Newspaper Page Text
Two
THI SOUTHERN ISRABJTE
Friday, July 7, 1972
"City Kibbutz' Planned
In Israel by U.S. Youth
NEW YORK (JTA)—Most of
the American Jewish young
people who have been reported
planning to create an “irvutz,”
a city kibbutz in the Jerusalem
corridor are affiliated with the
Hebrew Union College in Cin
cinnati, the Reform seminary
and many are Reform rabbis,
Jewish Agency aliya officials
said here.
Members of the group, which
calls itself “Halom,” hope to
pursue their vocations while
living as a group.
The officials added that the
30 members of the group have
“a strong bias toward Reform
Judaism” and will try to cre
ate a “progressive Jewish com
munity” in the development
town of Bet Shemesh, site of the
Hundreds Request
Jewry Exhibit
NEW YORK (JTA) — The
Greater New York Conference
for Soviet Jewry said that hun
dreds of requests have come in
for a portable exhibit titled
“Crisis and Survival: The Plight
of Soviet Jews.” The exhibit
was officially unveiled in the
Capitol building in Washington,
D. C., June 15 at ceremonies at
tended by 50 Congressmen of
both parties. So far 35 Congress
men have asked for copies for
display in their home districts
and at least 500 more are being
sent to communities all over
the country.
NOW TO SEPT. 8 '
• STRICTLY KOSHER MEALS
• Swimming pool and patio
• Sugar Si Salt fraa diets
• Ocaanfront Synagogue
• Air Conditioned a Parking
DIAL DIRECT FREEI
800-327-8165
Or See Your Travel Agent
Entire ocaanfront block
37th to 38th St. MIAMI BEACH
proposed city kibbutz.
The officials said that the
American Jews are seeking em
ployment in Bet Shemesh as
teachers, social workers and de
velopers of the arts. Once the
group has settled in Israel and
achieved economic stabili t y ,
members hope to initiate a va
riety of community projects.
So far, according to the of
ficials, nine of the young Amer
ican Jews have made a com
mitment to settle in Israel by
the summer of 1975.
Fun Raising
By RABBI SAMUEb>SILVER
To most people financial cam
paigns are a grim business.
But, they don’t have to be,
if you have the spirit which
prevails at Tem
ple Judea, Coral
Gables, Florida.
Down there the
congrega t i o n
resolved to liq
uidate its in
debtedness and
get the mortgage burned.
The result was a flurry of ac
tivity which lifted the entire
membership on wings and furn
ished excitement, exhilaration
and money galore.
Richard Horwich, president of
the congregation, rallied his
people ’round and told them
that they were in for a won
derful thrill if they could “sell”
and “tell” the story of a mort
gage-free temple to their
friends.
Rabbi Morris Kipper echoed
these sentiments, and poetasters
created campaign songs. To the
tune of “Dolly,” people sang.
: Hey do not hedge, melluJers,
Hurry up and sign a pledge,
members, Set a torch and burn
our mortgage now!” And to the
tune of “Blackbird,” everyone
sang, “Pack up all our cares
and woe, Here we go, Torch
aglow. Burn that mortgage.”
The president’s wife brought the
house down when she said she
was prepared to “give up" her
husband for the duration,” then
thought about how much she
wanted to be with him and
therefore “I became a campaign
worker.”
P.S. The campaign is going
beautifully and the Coral Ga-
blers are learning that “fund
raising” can be “fun raising.”
onnie
am
fnicL id /J3a ch
ted • • •
invii
id you ’re
For a few months, he was away while this place teas
under different management. Now Ronnie is back
planning the fine cuisine for which he became
famous, supervising the unusual lunches and superb
dinners which made this the center for folks who
liked good food—and good eating. So come again
and enjoy, enjoy.
He’s available too for the superlative catering of
weddings, banquets and those special occasions for
which that experience and imagination can make so
very special. Remember this standard of excellence.
—ADOLPH ROSENBERG
SfHITZeRLODD
house
RESTAURANT- CATERERS - LOUNGE
OPEN 7 DAYS (INCLUDING HOLIDAYS) lt
Catering For All Occasions
Eight Party Rooms or Off-Premises
Peachtree at 7th 874-3519
Ronnie Spetalnick, Owner
Y. Y. Business Men Plan
Yiddish Theater Revival
NEW YORK (JTA) — Ful
filling ‘-a dream of mine tor
years,” a lumber company pres
ident has launched a revival of
Yiddish theater here in memory
of Maurice Schwartz, “a very
dear friend of mine.”
