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Page 2-THE NEWS-February.1987 THE CHARLOTTE JEWISH NEWS Published monthly by: Charlotte Jewish Federation Marvin Bienstock, Director Foundation of Charlotte Jewish Community & Jewish Community Center Barry Hanttnan, Director N.C. Hebrew Academy Berta Straz, Adrninistrator 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 appcarancc of advcrtlslnc in The Ncwi decs net constitute a Itasliruth cntforscmcnt. Over S Million Offended McDonald’s Claims Fievel Furor Unjustified Editorial We’ve Come A Long Way • .. But A Jewish First Lady? Recently, when my daughter Jodi was home on winter break from college, we discussed a speech that she had written for a “Modern Miss Pageant” a few years ago. (It was reproduced later as a guest editorial for The CJN.) It was written about the Modern Day Woman and how she has been involved in virtually every activity and profession .. . fireman, policeman, clergyman, doctor, lawyer, astronaut, actress, artist, architect, mayor, senator, supreme court j udge and even a vice-presidential candidate. We spoke about how the Jewish woman has also been recognized in memy new capacities. We now have many women who are rabbis and cantors. Temple Israel last year gave women the right to be given aliyahs and be counted as members of a minyan. This year both Temple Israel and Temple Beth El V’Shalom have women presidents. More and more of our women are going into careers that formerly were open only to men ... we have outstanding doctors, accountants, attorneys, etc., in our community. The possibility that we may some day have a vice president or even a first lady of the U.S. is not remote. According to The National Jewish Post & Opinion, they are thinking that as early as 1989, Mrs. Kitty Dukakis, wife of Massachusetts Governor Dukakis, who is expected to be a candidate for the presiden cy, might be the one. She is the daughter of Harry Ellison Dickson, violinist and associate director of the Boston Pops. Since 1979, Mrs. Dukakis has been preparing herself for the role of first lady of one of the world’s great superpowers by involving herself with Holocaust victims and memorials and Soviet Jews who wish to emigrate. She has toured Poland, Russia, Denmark and visited Israel six times. As president of the National Center for Genocide Studies, she has visited Cambodia and Thailand several times to add orphans. She is interested in civic beautification, the arts, and like Mrs. Gerald Ford and Mrs. Ronald Reagan, is active in the fight against drug use by children. Personally, I don’t think we are quite ready in this country to have a Jew in the White House. But it would be a great idea serving heads of state some good old-fashioned chicken soup with kreplach or matzo balls. It might be just what we need to cure the ills in this world. Think about it! —Rita Mond Your paper may be late due to the recent snow storm. Hopefully we will have better weather this month. The Jewish Calendar Candleligh ting Feb. 6 - 5:38 p.m. Feb. 13 • 5:45 p.m. Feb. 20 - 5:52 p.m. Feb. 27 - 5:59 p.m. Mar. 6 - 6:05 p.m. Mar. 13 • 6:11 p.m. Feb. 14 - Tu B’Shvat Mar. 12 - Fast of Esther Mar. 15 - Purim Mar. 16 - Shushan Purim By Andrew Muchin (JTA) What’s a nice Jewish car toon character like Fievel Mousekewitz doing in places like these? The rodent star of Steven Spielberg’s new animated film “An American Tale” formed the centerpiece of two major Christmas sale promotions, both apparently with Spielberg’s blessing. At more than 7,000 McDonald’s restaurants across the United States, Fievel appeared on four fac simile stocking Christmas tree ornaments, each given free to purchasers of a $5 book of gift certificates. The books also contained a coupon for $5 off a $25 Fievel doll at 801 Sears department stores nationwide. Sears has exclusive rights to sell mer chandise based on the movie’s characters, according to James Podany, director of marketing communications for Sears Roebuck & Co., Chicago. Sears placed the characters on a variety of children’s pro ducts as a draw for sales dur ing the Christmas season. However, Podany insisted that Fievel was not pictured on any Christmas related items such as a wreath or tree ornament. 