Ohio Jewish Chronicle, 1984-04-26

              <■' .       ZJW// Serving Columbus and Central Ohio Jewish Community for Over 60 Years     \u/v[\
L'. BRAKY;   OHIO   HISTORICAL   SOC***^
198H   VELMA   AVE.
COUS.   0,     43E11   '. EXCH
VOL.62   NO. 17
APRIL 26,1984-NISAN 24
Devoted to American
and Jewish (deals.
84 Oberammergau Play Under Fire
French Jews Celebrate 40th Anniversary
Of Founding Of CRIF
PARIS (JTA)—French Jewry celebrated the 40th anniversary of the founding of the Representative Council ofFrench
Jewish Organizations (CRIF) by members of the Jewish
.., ,      underground in German-occupied France in 1944 as a symbol
lit i      of their determination to survive and rebuild the Jewish
institutions destroyed by the Nazis.
El Salvador Moves Embassy To Jerusalem
JERUSALEM (JTA)—El Salvador became the seond
country, after Costa Rica, "to move its Embassy from Tel
Aviv to Jerusalem. At a ceremony in Jerusalem on April 13,
Ambassador Napolean Armando Guerra of El Salvador, said
that his country's decision to move its embassy to Jerusalem
was based "in the human and spiritual values which characterize Israel, which is considered like the countries of Latin
, America, a country that esteems democracy, freedom, peace
and prosperity."
Swiss Rabbis Protest KGB's Conf iscation
Of Religious Artifacts In Odessa
GENEVA (JTA)—A delegation of five Swiss rabbis headed
by the Chief Rabbi of Zurich, Mordechai Piron presented the
Soviet Embassy in Bern last week with a letter of protest regarding the recent activity of the KGB in Odessa. The KGB
confiscated tefilin and bibles. The delegation told the Jewish
Telegraphic Agency that they would not be silenced over the
growth of anti-Semitism in the Soviet Union. Such acts are a
breach of the Human Rights Convention and the Helsinki
agreement of which the USSR is a signatory, they said.
TORONTO (JTA) - A
Jewish historian and a Jewish philosopher are both
highly critical of the 1984
version of "Passioh Play"
which will be staged this
summer in the West German
village of Oberammergau. It
will mark the 350th anniversary of the first production of
the play by the villagers.
Ever since 1634, the people
of  Oberammergau  in
Bavaria have kept a promise
made at the time when their
village was threatened by a
plague "to keep the tragedy
of the passion (of Jesus)
every ten years." The dominant theme of the play has
been that the evil Jews crucified Jesus.
Saul Friedman, professor
of history at Youngstown
State University, the author
of JVo Hope for the Oppressed'.
and Pogromchik and the
author of a soon to be
released book on the Passion
Play, says the play, which is
expected to be seen by more
than 500,000 spectators this
summer, will be substantially, the same version pre-
World's 13
ZeroP
I'ilB
R
Growth In 1982
NEW YORK (JTA)-The
world's 13 million Jews
reached zero population
growth in 1982, according to
newly released figures published in the 1984 American
Jewish Year Book.
The report, prepared by
Professors U.O. Schmelz
and Sergio Delia Pergola of
the Institute of Contemporary Jewry at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, noted that a 91,000
gain in Jewish population in
•Israel between 1980 and 1982
was offset by a comparable
numerical decline in the
diaspora.
"Jews in most countries of
the diaspora are demo-
graphically characterized
by very low fertility, considerable out-marriage, involving losses of children to
the Jewish population, other
assimilatory losses and
great aging," stated the
authors.
Jewish emigration to
North America, the report
indicates, was neutralized
by internal demographic
losses.
U.S. Jewish Population Is
5.728 Million
In a Year Book study of the
U.S. population written by
Alvin Chenkin, of the Council
of Jewish Federations, the
total American Jewish population is reported to have remained unchanged over the
last year, at about 5,728
million. American Jews continued to migrate to the Sun
Belt, with California posting
the largest increase—13,265
Jews. Texas, Arizona, Georgia, Alabama, Louisiana and
Florida also reported Jewish
population gains.
In the world population
study,   the  authors  noted
that, for the first time, the
fertility rates of Ashkenazic
and Sephardic Jews in Israel
were found to be virtually
the same. Both groups'
fertility rates surpassed
those of Diaspora Jews and
(CONTINUED ON PAGE »>
Connie Robins To Head
UJF Campaign Closing
"I have appointed Connie
Robins chairwoman of the
1984 United Jewish Fund
Campaign Closing set -for
Thursday evening, May 10,"
announced Edwin M. Ellman, general chairman.
Connie Robins
"The closing event is a
celebration of the commitment and dedication of campaign workers and leaders,
of those 300 plus individuals
who were responsible for an
outstanding campaign year.
The evening represents both
a salute and a thank you for
a job well done," said Ell-
sented in the village in 1980.
"On the scale of anti-
Semitism, where Der
Sturmer is 100 and the Sermon on the Mount is 0, I
would put the 1980 play at
40," Friedman says. "But it
is much improved over 1970
where the text was 70 in anti-
Semitism."
