Ohio Jewish Chronicle, 1985-04-18

              Chronicle
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Serving Columbus and Central Ohio Jewish Community for Over £0 Years     Vu/\\\
VOL.63   NO. 16
APRIL 18,1985-NISAN 27
Devoted to American
and Jewish Ideals
German Town Announces Competition
BONN (WNS) — The town council of Reutlingen has announced a competition among local high school students to
design a tablet commemorating Jewish victims of Nazism in
Reutlingen. The project, undertaken by unanimous vote, was
seen by the council members as a way to counteract neo-Nazi
propaganda aimed at German youths.
B'nai B'rith Women Leaders Recommend
Separation From B'nai B'rith international
N.Y. Street Sign Honors Wallenberg
NEW YORK (JTA) — Mayor Edward Koch, who last week
unveiled a new street sign honoring Raoul Wallenberg, called
on the new Soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachev, to disclose the
fate of the Swedish diplomat who saved more than 100,000
Hungarian Jews from the Nazi Holocaust. Wallenberg was
arrested and imprisoned by the Red Army when it liberated
Budapest 40 years ago. In a ceremony at the Isaiah Wall
across from the United Nations, Koch unveiled a street sign
designating the west side of First Ave. from 42nd Street to
49th Street as "Raoul Wallenberg Walk."
Rare Maimonides Codex To be Exhibited
1BUDAPEST, (JTA) —The Hungarian government has for
the first time offered the rare Maimonides Codex for public
exhibition, following a request from the World Jewish Congress and the intervention of the Central Board of Hungarian
Jews, the representative body of Hungarian Jewry and the
WJC affiliate here. The Maimonides Codex is one of the most
famous illustrated Hebrew manuscripts in existence. Currently part of the world renowned Daivd Kaufman collection
of the Budapest Army, the manuscript is of Maimonides'
Mishneh Torah and is of Italian origin dating back to approximately1482-1520. ,
WASHINGTON (JTA) -
Climaxing several years of
public exchanges, the executive board-of B'nai B'rith
Women (BBW) has approved a resolution calling
for the development of a plan
to terminate BBW's present
affiliate relationship with
B'nai B'rith International
(BBl), according to Beverly
Davis, BBW president.
The resolution was
adopted in response to a proposal approved last fall by
the BBI to admit women into
its generally all-male lodges
and chapters. BBW officials
publicly assailed the BBI action as a threat to BBW's status as "an independent Jewish women's organization,"
adding that it was "important" that the organization's
identity "remain intact."
Davis said that language
was included in a "Platform
of Purpose" for the agency
adopted at a 1978 BBW convention. She said the pro
posed plan for disaffiliation
will be presented to a special
Delegate Assembly, to be
convened in Chicago June
30-July 1 and that a final plan
of action will be presented to
the delegates to the next
BBW biennial convention in
Las Vegas in March, 1986.
After the executive board
vote, Davis said, "BBW has
been moving in this direction
for a long time." She said
BBW leaders" will devote the
next several months to discussions  with  members
about he potential of a new
organization.
A series of "Town hall"
meetings have been scheduled ino50 cities to poll the
BBW members and obtain
their views about a separate
and new Jewish women's organization, Davis reported.
In addition, 18 regional conferences have been scheduled in major cities to explore organizational options
with regional leaders, she
added. She said BBW currently has more than 120,000
April 10 Community Plea
For Soviet Jewry Different
From All Previous Pleas
Discussion, Dessert With
Stephen Birmingham Set
By Leo Yassenoff Center
"It was not my intention ... to write a book that
would merely be about rich
people," states Stephen
Birmingham in the preface
to his latest work, The Rest
of Us. "But I was actually
thinking of America's Eastern European Jews in terms
of another kind of success —
a social success, that of a
mass immigration of millions of people who have
managed to become, within
the life span of a single generation, an essential part of
our social fabric and civic
landscape."
Meet this author and
chronicler of the American
Jewish scene on Wednesday
evening, May 1, at 7:30 p.m.
at the Jewish Center. Birm
ingham will be discussing
The Rest of Us, a rags to
riches story of some of the
most famous personalities in
American Jewish history.
Sponsored by the Adult
Services and 55+ Departments of the Center, this
evening will also include an
array of desserts. The cost is
$4.50 for Center members
and $5.50 for non-members
with pre-paid reservations.
Costs will be higher at the
door.
At the conclusion of his
talk, Birmingham will answer questions and also be
available to sign his books.
The Jewish Center Giftshop
now has a large selection of
Birmingham's books avail-
Stephen Birmingham
able for purchase, including
The Rest of Us, The Auer-
bach Will, Our Crowd and
The Grandees.
"Don't miss this opportunity to meet Stephen Birmingham — and bring a friend!"
says Mel Kent, co-chairperson of the evening with Jody
Altschule.
Call Carol Folkerth or
Marlene Raiz, 231-2731, for
more information.
By Judith Franklin
News Editor
Why was the April 10 Plea
for Soviet Jewry different
from all previous pleas?
Because, explained Sylvia
Mellman, co-chairwoman of
the event with Norma Robbins, its name had been
changed from the Women's
Plea for Soviet Jewry to the
Community Plea to indicate
its broadened base of
support.
