Ohio Jewish chronicle. (Columbus, Ohio), 1989-01-05

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Servjng Columbus and Central Ohio Jewish Community lor Over 60 Years
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VOL.67   NO.l
JANUARY 5,1989-TEVET 28
Devoted to American
and Jewish Ideals.
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Congregation Welcomes
Rabbi Harold Berman
Congregation Tifereth
Israel hosted a kiddush on
Saturday, Dec. 31, in honor
of the return of Rabbi Harold
Berman, his wife Beth, and
their children Micah, David
and Jordan, The Berman's
have spent the past six
months in Israel. Rabbi Berman was on sabbatical from
Tifereth Israel.
"We are all happy to welcome Rabbi and his wife and
family back to Tifereth
Israel," said Dr. L. Robert
Polster, president of the congregation. "\Ve trust that
they had an enjoyable and
educational visit, and we
look forward to the special
comments and insights
Rabbi Berman will have to
offer us regarding the State
of Israel and the problems
that exist there today."
"It is a great pleasure to
welcome my colleague and
rabbi," stated Cantor Jack
Chomsky. "We look-forward
to working together again,
and we look forward to
Rabbi Berman's comments
at the Men's Club Breakfast
on Jan. 8."
"It is a pleasure to be back
home in Columbus and at
Tifereth Israel," said Rabbi
Berman. "My family and I
had a wonderful, educational
experience, but we are glad
to be back home and we are
glad to be able to share our
experiences with the members of the congregation. We
thank the congregation for
their warm welcome at this
special kiddush Saturday
morning."   :
Pope Meets With Arafat
ROME (JTA) — Pope John Paul II met with Yasir Arafat
two weeks ago in order to encourage him to seek a peaceful
dialogue, the Vatican said. The statement said the pope had
confidence in Arafat's steadfast desire for peace and that he
believed both Israelis and Palestinians had "the identical
fundamental right to their own homeland in which they could
live in freedom and dignity."
Bidding Farewell, Pickering Warns
Mideast Status Quo Can't Continue
B'nai B'rith Chapter Begun In Moscow
WASHINGTON (JTA)—Thirty-eight leaders of the Moscow Jewish community have founded the first unit of B'nai
B'rith in the Soviet Union, B'nai B'rith International reported
here last week. In addition, a delegation of American Jewish
leaders, in discussions with Soviet officials in Moscow last
month, raised the possibility of opening B'nai B'rith offices in
Moscow and other cities in the Soviet Union. The B'nai'B'rith
chapter was organized by a delegation that visited the Soviet
Union Dec. 12 to 19. It was headed by Seymour Reich, international president of B'nai B'rith. ,-
TEL AVIV (JTA) -Outgoing U.S. Ambassador
Thomas Pickering warned
last week that the status quo
in the Middle East is too dangerous to be allowed to continue.
He maintained at a fare-
Well conference here and in
television interviews that
there is now a one-time opportunity to end violence and
begin contracts between the
opposing parties.
He said he is sure Prime
Minister Yitzhak Shamir
will follow. through on his
promise to offer a new peace
initiative. 7
Pickering, who is slated to
become U.S. ambassador to
Peres Announces Devaluation of Shekel
JERUSALEM (JTA) -
Shimon Peres started his
tenure as finance minister
with a surprise five percent
devaluation of the shekel last
week.
It was considerably less
than the Widely anticipated
15 percent devaluation, said
to be favored by the Bank of
Israel, the country's central
bank.
In fact, the move is a
minor alteration. It now.
takes 1.68 shekels to buy a.
U.S. dollar, compared with
1.59 shekels before.
An official announcement
said the decision to devalue
now was reached jointly by
the finance minister and
Bank of Israel Governor
Michael Bruno.
Economic observers said
it was intended to stemfhe"
rush to buy foreign currency, which peaked over
the weekend as rumors flew
that a major devaluation
was imminent.
But it might not have that
effect. The devaluation is not
part of the comprehensive
economic program Peres is
expected to present shortly.
The public, therefore, ex
pects further devaluations
and will continue to buy dollars, the observers said.
Peres evidently did not
consult Histadrut leaders
r before announcing the
" "devaluation. He seems 'to'
have hoped the labor federation would accept the small
decrease in the shekel's buying power without demanding a commensurate cost-of-
living increment for wage-
earners]
But Histadrut's initial reaction was negative. Haim
Haberfeld, chairman of the
(CONTINUED ON PAGE 7)
the United Nations, reiterated that the American dialogue with the Palestine
Liberation Organization is
just that — a dialogue — and
nothing more.
"It doesn't involve such
things as the recognition of
an Independent Palestinian
state," he said, pledging the
talks would be cut off if the
PLO resumed terrorist acts.
But the envoy acknowledged that the United States
and Israel "have a different
perception of the dialogue
with the PLO."
The dialogue was initiated
only after the United States
was convinced that PLO
leader Yasir Arafat had met
the conditions demanded by
Washington for contact with
the PLO, Pickering said.
Israel was informed of the
American decision only a
day or so in advance.
Pickering sent a farewell
message to Shamir, expressing his "great pleasure
working with you in this
"country."
