Ohio Jewish chronicle. (Columbus, Ohio), 1987-08-20

              Serving Columbus and Central Ohio Jewish Community for Over 60 Years     \]Pvt\
VOL.65   NO.34
AUGUST 20,1987-AV 25
Devoted to American :
and Jewish Idoats,
Fifty-Five Olim Arrive From USSR
TEL AVIV — Fifty-five new immigrants from the Soviet
Union arrived in Israel last week in what was said to have
been the largest number in any single flight from Vienna for
several years; Among them were pianist Hirsh Feikin and
mathematician Pinhas Polansky. Most of them spoke from
good to excellent Hebi-ew, leading some Soviet Jewry activists to fear that the Soviet authorities were trying to get rid of
as many Zionist activists as possible.
Hie Wiesel Receives
Brazil's Highest Civilian Award
NEW YORK (JTA) — Nobel Peace Prize laureate Elie
Wiesel went to Brazil last week to receive that government's
highest civilian award, the Gra Cruz of the Ordem Cruzeiro
do Sul (Grand Cross of the Order of the Southern Cross), for
his contributions to international peace. The award was presented to Wiesel by Abren Sodre, Foreign Minister of Brazil,
in the Palacio do Itamarati, Foreign Ministry headquarters,
in Brasilia, the capital of Brazil.
Jews Accept Vatican Invitation
NEW YORK (JTA)—-American Jewish leaders accepted
an invitation by the Vatican to meet with Pope John Paul II in
Rome at the end of August or early September, prior to the
Pope's visit to the United States and the scheduled meeting
'■ with Jewish leaders in Miami on Sept. 11. The invitation was
extended by Johannes Cardinal Willebrands, president of the
Vatican Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews,
in a^elephone call from Rome to Rabbi Mordecai Waxman,
chairman of the international affairs department of the Synagogue Council of America (SCA) and chairman of the International Jewish Committee on Interreligious Consultations,
(IJCIC). Rabbi Marc Tanenbaum, international affairs
director of the American Jewish Committee (AJC)', told reporters that the meeting with the Pope should "clear the air"
and the misunderstanding that resulted from the Pope^s recent audience with President Kurt Waldheim of Austria who
is accused of being a Nazi war criminal.
Study Shows Most of U.S.' Largest Papers
Criticized Pope's Meeting With Waldheim
NEW YORK (JTA) -
Pope John Paul II's recent
meeting with Austrian President Kurt Waldheim was
criticized by the vast majority of America's largest circulation newspapers that
commented on the controversial Vatican visit, according to the Anti-Defamation
League of B'nai B'rith. The
ADL also said that most
newspaper columnists and
cartoonists reacted negatively to the June 25 meeting.
In making public the
ADL's "Big 50" survey of the
nation's leading dailies,
Abraham Foxman, ADL's
national director, said 19 of
the 50 largest circulation
newspapers commented
editorially -on the Pope-!
Waldheim meeting in a total
of 24 editorials on the subject
. (some newspapers commented more than once).
Most said the meeting reflected poor judgment with
15 expressing dismay that it
might strain Catholic-Jewish
relations. Some, however,
suggested that the visit could
be used positively. .
Eight editorials — including those in The New York
Times, Boston Sunday
Globe, Atlanta Constitution
and New York Newsday —
noted that the Pope missed
an important opportunity to
condemn Waldheim for his
involvement in Nazi atrocities and raise public awareness of the Holocaust.
Three—in the Hartford
Courant, Chicago Sun-Times
and Los , Angeles Herald
Examiner— while in general
agreement that an important opportunity had been
missed; said the Pope had
the right to meet with whomever he wished. Two newspapers — The Seattle Times
and The Milwaukee Journal
— were concerned, that the
Pope's action would clear
the way for Waldheim to
meet with other international figures and dignitaries.
