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SERVING NEBRASKA, IOWA Vol. LXII No. 52
Omaha, Neb., Fri., August 24, 1384
aier ions The Omaha Jewish Community Center Theater announced today that it is one of nine Jewish Theaters in the United States and Canada to participate in the National Foundation for Jewish Culture's Community Theater Project. These theaters have formed a consortium to commission a new play of Jewish content, and the resulting play will be the sole property of the consortium members, with each theater retaining rights to produce the play. "This is a great step for the JCC Theater," said Arlene Goodman, Theater Committee chairman. . Other Theater Consortium members are the JCCs of Minneapolis, Philadelphia, Buffalo, Rochester, Cleveland, Columbus, Houston, and the Leah Posluns Theater of Willowdale, Ontario. The objective of the National Foundation for Jewish Culture's Community Theater
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Project is to enhance the prestige of Jewish Community Theaters and to stimulate interest among the general public. The winning play will be announced by January 1985, and upon approval by the JCC Theater Committee, will be produced in the Spring of 1985 in the JCC Theater. "I am very impressed with the JCCs committment to provide significant Jewish theater to the community," said Martin Skomal. "This vehicle can provide the theater with a fine new play, as well as gaining some national recognition on the part of the consortium." Mr. Skomal is Artist-in-Residence at the JCC through n grant from the Nebraska Arts Council. Currently, he is directing the musical, I Can Get It For You Wlioleaale, which will open at the JCC Theater on Aug. 25.
By David Landau JERUSALEM (JTA) — Leaders of the Labor Party are "rather pessimistic" about its prospect or that of Likud's to stitch together a narrow-based government. There was alscLSOme pessimism about the possibility of forming a national unity government. The talks that have been going on between Labor and Likud and between the two major parties and the smaller parties appear to be stuck in dead center. Sources participating in the negotiations between Likud and Labor praised the cordial atmosphere but said there has been no substantial progress on the two key issues: the Jewish settlements in the West Bank and negotiations with Jordan. Each party, the sources said, advanced its own line. The onlylpossible breakthrough was former Premier Yitzhak Rabin s proposal that Labor and Likud seek to set up a unity government'for two years only that would focus mainly on the economy and the need to withdraw from Lebanon. , This proposal has not been formally endorsed by either party, but given the ongoing disputes on foreign and domestic policies, Rabin's scheme may gather support as a
LINCOLN — Bill Davidson, area chairman for Nebraska's State of Israel Bond Organization, died Aug. 18 of an apparent heart condition. He was 72. Services took place last Tuesday with burial in Tifereth Israel Cemetery. In addition to his wife, Sophie, Mr. Davidson is survived by son, Steven and daughter, Joyce, and two grandchildren, all of Lincoln. , In his capacity as area chairman for Israel Bonds, Mr. Davidson was to have played an important role in the Wednesday night Lincoln dinner honoring Betty and Hyman Polsky. The Jewish Press was advised that the dinner would go on as scheduled at the recommendation of Mrs. Davidson who reportedly said, "Bill would have wanted it that way."
WASHINGTON — President Reagan of districts and individual lodges and units and candidate Walter Mondale are expected in 48 countries on six continents, comprises to address B'nai B'rith International's bien- the 140-year-old organization's highest polnial convention Labor Day week and bring ' icy-makers. The vast majority of B'nai their political campaign to some 1,000 del- B'rith's 500,000-plus members are U.S. egates the world's largest Jewish service citizens. organization. During the business segment of the conThe convention will be held at the Sher- vention, delegates will review — and if necaton Washington Hotel. (As of Aug. 16, nei- essary, redirect — the progress of ther the dates nor the times of their "Covenant With Tomorrow," B'nai B'rith'a addresses have been set.) program for the '80s aimed at confronting In recent years it has become customary the major issues facing the world Jewish for U.S. presidential candidates to disclose community; plan.a major expansion in their proposed Middle East and Israeli pol- South America; elect officers; and corisider opening "full and equal membership" to icies at the B'nai B'rith convention. . Besides the President and Mondale, also women. slated to address the convention are Israeli Ambassador Meir Rosenne and presidential advisor and economist Leo Cherne. The B'nai B'rith convention composed of the Board of Governors and representatives
