SERVING NEBRASKA, IOWA VW. LXH No. 9
Omaha, Neb., Fit, October 28,1983
Israel blames Syria By Hugh Orgel JERUSALEM (JTA) — A "kamikaze" bombing attack on the multinational peacekeeping force in Boiruit took the lives of at least 200 U.S. marines and 20 French soldiers. According to reports, (scores of Marines were wounded and S3 French soldier* were reported missing and presumed dead. The toll of deaths and other casualties is expected to go higher, The headquarters of the U.S. and French troops were reduced to a mass of rubhle and rescue workers desparately tried to extricate those trapped inside. Premier Yitzhak Shamir cabled condolences to President Reagan and President Francois Mitterrand of France. Reagan cut short o golf weekend in Augusta, Go., to return to Washington. /'/iMo fry Allan Gmnr
Israel Mission Fourteen Nebraakana will participate In the UJA Midwest Regional Mltuilon to Israel Oct. 30 to Nov. 7. The mission will »tudy the role of the Jewish Agency'* service* to the People of Israel. The mission will he based in Jerusalem and travel north to tbe Galilee and south to Mnsada and Arad. Government official* nnd educators will lecture to the group reviewing the current socio-economic, military and geo-political status of Israel today. Participating from Omuha will IK- Alvln and Doris Abramiton, Hnndra Belgrade, Paul Cohen, Alton Greene, Stanley and Barbara Malashock, Fcfo Passer, Frances Robinson, and Beverly Hcldln. Also joining the Omaha group from Lincoln ore Max and Ellnorc Ncldcn; from Columbus, Robert and Sylvia Jacobs, and I-eno Kaplan. Other midwest communities participating are Cleveland, Chicago, Cincinnati, Dayton nnd Columbus. Jn this photo, participants received a brleflnjc from Federation President Paul G. Cohen during *a meeting at the JCC recently.
Israeli Arab affairs experts promptly blamed .the Syrian government for the outrage and speculated that the car bomb attack* on marine headquarters at Beiruit airport and the similar attack on French military headquarters were carried out by the suicide squads either of Iranians or members of Amal, a pro-Syrian Lebanese Moslem group. Shamir's message to Reagan said, "We deeply share the grief and sorrow of the people of the United States and France and their government* over the terrible tragedy and IOSK of life." Israel has reportedly made its hospitals available for the wounded American and French noldicrn. According to early reports, a pickup truck loaded with about 2,000 pounds of high explosives crashed through the barriers of marine headquarters under fire and exploded on the ground floor of the building which is also used a» a barracks. Some 200 marines were reportedly asleep at the time. A simultaneous suicide attack was carried out against the French headquarters in Ueiruit. Aharon Hurnen, Arab affair* reporter for Israel Radio, called the attacks part of a Syrian attempt to create "as speedy a» possible Vjetnamization_of_the_Lebajnne situation and American involvement." Prof. Ittamor Rnbinowitz, head of the- SMfoah InAtitute for Arab-and Middle East Affairs at Tel Aviv University, said there was no doubt that Syria wa» responsible.
Mickey and Jeri Kaplan
Bonds plan honor for the Kaplans The State of Israel will recognize Jeri and Mickey Kaplan for their outstanding contributions to their community, nation and the Stale of Israel, it was announced jointly by Harold Epstein and Mort Glass, general cochairmen for the Omaha community State of Israel Bonds. The Kaplans have been active in all aspects of the Jewish Community. Mrs. Kaplan is past chairman of the Women's Division Slate of Israel Bonds, and chaired the 198;) Women's Mission to Washington, D.C. She is currently vice-chairman of ADL/CRC and recently was recognized at the 1983 Women's Division State of iHroel Bond* Luncheon for her years of dedication. Mr. Kaplan has served on the Temple Israel Hoard and in an active member of the Prime Minister's Club of the Slate of Israel Bonds. Mr. Epstein added that "Jeri, as past Women's Division chairman, and Mickey, as past general co-chairman for State of Israel Bonds, know that the needs of Israel are greater now than ever before". — The date for the upcoming Dinner of Stole is Sunday evening. Nov. 20 at Peony Park. Invitations to the entire community will be mailed shortly, the announcement stated.
Conservative rabbis now may be women By Morris Maline Women are now eligible to become ordained na ("on*ervmivp rnhbi*. Hy n .'H to fl vote, the faculty of the Jc-winh Theological Seminary of America made it possible for women t<» enter the Seminary for ktudie* leading to ordination tin a rnbbi.
