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The Chaflotte
JEWISH
I Vol. 22 No.T
Adar ll-Nlsan 5760
April 2000
Federation Women’s Division Brings
Anita Diamant to Charlotte
^^The Red Tenf^ Author to Speak to Community April 12
at 7:30 PM at Temple Israel
By Amy Krakovitz
Do you remember how you felt
when you were reading The Red
Tent'} The connectedness to your
past, the warmth for Jewish
women everywhere and every-
when, the love and respect for our
matriarchs, the wonder and awe at
the power of their stories - all
these emotions and more flooding
over you as lived the story of
Dinah, the only daughter of Jacob.
If The Red Tent swept you away
as it did thousands of other
women, you now have the oppor
tunity to meet and hear its author,
Anita Diamant, on the evening of
April 12 at Temple Israel. The
Women’s Division of the
Federation is presenting Ms.
Diamant as their Spring lecturer
this year in an exciting event for
the Charlotte Jewish community.
Diamant’s early childhood was
spent in Newark, New Jersey, but
her family moved to Denver when
she was 12 years old. She says she
had very Uttle exposure to
Judaism as a child and considers
herself an adult Jewish learner.
She attended the University of
Colorado for two years and then
Anita Diamant
transferred to Washington
University in St. Louis where she
completed her Bachelor’s degree
in Comparative Literature. She
then earned her Master’s degree in
English from the State University
of New York at Buffalo, and then
moved to the Boston area, where
she has lived ever since.
She currently resides in
Newton, Massachusetts, with her
husband Jim and daughter Emilia.
They are active members of
Congregation Beth El of the
Sudbury River Valley.
Diamant first became well-
known as a Jewish author of hand-
(Continued on page 4)
diAMAI
A vital part of L’Chaim
Charlotte!, the city’s popular bi
annual Jewish festival scheduled
for May 21, are volunteers.
The L’Chaim Charlotte! 2000
steering committee hopes to recruit
100 volunteers to each woric two-
hour shifts during the event, which
runs noon to 6 PM. Jobs include
setting up and breaking down tents,
tables and chairs for exhibitors,
selling drinks, tickets and raffle
entries, staffmg the information
booth and kid’s play area, helping
direct parking, handing out (»o-
grams, collecting admission, and
mc«ie.
Many Jewish organizations are
also locking for volunteers for their
L’Chaim Charlotte! exhibits. All
told, more than 300 volunteers are
expected to be involved in (Hoduc-
ing this year’s festival.
“We need a lot of helping htndt
to make sure the event runs smooth
ly,” said Alan Gottheim, festival
(Continued on page 4)
WE’RE GETTING
NEARER TO OUR
GOALI
Campaign 2000
has reached
$1,797 million
— Jewish Fed«ralk>n of
Greater Charlotte. 8m pegt
32 and 33 for detells.
r-f“'V
.:s
Norm Levin
May 6, 2000 will be a very spe
cial night in Charlotte. That is the
date that Temple Beth El will
honor one of its hardest working
and most popular members. Norm
Levin. The evening will also serve
as a promotion of the Temple Beth
El endowment fund. The occasion
will be held at the new
Renaissance Hotel. In addition to
honoring Nwm the evening will
be fun filled including a fabulous
dinner and lots of dancing to the
music of The Entertainers.
Rabbi Alexander Schindler will
be the keynote speaker. Rabbi
Rabbi Alexander Schindler
Schindler served as President of
the Union of American Hebrew
Congregations for over twenty
years. As a vibrant leader of the
Reform movement he helped to
shdpe ils philosophy, creating the
vision for many of its outstanding
programs, including Outreach. He
has met with all of the United
States Presidents since Jimmy
Carter and is often called upon by
them and other world le&ders fcM'
advice. He currently serves as
President of the Memorial
Foundation for Jewish Culture and
(Continued on page J4)
Judith Hauptman is the Rabbi
Philip R. Alstat Professor of
Talmud at the Jewish Theological
Seminary. Known in particular for
her reinterpretation of Talmudic
sources along feminist lines, she
has spent her professional life
engaged not only in the study of
women’s roles in Judaic thought,
but also in an evaluation of the
social and ethical norms of the
rabbinic period that served to
shape the outlines of a traditional
faith passed down through the
ages. Dr. Hauptman has become
acclaimed as well for her synoptic
studies - a specialized area of
Talmudic research in which relat
ed texts are examined for their
implications about the history of
Jewish law.
TTie Charlotte community is
fortunate to have Dr. Hauptman
visit as a Scholar-in-Residence at
Temple Israel on the weekend of
May 5-7, 2000.
Dr. Hauptman applies her
insights to understanding the rele
vance of ancient sources to mod-
Dr. Judith Hauptman
em Judaism and to precipitating
societal changes she believes nec
essary. Over the years, her activist
orientation has led her, for exam
ple, to call for the ordination of
women by the Conservative
movement and for eliminating dis
crimination against women in
divorce law, both Jewish and sec
ular.
Her weekend at Temple Israel
will begin Shabbat evening. May
Federation Page
page
4
CAJE
page
10
Women’s Events
.... page
11
Temple Israel
.... page
12
Temple Beth El
page
14
Youth Visions
...pege
15
Jewiiih Family Sc“ ‘ :*
pages
16
SpeiTman Je'fci-'ih Libr.trj
.. ■ ■ page
17
Mazel Toy
26
Lubavitchot Ni’^th C«tt*haa . . .
page
27
OiarlvtCte Da\ Si ^.-»1
nafe
28
The Jevri>-h Tra^c’=-T
••
29
•
Dinm^ CM
... pages
33-35
5, after a Shabbat service and fam
ily Shabbat dinner, with a lecture
at 8:00 PM titled, “Unresolved
Tension: Women in Jewish Law.”
There will be a separate program
planned for the children of the
congregation. Reservations are
required for the Shabbat dinner;
contact Terry Cathcart at the
Temple Israel office (362-27%).
Dr. Hauptman will deliver the
sermon at Saturday morning ser
vices on May 6. Her subject is
“Parents’ Mitzvot to Children and
Children’s Mitzvot to Parents:
Blueprints for Family Life.” After
a Kiddush luncheon, there will be
open study and discussion with
Dr. Hauptman in the Chapel.
On Sunday morning. May 7,
following the 9:00 AM morning
minyan and a bagel breakfast, Dr.
Hauptman will deliver a final lec
ture, “Acknowledging the
Legitimacy of the Views of
Others: A Talmudic Perspective."
A popular lecturer and prolific
writer. Dr. Hauptman has published
(Continued on page 12)
Coiwctlwg f amUi—
Smtaining TNmMIm
Campaign Surpasses
$24 Million Mark!
See Pages 6 & 7
MAKE YOUR
PLEDGE TODAY!