Ohio Jewish Chronicle, 1987-07-09

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VOL.65   NO.30
JULY 9,1987-TAMMUZ12
Devbted to American
and Jewish Ideals.
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Protestant Group
Affirms Legitimacy
Of Jewish Religion
. NEW YORK (JTA) - The
United Church of "Christ, one
of the largest American Protestant denominations, issued a strongly affirmative
declaration on Judaism last
week. It proclaimed that Judaism and Christianity are
equally legitimate and requested forgiveness for
denying Judaism's validity
and for the sometimes dire
historical consequences of
that denial.
The landmark declaration,
made at a ■ convention in
Cleveland of the 1.7-million-
member UCC, followed a
compromise statement by
the Presbyterian Church
(U.S.A.) several weeks earlier. The latter was received
with ambivalence in the
Jewish community because
it stressed Palestinian rights
and claimed "the modern
state of Israel cannot be validated theologically."
Rabbi Alan Mittleman of
the American Jewish Committee, who sat on the UCC
committee that drafted the
document, said that document is unique because it
"reflects what Jews see as
their Judaism... The Christians were well aware that
one of the great sins of their
Church has been defining
our Judaism for us."
"It really is a very bold
statement which has also admitted historical Christian
complicity in anti-Semitism," he contiued.
Congressional Wives Find
New Emigration Barriers
For Jews In Soviet Union
Surrounded by his family, Bernard Gold was the surprised recipient of the 1987 Heritage House Grandfather of the Year honor (top photo). Shirlie Levitin,
Auxiliary co-president, with Gerald Cohn, executive
vice president looking on, offers flowers to Heritage
House Grandmother Bess Raffeld (bottom photo).
Bess Raffeld, Bernard Gold
Selected As Heritage House
Grandparents Of The Year
The annual tradition of
crowning a Heritage House
Grandmother and Grandfather of the Year was once
again observed by the Heritage House residents at a special Happy Hour Coronation
Synagogi
B. Binsky Elected President
Of Beth Jacob
Bob Binsky and his fellow
officers and members of the
Board of Trustees will be installed at a special Sabbath
Kiddush luncheon on Saturday, July -11, following .the
Bob Binsky '
services, according to Leonard Quinn, chairman of the
Nominating Committee. The
luncheon kiddush is being
prepared by Irving Szames
and his committee.
Binsky, a native of Montreal,' Quebec, attended Sir
George William University
in Montreal before joining
Steinberg's Ltd., a large grocery chain. He was also affiliated with Merrill Lynch
Pierce as an account executive and was associated with
M Corp. as executive vice
president.
Binsky relocated to Columbus in May of 1978 as a
general manager with Graphic Galleries. In 1980, he
formed DeCor Corporation,
a' specialty retailer in the
graphic art and gift business.
He is married to Beatrice
(Klein) and they have three
children, Lawrence, age 18;
Darryl, age 15, and Bram,
age 12.
After joining the Beth Jacob Congregation in May of
1978 the Binsky family became active in the Jewish
community and in the synagogue. Binsky is a member
of the Finance Committee of
the Columbus Torah Academy and a member of the
Board of the Entrepreneur-
ship Institute of Columbus.
(CONTINUED ON PAGE 5)
Party.
Each year, Heritage
House residents select one
lady and gentleman to receive the honor of serving as
Grandparents of the Year
for the upcoming year. The
selection, voted upon only by
residents in secret ballot, is
then announced to all members of the Heritage House
family at a special ceremony
held in their honor.
Grandparents represent
all members of the Heritage
House family at community
events.
This year's presentation
was made, to Grandmother
Bess Raffeld and Grandfather Bernard Gold.
Raffeld received the honor
of being selected the 1984
Heritage Tower Volunteer of
the Year, where she resided
before joining the Heritage
House family. She is the
mother of three sons and two
step-daughters, grandmother of 12, with one greatgrandchild. A woman of
many interests, including
bingo and canasta, she is a
member of Beth Jacob Synagogue.
Gold was born in Poland at
the turn of the century, leaving his native land during
World War I when he was
drafted into - the Russian
army. Upon emigrating to
the United States, he eventually was to purchase and
operate a drug store located
at Long and Grant Avenues
(CONTINUED ON PAGE 5)
WASHINGTON (JTA) -
The second generation of
Soviet Jews seeking to emigrate are facing new obstacles, members of the Congressional Wives for Soviet
Jews (CWSJ)/who recently
returned from a trip to the
Soviet Union, said last week.
