^ 903010-00 60 ^ NEBP HISTQiRICAU SOC ^ 15 00 « ST. LIMCOLl^ NE
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SERVING NEBRASKA AND IOWA SINCE 1920 Vol. LXVn No. 34 Omaha, Nobr.
latyw. 87S1 Friday, Itay ». 1««1
Conservative rabbis vote to summon matzali company to rabbinical court
Omaha welcomes latest immigrants l1ire-y«ar><daYniyPadar,fltirtOTliMirt.aRlv«diaOfeaalu«^^ to fight. OaOr Fkakar. Dam Pmkm.VtOym Pirtcnnai,1fifta tmfiTlli&lle HaHa ffwiMlpwwt eoordmtar for Oraha Jatriak Faodty StrHMi) Atittuidr Chrtia aiii Pidaa INrtarauB. They an the BviTM* fafliOy to be noettled in Ouaka
By DtNa Naadbeimi Cohen KIAMESHALAKB.N.Y. (JTA)—Conservative rabbis votod overwhelmingly Tuesday monung to sumnun the three largaat matzah companiae btian n beit din (rabbinical court) to answer charges of {uW fixing. Their resolution, adapted by a show of hands at the annual cooveotion of the Rabbinical Assembly at the Concord Hotel hei«, was an action rare in the Conservative movement. It refenad to a case pending in federal District Court in New Jersey against B. Maniachewitx Ca The company, charged with fixfaig prices for Paaaover mateah, entecad a plea of ntio oontcndcca, meaning that tibsy do 9ot admit the cha^ bat will not conteat it. "Such ^abavior, if true, would ba an outranous flxampll of chiM hWShflm
Israel prepares for influx of Jews from Ethiopia as negotiations go on NEW YORK (JTA)larasl haa bwnn prtpaitac for thepoaiBde maaa imffligratiaa of 17,000 Ethiopian Jaws, aanegotiatiana over their hte caattnue. But American Jewish officjala straaa that apaculation in laraal about an agreement to espedito the ^l^gration of Jews from PPtmopia is premature and '^maccurate. The amerga&cy ariaea from the poaaibility that rebel ttetsa,.which have acorad m^pr mUitaty aucoeaaaa ip ffMBt waeka, will soon Cf^fenHQw Aa ngima of Praahteiit Man^tu HaDa ICariam and enter tha capital ; tflieflM imafilgranta in Israel lAo hava contacted Addia Ababa by telephone arid the Jews there fear fiNfthanbals take over, df tamy well put an end to Jewish emivration. BtUopiaaantere gMips fit larwl -say dtt^taWs would not necessii'lly > harm ths Jaws, but their vMWf could causa diaos in tha oanital, leading to geaaral bloodahed Tha Israeli Embaaay in Addia Ababa and Jewish Afsocy rapraaantaftiyas there have given aaauranoee that leraal will not deaert tha Jaws. According to raporte ftmi Urait, the mfadsWial onwMiMttea OB iBunwant abaorptioa waa scb#Blad to discuaa the dtuetlon on Wadneaday.
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It waa ntost likely to hear a report from Araon Mantver, direetw general of the Jewish Agency's Immigration and Abaorption Department, who has juat retomad from Addis Ababa, iriiars he was sent to asseoe the situation firsthand. The Jewish Agency and Israd's Foreign Ministry were said to be awaiting word of the outcome of talks formar U.S. Sen. Rudy Boachwits bald in the Ethiopian capital last weekend with liengistu. Preaidant Boah aent the Minpaao^s RepuUican to A^Uia Abriw aa hia paraonal endaaary to atpadito tha departure of Jtnm for laraeL Boechwitz was expected to report to the president on his miaaion
by early next weak. There were unconfirmed reporta that ths United Statee waa (rffering Mengiatu poUtkal aqHhmi in tha event of a nM victiory. Maleohn Hoenkin, execQtive directm' of the Conferenoe of Preeidento of Major American Jewish Organieatians, said he was hopeful that the outcome of negotiations cumntly under way would be poeiUva. But he streaaed that nagotiationa were at an eariy atage and added, "^wculatkm wlian 18,000 Uvas are at «take is irreq>onaIble." Meanwhile, the Jewish Agency still aqwcto about 260 Ethio|dan oUm to arrive hi larael by tint end of the week, the normal num-
ber of weakly arrivals since January. But preparations are being made for a sudden, much larger influx. Israel's Absorptkm Mhiistty reportedly has engaged 3,000 motel rooms to house tiie Ethicpians ternporaiily. About 11 hotels in Tiberias, a reaort dty on Lake Khmeret, have reportedly aignad up with the Amidar houaing company to provide quartars for tha immigranta. But Mayor Yoaai FtraU aaki Ua d^ la not readly to abaorb the 2,000 oUm that would be sent there if the Ethiopian Jews were alknred to emii^ata. Ha aUd it needed time to mobilize doctors, teachers and social workers.
