Page 2-THE NEWS April. 1986
THE CHARLOTTE JEVflSH NEWS
Published monthly by:
Charlotte Jewish Federation Marvin Bienstock. Director
Foundation of Charlotte Jewish Cominunitv
Jewish Community Center Stan Swig, Interim Director
N.C. Hebrew Academy Berta Straz, Interim Director
Lubavitch of N.C Rabbi Yossi Groner, Director
Editor - Rita Mond
Advertising Blanche Yarus
Copy deadline the 10th of each month
P.O. Box 13369, Charlotte, N.C. 28211
Th« appcaranc* at advartlclng In Tha Nawt da** aa* conatituta a kashruth
•ndanaMaat.
On The Issues By IraGissen,Va/NC Director ADL
Honoring the Memory of Lentkin and Six Million Martyrs
Editorial
Being Free
This month we will be celebrating the festival of
Passover, which according to Biblical history is the
first and oldest of the Jewish holidays. We have
always associated it with freedom... our forefathers
were freed from Egyptian bondage.
As American Jewry, we are indeed fortunate to
be part of a free society, able to worship in our
homes and synagogues. However, we must guard
against being too free... too free to surrender
ourselves to total assimiliation in today’s society...
too free to give up our spiritual and historical en
tities. We must instill in our children the pride of
being Je\^sh, of worshipping as a Jew, of carrying
on the traditions of Judaism. Our people must
survive.
Unfortunately, there are those elsewhere who are
still enslaved and who are still seeking the
opportunity to cast off the chains of their op
pressors. The following was 'written by 34 Jews
from Kiev to their sisters and brothers in America:
“All Jewish people throughout the world will sit
at special gatherings, Sedarim, as though we were
one family. Our common Seder table stretches
thousands of miles and is divided by land and
water. Yet, we all are united together as one.
“We see the beautiful eyes of our Jewish sisters
and feel the strong handsh.ake of our Jewish
brothers. Your support gives us new strength to
continue in our struggle for freedom. We shall read
the Haggadah at the Seder table. It teaches us to
celebrate Passover like our ancestors in Egypt. But
the history of Exodus is not only history to us. It
is a reality.
“They force us to forget our national traditions;
they don’t allow us to come to the synagogue on
the Shabbat; we cannot learn basic Hebrew
language and the history of Israel. Many of us are
imprisoned for our desires to go to Israel. We shall
overcome our modern Egypt, like thousands of
years ago, we shall overcome our enemies of today.
All Jews in the world: ‘Shelach Et Ami’: Let My
People Go! Next Year in Jerusalem.”
During your Seder remember to recite the “Mat-
zo of Hope”:
This Matzo, which we set aside as a symbol of hope for
the Jews of the Soviet Union, reminds us of the indestruc
tible links that exist between us. As we observe this
festival of freedom, we know that Soviet Jews are not free
to leave without harassment; to learn of their past; to pass
on their religious traditions; tolea-rn the languages of their
fathers; to train the teachers and the rabbis of future
generations. We remember with bitterness the scores of
Jewish prisoners of conscience who sought to live as Jews
and struggled to leave for Israel—the land of our fathers—
but now languish in bondage in Soviet labor camps. Their
struggle against their oppressors is part of an ongoing ef
fort, and they shall know that they have not been forgot
ten. As Soviet Jews assert themselves they are joined by
all who are aroused by their affliction. We will continue
until they emerge into the light of freedom. J f
May you have a happy Passover.
— R.M.
This column is dedicated to
the memory of Raphael Lem-
kin and the six million Jewish
martyrs to whom he devoted
his life.
Raphael Lemkin’s name will
not be recognized readily by
most otherwise well informed
readers. Perhaps that is
because he died a quiet death,
alone and in poverty in a New
York hotel, back in 1959. Mr.
