The Charlotte Jewish
Noii>PmU Orgaiilntioa
C 1lt4K RATE
'; tVMtat* PAID
. " • Chariolto« N. C.
■ ' Permit No. 1208
' k
'IW-
Vol. I, No. 1
Charlotte, North Carolina
. 'r^ January 1979
From an Idea to Printer’s Ink!
The Charlotte Jewish Federation, the Hebrew
Academy and the Jewish Community Center
are proud to be the initial cooperating sponsors
of this community newspaper which we believe
will make an important contribution to the
Charlotte Jewish community.
The newspaper;edited by Ann Langman, will
be published once a month and circulated to all
members of the community free of charge. It
will contain news about the events held by the
sponsoring agencies and items of interest to the
community from other groups and institutions.
The newspaper will hopefully replace many of
the individual publications and flyers of the
sponsoring agencies;
All the Jewish organizations and institutions
are invited to participate as sponsors and to be
involved in this joint effort. We are especially
pleased that this venture represents a collective
effort by the sponsoring groups working
together for the good of the community.
If an organization does not desire to become a
sponsor this paper will still attempt to publish
their announcements and news items subject
only to space and deadline requirements. Of
course our editor will reserve the right to make
the final determination as to the materials that
are to be published. She will be ably assisted in
her duties by Rita Mond, co-editor.
The newspaper is a pioneering effort which
we believe has the potential to effectively
provide news and information to all members of
the community. We are very excited about its
future potential and hope that all of you will
participate fully in making it an important
media of communication.
John Galsworthy wrote in “Over the River”:
“The beginnings and endings of all human un-
^ dfftokin^ftjEU-e.uiitidy,» the buUding.of a-house;^
the writmg of a novel, the demolition of a
bridge, and, eminently, the finish of a voyage.”
So too, the beginning of a newspaper. We also
hope that you, our readers, will feel that this is
YOUR paper and will share your opinions and
viewpoints by way of letters to the editor,
newsworthy happeninKs of your organizations,
special columns and interesting stories. We
want you to share with us, as well as we want to
share with you.
We want those of you who have a journalism
background, or are frustrated journalists to feel
free to join our staff. We also invite those of you
who are not aspiring journalists to help us in
other capacities such as: photographers, copy
readers, and advertisers. An order blank for
advertising appears elsewhere in this issue.
Any organization that brings in an ad for the
NEWS will earn 10% of the cost of the ad, and if
you are a businessman and want to place an ad
we will gladly contribute 10% of the cost to the
organization of your choice
All the organizations in the community
should have received a mailing from us on how
to prepare a news release for publication in the
NEWS. We hope that it has been informative
and helpful. E^e to our printing process it is
most important to follow these guidelines. If
any of you have any questions please feel free to
contact our editor. All articles must reach our
box at the J.C.C. by the 8th of each month. The
NEWS is, and will be, a “bridge of communica
tion.”
The NEWS has been thought about for some
time as a way of bringing our community closer
together. Several people were involved in bring
ing this to fruition - namely, Ann Langman,
Marvin Bienstock, Rita Mond, and Martha
Brenner. It took a long time before this came to
be - but as it is said; “Anything worth having, is
ook forward to hearing from all of you,
and a long, healthy association with the com
munity. ■ . ■ -
L. to R. ~ Bob Abel, Marv Bienstock, Harry Lerner, Gen.
Aharon Yariv^
General Yariy Opens
1979 Federatibn Drive
We
“There are many risks, but
Israel will take them for the sake
of peace.” This was the message
brought to almost two hundred
Charlotte Jews on Tuesday,
December 12th by Greneral
Aharon Yariy, former head of
Israeli Intelligence and the chief
negotiator in the Siiiai dis
engagement talks following the
Yom ^ppur War.
of d Community Service ’ Jhor
Peace jointly sponsored by Tem-
ing of the /F^eration’s 1979
Campaign drive. In remarks by
Harry turner, the hew President
of the* Federation and co-
chairperson of the drive, the
audience was reminded that ^he
1978 drive cross the $600,000
mark fot the first time except ^or
the,Yom IGppur Waf." He traced
the 'accomplishments of the
' Fedeyatibniover the. past four
New Americans Program Successful
Twelve Soviet Jewish families
have begun a new life in the Un
ited States because of the help
that they have received from
volunteers of Charlotte Chapter
B’nai B’rith Women and the
Charlotte Lodgt of B’nair
B’rith. Without the financial aid
of the Charlotte Federation of
Jewish Charities this could not
have been realized. -
The first official American
citizen from this group is Chris
Barkan, who was born seven
months ago to Mark and Lucy
Barkan who are presently
residing in Taylorsville, North
Carolina. The new “tarheel”
brings our total to thirty-seven
who have been helped.
The “new Americans” project
began in the summer and fall of
1974 when eight families arriv
ed in Charlotte. Only two
families from this original
group have remained in this
city. The Betel man and Ginn
families moved to the New York
area and the Katzans to Califor
nia to seek better erfiployment.
