Page 4-THE NEWS—May 1979
This ’n That Russian Olam Return to the Land
Children of God
A “Woman of the Year”
award was presented to Dr.
Susan Cernyak at a UNCC
luncheon celebrating the
school’s “Women’s Week.” The
award is given to those who are
“dedicated to women’s issues,
serve as role models for other
women and who assist women
students.” Dr. Cernyak, a Ger
man and French language
professor, is a frequent lecturer
on the Holocaust, having been a
survivor of a concentration
camp during World War II. She
also has made appearances in
ftiany theater productions in
town; her most recent has been
in “TTie Shadow Box.”^
Barbara Guller, a Universi
ty of S.C. theater graduate stu
dent, has presented and directed
“The Shadow Box” for her
masters’ thesis. The discussion
of this thesis with her two
friends, Alexis Jay Stein, a
counselor at the Drug Education
Center, and Howard Robin
Winokuer, a former counselor
at the center, led the three of
them into a conference on dying.
These workshops, “Living Till
We Die,” were most successfully
attended by over 100 people.
* * ♦ ♦
Three of our own young
beauties appeared in the
Charlotte Regional Ballet’s
presentation of “Sleeping Beau
ty.” These talented ballerinas
are Susan Levin, Caryn
Kaplan, and Jodi Mond.
♦ ♦ ♦ ♦
Rabbi Richard Rocklin of
Temple Israel has just returned
from leading a group on a trip to
Israel. Ajnong those on the tour
were; Mary Ann and Ellis
Levinson, Jack and Sylvia
Birke, Walter and Jean
Finkelstein, Mrs. Dorothy.
Poliakoff, Ed and Gail
Green and their children,
Hyman and Pebby Polk,
Bernice and Nat Roberts,
Marcia Roff, Michael and
Jan Price, and Kabbi Rocklin’s
daughter, Tamar Rocklin.
Tamar celebrated and David
Green celebrated their Bar
Mitzvah on the trip. Mazel Tov
to both!
Jewish Community
Featured In Media
The past few months have
seen many Jewish faces on
Charlotte TV and many Jewish
voices have been heard on the
radio. Here is just a partial
listing:
On April 8, WSOC’s Sunday
in Carolina featured the JCC. It
filmed four groups in action, the
BBW’s Alive class, CHAI paint
ing class and children’s classes
in puppetry and clay sculpture.
Rabbi Krantzler was featured
explaining Passover.
All through the month of
April you heard Harry Lerner,
Charlotte Jewish Federation
President, doing a public service
announcement about the 1979
campaign on WBT.
Dr. Mark Perlin and his three
children appeared on Good
Morning Carolina, They
reenacted for the cameras the
four questions and their father’s
answer from their seder.
Rabbi Richard Rocklin was
featured on WSOC radio the day
on which the Peace Treaty was
signed between Israel and
Ejfypt. His counterpart from the
Arab community was a very
vocal, excitable and op
positional Arab. Rabbi
Rocklin’s astute handling of the
situation and emphasis on the
joy of peace clarified the positive
Israel-Jewish-Egyptian posi
tion.
By Matti Nes-Ziona
Jewish intellectuals leave
Russia for the Land of Israel,
burn their bridges and their
academic credentials behind
them, learn how to farm and set
about making the desert bloom.
This is one of the hiost buoyant
chapters in the history of
Zionism. It happened more than
a half century ago — and it’s
happening all over again today.
Sixteen families form the
nucleus of Moshav Pri-El
(“God’s Fruit”), the first Rus
sian immigrant agricultural
settlement in modern Israel.
Upon arrival in Israel, they had
all found jobs in their
professions and could have
settled into city life. But they
wanted something more
challenging — they wanted to
build something...
Although the land they are
cultivating is in the politically
controversial area around
Yamit, in northern Sinai, the
new group is more dedicated to
farming than to politics.
“The future of this area may
children — are learning
agriculture right now.”
The group began to form last
year when a number of families,
mostly from the Beer Sheva
area, discovered they shared a
common interest in wanting to
build a farm community. The
Immigrant Absorption
Ministry acquired the land for
them, the Jewish National Fund
is preparing it, and the Housing
Ministry is constructing their
homes. Should the settlement be
moved within the pre-1967
borders, the Pri-El group would
fall under the aegis of the Settle
ment Department of the Jewish
Agency, which receives most of
the funds allocated to the Un
ited Jewish Appeal by com
munity campaigns.
W^ile they are in training, the
future settlers receive a modest
government stipend of $190 per
month for a family of four. Haim
Praimovitch, a short, energetic
mechanic from Moscow, speaks
for the whole group when he
says, “We can’t wait to get onto
our land and start producing to
Michael Kravitz
picking giant
tomatoes grown
at Moshav Pri-El
(“God’s Fruit”)
near Yamit, the
first Russian im
migrant agricul
tural settlement
in Israel.
be in the hands of the politi
cian,” says Pri-El’s secretary,
Eli Navo, an engineer formerly
of Estonia. “But we are too busy
working to worry about things
like that.”
“God’s Fruit” is a stretch of
pure white sand. Common sense
suggests that nothing can grow
here, much less provide a
livelihood for the 40 or 50
families the group hopes to en
compass within the next two
years. Those bulldozers flatten
ing and packing down the sand
must be driven by dreamers.
Or so you’d think until you
travel a few miles down the road
to where the Russian settlers are
learning their new profession.
