S6th General Assembly
Dor L’Dor: Israel and
North America — Partners
Across the Generations
Overseas Plenary
Thursday Night
Address given by Hon. Yitzhak
Shamir, Prime Minister of the
State of Israel
Security this evening was
very tight, everyone was
screened before entering. Even
handbags and cameras were
thoroughly checked.
The evening began with the
singing of the three national
anthems: U.S., Canada and
Israel. This was followed
shortly by a live satellite
speech by Mendel Kaplan,
Chairman of the Board of
Governors of the Jewish
Agency, from Johannesburg,
South Africa. What a tech
nological feat!
Martin Levine, president of
CJF Canada, spoke of the
308,000 Jews in Canada. In
1987 they raised over $90 mil
lion; this year $820 million is
being raised. This dedication is
overwhelming.
•
Israeli Prime Minister Yit
zhak Shamir, speaking on the
10th anniversary of Egyptian
President Anwar Sadat’s his
toric visit to Jerusalem, of
fered to return the gesture by
traveling to Jordan or other
Arab countries for new peace
talks. He told the Assembly
that King Hussein of Jordan
is Israel’s obvious next part
ner in the quest for a com
prehensive Middle East peace.
He appealed for face-to-face
talks with Hussein — any
where, anytime.
“We would like to play host
to him, as we did to President
Sadat, but, if necessary, we
shall travel anywhere and
negotiate until we shall reach
agreement”. He further stated
that “I call on the leaders of
the Arab states that are neigh
bors of Israel to respond to our
call for peace and to come to
the negotiating table. I pledge
that, once we sit at the table,
we shall not get up until an
agreement is reached”.
During his speech, which
was interrupted 20 times by
appreciative applause, Shamir
also addressed several other
concerns of American Jews.
Although leaders of Ameri
ca’s six million Jews have re
mained steadfast in their po
litical and financial support of
Israel, the relationship has
been strained recently by
revelations of Israeli spying on
the U.S. and by the Israeli role
in the Iran-contra weapons
deal.
Shamir preferred to accen
tuate the positive, stressing
the need for unity and saying
that Jews in Israel and the
U.S. “represent the two main
pillars of the thousands-of-
years-old Jewish nation.
“My friends, despite occa
sional irritations, mistakes
and misunderstandings, the
relationship between Israel
and the U.S. has never been
better than it is at present”,
Shamir said.
W
Page 13-THE NEWS-December, 1987
From Generation to Generation — A Legacy
Of Freedom and Responsibility
In Celebration of 200th Anniversary of U.S. Constitution
Yitzhak Shamir
One of those misunderstand
ings, he said, concerns the
“Who is a Jew?” controversy
in Israel. Some American Jews
fear that religious zealots in
Israel want to disenfranchise
any Jew who does not sub
scribe to Orthodox doctrine.
“Every Jew, with absolute
ly no exception, is welcome in
Israel and can become an
Israeli citizen”, he said.
“Aliyah is the fulfillment of
the Zionist dream. It is the
guarantor of the Jewish
character and future of Israel.
It is the main purpose of our
state.”
American Jews, he stressed,
who do not move to Israel, still
have a responsibility to their
people. The greatest deinger
for Jews, he said, is annihila
tion through assimilation.
He further stated, “You
must give top priority to Jew
ish education, Jewish aware
ness and Jewish identity. To
survive as a people, all of
us..must adhere to our history,
our culture, our traditions, our
values and our heritage.
“It would be tragic, indeed
if by default, through neglect
and indifference, we shall help
bring about what pogroms,
persecutions and the Holo
caust did not succeed in doing.
“My message”, he said, “is
Unity. Nothing is impossible.
For people of little faith,
everything is impossible.”
After his speech, Shoshana
Cardin presented Shamir a
Havdalah spice box.
At the end of the Plenary,
there was a gala reception
hosted by the Greater Miami
Jewish Federation, “Miami —
See It Like a Native”. It was
very colorful and exciting.
Buffet tables were set with
ethnic food for which Miami is
famous. We greeted old friends
and new as we listened and
danced to the best of both
Klezmer and Latin music.
Running for
Mike
With the first light of dawn,
on Friday, Nov. 20, hundreds
of Jews from across the U.S.
gathered on the beach behind
the Fontainebleau-Hilton Hotel
and participated in a five
kilometer Freedom RunAValk
for Soviet Jewry. Among
This plenary session was a
“loaded” one. Havcialah ser
vice was held. We listened and
saw Ida Nudel “live” via
Satellite from Israel. When
Ida Nudel was ask«d about
what she feels about Israel,
she simply stated “great”....
just “great!” She said “thank
you for bringing m& home”.
She said that she would be
in the pro-Soviet Jewry Rally
in December. If the Jews re
main in the USSR they will
become only Russians; they
must not become Russians...
they must not lose tMr iden
tity. She made a warning that
whatever the outcome there,
“we must be careful. _.we must
not be overconfident,...we can
not trust them...we must be
careful”. The audience was in
spired by her message.