Young Soviet Jews applying
to emigrate must now provide an affidavit signed by
their parents stating that
they owe no one in the family
money. The emigration requirement has created conflicts for those parents who
plan to remain in the Soviet
Union.
Four members of the
CWSJ, Dolores Beilenson of
California, Joanne Kemp of
New York, Wren Wirth of
Colorado and Teresa Heinz
of Pennsylvania, along with
Irma Gertler and Aileen
Cooper of B'nai B'rith
Women, traveled to the
- Soviet Union- last month to
meet with newly formed
women's refusenik groups.
They were joined later by
other CWSJ members in
Vienna for the Helsinki Review Conference, where they
discussed the issue of emigration with Soviet officials.
The CWSJ members said
many Jews are being denied
visas because they know
secrets vital to state security. This loophole has been
used to deny visas to practically all men who serve in
the army under mandatory
conscription, even, in one instance, one who worked on a
swimming pool.
The Soviet emigration procedure "is such an ambiguous process that it's close
to being meaningless" commented Anne Bingaman of
.-New Mexico.- '
Met With Deputy Minister
But the Soviet policy of
glasnost (openness) enabled
the women to meet for the
first time with a high-ranking Soviet official — Deputy
Foreign Minister Aleksandr
Bessmertnyk, assistant to
Foreign Minister Eduard
Shevardnadze.
Heinz said that Bessmertnyk spoke to the women for
two hours and confessed that
he "wouldn't deny that some
(refusenik) cases have been
kept unsolved for good reasons."
The Deputy Foreign Minister, who said Jews have
played important roles in Soviet history, blamed the emigration delays on bureaucratic problems and said they
are trying to improve the
matter with new legislation.
Bessmertnyk also announced a new Soviet law
that would enable the Foreign Minister to intervene in
emigration cases.
But Heinz noted that Vladi-
"mir Gluckov, head of the Humanitarian Cooperation and
Cultural Affairs Department
of the Foreign Affairs. Ministry, asked CWS J members in
Vienna, "Why should we let •
the (Soviet) Jews out if they
supply cannon fodder to our ,
Arab friends?"
The women also, met wilth
refusenik Ida Nudel, who
•was permitted to travel from
her Moldavia apartment to
Moscow to meet the group.
"It was like seeing one of
your heroines alive. She's a
very courageous woman/'
said Beilenson.
The CWSJ was started in
1978 by Helen Jackson of
Washington. It includes
nearly half of The Congressional wives.
"The pressure on the Soviet Union has made a lot of
difference," said Bingaman,
who added that they still
have a very long way to go to
address the problem of Soviet Jews. "What happens,"
she said, "will depend on
them, but it will also depend
on us as well."
Mayor Rinehart Receives
Reply From Teddy Kollek
Columbus Mayor Dana
Rinehart recently sent best
wishes to Jerusalem Mayor
Teddy Kollek on the twentieth anniversary of the
reunification of Jerusalem.
In reply, the following letter
was sent by Mayor Kollek to
the people of Columbus.
Dear Mayor Rinehart:
Thank you and all the people
of Columbus for your kind
wishes of congratulations on
the 20th anniversary of the
reunification of Jerusalem.
Your words of encouragement together with the
warm sentiments you expressed are greatly appreciated.
In Jerusalem ofl987wehave
much to celebrate but, as
you know,   these first 20
years are only the beginning.
There is still much to be done
and now, as in the past, we
cannot do it alone. We count
on you and all the friends of
Jerusalem throughout the
world to continue to support
our efforts during the coming years and help us ensure
the peace of Jerusalem.
I remember well your
participation in our Sixth
Mayors Conference and it's
already been some time
since your last visit to Jerusalem. There are many new
things which I think you
might enjoy seeing.
With warm personal regards,
Yours sincerely,
Teddy Kollek
Jewish Education Committee
Approves Two Incentive Grants
The Jewish Education
Committee of the Columbus
Jewish Federation approved
two Incentive Grants for the
1987-88 school year at its
May meeting.
The first of these grants is
for an inter-congregational
program which will enable
the tenth grade classes from
Beth Tikvah, Agudas Achim
and Tifereth Israel to explore and experience the sur-
vival of Judaism. The
classes will merge for a one
day retreat, outside the
classroom, where together
they will explore Orthodox,
Conservative and Reform
Judaism through interaction
and discussions. Leading the
program will be the rabbis
\
from the three congregations and several outdoor
survival specialists.
The second grade is for a
study trip to Washington
D.C. for Beth Tikvah's ninth
grade class. As part of this
trip the ninth graders will
(CONTINUED ON PAGIs 5)
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