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Pag* 4 THE SOUTHERN ISRAELITE April 27, 1979
The Southern Israelite
The Weekly Newspaper Tor Southern Jewry
Our 55th Year
Vida Goldaar
Its
a mitzva!
Vida Goldgar
Editor and Publisher
Faith Powell
Assistant Editor
Linda Lincoln
Advertising Director
Mark Nicholas
Production Manager
Published every Fridas/ by The Southern Israelite. Inc.
Second Class postage paid at Atlanta. Ga (ISSN 0038 4224) (USPS 776060)
Mailing Address: P.O. Box 77388, Atlanta, Georgia 30357
Location: 188 15th St., N W Phone (404) 878-8248
Advertising rates available upon request
Subscriptions: $15.00 - 1 year; $25.00 - 2 years
Member Jewish Telegraphic Agency; Religious News Service,
American Jewish Press Assn . Georgia Press Assn , National Newspaper Assn
Bad news, good news
“There’s bad news and there’s good news” must have had
Jewish origins. This week’s news stories tend to support that
theory.
The terrorist attacks are stepped up—and peace negotiations
between Israel and Egypt continue.
Jews the world over, in solemn remembrance, gather to honor
the Holocaust millions—and plan festive celebrations for Israel’s
Independence Day.
Falasha Jews struggle for recognition and rescue—and Soviet
Jews are released from bondage.
Inflation hits new highs—and we increase our charitable
donations.
Perhaps it is all tied in to our “survival quotient.” No matter
how bad things are, Jews hang on to the threads of optimism and
weave a new pattern for life.
Even our perennial toast—L’Chaim—is “to life.”
The coming months are sure to bring many difficult periods
and news that is bad for the Jewish people.
We must hang on to that thread of optimism. The good news
will be there, too.
More than a job
Too rarely do we who use the services of our community
agencies think about the role of the professional staff persons who
keep things running smoothly.
Last week, however, one of Atlanta’s most dedicated young
community professionals was selected for a signal national honor.
Jen Feldman, adult services director at the AJCC, was chosen
by the Jewish Welfare Board from several hundred nominees for
the prestigious Louis Kraft award (see story, page 10).
This is not only an honor for her, but for the Center and our
community. We are fortunate to have Jen Feldman and others
who, week in and week out, go over and above their “job
requirements” for the benefit of all of us.
JAWS
A modern day exodus took place this week as
three jets landed in New York, bringing more than 600
Soviet Jews to new lives in the United States. The
telecast of the first plane unloading
in New York brought tears to the
eyes. Free at last.
Six hundred individuals! There
are whole towns with no larger
populations than that.
And this is only the beginning.
Apparently in hopes of swaying
American public opinion toward
more favorable trade arrange
ments and SALT negotiations,
the Soviet Union has stepped up visa grants to Soviet
Jews. The United States cooperated and Attorney
General Griffin Bell invoked his parole authority so
25,000 Soviet Jews can be admitted.
Whatever the politics involved, the end result is
good.
How happy the new immigrants must be. They
waited so long to leave Russia—some as long as four
years 1 imagine they must be apprehensive, too. A
new country, a new language, new people—
customs—jobs. A whole new life.
And this is where we come in. “Jews take care of
their own!” How many times have your heard that?
Here is an example of how true it is. Atlanta accepted
the responsibility to resettle 150 Russian Jews
between last October and October 1979. This is three
times as many as came here last year.
Many have already arrived, but many more are
coming in the next few weeks. This coming week
alone, five families will land at Hartsfield Airport.
More the following week.
The agencies and organizations who coordinate
the program have swung into high gear to make the
resettlement process as pleasant and painless as
possible. Among others are the Jewish Vocational
Service, Jewish Family and Children’s Bureau,
Atlanta Jewish Federation and National Council of
Jewish Women. These people are professionals and
trained volunteers. But there are ways we—you and
I—can help.
Two main areas come to mind immediately.
Furnishings and jobs. National Council of Jewish
Women has undertaken the furnishing of the
apartments for the Russian newcomers. Just stop and
think for a minute how much you would need if you
had to go out and furnish 50 apartments. It is hard
enough to furnish one. So if you have any furniture,
appliances, tv’s or other household furnishings, give
Council a call at 262-7199. They’ll be glad to pick it up.
Donations are deductible, too.
