page 2-THE NEWS-February 1979
THE CHARLOTTE JEWISH NEWS
Published monthly by:
Charlotte Jewish Federation
and
Jewish Community Center
Marvin Bienstock, Director
Charlotte Hebrew Academy
Rabbi Sanford Tucker, Director
Editor:
Ann Langman
Co-editor:
Rita Mond
Copy deadline the 8th of each month
P.O. Box #220188
Charlotte, N.C. 28222
Editorial
News Receives Warm Response
The response from the community concerning our first issue has
been most gratifying. I have found that the warm and enthusiastic
reception from so many of our readers reinsured our reasoning that
a community paper was both wanted and needed. With each new
issue it is our hope that we will show growth and maturity. As with
any new undertaking, it takes a while to develop a format that truly
serves the needs at hand. I hope that all of you will feel free to write
letters to “the editor” expressing your views.
Love Thy Neighbor
The week our first edition arrived in your homes was one we
should not forget as Jews. Having just observed the festival of
Chanukah (the festival of religious freedom), in fact having just lit
the last candle on the menorah, we were quickly reminded of how
precious that freedom is by the vandalism of Temple Beth El.
Whoever was responsible for this deplorable act does not matter,
what matters is... the outpouring from the non-Jewish community;
newspapers, clergy, the mayor, city council and many concerned
citizens. It made one proud to be a resident of the city of Charlotte.
This was truly a show of brotherhood and reassurance of our
religious freedom and respect from our neighbors.
As long as we keep our bridge of communication open and our
hands outstretched in brotherhood to the entire community, we will
be as “one”. Beautiful people will stand with us, and oppose bias
and ignorance.
Where else but in America? Especially in Charlotte, N.C.
Ann Langman, Editor
An Open Letter
, Here are some informative
notes concerning community
reaction to the Swastika paint
ing incident:
The outpouring of deep con
cern and even monetary support
of neighbors have been
overwhelming. A great number
of churches have expressed
regrets and sent contributions
as tokens of deep regards.
I was visit^ by several
members of the City Council,
received a letter from Mayor
Harris including a copy of the
resolution deploring this terri
ble act. This resolution was read
at the City Council meeting.
The Head of the American
Arab Association (never knew
there was one) feared lest we at
tribute the incidentto them; she
expressed outrage and offered to
have her group help clean up
damages. 
Scores of private citizens have
called and written letters assur
ing us that the vandalism did
not at all reflect the true sen
timents of the community. I
assume you saw the editorial
and articles in The Observer.
The entire experience has
been most heartwarming to our
congregation by the support of
the public’s outrage over an in
cident that affected a minority
in the Charlotte community.
We are hopeful this incident
will speed up implementing the
study of the Holocaust in the
public schools.
Shalom,
Rabbi Harold I. Krantzler
A Little Known Holiday
by Rabbi
Sanford Tucker
Plant trees in the middle of
February? When the ground is
frozen solid? It sounds absurd.
Yet, on the Jewish holiday of Tu
B’Shvat, which occurs this year
on February 12, that is exactly
what is done. Of course, the
planting is done in Israel, where
spring is near.
What is that? You say you
never heard of the holiday
called Tu B’Shvat? I am not all
that surprised. It is not one of
our more well known holidays.
Reading the Bible will not help
either. Tu B’Shvat was un
known in Bible days. It is a holi
day which began in the time of
the Mishnah, the Code of
Jewish Law, written and com
piled over a four hundred year
span and completed in about
200 Common Era by Rabbi
Judah the Prince. In English we
call the day the New Year of the
Trees. Its Hebrew name means
the fifteenth day of the month of
Shvat, which is when it in
variably occurs.
Originally the holiday was a
cutoff for determining the age of
trees and determining tithes.
Today, the significance of the
day is much different. Modern
means of observance of Tu
B’Shvat include eating‘ fruits
and grains grown in Israel,
planting trees in Israel, es
pecially through the Jewish
National Fund, and a special
seder.
What! A seder for Tu B’Sh vat?
Yes, developed in the sixteenth
century in Safed by the Jewish
mystics and based on the seder
for Passover. It fell into disuse
amongst almost all Jewish
groups. However, a multi-media
version of the seder was written
a few years ago. Two years ago
it was staged' by the Hebrew
Academy for a small group. It
will be staged again this year on
February 11th for a larger
group. It is hoped that it will
serve as an educational vehicle
depicting the beauty of the holi
day of Tu B’Shvat.
It is amazing to what a great
extent the holiday lends itself to
our contemporary concern for
preserving our own forests and
wildernesses. On Tu B’Shvat we
should all plant a tree in Israel,
eat a fruit grown in Israel, and
make specific^ plans for the
preserving of Ainerican forests.
Charlotte Chapter BBW Presents
1978 Human Relations Award
On Wednesday, February 7,
1979, Dr. Jonnie McLeod, a most
outstanding woman, will
receive the 1979 Human
Relations Award. This coveted
award was established by the
Charlotte Chapter of B’nai
B’rith Women in 1962 and the
first recipient was Miss Bonnie
Cone, ^me other recipients
have been such distinguished
persons as: Mrs. John W.
