Ohio Jewish Chronicle, 1992-07-30

              THE
The Ohio Jewish Chronicle
Serving Columbus and the Central Ohio'
Jewish Community since 1922
VOLUME 70
NUMBER 31
JULY 30,1992
29 TAMMUZ 5752
DEVOTED TO AMERICAN AND JEWISH IDEALS
Attorney General
Lee Fisher honorary
ARMDI chairman
page 2
Foundation posts
record year
page 2
Children's Home Day
to be held on Aug. 12
page 2
Remembering the
Munich^ Qlympics, 1972
page 3
Eagle, Rush to entertain
at Boys' Night Out    page 4
Lecture by Avi Shulman
to highlight Summer Kollel
page 6
Irv Flox to receive
Charles Solomon Award
page 11
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OP-ED
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1992: Year of self discipline
By Rabbi Bradley Bleefeld
History records 1491 as a
year of upheaval aod dismay.
The Spanish monarchy, under
increasing pressure from political forces within the organized
church, reluctantly agreed to
the forced conversion or expulsion of Spain's Jewish inhabitants. The Jews of Spain
prepared to dismantle their
thousand year community and,
with it, their culture and way
of life.
When the expulsion edict
was ultimately declared in
1492, giving only several
months notice of eviction, our
Sephardic ancestors became
masters of their own fate. The
majority fled hostile Spain
and, with it, the initial acts of
the inquisition. These Jews
could neither abandon their
faith, nor subjugate it to the
open arms of easy assimilation, and so they chose to
leave their roots and traveled
throughout southern Europe
and across the Atlantic to the
Americas.
Others chose to remain in
their homeland, converting to
the Christian faith of their
neighbors. They could be assured of continued acceptance
and prosperity as long as
Spain faired well.   ;
Still others, perhaps the
most heroic, risked certain
torture and death by retaining
their Jewish identity secretly
while assimilating through outward conversion. These hidden Jews became the source of
legends, no less than hope, for
generations to come. Doors to
success in Spain slammed
shut. Doors to new worlds
flung open.
Five hundred years later, we
face eternal dilemmas, original by no means to Spain, nor
reserved for them alone. The
Cyrene song of easy assimilation still entices. Maintaining
Jewish identity is still a difficult task requiring effort and
sacrifice.
And doors close and open
for us and our people worldwide still today.
As we embark on the confident, yet unknown seas of
1992, we would do well to remember back 500 years and
chart a new course for self discovery, both personal and
communal. What potential
lies unawakened in each of us?
Are we satisfied merely to be
as we are, or is it our time to
live not only in Columbus but
Community-wide
COMMEMORATION
OF EXPULSION
OF JEWS;
MUSLIMS FROM
SPAIN, PORTUGAL
Monday, Aug. 3
BatteHe
Riverfront Park
6 p.m.
of Columbus.
A time and place of new
hopes and dreams or hopes
and dreams renewed?
A time and place of new horizons to reach or horizons re
stored?
A time and place of new
challenges met or challenges
reviewed?
Sail on! For new worlds
within us and beyond us await
our discovery. Doors will always close and open for people like us, people who dare to
dream and tempt failure as we
attempt new achievements of
faith.
The Santa Maria stands
ready in harbor. Louis de Torres, Christopher's Jewish navigator, again charts the night
sky canopy, and three ships
await the tide, each christened
with reinvested Jewish living,
a fresh commitment to Torah
values, and anticipated joy in
making spiritual landfall.
New religious dimensions
now lie waiting to be discovered by.each of us. Just as
Columbus found natives already living on the land, those
who come before us perhaps
knew a fuller Jewish life than
we. But, like Columbus, it is
see 1992 pg. 4
M