Ohio Jewish Chronicle, 1986-07-03

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EX'CH
VOL.64   NO. 27
JULY 3,1986-SIVAN 26
Devoted to American
and Jewish Ideals.
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BLOOD DAY is
Today
Thursday, July 3
at The Leo Yassenoff
Jewish Center
12-6 p.m.
Reform, Conservative Leaders In U.S.
Denounce 'Convert' Stamp On I.D. Cards
Herbert Schiff To Be Honored
By Beth Jacob Congregation
At Sept. 9 Testimonial Dinner
Ronald Golden, president
of the Beth Jacob Congregation;' has announced that
Herbert Schiff,' philanthropist and leader of the Jewish
community, will be the recipient of the "Keser Shem
Tov" award which will be
presented to him by the congregation at a special TestiT
moriial Dinner in his honor
on Tuesday, Sept. 9.
Herbert Schiff
Golden said, "This coveted
award is being presented to
an outstanding American
Jew for his immeasurable
and indefatigable contributions for the enhancement of
Jewish life and for the
growth of the Beth Jacob
Congregation.   The  award
will he presented by Rabbi
David Stavsky in behalf of
the congregation."
Schiff has been a life long
, member of the Beth Jacob
Synagogue and most recently re-dedicated a newly
constructed Rabbi Leopold
Greenwald Library and Herbert SCjhjffl Conference Room
in the synagogue, at 1223 College Ave.
Schiff is an active member
of the board of United HIAS,
United Israel Appeal, National Board of Governors of
the iSalk Institute, Hebrew
University of Jerusalem
School for Overseas Students. He was the president
and General Campaign
chairman of the-Columbus.
Jewish Federation, president and trustee of the
United Jewish Fund and
Council, board member of
Heritage House and the Hillel Foundation of the Ohio
State University. He is chairman of the Columbus Jewish
Foundation and trustee of
United Jewish Appeal. An
active Zionist and supporter
of the State of Israel, he has
been honored by the State of
Israel Bonds and received
the Israel Prime Minister's
(CONTINUED ON PAGE 8)
NEW YORK (JTA) -
Leaders of Reform and Conservative Judaism in the
U.S. spoke out strongly last
week to denounce the practice by the Orthodox-controlled Ministry of Interior in
Israel of printing the word
"converted" next to the
designation "Jewish" on the
identity cards of Jewish con*
verts in Israel. !
Rabbi Alexander Schind-
ler, president of the Union of
American Hebrew Congregations, the congregational
organization of Reform
Jews, charged that "now the
Orthodox establishment in
Israel wants to stamp the
equivalent of the yellow star!
on the identity cards ofi
immigrants to Israel whd
have been converted td
Judaism."
A statement adopted by
the executive council of the
Rabbinical Assembly, th6
association of Conservative
rabbis, urged Premier
Shimon Peres and his Cabif-
net "to immediately rescind
this unconscionable ruling.'.'
The new regulation of the
Interior' Ministry; which is
headed by Rabbi Yitzhak
Peretz of the ultra-Orthodox
Shas Party, was disclosed
June 24 at a Supreme Court
hearing on a complaint by a
recent immigrant from the
U.S., Shoshana Miller, who
was converted to Judaism by
a Reform rabbi. The Interior
Ministry refused to register
her as Jewish.
Flouts Tradition
The Ministry told the court
that the designation "con
verted" was intended as a
guideline to rabbis who register marriages. Schindler
declared, "This ugly and
humiliating requirement
flies in the face of 3,000 years
of Jewish tradition. From
the earliest days of our history as a people, those who
converted to our faith were
regarded as fully equal. All
were children of Father
Abraham; never was there a
stigma attached to the status
of a convert."
Don't Miss The opportunity
To Wish The Community
A Sweet New Year
Fill Out And Mail Coupon On Page 8
By Aug. 4
THE OHIO JEWISH CHRONICLE
NEW YEAR EDITION
SEPTEMBER 29, 1986
FEATURING:
m The Jewish Epicure—a special feature section about how
to plan the perfect party and what and where to eat in
Columbus
■ Short stories by Local Authors
■ The Annual, updated Guide to the Jewish Community
■ organization Annual Reports
■ Pictorial and Chronological Highlights of the Past Year
■ New Year Greetings to the Community
ftija-r
Schindler added, "I have
every confidence that this
latest insult heaped upon the
Jewish community by a
small Khomeini-like minority will be rejected by
Israel's Cabinet and repudiated by Israel's people."
His reference was to the
Ayatollah Ruhollah
Khomeini who established a
theocratic Islamic state in
Iran.
