P.O. Box 13369
Charlotte, NC 28270
Address Correction
Requested
Non-Profit Organization
U.S. Postage PAID
Charlotte, NC
Permit No. 1208
See Pages 12-13
The Charlotte ^JEWISH
Vol. 14 No. 2
Charlotte, North Carolina
February 1992
Soviets Celebrate Their Freedom
By Lynne Cojac
On Sunday evening, Decem
ber 8, a Chanukah spaghetti
dinner was prepared and served
for Charlotte’s Jewish Soviets by
the post-confirmation class of
the Consolidated High School of
Jewish Studies of Charlotte. The
dinner was held at Temple Israel
and supervised by the High
School’s Director of Studies,
Sue Brodsky, with assistance
from Gale Nordin.
Later in the month, the Soviet
families enjoyed Chanukah gifts
from 10 second and third grade
classes at Country Day School.
Barb Zelickson, who teaches
third grade there, helped make
the arrangements with Penny
Eisenberg, volunteer Soviet
Jewry coordinator, and Jane
Morgan, the Social Studies
Coordinator for Country Day’s
Lower School. The entire lower
school is studying the Soviet
Union in an International Stu
dies Unit this year. Toys, clothes
and canned foods were contrib
uted.
Some of the Soviets who have
arrived in the past five months
are:
Gene and Sophia Bessonov
with daughter Masha, age 7. The
Bessonovs have no relatives
here. Their host family is the
Flohr family.
Michael Klebanov’s sister,
Luba Moysik, and her husband
Gregory arrived along with
Luba’s parents, Victor and Ada
Klebanov. Luba was an internist
in the Soviet Union and Gregory
was a mephanical engineer.
Their daughter, Helen, is nine
years old and attends school at
Lubavitch. Their host family is
the Pinion family.
Irina Rosovsky’s brother,
Michael Kutsenko has resettled
here with his family. Michael is
a chemical engineer and speaks
excellent English. His wife,
Marina, is a chemist. They are
CHSJS post-confirmation students celebrated Chanukah with some of our
new Soviet Jewish families.
the first family to arrive with
their dog! At present, they have
no host family.
Gyena and Natasha Nemi-
rovsky arrived with their daugh
ter, Svetlana, and Gyena’s par
ents. Gyena is a photographer;
Natasha teaches and does beau
tiful needlework. Svetlana is a
gifted ballerina and is attending
school at Hawthorne Tradition
al. The grandfather is a photog
rapher, house builder and paint
er. Their host family is Norm
Sandler and his son David.
Jillian Goldberg and Phyllis
Schultz have also spent a great
deal of time with them.
Raisa Bunich’s sister and
brother-in-law, the Vaynshteyns
(soon to be Weinstein) arrived
with their 24-year-old son,
daughter, Anna Valdman, and
son-in-law.
Raisa Nemirovsky’s brother
and his family, the Barringo
family, arrived on Dec. 13. The
parents are Dima and Larisa,
with daughters Nonna, 17 and
Ella, 10. Their host family is Sue
Neidlinger and her children.
On Jan. 6, the Domashevskiy
family arrived. This family con
sists of two parents, their daugh
ter and her son, and Mrs. Do-
mashevskiy’s mother.
Many of the Soviets who have
recently arrived are feeling the
pressures of our depressed econ
omy. Jobs have been harder to
find and several have been
unable to secure work. If you
have business contacts through
which you might be able to help
with this, please call Jewish
Family Services at 364-6594 as
soon as possible. A phone call
or two from you could be in
valuable. Please help them to get
the new year off to a good start.
JCC Board Holds
Staff Appreciation Evening
On January 14, the board of
the Jewish Community Center
held a staff appreciation eve
ning. The staff was invited to a
lovely dinner at The House of
Hunan,'Cotswold, by the board
members. It was a wonderful
opportunity for both staff and
board to become better ac
quainted. It is hoped that this
will become an annual event.
The JCC staff thanks the
board members for a delightful
evening. A special thank you to
Hal Levinson, president, and Jill
Newman for arranging the eve
ning.
Jewish Asency Reopens Office in War-Torn Capital of Georgia
By Gil Sedan
JERUSALEM (JTA) — The
Jewish Agency is back in the
aliyah business in Tbilisi, capital
of the now-independent republic
of Georgia, formerly part of the
Soviet Union.
