903010-00 60 : HISTORICAL NEBR 1500 R
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SERVING NEBRASKA AND IOWA SINCE 1920 Vol. LXIII No. 11
Omaha, Ueb., Fri., November 29, 1985
Children and war f \f •k L ft U • }/
UNITED NATIONS, N.Y., - A broad coalition of nongovernmental organizations has called upon the memberstates of the United Nations to pledge not to use children in warfare! The appeal was announced by Philip Lax, chairman of the International Council of B'nai B'rith. B'nai B'rith is one of the original members of NGO, and its UN director, Dr. Harris Schoenberg, has chaired NGO's attempts for an international youth effort. Referring to the Geneva Convention of 1949, which prohihits the recruitment or use of youth under 15 years of age in armed conflict, the NGOs expressed their distress that a growing number of youngsters are nonetheless being used in ajl kinds of armed forces. "In many parts of the world," said the NGOs, "we see children, often sm'aller than the weapons they carry, being drilled in the a r t of war. Forced to lay aside the innocence of childhood, they are immersed in a sea of adult hatreds, to learn to kill or he killed for causes they do not fully understand in a world increasingly inhospitable to their existence." The NGOs deplored the number of children under 15 killed or injured in armed conflict a n d "the lasting physical and psychological damage" done to them. They called upon the UN members, to vow that they would abide by the terms of the Geneva Convention, as well as adopt and ratify a new convention on the rights of children. B'nai B'rith's Lax said the call for protection of children was issued to coincide with the UN General Assembly's Conference on International Youth Year. The NGOs, Lax said, will ask each government to pledge, before the end of the year, that it will adhere to the Geneva Convention. Among the signers of the statement are representatives '. of 46 Christian, Jewish, Muslim, social welfare, and professional organizations. They are: All Pakistan Women's Association; American Committee on Africa; American .Jewish Committee, Association of Anih-American University Graduates, Baptist World Alliance, B'nai B'rith International, Cuthotic International, Christians Associuted for Relationship with Eastern Europe, The Christophers, Congregations of St. Joseph, Coordinating Board . of .Jewish Organizations, Defense for Children International. Federalion of Jewish Men's Cluhs, Glohal Education Associates,.Gray Panthers, Im- , pact on Hunger, International Catholic Child Bureau, International Center for l n t e g n tive Studies, International Federation of Settlements & Neighborhood Contors, Internationa] Federation of Women in Legal Coreera, International Photographic Council, International Society for Community Development, International Union of Family Organizations, Internationa! Women's Health Network, Maryknoll Fathers & Brothers, Justice & Peace, Mcnnonite Central Committee — Pence Station, Minority Rights .Group, Movement for a Better World, National Council Tor International Health, National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., Pan Pacific Si South East Asia Women's Association, Pax Christi — International Catholic Peace Movement, Prospective Foundation for Research & Communications, PrcBbyterian Church — Youth & Young Adult Program, Servos International, United Church of Christ Office of Communications. ( AIBO, United Church of Christ Office for Church in Society, Women's American ORT, Inc., Women's International league for Peace & Freedom, Women's Institute for Freedom of the Press. World Federation for Menial Health, World Muslim Congress, World ! Union for Progressive Judaism, World. Union of Catholic Women's Organizations, World's Women's Christian Temperance Union, and YWCA World Alliance.
Orthodox starts group to arrange marriages The formation of a Marriage and Family Commission by the Orthodox Union has been announced by Union P r c ^ ident Sidney Kwestel. Rabbi Daniel Fingerer, a- clinical, member of the American Association of Marriage and Family Therapists, has been appointed director fo the program, and OU past-president, Moses I. Feuerstein, chairman.