Esther Leedi Ritz presented
the William J. Shroder
Awards for outstaniing pro
grams within the community.
Winners were: Toron"to Jewish
Congress and Kehilla Residen
tial Program (large city);
Jewish Federation of Greater
Middlesex County and J ewish
Family Service of Northern
Middlesex County, N.J. (in
termediate city); Calgary
Jewish Community' Council
and Calgary Jewish Center
(small city). Honorable Men
tion went to Jewisli Federa
tion of Omaha ani Jewish
Family Service of Omaha.
The new president, Mandell
L. Berman, Detroit, was in
stalled. His message was brief
but to the point. lie stated
that his main comnnitnnent is
ZL
■ ■
Havdalah Service led by Ricky Turetsky, Miami. On his left, his mother-
in-law; on rigrht, Jeane Kirkpatrick and Mandell Berman, new CJF
President.
for the growth of the com
munity, especially in the
Sunbelt.
Guest speaker was Dr.
Jeane J. Kirkpatrick, former
U.S. Ambassador to the
United Nations (1981-1985).
Dr. Kirkpatrick has always
been pro-Israel. She said that
“if there had been an Israel,
there would not have been a
Holocaust”. She further
quoted Simon Wiesenthal that
if there had been no oppres
sions, there would have been
200 million Jews today.
She lambasted the attitude
of the Arab states towards
Israel. “Tyranny is a one-way
street”...Iran, Iraq, Syria,
Lybia...it’s o.k. for them to do
acts of aggression, but if Israel
protects herself, then that’s
tyranny. Israel has made two
major peace attempts: the
Camp David Accords and the
giving up of the Sinai to
Egypt. It’s a long and rocky
road ahead with little hope in
the immediate future of peace
Rita Mond (R) receiving “best
newspaper” award front Adrienne
Offman, chair CJF Public Relations
Award Committee.
All four of our P.R. Awards.
Sculpture to hold Shabbas candles
was for a “gold award”.
Irving Mond cavorting with “The
Gator” at “Miami — ^e It Like a
Native”.
Dancing to the strains of the
Klezmorim.
Jewish Freedorn on Miami Beach
Minkin Brings Home Trophy
them was Mike Minl(in, ex
ecutive director of the
Charlotte Jewish Federation,
who did us proud by repre
senting our city and b>ringing
home the third place trophy.
The Run/Walk led by
Yuli Edelshtein, a former
Soviet Jewish refusenik and
prisoner of Conscience. This
RunAValk was a microcosm of
what was to happen in Wash
ington on Dec. 6. The one pur
pose is to let people know that
the Soviet Jewish issue is a
high priority item.
with the present Arab atti
tude.
Shoshana Cardin made her
“farewell speech” which was
very moving. She was pre
sented a beautiful glass-
encased shofsu- for her three
years of dedicated service as
CJF president.
Afterwards there was a
Young Leadership Party,
“Moon Over Miami”, a
celebration featuring jazz
music, dancing, refreshments
and plenty of ruach. And for
the older “generation” a film
festival “Musical Passage”,
the success story of the Soviet
Emigre Orchestra. As far as
I’m aware, no one of our con
tingent attended, as the hour
was late, we were exhausted
and the next morning we were
to return to Charlotte. Next
year the GA will be in New
Orleans and we are all hoping
to attend. In fact, Vicki is
already busy booking a block
of hotel rooms before they sell
out!
Soviet Jewry:
Rescuing Next Generation
One of the several forums
that I attended was on Soviet
Jewry which was held in
cooperation with the National
Conference on Soviet Jewry
and NJCRAC. This was a sub
ject which I felt quite at home
with, since I had been pzu-t of
a group in Charlotte which had
worked with the Soviet Jews
who had come to settle in our
city a few years ago.
Morris Abram, Chairman
National Conference on Soviet
Jewry, stated that many ask
if demonstrations have any
diplomatic effect? “Of
course”, he went on to say. He
noted that 300,000 Jews to
date have left the Soviet
Union. He then introduced
Yuli Edelshtein, formerly a
refusenik and now a citizen of
Israel. Yuli was a former
Hebrew teacher in the USSR
who was arrested in 1984 with
a trumped up charge of cor
rupting the youth. He was
convicted of selling drugs to
his students and sentenced to
3 years in prison. When he was
released on Independence Day
of Israel, his guard said to
him, “I want you know you’re
not acquitted”.
Yuli said that there is a new
generation of Hebrew stu
dents and Torah students in
Russia. They do have new
leaders, but you have to know
them and help them. He has
been fighting for Jewish
culture for 8 years. He said,
“We need free Aliyah of Jews
to Israel...the only way to save
Soviet Jewry. They must get
visas without any endanger-
ment.”