5007 Providence Road
Charlotte, NC 28226
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Permit No. 1208
The Charlotte
JEIVISH
Vol. 19 No. 11
Kislev-Tevet, 5758
December, 1997
NationsBank corporate
underwriter for 1998
JCC Gala
Bank giant to also sponsor 1998 JCC Maccabi Games
Roadmap to our Future
Strategic Planning for the future
initiated at the JCC
NationsBank has once again
shown its support of the Jewish
Community Center efforts to
develop in-depth programs and
services for the Charlotte
community with its recent
announcement that it will serve as
Corporate Underwriter for the
1998 JCC Gala. NationsBank’s
generous contribution of $35,000
helps assure the 1998 Gala,
honoring Leon Levine, will be
successful in achieving its goal of
raising more than $250,000.
Monies raised will help
underwrite the cost of Jewish
Community Center programs and
services and to provide a secure
infrastructure for the recently
established Jewish Community
Center Endowment Fund.
NationsBank’s commitment
serves a dual function: its
sponsorship provides some of the
funds necessary to assure the
provision of service and serves as
a catalyst for other corporate and
individual contributions.
On Gala night. February 14,
NationsBank officials will turn
out in force to help recognize
Leon Levine's contributions the
Jewish Community Center and
Shalom Park. Feature
NarionsBank'
entertainers, “The Second City,”
the renowned Chicago based
comedy/improvisation group will
entertain at the black-tie affair.
Sponsorships and tickets are now
available. Ticket prices are
structured to allow you to choose
from a variety of participation
opportunities. To reserve your
seat(s), please call Roni Fishkin,
Gala Coordinator, at 366-5007.
Nationsbank signs on as Gold
Sponsor of 1998 JCC Maccabi
Games
In addition to its commitment
to underwrite the 1998 JCC Gala,
NationsBank will also contribute
an additional $10,000 as a Gold
Sponsor for the 1998 JCC
Maccabi Games.
NationsBank joins Coca Cola
(the national corporate sponsor
for the JCC Maccabi Games) and
a growing list of corporate and
individual sponsors in helping
raising more than $150,000 to
bring more than 600 visiting,
teenage Jewish athletes to
Charlotte for a week a spirited
athletic competitions from August
9-14, 1998. Lane Ostrow, 1998
JCC Maccabi Games Chairman
said, “having NationsBank’s
support helps validate the
importance and credibility of our
enormous undertaking to host the
1998 JCC Maccabi Games. We
really appreciate their en
couragement.”
Visiting athletes will come
from Jewish communities
throughout North America and
will include a delegation from
Israel. All visiting athletes must
be housed with local Jewish
families. The Jewish Community
Center will need hundreds of
volunteers to plan and administer
this most exciting week of
activities. For information on
volunteer opportunities and/or to
make contributions to the 1998
JCC Maccabi Gaines, please
contact Barry Schumer (Games
Director) or Amy London
(Assistant Games Director) at
^o6-5007. O
By Lee Bierer
Jewish Community Center
President, Eric Sklut, is pleased to
announce that he has appointed
Board member Mike Sinsheimer to
chair the Center’s Roadmap To
Our Future: A Strategic Planning
Initiative. Chairperson Sinsheimer,
principal consultant for Integrated
Marketing Concepts (a marketing
analysis and planning company)
has recmited a talented group of
Eric Sklut
marketing industry professionals
and interested community activists
to serve as volunteers for the
Center's Strategic Planning
Committee. The Committee has
been charged with the
responsibility of conducting the
research and designing a strategic
plan that will help prepare the
Center to meet the needs of our
community for the year 2000 and
Rome And Jerusalem: the latest landmark
By Rabbi David Rosen, Director Israel Office of the Anti-Defamation League and ADL Co-Liaison to the Holy See
The conclusion of the latest
agreement between the Vatican
and the State of Israel heralds
another milestone on a
remarkable journey, not just of
diplomatic normalization but of
reconciliation between the
Catholic Church and the Jewish
people.
