2—THE NEWS—March 198X
THE CHARLOTTE [EWISH NEWS
Published monthly by:
Charlotte Jewish Federation and
Jewish Community Center
Marvin Bieiutoek, Director
Charlotte Hebrew Academy
Raphael Panitx, Director
Editor* Ann Longman
RitaMond
Club Editora Ro»e Maaaachi A Mary Gordon
Feature Writert Muriel Levitt it Saul Brenn^
International Newa Marta Garelik
C^ty Reader Fran Burg
Photographers Ellie Luski & Michael Shapiro
Cofiy deadline the 5thof eachmonth
P.O. Box ^220188, Charlotte, N.C. 28222
Across The Editors* Desks
Award Well Deserved
Editorials
Community Hospital
In recent weeks there has been a great deal of attention directed
toward the pros and cons of closing the doors of Charlotte Com
munity Hospital. The issue at hand is the cost of providing m'^cal
care for the indigent elderly in a rapidly graying society. FVom all
reports this hospital has served an important need in our city and at
the same time it is providing quality service.
• It represents an authorization for 143 hospital beds.
• ITie hospital is in an area where population is expected to in
crease substantially, in Third Ward and nearby Fourth
Ward, and the path of a future expressway.
• It has been providing a home for Charlotte Chapter B’nai
B’rith Women’s Sick Loan'Chest.
Community’s financial woes stem in part from a state law which
cites that Medicaid patients no longer in need of hospital care must
be reassigned to a nursing home. Ihe law says if the patients are not
moved within three days, the hospital loses its Medicaid reimburse
ment.
The question is — what do you do with long-term indigent
patients who need acute hospital care? In our computerized society
do we turn our backs and ignore these needs, hoping that by ignor
ing the problem, it will disappear?
Perhaps the answer is, as has been suggested by some Communi
ty board members, that the hospital be converted to a geriatric and
training center. This move might overcome the problem of doctor
acceptance and would represent a logical evolution from the service
Community now provides.
We concur with the idea proposed by many who believe it would
be advantageous to make the necessary capital improvements by
being bond financed. This would qualify at least one wing of Com
munity for reimbursement for elderly long-term patients. The cost
of providing that kind of care for a growing number of patients
would cost us much more at a new facility. Keeping Community
open would, therefore, prove to be a savings for the taxpayer.
We believe in time that Community would be the ideal place for a
geriatric care and training hospital.
We were quite upset with the
letter published in the last issue
(February 1981) of the Charlotte
Jewish News, referring to the
fact that the B’nai B’rith
Human Relations Award is just
an additional award for
volunteerism and not in recogni-
tion of being a great
humanitarian. In all the
definitions of humanitarian
that we know of, humanitarian
stands for the right doing
towards others and an interest
in the public welfare. We feel
that Sol Jaffa has far exceeded
himself in doing towards others
and has had an interest not only
in public welfare but in the
Jewish welfare of this communi
ty. His work in various
organizations has been out
standing, to say the least, and
the one organization in which
we work so closely with him,
BBYO, his energies and efforts
have helped to mold and shape
many teenagers of this com
munity. If for no other reason,
and there are plenty of them,
than his work in BBYO, he
deserves this award and it has
been our pleasure and honor to
work with him.
Tobey Silber,
Advisor, (^ai BBG
Allan Silber,
Advisor, Barak AZA
To: The anonymous party
suggesting re-evaluation of the
B’nai B’rith Human Relations
award.
I suspect you are a member of
the Charlotte area Jewish com
munity. If so, rather than hide
from your peers behind “Name
withheld upon request,” come
forward, become involved, state
your beliefs openly in front of an
open forum, and then, cast your
vote. BBW is not a closed door
club.
Judaism and Right Wing
Christian Politicians
A few months ago the Israeli government
presented an award to the Rev. Jerry Falwell,
recognizing his strong support of the State of
Israel. Falwell, it should be noted, is head of the
Moral Majority, the right wing Christian group
that received prominence during the recent
presidential ele^ion. Apart from promoting the
security of Israel, the Moral Majority and groups
like it support causes such as prayer in the
schools, favor capital punishment, oppose abor
tion, and even now, seek to monitor those TV
programs that display too much cleavage or are
exceedingly violent. Because Jews in America
have been at odds with many of the positions
advocated by such Christian groups, one needs to
consider how a Jew should respond to what is the
Christian fundamentalist support of the state of
Israel.
It is no secret that many American Jews object
ed to the Israeli government’s decision to give
Falwell an award. This objection was a result of
what is seen as Falwell’s lack of concern for
American Judaism and a purely theological sup
port for Israel. I felt and still believe that the
Begin government erred in giving Falwell an
award. The avowed goal of many of the Christian
fundammtalist groups to make America a Chris
tian America smacks of a subtle anti-Semitism
that cannot be ignored. In this connection, one
must take cognizance of the many letWs in the
local press that have defended the views of
Bailey Smith (“God does not hear the prayers of
the Jews”) and have criticized those people who
had the courage to renounce the remarks of Rev.
