Ohio Jewish Chronicle, 1990-06-28

              Ohio Hist.Society Libr
198S Velma five. -
Columbus, Ohio
43211     #   *  COMP
Serving Columbus and Central Ohio Jewish Community lor Over 40 Years
VOL. 68  NO. 26
JUNE 28, 1990-TAMMUZ 5, 5750
Devoted to American
and Jewish Ideats, ■'.
Soviets Issue Emigration Threat;
But Basis Of Threat Unfounded
iFifty-two students received diplomas during Kol Ami's Fifth Annual Commencement
on May 23.
May Busy For Kol Ami Hebrew School
May was a busy month for
the Community Hebrew
School's students, faculty
and parents.
Jewish children currently
completing the second grade
of regular "school were per- ,
sonally invited to preview
Aleph (first year) classes at
the Kol Ami branch they will
attend next fall. Their parents had an opportunity to
meet the principals and
learn about the school's five-
year curriculum while their
children visited classrooms.
Special assembilies were
held at each branch honoring
those students who were
named to the Student Recognition Roll for the month of
May:
ALEPH: Brian Feuer, Rebecca Glick, Jennifer Jarvis,
Melissa Klayman, Meredith
Levine, Jamie Miller, Linda
Persons, Mara Schotten-
' stein, Sam Stahl, Abby Stier-
man, Jamie Tilson, Jeffrey
White.
BET: Adam Baron, Jason
Ehmann, David Goldach,
Sarah Goldman, Alex Meizlish, David Siegel, Gabriel
Siegle, Mark Simakovsky,
Zero Spero, Michael Zulli-
ger.
GIMEL: Jonathan Borov-
sky, Jonathan Epelbaum,
Nicholas Glimcher, Katharine Kort, Sam Rosenthal,
Joshua Skuller,,
DALET:   Daniel   Gold-,
baum,   Jessica   Goldman,
Emily Greenberg, Gay Heit,
Jennifer Knight, Nicole Ox-„
man, Mark Pomerantz.
Finally, on May 23 at the
Kol Ami Fifth Annual Commencement and Awards
Ceremony, the school's largest graduating class of 52 received diplomas and presented a program for-Yom
Yerushalayim. The class of
1990 presented a gift of Hebrew storybooks for the
school's lending library and
parents of the graduates provided the reception following
the evening's ceremonies.
Members of the Class of
1990  are:   Aaron  Aschenbrand, son of Richard and
Joan Aschenbrand; Rebecca
Bain, daughter of Elliott and
Lauretta   Bain;   Debbie
Bakitis, daughter of Dolly
Katz;   Allyson  Berman,
daughter  of  Arnold  and
Marilyn Berman;  William
Blitman, son of Mark and
Randi   Blitman;   Jesse
Bloom, son of Bob and Carol
Bloom;   Mark  Bloomberg,
sort of Allen and Catherine
Bloomberg;  Jeffrey Clayman, son of Wayne and Marcie Clayman; Jason Crabill,
son of Barbara Crabill; Warren Deahl, son of Sara Jo
Deahl; Abby Dritz, daughter
of Stanley and Cheryl Dritz;
Simon Dritz, son of Steven
and   Bridget  Dritz;   Alex
Fayne,  son of Henry and
Harriett   Fayne;   Karen
Feder, daughter of Paul and
Rhonda Feder; Jamie Fox,
daughter of Jack and Marcia
Fox;   Jessica   Garrett,
daughter of Paul and Sandra
Garrett;  Rebbeca Greene,
daughter   of   Phillip   and
Merle Greene; David Guldmann, son of Jean-Michael
and    Ruth , Guldmann;
Heather Jacobson, daughter
of Paul and Carol Jacobson;
Randy Javer, son of Randy
and Marilyn Ogg; Janelle
Keri,  daughter  of  Albert
Keri and Debbie-Keri; Amy
Koenigsberg, 'daughter  of
Paul and Arlene Koenigsberg;    Rebecca   Levin,
daughter of Douglas and Susan Levin; Adam Linhart,
son of Larry and Sherry Linhart; Audra Longert, daughter of .Alan and Ruth Long-1
~ert; Jeffrey Mazer, son of
Terry  and ' Maria, Mazer;
Marisa Meizlish, daughter of
Jack and Helissa Meizlish;
Jonathan  Morgan,  son of
Ross and Linda Morgan; Jason Miller, son of Kenneth
and Marsha Miller; Amy
Newhouse, daughter of
Gerald and Judith New-
house; Brian O'Koon, son of
Bernard and Ellen O'Koon;
Sam Padgett, son of Benjamin  and* Susan. Padgett;
CONTINUED ON PAGE 11
EDITOR'S NOTE: The following release, submitted by the Columbus
Jewish Federation, Is meant' to shed
"- light on recent press articles In regard
to Soviet resettlement In Israel. Funds
raised by the Federation's lWl/"Op-
eratlon Exodus" Campaign support
the rescue/resettlement efforts currently underway.
Recently Soviet President
Mikhail Gorbachev threatened to cut off Jewish emigration from the Soviet
Union unless Israel guaranteed, that immigrants would
not be settled in the West
Bank or Gaza Strip. According to Prime Minister Yitz-
hak Shamir and Simcha
Dinitz, chairman of the Jewish Agency Executive, the
basis for Gorbachev's threat
is unfounded.
A more recent unofficial
report that the Soviet Union
has retracted Gorbachev's
threat to halt Jewish emigration has been welcomed by
American Jewish leaders.