Israeli authorities permitting reopening of Hebron University By an Sedan JERUSALEM (JTA)Israsi will allow tha raoparing of tha Islamic Univaraity in Mabraai, which has bean dosed ahioa the Intifada began more than threeyears ago. / The echool. with a studsnt body of 3,000, is tile tUid largaat Palaatinian faiatitttUoB otirighar learning in tiia Waat Bank. Ito MopaoiBg.ia being
viewed aa a confidencebuilding geature toward the Palaatioians. The United Stataa haa bean urging israal to make andi geaturea in tha hope of fiMtering an stifli^liiaii eondudve to advancing the Mkidle East peace pro-
laraeli autlioritiee shut them down when the Palaatinian upriaing begUi. calling the campuses esnters of violence. But the authoritiaa did not interfere when atudanta assembled at different locations to continue thair
Secretaiy of State Jamea Baker had spadfically suggeeted tha "^rtp—ii^g the Palaatiaian, laaMinitiaa.
Last year, larael permitted the reopening of tha univaraitiaa in .Bathlahan end-Abu Die.- aetwavfe-tvaat <
(desecration of God's name) as well as sn act of outright fraudulence clearly in violation of halachic principles and Jewish ethics," Uie resohitionstoted. It called on Manischewitz and the companies with which it was alleged to have conspired "to appear for a Din ToriQi throui^ the agency of the Rabbfaiical Assembly Executiv« Council, in ccder to discuss thsae iaaoei and take reparatwy aetkm to the Jewiah community, if warranted." Rabbi Irwin Oroner, RA preakiant. Win Mqueet the matxah conqjwnie* in writing to eend repiewntotivaa before a rabbinical court within a deeignated period. Rabbi Mark Loeb, of Beth El Ctmgregatton k Baltimore, chairman of the reoohitkna eommittae, explained that "Thia IMQ Torah has a mond ratlar than a I«gal autliat^." Ha daDaai!CMdl,tt«iLalr l«Cad prioa-fixiBc aa "ona of the worst axamplea of thievery and coOutpon." He observed that thoae hurt most were obeervant Jews living on a fixed tkcome.
A no-contest plea by Manischewita to charges that it conspired with other companies to fit the price of Passover matzahs was accepted by U.S. Diatrict Judge Harold Ackerman at a hearing April 86. It waa less tium a year after he rejected a simOar plea application, saying it would not be in the pubUjE. mterest. The judge eet eenteocf ingior M^y 17. Manische; wnz, which claims to be the largest matsahbafcer in the worid, could be fined as much aa 41 mSkm. * Tha reaohitkto calling Maniachewlts Old ito two alleged c(>«anqijratars to a ]>hi Torah talsad aome objections amcng the R.A. convention delegatea. "It's sn issue for the dvil courto to handle," one rabU arid. He thought the R.A.'a involvement should be Umitad to a frieod-oftb»cou]i brief. " A Din Torab has nevai^ been cbnvaned in our move^" msait. hesaid, ASMibir rabbi thought tha Mea was "doomed to falhire." (Ron Ostroff. of the Baltimore Jewish Times, coo' tributed to this repent.)