The goal of the Commission, according to Kwestel, is to introduce seriously marriage-minded individuals. Extensive interviewing and a personal videotape session — an innovation in Jewish introduction services — will highlight the Commission's project. Rabbi Fingerer emphasizes that follow-up with both participants after the initial date is an important part of this program, one that other video-dating services do not provide. A fee comparable to those charged by other wellknown services has been structured. Mr. Feuerstein explained that singles of all ages have been approaching their rabbis for assistance in finding a marriage partner. Until now, rabbis had limited resources to offer beyond their personal knowledge of the community. The formation of the Commission's new service will provide a reliable and far-reaching service to which rabbis can turn. Parents are also invited to seek information to Rabbi Fingerer fay calling (212) 563-4000. Kwestel, and Rabbi Louis Bernstein, president of the Rabbinical Council of America, have both indicated their expectation that the new service will provide an important national resource to aid Orthodox singles. Commission members include: Rabbi Joseph Grunblatt, Rabbi Ephraim Buchwald/Rabbi Yoel Schonfeld, Mr. Joel Schreiber, Rabbi ARi Korenblit, Karin Feldhamer, Irma Horowitz, Mr. Avery E; Netimark, Mr. David Gordon, Riyka Zakheim, and Mr. Robert Leifert.
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iy at c A public address by the Luhavitcher Rebbe, Ruhbi Mcnachem M. Schneerson, on Monday, Dec. 2, wijl be transmitted live via satellite from Lubavitch World Headquarters in New York, to cable TV stations across the United States, beginning at 8:30 p.m. Omaha time. The program will be broadcast by Cox Cable on Channel 53. The telecast, entitled "An Evening With The Lubavitcher Rebbe," will be viewed by an estimated six million people in homes and community centers across the United States and Canada. This day — the nineteenth of Kislev on the Jewish calendar — will celebrate the 187th anniversary of the liberation of Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi, the "Alter Rebbe" (1745-1812), founder of the Chabad-Lubavitch Chassidic Movement. . Rabbi Schneur Zalman was arrested and imprisoned by the czarist government due to libelous charges brought against him by his adversaries to deter his holy work. His victory was not just personal; it heralded a new era for the promulgation of Chassidism and a rejuvenation of Judaism.
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In the years that followed the Chabad-Lubavitch Movement continued to flourish and spread all over the world.
Ben Belmont to run Israeli torch into JCC A former Maccabian silver medalist will participate in the Hanukkah Torch Relay, Dec. 8 at 12:30 p.m. at the Jewish Community Center. Ben Belmont, of Omaha, who boxed in the 1977 Maccabian games in Israel will run with an Israeli torch into the JGG as a finale to a relay beginning at 10 a.m. at Beth El Synagogue. Closing ceremonies also include the lighting of Menorah candles and related Hanukkah festivities. For additional information, contact Judy Siff, 4934112 or Chuck Arnold 334-8200.
ram lor cxaren by Jill Kuchnar Belmont : Dec. 15 will be a day of entertainment, crafts and a party for children as part of the 1985 Jewish Book Fair, according to Federation Library Director, Edythe Wolf. Approximately, 175 children are expected to participate in the program, which is being co-sponsored by the Jewish Cultural Arts Council, Hadassah and the JCC Film and Dance committees. Activities will include a Sephardic dance performed by the JCC Young Dancers' Workshop, a play, film, and a birthday party in honor of Maimonides' birthday. "This will be a chance for kids to see their friends performing in theater and danqe, and a chance for younger kids to participate in crafts and related to Judaism," said Alan Potash, assistant director of JCAC who has helped to coordinate the events. "There are so many opportunities for kids of all age groups to participate in a program that's exciting and educational." The schedule of events follows: 12:30 — Lunch (Cost: $1; reservations required) 1:00 — Film: "Zlateh the Goat (all ages welcome) 1:30 — Performances: 'Mazel and Schlimzael" by I.B. Singer and JCC Younger Dancers Workshop —, (Ages 7 & up) ^ 1:30 — Music, entertainment, crafts (Ages 4-7) 12:30 — Maimonides' birthday celebration (all ages) (songs, cake, punch) Family participation is encouraged and children under the age of seven should be accompanied by an adult. Reservations for lunch can be made by calling Lois Wine :i:i48200 Ext! 245. • . . .
