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PL O using airports to run guns?
JERUSALEM (JTA)—Binyamin Netanyahu, Israel’s Ambas
sador to the United Nations, claimed that the Palestine Liberation
Organization uses duty-free shops and stands at several European
airports to pass along weapons, explosives, money and documents
to terrorists for attacks on civil aviation.
Netanyahu made the charge in an interview published in Maa-
riv. He said terrorists made use of the PLO facilities to smuggle
explosives into or out of the countries without having to pass
through security checks. He did not name the airports or the
countries.
Hebrew-Christian groups probed
NEW YORK (JTA)—An in-depth investigation to determine
the facts about the full scope of so-called Hebrew-Christian activi
ties in the United States and Israel is beingstarted by the New York
Jewish Community Relations Council’s Task Force on Missionar
ies and Cults.
Julius Berman, Task Force chairman, in announcing the probe,
said the purpose of the investigation is to alert both the Christian
and Jewish communities concerning the deceptive tactics used by
the Hebrew-Christian and “messianic” groups seeking converts
among Jews.
Secret Israeli spy trial begins
TEL AVIV (JTA)—The secret trial of an Israeli intelligence
officer accused of spying for Syria has been confirmed by Israel’s
police minister, according to American press reports last weekend.
The New York-based Hebrew weekly, Israel Shelanu, published
the first reports of the trial in Haifa’s district court last Thursday
and Israeli papers have since picked up the story quoting Israel
Shelanu.
The Haifa court has imposed a strict ban on the publication of
any information about the proceedings. But the reports that
quoted the American press have cleared the Israeli censor.
New test to detect radioactivity
JERUSALEM (JTA)—A sensitive new technique for detecting
radioactivity in rain water has been developed by Hebrew Univer
sity and Weizmann Institute scientists. Tests using the technique
show that radioactive iodine in rainfall rose 30 times more in West
Germany following the Chernobyl nuclear disaster than it did in
Israel.
The new technique, developed by Dr. Michael Paul of the
University’s Racah Institute of Physics and his colleagues at the
University and at the Weizmann Institute, is able to detect radioac
tivity in rainwater at concentrations one million times less than
could be previously measured.
Ruling on Holocaust tract hailed
LOS ANGELES (JTA)—The Simon Wiesenthal Center hailed
the French government’s decision last Thursday to revoke a con
troversial doctorate granted to Henri Roques last year by the
University of Nantes.
The 371-page dissertation questioned the existence of gas
chambers at Nazi concentration camps and argued that there is no
conclusive evidence to prove that the Nazis had ever gassed their
victims during the Holocaust.
U.S., Sandinista accord urged
SNOWMASS, Colo., (JTA)—The Central Conference of
American Rabbis has called on the Reagan administration to
“normalize relations" with the Sandinista government in Nicaragua
and urged a halt to U.S. funding for the military activities of the
Contra rebel forces fighting the government in Managua.
At the same time, the nearly 400 delegates attending the
CCA R’s 97th annual convention here voted to support a resolution
condemning the Nicaraguan government for its treatment of Jews,
its ties with terrorist groups, and its denial of freedoms, its persecu
tions of Meskito Indians and what the CCAR called “the betrayal
of its own revolution."
Seven come eleven
The complusive gambler
by Marlene Goldman
NEW YORK (JTA)—About 25
percent of some 3 to 4 million
compulsive gamblers in the United
States are Jewish, an overrepresen
tation for a relatively small com
munity, said Robert Custer, chief
of the treatment services division
of the Mental Health and Behav
ioral Sciences Service at the Vet
erans Administration Central Office
in Washington.
“Many Jews fit the profile of the
compulsive gambler," said Custer,
who is also a medical adviser to the
National Council on Compulsive
Gambling. “They’re ambitious,
competitive, of superior intelli
gence, hard driving, energetic and
action oriented.”
Of the 900 compulsive gamblers
Custer has treated, the average
have completed two years of edu
cation beyond high school, and are
most often attorneys, accountants,
bankers and stock brokers, popu
lar occupations among the Jewish
community.
Custer, a diplomat of the Amer
ican Board of Psychiatry and Neu
rology in Psychiatry, discussed
characteristics and possible treat
ment associated with compulsive,
or the clinical term, pathological
gambling, at the three-day national
conference on Addictions in the
Jewish Community, sponsored by
the Council of Jewish Federations
and the Federation of Jewish Phi
lanthropies of New York.
The compulsive gambler often
describes the effects of gambling as
similar to a combination of stimula-
tant-tranquilizer analgesic. While
gambling, the person may create a
fantasy world where he feels influ
ential and respected.
The four most common types of
gambling are horse racing, sports
betting, casino games and stock
options or futures. Women who
constitute 20 percent of gamblers,
are frequently attracted to games
involving less money. They often
participate in church or synagogue
bingo matches, Las Vegas night
activities at local organizations,
and the lottery.
