Page 2-THE NEWS-February, 1985
Editorials
From the DesK of Marty Schneer
—JCC Executive Director
Outreach — Unaffillateds
Are A Major Concern
In last month's issue much was written about the results
of a survey concerning unaffiliated Jews in Charlotte. Our
results were far from unique...comparable findings have
been found in many of the major cities in the United
States.
Recently a poll was taken not only of the Jews in South
Florida, but of Catholics and Protestants, by The Miami
Herald. Various questions were asked of 673 persons, 18
years and older, in Dade, Broward, Palm Beach and
Monroe counties. The interviews were conducted by
telephone in a technique known as random-digit dialing.
When asked: “How important is religion to you?”, the
Jewish response was 24% ‘very important’ (64% for Pro
testants, 59% for Catholics); 24% answered not very im
portant against 10% for Protestants and 10% for
Catholics.
When asked about attending a church or synagogue in
the last seven days, only 19% of the Jews answered YES,
while the response from the Protestants was 34% and the
Catholics, 46%.
When asked if they attend religious services more, less
or about the same as they did five years ago, the response
was only 8% of the Jews stating ‘more', while the Pro
testants' reply was 21% and the Catholics’ 23%. The Jews
answered ‘less’ with 23%, Protestants numbered 21% and
Catholics 19%.
When asked: “Is your faith stronger?”, the Jews really
fell....only 8% responded “more”, while the Protestants
came to 34% and Catholics to 29%.
Throughout the Poll, the Jewish responses indicated
that religion plays a less central role in their lives than
it does in the lives of Christians. And that there is no broad
wave of new fervor among Jews as there is among
Christians.
There are, however, dangers in comparing Christians and
Jews. In the Hebrew language, Judaism is not even call
ed a religion— it is called a “way of life.” Jews define
themselves not only as a religious group, but as a historical
entity, a cultural heritage, apeopIe.lt is possible to be a
committed and involved Jew and not be religious at all.
Less than 3 percent of the American population, Jews
have had to cling fiercely to their traditions and heritage
so as not to be swedlowed up by the larger Christian
culture. Between a third and a half of all American Jews
are now marrying non-Jews. Many times the offspring are
not raised as Jews, even if the spouse converts. Our birth
rate is also seriously declining. A Harvard demographer
says that by 2076 there may be only 10,000 identifiable
Jews left in the United States.
Rabbi Max A. Lipschitz, Beth Torah Congregation,
N. Miami Beach: “We may end up doing to ourselves what
Hitler tried to do to Jews in Europe.”
The message is clear....we know what has to be
done....now it is up to all of us to see that we do it!
statement On Ethiopian Jewry
“The more we succeed in removing the subject from the
headlines, the greater the chances of rescuing the rem
nants.” So stated Chaim Herzog, President of Israel, in
response to the widespread media coverage on the rescue
of Ethiopian Jews. We believe that this principle should
guide the work of every newspaper and Jew in dealing with
the issue of Ethiopian Jews. This principle will guide this
newspaper and, except for straight news, which does not
jeopardize the safety of the effort, we will not comment
when the situation is so critical, so delicate and so fluid.
We agree with nationsd and local Jewish leadership that
further disclosures or comments about movement of Ethio
pian Jews can affect Jewish lives, as was clearly evident
by the treigic consequences of the recent media disclosures.
When it is a choice between saving Jewish lives or
publishing a good story, we have no problem at all about
what to do. We will not comment.
As the Jewish Agency and the Prime Minister indicated,
“This historic rescue has been carried out in accord with
the purpose and role of Israel: to gather in all of the ex
iles of the Jewish people from all four comers of the efirth.”
We pay tribute to the innovation and dedication of the
people £md government of Israel and World Jewry who
£ire exercising every effort and resource to bring this
historic segment of Judaism home to Israel and absorb
them successfully into the fabric of modem Israeli society.