Lemkin may not be recogniz
ed because he lost most of his
family when the German
military machine crushed
Poland in 1939. Few people
remember that he escaped to
the United States. Even fewer
know that he taught law at
Duke University and at Yale
University.
But although you may not
recognize his name, almost
everyone recognizes his extra
ordinary achievement.
He coined the word “geno
cide.” He drafted a Genocide
Convention for adoption by
the United Nations and
devoted the remaining years
of his life campaigning for its
adoption by the member
nations.
The Genocide Convention,
adopted by the United Na
tions General Assembly in
1948, declares that genocide is
an international crime and re
quires the nations endorsing
the Convention to punish
those nations who commit
Behind the Headlines:
genocide. More than 90 na
tions have joined the
Convention.
Every president of the
United States from Harry S.
Truman to Ronald Reagan
(with the exception of Dwight
D. Eisenhower) has called for
its approval by the United
States Senate. It has taken 37
years for the United States
Senate to approve it. Presi
dent Reagan endorsed the con
vention in 1984 and again in
1985 he wrote to the Senate
majority leader, Robert Dole
of Kansas, reiterating his
support.
Finally, on February 19,
1986, in a vote of 83 to 11 the
Senate approved the treaty
outlawing genocide.
Nathan Perlmutter, Na
tional Director of the Anti-
Defamaticm League, declared,
“It is fitting that when at long
last passed, it was an over
whelming bi-partisan expres
sion of the best instincts of the
American people.”
The ratification was of
special significance to Senator
William D. Proxmire, Demo
crat of Wisconsin, who for 19
years has urged approval
whenever the Senate was in
formal session. He made more
than 3000 speeches in favor of
the treaty.
The 11 who voted against
the treaty were: Senators East
and Helms of North Carolina,
Jeremiah Denton of Alabama,
Jake Garn of Utah, Barry
Goldwater of Arizona, Charles
E. Grassley of Iowa, James A.
McClure of Idaho, William V.
Roth Jr. of Delaware. Steven
D. Symms of Idaho, Strom
Thurmond of South Carolina
and Malcolm Wallop of
Wyoming.
Raphael Lemkin is
remembered.
The Jews of Yugoslavia
BELGRADE (JTA) - In
habitants of a land with a uni
que complex of six republics
and two autonomous pro
vinces, the Jews of Yugoslavia
lead the good life — a life of
relative ease, security and
almost total non-discrimi-
nation. Together with their
coreligionists, Moslem, Cat
holic and Orthodox, they co
exist in harmony and tran
quility in a state where no one
faith dominates to the detri
ment of any other.
With the approval of the
authorities, the Jewish com
munity in 1985 sent teams to
participate in the 12th Mac-
cabia in Israel, and Yugoslavia
was the only country in the
Eastern and Balkan blocs to
do so. Tel Aviv and Zagreb are
initiating a twin-city relation
ship.
Dragan Wollner, president
of the Zagreb Jewish com
munity, voiced the hope that
diplomatic relations between
the two nations would be an
nounced within the next year
The Jewish Calendar
Candlelighting
Apr. 4
Apr. 11
Apr. 18
Apr. 23
Apr. 24
Apr. 25
Apr. 29
Apr. 30
May 2
May 9
6:29 p.m.
6:35 p.m.
6:40 p.m.
6:44 p.m. (First Seder)
7:43 p.m. (Second Seder)
6:46 p.m. (Shabbat Choi Hamoed Pesach)
7:49 p.m. (7th Eve of Pesach)
8:49 p.m. (8th Eve of Pesach)
7:52 p.m.
7:58 p.m.
or two as a formal expression
of the de facto recognition that
presently seems to exist.
No Anti-Semitic Manifestations
Although Yugoslavia is a
leader of the non-aligned coun
tries and the PLO has an office
in Belgrade, the government
exerts strict control of the
Arab students in the Univer
sity of Belgrade. There are no
anti-Semitic manifestations,
nor would they be tolerated
were they to occur.
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April 6
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April 10