Some Improvements In The
Play Noted
While Friedman is not
totally satisfied with the new
expurgated version of the
play—which tends to portray
Jews as the people of Judas,
rather than Jesus—he says
that many of the improvements came about as a
result of the good will of the
people of Oberammergau.
That good will has not gone
far enough, however, he observes, since there are still :
distinctly anti-Jewish resonances in the latest version.
Friedman indicates that
the village's former mayor,
Ernst Zwink, one of the most
helpful forces in the purging
of the original text, has died
and his death has1 removed
some of the urgency of the
text's revision.
Says Nazism Penetrated
Oberammergau
In a preface to Friedman's
new book, Oberammergau,
philosopher Emil Facken-
heim, a professor at the'
Institute for Contemporary
Jewish Studies, says that the
1934 version of the play
belies the assertion made by
many defenders of Oberammergau that Nazism
never really .penetrated the
play. He states:  -
"We say the 1934 Nazi version because, contrary to all
the apologies offered after
1945, to the effect that
Nazism never penetrated
Oberammergau, the spirit of
Nazism  is  unmistakably
(CONTINUED ON PAGE 10)
Alan S. Katchen Named
Regional ADL Director
man.
Robins has been active in
the Women's Division of the
campaign. In 1983, she, was
the division representative
for SUPER SUNDAY. This
year, she served as co-chairwoman of the Club Fe&two-
day retreat for the "Mind
and Body" that attracted
over 35 women who additionally focused on the needs of
the campaign.
Robins and her husband,
Gary, 1984 Advance Gifts
chairman, are serving as co-
chairpersons of the Columbus-Israel Study Mission for
Teens. They are also looking
forward to leading a family
mission to Israel during the
summer in honor of their son
Chad's Bar Mitzvah.
"I know that Connie and
her committee will plan a
very rich and meaningful
evening," added Ellman.
The Campaign Closing will
honor workers, announce the
campaign leadership for
1985 and announce the 1984
campaign achievement.
I
Alan S. Katchen has been -
named the new director of
the Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana
Regional Office of the Anti-
Defamation League of B'nai
B'rith.
'J
.•«.
The Mezada Duo
Mezada Duo Concert To Kick Off
Center's Israel 36 Celebration
"Be sure to stop by the Leo
Yassenoff Jewish Center and
pick up your tickets for our
exciting concert kicking off
the celebration of Israel's
36th anniversary," says co-
chairwoman Ina Sue
Romick. "The performance,
by Israel's dynamic vocal
duo, Mezada, will be held
Sunday, May 6? at 7:30 p.m.
in the Roth/Resler Theatre,
1125 College Ave.," adds
Romick.
Mezada's duo, Zigi-
Abraham and Smadar, both
started singing at a very
early age/ When they met
and began singing together,
they studied under opera
singer and teacher, Izo
Goland.
"The ability and talent of
Mezada is mixed with spontaneity and audience rapport," states co-chairman
Harvey Schwager, "and
their Israeli, Russian,
French and South American
songs will certainly delight
all."
Following the concert,
there will be a fruit, cheese:
and champagne reception
and Israeli dancing.
Tickets for the evening,
which are limited and now
on sale at the Center, are
$8.50. Senior citizen and
student prices are $7, and
sponsor tickets are $18. For
more information about the
evening, call the Israel/Judaic Department at the Center, 231-2731.
Before taking this position,
Katchen served for over two
years as regional director of
the ADL's Plains States
Office in Omaha, Neb. Prior
to that, Katchen was associate director of the ADL's
Florida Regional Office in
Miami. He has been with the
League' since 1976, having
started as a community consultant at the Chicago Regional Office.
Katchen holds a B.A. from
the University of Pennsylvania, an M.A.T. from Har-
vyardJJi^^|ty„i^d,tfd-;Ws'-'';
doctoral work in history of
education at Johns Hopkins
University where he was a
Gilman and-HopkinsFellow.
Katchen's essays and book
reviews have appeared in
the Miami Herald and the
Miami News as well as Jewish publications.
Katchen succeeds the previous director, Michael C.
Kotzin, who is now director
of the ADL's Chicago office.
The Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana office of the ADL is
located at 1175 College Ave.
One of 30 regional ADL
offices around the country, it
services the three-state area
in implementing the-1
League's program of combatting anti-Semitism and
other forms of bigotry, promoting interreligious and
intergroup understanding
and cooperation and conducting an estensive educational program on Israel and
the Middle East.
Israeli Athletes
To Participate
In LA. Olympics
TEL AVIV (JTA)-There
will be at least 25 athletes representing Israel when more
than 10,000 athletes from
throughout the world arrive
in Los Angeles in July for the
1984 Olympic Games,
according to Yitzhak Ofek,
president of the Israel Olympic Committee.
While the list is not final,
as Israel continues to hold
throughout May a series of
(CONTINUED ON PAGE 8)