A second reuoliition authorized Dr. Gernon D. Cohen, chancellor of the Seminary, to cMuhlinh a committee to revineand recommend criteria for all can(iuliitCH Keeking miminnioM
to the Seminary. The resolution making women eligible for mlmis Minn UIIH offered by Dr. Jot-I
Roth, associate professor of Tulmiid and rabbinic* and dean of the Rabbinical school. Observers told the Jtiwinh Press fhut the debitte lasted almost three bourn. Following the vote, Dr. Cohen deitcrtbed the action Hi nn "important step for-
ward in theological thought and ethical Miavior." He said the vote i» evidence that the Seminary nnd the Conservative movement are able to refcpond to the challenge of modernity in traditional terms. He described the vote im not a victory for factionalism, but a victory for the
sanctity of the individual human being, an opportunity to do away with discrimination in Judaism. The vote followed a request from the liahhinicnl Assembly for a decision on the question of admitting women to the rabbinical school. The Rabbinical Assembly is the international
association of Conservative rabbis.The ihHue of ordination of women arose academically in Mny, 1977, when the Rabbinical Assembly called upon the Seminary to focus its attention on this question. Dr. Cohen established an (continued on page 2)
Federation Library celebrates Book Month Book Month luncheon features evangelist Dy Jill Kushner A* part of Jewish flood Month, the aniiiial Women's Luncheon will take place Nov. 0 at the Jewish Community Center be-ginning at noon. Co-sponsored by the local Jewish women'*! organizations and the | Jewish Federation Library, thin year's luncheon will feature evangelist Esther Jungreis, dubbed by many nn "the Jewish Hilly (iraliam." Ms. Jungreis' topic will Iw "Jew* in the '80s: Endangered Specie*." The Esther Jungreis latter part of that theme carries the motivation behind the 47-year-old lecturer's mission, which, in her words, is to bring Jew* back to their faith before they "disappear in silence, through apathy, ignorance and assimilation."
Ms. Jungrcitf has charged that, "This generation suffers from Jewish amnesia." Her message: "To be n Jew is the greatest privilege. To IM? unaware of it is the greatest catastrophe — i>piritiiiil genocide." Her convictions led to the establishment 10 years ago of "Hineni," an international revitalixt organization which advocates the Bible's fundamental values, Jewish .heritage and tbe value* of family life. In addition to founding the movement, Ms. Jungreis nerves <w i u president. She also host* both a weekly radio program in New York nnd o weekly program on the National Jewish Television Network, plus writes o column for the Brooklyn, N.Y. Jowish Press, one of the world's largest Anglo-Jewish weekly newspapers. .ReKervationft for the 1083 Women's Luncheon may l>e made by calling the JCC at 334-8200. There will he a $4.75 charge for the event and babysitter service will be provided at a nominal fee. Arrangements for the appearance of Rebbetzin Jungrcis have been made through the JWB Lecture Bureau.
Chaim Potok lecture highlights Book Fair By Jill Kushner The joys and dilemmas of being Jewish in American society have been effectively depicted by Chaim Potok, author of such books a« T h e Chosen, My N a m e In A s h e r Lev and In T h e Beginning. Mr. Potok, who has been described an "the most powerful storyteller living, in this or any country," will highlight the 1983 Book Fair in a lecture Nov. 0 at the Jewish Community Conter. The 7:30 Chaim Potok p.m. speaking engagement is free to the public. The Bronx-born, 54-year-old author will discuss the inspiration behind, and themes of his novels, which he has said involve "individuals who are very committed to (he core of their particular world, Judaism, and
at the Hume time committed to the ideas that come to them from the core of the secular umbrella world in which they live." Mr. Potok illustrates that conflict through nil aspectsi of human life, including parent-child relationships, friendship, the transition from adolescence to adulthood and the changing role of Jewish tradition in everyday life. Many of h'r . ili.racterB have been drawn from the i . thor's own experiences as a youth growing up in a strict Hasidic household, and his conflicting feelings toward the fundamentalism with which he was raised. In addition to writing, Mr. Potok, who resides in Merion, Pa., is a Conservative, "non-pulpit" rabbi who frequently lectures and teaches. , "An Evening With Chaim Potok" is being co-sponsored by the Nebraska Committee for the Humanities, a state program of the National Endowment for the Humanities, plus the Jewish Cultural Arts Council and the National Council of Jewish Women. A reception sponsored by Hodassah will follow the lecture.