Sponsoring organizations
included Agudas Achim Congregation, Brotherhood and
Sisterhood; B'nai B'rith Men
and Women; Concerned
Academicians and Scientists
of Ohio State University;
Jewish War Veterans; National Council of Jewish
Women; Temple Israel Sisterhood; Women's American
ORT; Zionist Organization
of America; Community Relations Committee of the Columbus Jewish Federation
and Congregation Tifereth
Israel; the site of the gathering. The meeting was convened by the Columbus
Chapter of Hadassah.
It was also different Mellman continued, in that it was
being held during Passover
rather than jn December as
in the past. The move constituted a conscious effort to
draw the parallel between
the Exodus from Egypt and
the hpped-for exodus of Jews
from the Soviet Union. And
last December, she noted,
the community was preoccupied with the plight of
starving Ethiopian Jewry, a
crisis which is now on its
way to being resolved.
Close to 200 people attend
the Plea to hear Jerry Goodman, executive director of
the National Conference on
Soviet Jewry, explain that
recent signs in the U.S.S.R.
are hopeful. At the beginning
of the month, dozens of Jewish families, including many
which previously had been
denied, permission to emigrate, were told by authorities in Moscow to reapply for
exit visas, he said, and reports indicate that perhaps
as many as 1,000 Jews may
be allowed to leave the Soviet Union this month.
Many factors encourage
speculation about the easing
of Soviet emigration policy,
(CONTINUED ON PAGE 17)
members in 834 chapters.
The action of BBI which
brought the long-simmering
controversy to a head was
adoption at a BBI convention
last September of a resolution calling on Gerald Kraft,
BBI president, to set up a
special committee to develop a plan for "full and
equal membership" for
women to be submitted to
the 1986 BBI convention.
Daniel Thursz, BBI executive vice president, said at
the September convention
that implementing the plan
would require a constitutional amendment approved
by two-thirds of the delegates at the 1986 convention.
He added that section 145
of the BBI constitution specifies that "members of B'nai
B'rith lodges must be men of
Jewish faith, of good moral
character and at least 18
years of age." He said the
projected amendment would
likely replace "men" with
"persons."
(CONTINUED ON PAGE B)
Emigre ©roups
Seeking To Have
OSI Abolished
NEW YORK (JTA)-Neal
Sher, director of the Justice
Department's Office of Special Investigations (OSI),
confirmed that various emigre groups in the United
States were conducting. a
','vociferous" campaign in
Washington aimed at having
the OSI abolished.
Sher said in a telephone interview with the Jewish
Telegraphic Agency that
various emigre groups have
"fanned out to the Executive
branch and Congress" in
order to press their case. He
did not identify the groups.
Sher was contacted following the release of a report by
the World Jewish Congress
charging that various Baltic
and Ukrainian emigre groups
(CONTINUED ON PAGE 10)
Columbus Jewish Foundation Announces Campaign To Raise $10 Million
The Columbus Jewish
Foundation announces the
beginning of a three-year
campaign to secure $10 million in assets.
The funds will substantially increase the Foundation's asset base and allow it
to make a greater financial
contribution to the community. Grants from the Foundation, go to a wide range of
nonprofit organizations,
primarily Jewish organizations located in Columbus.
Leading the Foundation's
effort are Irving Schotten
stein, president; Herbert H.
Schiff, chairman of the
board and Melvin Schottenstein, vice president.
What Are The Needs? .
Columbus' Jewish organizations have needs that cannot be , met through their
annual allocation from the
Columbus Jewish Federation'and their other normal
sources of funds. A strengthened Jewish community
Foundation can assist significantly in meeting the needs
—■ thus strengthening the
community and reflecting
the interests of donors.
The community's organizations have outlined
projected programs for
which extra funds are essential:
• Within the next-generation,' the' population of
Jewish elderly in Columbus
will increase dramatically.
The projection is that those
over age 85 will double and
those aged 65 to 85 will
increase by 50 percent. Current available congregate
housing, nursing home
space, social services and
cultural programs cannot
alone meet the needs of these
people.
• New and creative ideas
have been "on hold"—ideas
such as establishing a residential hospice at Heritage
Village, a dating service for
Jewish singles, a teachers'
resource center for the community's Hebrew school and
day school teachers.
• Some segments of the
Jewish community can be
better served, such as Jews
who live on Columbus' north
side, the intermarried whose
ties to Judaism could be
strengthened through-
special programs, or teenagers whose Jewish education stops abruptly .after
their bar or bat mitzvah.
• Long-range planning for
the community can be costly, if it's not done right. With
the proper tools, a system
could be put in place to insure that the community's
changing needs are met in
appropriate and cost-
effective ways.
• Many of the community's organizations > report
that they have critical capi
tal needs. For example,
Heritage Village needs
expanded housing and housing options for the elderly,
the Melton Community
Services Building needs to
be expanded and Columbus
Torah Academy needs driveway repair and a cafeteria
that includes a dairy
kitchen.
A Columbus Jewish
Foundation with substantially more assets can make
substantial grants. Grants
from the Foundation could
pay for necessary capital
(CONTINUED ON PAGE 11)
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