Page 2-THE NEWS-February, 1986
THE CHARLOTTE JEWISH NEWS
Published monthly by:
Charlotte Jewish Foundation Marvin Bienstock, Director
Foundation of Charlotte Jewish Community
Jewish Community Center Stan Swig, Interim Director
N.C. Hebrew Academy Berta Straz, Interim Director
Lubavitch of N.C Rabbi Yossi Groner, Director
Editor Rita Mond
Advertising Blanche Yarus
Copy deadline the 10th of each month
P.O. Box 13369, Charlotte, N.C. 28211
The appearancc of advertising in Tlie News dec* not conatltut* a ttasiirntlt
endorMmcnt.
Letters to the Editor
Editorial
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Feb. 21 -
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Mar. 7 -
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Help Is Needed For Older Adults
Speaking Out
Now that one month of 1986 has gone by, and what
an eventful month it was... what do we have to look
forward to for the rest of the year? What will be with
this new reign of terrorism being led by Qaddafi? Will
it be safe to travel anywhere out of the country, or
even within the country anymore? Israel has already
felt the effects of this with a big drop in tourism,
which will have its affect on her economy.
The city of Charlotte recently announced that pro
perty taxes will be on the rise again; insurance com
panies plan on at least a 10% increase for automobile
owners, and probably even more with those with
points. Utility companies keep on pushing for further
rate increases. Apartment complexes have announc
ed that they will be increasing rents. How is the
average wage earner going to make it? How is the
senior citizen on a fixed income going to manage?
Just where are we going? We are becoming a nation
of HAVES and HAVE NOTS! We were one of the
few countries which had a strong middle-class
society... this is no longer the case.
We, as Americans, have always been the ones who
have helped the poor, the hungry of the nations of
the world. Now with the present economy, we have
more poor, hungry and homeless within our own land.
More factories and businesses are closing their doors.
Ten thousand truckers, just this past month, lost
their jobs. More and more families £ire having to be
helped by agencies and individuals. The Jews are not
immune to this. Charlotte has those in need as well.
Our Jewish Social Service department is constantly
busy trying to help. Hopefully things will improve,
but until they do, £ill of us who can help must do so.
It is Eilso important that our children be taught
Tzedakah (charity). Not only should they learn that
giving is a mitzv^ but that receiving should be con
sidered more than “just a gift.” When a scholarship,
per se, is accepted, they have an obligation to do well
and abide by the guidelines, otherwise, in most cases,
it is revoked. It should be something “earned," not
“expected.” If there are stipulations in receiving
money for one thing or another, then these must be
complied with as a moral obligation. Many progreims
have ceased to exist because of non-compliance of the
recipients. If a loan is extended, then the borrower
also has a moral obligation to repay the loan. The
government finally has awakened to this fact by
beginning to “go after” those who went through
school on student loans without repayment. Because
of the delinquency of others, there is more difficulty
in obtaining them today.
These may be “rambling thoughts” but that’s what
they are meemt to be... in hopes that some of you out
there might give the “CJN” some feedback in the
“Letters to the Editor” column. I would gladly relin
quish this space to a guest editorial writer. If you
have something to say, by all means say it!
— R.M.
We want the Jewish com
munity to be awar^ of our con
cerns for a very important seg
ment of our population — the
older adults. We are working
to establish a program format
that will enable them to be an
integral part of our Jewish
Community Center.
Older adults are a rapidly in
creasing sector of our popula
tion. It is very difficult when
one is in the prime of life to
reedize that the years go by
quickly, and that we edl will,
God willing, live out our own
senior years. Activities and in
terests may change, but the
need to belong, the need to be
considered a contributing
member of the community,
and the need to be cared about
does not.