Harry Rothpearl, head of
Century Lumber Corporation in
Manhattan and a member of
the Community Center of Israel
in the Bronx, has gathered 12
other businessmen and his
rabbi, Simon Konovitch, under
the banner of The Jewish
Nostalgic Productions, Inc. It
has leased the Eden Theatre on
Second Avenue, built for
Schwartz in October 1932, and
Identity Crisis
NASHVILLE (JTA) — The
identity crisis has erupted with
special severity in the Amer
ican Jewish community because
of its acculturation on one hand
and its attempts to maintain its
dstinctiveness on the other, ac
cording to Dr. Mervin F. Verbit,
assistant professor of sociology
at Brooklyn College.
Dr. Verbit spoke on the Amer
ican Jewish community during
the Graduate Summer Institute
of Judaism just concluded at
the Vanderbilt University Divin
ity School here.
He explained that Jews saw
their Jewishness in terms of the
white, Anglo-Saxon Protestant
and secular culture around
them. They adapted to this cul
ture, but they have maintained
their own community and were
not totally assimilated, he said.
Prof. Verbit observed that “the
primary distinctiveness of the
Jewish community is that its
existence as a community is
part of its ideological defini
tion.
The Jewish people is not a
collection of people who share
the same faith so much as it la
the instrumentality for the ful
fillment of Judaism’s purpose,
at least according to Jewish tra
dition,” he said.
According to Dr Verbit, “The
role of theology in Judaism is
different from its role in Chris
tianity. Logically, theism is
prior for Jews, but more im
portant is the basic commitment
to a particular collective goal
in history.”
Prof. Verbit said that most
young Jews respond to religion
in patterns similar to other re
ligious groups by participating
partially but not with real in
tensity or regularity. He noted,
however, that some young Jews
are experimenting with forms
of communal life, frequently
combining study with social
hopes to present one of his big
gest hits, “Yoshe Kalb,” to
mark its 30th anniversary.
“It’s a shame to let it go to
waste,” Rothpearl said of the
Yiddish theatrical heritage in an
interview with the JTA. “Yid
dish is springing up again,” he
contended, pointing to college
courses in the language and
what he sees as renewed inter
est in it by Jewish youth —
though he conceded “It may be
just imagination.”
Rothpearl envisions “Yoshe
Kalb” as having the potential
of a major hit, of “even doing a
better job than “Fiddler’.” Re
calling Schwartz’s own stage
Mils Jews
action and religious sensitivity
and several are moving into
positions of leadership in Jewish
organizations.
He said he thought that young
professionals are becoming in
creasingly aware of their Jew
ishness and are exploring its
meaning.
and film productions of “Tevye”
— based on the same Sholom
Aleichem stories as “Fiddler”—
Rothpearl insisted that the only
reason “Fiddler” has been so
much more successful is its
ethnic music. “If you put in
Jewish music, it’ll click,” he
said.
“Yoshe Kalb’s” original pro
duction ran 500 performances,
toured the United States and
Europe, was revived in 1939 and
even ran for a while on Broad
way in English. Adapted by
Schwartz himself, it told of an
ascetic cabalist in 19th century
Poland who weds unwillingly,
sins and spends 15 years wan
dering in expiation of his guilt.
Other productions planned by
the new troupe include “Tevye”
and other Sholom Aleichem
works, “It’s Tough to Be a Jew,"
“The Brothers Ashkenazi,” “Dr
Herzl” and plays by Abraham
Goldfaden, Gogol, Shakespeare,
Moliere and Tolstoy. Domina
tion of each production by a
composite producer-director-star
will be avoided in favor of a
more proletarian approach. “We
have no personal interest in
furthering ourselves,” said the
man whose idea it is. “Just Jew
ish culture.”
Designs
CONTRACT, RESIDENTIAL AND
MARINE INTERIORS
A NEW decorating concept, offering profes
sional design service at no extra charge, com
bined with substantial savings on the finest
furniture, carpet, draperies and accessories.
CALL
252-6298
*
North Fulton Asphalt Corp. $
I
Driveways - highways - parking areas
Free estimates
ALL WORK GUARANTEED
1140 Alpharetta Street
Roswell, Georgia
Phone 993-6118
Sociologist Cites Reasons
cyVR'.Y"* ’
Home Port for Fine Dining ^
Smugglers m
Dancing & 3 q°\®30 a.m
\
delicious
Steaks, Lobster
and Prime Ribs
1720 Peachtree Road N.W.
Atlanta
Phone: 875-5378
. ... /