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SERVEUG NEBRASKA AND IOWA SINCE 1920
Vol. LXIII No. 37
Grtmhs, k'&b., Fri., fJ!sy 31, 1085
to A Nebraska school district should not be forced to permit a religious club in its high schools, even if the new federal "equal access" law says it should, according to the American Jewish Congress. Students at Westcide High School in Omaha who were denied a request to form a Christian Fellowohip club have brought a
Winning swimmsr Jewish Commu- ! nity Center Bwimmer Barton (Bucky) Gre8nberg won three events in the National Masters Swimming Meet in Milwaukee L. _J recently. „ Barton (Bucky) He placed first in Greombotrc and Iiia all three breaot- tliroo o w i m i a i n g stroke races in his misdalo. age group (60M55). About 15 swimmers competed in this classification. Mr. Greenberg won the" 100-yard race in 1 minute, 18.77 seconds; the 200 breaststroke in 2:56:04 and the 50 in 34.17.
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i cru l^fefeide lawsuit in federal court against the Westside Community Schools, seeking a preliminary injunction to compel the school district to permit the club to meet on school premises, under the federal Equal Access Law enacted by Congress last summer. In an amicus, or friend-of-the-court, brief, which it has asked the court for permission to file in U.S. District Court for the District of Nebraska, AJCongress argues that the request for an injunction should be denied because the Equal Access Law, which requires public schools with student club programs to extend the privilege to religious clubs, is unconstitutional. Accordingly, says the brief, there is no legal basis for a preliminary injunction in this case. The AJCongress brief, which was released by Jerrold Blumoff, president of the Southwest Region of American Jewish Congress, cays that before passage of the Equal Access Lav/, federal courts that addressed the issue of religious clubs on public high school premises rejected it as an unconstitutional establishment of religion by government. . . Courts, not Congress or the Executive, decide constitutional questions, nays the brief. It adds that since the courts have
NEW YORK (JTA) - The leaders of Reform Judaism called on American Jews and Catholics to join in a new and wide-ranging program aimed at promoting inter-religious understanding at the church and synagogue level. The action by the Union of American Hebrew Congregations (UAHC) is believed to mark the first time a Jewish denomination has sought to bring together synagogue members and church-goers in activities seeking to create better understanding of each other's beliefs. 1 The program was adopted by unanimous vote of 150 members of the UAHC Board of Trustees at its semi-annual meeting in the Grand Hyatt Hotel. In a resolution, the board urged the UAHC's 780 member-synagogues, composed of 1.3 million Jews, to undertake: Catholic-Jewish dialogues to explore the issues that divide as well as those that unite the two communities. The exchange of teachers and team-teaching by priests and rabbis in Catholic parochial and Jewish religious schools. . . • Catholic-Jewish dialogue and joint action on nuclear disarmament, economic justice and other issues on which the National Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Union of American Hebrew Congregations have adopted parallel policy positions. : Ignorance at the grans roots The resolution hailed the 20th anniversary of the issuance by the Second Vatican Council of "Nostra Aetate," which repudiated the charge of deicide against Jews and condemned anti-Semitism. But while welcoming the progress in Christian-Jewish relations since then, the UAHC trustees said: "The most effective efforts to eliminate mistrust and misunderstanding have taken place so far on the national and diocesan level, rather than in the local community . . . The people in the pews too often remain ignorant of the vast changes in the attitude of the Catholic Church toward the Jews, so that misunderstanding may still persist on the gross roots level." The board also instructed UAHC's educational arm to prepare materials commemorating the 20th anniversary of Vatican II and "to ossure that information regarding the changes in Catholicism since then is disseminated on a regular basis to congregations, religious educators and youth." "C The Reform Jewish leaders acted after hearing from both Catholic and Jewish experts on interfaith relations and interfaith dialogue, and after llabbi Alexander-Schindler, president of the UAHC, toldl;he meeting: "We do not say that all differences have been obliterated, for they have not, and tensions remain: the Vatican's failure to establish formal diplomatic relations with Israel, the Pope's meeting with (PLO chief Yosir) Arafat, the Vatican's role during the Holocaust. But the deadly sting has been removed, and our differences are reduced to their proper proportion." Time for affirmative action The need for "understanding and reconciliation between Catholics and Jews is made even more urgent by the demands of economic justice and nuclear disarmament. The prophetic cry of peace with justice is part of a shared vision
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found "equal access" unconstitutional, Congress, in passing the Equal Acces3 Act, violated the constitution. The brief, prepared by AJCongress attorneys Marc D. Stern, Lois C. Waldman and Ronald A. KrauBS, says that the student plaintiffs in the case have not demonstrated that they will suffer the "irreparable harm" that must ba proven to justify a preliminary injunction. "Plaintiffs are free to meet before or after
school at any other location," the brief notes. School district policy, it goes on, "does not prohibit students from 'witnessing' their faith — only from doing so with what the District believes to be official sanction." The brief urges the court to consider, in the public interest, "the rights of students in the Westside Schools to attend schools free of any hint of establishment of religion."
Members of the Jewish Federation Board and the Bureau for the Aging Board will honor the Cherniak-Chapman families and the Waxenherg-Sherman families on June 16, at 2:30 p.m., when the Living History Wall at the'Rose Blumkin Home is dedicated. The ceremony will recognize the significant contributions to the Omaha Jewish community made by the honorees. The addition to the former Dr. Philip Sher Home was a gift of the Cherniak-Chapman family, and included manyibeautiful furnishings for special rooms.