We find Benjamin Gurevitch, a
former mechanical engineer
from Leningrad, on a pair of
stilt-shoes he designed to help
him tend the upper reaches of
his tomato crop. His eyes are
shining. “I never knew making
things grow could be so reward
ing,” he says.
Miriam Schwartzman, a
physician from the Ukraine,
agrees. She has always loved
gardening, and she wants to
pass that > passion on to her
children. That is no idle dream,
for at Moshav farming becomes
a family affair.
“We are not hiring any Arab
laborers to do the job for us,”
Miriam maintains stoutly. “Our
desire is to work the land, and
all of us — men, women and
BINGO
at the
JCC
Tuesdays
7:30 p.m.
(Continued from Page 3)
represents all of the negative
stereotypes of a cult leader. He is
constantly feeding his
“Children” messages involving
dreams and revelations.
Biblical misquotations, gossip,
sex, predictions of earthly doom,
and during and since the 1973
Yom Kippur war, he has
emphasized anti-Israel, pro-
Arab propaganda with overt
and crude anti-Semitism.
The Children of God in recent
years found a “new home away
from home” in Libya where
Berg and Qaddafi developed a
close relationship. Berg com
pares Qaddafi to Mohamm^
and Jesus.
In 1974, the New York State
Attorney General’s office
reported after a ten-month in
vestigation that the group con
ducts brainwashing, forced
membership, and practices
leading to personality distor
tion. The report went on to
describe the Children of God’s
doctrines as including the dis
paraging of parents, education,
and the churches, the en
couragement of premarital sex,
and the appropriation of
members’ personal property.
Despite statements in their
literature that all contributions
are tax deductible, the Children
of God was denied tax exemp
tion as a religious institution by
the IRS in October 1972. They
were expelled from Lebanon,
Madagascar, and fled the
Canary Islands when police
began an investigation to deter
mine if they were running a
bawdy house there.
'fhey have also been known to
denigrate Catholics and are ac
tive in Europe and l^tin
America. Their headquarters
have been in London.
Anyone having contact or
picking up literature from the
Children of God,or Family of
Love cult4s requested to contact
the ADL regional office at 3311
West Broad Street, Richmond,
Virginia 23230 or phone: (804)
355-2884.
Yom Hashoa
(Continued from Page 1)
pay back everything that’s been
advanced to us.”
His five-year old daughter
runs up at this point and offers
me a freshly washed example of
the product which is to provide
most of the Moshav’s income: a
perfectly red tomato that must
weigh close to a pound.
“1 think we’re into something
very exciting,” Haim says, urg
ing me to bite in. “We’re working
on computerized irrigation, and
strains of fruit that won’t spoil
even after months of storage.
We really have plans. And more
important — some sabra
families are interested in join
ing us. We also hope to offer this
kind of life to more immigrant
families as they arrive firom the
Soviet Union.
“If politics dictate a move
from here to the Negev,” he con
cludes, “well, okay. We’re not so
much committed to a place as to
a way of life. We just want to get
on with it.”
courage to call it by name—to
identify hate whatever form it
takes — that silence is consent
— teach value of a single man -
me!”
During the service songs of
the Holocaust were sung by
soloist, CJeorge Eison, accom
panied by organist, Elizabeth
Banks. Moving prayers and
poetry of the ghetto and the con
centration campus were read.
Kitty Huffman read Yuri Suhl’s
“'I’he Land of Skeleton” which
summarized the service
beautifully: “My name is Jew... I
am the spasm of a body con
vulsed in flames, the crumbling
of a skeleton, the boiling blood,-
shriveling of flesh, smouldering
ash of 11 million - ashes of body,
of brain, of vision, of work -
ashes of genius and dreams,
ashes of Clod’s master stroke -
MAN. I am a delegate, my
credentials signed by 11 million
from the land of skeleton and
you will never get rid of me until
the world is Hitler-free.”
♦
After the service the
fellowship hall was open for an
exhibit of pictures which told in
graphic terms what the
memorial service was . about.
These pictures have been
donated to the Mecklenburg
Chapter of the NCCJ by WRET,
Channel 36. This exhibit is
available at the NCCJ office for
use by the community to help
develop a broader awareness of
the horrors of the Holocaust.
Those lighting the lamps
were: I )r. Susan Cernyak, Fred
Stern, Marian lieborman. Rev.
Martin Baumgaertner, Skeet
Kstridge, Caintor I’rank Birn-
baum, Boris and liertha Wo-
jnowish, Solomon Baicovitz,
Rev. Eugene Daniel, Rev.
Warner Hall, and Marta Gar-
elik.
Yes! You can hear
radio broadcasts direct
from Israel.
In English.
6:30-7:00 P.M., EDT
5:30-6:00 P.M., EST
7.4, 9.4, 9.8 &
11.6 MHz
ON YOUR SHORTWAVE
DIAL
For more details write: Israel
Radio, Box 204, Cheltenham,
Pa. 19012 or Israel Radio,
Box 1082, Jerusalem, Israel
Sherlock Holmski Day at the/*J’
Scavenc^er Hunt
Sunday, May 27, 3 p.m.
Prizes: 1st, 2nd, 3rd
Refreshments
SHAMROCK REALTY
4935 Albemarl# Road
Leasing Agents For:
Granville Town House Apts.
Albrecht Manor
. Sharon Arms Apts.
Starmount Shopping Center
Phone 637-6231