Ohio Jewish Chronicle, 1986-12-11

              ■~*4>£*in»f^-- *;v,->".
il
-"I
ClBRARY,   OHIO  HiQTortiOAt, soc^i/tY    I
L M;>.    A'VF . V-  I
1-0.02  VELMA   AVE.
.oo'us..'0»'    43311
EXCH
Serving Columbus and Central Ohio Jewish Community for Over to Years
VOL.64   NO.51
DECEMBER 11,1986-KISLEV 9
Devoted to American
and Jewish Ideals.
Mubarak Message
Expresses Hope
For Mid-East Peace
JERUSALEM (JTA) -
President Hosni Mubarak of
Egypt has sent a message to
Premier Yitzhak Shamir expressing hope that Egypt
and Israel would continue to
cooperate to "promote peace
in the area." The message
was conveyed to Shamir last
week by Energy Minister
Moshe Shahal.
In Cairo, meanwhile, Mubarak told reporters that he
expected Palestine Liberation Organization chairman
Yasir Arafat to be in Egypt
soon to discuss "further
steps toward peace." He
said Egypt was trying to
solve the issue of Palestinian
representation at an international peace conference on
the Middle East.
Mubarak is scheduled to
visit Iraq shortly for a meeting with President Sadam
Hussein;
What Is Fievel The Jewish Mouse
Doing On A Christmas Ornament?
er joined with other rabbis as they
proceeded down Michigan Avenue in a rally held on
behalf of Soviet Jewry in Chicago on Nov. 13.
Rabbi Alan Ciner Leads
March For Soviet Jewry
Thousands of Chicagoans
joined with thousands of
delegates attending the recent Council of Jewish Federations General Assembly
in Chicago in support of the
Jews of the Soviet Union.
The march and mass rally
for Soviet .Jewry, held on
Nov, 13, began yvith a blast
Bill Passed By Ohio House
To Protect Those Who Object
To Performance Of Autopsy
A bill was passed in the
Ohio House of Representatives last week that protects
members of the Jewish community who want to object to
the performance of an
autopsy on a deceased friend
or relative. Substitute
Senate Bill 283, sponsored by
Senator Stanley J. Aronoff
(R-Cincinnati) and passed in
the Ohio Senate last spring
by a vote of 29 to 0, was successfully moved through the
Ohio House last week by a
'.'. vote of 90 to 3; with concurrence on amendments by the
Ohio Senate. The bill awaits
Governor Richard Celeste's
signature.
Sub. S.B. 283,. initially
drafted by the Agudath Israel of America, Ohio Chapter, and supported by the
Government Affairs Committee of Ohio Jewish Communities, w^as developed to
protect members of religious
groups who object to the performance of autopsy. The
bill gives a family member
or friend the right to halt an
autopsy for 48 hours if it is
contrary to the deceased
person's religious beliefs. In
that time, the family members or friend have the opportunity to get an injunction
halting the county coroner
from performing an autopsy.
The 48 hour waiting period
is instituted by notice to the
county coroner but is waived
in the case of murder, suspected murder, manslaughter or suspected manslaughter.
The bill, sponsored in the
House by Representative
Judy Sheerer (D-Shaker
Heights), received broad-
based support from legislators across the state of Ohio.
David M. Deutsch, president of the Government Affairs Committee, stated,
"The passage of the autopsy
bill, which we worked so
diligently on, speaks well for
the responsiveness of Ohio's
legislators,  We explained
(CONTINUED ON PAGE 4)
of the shofar. Rabbi Alan G.
Ciner, spiritual leader of the
Agudas Achim Synagogue,
was asked to join with lotf
rabbis who led the march as
they proceeded down Michigan Avenue to Grant Park
where a really was held. Israeli Deputy Prime Minister
Shimon Peres joined with
Mayor Harold Washington
along with other dignitaries
in addressing the group. The
purpose of the rally was to
make the American public
aware of the Situation of the
Jews, Jii|t!j^gpyiet; Union,
who, iii violation of Soviet
law and the Helsinki agreement, are prohibited from
leaving the country, teaching their language, culture
and religion.
The rally was the culmination of a nationwide petition
drive for one million signatures on behalf of Soviet
Jewry.
EARLY DEADLINE NOTICE
Deadline For ihe Dec. 25 Chronicle Is
Noon, Thursday. Dec. 18.
Deadline Tor The Jan. 1 Issue Is
, 4 p.m., Tuesday, Dec. 23.
The OJC Ol'lice Will Be Closed. Thursday,
Dee. 2">, \- Thursdav, jail.  1
By Andrew Muchin
NEW YORK (JTA) -
What's a nice Jewish char-
toon character like Fievel
Mousekewitz doing in places
like these?
The rodent star of Steven
Spielberg's new animated
film An American Tail is the
centerpiece of two major
Christmas sales promotions,
both apparently with Spielberg's blessing.
At more than 7,000
McDonald's restaurants
across the United States,
Fievel is pictured on four
facsimile-stocking Christmas tree ornaments, each
given free to purchasers of a
$5 book of gift certificates.
The books also contain a
coupon for $5 off a $25 Fievel
doll at 801 Sears department
stores nationwide. Sears has
exclusive rights to sell merchandise based on the
movie's characters, according to James Podany, director of marketing communications for Sears Roebuck &
Co., Chicago.      v
Sears is placing the characters on a variety of children's products as a draw
for sales during the Christmas season; however,
Podany insisted that Fievel
is not pictured on any Christmas-related items such as a
wreath or tree ornament.
'Ill Advised' And 'Tacky'
The use of an identifiably
Charity Newsies Provides Clothing
For Needy Columbus School Children
Members of Charity Newsies will be selling the Columbus Dispatch throughout
the city on Saturday, Dec. 13,
to raise funds for clothing for
needy school children.