Jewish Book Fair CALENDAR OF EVENTS Dec. .2, 7:30 p.m. Community lecture/reception. Wolf Blitzer, Washington bureau chief of the Jerusalem Post. ' Topic: "Washington and Jerusalem: Are They On a Collision Course?" Dec. 4, noon, Women's community luncheon. Topic: "Staying Married in the Age of Divorce: A Jewish . Perspective", Francine Klagsbrun, Luncheon, $5. Reservations required. BOOK SALE HOURS Sunday Dec.l 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday-Friday Dec. 2-6 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Sunday Dec. 8 11 a.m,-4 p.m. Monday-Friday Dec. 9-13 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Sunday Dec. 15 11 a.m.-5 p.m.
Reform plans outreach to intermarried couples
Conservative reaffirms lines of descent
BY BORIS SMOLAR
Kiamesha Lake, NY — Rejecting the recently adopted stand of the Reform Movement to recognize either the father or the mother in establishing lines of Jewish descent, the lay leadership of the 850 Conservative Movement congregations on the North American Continent voted a major Resolution affirming the traditional position that "status as a Jew is determined only by matriliheal descent.or by conversion according to Jewish Law''.
Editor-in-chief emeritus, J.T.A. Copyright 19ft1), .Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Inc.
The Union of american Hebrew Congregations (UAHC) — the central body of 791 Reform temples — is conducting an intensified "outreach program" to intermarried couples with strong efforts to secure conversion of the non-Jewish spouse to Judaism. Leaders of Reform Jewry believe that more Gentile-born spouses may be open to conversion than is generally assumed, and that a failure to convert before marriage does not necessarily close the door to such a move later. The American Jewish Committee, in a new study on converts, suggests, however, that conversion efforts directed at the non-Jewish partners may be missing the mark. The study established that many non-Jewish spouses do not convert because the Jewish |4artner is indifferent to Jewishness, and that programs of "outreach" to the intermarried would be more successful in effecting conversions if they paid more attention to deepening the Jewish commitment of the Jewish spouse. The study, which focuses on who converts in intermarriages and who does not, why, and with what consequences for personal identity development, was discussed at a special session of the four-day meeting of the National Executive Council of the AJCommittee held -last week (November 7-10Hn Miami. The session was addressed by Prof. Egon Mayer, a noted sociologist who has been conducting Btudies for the AJCommittee on various aspects of intermarriage and conversion. In the early 1970s the community was shocked by statistics indicating that the, intermarriage rate was rapidly ' rising and had already passed 31 percent. The predominant Jewish response was. one of alarm. Communal spokesmen condemned intermarriage and exhorted Jews against it.
The action took place at the five-day Biennial Convention of the United Synagogue of America at the Concord Hotel, Kiamesha Lake, NY. In adopting the Resolution, the delegates were aligning themselves with the postion of the Rabbinical Assembly, international organization of the Rabbis of the Conservative Movement, which has unequivocally opposed the "drastic modification of universally accepted Jewish law" represented in the Reform action. . The question has surfaced because of the.high and increasing incidence of mixed marriages in which, in most instances, the husband is Jewish and the wife ishot. Speaking at a plenary session, where various aspects of the problem were aired, Rabbi Kassel Abelson of Minneapolis, viqepresident of the Rabbinical Assembly declared, "One of the most difficult issues that we have grappled with is how to respond to the startling increase in the number of mixed married families, where one spouse is Jewish and the other is not." "The most important question to be dealt with is the question of offspring of mixed marriages -— is a child to be considered Jewish because it has a Jewish parent? The Committee on Jewish Law and Standards has affirmed the traditional law that defines a Jew as one who is born to a Jewish mother or is converted to Judaism".