The radical revision of official
Church teaching towards Jewry
was ushered in by Pope John
XXIII and the Sscond Vatican
Ecumenical Council that he
convened. This produced the
historic document known by its
first two words “Nostra Aetate”,
that not only condemned any
particular charge of deicide
against the Jews and also
condemned anti-Semitism, but
furthermore affirmed the eternity
of the Divine Covenant with the
Jewish people. This set the stage
for subsequent notable advances
in Catholic approaches towards
Judaism and Jewry, and
eliminated the basis of any
theological, opposition to the
reestablishment of the Jewish
State. However, political factors
relating to the Church’s
communities and interests in the
Middle East in particular, delayed
that diplomatic normalization for
almost thirty more years. In the
wake of the Madrid Peace
Process, the Vatican and Israel
established a bilateral com
mission to explore and
recommend the formula fw full
normalization between the two.
This led to the historic signing of
the Fundamental Agreement
between the Holy See and the
State of Israel at the end of 1993,
which was crowned a few months
later in an exchange of
Ambassadors.
That concordat commenced
with a remarkable preamble that
placed it in the context of “the
historic {M'ocess of reconciliation
between the Catholic Church and
the Jewish People”. Indeed just as
the Holy See represents m(x^e than
the Vatican State in this accord,
and “speaks” on behalf of the
whole Catholic Church, so Israel
here represents more than the
State aJone and “speaks” on
behalf of the Jewish people as a
whole. Accordingly this
Agreement did indeed have a
profoundly positive impact upon
Catholic-Jewish relations through
out the world. It also meant much
more than just a diplomatic
normalization, but rather served
as the basis for a special
relationship between the Holy
See, the Catholic Church and the
State of Israel, in which the latter
undertook to give “full legal
effect” — that is to say, de jure
recognition — to the Catholic
Church’s authority in the Holy
Land.
In order to understand the
significance of this, it needs to be
pointed out that since Ottoman
times, the local Christian
(Continued on page 2)
Inside this Issue...
Jews Disai^earing? Says Who -
Dr Egon Mayers responds to the new Jewish Question. "
Where is mj Chriilmag
Jewish yotoh learnAat eagy
11
Also inside...
Point of View
. .. page
2
Temple Beth El
. . page
g
Temple Israel
. . .page
9
Lubavitch of North Carolina ..
. . pigc
10
CAJE ...
.. .page
13
Speizman Library
. .. page
14
Jewish Family Services
.. .page
19
Jewish Community Center ....
. . .page
20
The Jewish Traveler
.. .page
23
Dining Out
• •
26-27
beyond. Sinsheimer acknowledged
that, “we hope this extensive
research process will provide us
with a broad spectrum of the
community’s visions and opinions
to include in the design of the
blueprints for the next phase of the
Center’s programmatic and facility
development.”
To achieve its goals, the
Committee has proposed a series of
research objectives and programs
that were approved by the Board Of
Directors this past May. The
research has already included a
series of 10 focus groups - more
than 60 people participated in group
discussions, held in a professional
Focus Group Facility and
moderated by professional
researchers (Jeff Bierer and Eric
Levy, members of the Strategic
Planning Committee). The focus
groups included a broad
representation of the community
and consisted of various
combinations of Center members,
non-members and former members,
broken into demographic groups of
different family constellations
(singles, empty nesters, families
with children under 12, families
with teenagers, etc.). These groups
discussed their perceptions of the
Center’s strengths and weaknesses,
what they would like to see the
Center be, as well as some frank
discussion of specific programming
needs, policy issues, recom
mendations f'.r ■ icility expansion
and judgments rcjja’-ding customer
(Continued on pm > 6
Israel grants
legal status to
the Catholic
Church
Historic agreement marks
new era in Jewish-Catholic
relations
On November 10, 1997 an
important milestone in the
ongoing process of the
normalization of relations
between The State of Israel and
The Catholic Church was
achieved with signing of the
“Agreement Between The State of
Israel and The Holy See.” The
agreement deals with the granting
of legal status to the institutions of
the Catholic Church in Israel.
This historic occasion marks
the pinnacle of years of
negotiations and follows the
historic turning point, in
December l‘>93, of the signing of
The Fundamental Agreement,
which allowed the establishment
of full diplomatic relations
between Israel and The HoK See.
The agreement was signed by
Israeli Deputy Prime Minister and
Minister of Foreign Affairs David
Levy, and the Apostolic Nuncio in
Israel, Monsignor Andrea Cordero
Lanza Di Moeleaemok). O