PUge 2-THE NEWS—Biarch 1980
THE CHARLOTTE JEWISH NEWS
Published monthly by:
Charlotte Jewish Federation
and -
Jewish Community Center
Marvin Bienstock, Director
Charlotte Hebrew Academy
Rabbi Sanford Tucker, Director
Editors u4nn Longman
RitaMond
m
Club Editors. Rose Massachi
& Mary Gordon
Feature Writers Estelle Hoffman
Muriel Levitt & Michael Shapiro
International News Marta Gorelik
Copy Reader Fran Burg
Copy deadline the 8th of each month
P,0. Box U220188
Charlotte, N.C, 28222
Random Thoughts...
Editorials
Passover Tradition
It has always been a tradition that the family celebrates Passover
together at ^e Seder. Along with this it has been the practice that
the poor were invited as well as those who did not have family. We
have always included additional guests at our table, especially new
comers to our community as well as Russian immigrants. We know
that this has been the practice among many fai^es inathin ow
Jewish community and we hope that this will continue this
Passover. It is a time when people should not be alone and should be
made welcome within our family circles. Wouldn’t it be wondei^ if
every family having a Seder wo^d invite at least one more family to
celebrate with them?
Temple Beth El is to be commended on their latest effort in having
a community first Seder. (Temple Israel annually holds the
Pressman second Seder). Hopefully this will fill the void for many
families new in Charlotte and for the many singles who otherwise
would be alone. There is nothing nicer than being “one united fami*
ly” on such an occasion. However, the Temple can not accomodate
everyone who would like to attend. It is for this reason that we urge
you all to open your hearts and homes to others... “why is this night
different firom all other nights”? Perhaps an additional answer
should ise... “for on this night we invite others to partake at our
table.”
A HAPPY PASSOVER TO YOU ALL.
Rising Costs
We complain about increased
prices on food, gas, clothing,
cars and utilities. Prime interest
rates reached an all time high of
17‘/2%; college tuition costs are
unbelievable. Virtually nothing
has escaped the rising inflation.
This newspaper also has not
escaped the toU of our present
economy. Paper, ink,
photographic supplies, etc. have
skyrocketed which has caused
several price increases in
producing The Charlotte Jewish
News. We are still distributing
the paper free to the community
and have held advertising rates
to what they were a year ago
and hope that there will be no
need to increase them. Our spon
soring organizations are still
contributing the bulk of the ex
pense in seeing that this papei
comes out monthly but at an
added expenditure. In order to
ease this increased financial
burd^ to them we need to seek
additional advertisers. If you,
our readers, own a business, we
hope that you will consider tak-
HERMAN
rrw-
lif'
!•
“If gasoline were $5 a gallon, do
you realize how many camels
we could sell in Los Angeles
alone?”
ing out ads. If any of you can
solicit potential advertisers it
would be of great assistance.
Advertising in The Charlotte
Jewish News reaches ap
proximately 2,000 families in
the Charlotte area; many of
these are new to the community.
Believe us...it pays to adver
tise!
Across The Editors* Desks
Dear Rita and Ann, ture Series.
Thank you for your articles
Sincerely,
promoting the B’nai B’rith Lec-
Joe Steiner
Tl^ Editors welcome oommanta and reaerve the
right to edit.
After a recent article about my
Western vacation, a few dear
and loyal readers have re
quested that I write more concer
ning Las Vegas, especially the
casinos and games of chance.
Now I am no authority, and cer
tainly no Jimmy the Greek, but I
ran share some observations
with you just in case you’ve
never been.
No matter which hotel you
visit or which casino you fre
quent, they are all basically the
same. In order to get to the
elevators, the information clerk,
the ticket desk, the phones, or
anything at all, you must first
walk through the casino. There
are no lobbies in Las V^as,
only casinos.
When you enter, for as far as
the eye perceives, there is a mob
scene enmeshed in a sea of ac
tivity. Everywhere you look are
roulette tables, poker tables,
black jack tables, and Keno
areas. There are slot machines
up the kazoo in every denomina
tion from five cents to a dollar.
Wall to wall people walk, talk,
amble and gamble. Bells dang,
whistles blow, and there is a
continual'sound of coins falling
when jackpots are won.
Although ha^ to believe, this
pandemonium goes on twenty
four hours a day. There is little
sleep in Las Vegas.
Every casino has a dining
room and the food is good and
unbeUevably cheap. They are
out to keep you there as long as
possible. If you got hungry and
went elsewhere to eat, you might
not return, and that would never
do. So, they offer you marvelous
buffets all day and all night for
like $1.99, an excellent value.
You end up eating and gambl
ing, gambling and eating.
Actually, the most wonderful
sight has got to be the people.
Hiey come, literally, from all
over the world, some in silks and
some in overalls... a true sampl
ing of all lands and all tsrpes.
The magnificent shows and
celebrity performances
available everywhere are secon
dary. Most people come with the
thought of hitting it big, win
ning a huge jackpot, or making
a fortune. It’s my opinion that
the harder you try and the more
you need ^e money, the less apt
you are to strike it rich. This
seems to apply whether you play
cards, bingo, or whatever.
