Ohio Jewish Chronicle, 1978-06-29

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ZJlWy/ Serving Columbus and Central Ohio Jewish Comtnunlty for Over 50 Years \l//\\K
VOL. 56 NO. 25
JUNE 29,1978-SIVAN 24
Urvolpd lo Amu i
Israel Claims
Terrorists In
South Lebanon
TEL AVIV (WNS)-Israel
has charged that terrorists
have returned to south
Lebanon despite the control
of the Litani River bridges.
by the United Nations
Interim Force in Lebanon
(UNIFIL). Israel claims
there are now some 500 terrorists in the area under
UNIFIL's control., But Gen.
Emmanuel Erskine,
UNIFIL's commander, puts
the figure at no more than (
150. Israeli sources said that
the terrorists are trying to
coerce, the local population
into cooperating with them.
The terror campaign has
. been aimed. - mainly at
villages irihavited by Si'a
Moslems. There is no indication, that the terrorists have
entered the area controlled
by an independent Christian
militia. This group broke
away from the militia
headed" by Maj. Saad
Haddad apparently because
Haddad has allowed UNIFIL
troops to enter his area.
Meanwhile in New York
June,21, -a-UN spokesman-.,
denied a report on Israel
television that the UN and
the Palestine Liberation
Organization had reached a
secret agreement permitting
large numbers of terrorists
to re-enter south Lebanon.
"Such an agreement does
not exist," the spokesman
(CONTINUED ON PAGE 6)
Israel Rejects I nterim Plan For
Gaza: Urges Return To Negotiations
AA To Host Senior Citizens
At Bexley July 4th Parade
Under the Chairmanship of William L. Goodman the
Agudas Achim Brotherhood will host the senior
citizens of Heritage House and Luteran Senior Citizens
center on its lawn for the Annual Bexley 4th of July
Parade.
, Refreshments will'be served and members of the
Brotherhood willact as hosts. Sun shades will be provided through the courtesy of Yenkin Majestic Paints
and flags contributed by the Jewish War Veterans of
the United States. "
—    ■ ' -■—    '■■■ i       ■   — ■      —"      '"■    ■—■ ' ™
Doctor Says Begin
In Good Health
By David Landau
JERUSALEM (JTA)-P-
remier Menahem Begin's
personal physician, Dr.
Mervyn S. Gotsman, chief of
the Cardiac Department of
the Hadassah Medical
Center here, told reporters
tonight that "Mr. Begin is in
Jubilee Journey To Israel
Planned As Major Event
"' A special "Jubilee
Journey"'to Israel is being
planned as a major 1979
United Jewish Fund Campaign event of the Advance
Gifts Division. Scheduled for
October 19 through 30, this
deluxe tour will be lead by
Ben Goodman, currently a '
vice president of the Columbus Jewish Federation.
The mission, for couples,
will include visits to military
sites and social welfare development areas and lectures by top government officials, including representatives of .the Prime Minister's
office. These visits, as well
as visits to trie popular
tourist, attractions, will- be
conducted by a full-time
guide in an air-conditioned
tour bus. All first class accommodations will be
provided.
A preliminary meeting to
start developing the itinerary was'held on Wednesday;
June- 21Y Arrangements for
this Federation .sponsored
mission are being handled
locally by,Richard Lewis
Travel."
good physical condition and
is carrying out his norma,
fully daily duties." He said
that "The articles that have
recently appeared in this
country and abroad
questioning the Prime
Minister's health are totally
without foundation."
Gotsman summoned newsmen to the Prime Minister's
office to read them his statement on Begin's health in
response to widespread
reports in recent weeks that
Begin's physical condition
was precarious and he was
unable t_ function properly.
"I feel it necessary to make
specific references to two
misleading and, in my' professional view, irresponsible
(CONTINUED ON PAGE.4)
By Gil Sedan
JERUSALEM, (JTA)-
The Cabinet today rejected
"without'any reservation" a
reported new Egyptian plan
that would transfer the West
Bank to Jordan and the Gaza
Strip to Egypf'for an
interim period of five years"
after which the permanent
status of those territories
would be determined. A '
communique issued after
today's Cabinet- session
terms the plain "a pre-condition"' for negotiations. It
noted that Israel has called
for the resumption of negotiations yyith Egypt with, no
pre-conditions.
The Cabinet reacted even
though there was no official.
announcement of *an
Egyptian-plan in Cairo. However, the fact that the
proposal was published in
the semi-official <_aily Al
Ahr'am indicated that it had
originated with -President
Anwar Sadat; The proposal
■ -in*fac_-haeWjeen ■ suggested -
by.Sadat on'previous occasions and was known here.
The Cabinet reportedly did
- not deal with-lhe criticism
expressed by sevefal
ministers of Defense
Minister Ezer Weizman's*
.outspoken differences with,
the government'. over its
response last Sunday to the
American questions about
the future status of the West
Bank and Gaza Strip.
