Page 2—THE NEWS—November 1980
THE CHARLOTTE JEWISH NEWS
Published monthly by:
Charlotte Jewish Federation and
Jewish Community Center
Marvin Bienstock, Director
Charlotte Hebrew Academy
Raphael Panitz, Director ^
Editors Ann Longman
Rita Mond
Club Editors Rose Massachi & Mary Gordon
Feature Writers Muriel Levitt & Saul Brenner
International News Marta Garelik
Cf^ty Reader Fran Burg
Photographer Michael Shaoiro
Cartoonist Carol Helms
Copy deadline the 5th of each month
P.O. Box U220188, Charlotte, N.C. 28222
Random Thoughts...
Editorial
**We are pleased to inform you that your community
has been selected as a winner in the 1980 Council of
Jewish Federations Public Relations competition,**
The Charlotte Jewish News has done it again! More
than 30 small cities (5000 Jews or less) submitted news
papers. Three were chosen as the best. The News w&8 one of
the tiiree. What is even more outstanding, this is the second
year in a row in which The News has received this award —
and it has been publishing for only two years.
Frankly, the award came as no surprise. Given the time,
energy, skills and dedication of the editors and staff of The
News, the award came as logical recognition. But, it wasn’t
so easy at the beginning, and there was doubt The News
would survive its first months. Sometimes Rita Mond, Ann
Langman and I reminisce about those days. The original
idea was a community newspaper representing and serving
all the Jewish organizations and institutions. The drawback
was money. When the JCC, Federation and Hebrew
Academy agreed to cover the deficits it looked as if the path
had been cleared. However, the three cosponsors were con
cerned. The News was designed to replace their monthly
mailings; the question was would the Jews of Charlotte read
•. 3uch a paper or were they too attuned to their particular af-
fiUational preferences.
The first issue was riish^ into print in order to get registration for
the Spring semester of JCC classes. The answer to readership came
back loud and clear when more people registered for more classes
than ever before.
tVom that point to this the quality of the newspaper has been a
matter of pride to Ann, Rita and the staff. The community had
shown its openness and had inspired the kind of commitment
which wins awards.
It seems to me this is just one of many similar instances in the
history of our Jewish community. We seem to have the kind of com
munity which is open to new ideas, which cares about its con
stituents and about their needs now and for future generations. In
the October issue of “The Jewish Times-Outlook” Lazar Chotiner
asks, “When was the last time you heard a Jewish organization
talking of a bold new venture and saying, ‘Why not?’ Is Charlotte,
N.C. the only great exception with its plan for a great combined
Jewish Keligious and Community Center Compound?”
1 can't speak for all the other Jewish communities in this country,
but, delightedly, I can reply to Mi*. Chotiner’s question by pointing
out that he has sold the Charlotte Jewish community short.
Charlotte Jewry has been sajdng “why not?” for a lot of years —
why not have a Hebrew Academy? \^y not have the most out
standing B’nai B’rith programs in the nation? Why not have prize
winning Hadassah and ORT chapters? Why not ask 400 members
of the Amity Club to donate their stock and create a JCC? Why not
have a prize winning community-wide newspaper? And, Mr.
Chotiner, the Charlotte project will be a religious, recreational and
educational facility.
In a world where most people and most communities seem only
ready to tell why things should not happen, it is wonderAil to live
and be part of a community which puts a question mark at the end
of “why not?” and answers with an affirmative exclamation mark!
So congratulations Ann, Rita and the staff of The News;
congratulations to the leadership which has made our Jewish com
munity great, and congratulations to you, dear reader, because if
you weren’t who and what you are, there would be no community at
all.
— Marvin Bienstock
Across The Editors* Desks
The Editors welcome oomments and letters exprese-
iaf all points of view and reserve tiie right to edit.
This space is reserved fbr our readers. Please let us
hear frMn jroa.
Several of my readers have ex
pressed interest concerning how
I go about writing a column. Up
until now this has been a well-
kept secret which I will share
with you simply because you
asked. Writing on a regular
basis is not easy and can
sometimes be a drag, but I’ll try
to explain how it all begins.
First off, I need peace of mind,
a quiet atmosphere, and a
cluttered, messy desk. This
calculated array of disorder
seems necessary for me to pur
sue my own personal muse. Lots
of reference material, research
books, and an overflowing
waste basket don’t hurt either.
So I sit me down at my dirty
desk, take pen in hand and ap
proach the blank paper.
Where do I start? What will I
write about? It boggles the mind
to sort out all the possibilities.
It’s a puzzlement as to what
next month’s topic should be.
Shall I write about family? With
my background and a
mespuchah of assorted weirdos,
that shouldn’t be too difficult.
Maybe I’ll do a profile on Tan-
ta Draisel. She was the aunt
who was bom with a cleanliness
fetish. She actually washed,
waxed and polished the tops of
all canned goods that came into
her house. If your cigarette hit
an ashtray, Draisel immediate
ly cleaned, washed and dried it.
And if you got up from an easy
chair in her living room, she was
right behind you plumping up
the feather cushions. No shoes
ever trod on her wall-to-wall
carpeting since you were
requested to remove your
footwear in the foyer when you
entered. Yes, indeed, Tanta
Draisel was a little nutsy, but
her house was laboratory clean.
Or possibly I could do a piece
on my cousin. Crazy Shirley.
Shirley was a sucker for causes
and could change from one
crusade to another without
blinking an eye. One month she
was a bleeding heart liberal
commiserating with the under
dog and picketing against social
injustice. But the next month
Shirley became an arch conser
vative, supporting big business
and free enterprise. Any good
looking guy could smile at
Shirley and sway her belief to
his persuasion. She was
desperate for a husband and
thought this was as good a way
to find one as any. Come to
think of it, maybe Crazy Shirley
wasn’t so crazy after all. She’s
the one who married a labor
relations lawyer and is now
wallowing in luxury above a ca
nyon in Beverly Hills.
