PaO«6-THE NEWS-May, 1983
L’Chaiiii
The Academy
A Special Place To Learn
By L. Louis Albert, ACSW
Director Federation
Social Services
Passover has traditionally
been a time for families and
friends to be together and to
participate in the seder. For
a growing number of families
and individuals in our
Jewish community, this
Passover was a difficult one.
It was difficult because peo
ple have lost their jobs and
hnances have become a big
problem. In day to day
terms, it means trouble pay
ing the monthly mortgage or
rent and it means cutting
back on food. People make
the cuts wherever they are
possible. This kind of pro
blem is not often an open
topic for conversation for ob
vious reasons, but it is affec
ting Jewish families increas
ingly.
For the last 2 years, Ha
Lailah B’nai B’rith Women
has developed and carried
out a program to raise money
to purchase food for holiday
baskets for families in need.
The baskets are provided by
Ha Lailah from chapter and
community donations, and
distributed by Jewish Social
Services in order to maintain
confidentiality.
Through the generosity
and concern of Ha Lailah
and the numerous people
who contributed, many
families were able to observe
Passover when they would
not have been able to do so
otherwise. The week’s worth
of food addressed itself to
the more immediate problem
of surviving on a greatly
reduced income. As an exam
ple of the impact of the
Passover baskets program, a
story came back to us. One
little girl in elementary
school overheard her mother
discussing the program on
the telephone. After a short
while, she came over and of
fered her mother $1 which
represented a lot of money to
her. “What’s this for?” her
mother asked. She respond
ed “I want to help the
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542-8541 t
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OPEN FOR
LUNCH & DINNER
ALL ABC
PERMITS
(LUNCH)
MONDAY THRU FRIDAY
11:30 TO 2:30
(DINNER)
MONDAY THRU THURSDAY
500 TO 11:00
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TILL 12:00
LOCATED IN
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7629-A HWY 51
FOR RESERVA TIONS CALL
families to have Passover. Is
this enough?”
Financial need of this kind
may be a disturbing sign of
the times tor a growing por
tion of the Jewish communi
ty. These are not poor people
in any traditional way.
These are people you might
sit next to in temple, these
are relatives, these are
friends or it could be any of
us. As disturbing as these
kinds of problems are, it is
reassuring to know that peo
ple are willing to help other
people in times of trouble.
(Thanks to Patti Weisman,
Ha Lailah BBW, for co
writing this article.)
100 Homeless
NEW YORK - While five
synagogues have opened
their doors to the homeless,
only about 100 of the city’s
poor have taken advantage
of the provision for a night’s
sleep.
One oddity is that a rabbi
and his wife have slept at
Rabbi Irving J. Block’s
Brotherhood Synagogue at
28 Grammercy Park South in
Manhattan, according to
Elenore Lester in The Jewish
Week.
The other synagogues are
the International Synagogue
at Kennedy Airport which
reported that during the past
month about 40 have taken
advantage of this premises.
Congregation Rodeph
Shalom at 7 W. 83rd St.,
where seven men have been
taken care of for four nights
a week, and two Brooklyn
Synagogues, Beth Elishana
David in Crown Heights and
Beth Elohim on Garfield
Place in Park Slope.
In the synagogues,
volunteers from the rab
binical seminaries and
members of the congrega
tions assist while the city
provides cots and fresh bed
ding.
At the Brotherhood
synagogue, tea and coffee
and a night-time snack and
breakfast of juice, beverage
and a roll or cake is provid
ed.
Meanwhile the Federation
of Jewish Philanthropies
has begun a program fund
ed by $110,000 and supported
by the resources of its net
work by which synagogues
and community organiza
tions and other public agen
cies will refer homeless in
dividuals and families to it.
An evaluation of the im
mediate needs and provision
for shelter and emergency
services will be provided.
Although the Federation
estimates the Jewish
homeless at 1000, it is seek
ing to determine their needs,
means to serve them and
their actual number.
Reprinted from March 30,
1983 - The Jewish Post &
Opinion
By Sue Brodsky
Eleven former students of
the North Carolina Hebrew
Academy, now attending
private or public area
schools, were interviewed
recently about their educa
tional experience at the
Academy. According to all of
the students, the biggest ad
vantage of the Academy is
the size of the classes. Small
classes offer an opportunity
for individualized learning,
working closely with
teachers, and getting to
know the other students
well. Daniel Fishman, a
seventh grader at Piedmont
Middle School, said, “Going
to the Academy was special.
