Page 2-THE NEWS-December, 1987
THE CHARLOTTE JEWISH HEWS
Published monthly by:
Charlotte Jewish Federation Michael L. Minkin, Director
Foundation of Charlotte Jewish Community &
Jewish Community Center Barry Hantman, Director
Charlotte Jewish Day School Berta Straz, Principal
Lubavitch of N.C Rabbi Yossi Groner, Director
Editor Rita Mend
Advertising Blanche Yarus
Copy deadline the 10th of each month
P.O. Box 13369, Charlotte, N.C 28211
The ap^carancc «f advcrtUlHg in The Newt d««t not c*nstitutt a kasbrath
cndarMMCiit.
Churchy State and Pat Robertson
Editorials
Dor L*Dor
I had the privilege of attending the 56th Council
of Jewish Federations’ Genered Assembly at the Fon
tainebleau, Miami Beach, Nov. 18-22. What a gather
ing it was! Jews coming together from all over the
U.S., Canada, Israel, South America and gilso from
Sweden, Australia and South Africa....all for the same
purpose: to share and to learn. And what a learning
experience it was!
“Dor L’Dor: From Generation to Generation —
Building Community and Continuity Through Peo
ple” was the theme of the GA. Over 300 individual
sessions revealed what is on the minds of Jews right
now. They explored the ways in which the Federa
tion network, together with Israel and world Jewry,
can transmit our Jewish heritage, commitment and
values to the next generation and beyond. They also
focused on our responsibility to reach out to the unin
volved and marginally involved — including our teen
agers, college students, singles, the elderly and dis
abled — in order to make them feel connected with
Jewish life, Israel and our Jewish communities. “Kal
Yisrael Haverim" — All Jews are friends. We are part
of one family.
Throughout the entire convention there prevailed
the overhanging cloud of Soviet leader Mikhail Gor
bachev’s impending visit to Washington, D.C. and
the desire of our people for Human Rights. There
prev£iiled an exuberance for the pro-Soviet Jewry
March in Washington on December 6. Anticipation
of tens of thous£inds of Jews and others from sJl over
the U.S. and the world to attend on behalf of the
400,000 Soviet Jews who have applied to emigrate,
was overpowering. The standard greeting was: “I’ll
see you in Washington!”
How fantastic it was to see and listen to Ida Nudel,
live, from Israel via the technological achievement
of the Satellite Network. She, too, was to be in the
Rally gdong with Natan Shcharansky, Vladamir and
Maria Slepak, Yuli Edelshtein and Mikhail Kholmi-
ansky.
No matter where I was, someone knew someone in
Chgirlotte. The old cliche is certainly true...“it’s a
small world”.
I am very proud that Charlotte won four P.R.
awards, especially since we were the only small city
to do so. In the newspaper category we were in very
good company with stiff competition among the large
cities...here again we were the only small city to be
recognized.
There are so many highlights of the convention,
that I can not possibly include them here. You will
note that the centerfold of this issue gives a broad
prospectus of what occurred at the GA. I only wish
that more of you could have attended and experienced
what those of us, who were there, did.
The Greater Miami Federation, which hosted the
Assembly, recruited almost 1500 volunteers. They are
to be commended for their outstanding work and
showing the 3500 delegates such gracious hospitality.
Because of the pro-^viet Jewry raUy on December
6, Super Sunday in Charlotte has been changed to
December 13. When you are ceilled by our volunteers,
remember to give a generous pledge. Money is needed
NOW...locally, intemationaUy, and in Israel. We have
a conunitment as Jews to help one another; we have
a commitment to Tzedakeih. We have a commitment
to our Jewish survival, not just for today, not just
for tomorrow, but for a)l the future generations. Dor
L’Dor.
—Rita Mond
By Robert E. Segal
(JTA)
Five years ago, the Rev. Pat
Robertson sent me a letter
beginning: “Dear Colleague in
Christ.” The letter continues
to haunt me, and ever since
receiving it, I have been an
avid collector of items about
the Virginia television evan
gelist.
Recently, the revelations
about this charismatic figure
have been numerous and start
ling. Two stand out: in July, he
proposed the launching of a
U.S.-backed invasion of Nic
aragua; and on Oct. 6, The
Wall Street Journal reported
that “his classmates at Yale
Law School remember that his
interests ran chiefly in the
direction of poker and
women.”
The latest news about what
happened at Yale to this now-
staunch fundamentalist is
that he manfully decided to
own up to his flaming youth.
“As a young man, I was
engaged in wine, woman and
song,” he said on Oct. 8, when
interviewed by Ted Koppel on
ABC News’ “Nightline.”
Yes, he was precise about
that, but ambiguity continues
to cloud some of his claims
concerning his military record,
a part of his education and his
role as an adviser to a bank.
Robertson also boasts of
finding favor with Orthodox
and Conservative Jews. In
deed, some Jews point out
that he’s a good friend of
Israel.