77/ Advised' and ‘Tacky' The use of an identifiably Jewish character to boost Christmas sales is in congruous to say the least, isn’t it? “I think of it as ill ad vised and tacky,” said Dr. Eliot Spack, executive director of the Coalition For Alter natives in Jewish Education. He noted that he was express ing his own opinions, not his organization’s policy. However, he told JTA that AN HISTORIC P6CI5ION IN ISRAO. ONVER Letters to the Editor Reader Needs Information In the CJN, May, 1986, p. 18, World Beat/Tid-Bits, ap peared an item, datelined New York, which spoke briefly of an anti-Semitic article appear ing in an Australian Croatian weekly newspaper, Hrvatski Tjednik. As a Jewish person, I am, of course, very bothered by any and every anti-Semitic action, in whatever form. What upsets me even more, in this instance, is that my heritage also contains Croatian roots — my maternal grandparents came from Croatia, and I have 3 generations of cousins who live in Zagreb. My point: Would it be possi ble somehow to obtain a copy/transcript of the anti- Semitic article in question — preferably in English, but I have a couple of sources where I might be able to have it translated. Any assistance you can pro vide would be greatly appreciated. — Gary Weiss Editor's note: Hope that you have received the informa tion you needed from the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. The JTA is the source of most of the items found in “World Beat. ” Marta Garelik has been editing this column for the past 8 years: she has been do ing a truly excellent job. We encourage our readers' view points. Letters should be submit ted typewritten and double spaced and signed. Please include your address and phone number. We reserve the right to edit. Deadline for March is Februarv" 9 the Fievel campaigns did not post major assimilation pro blems for Jews. “I’m not per sonally worried that we’re go ing to lose thousands of Jews over it,” he said, explaining that children won’t easily iden tify the mouse as Jewish, since Fievel is an uncommon Jewish name. He chalked up the Fievel promotions to capitalism. “Chanukah and Jewish linkages have clearly been ex ploited for many years in the promotion of Christmas and non-religious events,” he added. Spokespeople for the com panies involved, in interviews with JTA, denied any tackiness or incongruity in the use of Fievel. Podany of Sears said the Fievel centered campaign ap pears at Christmas time only to concur with the release of the movie. Marvin Levy, a consultant to Spielberg’s Amblim Enter tainment and Universal City Studios, Inc., both of Univer sal City, Calif., acknowledged that Fievel is Jewish and even receives Chanukah gifts in the film, but he said the film is less a Jewish story than one of im migration that fosters univer sal American values such as the “melting pot.” “No one thought of it with a religious significance,” he said of the many Jews, in cluding himself and Spielberg, among the leadership of Amblin and Universal. “We would probably be as sensitive as anybody,” he added. But might not children who see the film and then see the character pushing Christmas sales get the wrong impression of Judaism? “I really don’t think so,” he said. “I don’t think £uiybody here thought of it as being as much of a Christmas promotion as a (generally ecumenical) holiday promotion.” According to Terry Capotosto, media rela tions manager for McDonald’s Corp., Oak Brook, 111., the movie represents American values of intercultural understanding, hope and fami ly heritage. Moreover, both Capatosto and McDonald’s customer relations representative Chris Garrity noted that families can participate in the Fievel promotion without getting in volved in Christmas. Scenes from the movie decorate the packages of McDonald’s meals for children from November 24-December 24, which each week is accom panied by a different Fievel storybook. \o Offense Intended She said she didn’t see anything wrong with placing Fievel on the Christmas tree ornaments, and added that McDonald’s employees, in cluding Jews, had discussed the issue at length, concluding that Fievel transcended any one ethnic group. But she said, “We certainly apologize if someone has misinterpreted (the Fievel or naments) ... We obviously wouldn’t do anything that would offend anybody.”
The Charlotte Jewish News (Charlotte, N.C.)
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