Ohio Jewish Chronicle, 1990-08-30

              Serving Columbus and Central Ohio Jewish Community lor Over 60 Years
Ohio Hist.Society Libr.
198S Velma five. 0
CoU-fbu.. Ohio*  cQMp
VOL. 08 NO. 35
AUGUST 30, 1990-ELUL 9, 5750
Devoted fo American
and Jewish Ideals.
I. Amitai To Speak
At JNF Awards Dinner
The Jewish National Fund
announces that Israel Amitai will be the guest speaker
for the Hatikvah Award dinner, Thursday, Sept. 6, at the
Hyatt Regency Columbus.
"Janet Leeman and M. D.
Portman will receive the national award for their dedication to the community, city and Israel at this important event," explains Barbara Greenberg, dinner co-
chairwoman.
Amitai, a journalist, television producer and director, lecturer and media expert, is a Sabra and "one of
the most colorful personalities of Israel's present generation intellectuals," states
Rhonda Brazina, dinner co-
chairwoman. "His recent return from Israel, where he
met with high government
officials, gives him the ability to expertly address us on
the Russian Jewish immigration and Mideast crises.
We're very fortunate to have
him visit with us at this
time."
All net funds raised from
the dinner will fund OPERATION PROMISED LAND.
Funds will help the Jewish<
National Fund prepare' sites*
for housing, school, health-
clinics and synagogues for
the Russian Jewish immigrants coming to Israel. It
will also fund the building of
new roads from the new settlements to more populated
areas, which will increase
employment opportunities.
Water conservation projects
are also being developed
with OPERATION PROMISED LAND funds, creating
new water sources for Isra-.
el. Jewish National Fund is
the sole agency responsible
for the preparation of the
land for the absorption of the
Russian Jews in Israel.
U.S. Indicates It's Ready To Sell
The Saudis Advanced Jet Fighters
R.E.W. Planned At Beth Jacob
Richard Kohn, president of Beth Jacob Congregation, announced that Linda Lefman has been appointed
chairwoman for the thirty-first annua] R.E.W. program at Beth Jacob. Lefman, a past president of Beth
Jacob Sisterhood, is a member of the administrative
staff of Torah Academy. Speakers have been arranged,
for Shabbat Shuvah, Monday evening, Sept. 24, and
Wednesday evening, Sept. 26. Rabbi David Stavsky
said, "R.E.W. lectures are traditionally planned to set
the tone for the important time between Rosh
Hashanah and Yom Kippur. This year's lectures will
focus on the concept of reaching for our Jewish potential." One of the speakers for this year is Rabbi Yis-
achar Freund of Baltimore, Md. Pictured above are
the members of the R.E.W. committee: (seated, 1. to
r.) Rachel Aharoni, Dorothy Hass, Fay Grinblatt,
(standing) Linda Lefman, Michael Weisz, David
Schwartz, Johnathan Casell, Joanne Aubrey and Rabbi
Stavsky.
WASHINGTON (JTA) -
Fears that the United States
might reward Arab countries cooperating with its efforts to isolate Iraq were
confirmed last week, when
the Bush administration
signaled its willingness to
sell Saudi Arabia some of its
most sophisticated weapons.
President Bush said Aug.
22 that he would not hesitate
to send Congress such an
arms sale proposal if the
Saudi kingdom determined
the weapons were needed for
its defense.
Bush was asked about reports that the administration
was considering selling
Saudi Arabis the F-15E, the
most sophisticated version
of the advanced F-15 jet
fighter.
"We should do all we can
to help the Saudis arm themselves against aggression,"
the president responded in
conversation with reporters
at his summer home in
Kennebunkport, Maine.
"I want to do everything I
can, and I hope that there
would be no political problem, because the world
clearly sees that the Saudis
have been strongly threatened," he said.
Bush's mention of a potential "political problem" appeared to refer to those in
Congress who would oppose
such a sale, presumably
staunch supporters of Israel.
Defense Secretary Dick
Cheney, who spoke after
Bush, was even more forceful on that point.
"I don't think this is a situ-
Senator Sounds Warning On lraqui Threat
NEW YORK (JTA) - The
atmosphere was grim last
week as a leading congressional supporter of Israel
warned more than 100
Jewish leaders here that the
belligerence of Iraq's Saddam Hussein represents
"one of the greatest threats
in the history of the Jewish
people."
Sen. Daniel Inouye
(D-Hawaii), addressing the
Conference of Presidents of
Major American Jewish
Organizations, said that the
Iraqi   invasion  of  Kuwait
Rabbi Harold Berman Named To
Seminary Chancellor's Cabinet
Rabbi Harold J. Berman of
Congregation Tifereth Israel
has been appointed to a two
year term on the Chancellor's
Rabbinic Cabinet of the Jewish Theological Seminary of
America. Announcement was ,
made in New York by Professor Ismar Schorsch, chancellor of the Seminary.
In announcing the appointment,. Chancellor Schorsch
stated, that the Cabinet
"creates for me and my
senior staff a chance to solicit your assessment and advice,' and above all to consider how we can mutually
strenghten our collective efforts to enrich Conservative
Judaism."'