Up to the point of settlement here, the families are
pretty much dependent upon outside help, starting
with H1AS, the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society,
grants and the local services. Once they arrive, these
immigrants are just as anxious to take care of
themselves as were our grandparents when they
immigrated.
For that, they need jobs One reason Atlanta was
chosen as a “resettlement” community is our Jewish
Vocational Service. JVS, under the direction of Dr.
Mark Fisher, does real yeoman work, not only for
the Russian Jews, but for the rest of the community.
Right now, though, their primary concern is placing
the arriving Russians. These are rarely unskilled
people. Mr. N, one of those who will be here next
week, is an electrical technician. Mrs. R. is a
mechanical design engineer. Mr. V is skilled in
ventilating system and industrial air conditioning
repairs. Others are lathe operators, arc welders—you
name it.
Admittedly, not all speak perfect English But they
learn quickly.
All need jobs badly so they can maintain their
dignity. For some time, as a community service. The
Southern Israelite has listed various workers under
“Positions Wanted” on the classified pages. If you are
an employer, check those ads. The worker you need
may just be listed.
Besides, it’s a mitzva.
A time for reckoning
by Alon Ben Meir
A little more than twenty
months ago I wrote the following:
“Premier Menachem Begin has
become the prime minister of
Israel in a critical period of its
history...No Israeli prime minister
since David Ben Gurion declared
Israel's independence in 1948 has
carried a heavier burden of
responsibility for Israel and for
world Jewry as Menachem Begin
carries now. The fate of Israel, and,
to a large extent, that of the Jewish
community throughout the
diaspora, depends on how well
Begin uses his authority to achieve
peace with the Arabs and
prosperity and social justice at
home. Because of my conviction
that Premier Begin is best
equipped to lead Israel toward the
noble goals of peace, prosperity
and social justice, 1 am proud to
dedicate this work in his honor."
(Israel: The Challenge of the
Fourth Decade, by Alon Ben-
Meir, Cyrco Press, 1978, p. 220.)
Today, more than at any time
before, I feel proud that 1
dedicated this book to Prime
Minister Begin and that my
expectations have been at least
partially fulfilled
However, while the conclusion
of a peace treaty between Israel
and Egypt is a milestone toward a
more secure and prosperous Israel,
both socio-economic conditions in
Israel and the prospect for
improvement in the near future
remain poor. Prime Minister
Begin, who was preoccupied with
the bigger issues of war and peace,
had rightfully dedicated most, if
not all, of his and other senior
government officers’ time and
energies to the peace negotiations.
As a result, social and economic
matters were neglected, or at best
delegated to lower echelons with
no mandate for drastic action
A brief survey of the Israeli
socio-economic conditions shows
an astonishing inflationary spiral,
soaring at an annual rate of 50
percent The number of major
crimes has increased considerably,
tax evasion and default on
government and private loans arc
common practices, service-
oriented businesses are on the
verge of collapse, the gap between
the rich and the poor is widening,
and the disparity between social
classes may soon bring Israel to the
point of social breakdown
In short, the social and
economic ailments that the Likud
party inherited from the previous
Labor government were further
aggravated by the lack of a
cohesive socio-economic program
that should have been developed in
conjunction with the Egyptian-
Kraeli peace negotiations.
Undoubtedly, Prime Minister
Begin and his advisors are aware of
this awesome reality. I had, and I
still have, profound confidence in
Prime Minister Begin’s ability to
tackle the situation and provide
some remedies. But to allow the
situation to deteriorate beyond the
present level would be
unacceptable to the Israelis, who
are increasingly fearful that this
internal combustion may
jeopardize the future of their
country.
The benefits of peace may not be
felt for a number of years, and
within weeks Israel will enter a new
phase of negotiations with Egypt
to define the concept of self-rule
for the Palestinians in Judea,
Samaria and the Gaza Strip. There
is no doubt that this new phase of
negotiations will at the very least
be as tedious, difficult,
complicated, slow and frustrating
as the previous negotiations
between the two countries.
Can the Begin government at
this point continue to relegate
crucial, if not fateful, social and
economic issues to some later day?
Can the government itself survive
it these problems continue to cut
deep into the soul and body of
almost every Israeli? The time has
come for reckoning. The time has
come to review the whole situation
and provide some better remedies
to the.,.' alarming problems.