The statement by the Rabbinical Assembly said: "The
unilateral decision of Interior Minister Yitzhak
Peretz to stamp the word
'convert' on the passports of
converted Jews in Israel
represents a reprehensible
action defying both Jewish
tradition and the decision of
the Israeli Supreme Court.
We urge Prime Minister
Shimon Peres and the Israeli
Cabinet to immediately re?
scind this unconscionable
ruling and to continue to
(CONTINUED ON PAGE 7),
Local Leader Says Reform Group Will Press
Demands For Religious Pluralism In Israel
A national leader of
Reform Judaism, just
returned to Columbus from
Israel -r Dr. Walter Baum, a
member of Temple Israel —:
says the Reform movement
will step up its demands for
religious pluralism in the
Jewish state in an effort to
block "increasing efforts by
a rigid and politicized Orthodox rabbinate to impose its
views on the people of Israel
and on Jews everywhere."
Following a ten-day mission to Israel as part of a
delegation of 36 trustees of
the Union of American Hebrew Congregations, Dr.
Baum, on his return,
reported that the organization will draw plans to establish, a Religious Action Center in Jerusalem along the
lines of a similar program
operated by the UAHC in
Washington, D.C.   .
That center, he explained,
Dr. Marvin Fox To Deliver Address
At Rabbi Baker Memorial Tribute
The Columbus Jewish
community will gather at the
Ahavas Sholom Synagogue
for a Memorial Tribute to
Rabbi Julius L. Baker, rabbi
emeritus of Ahavas Sholom,
on Sunday, July 6, at 4 p.m.
Rabbi Baker died on Wednesday, June 4, in Miami,
Fla. The funeral was held in
Jerusalem.
Rabbi Baker lived in
Columbus for a half century.
His scholarship in Torah,
rabbinic literature and Jewish Law were particularly
well known. He authored a
widely used .work on ser-
monics, Pri Yehuda.
The memorial address will
be delivered by Dr. Marvin
Fox. Dr. Fox was a long time
resident of Columbus and
professor of philosophy at
Ohio State University. He
earned a national reputation
as an author, scholar, lecturer and teacher. He is now
chairman of the Department
of Jewish Studies at Brandeis University.
Dr. Fox was a leading
member of Ahavas Sholom,
a close friend of Rabbi Baker
and closely associated with
him in the leadership of the
congregation.	
Federation Board Establishes
Grants For Education Efforts
This past year, under the
chairmanship of Michael
Talis, the Jewish Education
Study Committee assessed
the Columbus Jewish
Federation's fiscal responsibility in the funding of con-
gregational education
efforts.
"All of us see education as
the primary tool to be used in
strengthening Jewish, identity and in keeping our young
people involved in their Jewishness. To that end, the special committee on Jewish
education was formed," said
Federation President
Miriam Yenkin, "Mike and
the committee have established comprehensive and
creative avenues for assuring quality Jewish education
that ,will be implemented
and monitored by an ongoing Jewish Education
Committee."
The committee members
were carefully selected.
' They are: Irving Baker, Irving Barkan, William Glick,
Marcie Golden, Barbara
Herstig, Holly Kastan, Norman Meizlish, Myer Mcll-'
man, Carol Radnor and
Allan Samansky.
Talis explained the rea-
(CONTINUED ON PAGE 14)
functions as a lobby and
educational-research arm;
"giving eloquent expression
to Reform Judaism's abiding commitment to social
justice." In Israel, he said,
the Religious Action Center
would "serve as a rallying
point for coalitions of Israeli
citizens in the pursuit of social justice and peace." It
would also be a focus for
legislative and judicial, efforts to achieve religious
freedom, pluralism and civil
liberties, he added, "thus
helping to make Israel an
exemplar of Jewish ideals
and a light unto the nation."
A feasibility study will begin
soon, he said.
Dr. Baum said the Union
(CONTINUED ON PAGE IS)
Assistant Director
Appointed By ADL
Michael A. Geller recently
has been appointed assistant
director at the Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana Regional Office of the Anti-Defamation
League of B'nai B'rith, it
was announced by Alan S.
Katchen, regional director of
that office.
A-native of St. Louis, Mo.,
Geller comes to ADL after
receiving a degree in political science from the University of Kansas. While at Kansas, he was the AIPAC
campus liaison as well as a
member of the Hillel execu- -
tive board. He was also
president and founder of
"Total Response Agenda," a
pro-Israel campus organization, recognized as an official organization at the University of Kansas, and co-
founder of Students Against
Racism and Anti-Semitism
(SARA).
Katchen said Geller brings
to his new position training
and valuable experience in
media relations, Middle
Eastern affairs and university campus activism.- and
outreach.
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