The Jewish Agency’s office in
the City Hall overlooking the
central square was in the path
of recent fighting, as rebels
sought, then succeeded, to un
seat President Aviad Gamsak-
hurdia.
The Jewish Agency emissary
in Tbilisi, Mikhael Krichi, was
forced to relocate on Jan. 3,
opening a makeshift office in a
private apartment.
Gamsakhurdia, who was
elected president of the republic
with 87 percent of the vote only
nine months ago, fled the capital
on Jan. 6.
The Jewish Agency has since
returned to its old premises to
resume processing requests for
immigration to Israel.
But hundreds of applications
for emigration documents by
Georgian Jews were burned
when the Interior Ministry
building in Tbilisi was destroyed
in the fighting, Jewish Agency
Chairman Simcha, Dinitz dis
closed.
But the Jewish Agency has
reached an agreement with the
Georgian government for an
Interior Ministry official to
work in the Jewish Agency office
to expedite the requests of those
Jews for whom permission to
See OFFICE REOPENED Page 16
Steven Haas to Appear in
Special Benefit Concert
Steven Haas, a well known
tenor and a former member of
the Charlotte Jewish communi
ty, will be appearing in concert
on Mar. 1. Sponsored by Temple
Beth El V’Shalom, the concert
will take place at 7:30 p.m. at
Shalom Park in Gorelick Hall.
Cantor Haas has performed
extensively in Europe, Australia,
Israel and throughout the Uni
ted States. He is a former Tem
ple Beth El V’Shalom soloist,
and has most recently appeared
at the Spoleto Festival in
Charleston, S.C. and on Public
Television’s highly acclaimed
Opera Pops and Sizzles broad
cast. He has been the Cantor of
Temple Beth Shalom, Miami
Beach, Florida, for the past IV2
years.
Cantor Haas will delight his
audience with a repertoire of
Israeli and Yiddish melodies,
operatic arias and popular
songs. Featured will be a special
grouping of songs in honor of
“Sepharad 1992.”
He and his wife Nina have
Cantor Steven Haas
recently returned from the Mi
ami Federation’s 2nd Megamis
sion to Israel which was com
posed of approximately 1,000
people. He served as their Can
tor on this trip.
A reception will follow the
concert at which time you will
have the opportunity of meeting
with Cantor Haas.
Tickets are available at $15
each at the Temple’s office, or
they may be mailed by calling
Jill Kofman, 545-5802 or the
Temple, 366-1948.
Federation’s “Come to the Cabaret
Entertains Capacity Crowd
The Atrium was the site for the Federation “Kick-Off.” Young and old
gathered for this special evening.
Much excitement was gener
ated as 350 members of the
Jewish community attended the
Charlotte Jewish Federation
Campaign Kick-Off, “Come to
the Cabaret,” on Jan. 18 at the
Two First Union Atrium.
The evening began with a
social hour at which beverages
and hors d’oeuvres were served.
Program highlights included
outgoing President Emily Zim-
mern’s remarks and the presen
tation by Shelton Gorelick of a
menorah to her in recognition
of her two years of presidency.
Introductions of the officers
of the merged Foundation and
Federation, incoming President
Shelton Gorelick and the Fed
eration’s new Executive Direc
tor, Daniel Lepow, were made.
Shelton Gorelick addressed the
1992 Federation Regular Cam
paign, reporting that the cam
paign at present is running at a
12% increase. He stressed the
challenge to meet our campaign
goal of $1.25 million as we
“Answer the Challenge Togeth
er.”
Special acknowledgment was
made to the board members of
the recipient agencies who re
ceive funding from the Federa
tion. These agencies are the heart
and soul of human service pro
grams offered in Charlotte,
Israel and worldwide. A video
See KICK-OFF Page 13
Art 7
Calendar 24
Candlelighting 22
Classifieds 24
Dining Out/Ent 17*20
Ed-Op 2-3
Eng/Marriages 23
Family Services 5
Federation 12-13
JCC 8-10
Library' 6
Lubavitch 14-15
Organizations 16
Recipes 24
Temples 22
This ’n That 11
Tributes 8
World Beat 4
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