There is an ethical respoh-
sibility we must fulfill. We
cannot ignore the aged simply
because they £ire old. What we
have in our community is in
large part due to the good
work these people previously
have done. We cannot ignore
them because they do not pro
duce as much revenue as they
once did — their experience
and many contributions in the
^^mAcnoH
Students Declare ^^War On Terrorism**
Protesting just across the
street from the New York
headquarters of the Palestine
Liberation Orgemization, more
than 100 Jewish student ac
tivists remembered Natasha
Simpson and other victims of
the PLO by declaring “war on
terrorism.”
“We demand that the U.S.
close down the PLO offices in
New York zind Washington
immediately,” said Hart N.
Hasten, National President of
Herut Zionists of America, one
of the organizers of the pro
test. “The terrorists are not
welcome here,” Hasten added.
Michael Smerka, an 11-year
old from Manhattan, and a
member of the Betar Zionist
Youth Movement, led the
students, who marched
around carrying large colored
signs and shouting “We won’t
be targets of PLO terror!”
“I don’t understand why
terrorists killed Natasha
Simpson,” the young boy said,
with tears in his eyes. “I think
people have to do something
to make sure that no more lit
tle girls or boys are killed by
Arab terrorists. We don’t hurt
anyone. No one should hurt
us,” he said. Michael added
that the terrorists who
murdered the 11-year old
American girl in Europe last
week should be punished and
sent away. “They shouldn’t be
allowed to kill anymore,” he
said.
Mr. Hasten issued a five
point declaration of war
against terrorism. In addition
to demanding that the PLO of
fices be closed at once, the
decleu-ation calls on political
leaders to require all U.S.
trade partners to join the fight
against terrorism, calls on
American officials to refrain
from visiting countries which
will not cooperate, and also
calls on American workers “to
deny service £uid support to
foreign vessels arriving in the
U.S. from countries which of
fer refuge, training, or support
of any kind to international
terrorists.”
“Our citizens will continue
to be threatened until the ter
rorists £ire eliminated and
their supporters are isolated,”
Mr. Hasten said. Referring to
the murder of Natasha Simp
son, Hasten added that it is
“with concern for the safety
and welfare of our own chil
dren that we join together in
the fight against Arab
terrorism.”
The demonstration was
sponsored by the Herut
Zionists of America, as well as
the Betar and Tagar Student
Zionist organizations.
past should be recognized.
We ask the entire Jewish
community to help us in our
work: volunteer in the many
areas where help is needed,
and convince those who make
the final decisions that plan
ning and programming for
older adults must go forward
now. As firm as our commit
ment to our children, the
Jewish community of tomor
row, so should our commit
ment be to the elderly among
us, our predecessors.
— Senior Adult Committee
Jewish Community Center
A Tliank You
Once ag£iin I would like to
congratulate you for*a job well
done. If not for your in
defatigable commitment to
the paper, it would not be
what it is.
I thank you for the special
coverage you gave our organi
zation. I think it is informative
and educational.
May you have much success
in all your endeavors, both
private and communal.
Rabbi Yossi Groner
Director, Lubavitch of N.C.
Give Credit To Wife
We were very proud to read
your coverage of Lubavitch of
N.C. and about the good work
that Yossi and Mariashi are
doing. However, in R. Melen-
son’s article, we feel that more
credit is due to Mariashi. She
is actually an equal and active
partner in most if not £ill the
activities sponsored by
Lubavitch of N.C.
Thank you for your support.
Rabbi Leib & Yehudis Groner
(Parents of Yossi)
Brooklyn, N.Y.
(Editor’s note: We felt the
same way about Mariashi, so
Richard Melenson is planning
on writing a sequel, “The Un
told Story: The Role of the
Wife in Lubavitch of N.C.” —
tentative title, to appear in a
few months in the “CJN. ”)
THE CHARLOTTE JEWISH
NEWS encourages its readers
to submit articles and letters ex
pressing their opinions on mat
ters of interest to the Jewish
community. Such submissions
should be typed and double
spaced. They may be edited in
order to fit the available space.
Mail to CJN - P.O. Box 13369,
Charlotte, N.C. 28211.
Deadline for
March Issue
Is
Feb. 10th
Deadline for
April Issue
Is
Mar. 5th