“No huge amounts of money are
involved but it is absorbing of their
time and energy," said Dr. Sheila
Blume, medical director for the
alcoholism and compulsive gam
bling programs at South Oaks
Hospital on Long Island, in an
interview with the Jewish Tele
graphic Agency.
Many of Blume’s patients have
been Jewish. “We get the impres
sion that it’s a considerable prob
lem in the Jewish community,” she
said.
There is a link between the cur
rent Jewish gambling problem and
Jewish history and tradition, ac
cording to Louis Linn, M.D., clin
ical professor emeritus of psychia
try at Mount Sinai School of Medi
cine and a consultant in psychiatry
to Mount Sinai Medical Center.
In the study, "Jews and Patho
logical Gambling," published in
the book “Addictions in the Jewish
Community,” Linn attempts to il
lustrate how the Jewish religion
and history have combined to pos
sibly make Jews more susceptible
to compulsive gambling.
“If one considers the Jewish his
torical experience, replete with
danger, uncertainty, ambiguity,
repeated uprootings and exile...and
the need to start over again...in
foreign lands and among unfriendly
strangers, one begins to understand
why the capacity to eroticize anxiety
has had survival value for the Jews,”
Linn said.
The gambles of day-to-day life
and the need for recreation and
excitement in the ghettos has, ac
cording to Linn, caused Jews to be
prone to compulsive gambling.
Playing with the Hanuka draidel,
betting games using nuts on Rosh
Hashana, and those who celebrate
Purim, the Feast of Lots, by gam
bling, have all exposed the Jews to
the thrill of taking risks.
Characteristic of compulsive gam
blers in general, is “beginner’s luck.”
In the early phase, the gambler
wins big, and according to Cus
ter, toward the end of the winning
streak, the gains often approach
the person’s annual salary. “This
acts as a reinforcer,” said Custer.
“The gambler says, ‘Where has this
been all my life?’ ”
But then the losing starts and the
compulsive gambler begins neglect
ing every other aspect of his life
including school or work, family
and religion. “Gambling consumes
with a passion,” Custer said.
There is a period of heavy bor
rowing and an increase in the
Editor:
Growing up in a small town may
present various conflicts with one’s
Jewish identity. Growing up in
Mobile, I have often come across
such conflicts. Everything from
finding Passover food items to
having legitimate Jewish youth
opportunities becomes increasingly
difficult.
One in this position should strive
to maintain their Jewish beliefs
and standards by taking advantage
of all local Jewish programming as
Editor:
The Relais Universitaires, a
non-profit organization licensed by
the French Ministry of Education,
is bringing a group of French stu
dents (ages 13-18) to the Atlanta
area this August.
The students are coming to par
amount gambled. “The crisis point
is the request for a bailout,” when
money is given from parents, spouse
or in-laws, said Blume. “This is the
perfect time to get people treat
ment but the point is usually
missed,” she continued.
Custer agreed that the bailout
helps deny the problem and as
gambling increases during this
period, responsibility for behavior
decreases. Depressions and suicide
attempts, increase at this time, al
though the number of successful
suicide incidents is not known.
“We need ministers, priests and
rabbis to know this exists,” said
Custer, “and we need to identify
the problem and know the treat
ment resources.”
The majority of the compulsive
gamblers are handled by Gamblers
Anonymous which insists on a ces
sation of gambling and full repay
ment of loans. GA is a voluntary
fellowship of compulsive gamblers
gathered to help themselves and
each other. Membership is free for
GA and many can recover fully
with GA alone.
According to Custer, “Where
we’re really lacking is good solid
research.” There is no national
program to combat compulsive
gambling, but the federal govern
ment and seven or eight states do
provide funds for treatment and
study of the problem.
There is research at the National
Institute of Mental Health to study
the brain chemistry of compulsive
gamblers and see if there is a defi
ciency in certain enzymes or bio
logical substances. “We think this
is a factor,” said Custer.
Recovery for compulsive gam
blers is facilitated by their person
ality strengths. “Gamblers are won
derful people,” Blume said. “They’re
bright, hard working and they care.
Once they realize their problem,
they put tremendous energy into
recovery.”
well as outside opportunities.
Luckily, I have had this oppor
tunity to become involved in the
Jewish community at Camp Bar
ney Medintz which has greatly
helped me find my Jewish identity.
Howard Silverboard
Staff-in-Training Program
Camp Barney Medintz
The above was excerpted from
remarks made by Howard Silver-
board during a Sabbath program
at Camp Barney Medintz. —Editor.
ticipate in the everyday life of an
American family and learn about
the USA.
Host families are needed for
August. For more information, call
455-8172.
Maureen McDermott
1
etters to the etutor
Finding Jewish identity
French students need ‘host’ homes
PAGE 5 THE SOUTHERN ISRAELITE July 11, 1986