Well, let me try another sub
ject. My many summers in the
Catskill Mountains ought to be
good for a laugh or two. Ten
summers spent in a bungalow
colony should offer some rich
material. The Saturday even
ings in our casino had to be seen
to be believed. The management
gave us what they called
Broadway entertainment but it
was so bad that it was
hysterically funny. Real profes
sionals they weren’t, but cheap
they were. And I also recall the
summer when the owners
bought a job lot of cheap pink
paint. TTiey refurbish^ the
pool, the paint bled, and we
swam in pink water till Labor
Day! I also remember the
marathon mah jongg and
canasta games that went on day
and night, only stopping when
the kids had to be And who
could ever forget the husbands
who drove up every weekend to
be with their families? Tliat’s
worth a column all by itself. Oh,
what stories I could tell about
my Catskill years!
While I am on the subject of
summer, how many readers
have spent July and August in
Far Rockaway? Well, I have. All
through my formative years our
parfnts took us, bag and
baggage, to a rooming house in
Edgemere. Huge, old hotels were
converted into one and two
bedroom apartments with cook
ing facilities. 'Riis is where the
phrase kuch-alayne originated,
^y where from 30 to 50 families
lived under one roof with
minimal privacy. The big plus
was that you were right on the
by Muriel Levitt
beach and practically at the
water’s edge. The large minus
was an oddball variety of
strangers you had to put up with
for 10 weeks. Your bedsheets
were damp, you ate sand, and
flies were everywhere, but you
were out of the hot city and
caressed by ocean breezes.
How about a column on the
depression? Anyone over 50
would relate to that. Steak for
25P a lb., milk for 10f a quart
and a really nice dress for under
$5.00 were typical values of the
day. Do you remember bread
lines, soup kitchens and apple
vendors? But who needs a
column about all that tzurus.
Better we should dwell on hap
pier times.
Did you live through World
War II and what are your
recollections of the 40’s? What
about pompadours, dirty saddle
shoes, zoot suits and pegged
pants? Weren’t the big bands
wonderful and wasn’t jitter-
bugging more fun than the frug
or the funky chicken? It was a
stimulating era and the post
war boom was an exciting,
vibrant experience.
Certainly all of the above
topics offer themes aplenty to
write about and enlarge upon.
But if you think that putting
ideas into written form is easy,
go get your own cluttered desk
and sit yourself down. Look at
the blank pai>er and try to write.
Pick your brains for Ukely peo
ple or interesting situations and
let your imagination soar. If
nothing happens then you’ll
finally realize how hard it is to
compose a column and meet a
deadline.
One word of caution. The laws
on plagiarism are very explicit.
Should I come across an article
on Crazy Shirley, Tanta Etaaisel
or Far Rockaway, be prepared to
meet me with crosskl pens at
high noon during Tu B’Shavat
on Trade Street in front of the
bus terminal. You can embezzle
my hard-eamed money, or pilfer
my expensive jewels, but never,
never will I let you steal my
precious, original material!
What is a Congregation?
by Rabbi Robert A. Seigel
It’s a nice, warm feeling to
spend time in Charlotte and
once again serve a congrepation
as its rabbi. In some ways I feel
myself to be quite fortunate.
Over the years I have not only
served as a congregational ra^
hi, but at times as an active lay
congregational member. This
diversity has broadened my vi
sion in a way I never could have
conceived years ago. I find my
words from the pulpit tempered
by my experience in the pew.
But I have also come to develop
a concept of the meaning of
CONGREGATION.
One can define a temple in
many ways. It is a building; it is
the aggregate total of its
members; it is a religious
educational program for
children and adults; it is the
center of many Jewish lives.
Tliat is the shell, the body of a
temple but it is not the soul. Its
soul lies in the meaning and am
biance that permeates its
members. Yet so many neglect
the n’shama, the soul. A
prospective member approaches
a temple and inquires, “What
are your dues?” Chanted, this is
an important question. But far
too often it overshadows a
greater question that ought to be
asked. The question ought not
be “What are your dues?” but
rather “What do you do?” What
do you do because of your
religion? What form does your
commitment take? Is temple
nothing more than a magazine
subscription that one can
choose to renew or let expire? Or
is it a commitment that will take
a lifetime to fulfill?
I leamed a tremendous lesson
during my years working with
college students at Hillel. On a
college campus there are no
social pressures to associate
with Hillel. Only those who tru
ly want to associate do so. And
yet, even the skeptical, critical
and sometimes hostile college
student can become a Hillel
“regular” if the Hillel congrega
tion meets his needs.
The formula for attracting
young people — and, I believe,
for attracting most Jews of
every age — is simple. TTie con
gregation should first and fore
most be an extended family
where congregants know and
are really concerned about each
other, where they study
together, pray together,
socialize together. 'Die worship
service should be alive and
exciting. I recall a cartoon strip
a few years ago where a young
man was asked, “Are you a
leader or a follower?" After
thinking it over, the young man
responded, “^ectator.” Syn
agogue worship to often is a
‘spectator sport” where the con-
pregants get read to, sung to,
alked to. After a w^iile it gets
SPEAKING OUT
dull. A vibrant congregation is a
participatory experience where
everyone reads together, sings
together and the talking is a
two-way street.
I don’t for a moment claim to
know the answer as to what
makes a congregation tick. I
only know what turns ME on —
to Judaism and Jews. And that
is feeling deep inside that being
Jewish is exciting and fim and
enjoyable to share with fiiends.
That’s the n’shama, the soul, of
being a Jew for me, and, I feel,
for a congregation as well.