5007 Providence Road
Charlotte, NC 28226
Change Service Requested
Non-Profit Organization
U.S. Postage Paid
Charlotte, NC
Pernfiit No. 1208
The Charlotte
JEWISH
Vol. 21 No. 7
Av-Elul 5759
August 1999
Blumenthal Jewish Home for the Aged to Relocate to Greensboro
(CLEMMONS. NC) - The
Board of Trustees of the
Blumenthal Jewish Home for the
Aged, Inc. (BJH), has agreed to
engage Universal HealthCare of
Hickory, NC to build a new nurs
ing facility and assisted living
suites in the Greensboro area to
replace the existing Blumenthal
facility in Clemmons. The engage
ment, approved by a majority of
members at a special meeting held
on June 27, according to Seth
Levy, executive vice president of
the home, will include closing
and selling the Clemmons proper
ty after the Greensboro facility
l^omes operational.
In making the announcement,
A1 Herman, President of the BJH
Board, said, “We assure all resi
dents, prospective residents, and
their families that the high quality
of care for which the BJH is
known will continue at the
Clemmons facility until the new
facility is opened. We will contin
ue to admit residents at Clemmons
to both skilled nursing and assist
ed living during the transition
period. Those residents who desire
will be transferred when the
Greensboro facility opens.” If the
requisite approvals are obtained,
Herman anticipates that the
Greensboro facility will open in
2001.
“We are very pleased to partner
with Universal HealthCare whose
owner has extensive experience in
operating assisted living centers
and nursing facilities,” Herman
added. “For some time, we have
been seeking better ways to serve
the Jewish families of the
Carolinas and to ensure the finan
cial stability of the Blumenthal
Jewish Home. We are confident
Eli Evans to Appear at
Temple Israel
The Entire Community is Invited to Hear
about ‘^Growing Up Jewish in the South
By Amy Krakovitz
Eli Evans, North Carolina
native and author of The
Provincials: A Personal History of
Jews in the South, will be wel
comed to Temple Israel on
Thursday evening, September 23,
Eli N. Evans
1999 at 8:00 PM.
Evans was bom and raised in
Durham and graduated from the
University of North Carolina.
After a stint in the Navy and grad
uating from Yale Law School, he
served as a speech writer for
President Lyndon Johnson. He
then returned to North Carolina
and served as staff director for a
Duke University research program
headed by the late Terry Sanford.
He spent ten years traveling in the
South as a senior program officer
for the Carnegie Corporation, and
has served as president of the
Charles H. Revson Foundation
that this action will enhance our
ability to meet our mission.”
Philosophy for Maintaining
Jewish Customs and Traditions
In a letter to the membership of
the home, Herman wrote, “Here
are some of the important facts
about this change. Our basic phi
losophy about caring for the
Jewish elderly and meeting their
religious concerns will continue.
Regardless of their ability to pay,
we are planning to accommodate
all elderly Jewish residents who
desire our services and who reside
in North or South Carolina. Social
services and celebrations (includ
ing meals and recreational pro
grams) will be held for Shabbat
and other Jewish holidays.
Mezuzahs will be on doors
throughout the nursing facility.
Jewish symbols and Jewish art
work will be tastefully displayed
prominently throughout the facili
ties, and rabbis and other reli
giously-affiliated persons from
temples and synagogues will regu
larly visit and provide programs at
the facilities.
Seth Levy, Executive Vice
President of BJH
“The new Blumenthal facilities
will provide kosher food to the
Jewish residents desiring to be so
served, and there will be syna
gogue facilities on the premises.
The name will always include
Blumenthal.”
Under the plan, BJH would own
the facility and lease it to
Universal who would operate it
under policies approved by the
Blumenthal Jewish Home Board
of Trustees and be financially
responsible for the operation of
the home. “This arrangement will
permit us to continue our tradition
of meeting the needs of the Jewish
families in the Carolinas, and to
do it in a more effective manner,”
Herman said.
Financial Arrangements
BJH will borrow the funds
needed to build the new facility
and will tmsfer the current nursing
beds from Clemmons to the
Greensboro facility. Universal
will lease the facility and beds and
will be responsible for manage
ment and operational costs.
During the second year of oper
ation after the Greensboro facility
opens. Universal HealthCare will
have an option to purchase
Blumenthal’s ownership interest
in that facility. If Universal does
not purchase the home and beds,
(Continued on page 12)
99
since 1977.
Evans is probably best known
for his three books: The
Provincials: A Personal History of
Jews in the South; Judah P.
Benjamin: The Jewish Confederate',
and The Lonely Days Were
Sundays: Reflections of a Jewish
Southerner, his most recent book.