SmiUi.
It is also no secret that Jews usually support
liberal causes, taking positions that differ f^m
those held by their Ciiristian neighbors. Most
American Jews have long resisted the cause of
prayer in the public schools and I believe should
continue to do so. Jewish tradition, more often
than not, has resisted the notion of censorship
and opposes the view that one group of people
possess the right to determine what one may see,
hear and read. It will be a sad day for America
and for American Judaism when one religious
group will have the power to determine what is
seen or heard on the airways.
One cannot deny Israel’s precarious position in
in the arena of the world’s nations. She certainly
needs our unstinting support in'iier hour of dis
tress and her need of friends and allies is great.
But I question the wisdom of granting an award
to an organization that, to the best of my
knowledge, has yet to show more than passing
concern for the foture of Judaism in America.
— Raphael Panitz
Although I am not a member
of any B’nai B’rith organiza
tion, due to my wife’s and many
friends’ involvement, I under
stand the meaning of this
award.
Frankly, Mz. Name withheld
upon request, I detect “sour
grapes” in your letter.
Alan Greenwald
It was with great dismay that
1 read the anonymous letter to
the editor entitled “Reassess
Award” in the February issue.
To say the least, it was an inap
propriate decision made by the
editors to print such an article,
and a cowardly act not to in
clude the names of those submit
ting it. The Charlotte Jewish
News should not be a forum on
passing judgment on the
recipient of such a distinguished
honor such as the B’nai B’rith
Women Human Relations
Award. Anyone in dis
agreement wi^ the selection
should air their news directly
with BBW. Their selection com
mittee researches the candidate
thoroughly and only after stiff
criteria are met do they name
the recipient. This year the
deserving honor went to Sol Jaf
fa.
Joseph Steiner, D.D.S.
The letter, which appeared in
the last issue of The Charlotte
Jewish News, concerning the
presentation of the ADL Human
Relations Award by the
Charlotte Chapter of B’nai
B’rith Women, greatly disturbed
me. Having known Sol Ja^a
and having seen the work which
he performs in service to the
Charlotte community and the
Jewish community of the state-
and the region, I can personally
attest to his worthiness in being
the recipient of this award. He
well fulfills the criteria set up by
the Anti-Defamation League of
B’nai B’rith for this award. The
fact that he has done a great
deal of work within the Jewish
community should in no way
detract from the quality of work
or his worthiness as an honoree.
For the record, while it is stan
dard procedure for publications
to protect the anonymity of their
correspondents where their
reputation or person might be in
danger, it is rare to grant such a
request where a correspondent
has simply written a letter full of
venom and unsupported
vituperation. It is an act of ab
ject cowardice to ask to withhold
name and address when such a
letter is written.
Michael Shapiro, President
C!harlotte Lodge B’nai B’rith
Charlotte B’nai B’rith
Women’s Human Relations
Award is “an award given to
someone in the state of North
Carolina who does excellent
work to promote human
relations and help mankind
above and beyond his or her
chosen profession.”
The Webster Dictionary
states — humanitarian — a per
son devoted to promoting the
welfare of humanity, especially
through the elimination of pain
and suffering; philanthropist.
In giving these two
definitions I hope there has been
a clarification for “Names
Withheld” on what our “Human
Relations Award” is about.
It is our feeling that if this in
dividual or individuals had
delved fiirther into the defini
tion of the award he or she
would have realized the past
recipients have been given this
for volunteering in different
areas of working with people.
Sol Jaffa has worked private
ly through many volunteer
organizations in our community
in the past 25 years. Therefore,
B’nai B’rith Women is honored
to bestow this award for untir
ing work in all areas of
volunteerism, especially youth.
After all, one of the philosophies
of B’nai B’rith Women is the
preserva^n of Judaism with
our greatest emphasis on youth,
the future of our people.
It is almost unbefitting the
dignity of our o^anization to
respond to individuals who
choose to hide behind the title of
“Anonymous.” However, this
coveted award and its recipients
deserve the respect and honor of
our community.
In publishing an unsigned
letter in a community news
paper, that is of award-winning
quality, the editors have allow
ed individuals to use the paper
for personal vindictiveness.
This can only lead to destruc
tiveness. The editors and spon
sors must reassess their policies.
Charlotte B’nai B’rith Women
Terri Cathcart, President
IVe have reassessed the policy
of this newspaper and concur
that all letters to the editors in
the future must be signed,
regardless of what policies
other newspapers have.
Shalom, the editors.
The^ Editors^ welcome comments and letters ex
pressing all points of view and reserve the right to edit.
A Happy
Purim
To Our
Readers