But try and tell this to anyone
in Las Vegas. Most visitors are
out to make a killing. I saw an
elderly lady who must have
been in her eighties standing at
a five cent slot. Each time she
put in a nickel and pulled the
arm she loudly signed, “Oi
Vey.” I asked why (one gets very
nhummy in a casino) and she
replied, “I don’t want to give the
machine a Kinneh Hurreh. If I
pretend I am not too anxious,
maybe it will pay off.” How’s
that for reverse psychology?
And how about the Brooklyn
lady who played three slots at
once, running from one to
another, inserting silver dollars
like crazy. She had a large cup
under each machine and
whenever she won, the coins
would come flying out, many
missing the cup and hitting the
floor. Passersby were most
polite, picking up coins and pu^
ting them in one of the cups. But
she was so busy pulling handles
that she never even said thank
you.
My favorite tourist was the
C3iicago man who played Keno
for hours on end while his wife
sat beside him patiently knit
ting for the “aineklach” while
he plotted the numbers. He pick
ed birthdays, anniversaries,
ages, house numbers and zip
c^es, but in all the time I watch
ed him he won not one single
dollar! When I left after several
hours, he was still at it. I hope he
For the Record
by Norman Olshansky
Regional Director, ADL
Judging from the contents of
a recent press packet distributed
by the National Council of
d^urches, it would appear that
they are moving towards a posi
tion which is unmistakable;
namely, to undermine and
reverse Christian support of
Israel.
The extensive packet of
materials which was ^stributed
to the press through the NCC
Office of News and Information
was not what it purported to be.
Instead of presenting a com
prehensive, unbiased study of
the Middle E^t situaticm, the
sununary was, in fact, an un
balanced and unfair presenta
tion of the issues.
Unfortunately, this is but one
of several indications that the
National (Doundl of CJhurchesis
moving towards an anti-Israel
position and has taken a one
sided approach to Middle East
pohcy and review. Iheir newly-
constituted special panel on ^e
Middle E^ast is a good example.
They continually emphasize
support of some form of Palesti
nian right to self-determination.
No mention is made, however, of
the positive and un-
precendented discussions which
have been taking place between
Israel and Egypt in an effort to
achieve Palestinian autonomy.
In fact, one of the documents in
the press packet is not only
heavily weighted in favor of the
Arab viewpoint, but impUes
that most church leaders are
anti-Israel.
Obviously, there are many
American (jhristians who are
not only sensitive to, but also
very knowledgeable about Mid
dle Eastern affairs. In the NCC
packet, however, which listed
contact persons, fair-minded
supporters of Israel are not to be
found. In addition, there was lit
tle indication in the material o(
any sampling of the grass-root
congregational members who
are known to want to see the
Clamp David initiative spread
beyond just Israel and Egypt.
At this time especially, when
Americans of idl faiths and
backgrounds are particularly
sensitive to the blackmail and
terrorist activities of the rejec-
tionist Arab states, one cannot
help but wonder why the
National Council of (Churches
seems to be supporting those
who are working to undermine
and destroy a just and lasting
peace.
Hopefully, local and
statewide affiliates of the
National 0)uncil of (]lhurches
will begin to explore in more
depth the diverse and complex
issues surrounding the Biddle
East with the ultimate goal of
gaining greater insight into and
presenting a more balanced
review of the issues involved.
For more information or
specific details regarding the
National Council of Chiutrhes
and its position on the Nbddle
Elast, contact your local ADL of
fice at 3311 West Broad Street,
Richmond, Va. 23230; phone:
(804) 355-2884.
by Muriel Levitt
has gone home by now.
An interesting item is that no
matter where you go, there is not
one single clo^ to be seen in Las
Vegas. No distraction is sup-
poi^ to interfere with your
entertainment. . They have
created an artificial at
mosphere, a never-never land
for adults where time is of no im
port.
We also fell under this spell of
make believe and spent many
hours testing our luck. My hus
band tried it all with no success.
No matter what I did, I was a
winner. In fact, my winnings
offset his losses and then some. I
must confess that the excite
ment of winning is a very un
usual emotion. It brings a tem
porary high and a strange ex-
hileration that made me feel I
had accomplished something
special. I must add that this feel
ing only remains as long as you
continue to party and play.
Even leaving Las Vegas is
fun. Instead of having to trudge
through the airport, you stand
on a moving walkway which
carries you to the plane. Voices
of various celebrities are on the
loudspeaker urging you to
return soon. The powers that be
don’t give up on you till the very
last moment because the airport
has slot machines blinking at
you right up until you board the
airplane.
It’s nicer than being mugged
and more frm than being robb
ed, but nevertheless your
pockets are emptied and your
wallet ravished by the time you
go home. Somebody once said
that the way to beat Las Vegas
was to get off the plane and walk
into the propeller! I disagree. It
costs a bunch and you leave
totally exhausted, but it’s happy
time all the way. Come to think
of it, maybe I’ll take the money I
won and start a fund for our
next trip. Can you guess where it
will be?
The
Jewish
Calendar
CANDLEUGHTING
Mar. 7 - 6:19 p.m.
Mar. 14 - 6:25 p.m.
Mar. 21 - 6:30 p.m.
Mar. 28 - 6:35 p.m.
Mar. 31 - 6:36 p.m.
(1st Seder)
Apr. 1 - 6:37 p.m.
(2nd Seder)
Apr. 4 - 6:40 p.m.
PASSOVER
Mar. 31 - Fast of First Bom
First Seder
Apr. 1 - Second Seder
Apr. 8 • Eighth Day
YUkor