The teachers were really con-'
cerned about you and your
problems. They weren’t or
dinary teachers.” Daniel
Brenner, an eighth grader at
Charlotte Latin School, sup
ports this view by saying
that students were encourag
ed to voice opinions at the
Academy and the opinions
were respected by the other
students as well as by the
faculty.
Leon Barkan, a sixth
grader at Charlotte Latin,
felt that the small environ
ment lent itself well to
developing close friendships
with students of all ages.
Adina Dressner, an eighth
grader at McClintock Jr.
High School, agreed with
Leon and added that she felt
‘at home’ in the friendly at
mosphere.
Stephanie Brodsky, a fifth
grader at Barringer Elemen
tary School, remarked on the
Academy’s lack of a gifted
and talented (GT) program,
came to the realization that
the Academy’s entire pro
gram ‘is like GT.’ She went
on to say, ‘‘It is more of an
advanced school where you
can work at your own pace.”
The students were asked
whether the Academy
prepared them academically
as well as socially for their
new schools. All felt they
v;ere prepared as well
academically if not better
than other students. Many
were apprehensive about
changing schools, making
friends, and adjusting to a
larger school setting, but all
agreed that within a week or
two they had made a place
for themselves and were
comfortable in their new sur
roundings. Aleisa Fishman,
Middle School, says, ‘The
Academy gave me a good
self-image so that at Pied
mont I was able to conquer
the new situation I en
countered.
A resounding ‘yes’ was the
answer to the question,
“Would you advise parents
considering enrolling their
children in the Academy to
do so?” Many of the reasons
for the vote of confidence
pertained to the Hebrew and
Judaica program offered at
the school. Daniel Fishman
feels that it is “good for a
child to get into a language at
a young age, and the school
is special because it helps a
young child learn about the
Jewish religion.” Both
Jonathan Tepper, a fifth
grader at First Ward, and
Aleisa Fishman feel that a
positive aspect of the pro
gram is the intensive
Hebrew program that time
does not allow for during
afternoon Hebrew school.
Daniel Brenner feels the
most important attribute of
the Academy is its “stress
on Judaica which makes you
feel proud to be Jewish.” He
further commented, “When
you leave the Academy you
feel sad to lose the in-depth
preparation for each holiday
and, therefore, much of the
enjoyment of the Jewish
holidays.”
David Asrael, a seventh
grader at Carmel Jr. High
School; David Massachi, a
sixth grader at Piedmont
Middle School; and Dalya
Massachi and Benji
Schrader, both eighth
graders at Piedmont Middle
School, were also interview
ed. Each former student
agreed that the Academy
was a special place.
Your Jewish Lexicon
Adult Jewish Studies —
Union of American Hebrew Congregations
Oet The Name Right
AN Jowftara
>inw’ 'n
faapofialMa foe
onaanothar
UTS HT
We Jews are the am
ha-sefer, the “people of the
Book,” but many modern
Jews unfortunately don’t
know the correct name of our
Book. “The Bible,” “The
Hebrew Bible,” or “The Ho
ly Scriptures” will all do in a
pinch, but the right name for
Jews to use is the Tanac/i.
Where does that name
originate? It is an acronym
made up of the initial letters
of the three sections of our
Book of Books. The “T”
stands for the Torah, the
first section; the stands
for the Nevi-im, the books of
the Prophets; and the ”Ch”
for K e t u V i m , the
“Writings.” Put the con
sonants together and you get
TaNaCh, our name for our
Hebrew Bible.
We never call our Tanach
“The Old Testament.” That
is a Christian term having
connotations that are unac
ceptable to us as Jews.'The
term suggests: (a) that the
“New” has supplanted the
“Old,” an idea which we as
Jews reject; (b) that the
“Old” no longer has validi
ty, a proposition which we
Jews do not accept; and (c)
that the “Old” and the
“New” are equally sanc
tified, an idea we Jews have
rejected 2,000 years and con
tinue to reject today.
As the am ha-sefer, let’s
get the name of our glorious
sefer correct: Tanach. It is
the collection of 24 (or 39,
depending on how you count)
sacred Hebrew books, by
which we have lived and for
which many Jews have died
over the centuries. Memorize
the name and teach it to your
children: TANACH!