Ohio Jewish Chronicle, 1979-12-20

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VOL.57   NO.52
DECEMBER 20,1979-KISLEV 30
Huge Menorah
Glows Opposite
White House
By Joseph Polakoff
WASHINGTON (JTA)-
Chanukah in Washington is
different this year. Starting
Saturday night, a towering
electric "National Chanukah
Menorah" started glowing in
Lafayette Park directly
opposite the White House in
the traditional numerical order for eight successive
days, in celebration of the
Festival of Lights.
Erection of the all-steel
menorah was completed last
week and successfully tested
in the presence of Luba-
vitcher Rabbi Abraham
Shemtov, who supervised
the project sponsored by the
American Friends of Lubavitch; the menorah's designer, Gunther Kilshiemer,
a Berlin refugee from Nazism; and a reporter for the
Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
Washington's menorah,
fabricated with gold painted
square tubing -and .weighing
5000 pounds, is the- nation's
largest, Shemtov said. Its 30-
foot-high base is surmounted
by a triangle of nine lights,
each four feet high, with the
top of the "Shamus," the
centered light, 36 feet above
ground. The span of the
lights is 20 feet wide. Each
"flame" is 20 inches high.
A special, cerempny of
lighting took place Monday,
the fourth night of Chanukah, with government and
community leaders participating. The menorah is
turned on each evening at
• dusk and will glow until midnight during the holiday.
The   Lubavitch   move-
• ment's "National Candelabra" is one of many that
Lubavitch Friends have installed in major cities across
the country, Shemtov said.
Among them are menorahs
in front of the Plaza Hotel in
Manhattan and at the foot of
the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia, as they have-on the
past three Chanukahs.
Kilshiemer was overjoyed
as the lights of his design
gleamed for the' first time.
He said he was in an orphanage in Berlin when, in 1938,
he was removed to Berlin for
, safety. After nine years
there, he came to Washington. Looking at his design he
said wistfully: "I did this as
a Jew, hopeful of making a
contribution to the whole
world—to have a menorah in
front of the White House."
Jewish Community Blood Drive
To Take Place Wednesday, Dec. 26
On -Wednesday, Dec. 26,
from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m. the
Jewish Community Blood
Drive will be held at Agudas
Achim .Congregation, 2767 E.
Broad St.
The drive is-under the auspices of the Columbus Jew-'
ish Federation and coordinated and operated by Capitol Post #122, Jewish War
Veterans of the United
States.
Capitol Post #122, Jewish
War Veterans - has coordi
nated the blood drive for the
last three years and has
steadily increased the participation of the Jewish Community. The veterans organization has been and continues to be dedicated to service to the Columbus' Jewish
Community through its various community projects.
Heading the drive is Sol
Derfler, a member of the
executive committee of the
Post.
"It is vital that the entire
community participate,"
Derfler was quoted as saying. "Vital because lives depend on the donation of
blood," he continued. Set
aside the date and time—the
life you save could be yours!
As in the past, members of
the Blood Drive Committee
will assist the Red Cross on
Blood Day to see that everyone who contributes blood
will be properly cared for.
Rabbi Schindler Urges Change In Jewish Law
TORONTO (JTA)-A revolutionary change in Jewish law that would regard the
child of a mixed marriage as
Jewish, if either parent was
Jewish, was proposed by
Rabbi Alexander Schindler,.
president of the Union of
American Hebrew Congregations (UAHC), at the
UAHC's 55th General Assembly meeting here^
Rabbi Alexander M.
Schindler
Some 4000 delegates, representing nearly 750 Reform
synagogues in the United
States and Canada, heard
Schindler call on the Reform
movement to change the
2000-year-old Jewish tradition that a child's religion is
determined by the religion of
the mother. He urged the
validation of Jewish lineage
through the paternal as-well
as the maternal line.
Schindler's proposal was
rejected today by both Chief
Rabbis of Israel but hailed
by a leading American Conservative rabbi. Asbkenazi
Chief Rabbi Shlomo Goren
told reporters in Jerusalem
that Schindler's proposal
was aimed at "the windpipe
of Judaism." Its meaning
was the destruction of Judaism. Sephardic Chief Rabbi
O vadia Yosef said he was not
surprised to hear such a proposal coming from the Reform movement. He cited
the Talmud as saying: "The
son born to a gentile, is likewise a gentile."
Rabbi Harold Schulweis,
of Encino, Calif., secretary
of the Rabbinical Assembly,
hailed Schindler's proposal
as "a courageous idea that
goes to the heart of the struggle for Jewish survival."