- He thanked the prime
minister for being "unfailingly helpful to me personally and deeply supportive of
the American relationship."
Pickering said he was
proud to have been associated during his tenure
"with a number of forward
steps in the U.S.-Israeli
relationship."
He mentioned the memorandum of understanding on
strategic cooperation.
NCJW Is Planning
'Double Desserts'
Columbus Section, National Council of Jewish Women is planning a "Double
Desserts" affair to attract
new members. It will be at
the home of Janice Schottenstein on Wednesday, Jan. 25,
1-2:30 p.m.
Evelyn Rossman
NCJW is sponsoring a project this year dealing with
childcare. The group has
always been concerned with
children's needs to golden
age programs, from social
and legislative activities to
educational needs that will
(CONTINUED ON PAGE 8)
THROUGH THE RABBI'S WINDOW
Second Thoughts On Pan Am Flight 103
By Rabbi David .
Stavsky
"Second thoughts" about
Pan Am Flight 103. I say
"second thoughts)," because
last year, 30 rabbis and I
were passengers on Pan Am
Flight 103, on the very same
747 Jumbo Jet, London to
New York, and I wrdte a
piece on that flight describing our U.J.Ay Mission to a
number of European countries. The article was subsequently published in the
U.J.A. Rabbinic Cabinet
publication The Orchard.
At the time I wrote the
article, we were flying 33,000
feet above sea level, it was
late at night, the 747, Jumbo
Jet was virtually empty of
passengers, and I tried to recapture some thoughts about
our mission. I titled the piece
"Thoughts on Pan Am Flight
103 London to New York."
Second thoughts—the first
feeling I had after hearing
the tragic news of the unexpected explosion of Flight
103 in mid-air, was to repeat
the words which are found in
this past Shabbos Torah
reading, and which I recite
every night before I go to
sleep — "Hamalach hagoel
osi m'kol ra-yevarech es
haniarim" — "The angel
who protects me from all
evil shall bless these children." i
I give thanks to Hashem.
for all the good and protection of life He and His angels
of mercy give me. That life
is very fragile has once
again been imprinted on my
mind.
Secondly—on that ill fated
flight was a personal dear
friend, whom many of you
met when I was honored at
the Waldorf Astoria by the
U.O.J.C. three years ago.
Joe Miller, national treasurer of U70.J.C, was chairman of that wonderful and
beautiful evening. He was
one of the truly great leaders
of modern orthodoxy. A
great, great Jewish benefactor and most generous phil
anthropist. The obituaries in
this weeks JView York Times
are legendary. Just four
weeks ago we spent a Shabbos together at the U.O.J.C.
Convention in Philadelphia.
Wednesday night he was returning from a business trip.
ceived at the embassy in
Helsinki, Finland which
warned that, operatives of
the Abu Nidal Terrorist organization would smuggle a
bomb aboard a Pan Am
flight from Germany to the
United States in December.
Words in Judaism are sacred. We do not say anything superfluous. We are prohibited from utteringun-
necessary prayers. ■'.
May his sacred soul be a
blessing for all of us.
Second thoughts about Pan
Am Flight 103 bring me to
original thoughts about Yas-
sir Arafat and his words.
They bring me thoughts of
how America was duped last
week — and how "a few
"magic words," a word here
and there, a change of a
comma or word uttered by
this cunning terrorist, has
the United States of America
fooled.
On Thursday morning
Washington admitted that
two weeks ago an anonymous telephone call was re-
The caller, speaking in a
strong Arab accent has repeatedly made, similar
threats to the American and
Israeli embassies. (JV.Y.
Times Dec. 23,1988).
Terrorism and the Arab
world are synonymous. Terrorism and Yassir Arafat
.are synonymous. And no
magic words which he used
this past week will change
the spots of the leopard
Words in Judaism are
sacred. We do not say anything superfluous. We are
prohibited even from uttering unnecessary prayers.
There are no "magic" words
to influence people. What
you mean you should say,
and what you say you must
mean. There is no cunning,
no slyness, no chicanery in
words.
How sacred our words are
is delineated for us. in the
Talmud Tractate Pesachim
(56A) which elaborates on
the last will and testament
Jacob gave his 12 sons which
is described for us in last
week's Torah reading.
Jacob wanted to reveal the*
future and destiny of his children; however, the Divine
presence left him. He
thought perhaps it was because of a sin or blemish that
existed amongst them;
therefore, in unison they proclaimed what for centuries
became the Declaration of
Faith in Judaism. They said
"Shema Yisroel, etc."
"Hear O'Israel, etc."
Jacob was relieved and
said in response "Baruch.
shem kevod, etc,." —
"Blessed be the Glory of His
Name:"-The Talmud, how
ever, adds that Moses would
not say this response to■"•"
Shema, so that there would
be no interruption between
Shema and the paragraph
which follows.
The Talmud finds a compromise between the two
opinions and suggests we
should say the words
"Baruch shem, etc."
silently. And that is our prevailing custom.
Now what is -going on
here? To say words or not to
say them? The message is
'"'.    (CONTINUED ON PAGE 8)
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