Yet, smother Christian fun
damentalist, a profound
scholar, advised me that in
predicting that the Almighty
will save Israel when Arma
geddon strikes, Robertson
fails to add his firm belief that
Israel will be the scene of
Christ’s so-called Second Com
ing. In that New Jerusalem,
where will today’s valiant
OOMIN^ F0R.A5H0RTCHBCI^UP
Jews find ssmctuary?
Along his sawdust trail,
Robertson has hailed the
American Constitution as “a
marvelous document for self-
government by Christians”.
Let that precious document
fall into the hands of non-
Christians, he argues, and we
would see it used to destroy
the foundations of our society.
Were Robertson’s Jewish
admirers aware of this divisive
note, especially as we all took
pride in celebrating the 200th
anniversary of the cherished
text which would keep church
and state separated?
We Jews are justly proud of
our contribution to the reli
gious richness of living in this
land of freedom. What chutz-
pa it is, then, for Robertson to
declgu'e that “Christians have
a duty to the Jewish people,
namely to prevent Jews from
stripping religion away from
American life”.
Well, Pat Robertson needs
no advice from this chronicler.
But he might want to take a
tip from Richard Nixon, who
told him, “You can be a
fanatic, as fanatic as you
want, as long as you do it in
private.”
Fellow evangelist Billy
Graham also offered sound ad
vice. “When you say that you
pray and stop a huiricane,” he
said, “it gives the press
something to distort.”
•
Robert E. Segal is a former
newspaper editor and director
of the Jewish community
councils of Cincinnati and
Boston.
We encourage our readers’ view
points. Letters should be submitted
typewritten and double-spaced and
signed. Please include your address
and phone numt>er. We resen/e the
right to edit
Goyernor Cuomo^s Rabbi
By Rabbi Marc H. Tanenbaum
(JTA)
Often, when Governor
Mgirio Cuomo of New York
prepares to deliver a speech,
reportedly he asks advice of
his rabbi, or at least for a good
rabbinic story from Jewish
tradition. Cuomo, a Catholic,
has a friendship with Rabbi
Israel Mowshowitz of New
York that is close, affectionate
and probably unique in Amer
ican history.
Recently, more than 1,000
Jews and Christians from all
walks of life, joined in a mov
ing ceremony honoring this
outstanding Jewish spiritual
leader. To mark the 50th an
niversary of his ordination as
rabbi and 40 years of service
that he and his devoted wife,
Liffy, have given to their con
gregation, the HiUcrest Jewish
Center in Queens, N.Y., dedi
cated its sanctuary in the
name of the rabbi.
The 73-year-old religious
leader is a model rabbi — a
gifted preacher £uid learned
teacher, a trusted guide,
counselor, social worker and
community leader and an in
spired interpreter of Judaism
to the non-Jewish world.
In addition to his years of
dedicated service to his own
people, he has made extraor
dinary contributions to the
cause of social justice and
world peace. Mowshowitz
helped organize Operation
Crossroads Africa in the
1950s. He served as president
of the World Conference of
Religion and Peace. He is now
Cuomo’s advisor on communi
ty relations.
The governor described his
rabbi’s spirit accurately when
he said, “Rabbi Israel
Mowshowitz is a man of God,
too sensible to ignore the
world, and too wise to embrace
it as the only reality.
•
Rabbi Marc H. Tanenbaum
is director of international
relations for the American
Jewish Committee.
Lisa’s Inhuman Life, Tragic Death
By Rabbi Marc H. Tanenbaum
(JTA)
The tragic death in New
York of Lisa Steinberg, the
6-year-old victim of apparent
child-beating, has wrung the
hearts of all of us. It has made
us aware of how urgent is the
need to strengthen the capaci
ties of social service agencies
and the police to contain this
gfrowing family violence be
fore it destroys more innocent
lives.
But there is one aspect of
this tragedy that needs to be
set straight before it gets out
of hand. It was reported that
Lisa was bom of Catholic
parents and had "a Jewish up
bringing.” Lisa indeed was
bom of a Catholic mother. The
notion, however, that she had
a “Jewish upbringing” is
nothing less than scandalous.
The beatings and abuse that
this poor, lovely child suffered
at the hands of her adoptive
parents, who were bora Jew
ish, violates every basic
teaching of Judaism about
children. Anyone who knows
anything about the Jewish
religion and real Jewish fami
ly life knows that every child
is sacred and central in
Judaism. The child in Jewish
tradition is the highest of
human treasures. What her
parents inflicted on Lisa was
savage, not Jewish.
Equally, the battering of the
woman in Lisa’s household,
Hedda Nussbaum, abuses
eve^ Jewish teaching and
feeling about the honored
place of a wife in the strong
Jewish family tradition.
“Husbands must honor their
wives more than themselves,”
the Talmud declares.
Beyond that, this is not a
Catholic-Jewish issue. It is a
terrible human tragedy. And
all of us should be doing
everything we can together to
try to prevent Lisa Steinbergs
and Hedda Nussbaums of
whatever religions and races
from ever happening again.
I