Ohio Jewish Chronicle, 1987-07-16

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VOL. 65   NO. 31
JULY 16,1987-TAMMUZ 19
Devoted to American
and Jewish Ideals,
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Gains In Zionist Congress Elections
Made By Religious Pluralism Parties
Center Plans September Opening
For Northside Childcare Center
The Leo Yassenoff Jewish Center reports that excitement is growing for the September opening of its new
Northside Branch Preschool-Childcare Center at 1895
Bethel Rd. (top photo). More than 100 people attended
a recent Open House there, and classes are near capacity with 32 children registered. The Center will offer a
variety of program options for preschool children, including childcare from 7 a.m.-6 p.m. After-school care
for kindergarten and elementary-age children with
school pick-up is also available. The program is open to .
any interested family. Children are shown playing at
the June Open House (bottom photo). Registration for . .
the Fall program there is still open. For information,
call the Early Childhood Services office, 231-2731.'
NEW YORK (JTA) -
Results of the American
elections to the World Zionist
Congress indicate a substantial victory for Zionist parties promoting religious
pluralism in Israel and
losses for all traditional parties except Friends of Labor
Israel.;' ;'.'.■'■'■
Two parties running on the
platform of religious pluralism — MERCAZ, the newly
formed organization for Conservative Judaism, and
ARZA, the Association for
Reform Zionists of America
— made the largest gains of
seats in the American delegation to the December 1987
quadrennial Congress.
MERCAZ, running for the
first time, received 20 seats.
ARZA won 33 seats, 19 more
than it had in the previous
Congress.
Hadassah made the
strongest showing in the
election, with 48 seats, but
that represented a loss of 21.
.Friends, of -JLabor. Israel
gained two seats to win 15.
The Zionist Organization of
America garnered 12 seats,
a loss of 10, and Herut Zionists of America won nine, a
loss of four;
Religious issues in general
seemed to dominate the voting, as more than half of the
seats before imposition of
penalties on the Orthodox
Zionist slate went to the religious parties. The Religious
Zionist Movement (Orthodox) had 56 percent of its
ballots disqualified for
penalties, leaving it with 14
seats, a loss of five.
Only one of the nine slates,
the newly created Students
for Israel list, failed to gain
any seats, which are granted
based on the percentage won
of the total vote. The students were assessed heavy
penalties for irregularities,
and 93 percent of their votes
were disqualified. The other
seven percent of its votes did
not meet the 1,387 vote minimum needed to gain a seat..
The Progressive Zionist
List was also assessed heavy
penalties. About 74 percent
of its votes were disqualified
resulting in only one seat, a
loss of one from the previous
Congress. Penalties for all
other parties were minimal.
Comedian, Singer To Headline
House Of Tradition Annual Event
"It's Fun To Be Jewish" is
• the theme of this year's annual event of the House of
Tradition.      ' '"
For the past 12 years, the
"House" has sponsored an
annual dinner or concert,
featuring well known speak-
Jewish Agency Allocates Funds
For Reform Programs In Israel
An allocation of $1.64 million has been made by the
Board of Governors of the
Jewish Agency for programs
sponsJ5red,^y3.„&ej;;Rjefprm..'
movement in Israel; In the
Jewish Agency's first major
Governor Signs Into Law Compromise State Budget
On July 1, Governor Richard F. Celeste signed into
law a compromise state budget that provides continued
funding of state departments
and programs for the next
two fiscal years.
Included in the budget is
$95 million more for Medicaid than what was originally recommended by the
Governor,. Medicaid is the
vehicle by which homes for
the aged and hospitals are
reimbursed for part of the
cost of care for those residents and patients who are
unable to pay privately.
Jewish homes for the aged
and Jewish hospitals that receive Medicaid funds are the
following; Covenant House,
Dayton; Darlington House,
Toledo; Glen Manor and
Orthodox Jewish Home, Cincinnati; Heritage Manor,
Youngstown; Heritage Village, Columbus; Menorah
Park and Montefiore Home
Cleveland; the Jewish
Hospital of Cincinnati, and
Mt. Sinai Medical Center,
Cleveland.
