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PAGE 4 THE SOUTHERN ISRAELITE September 12, 1986
The Southern Israelite
The Weekly Newspaper For Southern Jewry
Since 1925
Vida Goldgar Jeff Rubin
Editor General Manager
Luna Levy
Managing Editor
Published by Sun Publications, Inc.
also publishers of The Kansas City Jewish Chronicle
Stan Rose Steve Rose
Chairman and President and
Publisher Co-Publisher
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When will it stop?
Once again, the civilized world mourns victims of insane ter
roristic attacks—this time in Pakistan and Turkey.
From world leaders to the man on the street, words of shock
and sympathy come forth. But words won’t bring an end to such
horrors.
As long as countries such as Libya and Syria give sanction and
support to terrorists and terrorism, we can only wonder where and
when they will strike next.
And if there are still those naifs who believe the terrorist
disclaimers that they are not anti-Semitic, only anti-Israel (as if
that makes it all right), surely the murderous slaughter in Istanbul
puts the lie to that.
Wrong is wrong
While we cannot classify the tear gas bombing at New York’s
Metropolitan Opera House where a Soviet dance group was
performing in the same category as the murderous attack in
Turkey, there is more similarity of intent than might appear on the
surface.
At press time, the perpetrators who forced almost 4,000 people
to evacuate the opera house, injuring 21 people in the process, had
not been definitely identified. A man saying he was a member of
the Jewish Defense League claimed responsibility, a claim later
denied by another member.
If, indeed, a Jewish group—any Jewish group—is responsible,
we condemn them and the action as we would any other act of
terrorism.
Vida Goldgar
‘Sounds of Simcha’
Everything was planned for a festive afternoon
Sunday. After all, it had been more than 20 years since
the Hebrew Academy had had a groundbreaking
ceremony. It’s not easy to decorate
a large outdoor space. Somehow
they had done it, mainly with
multicolored balloons.
In consideration for the neigh
bors, and what hundreds of cars
parked along the essentially resi
dential Northland Drive/ Highpoint
Road area would do, parking was
provided nearby at Crawford and
Company and freshly washed MARI A buses shuttled
back and forth.
Oh, it was exciting. The crowd was enormous.
Young folks, older folks, babes in arms and in
strollers. Overheard often were such comments as
“Isn’t this a beautiful location” and “I hope they can
save some of these oak trees."
As the buses unloaded, the sounds of lively Israeli
tunes met the ears, provided by the Eric Schroeder
Band (He was Ricky when he was a student at the
Academy). As a sure crowd pleaser, Eric called for the
children to come forward and join the singing. J he
adults crowded closer to watch and hear. Early morn
ing cloudy skies had cleared and by 3:30, it was hot.
Never mind. There was a Coke (that’s liquid and with
a capital C) stand for refreshment. Committee mem
bers (I guess) were topped with white plastic construc
tion “hard hats.”
When the last bus arrived, and the Coke was gone,
Dr. Jerry Blumenthal, president of the Hebrew Acad
emy and master of ceremonies, got the show on the
road. It was a proud day for him as he quoted an
unidentified sage: “It has been said that a teacher
affects eternity. You can never tell where his influence
stops. The same must be said of those who labor in
behalf of education.” With Dr. Irving Greenberg lis
tening proudly in the audience, Blumenthal recalled
that it was largely through “Greenie’s” efforts that the
Hebrew Academy started in 1953 with 16children. He
spoke of a series of temporary locations “which termi
nated in 1965 with the groundbreaking of our current
site on North Druid Hills Road,” and said that now
there is an enrollment of over 350 students, “with the
continuing leadership of families like the Greenbergs,
the Kricks, the Minsks, the Libermans, the Siegels, as
well as many, many others.
In the invocation, Rabbi Lewis Weinreich spoke
of inspiring “the children of today to become the
leaders and the bearers of light for our community.”
Neighbors and neighborhood clergy were there, as
was Fulton County Commissioner Chairman Michael
Lomax, whose remarks were brief and welcoming but
didn’t pick up on my tape recorder.
Clearer was Gerald Cohen, immediate past presi
dent of the Atlanta Jewish Federation, whom Blum
enthal described as “an innovator and a risk taker”
who made the project possible. Cohen was quick to
say that the current president, Betty Jacobson, was in
New York for a meeting of the Council of Jewish
Federations. He made a symbolic comparison of the
gathering under the mature trees by the freshly turned
earth to the group, with the adults as the “trunk” to
provide the wherewithal to nurture the “leaves” and
the “branches” for the future.
