Ohio Jewish Chronicle, 1980-07-31

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VOL.58   NO.31
JULY31.1980-AV18
Battle Over Commercial TV Channel
JERUSALEM, (JTA)—A new battle is shaping up between
the coalition and the opposition over government proposals l'»
establish a commercial television channel to compete with
the present single channel which is State-owned but auton
omous. Energy Minister Yitzhak Modai is expected to soon
propose the new channel to the Ministerial Economk
Committee,
Several business groups are known to be interested in
bidding for the franchise to operate a commercial channel. If
the full Cabinet approves Modai's proposal, the Economic
Committee will begin to consider bids. •
Commercial television has .been under discussion for
years. The latest move in favor of a commercial channel has
come at a time when national televison, and to a lesser
extent, national radio, are under strong attack by government ministers and coalition Knesset members for allegedly
being too negative and down-beat in reporting news of
government activities.
Modai and Finance Minister Yigal Hurwitz are among the
most severe critics of public television's handling of the news
and public affairs. Binyamin Halevi, an MK of the Democratic Movement, recently referred to TV-news reporters as
"criminals'' and had to make a public apology.
Labor MKs have charged that coalition attacks on television and radio staff reporters were deliberately intended to
boost the chances of Cabinet approval of a second channel.
They accused the government, of wanting to create a
commercial channel to be run by pro-Likud business
interests." Moshe Shahal, chairman of the Labor Party's
Knesset faction, called for tight Knesset and public control
'-over any second channel to ensure that it does not become a
-political tool. '    . „ , . A
Tank Sale To Be Presented To Congress
WASHINGTON, (JTAL-The proposed sale of 100 M-60
tanks to Jordan advanced recently when the Defense Department announced that the $160 million deal will be presented
to Congress for approval. The tanks, equipped with night
vision devices, are part of a 200-tank package President
Carter promised King Hussein of Jordan, .during his
Washington visit last month, to modernize Jordan's armed
forces.
■ Israel has vigorously opposed the tank, sale although
Pentagon officials insist it will not affect the military balance
in the Middle East because Jordan has promised to phase out
its older M-48 tanks. The Administration has claimed that the
sale will improve U.S. ties with Jordan and help persuade
Hussein to join in the current Middle East peace process
based on the Camp David accords. The Jordanian ruler, however, gave- no indication when he was here that he has
softened his opposition to the Israeli-Egyptian autonomy
negotiations.
Congress has 30 days to block the tank sale but sources on
Capitol Hill predicted that it will be approved.
Conference To Include PLO
.   •*.*■* '
BONN, (JTA)-r-Chedli Klibi, Secretary General of .the
-Arab League, said here today that the foreign ministers of
the Arab League and the European Economic Community
(EEC) member states will hold a conference some time this
year which will include representatives of the Palestine
Liberation Organization.
Klibi made the announcement at a press conference at the
end of his three-day visit to West Germany. He said the Arab
League and the EEC have agreed to renew the Euro-Arab
dialogue, but this time on a political level In contrast to the
past when the discussions were limited to cultural and trade
matters. Eygpt, which the Arab League boycotts because of
its peace treaty with Israel, will be excluded from the
, dialogue, Klibi said.
The Arab League official claimed that West Germany
always had reservations about the Camp David accords and
that they have increased considerably of late.-He claimed
that the Bonn government is convinced that no peace settlement can be reached in the Middle East without the participation of the PLO. During his visit, Klibi met in Hamburg
. with* Gl^ejlwvftHmut'jScbmiMU^
Dietrich Genscher and the other West German'leaders. ," '
<\- \
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1 I     „— '-1
Pictured above are Charles "Bud" Wallick, Second
Vice President, District 02, presenting a check to Wein-    •
berg for his membership enrollment success; and in
the foreground, Irving Friedman, President Elect of
the District.
District 2 B'nai B'rith Awards
Weinberg For New Members
Leo Weinberg JB'nai B'rith
Zion Lodge #82 was presented with several awards at
the recent District #2, Convention for his success at enrolling new members. His
total of 67 new members was
a record for Zion Lodge, and
enough to make him,the vyin-
rier of a District H2 membership contest?
Also representing Columbus at the recent convention
were John Skuller, President
CJF Appoints Peggy Siegel
As New Group Chairwomen
Peggy M. Siegel has been ,
appointed to serve as the
Chairwoman of the 1980-81
Business' and Professional
Women's Group of the
Columbus ' Jewish
Federation. Ms. Siegel will
succeed Joyce Zacks, who
served as the founding chairwoman of the group during
the past year.
The purpose of the Business and Professional
Women's Group is to expose
a large, new element of the
Jewish community, business
and professional women, to
basic issues and concerns of
Israel and the American
Jewish community. The
'group met several times during the past year and there
wjas an enthusiastic response
at each session.
The newly established
planning committee under
the chairmanship of Ms. Siegel will be meeting to plan
the forthcoming programs
for the year. The next session .of the group is
scheduled for late August.
