Ohio Jewish Chronicle, 1991-05-23

              THE
I ht Ohio Jeu ish C hionick
VOLUME 69
NUMBhKZl
MAY 23,1991
10&IVAN5751
i    i
i
Jewish leaders warn of
absorption tragedy
page 2
ti
Cantors attend
annual conference
page 3'
HDHC receives grant
page 3
Audio library opens
page 5
CTA Twirlers' to
appear in concert
page 12
NOTICE
EARLY DEADLINE
for
Thursday, May 30, issue
Editorial deadline —
Noon, Thursday, May 23
Advertising deadline —
Noon, Friday, May 24
The OJC office will be closed Monday,
May 27, in observance of Memorial Day.
■m In The Chronicle ■«■
At The JCC    10,11
Community 3-5
Federation    6
Front Page    2
Lifccycle    7
Marketplace  9
New Generation 12
Synagogues 8
• *    '    ' '*     .V
#'/-'
■i&
I REFLECTIONS ON A VISIT
Praying in Swedish
R> Laura P. Zakin
LD1 mit'S NOTE: After at-
|i ■ mi ii technical meeting in
< i /H ■ i ii \en, Denmark last
•i   i»'   lack and Laura Zakin
I oi >t   briefly  in  Sweden.
ii mi impressions follow.
Orcein music envelops jus
with its poignant chords. We
sit <ind listen, then try to find
our place in the prayer book
as we rise from our wooden
seats. No, we are not in a cathedral or church; on this Saturday morning in Stockholm
we are attending services in
The Great Synagogue on
Wahrendorffsgatan, in the
center of the city.
Nondescript stone on the
outside, the interior of the
building is almost all dark
wood, and the stained glass
flowers over the bimah circle
in an allusion to the Star of
David.
When it was founded 100
years ago, it was not uncommon for synagogues — perhaps in imitation of Protestant
churches — to have organs installed. In this Conservative
synagogue it is now a minhag,
a long-established custom. It
was mixed seating, we leam,
that caused controversy a few
years ago. The resolution?
Those women who wished to
could leave the balcony.for
"family seating" on the right
side while the left side (as you
face the bimah) remains all
male.
For in all respects the services are very traditional, and
the men wear kipahs and
prayer shawls. Since the regular rabbi Morton Narrowe (an
American) was visiting
Prague, the assistant rabbi,
Kalman Winnick, also American, led services with an
82-year-old retired cantor subbing for the regular cantor sitting shiva in the United States.
Winnick delivers his sermon in Swedish, and there is
enough repetition of "McDonald's" and "kashruth" to enable us to know his subject; he
is imploring his congregation
to be more ritually observant.
At the kiddush held in the
Jewish Community Building
next door, a young stock-,
broker tells us that while some
Jews are descendants of the
families first granted the right
to live in Sweden in 1775, most
came to neutral Sweden during or after World War n.
He tells us, too, that while
Sweden has been hospitable to
its Jewish residents, it is also
host to the PLO and assorted.
organizations with terrorist
links. That explains the young
Swedish policeman standing
on alert across the street from
the synagogue, and it explains
why vigilant synagogue members stopped us at the gate,
questioned us, checked our
passports and searched my
handbag.
We are not the only strangers this Saturday, At the kiddush the head of the Jewish
community extends a few
words of greeting (in English)
to a delegation (mostly
women) visiting from the Baltic States. A woman from Ta-
linn, Estonia, responds in Yiddish.) They are glad to be
there, she says. With the help
of WKO, they are trying to rebuild their Jewish communities, and she thanks the Swed:
ish Jews for their help.
It is heartening to hear because Sweden's 16,000 Jews
seem to have their own problems. There is a high rate of
intermarriage, and we gather
that facilities for Jewish education are spotty.- Although
there was a Bar Mitzvah boy
on tiie bimah for the entire
morning service, we did not
hear him say a word. We suspected he knew little, if any,
Hebrew,
There are also two orthodox
synagogues serving Stockholm's 10,000 Jews. We did not
leam if they, too, must look
outside Sweden for rabbis and
cantors.
Strung out on graceful islands connected by pedestrian-friendly bridges, Stockholm is a beautiful (but expensive) spring and summer destination — and we took time to
sightsee. If you go, don't miss
Gamal Stan, the Old Town, or
the ornate city hall where
some of the Nobel Prize ceremonies are held. On the long
summer nights when the sun
never sets, walk and enjoy the
clean, safe streets.
And should you go to services during those glorious
days of the midnight sun,
maybe you can find out how
they figure out when Shabbat
begins and ends. That was another question we neglected to
ask.
Laura Pienkny Zakin is a
contributing editor of Columbus Monthly magazine and a
frequent OJC contributor.