Nothing like this happens without money, of
course, and it was capital funds chairman David Min
kin’s role to give the exciting campaign update, as
construction chairman Eliot Arnovitz showed the
building plans. Minkin’s remarks touched on the rare
opportunity we in this country have to build a day
school, noting he will be among a group who will soon
be in the Soviet Union where such an opportunity is
unthinkable. “Simultaneously, while we are buildinga
day school and committing ourselves to the future of
Judaism, we are committing ourselves to the future of
Judaism of others.” The bottom line is that to date, the
campaign of $6.5 million is over 60 percent toward
goal. In addition to the sale of the present location,
Minkin especially cited several families who have so
far contributed generously to the campaign: the Mor
ris Arnovitz, Saul Blumenthal, Max Kuniansky, Sid
ney Feldman, Bob London and Gerald Cohen families.
And then it was Dr. Ephraim Frankel’s turn. Dr.
Frankel, who, as headmaster has been eminently
responsible for the academic success of the Hebrew
Academy. Whose leadership, since 1967, has put the
Academy in the forefront of private schools in this
country.
He barely began to speak—and the rains came.
Quickly, with years of dealing with emergencies, Dr.
Frankel abandoned his remarks and called for the
actual groundbreaking. As the first shuttle bus returned
to pick up a dripping load, and as the musicians
scurried to load the sensitive sound system into cars,
shovels of earth were turned. The rain didn't last
long—just long enough to prevent us from hearing
Dr. Frankel (his remarks are printed on page 1) and to
scotch the closing number of the Hebrew Academy
Chorale, “Sounds of Simcha.”
But it was a simcha, nevertheless.
Troubling thoughts
by Rabbi Marvin Richardson
Assistant rabbi, Ahavath Achim Synagogue
This morning as I sat in the syn
agogue listening to the shofar being
blown in recognition of the month
of the Elul which is upon us, I
could not help but think of the
events which had taken place in
Istanbul only a day earlier.
Twenty-three people, twenty-
three human beings, had merci
lessly killed for no reason other
than the fact that they were Jews.
T hat this cruel act occurred leaves
us, their co-religionists stunned,
angry and frustrated. That it actu
ally took place only reinforces the
terrible truth which we have always
known and that the rest of the
world population is reluctant to
acknowledge: Those Arab and Is
lamic groups who perpetuate ter
rorist acts are motivated by anti-
Semitism as well as anti-Israel
sentiments.
What is even more frustrating
and upsetting is that despite this
knowledge and despite the contin
uous acts of terror, the world does
relatively nothing about it. True,
the leaders of the western world
and even the pope were all quick to
condemn this outrage which had
just transpired—as they have con
demned similar outrages in the
past. Yet meaningful acts to combat
and eradicate the problem remain
elusive.
William Safire, the noted colum
nist for the New York Times, wrote
an article a while back examining
the reasons why the West tolerates
terrorism. He could find none, or
at least none that held any validity.
As a matter of fact he expressed his
amazement that the nations of the
world have not banded together to
put an end to something which is a
threat to their very existence. Yet
they have not. Even more recently,
Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli
representative to the United Na
tions, wrote a book outlining how
the war against terrorism can be
won. Yet it would appear that the
nations of the world have not
bothered to read the book or if
they have, they have not read it
carefully.
During the month of Elul, not
only is the shofar blown to com
memorate the beginning of the
penitential season, but Psalm 27 is
also recited at the end of the morn
ing and evening service. It is truly
ironic, sad and perhaps even tragic
that among the many important
statements found within this most
important text is also found the
following verse: “One thing do I
ask of the Lord, this do 1 most
desire. To be able to dwell in the
house of the Lord all the days of
my life. To gaze upon the beauty of
the Lord and to frequent in his
sanctuary.”
For the 23 Jews who were mur
dered, as well as for all the other
worshippers in the Neve Shalom
Synagogue on that day, they had
come to give meaning to these
moving words of Psalm 27. They
had come to dwell in the House ol
God and to be able to gaze upon
the beauty which is His and His
alone.
Is this really too much to ask!