
brew and lead the daily services.
USCJ is an association of 800
Conservative congregations in
North America.
or the first time, the Bien-
nial Convention of the Na-
tional Congress of Jewish
Deaf (NCJD) will be held in
Canada. The 20th annual event
is scheduled for Aug. 7-14 at the
Sheraton Centre Hotel in Toron-
to and more than 300 are ex-
pected to attend.
NCJD's only Canadian affil-
iate, the 200-member Toronto
Jewish Association of the Deaf,
is hosting the convention.
Program coordinator Karyn
Goldstein told the Canadian
Jewish News that she would
like Jewish people who can hear
to attend the convention work-
shops so they can learn about
deaf Jewish culture. Ms. Gold-
stein can be reached at 1-905-
607-2945.
A Big Decision
omen's Wear Daily
reports that Princess
Caroline of Monaco is
a little on edge these days be-
cause her father, Prince Rather,
has established many conditions
before Caroline can marry Vin-
cent Lindon, her lover for the
past three years.
One stipulation from the
prince is that Mr. Lindon, who
is Jewish, must turn Catholic.
Mr. Lindon isn't a practicing
Jew, so it's reported that he
doesn't know if he wants to be-
come a practicing Catholic. Stay
tuned.
Thanks,
Thanks,
Thanks ...
T
he queen of Denmark couldn't believe
it when she received 15,139 thank-you
letters from Jewish children to com-
memorate the 50th anniversary of the rescue
of an estimated 8,000 Danish Jews from the
Nazis by the people of Denmark.
In a letter to the Union of American He-
brew Congregations, Queen Margrethe II —
granddaughter of King Christian X, the
monarch who led the massive rescue effort
— wrote she was "deeply moved" by the let-
ters from children of Reform Jewish congre-
gations in North America, She said the letters
will be deposited in the Danish Resistance
Museum in Copenhagen.
The letter-writing campaign was suggest-
ed by Judith Meisel of Santa Barbara, Calif.
w As a Lithuanian-Jewish child, Ms. Meisel es-
=
1-- caped from a concentration camp with her
sister after seeing their mother die and they
fled to Denmark, where they were hidden and
Queen Margrethe II: "Deeply moved."
protected by the Danes.
12
Anti-Semitism in Denver.
Good News, But ...
A
new study of anti-Semi-
tism in the United States
paints a bright picture,
but storm clouds remain in the
distance.
"Among the many intergroup
conflicts and hatreds that persist
in America, anti-Jewish feelings
are not predominant; Jews are
not the leading targets of hostil-
ity and bigotry. But anti-Semit-
ic prejudices still survive and
anti-Semitic activities are all too
common," concluded Dr. Tom W.
Smith, director of the General So-
cial Survey at the National Opin-
ion Research Center at the Uni-
versity of Chicago.
Responding to the study, Dr.
David Singer, director of research
for the American Jewish Corn-
mittee, said: "Dr. Smith's analy-
sis is especially important
because it comes at a time when
American Jews have witnessed
a spate of painful anti-Semitic
episodes. Dr. Smith steps back
from the episodic to consider the
wider picture. His overall as-
sessment is quite positive. Amer-
ican Jews should be encouraged
by this news."
Rabbis Meet With Gov. Cuomo
Gov. Cuomo, who had previ-
ew York Gov. Mario Cuo-
mo met for more than an ously expressed concern about
hour with representatives the advertisements, insisted on
of the Council of Torah Sages of meeting with the rabbis at Agu-
Agudath Israel of America at the dath Israel after receiving their
New York City headquarters of invitation for a discussion.
Agudath Is-
rael. The
council is the
highest rab-
binical body
within the
Agudath Is-
rael move-
ment.
Last
month's
meeting was
prompted by
the Torah
Sages' dis-
may over
what they
consider the
"proliferation
of shockingly
indecent ad-
vertisements
on buses,
bus-stop
shelters, bill-
boards and
train stations
throughout Gov. Mario Cuomo agrees with rabbis' concerns.
the city."