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ANTI-DEFAMATION page 3

hen decided to change his name.
Sixty years earlier, his grandfa-
ther had taken a job in New
York working as a delivery boy
for an attorney. But the lawyer
insisted he would not hire a Co-
hen, and changed the boy's name
from Shalom Cohen to John
Rogers.
Don Cohen had thought about
changing his name for years, but
formally took the action after
Palestinian terrorists hijacked
a jet in 1985, killing a U.S. ser-
viceman and segregating pas-
sengers with Jewish-sounding
names. "It's not the same as be-
ing on the plane," Mr. Cohen
said, "but I made my own state-
ment by taking back my name."
Other statements have come
during his 10 years in Dayton.
He helped organize a religious
freedom coalition, teacher train-
ing on church-state issues, ad-
vocacy programs for Israel and
Middle East peace, Martin

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Luther King holiday activities
and the Dayton Arab/Jewish Di-
alogue.
He said his visit with the ADL
Michigan Region board last
week "went a long way to make
me feel I'm back home."
He sees several broad themes
on the Michigan ADL agenda:
race relations, distrust of the
government, Zionism, and ex- °
tremists.
ADL will continue programs
like World of Difference, which
builds understanding of minor-
ity groups, and Children of the
Dream, which this week brought
five black Ethiopian Jewish
high-school students from Israel
to Detroit for a two-week visit.
"Race relations," he said, "is a
larger issue for society and es-
pecially in a city like Detroit."
The undermining of govern-
mental authority, by militias, ex-
tremists or politicians, is a
danger to the Jewish communi-
ty, Mr. Cohen said. "Government
is our commitment to democra-
cy, and American values and
Jewish values are intertwined.
If you start undermining our be-
lief in government, it puts the
Jewish community at risk."
He described his ADL prede-
cessor Dick Lobenthal as a
"tremendous resource" for both
the national and local ADL. Mr.
Lobenthal is stepping down af-
ter 37 years as an ADL field di-
rector, but will continue in a
part-time advisory role. He is be-
ing honored Oct. 29 at a recep-
tion at Congregation Shaarey
Zedek.

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