The three families from Odessa,
the Gleizers, NurembUrgs, and
the Shukhats moved to
Brighton Beach, New York to
join their many friends from
home who had settled there.
Michael Gleizen married a
daughter of another immigrant
family in January, 1977. The
Odessa families are all happy
and successful and very ap
preciative of the help they
received from the* Charlotte
community.
The Ehrenburg and Os
trovsky families, the two who
remained here, have bought
homes in Charlotte, made
friends and seem to be happy
here.
The Gurevich and Barkan
families arrived in 1976. Jacob
and Emma Gurevich recently
moved to Philadelphia to' be
reunited with Emma’s mother
and sister. Their daughter,
Zhanna, who is attending
school there, is probably hap
pier now that her folks are with
her.
The Barkans who moved to
Taylorsville (near Hickory)
because of a better job oppor
tunity have bought a home
there. They are eagerly
awaiting Mark’s parents who
will be joining them soon. These
new arrivals will be our
thirteenth family to be helped.
Gregory and Alla Kaminker
and their son, Ilya, arrived in
Charlotte in April, 1977.
Gregory’s father, mother and
sister, Rita, came in June, 1978.
Both families live in the Abbey
Apts. Gregory, Alla and Rita re
employed. Now all of our
families are self-sufficient
financially.
All this could never have been
accomplished without the
dedication of Sally Schrader,
who has been “family, friend
and teacher” of all the families,
with the exception of the first
four. 'Fhere has been tremen
dous support from the entire
Charlotte Community, both Jew
and non-Jew; the doctors, den
tists, and merchants.
There are many families in
Rome who are waiting for a
“new home” and need our help.
The Soviet Union issued over
25,000 Visas in 1978 and only
half of these people have settled
(Continued on Page 3)
eert raiaed tor Israel during^ tne
same time the Federation had
pie Israel, I'emple Beth. El ^ and > becom^
the Charlotte Jewl^ •T’ederavT pbri-fdwlOT flllljrew^cadefhy,
tion. flerVice Was “held at' JCGr‘|nesSwinentnal Home,
Temple Israel and cdnducted by
Rabbi Harold Krantzler, Rabbi ,
Richard Rocklin dnd ,'^atiton
Frank Birnbaum. . ‘ •
The evening marked the open-'
HiileP-and 28 other local,
national and oVerseas in-
stitutiohs and organizations.
• “In n979.”- he said, “The
((^ritinueci on' Pige 6)
Academy Students txceefl
National Norms
Academy Students Score
Grade 1
(N=5)
National
Norm
1.1
Vocabulary
2.58
Reading
3.24
Word Study
Skills
3.5
Grade 4
(N=6)
4.1
6.23
5.23
6.65
Grade 1
Grade 4
National
Norm
1.1
4.1
Math
Concept*
2.34
8.87
Math
Comprehenaion
2.34
4.67
Math
Application
Not Applicable
5.28
Spelling
Not Applicable
6.6
National
Norm
Social
Science
Liiitening
Language
Grade 1
1.1
Not
Applicable
Not
Applicable
2.4
Not
Applicable
Grade 4
4.1
6.02
5.42
6.50
Recently the students in the
first thru sixth grades at the
North Carolina Hebrew
Academy at Charlotte were
given the Stanford Achieve
ment Test. This is the same test
used in the Charlotte-Mecklen-
burg public schools. The test
consists of six parts for the first
grade and eleven .sections for
the fourth thru sixth grades. In
almost every category the
Hebrew Academy students ex
ceeded national norms by at
least one year. In some parts of
the test a few of the grades were
more than four years above
national standards. The results
for the first and fourth grades,
the two largest groups, are in
cluded in a box to the left.
Social Scientists tend to offer
two explanations for such high
scores. First, the students are
learning in school. Second, the
pupils come from homes in
which education is stressed.
Both explanations seem to be
appropriate in this situation.
TTie three teachers at the school
are educated and sophisticated
people. The student-teacher
ratio is 10 to 1 in the morning (3
teachers and 30 children) and 8
to 1 in the afternoon when the 7
kindergarten children are no
longer there. The children leam
at their own pace. They are
given homework assignments
even in the first .grade. The
pupild.also appear to come from
highly,v educated homes. Many
of them ^re frohi homes of
aceidemics (three, teach at
UNCO), attorneys, rabbis
(Rocklin and Tucker), doctors,
engineers, or other
professionals. All of the
students are from Jewish
families, a group known for
stressing education.
At first glance it may s^m
surprising that the first graders
scored at the third grade, second
month level after being in the
first grade only one month. But
all these kids attended kinder
garten at the Hebrew Academy
where they learned how to read,
llie first gradeirs also scored at
the second grade, third month
level in math, but they learned
some arithmetic in
kindergarten as Well.
It is interesting to note that
these children are attaining
these high levels while devoting
almost one half the school day
to Hebrew studies. Possibly,
learning a foreign language and
culture not only fails to hamper
ones ability to master English
materials but even enhances
English leaniing.
Inside This Issue — J.C.C. Spring Class Schedule