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Permit No. 1208
The Charlotte
JE^VISH
Vol. 18 No. 8
Elul 5756-Tishri 5757 September 1996
UieliMl Bar Zohar.
Labor Party Activist
Assesses IsraeVs Election
By Harry 1. Ciiemotsky
Labor Party insider.
General Michael Bar Tjcitm,
discussed the results of
IsraePs recent election in
GMielick Hall on July 18. In
his renuiiks, often qpcinkled
with humor and anecdotes
stenuning from his many
years of involvement in elec
toral politics. Bar. Zohar
sketch^ tht nuijor factors
contributing to the outcome.
For most Israelis, he
noted, personal security was
the primary election issue.
Despite its many achieve
ments, the previous govern
ment was unable to calm the
fears of many citizens. These
concerns escalated even fur
ther just pricM* to the electicm
with the outbreak of hostilities
in Lel^Don and rumms of a
pending agreement with Syria
over the Golan Heights.
Bar Zohar was also quite
candid in his critique of
Labor’s own campaign strate
gy. Most devastating was the
decision to maintain a rela
tively low profile, even as
Likud omtinued to hammer
away at Prime Minister Peres.
The charismatic appeal of
Benjamin Netanyahu, espe
cially when contrasted with
the relatively lackluster per-
fonnance of Penes on the cam
paign trail, also omtribiited to
La^'s defeat Not surpris
ingly, Bar Zohar suggested
that assassinated leader
Yitzhak Rabin would have
been a Car stronger candidiae,
saving Shimon Peres yet
another political humiliation.
Finally, Israel’s new direct
election system generated sig
nificant voles fior Netanyahu
from among supporten of the
various religiou5i parties
Attempting to put the
best possible **spin” on his
party’s defeat. Bar Zohar
praised Netanyahu for his
pragmatism and suggested
that he fouiKl much of tte new
govmunent’s jHoposed agen
da quite acceptable. He was
quick to p(^ out, however,
that Netanyahu may have
some difficulty steering clear
of his nK»e extremist support
ers, especially as he graf^les
widi the issue of Palestinian
sovereignty.
While not especially pes
simistic, Bar Zohar (Md identi
fy a few ominous clouds (m
t^ horizon. For Labor, its
sagging Jewish suppcxt (44%)
provides the most pressing
challenge. For the country as a
whole, the battle with extrem
ism and the growing reli
gious/secular schism will
require the government’s
immediate attention.
It is still a bit early to
assess fiilly the broad implica-
tions of this nnost dramatic of
Israel’s recent elections. Bar
2^ohar noted that both the win
ners and the losers appeared
‘‘stunned” by the outcome.
Barring any major surprises,
Israelis should have until after
November’s U. S. election to
catch their political breaths.
The window for p^KX wiil
not nsmun (^xn infinitely,
however. It is ^soiutely
imperati^ the oppcBtuni-
ties now available i»t be po-
mitted to ^ aw^
Dr Bar Zc^ is a pcofes-
sor at Emory UnivCTsity and
his visit was made possible by
The Jewish Conuntmi^
Relations Council of the
Jewish Federation of GieatCT
Charlotte,
Harry L Chemotsky is
Professor of Politicai Sciertct
at UNC Charlotte.
Bernstein
Promoted
By Cynthia Chapman
Cary Bernstein has moved
from the position of Campaign
Associate to Director of
Development of the Jewish
Federation of Greater Charlotte.
She is excited about the expanded
responsibilities the change entails.
Bernstein will continue woiic in
several areas in which she has
already played significant roles
for Federation, With Marvin
Goldberg in place as Executive
Director, the time is right for her
to be further challenged as a key
player in shaping Federation’s
community role for the future.
Cary’s major areas of focus
include the Federation Campaign,
the Leadership Development pro
gram and Conmiunity Relations.
Her goal is to enhance programs
already in place and to revitalize
one in particular by working with
Stacy Gorelick, Chair of the
Leadership Development Pro
gram. The new Leadership pro
gram will “focus on Jewish identi
ty” for the individuals involved
and how that relates to, and
impacts on, their relationship with
the Jewish community and as
future leaders of the community.
The goal of previous leadership
programs was often geared pri
marily toward training Federation
leadership.The new program, she
said, will help nurture leaders for
the entire community.
Why is the entire community
important to Cary Bernstein? As a
native of Charlotte, she has seen
the Charlotte Jewish community
change dramatically over the
years. She has been involved in
the community in various ways
and served as the Program
Director of the ICC before she
moved to a position in the
Federation. She’s lived other
places but is glad to be in
Charlotte, especially now, and
especially in her role with
Fe^ration. Cary says Charlotte is
“a very different place from years
ago.” She smiles enthusiastically
as she adds, “It’s a great place to
be right now.” She points out that
native Charlotteans may not
always be aware of the reputation
Charlotte has developed national
ly. People in other areas of the
country hear that Charlotte is an
“attractive, exciting place” and
she’s heard people say they wish
they could relocate to the Queen
City.