The total amount of state
and federal funds appropriated for Medicaid is
$2,095,368,243 for fiscal year
1988 and $2,268,742,805 forfis
cal year 1989. This is approximately $11.5, million
less than what was needed to
keep Medicaid reimbursement rates at their current
level. Preliminary reports of
the Ohio Department of Human Services indicate, however, that actual Medicaid
expenditures for fiscal year
1987, upon which estimates
are based for the next bien-
nium, are below their cost
figure projections. According to the Association of Ohio
Philanthropic Homes for the
Aged, this means that the
anticipated cost of Medicaid
for the biennium may be
overstated. In addition, language which would have
authorized the Department
of Human Services to reduce
reimbursements to providers, of medical services
was deleted in the final version of the budget.
Delegates and observers
of the Government Affairs
Committee of Ohio Jewish
Communities (GACOJC), as
well as other members of the
Ohio Jewish community, deserve at least partial credit
for the dramatic increase in
funding for the state's Medicaid budget, according to
GACOJC Executive Director
Frances Lesser. Each community responded to the
anticipated crisis for the
Jewish homes for the aged in
an unprecedented" manner,
Lesser explained. Community members heeded the
call for action and contacted
their legislators via letters,
telegrams, telephone and
, personal visits, she noted,
and these actions contributed'to the $95 million increase, "especially when
considering that the Medicaid budget had been cut
from the Governor's recommendation by both the House
and Senate."
David M. Deutsch, Dayton, president of the
GACOJC, expressed his appreciation to the members of
the House and Senate Budget
Conference Committee,
House Speaker Vern Riffe
and Senate President Paul
Gillmor. "These legislators
deserve our congratulations
and thanks for fashioning a
responsible state budget. We
are particularly gratified by
their actions on the Medicaid
budget. In a period of limited
resources their task was not
easy," Deutsch said.
For more information
regarding the activities of
the GACOJC, contact Gene
Burger, CRC director at the
Columbus Jewish Federation, 237-7686.
Bork Nomination
Opposed By Two
Jewish Groups
NEW YORK (JTA) -Two
national Jewish organizations have announced their
opposition to President Reagan's nomination of Federal
Judge Robert Bork to be an
associate justice of the U.S.
Supreme Court.
Irma Gertler, ^president of
B'nai B'rith Women, said,
"The appointment of Judge
Bork would seriously
jeopardize important gains
made by women in recent
years."
Theodore Mann, president
of the American Jewish Congress, called Bork's nomination "an explicitly ideological decision" by the President. .:■ v
He said the AJCongress
opposed Bork "because of
his stand on such issues as
privacy, free speech, civil
rights and church-state
separation."
funding for the Reform
movement they will finance
a variety of programs designed "to expand the movement in Israel" explained"
Meir Azari, executive director of the Israel Movement
for Progressive Judaism,
the Reform organization in
Jerusalem.
The Columbus Jewish Federation's 1987-88 allocation
to the United Jewish Appeal
of $3,015,000 helps fund both
the Jewish Agency in Israel
and the Joint Distribution
Committee for use overseas.
The Jewish Agency's recent
annual Assembly held in Israel was attended by two Columbus Jewish Federation
past presidents, Myer Mellman and Jack Wallick, and
their spouses, Selma and
Joan.
The Jewish Agency allocations to the Reform movement are for education, cultural and social welfare programs. Thes6 programs include:
• A Community Outreach in
Israel which will provide
social service to the general population and to
under-privileged youth.
• Shnat Kl|ta, a year-long
absorption program for
Reform Jewish youth from
around the world.
• An integration of Reform
.  youth into Israeli society
through education, religious. and cultural programming.
• A Reform absorption
worker who will be attached to the World Union
(CONTINUED ON PAGE UJ
ers or entertainers. Some of
those personalities have
been Theodore Bikel, Israeli
Ambassador Benjamin
Netanyahu, pianist Elliot
Finkel, the Diaspora Yeshiva Band and the Megama
Duo;
This year's event will be a
concert, featuring comedian
Marc Weiner and composer/musician/singer
Moshe Yess. Weiner, a popular attraction on stages
around  the  country,   has
MosheYess
climbed to comedic heights
via the steps of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in
New York. There, his early
free performances of zani-
ness were discovered, and
Marc Weiner
Weiner quickly entered the
world of New York's top
comedy clubs —^The Improvisation, Catch a Rising Star,
The Comic Strip. He has also
performed with Robin Wil-
(CONTINUED ON PAGE «
JDoti fi Miss Tlie GEance To Wish TEe Coiimwinity
5748   •   A Happy, Healthy New Year   • :' 5748
See page 11
for details
■XL.