Rabbi Berman received a
master of arts degree as well
as rabbinic ordination from
the Seminary where he has
served as a guest lecturer at
the New York and the Israel
campuses. ,He has been invited on previous occasions to
participate in discussions on
curriculum and development
by Chancellor Schorsch and
by former Chancellor. Gerson
Cohen.
As a rabbinical Student,
Rabbi Berman was the Seminary's'first participant in a
unique internship program,,
Inter/Met! an interfaith, experiential program for training
clergy students of various
faiths and denominations in
Washington, D.C. Although
the Inter/Met program has
been discontinued because of
lack of funding, it served as a
model for internship programs for rabbinical students
for the past two decades.
poses both a short-term
threat and a long-term danger to the Jewish state.
As an immediate concern,
Israel faces the threat of
military attack from Iraq,
Inouye said. He told reporters that "if this thing erupts
and if I know Saddajn Hussein, shells will be falling on
Tel Aviv."
But Inouye said it should
also be worrisome to supporters of Israel that the
United States has found itself "cozying up" to Arab
states opposing Iraq, while
"distancing" itself from
Israel.
The potential long-term effects of this alignment would
"not bie easy" for either
Israel or its supporters in the
United States, said Inouye,
who chairs the Senate
Appropriations subcommittee on'defense,
"This will be a trying time
for. those who call themselves Jews, because it is a
difficult time for Israel," he
said.- .'•••'•.'
Yet Inouye indicated there
was little the pro-Israel community could'or should do
about the current U.S.-Saudi
Arabian alliance.
When asked whether
■ Israel and its supporters
should oppose the transfer of
advanced weapons from the
United States to the Saudi
Arabian Government, the
senator replied, "I don't see
how they can."
. He was echoed by Seymour Reich, chairman of the
Conference of Presidents,
ation that presents any
threat whatsoever to Israel,
and I would not expect there
to be any opposition in that
quarter to our effort to help
the Saudis and our friends in
the region deal with what is a
threat to their very existence," he said.
Cheney said any F-15Es
would not be transferred in
the short term, because the
United States has yet to receive its full order from the
St. Louis-based McDonnell
Douglas Co. But he said such
planes could be sold as part
of a "longer-term package."
who said that helping Saudi
Arabia fight Hussein "would
be difficult to oppose,"
though the United States
"would have to consider
making up the disparity"
between Saudi and Israeli
might.
Inouye told the Jewish
leaders that he would talk to
Defense Secretary Dick
Cheney about solidifying
America's long-term commitment to maintain Israeli
strategic superiority in the
region.
The Hawaiian senator
focused specifically on the
idea of selling or leasing
Patriot anti-missile systems
to Israel, in order to help to
fend off the threat of missile
attacks from Iraq.
"I have been working
feverishly to get the Patriot
for Israel," Inouye said,
Until now, Israeli Defense
Minister Moshe Arens has
not advocated purchasing
the Patriot, both because the
system is extremely expensive and because Israel and
the United States are in the
process of developing their
own anti-missile device, the
Arrow.
But Israel's need for the
Patriot has been a matter of
debate, which has gained
urgency since Iraq has
become an immediate threat
to Israeli security.
Some members of the
Israel Defense Force establishment have publicly expressed their hope that
Arens will ask the United
CONTINUED ON PAGES
Leslie H. Wexner and Irving Schottenstein, general
campaign chairmen of the 1991 Jewish Comm-
UNITY/Operation Exodus Campaign, recently met
with local congregational rabbis to discuss the Sept. 30
community-wide "Stand Up For Freedom" Rally sponsored by the Columbus Jewish Federation.
Rabbis To Educate Community
About Operation Exodus Campaign
"Our community's rabbinic leadership recognize that
in order to meet this historic
challenge - in-order to respond at the magnitude
needed - every community
member must understand
the historical significance of
this mass emigration and the
enormous effort that has
been undertaken to rescue
and resettle the 1.7 million
Soviet; Jews who want to
leave the Soviet Union,"
stated Leslie Wexner at a recent meeting hosted by Wexner and Irving Schottenstein, 1991/Jewish Comm-
UNITY/Operation Exodus
general  campaign  chairmen.
The rabbis will help educate all community mem-.
bers about Operation Exodus.
Rabbis Howard Apothaker,
Beth Shalom; Harold Berman, Tifereth Israel; Bradley Bleefeld, Temple Israel;
Alan Ciner, Agudas Achim,
and David Stavsky, Beth
Jacob, attended the meeting.
"We feel a particular urgency, given the pace of
events in the world around
us, to help Jews get out of the
Soviet Union now, in order to
begin new lives in freedom,"
CONTINUED ON PAGE 5
OPERATION"
Soviet Rescue
—-and-—
Resettlement
In This Issue:
Rabbis To Educate
Community ............... 1
Operation Exodus
Pledges Needed ......... 5
New Americans Get
Medical Aid .......7
-COMMUNITY RALtY-
'STAND UP FOR FREEDOM-SEPT/30
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