Theme of this year's drive is
"Keeping School Children
Warmly Clothed Since 1907."
Members of the -Jewish
community participating in
the drive this year include:
Garry Beim, trustee; Ron
Gurvis, Hamilton and Main;
Meyer Hoffman, Frank and
High; Harlan Ruben, Broad
and Hamilton; Marvin
Grossman, Broad and
Hamilton; David Madison,
- Drexel and Main; Dr. B. B.
Kaplan, Drexel and Main;
Bert Charles, Trabue and
Rt. 33; Dr. F. Sobolewski,
Brice and Livingston; Sam
Weiner, Gold Pride Hamilton Rd.; Alan Rosen, Hamilton and Broad; Geoffrey
Stern, Hamilton and Main;
Ron Friedman, Broad and
Hamilton; Bernard Hirsch,
Frank and High; Sheldon
Schwartz, Broad and Hamilton; Stuart Grossman,
Hamilton and Broad;
Howard .Lewinter, Hamilton
and Main; Rabbi Nathan
Zelizer, Highland Beach,
Fla.,; Barney Greenbaum;
Rabbi Samuel Rubenstein;
Michael Hurwitz; Harry Silberstein; Sandy Schwartz,
Ariz.
According to drive chairman John Mullin, "The purpose of the Newsies is to see
that no children are kept out
of school for lack of adequate
clothing. For the past 80
years, the Charity Newsies
has been successful in reaching the monetary gtial set
each year." This year, the
Newsies are attempting to
raise over $400,000.
The Chronicle
^ammammmmmammmmmmmmm
Comntuntty Calendar k*;; -i
J^pHl*t^ft»t^res ;,',** k,a
^y*aik&g»>.-:, V« *•»«>* J* • »<' 4
Market Pj&ee, U ,«wf»-' i ..-IS
Obituaries,..*./,;•;•.,'.-..>; :&
Soda)News ,.,',,..,:..,, >*
Synagogue Services ;.„*. j ijjl
Jewish character to boost
Christmas Sales is incongruous to say the least, isn't it?
"I think it's ill-advised" and
"tacky," said Dr. Eliot
Spack, executive, director of
the Coalition for Alternatives in Jewish Education.
He noted that he was expressing his own opinions,
not his organization's policy.
However, he told JTA that
the Fievel campaigns did not
pose major assimilation
problems for Jews. "I'm not
personally worried that
we're going to lose  thou
sands of Jews over it," he
said, explaining that children won't easily identify the
mouse as Jewish, since Fievel is an uncommon Jewish
name.
He chalked up the Fievel
promotions to capitalism.
"Chanukah and Jewish linkages have clearly been exploited for many years" in
the promotion of Christmas
and non-religious events, he
added!
Spokespeople for the companies  involved,  in  inter-
(CONTINUED ON PAGE 12)
Israeli High Court Nixes
'Convert' On I.D. Cards
JERUSALEM (JTA) - A
Supreme Court panel ruled
unanimously last week that
the Interior Ministry may
not inscribe the word "converted" on the identification
card of a person converted to
Judaism.
The decision, hailed in liberal and secular circles and
angrily condemned by the
Orthodox estblishment, is
seen likely to revive the bitter debate over the' 'Who is a
Jew" issue because it involved a conversion performed by a Reform rabbi in
the U.S. The court ruling is
considered a landmark because it makes clear the supremacy of civil law in Israel.   ■'■' .'■■'.•,-'.,.
The ruling was handed
down by a panel of three justices — Supreme Court
President Meir Shamgar,
Menahem Eylon and Miriam
Ben-Porat. Eylon, in an addendum to the ruling, stated
that the word "converted"
on an identification card was
contrary to religious law. A
number, of leading rabbis
agreed with him on halachic
grounds, though others have
ruled differently.
A storm is centered on Interior Minister Rabbi Yitzhak Peretz of the Orthodox
Shas Party whose resignation was demanded Dec. 2 by
' Orthodox leaders. The court
acted on an appeal by Shoshana Miller against the Interior Ministry. Miller was
converted to Judaism in 1982
by Rabbi David Klein of
Colorado Springs, Colo., and
immigrated to Israel three
years later, claiming citizenship.
The Interior Ministry refused to register her as a
Jew. But when she appealed
to the Supreme Court last
year, Peretz agreed to register her as a convert. He explained to the Knesset at the
time that to register her simply as Jewish withoitf the
qualifying "converted"
could mislead other citizens
and officials as to her standing under Jewish law. But
Miller continued to press her
appeal.
Orthodox Establishment
Is Irate
The ire of the Orthodox establishment: focused on
Peretz for registering Miller
as Jewish even with the
qualification that she was a
convert. Ashkenazic Chief
Rabbi Avraham Shapiro
said in a statement Dec. 2
that "The Chief Rabbinate
opposed the (Peretz) proposal all along ... in our
view, a Reform conversion is
just a joke because it does
not require acceptance of
mitzvot- It is impossible, indeed immoral, to accept
such a convert whom a large
part of the Jewish people
does not accept as a Jew."
(CONTINUEO ON PAGE 13)
Conservative, Reform
li<
NEW YORK (JTA) -The
Conservative and Reform
Judaism movements of
America have hailed as a
victory for pluralism the Israeli Supreme Court decision barring the label of a
convert on identity cards,
but the Orthodox say they
have merely lost the battle,
not the fight. The Israeli Supreme Court ruled last week
that the Interior Ministry
may not inscribe the word
"converted" on the identification card of any person
converted to Judaism. The
landmark ruling is just one
small step towards resolving
a bitter and emotional conflict between Jewish religious factions over the question of "Who is a Jew?"
The Orthodox establishment has contended for
years that Reform and Con-
(fONTINUED ON PAGE 51
\'*'