practical way of forming at least a two-year government. " Both Labor and Likud leaders acknowledge privately that any narrow-based government that either party might manage to put together would probably be much shorter-lived than two years. But even if agreement is reached on Rabin's proposal, the thorny issue of who would head a two-year government — Labor leader Shimon Peres, who was chosen as Premierdesignate by President Chaim Herzog, or Premier Yitzhak Shamir — has still to be resolved. The "rather pessimistic" prospect of either party being able to form a narrow-based government was confirmed in a radio interview by Victor Shemtov, secretary-general of Mapam, the Labor Party's partner in the Alignment, after a three-hour meeting in Tel Aviv between Labor and Mapam leaders. Shemtov said that unlike the Labor Party leadership, he was more optimistic about the narrow-based option but less optimistic about the possibility of a national unity government. Explaining his view regarding the narrow-based option, Shemtov noted that the "negotiations have not reached their climax yet... different dynamics are possible . . , especially when people come to realize that the alternative might be early elections." On the unity option, Shemtov said Mapam's position remained unchanged: it was "not putting obstacles in the way of Peres negotiating with Likud on behalf of the entire Labor Alignment" but Mapam did not believe a unity government is possible given the wide differences between the Alignment and Likud on major issues. He said he doubted that Likud would modify its positions just to form a unity government. "I know the Likud and I respect the Likud," Shemtov said. "They mean what they say." The Mapam leader cited ongoing West Bank settlement activities and government plans for further settlement as proof of his contention. In economic affairs moreover, he said, the Likud-led transitional government was going ahead with moves that were creating unemployment. Regarding the idea — that has been raised unofficially (continued on page 2)
tomorrow I Can Oet It For You Wholesale opens tomorrow night in the JCC Theater at 8:45 p.m. Cast members David Rosenberg and Terry Love are seen in a scene from this, musical comedy. See preview story on page 3.
men By Ben Gallob (Copyright 1084, Jewish Telegraphic Asoncy, Inc.)
The widespread belief among American Jews that the recent significant upturn in the American economy has repaired the crippling impact of the 1981-82 recession on thousands of middle-class middle-management Jews apparently does not apply to Kansas City's 26,000 Jews where there has appeared an emerging problem of a new Jewish poor. A study, the Report of the Task Force of Jews on the Edge, has been made by the Kansas City Jewish Family Commission and the Kansas City chapter of the American Jewish Committee. Greater Kansas City is one of a number . of Jewish communities participating in the Committee-developed project, according to the Kansas City Jewish Chronicle. Sam Asher, an executive of the Kansas City Federation, said the study had found an "emerging problem" of economically dfslocated Kansas City Jews. One finding was that requests to the Jewish Family and Children's Services (JFCS) for financial aid for food, shelter, emergency help, medical, mortgage and other needs had "increased substantially" over those of 1983. The study found that "at
risk" groups like single parents and Russian Jewish newcomers were particularly hard hit. The study declared that the needs for financial help were "largely due to new unemployment" of Jews "who have had a history of gainful employment." As had been widely reported much earlier in other Jewish communities, "some of these people have lost their jobs and hold mortgages and/ or have other substantial financial obligations." The report said that, in many cases, the victims are single parent Jews, "or, more commonly," unemployed Jews "who formerly held responsible positions." Asher said "a big problem" is the jobless Jewish professional, "a middle level management person who has lost his job through cutbacks and changing economic trends." Evelyn Gibian, a study researcher, said "for the first time, people in their 50s who might have been in business or. worked for a corporation that might have had cutbacks" are "finding themselves without." The study also found that 27 percent of the local senior Jewish population is living at or below the $10,000 a year income level — about 650 Jews. Gibian said Kansas City had been "especially hard hit in this area" because "the city has a higher percentage of Jewish elderly than other
communities." . ' She said pride often prevents such Jews from seeking aid, adding these were Jews "who have been making it on their own all their lives and now they don't want to come and ask for assistance." But, the report said, the Kansas City Jewish elderly may be doing better in "a large intermediate" Jewish community than in larger cities with bigger Jewish populations. The study cited St. Louis where 40 percent of Jewish elders reportedly have annual incomes under $10,000, a much larger proportion than in Kansas City. Kansas City rabbis and synagogue officials report they are getting more requests for reduced membership rates, or of Jews dropping out rather than making such a request. For the most part, the report noted, "these are the middle-class employed, sometimes even two-income families, who may be squeezed by high mortgages or other, fixed costs." Three times as many requests for pilgrimage and camp scholarships were received this year than in 1983. A significant finding was that "the general and Jewish agencies are not up to meeting these needs." Asher said the Jewish community's "safety net" has been catching most of the at-risk Jewish population "up to this point." .