The survey included the
following sampling of press
comment: Tie Miami
Herald said that Pope John
Paul II "disappointed and offended a large segment of
the world population" by receiving Waldheim, adding
that "Catholics and Jews, especially, find repugnant the
Pope's praise of Mr. Waldheim . .."
The New York Times assailed the Pope's "praise for
(Waldheim's) past good
work and not as much as a
frown about the darker past
that the Austrian President
has struggled to hide." The
Times said the "effect is to
slight all victims of Hitler's
war."
The Atlanta Journal questioned the Pope's intentions,
saying "even if the Pope's
original decision to accept
the visit were forgivable, his
florid and unfettered praise
of the man was not. We
would hate to see any repetitions of this sad and sorry
scene in any more world
capitals."
The ADL's survey of "Big
50" columnists disclosed almost unanimous criticism of
the Vatican meeting. Of 22
columns, only four did not
find the meeting completely
objectionable. The rest were
strongly critical of the
Pope's decision to welcome
Waldheim without acknowledging his Nazi past. Some
columnists said the meeting
was antagonistic to the Jewish community and harmful
to relations between Jews
and Catholics.
Ten "Big 50" newspapers
— New York Newsday, The
Philadelphia Inquirer, The
Pittsburgh Press, the Seattle
Times, The San Diego Union,
Los Angeles Herald Examiner, The Kansas City
Times, The Miami Herald,
The New Orleans Times-
Picayune, The Houston Post
•—published editorial cartoons critical of the Wald-
heim-Pope meeting.
Denver Police Hold Suspect In 'Father-And-Son' Scams
PHILADELPHIA   (JTA) a friend of several promi- rant for his arrest on felony computer network, and the
— A 25-year-old Jewish man nent members of the local theft charges was obtained Denver department called
allegedly connected with a Jewish community, in January. saying it had Seiden.
"father:and-son" scan prey- The Lower Merion (Pa.) If convicted there. Seiden .
ing on Jewish individuals Police Department has is- probably  would  receive
and institutions throughout sued a warrant for Seiden's about three years in prison, Eaiiw  IMC ElWAififa MoflF  lONICfllOM
the country is being held in arrest on one count each of Mates said. He added that iWUI Vllr rVltr9l9 llCUlWIU9UI?III
Denver County Jail on one forgery, theft by deception Maryland authorities would A-^ f**.,^ill/#Mi/a1./J Bl( nA»An4 Ci»A»
misdemeanor and three fel- and receiving stolen prop- seek  Seiden's   extradition |||@ UGVuSTQlGQ BY KGCvlll rll€5
ony charges. erty. "whenever they finish with                                              I
Daniel Mark Seiden was In addition to the Lower him out there in Denver."          According to Harold Zeid-
arrested in Denver July 21 Merion incident, it was re- Lower Merion Detective man, president of the Colum-
for petty theft. He also is cently revealed that the Jew- George  Metz  reportedly bus Council of Jewish Na-
charged with failing to ap- ish Family and Children's identified the alleged con tional Fund, "July 29, 1987,
pear in court on credit fraud Agency here was stung in a artist by calling police bunko will be remembered as the
charges from 1985, for which similar scam last winter to and fraud units throughout worst fire day in Israel dur-
he  is  being held without the  tune  of  about  $500. the  East  Coast.   He  dis- ing the last decade." Four
bond. He is scheduled to be Another similar scam was covered that Seiden was sus- different fires  near Jeru-
arraigned Sept. 3 on the mis- reported in Atlanta. pected of involvement in the salem ravaged 1,150 acres of
demeanor charge. Detective Bryan Jordan of scam by a number of depart- forests,   including' 80,000
Seiden, a lifelong resident the Denver Police's check' ments.. trees, at an estimated dam-
of Denver, is thought to be fraud division noted that Sei- Seiden's  name  was  en- age of $2,000,000.
