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—Asner Continued from page 18. “I felt so automatically recog nizable as a Jew,” he says, “I’m always amazed I’m not spotted as such.” But he notes this syndrome has followed him all his life— “Ever since I avoided automatic labeling as a Jew in the gentile society I was surrounded by as a kid, I’ve made sure that nobody was mistaken about my being Jew ish.” In point of fact, of course, Asner was not totally unrecognizable as a Jew—only sometimes. He grew up in Kansas City, Kan., the son of Morris Asner, once of Vilna, who in the new country had built up a prosperous junk business, had a fruitful marriage to Lizzie, and was an observant, Orthodox Jew. Ed Asner’s parents are both dead. His father, if he were still living, would be 109, says Asner, who was born in 1929. Asner did not remain an Or thodox Jew. Today he belongs to Stephen Wise Temple, which is Reform. “I went into Reform,” he says, “because I was damned if I would subject myself to orthod oxy. 1 have no beef against them, but it’s not for me. Orthodoxy con trolled my life. In a world in which we seek to break down the barriers between people, for me orthodoxy merely raises them. Yet 1 didn’t want to totally renounce my affili ation with my religion.” (Although it should be noted that he helped the Chabad Telethon when Chabad was rebuilding its main West Coast facility which burned down in mys terious and tragic circumstances.) Asner may go to temple, but he is not entirely convinced of the existence of God. In fact, he has never sat down to decide if God exists or not, he says. “I choose not to expend the energy to approve or deny his existence,” he says. “My own identification with my people is a kind of celebration, an out reach to the future under the title of Judaism, a humanist alternative to orthodoxy, and the ability to still call myself a Jew, and feel that that is something I will not turn my back on, which will be there when and as it needs me and I need it.” Asner is probably better known for his political than his religious convictions and Asner’s fabled poli tics are decidedly on the left. “The idea of Jewish fascists enrages me,” he says. “All my life, the term ‘Jew ish progressive’ was a redundant term.” Yet he notes that he’s been “somewhat active in the sanctuary movement,” and op considerable occasions, he has had cause to be quite upset with Jews who believe that they owe nothing to those flee ing oppression in Latin America. “I think of those dim, benighted bastards, those who would have been the first to have called the gentiles anti-Semites, had it been left up to only the Jewish syn agogues to take in refugees from Hitler.” Asner has kept popping up in the press of late, especially the Jew ish press it seems, since he recently retired from a hotspot role as pres ident of the Screen Actors Guild, and he was succeeded in an elec tion by the candidate he backed. Patty Duke, rather than by a can didate backed by the Reaganite faction led by actor Charleton Heston. (Some have suggested that like President Reagan, Asner is an actor who could have a political career, if not in the Oval Office right off, then certainly as a U.S. senator or perhaps as California’s governor). Asner’s Jewish organizational connections other than the temple are not just the traditional ones. He is a supporter of New Jewish Agenda, which is politically affil iated with Peace Now in Israel, and has been picketed by the Jewish Defense League as a result. It’s clear that Asner does not dif ferentiate between politics and re ligion. Joel Gayman, who produced an audio tape version of “The Sha lom Seders,” originally a book by the same title assembled by NJA and published by Adama Books of New York, describes Asner’s nar ration. It is the tale of Jewish liber ation, and that tale’s connections to nuclear disarmament, bondage in Egypt, feminism, the Warsaw ghetto and peace in the Middle East. Asner is committed to his Jew ishness—even if the worst were to occur, and Kahane temporarily be came the spokeman for the major ity viewpoint in Israel. He says that his reverence for his faith would force him to save it from that majority opinion. “I’m as dedicated to eradicating the yahoos of Jewry worldwide as 1 am dedicated to removing the yahoos from Ameri can life. To me, they go hand in Continued next page. Mike Wolffs Announces The GRAND OPENING GVRO cjorrp Specializing in: Gyros and Fresh Salads 441-9393 5495 Jimmy Carter Blvd. (next to Cub Foods) / X' A Healthy, Happy and Prosperous New Year to All from Congressman Wyche Fowler, Jr. K A Northside Is People. . . People Who Care ® Since opening our doors in 1970, Northside Hospital has distinguished itself through the personal attention given to patients and their families. We’ve touched your lives in many special ways: Perhaps your child was born here, or your mother participated in our cardiac rehabilitation program. Your neighbor possibly was among the thousands who have used our Physician Referral Service. Maybe you received emergency treatment at Northside Hospital or a relative was treated at our Institute for Cancer Control. We’ve provided compassionate care to meet the needs of many. Institute Fop Cancer Control At Northside Hospital Northside Hospital wishes you good health and happiness at this holy time of year. Northside Hospital 1000 Johnson Ferry Road, NE Atlanta, Georgia 30042 PAGE 19 THE SOUTHERN ISRAELITE October 3, 1986