The Living History Wall depicts the story of the growth and changes of the old Home, together with the continuing history of the new Home. The Wall itself, located in the front lobby of the Blumkin Home, is the gift of the Waxenberg-Sherman family.
that impels us to work together," Schindler said. He pointed out that the basis for that cooperation was laid,2Q years ago: in Npstra, Aetate,"which luminously transformed the way Catholics and Jews look at- ono another. Pope John XXlirdidvvhat President Tieagaii failed to do when he visited Bitburg: he recognized the past for what it was, and instead of absolving the Church he determined to transform it. But if Catholic dogma has been transformed, not enough Catholics have been — and too few Jews are involved in dialogue. We can sit back and wait for it to happen, or we can take affirmative action to make it happen. I propose that we act, and I believe we will find a cooperative spirit and an eagerness to join with us, both in repairing the errors of the past and in building together a better world -for tomorrow." "An unparalleled triumph" The Rev. Edward Flannery, author of "The Anguish of the Jews" and a pioneer in ecumenical efforts, told the Reform Jewish leaders that "against thei backdrop of the near 2,000 years that preceded Nostra Aetate, the progress we have made over the past two decades in interfaith understanding has been an unparalleled triumph in human relations. Looking at the past 20 years in the shorter run, however, they appear— in light of the magnitude and urgency of the task before us — as faltering and slothful." The Catholic ecumenist, who now serves as director of the Office of Continuing Education of the Clergy in the Diocese of Providence, R.I., continued: "Anti-Semitism is the supreme challenge of the JewishChristian dialogue. That is because Christians generally are all but totally ignorant of what happened to Jews in Christian history and of the complicity of the church in the development of anti-Semitism — the latter a page torn from our history books. "From the widespread ignorance of the anti-Semitic record results an indifference not only to the problem of antiSemitism but to the entire Jewish encounter. This indifference creates on the Christian side the chief obstacle to progress in our relations. At the same time, exposure to the magnitude and scandal of this record generates in every open-hearted Christian a sense of urgency vis-a-vis JewishChristian relations as nothing else can. "On this 20th anniversary of Nostra Aetate, let us acknowledge that though this precious.document has been well promulgated by the Vatican and some national hierarchies, and followed up by other excellent documents, it has not been implemented in most dioceses, let alone parishes, pulpits and schools." Israel as the litmus test Flannery said the "litmus-test" of Jewish-Christian relations was the State of Israel. He told the'Reform Jewish leaders: ' • "To Jews, Israel was and is central to their concerns and to their Judaism. To Christians it is a.peripheral issue, laden with misunderstanding, often unwelcome in the dialogue, often seen as an illegitimate injection of politics into a dialogue that is religious in nature and purpose. This disparity of views on so vital an issue can only invite trouble for our interfaith efforts." '
Honorees on this special occasion will be: Helen (Mrs. Jay) Chenriak, Harriet and Harold Cherniak, Gertrude Chapman and their families. Also, Phyllis and Iry Sherman, Sheldon and Barbara Waxenberg Feinhandler and their families.
Suspicion and diotruct of non-Jews continue Rabbi Jerome Davidson of Temple Beth El in Great Neck, Long Island, chairman of tho UAHC's committee on interreiigjou3 affairs, told acession of the weekendmeeting* that many Jeivo wero^okepticaj.pf Nostra Aetate when it was issued 20 years ago. A' commonly-held view, he said, was: "It's about time. How grateful need we be for being told we have a right to exist?" He continued: "But surely now we can see what potential this document held for a new era. Catholic textbooks have been purged of anti-Jewish material, anti-Semitic prayers have been removed from liturgy and seminaries are changing their teachings about Jews and Judaism. Catholic schools are incorporating the study of the history of modern Jews and Judaism into their curricula, including an understanding of the Holocaust as well as the role of Israel for the Jewish people. "Rabbis and Jewish educators now frequently teach in Catholic seminaries and parochial schools. There can be little doubt that relations between Catholicism and Judaism hold the potential for being better than they have ever been." But Davidson was critical of the Jewish community's interreligious activity, asserting: "We have certainly not measured up to the opportunities of this new time. The baggage of suspicion and distrust of non-Jews which we carry around is nearly as weighty as ever. Clearly 2,000 years of Christian-inspired oppression of Jews cannot and should not be forgotten overnight, even in 20 years. But we seem to prefer to live with our hurts than to seek the healing that might prepare a better era for the generations to come. "It is an attitude we must learn to shake, just as we must abandon the anti-goyim mentality that isolates us from constructive relationships with the Christian community."
B'nai B'rith International and B'nai B'rith Women have agreed to explore alternatives for a productive partnership. BBW President Beverly Davis and BBI President Gerald Kraft said that the two organizations plan "to explore alternatives that may be available for full equality for women and men in the B'nai B'rith family, providing them with the opportunity for individual identity and agenda and the sharing of responsibility, programs and projects." This accord follows months of discussion and debate in both organizations, during which the Executive Board of B'nai B'rith Women recommended separation from B'nai B'rith International. ' BBW has rescinded its resolution calling for separation from BBI, cancelled the remainder of nationwide town hall meetings, and postponed its special delegate assembly scheduled for June. At the same time, BBI cancelled task force meetings it had set up to evaluate members' responses to issues relating to a convention resolution calling for a plan to admit women to membership.