* Ms. Siegel was honored as
the Outstanding Young
Woman of America in 1977
and has served in the Columbus Area Leadership Program. She has served on the
of' Macabee Lodge; Mike
Dworkin; arid Dr. R. Gurevitz, President of, Zion
Lodge. Dworkin was named
to the District #2 Board of
Governors for a second
term.
The membership contest
Weinberg was competing in
included all'the lodges in*
District #2, which is comprised of Colorado, Indiana,
Kansas, Kentucky, Missouri,
(CONTINUED ON PAGE 12}
Peggy M. Siegel
Executive Committee of the
ADL, and on the Community
Relations Committee of -
Federation. In addition, Ms.
Siegel participated in the
planning committee of the
Business and Professional
Women's Group-during the
past year.
In announcing the appointment of her successor, Ms!
Zacks stated that Federation
is privileged to have a young
professional woman of .the
calibre of Ms. Siegel to serve
in this capacity. Under her
leadership, it is certain, that
the Business and Professional Women's Group will
' successfully meet its objectives during the coming
year.
AMERICAN NEWS REPORT
Rabbi Sees 'Entire Industry9 Profiting
From Bar-Bus Mitzvah Celebrations
ByBei^Gallob
(Copyright 1980, JTA., Inc.)
A retired Massachusetts
Reform rabbi is convinced
that the typical lavish Bar-
Bas Mitzvah ceremony may
be a threat to the congregation's   stability   as   it   is
"demonstrated by regular attendance' at services, and
that his'findings apply not
only to Reform but also to
Conservative and Orthodox
synagogues "here and
abroad."
) Rabbi Herman Snyder,
rabbi emeritus of Sinai Temple in Springfield, described
his concerns in the Winter,
1980 issue of the "Journal of
Reform   Judaism," . the
- scholarly quarterly of "the
Central - Conference 'of
American Rabbis.
Describing the Bar-Bas
Mitzvah as an American
"discovery," he asserted it
was developed and expanded
in the United States "and
from here exhorted to other
countries," including Israel.
For the rabbi, the ceremony
initially emerged as "a
means to an end"—.the solution to the "vexing" problem
of "how to get our reluctant
young people (and their
parents),'!
a   minima
_x  'toat' least )>
Jewish . edu-.
cation."
Rabbi Snyder cited "three
major consequences" developing from the American
version of the rite. One was
that it was a boon to Hebrew
teachers and religious
schools; children were enrolled in the synagogue
schools to be "prepared" for
the event. Second, he reported, the American version
"resulted in the creation" of
"an entire industry catering
to the Oneg Shabbat, Kiddush and festive celebrations."    .
Lastly, he commented, the
-synagogue, too, profited because family membership
' was made a condition for religious school enrollment of
the child for preparation for
the. ceremony. But when parents became synagogue
members primarily because
of the ceremony, the inevitable problem arises of how
to keepthe parents members
of the congregation and their
children injhe synagogue
after the ceremony.
In previous periods, no
similar fuss was made about
the rite, Rabbi Snyder declared. In pre-war Eastern
Europe, where Jews were
accustomed to attend serv/
special preparation of chil
dren who, long before they
were 13, "could generally
, read or chant any Torah or
Haftorah portion." On or as
close as possible to the boy's
13th birthday, he was called
to'the Torah, whatever the
day was, but the Haftorah
reading was reserved "for
- the distinguished elders.''
Rabbi Snyder alsocaustic-
ally noted that "people rise
' from sickbed or travel great
distances   to   be   present.
Business  and  professional
- men who insist they cannot
possibly be away from business or office, particularly
on a Saturday, will be found
in the synagogue, if they,
have been invited. Even the
golf and tennis buff who
plays  every' Sabbath  're-
• ligiously,' will feel compelled" to attend.
The usual result of such
"outstanding events" is that
"the child is gift-laden,
rabbi-blessed and—in most
cases—promptly lost to the
synagogue, together with his
family," though the
"euphoria" was great
"while it lasted."
Rabbi Snyder declared
that the ceremony has become "perhaps, the most
popular and joyQtos religious
;^^JW^;tHe|Aineri5an,
-'Jewish • -community.      a
"happy reunion" of family *
and friends, many of whom
"seem to be so overcome by
emotion that they are unable
even to hold a prayerbook or
to participate in the service.
The rabbi stressed he was,
not dealing with the problem
*** of the "drop-out" parent and
child. He wrote" he simply
wanted to raise the issue of
"whether the ceremony may
not be exercising a desti^ic-
tive impact on synagogue attendance," a result he said
was largely unnoticed.
He said that where the
Bar-Bas, Mitzvah was once
incidental to the regular Sabbath morning service, in
many congregations the
family and the child now
have "taken over" the entire
service, with attendance restricted to invited guests.
Specifically, he asserted, "a
person who attends every
Sabbath morning, even when
.there is a Bar or Bas Mitzvah, is often considered
'strange' and it has been described" as "bad taste" to
come to such a service if
"one is not anjnvited guest."*
Asserting that regular attendance at services is "a
fragile habit that is easily
broken." Rabbi Snyder said.
„ bjs^jutlijigs wemtjiat rregi*-
(CONTINUEOON PAGE 9)