Page 3-THE NEWS-May, 1988
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Opinions sind Commentaries
Letters to the Editor
Editor’s Note: Alan Blumen-
thal attended the recent UJA
Young Leadership Conference
and received the following let-
ter from Senator Helms.
Dear Mr. Blumenthal:
Thank you for your recent
letter. It was indeed my
pleasure to have the oppor
tunity to address your delega
tion from the UJA Young
Leadership Conference. My
only regret was that a vote in
the Senate kept me from being
able to spend more time with
your group.
I appreciate your provid
ing me with some of your
thoughts regarding the cur
rent situation in Israel. It is
unfortunate that the media
has shown little, if any, in
terest in explaining the cur
rent situation in the context of
America’s interest in a strong
Israel, or in the context of
Israel's forty year struggle to
secure peace with its neigh
bors.
As I mentioned during our
meeting, I joined with a num
ber of my coUeagues in send
ing a letter to Secretary of
State George Shultz, express
ing our understanding that it
is for Israel and its leaders
alone to decide when and
whether it is in Israel’s securi
ty interest to exchange “land
for peace.”
I have taken the liberty of
enclosing a copy of this letter,
as well as a copy of an article
I wrote last Fall in regards to
the proposed “International
Peace Conference.” I hope you
find these items to be of
interest.
Thank you again for your
letter. Your comments are
always welcome.
Sincerely,
Senator Jesse Helms
Correction
The listing of the first planning committee of the
Charlotte Yiddish Institute (1979) should have read: Sarah
and George Ackerman*, Marvin Bienstock*, Mae and
Julius Goldman*, Estelle and Leo Hoffman, Rose and
Abraham Luski*, Baila and John Pransky*.
The 1988 Charlotte Yiddish Institute committee in
cluded all those above signified with an * as well as
Bobbie Pollard, Elkie and Stan Tulman.
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I Reiterate, We Need a Bureau!
By Rabbi Marc Wilson
Nearly two years have passed
since I first expressed my
opinion that this community,
urgently, overwhelmingly,
needs a Bureau of Jewish
Education.
I am happy to say that some
progress is l^ing made in that
direction, very, very slowly.
Slow is good. Deliberate is
good. Let us not, however, let
slow-and-deliberate become an
excuse for lethargy and dilly
dallying. Let us be persistent
in keeping the crucial need for
a Bureau of Jewish Education
at the top of the community
agenda.
Briefly, the purpose of a
Bureau is to (1) coordinate
(and in some instances, direct
ly administer) community-
wide Jewish educational and
cultural programs; (2) provide
consultation (curriculum, pro
gramming, teacher training
and development, administra
tive, etc.) to synagogues and
Jewish communal agencies; (3)
to conceive and implement
new and innovative educa
tional and cultural programs
for the community.
Let us briefly reiterate some
of the more pressing needs
that could be promptly ad
dressed by a Charlotte Bureau
of Jewish Education, in the
hope that we will sense the
urgency and push the commu
nity to move decisively in that
direction;
(1) Supervise and aid in
the renaissance of the Char
lotte Jewish Day School.
(2) Supervise the Consoli
dated High School of Jewish
Studies.
(3) Supervise and expand
the Speizman Judaic Library
at Shalom Park.
(4) Supervise and expand
the services of the Carolina
Agency of Jewish Education:
consultation to smaUer out
lying Jewish communities,
teachers’ resource center,
teacher training.
(5) Assist in developing
and supervise a community
Pre-School program.
(6) Develop a meaningful
community-wide Adult Educa
tion program of ongoing
classes and special educational
and cultural events.
(7) Develop a meaningful
community-wide Family Edu
cation program.
(8) Advise the Temples’
religious schools on cur
riculum, progranmiing, teach
er training and supervision.
(9) Serve as Judaic pro
gramming consultant to the
JCC: staff education, holiday
activities, arts and crafts
ideas, cultural programs,
creating a “Jewish ambiance”
at Shalom Park.
(10) Consult with the Jew
ish Federation and Jewish
Family Services on the educa
tional elements of their pro
grams: Young Leadership De
velopment, Family Life Edu
cation, etc.
(11) Develop a meaningful
program to stimulate Israel
awareness, Zionism, and ad
vocacy on behalf of Jews in
the Soviet Union, Arab coun
tries and Ethiopia.
Anyone with even a little
knowledge of our Jewish com
munity knows that most of
' the above items are either be
ing addressed poorly, or in a
slap-dash manner, or are sim
ply slipping through the
cracks. When you honestly ap
praise the realities, and get the
crying needs clearly in focus,
the issue is not “How can we
afford to have a Bureau?” but
“How can we afford not to
have a Bureau?”
My mother always has the
right folk-expression for every
one of life’s situations: “A
worm that lives in a horse
radish thinks it’s sweet,” she
says, “because it’s never had
the privilege of living inside an
apple.”
No one thing, even a Bureau
of Jewish Education, is a pan
acea. But, when it comes to
the state of Jewish education
in Charlotte, we are like worms
living in a horseradish. I
strongly suggest that estab
lishing a Charlotte Bureau of
Jewish Education will give us
a chance to taste what it’s like
to really live inside an apple.
Editor's note — This was
submitted before the Federa
tion appointed a special com
mittee on Jewish ^ucation in
Charlotte.
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