The Provincials has been recently
reprinted with a new chapter
regarding the burgeoning growth
in the South, using Atlanta as a
model, “the leading center for
Jewish life in American in the 21st
century.” He foresees Atlanta and
other growing Southern cities,
such as Charlotte, as “a prism for
the prospects of a Jewish South,”
Evans said in a recent telephone
interview.
When asked about his upcom
ing visit to Charlotte, Evans was
enthusiastic. “I love Charlotte!” he
raved. He seems genuinely
impressed with Shalom Park and
dynamics it facilitates among the
different branches of Judaism
here.
His appearance in September at
Temple Israel will feature a dis
cussion of what it was like for him
to grow up Jewish in the South.
But he can see that things arc dif
ferent now that the Jewish popula
tion in the South has grown so
much.
The Charles H. Revson
Foundation, where Evans’ cunent-
(Continued on page 18)
Yugoslav Jews Decide Whether It’s Safe
to Go Home, Fear Backlash
By Michael J. Jordan
BUDAPEST(JTA) - With peace
coming to Yugoslavia, now comes
the tough part for many of the
roughly 500 Yugoslav Jews who
fled the country during the three-
month conflict over Kosovo:
Return home or settle abroad?
For some of the 130 refugees in
Budapest, the decision was a no-
brainer.
Once it became apparent that
peace would indeed stick, 40
headed back to Yugoslavia —
most aboard a rented bus; others
on their own.
They were desperate to check in
on their famlies, their property -
and to return to their normal rou
tines.
Their decision came despite
concerns about the country’s tense
political climate and dire econom
ic situation - or how they would be
received after leaving their home
land in its darkest hour.
“We wanted to see if peace has
really been establisl]ed, or whether
it was for one day and would
change overnight,” said one
woman from Belgrade, the
Yugoslav c{q}ital.
“After all we’ve been through,
we wanted to feel some sparkle of
certainty. No one’s talking about
politics. We’re just emotionally
tied with going back to our
homes.”
As for the remaining Yugoslav
Jews in Budapest, both the
Federation of Jewish Communities
in Yugoslavia and the American
Jewish Joint Distribution
Committee were urging them to
go home by the end of June.
The JDC has covered most of
their costs in Budapest inehxHli|r'‘
accommodations at the $37-per-
night Park Hotel.
“The Joint’s basic position is
that the bombing has stopped, and
unless there is a very good reason
To date the local
Charlotte Jewish
community has raised in
excess of $12,000 for the
Kosovo Relief Fund.
Please continue to make
contributions through the
office of the Jewish
Federation of Greater
Charlotte.
for staying, they shouldn’t,” said
Yachiel Bar-Chaim, the Paris-
based JDC representative for
Yugoslavia.
Of the remaining 90 here,
another busload was slated to
leave for Belgrade at the end of
June. Thirty-five more are sched
uled to fly that same week to Tel
Aviv, where they will begin new
lives.
Meanwhile, 35 to 40 Yugoslav
Jews in Israel have decided
against aJiyah. They will fly back
to Budapest before June ends, then
goon to Belgrade. Israel had taken
up 250 refugees during the crisis.
Only a handful of those now in
Budapest asked the JDC to stay on
longer, mostly to arrange for visas.
The JDC’s priority now, said
Bar-Chaim, is relief for the 3000-
plus Jews in Yugoslavia.
The JDC plans to provide cash
grants for the elderly, maintain the
community pharmacy, operate
soup kitchens and possibly create
a small business development pro
ject.
The JDC will also pay for 1(X)
Yugoslav Jewish children to
attend the Szarvas summer camp
in Hungary, giving preference to
those who endured the 78 days of
NATO air strikes.
Then there’s the coming winter,
and the likelihood - for Serbs,
Albanians and Jews alike - of con
fronting harsh conditions with
insufficient heating, electricity
and water.
However, among all the uncer
tainties facing Yugoslavs, one is
specific to the Jewish community:
whether there will be a backlash of
domestic anti-Semitism for the
role in the US-led air strikes
played by American policy makers
(Continued on page 35)
Inside this issue...
Barak in WKhlngton P» ^
By Dr. Kern Steim
Rebuildiiig Community in Sacramento p» 7
A member tf C&ngregation tmiei shares his thoaghts
Back to School M>- 20 & 21
Stones, artictes and snack reaper to gear y»u up for going hack i» sckind
Also inside ...
Jewish Family Services
. ..pages
12& 13
Temple Beth El
. . page
14
Youth Visions
. . page
16
Women’s Events
. page
17
CAJh
page
18
Lubavitch ot North Carolina
page
19
Je\M>h Communitv Center
pages
22-23
Dmmc Out t>age
. pages
24 26
Sp., Jewish l-lhr.irv
page
■>7
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Campaign Reaches
$20 Million Mark!