Ohio Jewish Chronicle, 1990-04-12

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Serving Columbus and Central Ohio Jewish Community for Over 60 Years
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Columbus, Ohio
43S11        0      COMP
VOL.68 NO. IS
APRIL 12, 1990-NISAN 17, 5750
Devoted |
and Jewish Ideals
Bush Hails 'Modern Exodus' Of Soviet Jews
At Special White House Passover Ceremony
Columbus Leaders Return From
Rescue, Resettlement Mission
(Pictured above (1. to r.) are Norman Traeger, Columbus' "Operation Exodus" executive vice chair;
Miriam S. Yenkin, Columbus Jewish Federation past
president and United Jewish Appeal national vice
chairwoman; Alan H. Gill, Federation executive vice
president, and Jack L.. Wallick, Federation past president and United Jewish Appeal national vice chair-
- man, in front of the official residence of U.S. Ambassador to Russia, Jack F. Matlock, Jr., with whom
tHey met during their recent trip to the Soviet Union.
The four Columbus leaders were participants on a
week-long (March 25-April 1) fact-finding UJA mission
to Moscovy and Israel on behalf of "Operation
Exodus," a worldwide Jewry effort to raise funds and
support for the rescue and resettlement of hundreds of
thousands of Soviet Jews in Israel.
WASHINGTON (JTA) -
Calling, Passover the "festival of freedom," President
Bush pledged last week that
the United States would continue to support the "modern
exodus" of Jews from the Soviet Union.
"We will continue to do
everything necessary to
make it possible for Soviet
Jews to get to Israel, including continuing to press for direct and indirect flights,"
Bush said at a White House
ceremony.
"We are glad that so many
will celebrate the seder in Israel, and we're going to keep
working so that many more
can join them."
Bush's remarks were part
of his Passover message,
which he signed surrounded
by Ze'ev and Karmela Raiz,
I Soviet Jews who recently im-
' migrated to Israel after almost 18 years of refusal, and
Natasha Stonov, who is visiting the United States on behalf of her husband, Leonid,
who has been denied an exit
visa for 11 years because of
his alleged access to state
secrets.
Ze'ev Raiz, who formerly
went by the name Vladimir,
expressed his gratitude for
the efforts of Bush and
others in the United States,
adding that without their
help, he and other refuseniks
would not have been allowed
to leave.
He said the support for Soviet Jews by the United
States is a "distinguished
page in the Haggadah that is
now being written."     	
ADL 'Building Bridge' To Jews Of USSR
By Judith Franklin
Managing Editor
As one of its first moves in
helping the Jewish community in the Soviet Union combat rising anti-Semitism in
that country, the Anti-Defamation  League  of  B'nai
B'rith recently sent a five-
member delegation to the
U.S.S.R. One of two staff
members on that mission,
Steven M. Freeman, director of ADL's Legal Affairs
Department who was in Columbus last week to speak at
an  ADL Law  Committee
meeting, says that everyone
in the Soviet.Unionis'tense
but that anxiety is magnified
five to ten-fold for the Jews
living there.       ^^
"A by-product of the new
openness is a rise in anti-
Semitism, not from the
government, but from other
sources, especially nationalist organizations such as
Pamyat," he explained in an
exclusive interview with the
Chronicle.
Furthermore, Jews fear
that current conditions in the
Soviet Union will lead to
more anti-Semitism as people search for a scapegoat on
whom to blame their many
problems. "The country is
falling apart," he noted.
"Political turmoil is obvious; the economy is in a
"shambles." ■--   ' -
According to Freeman, a
ruble, which had been worth
$1.60 until November, is now
Rabbi David Stavsky (stai
New Americans on Sunday,
Beth Jacob Hosts
In honor of the annual Jewish celebration of freedom, i
Passover, Congregation
Beth Jacob hosted a model
Seder for the New Americans, Sunday, April 1, at 7:30
p.m.
Beth Jacob's Committee
was1 chaired by Zelda
Hirsch. The Sisterhood
worked closely with Jewish
Family Services' Volunteer
Coordinator, Lori-Gilbert, to
make sure all details- were
covered. As a result, over 55
families in attendance experienced a taste of freedom,
in the land of freedom.
.- Rabbi David Stavsky led
the Seder, festivities. "We
welcome you tonight to teach
the celebration of the Passover Seder in this great land
of freedom. For many of
you, this iLjhe first Passover
Seder yop've celebrated in
your lives'.,. you can reat-- j
tach yourselves to the sweet Y 'ji
strong, spiritual roots arid f
faith of our people. Mazel tov t
to you! Let .us begin ..,", - c
Rabbi Stavsky said. \
dinfi center )_le±theJ3eth-Jacoh-=-hnxted_mqriel. Sprler_fnc.
Tifereth Israel Changes Name
Of Religious School To Honor
Samuel Melton On 90th Birthday
Ralph Rothschild, presi-   had an impact on Jewish ed-
dent    of    Congregation   ucation all over the world,
,Tifprprh   .-Tcrn-pl. ( hac .. sin-     with *jrtcMhifi*r\ne anA unArmt.
valued at 164. Because of
this, Gorbachev is not nearly
as popular at home as he is
abroad, he said.
In addition, Jews are regarded by many with envy
because they are being allowed to leave the country.
This serves to fuel the historic resentment against Jews,
he pointed out. And recent
outbreaks of ethnic violence
have left Jews feeling that
the same thing could happen
to them.
While, he doesn't believe
there will be massive violence against Jews in the Soviet Union, he does believe
- that itis imperative to get all
those who wish to emigrate
out of the country as soon as
possible.
And for those, who, for
personal reasons, cannot
leave or choose to stay, and
for those who are waiting to
leave, the ADL is working to
"build a bridge" between the
U.S.-based organization and
the Vaad, the umbrella Jewish organization in Russia.
Freeman explained that
the ADL has reached a for-
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