Finally, after months of £m-
ticipation, we are ecstatic to
find concrete evidence that our
new Jewish Community
Center is actually being built.
Without any fanfare what
soever, the walls of the
Physical Education wing
began to rise in mid-
December. Lay leaders in our
community, who have devoted
countless hours over the years
to make this project a reality,
deserve “all the credit in the
world.” I, as a professional
employed by the JCC, am
often amazed and impressed
by the willingness of certain
individuals to spend their
leisure time working for the
good of community. In
credibly, we often find that the
leaders in our community who
assume the greatest respon-
JN** Helps Again
I just want to thank you
again for the wonderful
coverage you gave Ha Lailah
BBW in the December issue of
the “CJN.” We really do ap
preciate your time and effort.
— Lizzann Taylor
The Jewish
Calendar
Candlelighting
Feb. 1 - 5:34 p.m.
Feb. 8 - 5:41 p.m.
Feb. 15 - 5:48 p.m.
Feb. 22 • 5:55 p.m.
Mar, 1 - 6:01 p.m.
Mar. 8 - 6:07 p.m.
Feb. 6 - Tu B’Shevat
sibility are often those who are
the busiest both in terms of
their work and other volunteer
interests. We, as Jews, have a
long and proud tradition of
community service. An insight
into the heavy burdens that
were sometimes the fate of the
communal leader is the letter
of Maimonides (who, in addi
tion to his scholarly activities
and his work as a physician,
was the leader of his conmiuni-
ty) to Samuel IBN Tibbon in
1199. IBN Tibbon had asked
Maimonides if he could pay
him a visit, but Maimonides
replied that his work and com
munal business made it im
possible for him to spare time
to receive visitors. Maimoni
des was so busy that he wrote
he only had time to partake of
one meal a day. Obviously this
THE CHARLOTTE JEWISH
NEWS encourages its readers
to submit articles and letters
expressing their opinions on
matters of interest to the
Jewish community. Such
submissions should be typed
and double-spaced. They may
be edited in order to fit the
available space. Mail to CJN-
P.O. Box 220188, Charlotte,
N.C. 28222.
is an extreme example, though
as a community we are for
tunate to have in our midst
some very worthy leadership
models. It is my hope that we
at the JCC can cultivate and
develop new leaders who will
significantly contribute to the
process of community build
ing.
The JCC has recently
established a leadership
development committee that
will address a variety of issues
from volunteer training and
recognition to goal setting and
lay/staff relations. This com
mittee, chaired by Miles
Levine, will begin our leader
ship development approach
with a JCC Board Training In
stitute in May.
*41**
There has been some discus
sion in recent months about
the JCC class cancellation
policy. Our stated policy in
dicated that we need a
minimum number of par
ticipants to hold all classes.
Unfortunately we have had to
cancel some classes because of
lack of registration. When this
happens, the staff informs
those registered that the class
will be cancelled at least one
week prior to the first schedul
ed meeting. We have on occa
sion notified people who have
registered that we are close to
filling a class and would like to
continue to try and recruit
participants up to the date of
the first session.
The JCC program staff
devotes a great deal of time
and energy recruiting the best
instructors available, and
when classes are forced to
cancel it makes it that much
more difficult to retain
qualified people. We have
lowered the number of par
ticipants required to hold
classes in many cases, so that
we start what we feel are
valuable programs. Please
look over our class offerings
carefully and select at least
one program that may be of in
terest to you. Remember we
are very selective in choosing
instructors to ensure a quali
ty experience for all
participants.
THE CHARLOTTE JEWISH NEWS
Published monthly by:
Charlotte Jewish Federation
Foundation of Charlotte Jewish Community
Marvin Bienstock, Director
Jewish Community Center Charlotte Hebrew Academy
Martin Schneer, Director Eleanor Weinglass, Director
yuond
Advertising. Blanchc Yarus, mgr.
Barbara Zelickson
Copy deadline the 10th of each month
P.O. Box 220188. Charlotte. N.C. 28222
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