the same man who bilked a den also'is being held as a tered on a national police       Dr. Joseph P. Sternstein,
Philadelphia-area physician fugitive from Montgomery mmmmmmmmmmiimiimimilimm Jewish  National Fund  of
out of $950 with a "father- County, Md., which is seek- Yfft Tlie Cfcu^Wilcl* , America  president,  called
and-son" scan in June. ing  his  extradition on    m» ' ' the fires "a national tragedy
In the elaborate scheme, charges  relating  to  a    AtT&eCenter ... U and a matterof national iir-
Seiden allegedly posed as the "father-and-son"  scam  in    AtHwF«*»ratlon II gency." He continued, "Dur-
son of a major contributor to which a physician was bilked    Classified  to ing the High Holidays, it is
the Greater Miami Jewish out of $1,000. Seiden is not Editorial Feature!. ....   2r a imperative that we dedicate
Federation who suddenly available to leave the state    Fifty Years Ago   i ourselves to the replacement
found himself in Philadel- now, given the charges. u$n> And There .........   6 oi everv one oi th^e forests.
phia in need of an emer- In  Maryland,   Detective    Marketplace...*, Ml Fund-raising  drives  are
gency loan. Sgt, Donald Mates reported    0hfcwr|,»0 ,  jo forming all over the Dias-
His technique allegedly in- that his  department  had    ___\_em         S P°ra to nelp in tne' emer'
volved having his "father" identified Seiden "quite a    sS-^gll^ il gency."
call from Miami and pose as while ago" and that a war- wJ»ww»y»iawy"i«* ".■•'*- *«      The blazes started within a
Jewish Teacher Resource Center
Schedules Opening Fall Program
other research material, to
assist the teachers in formulating curricula and making lesson plans. It has an
audio-visual library, with
the latest in commercial
videos, filmstrips and slide
shows, to excite and involve
the students, and the Resource Center has a materials center, where teachers
can prepare games and
other material and laminate
them, for use in the classroom. Workshops are frequently offered and designed
to give training directed to
educators' most pressing
needs.
"Jewish educators are a
precious commodity," said
Manne Aronovsky, director
of the Resource Center. "We
want them to know how
much they are appreciated
and that the year 5748 will
begin on a sweet note."
The opening fall program
for all Jewish Community
teachers in central Ohio will
be held on Monday, Aug. 31,
at 6:30 p.m. at the Jewish
Teacher Resource Center of
Central Ohio. The Resource
Center invites teachers to
begin the year 5748 with a
dinner and program featuring Sally Fox, founder of the
Jewish Involvement Theater.
The Resource Center,
located in the Leo Yassenoff
Jewish Center, serves all
Jewish teachers in a threefold manner. It has a reference library, consisting of
original text materials and
few hours of each other, and
arson is strongly suspected.
JNF officials warned police
and forest rangers to be on
special alert. A helicopter
pilot spotted three Arab
youths setting trees ablaze in
the northern Galilee region
and arrested one of them.
The other two, whose iden-
ties ate known, escaped and
are still being sought.
The four fires affected 25
acres of pastures in the
Mevasseret Yerushalaim
area; 50 acres of forest and
orchards in "the area of
Nataf; 150 acres in a 65-year-
old forest near Maale Haha-
misha and Kiryat Anavim,
dedicated to Israel's national poet, Chaim Nachman
Bialik, and 50 acres in the
Children's Forest, in the
B'nai B'rith Martyrs' Forest, planted by children in
(CONTINUED ON PAGE 5)
Arson Suspected
In Cleveland Fires
CLEVELAND (JTA) -
Cleveland Heights Assistant
Fire Chief Stanley Powaski
said it's not known if the two
fires that burned at the May-
field Jewish Center here
within 15 days were related
to each other or to arson.
"Any time there is more
than one fire at the same
place there is some reason
for concern, but at this time,
we simply don't know," he
told the Cleveland Jewish
News. He added that a fire
warden was working with
the JCC "to investigate it
and to determine the extent
of the damage."
The latest fire, on July 23,
(CONTINUED ON TAGE 3)
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