Schulweis, who addressed,
the convention delegates on
"another subject, told report-
..ers.\vhCt,,asHed_him for his
.comment on Schindler's proposal that it "deserves the
most serious study and consideration." He said the suggested change was "based'
on the reality principle—the
growing intermarriage rate
among young Jewish people."
For tfiis reason, Schulweis
said, "I believe the Conservative movement is morally
.and judicially bound to respond to the deep concerns of
the Jewish laity on this matter as expressed by a serious
, and responsible Jewish
-statesman." Regarding the
child of a mixed marriage as
Jewish if either parent is
Jewish also aims at overcoming "what amounts to a
sexist distinction," Schulweis said, adding that "limiting the child to the religion
of the mother is in fact discriminatory against the father."
"A child who is raised by a
Jewish father who takes his
or her father's name, who
adopts the Jewish lifestyle
and identity of the father—
this child has a right to be
considered Jewish and in
such a case the religion of
the mother is no longer relevant, " Schulweis said.
In his presidential address, Schindler declared:
"the status of Jew should be
conferred on any child, either of whose parents is Jewish, provided they both agree
to raise their child Jewishly
and do so." He called on the
congregational, , rabbinical
and seminary bodies of Reform Judaism, in cooperation with the Conservative
movement, to "initiate a decision-making process" that
would lead to validation of
Jewish lineage through the
paternal as well as the maternal line.
A major factor cited by
ScWndlej^jijurgingJhe his:
torici change is that the' Jew-"
ish intermarriage rate is
currently approaching 40
percent, with the "preponderant majority" of such
marriages involving Jewish
men and non-Jewish women.
"The right of these men to
determine the religious
character of their children
must be secured," he said.
"Here is still another way to
make certain that our grandchildren will be Jews, that
they will remain a part of
qur community and share
the destiny of this people Israel." He added: "I want the
child's rearing and ultimately his or her self-definition to be on a par with gene-
ological factors in determin-
ing Jewishness. And I want
the geneological factors to
be paternal as well as maternal."
Schindler conceded that a
"tradition .standing two
millenia should not be altered lightly" but he said
that the circumstances
which gave rise to that "time
honored usage" no longer
apply. The tradition of Jewish lineage on the maternal
side only, he said, reflected a
polygamous society in which
the children of the various
wives lived with their
mothers.
"We no longer live in such
a society, in part at least because in the llth Century,
'Rabbi Gershom issued an
edict that changed the. Hala
cha   and  outlawed  polygamy," Schindler' said. The.
matrilineal   tradition   was
reinforced by "brutal perse--
cution" during the Middle.
Ages," Schindler said, when
a "compassionate law" permitted children of women
who had been raped to be
considered as Jewish.
In the absence of suctf per-1
(CONTINUEDON PAGES]   .
Early
Deadline
Tbe - Ohio Jewish
Chronicle office will be
closed Monday, Dec.
24 and Tuesday, Dec.
.25.
Copy far the Jan. 3
issue ptust be in the of-
fice_ by„ nopn on Wednesday, Dec. 26.
"'
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Schecter Announces Chairmen
For Heritage Village Meeting
Sylvia C. Schecter, president of Heritage Village, announced recently that Mrs.
and Dave Levison; Invitations, Joan Friedman and'
Sylvia Schecter; Mailing,
Heritage House and Heritage Tower Residents;' Host
and Hostess, Bill and Dorothy Kahn; and Publicity,
Eleanor Resler.
Mrs. Schecter, in announcing the committee appointments, noted that "Betty is
serving as chairman of the
Furnishings Committee and
is a member of the Building,
Expansion and Remodeling,
Finance Fund Raising,
House and Heritage Tower
Program and Services Committees.   Jerry  serves  as
Mrs. Charles Talis
Charles (Betty) Talis and
Gerald Wedren have accepted the responsibility to
serve as chairman and co-
chairman of the 18th Annual
Meeting of Heritage Village,
to be held on Sunday, Feb.
24, at 1:30 p.m. at Heritage
House.
Serving with Talis and
Wedren on the Annual Plan-,
ning Committee are the, following board members of
Heritage Village: Annual
Meeting Booklet, Carol
Borovetz; Social Hour and
Tea, Dorothy Brandt and
Charlotte Mentser; Physical
Arrangements,  Don Erkis
Mr. Gerald Wedren
chairman of the Legal Committee of the Heritage Village Board of Trustees.
Give The Gift Of Life, Wednesday, Pee. 26
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