Lassiter, Kays Gary; Mayor
Stan Brookshire, Elizabeth
Kendrick, A1 Manch, Ty Boyd,
Kat Crosby, Helen Fligel,
Evelyn Sklar and Sister Mary
Thomas Burke,
'ihis award is presented to
those persons in the state of
North Carolina who have given
of themselves in the area of
brotherhood and jiuman
relations for outstandiiig ser
vice, far and above the call of
duty. The award may be given
anniially, but there- have been
years in which it has not been
presented.
Dr. Mcl^od is a former
pediatrician, but gave up her
practice to become a full-time
volunteer in the areas of sex
education and drug abuse. Dr.
McLeod is the founder and
medical advisor to Open House
and pioneered in the field of sex
education for school children.
She currently is a member of the
department of Human Develop-
ment at UNCC. Beverly
Greenwald, chairman of the
event said of Dr. McLeod, “Jon
nie is not just what Jonnie has
done, but what Jonnie is.” An
example of this can be found in
the following quote from Sister
Mary Thomas Burke about Dr.
McLeod: “If there is one person
whose support and concern is
offered to all persons regardless
of race, color, creed, sex, or
national origin, this person is
Jonnie H. McLeod.”
TTie award will be presented
at Sharonview Country Club at
a luncheon
11:45 a.m:
which begins at
A.L. & K.M.
There is a destiny which
makes us brother^; none goes
his way alone. ”
EDWIN MARKHAM
Mideast by Southeast
(Exclusive to the
Charlotte Jewish News)
What should the attitude of
American Jews be towards new
facts and perceptions in the
Middle East and toward the
multi-faceted relationships
between the United States-
Israel-Egypt-Saudi Arabia? To
say that new perceptions have
not arisen would be to ignore, at
some peril, the reality that these
perceptions exist, that they are
flexible and changing.
To say that the (jlovemment
of the United States has been a
staunch supporter of Israel
throughout its short existence is
to ignore facts. Even before the
establishment of the State,
Franklin Roosevelt fawned over
King Saud of Saudi Arabia and
promised him a resolution of the
Psdestine affair not to the detri
ment of the “Arab” cause. And
this was before Saudi Arabia
was a world oil supplier!
Harry Truman recognized the
State of Israel against the better
judgment of most of the govern-
ment establishment, but
thereafter enforced the most
rigorous prohibition against
selling arms and war materials
to Israel.
Dwight Eisenhower forced
the withdrawal of Israel from
the Sinai, with, among other
moves, the threat to prohibit the
transmittal of U J A donations to
Israel. His guarantee of free
passage through the Suez Canal
for Israeli cargoes was hardly
ever mentioned.
John Kennedy ignored Israel
completely except at election
time.
Lyndon Johnson failed to en
force the guarantee of free
passage through the Straits of
Tlran, thereby directly leading
to the 1967 War. It is to be said
that during the terms of John
son, that the first substantial
shipments of military supplies
went to Israel, since the French
sources were stopped by (jieneral
De Gaulle.
Only during the Nixon ad
ministration did a regular flow
of arms and other aid begin to
flow to Israel, but it should be
remembered that much of this
started during and after the
1973 War, and was a result of
treaty obligations entered into
and undertaken by the United
States in order to get Israel to
release the Egyptian 2nd Army
and sign a withdrawal agree
ment from part of the Sinai.
The activities of the Carter ad
ministration are too recent to
need any summary or comment,
except to say that the attitude of
the Carter advisors does not
DIFFER SUBSTANTIALLY
FROM THAT OF EVERY
PREVIOUS ADMINISTRA
TION since 1932!
Now, it is obvious that the
perception of the American peo
ple towards Israel has always
been far more liberal and advan
tageous than the attitudes of the
State Dept. However, it is impor
tant to understand that
widespread aid to Israel has
only been a recent (since 1973)
fact of congressional action.
Legislators have supported aid
to Israel in sums of billions of
dollars because there was no lid
on foreign aid spending,
because their Jewish con
stituents supported this aid, and
because THERE WAS NO SUB
STANTIAL RESPECTABLE
CONSTITUENCY TO OP
POSE THIS SPENDING!
In 1979, we are faced with the
following new facts: (1) Saudi
Arabia is our largest oil
supplier, but our largest non-
Arab supplier, Iran, has become
a major non-supplier and dis
aster. (2) A dedicated and
publicity-wise spokesman for
the Arab cause, Anwar Sadat,
has managed to erase much of
the disgust that people felt for
the previous spokesman for
Arabs, 'Yasir Arafat. (3) A
dedicated coterie of people in the
USA government have deter
mined thc^t ^e.s^vation of the
American policy in the Middle
East depends on Israel giving in
to Arab demands — their leader,
Mr. Carter agrees with them. (4)
A vocal 'and professional
American-Arab community has
begun to iliakd itself heaid. (5)
The big business comiilunity is
bemused by. its Arab contracts
and the possible loss of same. (6)
♦There is a “cut spending*' at
titude among all strata ,of the
American people., , . ^
It is possible that resistance to
multibillion Israeli grants and
loans may surface, fed by subtle
prodding from the Carter group.
What to do and how to react to
this situation:
Forget that Israel is an “out
post of democracy”’ in the Mid
dle East. People do not really
care about “democracies,” es
pecially when they post money.
Israel is a massive' military
buffer against Russian penetra
tion in the Middle East. Israel is
(Continued on Page 8) •
♦ '! .M