(It was reported from
Washington meanwhile that
Secretary of State Cyrus
Vance has proposed a meet-
ing between .-Foreign
Minister Moshe Dayan and
Egyptian Foreign Minister
Mohammed Kaamel to take
place in London next month
in an attempt to receive -the
stalled peace talks. In (he
meantime, Vice President
Walter Mondale reportedly
will stop over in Egypt for a
meeting<with Sadat after his
visit to Israel June 29-JuIy
2.) . -    '     .
Egyptian Proposal
Was 'Pre-Conditional'
Cabinet   Secretary- Arye
Naor  told  reporters   later
that the Egyptian position
was "that, Israel turn over
Judaea and Samaria to
Jordan and Gaza to Egypt as
a pre-condition for negotiations over what he (Sadat)
calls security problems of
Israel" and therefore the
Cabinet "unreservedly rejected it" by consensus,
meaning there was no vole
taken.   He   explained   that
 ■   (CONTINUED ON PAGES)
Rabbis Klein & Rubenstein To
Lecture In Comm. Institute
Two* distinguished ^mem-
^bers of the Columbus rabbinical community are
scheduled to be lecturers in
the 1978-79 Community Institute for Jewish Studies. Both
Rabbi Samuel  W.  Ruben-
' stein and Rabi Roger C.
Klein will participate in the
first six-week session,
scheduled for Wednesday
evenings,   • November    1
-4hr6ugWEft*eemberl3r;-"*—
The fall adult education
series (another six-week session is scheduled for winter
1979) will officially begin on
Wednesday, October 25,
when a guest lecturer will
speak, to all interested community members.
This second community-
wide Jewish studies
program is a project of the.
Jewish Education' Committee of the Columbus Jewish
Federation and was developed in cooperation with
the Columbus Board of
Rabbis, The Jewish Center
and the Jewish schools in the
community. Daniel Harrison, former director of the
Columbus Hebrew School,
will again be the program's
. administrator. "
Rabbi
Samuel W. Rubenstein
Habbi Roger V. Klein
As   spiritual    leader   of
Agudas   Achim   Synagogue,
, for the past 30 years. Rabbi
(CONTINUED ON PAGE 4)
Jewry Declining By 100,000 A Year
Ben Goodman
In urging Columbus
couples to join-this special
trip, Goodman said "This
year Israel is celebrating its
30th Anniversary and there's
-never been a better time for
American Jews to experience and seethe joys of
Israel,"
Since this is a Campaign-
event, the price for thi£.
deluxe " tour wilt" . be:
extremely low. More inform-'
ation can be - obtained
through Ben Goodmanor by;
calling- the Federation of-
■ficedat237-7686:        * '■ ''"
By Ren Gallob
(Copyright 1978, JTA, Inc.)
Declaring that there are
currently more ' Jewish
deaths than births in the
United States, a Conservative rabbi has asserted there
is "strong evidence" that the
American Jewish population
has' started to decline "significantly," not only on a
percentage basis, "but absolutely as well, perhaps by as
much as 100,000 per year."
' Those fresh- data in the
' steadily-expanding debate
on the; demographic' prospects of i American Jewry
were incorporated in a1 plea
by Rabbi Jordan Ofseyer'of
Springfield, Mass., for more
Jewish children per family
because American Jews
"face a problem of self-elimination."    |
During the past- J20 years,
he declared, in-the Fall^l977
issue of the United Synagogue Review, the number
of children in American Jewish families dropped rapidly
"from a high point in 1957 to
the current low level of
fewer births than-, deaths."
He also asserted that the
total number of children in
Jewish schools "has fallen,
by 40 percent in the last 12
years." '   •■ " *'
• He cited :an estimate by
Dr. Sidney Goldstein of the
Population Study' Center at
Brown* University that the
next generation of American
Jews may be only two-thirds'
of the present population of
5.-million to six million.
"Rabbi Ofseyer cited ap-
parently current data on the
Houston Jewish community
and on his own congregation,
Beth El. He reported that the
Houston Jewish community
has a fertility rate of 9.4
babies per thousand population, a rate not only lower
than the national average
but also lower than that of
West Germany which, with
ten babies per thousand,
"has the lowest proportion of
births in the world."
He reported that in his congregation, membership, has
increased during  the last
seven years at an annual
average of a bout 120 families
per year, the difference between new members' and
those who leave the community or die.
But during the same time,
he added, though the congre- ■
gation has grown by 15 per- ^
cent, "the number of children has decreased by almost 40 percent, the national
average."
He cited a debate in the
ORT Reporter between
Mary Gendler, described as
a writer on therole of women
in Judaism, and Rabbi William Berman, a Conservative rabbi who is founder of"
the Jewish Population Re-;
(CONTINUED ON PAGE 4)
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