Growth in the Jewish com
munity reflects the growth of the
greater Charlotte community.
There are lots of new faces, she
points out, and Federation can
provide the link between the new
and the old. Bernstein feels a new
positive energy centering around
the Jewish conununity now, atKl
in particular, around Federation.
“I see it as a transitional
time,” she says. We have a new
Executive Director in Marvin
Goklberg who is ready to take us
to a riew level. In ^Jdition, we
have a group of exciting, dynamic
Brnisifir, page R
Affinity Groups Gear
Up for Fall Events
by Lou Wemick, JFGC
Rich Osbome, President of
the Jewish Federation of Greater
Charlotte, stated that the three
major affinity groups in Charlotte,
The Financial Division, The
Lawyers Division and The
Physicians and Dentists Division,
continue to grow and express
strong desire and commitment to
support and strengthen Jewish life
in Charlotte. The leadership of
each group has accepted the
responsibility to build fellowship,
sUength and integrity within their
division and collectively to sup
port educational, cultural and
social enrichment programs with
in the Jewish community. The fol
lowing events have b^n sched
uled:
LAWYERS DIVISION
Hal Levinson of Moore and
Van Allen is chmrman of this (tivi-
sion. The first fall event will take
place October 9, 19%. There will
be an hors d’oeuvres reception and
Rabbi James M. Bennett of
Temple Beth El is to be the guest
speaker. The members of the
Lawyers Division Steering
Committee are: Mark Bernstein,
Irving M. Brenner, Steve
Garfinkel, Jeffrey Garis, Meg
Goldstein, Alan Kaplan, Alan
Krusch, Howard Labiner, Jeff
Malickson, Jay B. Must, Albert
Nalibotsky, Allan Singer, Amy
Strawser, Richard S. Sweet,
Ronald M. Weiner and Michael
Zeller.
FINANCIAL DIVISION
The chairman of the Financial
Division is Richard Gross,
President of Nationsbanc Capital
Markets, Incorporated. Gross
conmiented that “the Financial
Division has adopted a new and
innovative program called the
‘Networic’ to connect Charlotte’s
Jewish financial professionals.
This program will serve to
strengthen interaction within the
division, as well as focus on mat
ters relating to the general
Charlotte community. We plan to
have regularly scheduled monthly
breakfast meetings which will
offer an opportunity for the Jewish
financial professionals to get
together. We also plan to recmit
the top people in the banking,
stock brokerage, accounting, real
estate and insurance industries to
s[)eak to us.” Gross added, “We
are planning a major event for
November when Mr. Mickey
Levy, prominent international
economist and columnist for The
Wall Street Journal will be the
guest speaker.” The members of
the FinaiKial Division are: Larry
Brown, Orik Dagan, Paul
Edelstein, Shelton Gorelick, Todd
Gorelick, Anuel Goldberg, Craig
Don't Forget!
JCC’s 10th
Anniversary
Gala!
see page 2
I
j
Katzman, Peter Levinson, Eugene
Marx, Steve Menaker, Adrian
Mesoznik, David S. Miller,
Selwin Notelovitz, Ken Rivkin,
Bernard Sandler, David Swinuner
and Judie Van Glish.
PHYSICIANS AND DEN
TISTS DIVISION (MAI-
MONIDES SOCIETY)
Dr. David S. Citron, chairman
of the division smd, “We have
some very exciting programs in
the offing. First, we are indeed for
tunate to have been able to con
firm that the distinguished and
very prominent Israeli physician.
Dr. Theo Dov Golan, will be
addressing our group at our Fall
event on Tuesday, November 12,
1996. Dr. Golan, an authority on
Jewish-Arab relations and Israeli
war-time and army medicine, is
also one of the leading scientists in
the world specializing in Lupus
research. He has authored some 80
scientific papers.” Dr. Citron con
tinued, “^ond, we have devel
oped a program committee within
our steering committee which will
research and recommend a service
project to be adopted by the
Maimonides Society.” The mem
bers of the Maimonides Steering
Committee are: James Bedrick,
Niles Choper, Scott Goodman,
Max Greenman, Robert Haber,
Robert Kipnis, Jonathan Levine,
Scott Menaker, Edwin Newman,
Michael Rotberg, Jared Schwartz,
Tricia Sinoway, Riilip Solomon,
David Somerstein, Samuel
Zimmem, and Joe Zucker. The
commonalities of purpose for each
affinity group are: to foster a sense
of common purpose and commit
ment to work for the betterment of
Jews everywhere; to mobilize pro
fessionals within the framewoiic
of each group to serve as a
resource in the Jewish and general
communities; to support and
strengthen Jewish life in Charlotte
through active involvement with
the Jewish Federation of Greater
Charlotte.
For information about the
affinity groups and their forthcom
ing events, please call Lou
Wemick, Director of Special
Projects, at 366-5007.