Uiti^ HISTORICAL 15 00 5 ^T L I 'J:
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SERVING NEBRASKA AND IOWA SINCE 1920 Vol. LXVI No. 44 Omaha, Nobr.
4 Tammuz. S74S Friday, July 7, 1989
Pacesetter Breakfast to be held July 21
Hoagland offers help Congressman Pet«r Hoagland met with 27 Russian emigrants at the Jewish Community Center Sunday and promised to hel|^i^em resettle additional families in Omaha. Now residing in Omaha, the resettled Russians are organizing with the assistaqce of Shirley Goldstein and Miriam Simon, (Xhchairmen of the Soviet Jewry conmiittee, to help bring additional Soviet Jews to Omaha. Rep. Hoagland said he was impressed with Ihe progress the immigrants had made in finding good jobs and pointed out that it would be good for Omaha's economy to bring additional sldlled people here.
By Joanie Jacobson Federation public relations director Gerald Hoberman and Robert Kully, c(H:hairmen of the 1990 Pacesetter Division of the Jewish Federation of Omaha, announced that a Pacesetter Breaicfast will be held on July 21 at the Highland Country Club from 7:30,a.m. to 8:45 a.m. Guest speaker will be Reuben Greenberg, Chief of Police, Charleston, S.C. "This is not a fundraising event," emphasized Mr. Hoberman. "It's a social gathering of the leaders of our community. It affords us the opportunity to build a sense of 'togetherness,' knowing full well our common denominator is our Jewish heritage as well as our concern for our community and for Jews throughout the world. "In addition, because these men make a substantial investment in our Jewish community through the Federation, we feel they should receive a brief update on its current status," he said. "We all seem to go in 16
Gerald Hoberman directions at 90 miles per hour," added Mr. Kully. "Maybe to bring a group of pebple together to focus on a conunon interest and stop the high-speed pace for awhile, would be appropriate. If we came together for an hour and 15 minutes at least once a year, it would be a good investment for the; future. We could start to realize the strength we do have and determine what we might be able to do next. "Coming together can make things happen that would never happen if no one gathered," said Mr. Kully.
The men explained that Reuben Greenberg is black, Jewish and Chief of Police in Charleston. He has received national attention in the media and will share information regarding his own background and suggest some alternative strategies for rebuilding the Black/Jewish coalition since the introduction of affirmative action and Jesse Jackson. "The presentation by Chief Greenberg will be a different program than anyone else in this city could offer, " said Mr. Kully. "He's (Continued on Page 91
New Jewish elderly - fastest growing segment By Sherry Rosen NEW YORK (JTA) Demographically diverse, geographically mobile and personally active and productive :. are some of the characteristics that describe the fastest-growing segment of the American Jewish community: the new Jewish elderly. Unlike the generations of elderly preceding them, the Jewish elderly of today and tomorrow are likely to be American-bom, highly educated and retired from professional or manageijlloccupations. And also unlike their laigely Orthodox forebears, most of them list their own religious affiliation and identity as Conservative or Refonn. In light of these developments, many of today's elderly an confronting new and
complex challenges within their extended families: forging new relationships with nonJewish sons- and daughters-in-law and grandchildren.
for the same period. There are other significant differences between Jewish and nonJewish elderly in America, differences height-^ ened by the fact that more Jewish elderly In many ways, the tend to be concentrated Jewish elderly are a re- in the middle and upper flection of current trends middle classes. in the Jewish conrniunity in general and in There is some eviJewish families in par- dence, for example, to ticu^r. suggest that Jewish elderly: Increased longevity * Live longer and in and tower birth rates better health and seek underscore the predic-. out medical care more tioi that the elderly will frequently than their increase from 12 per- non-Jewish countercent of the American paru. Jewish population in • Are more likely to 1975 to 17 percent by stay on their jobs after the year 2000. age 63 and, after retirement, are more likely This growth, which than non-Jews to particiwill take place mosdy pate in volunteer activiamong those IS years or ties. older, is greater even * Report more contact than the proportional with their children and growth of eklerly pre- grandchildren, yet are dicted for the U.S. popu- alio more likely than laiioaatUigB—fiom9.8 noo-Jewi to be pliked percent to 11.9 percent by their children in insti-
tutional facilities. As Allen Glicksman, a gerontologist affiliated with the Philadelphia Geriatric Center, has observed, being Jewish affects how people experience the aging process in a variety of ways. At a recent conference sponsored by the WilUam Petschek National Jewish Family Center of the American Jewish Committee in New York, prominent gerontok>gists, policy planners, health care professionals and Jewish communal leaders gathered to hear presentations by GUcksman and others and to explore the implications of this changing scenario.
tineiy age-ranked into "young-old" (65-74), "middle-old" (75-84) and "old- old" (85 and over), also differ sharply from one another in terms of their health. As Professor Marjorie Cantor of Fordham University notes, while the so-called "compression of morbidity" has prolonged the period of good health for many elderly, there is also an ever-growing elderly population with severe medical problems and chronic illnesses.
Similarly, the relative affluence of some should not obscure the fact that 25 percent of all Jewish eklerly are poor, especially very old All experts in the field women living alone. stress the need to recognize the diversity of the Widespread concern elderly population and has been expresaed over to acknowledge the di- the need for fiBderal legversity of their needs. islatwn that yrill offer all For example, the eld- eldofly AntericAiits aperly, who are now mu- propriate support and
assistance. Priority issues include the need for national health insurance and catastrophic and longterm health care, with attention to the related problems of cost and personnel. The elderly also need affordable housing, opponunities forconunued employment or training for new employment, ^d changes in the Social Security system to encourage incentives toward work.
I Joan Fuld of the Council of Jewish Federations asserts that the elderly i{tust be brought as equal partners into the planning process Jewish communal cies and programs must take into account the extent to wtuch the elde^ly prefer to have their concerns and activities "mainsireamed" into (continued on page 4)