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THE SOUTHERN ISRAELITE November 21, 1986 Page 3 Temple adopts second refugee family load of 900 Jewish refugees who were not allowed to land any where in 1939. The ship was forced to return to Germany and fueled Hitler’s propaganda that no country wanted Jews. “We would have been ha^py if people of any religion had taken in Jews,” says Schwartz, in expla nation of The Temple’s action in resettling families without regard to ethnic or religious background. He explained that this effort is part of The Temple’s continuing social action involvment. Unlike the temporary night shelter, how ever, this program actually assists in the settlement of families. This project, he says, makes a statement. “We are concerned about all refugees.” The families come through the Refugee Spon sorship Program, a world organ ization of which the Greater At lanta Christian Council is part. The First Presbyterian Church of Atlanta as co-sponsors will help provide funds for the second family. This program has nothing to do with the sanctuary move ment. These are legal immigrants, approved by the State Depart ment. The Temple committee had four days’ notice before begin ning their hectic assignment of getting eight people equipped for a new life. Right now all of them are working together on housing, furnishings, food and clothes for the family, according to Judy Cooper. Members Beth Povlo and her sister Janis Kleinberger brought their children with them to the airport to witness the arrival and to greet the Chanthalangsy fam ily. Since then Bunny Merrill has been busy arranging transporta- See Temple, page 31. by Carolyn Gold They had never been on an air plane before, but in 24 hours they flew to Seoul, South Korea, then to Seattle, Minneapolis, and fi nally to Atlanta, with stop-overs just long enough to change planes. Their transportation was arranged by the U.S. State Department with airline subsidy. Arriving at 9:30 p.m., the tra velers were welcomed at the Atlanta airport by nine members of The Temple committee and by the first adopted Laotian family. The father of this first family and the mother of the second are brother and sister. So the reun ion of the two families after a seven-to-eight month separation was indeed happy. Maxwell Schwartz heads the SS St. Louis Project program, named to commemorate the boat Hebrew Academy plans to honor Kaplan’s long service to school Count America’s many bless ings at this Thanksgiving season and freedom shines as the grea test of them all. A group of volunteers is witnessing this truth and fulfilling its promise as they resettle The Temple’s second adopted refugee family. Again the S.S. St. Louis Pro ject Committee is taking on the responsibility of sponsorship; this time for a father, mother and six children. The family arrived in Atlanta on Nov. 6 with only the clothes on their backs, thong sandals on their feet and one small box of personal posses sions. The Chanthalangsy family is from Laos and escaped Commu nists’ shots as they crossed the Mekong River in a leaking boat, during the dark of night. In Thai land they lived in a refugee camp for more than a year. When overcrowded conditions caused some transfers, the family was sent to another camp in the Phil- Scene at the airport: Maxwell Schwartz (center) with Mr. Chanthalangsy and an interpreter. Temple representatives are in the background. ippines. there before the Chanthalangsys Six to eight months were spent were brought to the United States. Sidney Kaplan will be the honoree at the 10th annual He brew Academy Dinner of Honor on Sunday, Dec. 14, at the Peach tree Plaza Hotel. Kaplan is a past president of the Academy board and its PTA. It was during his term as presi dent that the school gained ac creditation from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. His attachment to the Hebrew Academy began in 1955, when he and his wife Alice were approached by Lila Reisman, Irving “Green- ie” Greenberg, Alex Milt and others, to send their oldest child Scott to the then-fledgling school. “We didn’t feel we were ready to send our child to an all-day Jewish school, but the public school that we were going to send Scott to was under construction and his class was going to be held temporarily in a train depot. We figured that we’d send him to the Academy for a year and then to the new public school.” Sidney Kaplan “We went to visit the Academy, which was then in the educa tional building of the Shearith Israel Synagogue, and were im mediately impressed by the warm and nurturing environment fos tered by the teachers and the principal, Irving Fried.” The result of these seemingly coincidental events was the gra duation from the Academy of the four Kaplan children: Scott, Randy, Mark and Terri. An Atlanta native, Kaplan graduated from Emory Univer sity and served as chancellor of Tau Epsilon Phi Fraternity. Currently serving as president of Ahavath Achim Synagogue during its Centennial Celebration, Kaplan has chaired nearly every committee in the synagogue. His wife has been active in the syn agogue’s educational program and sisterhood. He also served on the board of the Atlanta Bureau of Jewish Education, as Youth Commis sioner for the Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts, and for many years coached Little League sports at the Atlanta Jewish Community Center. For information and reserva tions for the Dinner of Honor, call the school office at 634-7388. BUCKHEAD WRIGHT’S FLORIST Distinctive ‘Style & Service'Since 1949 2393 Peachtree Rd. At Peachtree Battle 233-4446 FLOWERS & PLANTS for All Occasions DELIVERY to ALL ATLANTA & SUBURBS • EUROPEAN FLOWERS • WEDDING • PARTY • INTERIOR FLORASCAPING Coast to Coast Our range allows you the choice between the delicately hand carved, traditional suites, such as the distinctive style shown here, through to the more modem styles of today. DISTINCTIVE FURNITURE 674 Miami Circle Atlanta NE 30324 Phone: 404-2319253