*An Associated Press report
from Turnberry, Scotland
said, "The Soviet Union has
retracted what appears to be
a threat by President Mikhail Gorbachev to suspend
Jewish emigration . to
Israel." v
Wildcats' Pitino To Headline
JCCs Annual Sports Spectacular
Kentucky Wildcat Coach
Rick Pitino will be the keynote speaker at this year's
Sports Spectacular dinner.
This event, to be held on
Monday, Aug. 20, is an annual fundraiser for the Leo
Vassenoff Jewish Community Center.
coach in America. He has
made a career of rebuilding
basketball programs and recently garnered national
recognition by hiring the nation's first female assistant
coach for a nationally recognized basketball team. At on-
, ly 37, Pitjno has been credited with turning around many
failing programs at both the
collegiate and professional
levels including Boston University, Providence College,
the New York Knicks and the
Kentucky Wildcats.    „
Gorbachev's unexpected
remarks at the end of the recent four-day summit meeting in May/June with President Bush triggered a response from Secretary of
State James.Baker. "We unconditionally support the
concept of Soviet Jewish
emigration," Baker said.
■ Meanwhile, the Israel
Government Press .Office in
an official statement indicated the number of Soviet
immigrants who have1 set-^
tied in the territories is min-
iscule. According to the Central Bureau of Statistics, only 285, or 0.5 percent, of the
49,000 Soviet Jews who have
arrived in Israel since April
1989 have chosen to settle in
the territories. .
According to Dinitz, the
Jewish Agency's longstanding policy has been "not to
spend a single cent of funds
raised by the United Jewish
Appeal in settling either new
immigrants !or veteran
Israelis in the territories. All
" talkabout "Sonet Jewish immigrants settling in the territories is totally unfounded."
A Jewish Agency official
added, "It is regrettable that
President Gorbachev has
been mislead by Arab propaganda." Dinitz has said the
real objective of Arab propaganda is "total opposition to
any immigration to Israel
and to the continued existence of Israel."
According to .Gorbachev,
"The Soviet Union is now being bombarded with a lot of
criticism from Arab countries on the emigration
issue."
In response to Gorbachev's threat, Natan Sharansky, a former Refusenik and
Israeli citizen in New York
recently to raise funds for
Soviet Jewish resettlement,
expressed outrage over the
New Americans Donate Blood
For Jewish Community Drive
Soviet leader's remarks. "I
think it's a shameful statement.   Gorbachev  has  refused to take very clear actions against anti-Semitism
and now he joins the chorus
of voices accusing the Israeli
government of settling Jews
in the West Bank and Gaza.'
Seymour Reich, chairman
of the Conference of Presidents  of Major  American
Jewish organizations,   has
said the Soviet Union has
been bowing to Arab pressure, which is aimed at ending all Jewish immigration
to Israel. ''Its decision to reject Arab protests kept the
Soviet Union in conformity
with a whole series of international  agreements  to
which it is signatory - including the Helsinki Final
Act -- that guarantees the
right of emigration as a fundamental human right," he
continued.
Foundation Meeting
To Recap Past Year
The Columbus Jewish
Foundation's Tenth Annual
Dinner Meeting will recap
the past year's activities,
highlight achievements and
present special recognition*
to Beri M. Mandelkorn, this
year's Foundation special
honoree.
The dinner meeting will be
held at the Hyatt Regency
Columbus, on Monday, July
23, at 6 p.m., with dietary
laws to be strictly observed.
The highlight of the evening meeting will be ap
audio/visual tribute dedicated to Mandelkorn for this
34-year commitment to philr
anthrophy and the global
Jewish community.
The community is invited
to attend. For more information or to make reservations,
at $40 per person, contact the
Rick Pitino
According to Sports Spectacular chairman, Sandy
Solomon, "When the committee first met, we thought
it would be impossible to top
some of the great speakers
we've had at previous Sports
Spectaculars, including Al
McGuire, Jim Valvano and
Dick Vitale. However,-this
year we were very fortunate
to sign Rick Pitino as our
speaker."
Pitino is considered by
many to be the best young
"The Russians are coming. The. Russians are coming!"'
That was the cry at the Leo
Yassenoff Jewish Community Center last Dec. 28 during
the Jewish Community blood
donor drive. And it was true,
the Russians were coming,
those Russians who had
recently emigrated to Columbus and were getting ac-
climated'to their new homes
•and city.
One thing ther Russians
brought with them on their
long journey was a desire to
be good citizens in their new
country. And what better
way could they demonstrate
Foundation
237-7fiRB.
office    at
their sincerity than by donating the most personal gift
of all, their blood, just like
they did in Russia.
Once again the opportunity, for the Russians and for
the Jewish community, to be
good citizens presents its^Jf
July 5. On that day, from
12:30 to 6:30 p.mrat the JCC,
there will be a blood drive to
replenish badly depleted
supplies needed for hospital
patients and emergency situations.
Since May of, last year,
Jewish Family Services has '
helped 200 Russians settle in
Columbus. At least a dozen
CONTINUED ON PAGE 11
•OPERATION EXODUS1
SOVIET RESETTLEMENT
This Week
Emigration Threat, 1
Ne\v Americans Donate
Blood : 1
Poem '. Z
Rabbis Attend Kallah
Rabbis , Harold Berman
•and Arthur Flicker of Congregation Israel attended a
rabbinic Kallah sponsored
by the Cleveland Board of
Rabbis on Wednesday, June
6, at B'nai Jeshrun Congregation in Cleveland.
Dr. Edward Greenstein,
whose specialty is biblical
interpretation, taught "How,,
to Read Contradictions in
Biblical Narratives."