Schools
urn saa
Star
Of David

DANIEL KURTZMAN
Jewish Telegraphic Agency

A

Irit Shoshan, center, is comforted by unidentified relatives as she Grieves during the fiineral in Israel for her brother, nephew and
parents who died while traveling in Turkey during the earthqua e.

Rescue Efforts
In Turkey

Jerusalem (JTA)
In a rescue operation that defied shrinking
odds, Israeli rescue teams saved a 9-year-old girl who had been
trapped for four days in earthquake rubble in Turkey.
Doctors said Shiran Franco was dehydrated but in good
condition when they reached her. Her mother, Iris, who was
rescued earlier, said the first thing her daughter asked for was a
soft drink.
Twenty-five Israeli tourists vacationing in the Turkish hills
are reported dead and one is still missing.
In an e-mail message to the American Jewish Joint
Distribution Committee, Lina Filba, a Turkish Jewish commu-
nity professional, reports that the Jews of Istanbul are fine, but
there were some casualties among Jews vacationing in the
towns of Yalova and Cinarcik. There have been no reports of
damage to synagogues or other Jewish institutions.
The Israel Defense Force sent a 200-member rescue team to
Turkey to help dig through the rubble for survivors.
No Turkish Jews appear to have been killed or injured in
the disaster, and none of the country's Jewish institutions were
damaged, said Leon Levy, president of the New York-based
American Sephardi. Federation.
In an act of support for the largest community of Turks
outside Turkey, the Berlin, Germany, branch of the American
Jewish Committee is donating $25,000 to a Turkish group to
aid victims of the earthquake.
In all, the American Jewish Committee is giving $250,000
to the relief effort.
The damage caused by the quake has prodded the Israeli
government into considering plans to minimize damage if
Israel, which sits on an active seismic zone, is ever hit by a
large earthquake. Israel is likely to get hit by a serious quake
— above 6 on the Richter scale — within the next 50 years.

—

8/27

1999

26 Detroit Jewish News

Local Jews Offer Relief

W

ith 200,000 individuals left homeless in the
aftermath of the Aug. 17 earthquake in north-
west Turkey, the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan
Detroit has organized a local relief effort.
During a disaster, Federation typically makes
itself available as a site for the Detroit Jewish com-
munity to mail contributions. To help survivors of
the quake, many of whom are living in tents and
need first aid, clothing and food, Federation has
established an address for the receipt of donations.
The monetary contributions will be forwarded to a
not yet undetermined Jewish relief organization.
During a Shabbat service last Friday, 800 congre-
gants at Temple Israel recited a Mi She-beirach (prayer
for healing) for victims of the earthquake in Turkey.
Rabbi Paul Yedwab said there was an overwhelming
response to the temple's distribution of cards to send
contributions to the Jewish Federation relief fund.

— Shelli Do an
Editorial Assistant

• Donations for the relief fund should be made
payable to Jewish Federation of Metropolitan
Detroit, and mailed to P.O. Box 2030,
Bloomfield Hills, MI 48303-2030. Please desig-
nate "Turkish Earthquake Relief" on the enve-
lope or check. For information, call (248) 642-
4260, ext. 237.
• Contributions are also accepted at the
American Jewish World Service, Turkish
Earthquake Relief Fund, 989 Avenue of the
Americas, 10th Floor, New York, NY 10018;
call (800) 989-7146.

Jewish high school student has
won a standoff with Mississippi
school officials over his right to dis-
play a Star of David symbol in class.
However, the decision in the
Gulfport, Miss., case does not mean
the issue of gang-related symbols and
graffiti has been resolved, Michigan
educators say.
On Monday, the Harrison County
School Board in Mississippi voted
unanimously to exempt religious
symbols from its policy that prohibits
students from wearing anything that
could be construed as a gang symbol.
Jewish groups throughout the
United States applauded the decision,
which will allow 15-year-old Ryan
Green and others to openly wear a
religious symbol.
A week earlier, school officials had
barred Green from wearing the Star
of David where it could be seen,
because they said it could jeopardize
his safety.
At that time, they said the sym-
bol — on a pin given to Green by .
his grandmother — could be inter-
preted as gang-related. Some gang
insignias incorporate six-pointed
stars, along with other symbols,
such as pitchforks.
Religious organizations as diverse
as the Union of Orthodox Jewish
Congregations, the Religious Action
Center of Reform Judaism and the
Christian Coalition, as well as B'nai
B'rith International, the Anti-
Defamation League and Moral
Majority founder Jerry Falwell, bat-
tered the school district with objec-
tions following its original decision.
These objections, along with the
threat of a lawsuit from Green's fami-
ly and the American Civil Liberties
Union, helped persuade board mem-
bers to reverse their original decision. -\
"We realized that it infringed on
freedom of religious expression, and
that freedom supersedes the safety
issues," said Randy Williams, the
board's president, in explaining the
reversal.
Jewish leaders hailed the move as