Ohio Jewish chronicle. (Columbus, Ohio), 1979-05-24

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LJBRARY-y  OHIO  HISTORICAL. SOG^Tf  [{
1982  VELMA  AVE.
C0L.3.   0#     43211 EXCH
VOL.57NO.21
fe»        MAY24,197»1YAR27
Catholic, Protestant Clerics Favor Reform
Judaism's Proposal For Seeking Converts
Kismet To Be Gallery's -
Next Presentation
David Weaver (center) as the poet-beggar in the
Gallery Players musical production of "Kismet" is
pleased to offer the hand of his daughter, portrayed by
Carmen Alvarez Breckenridge (left) to the Caliph, enacted by Harley Greene (right). This colorful musical
extravaganza opens at The Jewish Center on Sat., June
16at8:30p.m.    . ^
NEW YORK, (JTA)-
' Leading Catholic and Protestant churchmen and
scholars have endorsed—
with some cautionary observations—a proposal by
Rabbi Alexander Schindler,
president of the Union of
American Hebrew Congregations (UAHC), to seek converts-to-the Jewish faith
among the "unchurched" or"
others searching for roots in
religion, according to a report released here last week
by, the UAHC, the central
body,of Reform Judaism in
the U.S. and Canada. The
proposal, which would
reverse a 400-year-old Jew-
Schildhouse, Herstig, Talis To Receive Awards
At Jewish Center Award Meeting, June 13
Schildhouse,  Alven,
Burt
Herstig and Hilary Talis will
J.e ■" honored ' with special.
recognition awards at the
Jewish Center Annual
Meeting,' Wednesday, June
13,at7:45p".m.
- The Continuous Dedication
Award will be presented to
Burt Schildhouse by Irving
Barkari, last year's winner.
Schildhouse - is serving his
third jrear as a Center vice -
president. Inaddition, he is
chairman of the Program
Direction and Evaluation ■
Committee, a member of the
Communication's Committee and a Center representative to the United Way and
Federation for allocation
reviews. For many previous
years, Schildhouse has served on the Board of Directors and has volunteered his
services to the Center in various leadership positions.
Alven Herstig will receive
the    Koach . Leadership
Recognition Award for his
outstanding-role as a Board
l^ember, Chairman of the
Day  Camp  and  Cubbage'
Corner Committees, partici- .
pation   on. the   Program
Direction- and   Evaluation
Committee   and   the "new ,
Building Committee.  Mike
Talis, last" year's winner and
■ Y»?j
Burt Schildhouse
Alven Herstig
Chairman of the Awards
Cotnmittee, will make the
presentation.
The 1978-79 Mitzvah Volunteer Award will be presented
to Hilary Talis the 1977-78
winner Nancy Paul. Talis
will be'recognized for her
Hilary Talis   -
great effort in behalf oi the
"Celebrate" project, the original record cut and distributed by the Early Childhood Services Department,
as well as for her commendable contribution in the
areas of preschool, family
and Israel activities at the
Center.
The members of the
Awards Committee were
Alan Lee, Nancy Paul, Judy
Tenenbaum, Jack Gaiser
from the Board and Barton
Schachter, Barbara Weinberg and David Valinsky
from the staff. Michael Talis
served as Chairman.
Other awards and citations voted by the committee
will be - announced next
week.
ish tradition of not proselytizing, was advanced last December by Schindler.
The UAHC's 180-member
board then set up a task
force to study the question of -
"bringing the message of
-Judaism" to any and'all who
wish to examine or embrace
it. The task force, headed by
David Belin-of Des- Moines
convened here this weekend
in conjunction with the semiannual meeting of the UAHC
board of trustees. It will report to the UAHC's General
Assembly in December.
The UAHC's Department
of Interreligious Affairs
made public responses to the
questionnaire sent to 31
Catholic and Protestant
theologians. Eighteen responded. None of the four
Fundamentalist or Evangelical representatives who
were sent the questionnaire
answered.
Rabbi Balfour Brickner,
,the department's director,
asked four questions. They
were: whether missionary
efforts imply a superiority of
one religion over another;
whether there are ','differ-
ences between the efforts
of... fringe groups and the-
posture of mission of your
denomination''; whether
Schindler's call legitimizes
Christian missionary efforts; 'and do missionary efforts directed at the "unchurched" affect interreligious relations.
The responses received
by Brickner were overwhelmingly favorable to the pro-,
posal. Many of them.made
Columbus Does Its Part In Wave Of Soviet Jewish Immigrants
/assisted Soviet Jews arrived    but that it-was a forerunner
in the United States during    of much greater HIAS acti-
The recent twave of Soviet
Jewish immigration to the
United States has been
making headlines and has
been featured on television
newscasts across the nation,
A relatively unknown aspect
of this migration is the role
played by Columbus' Jewish
Community and its communal organizations.
Accdtf'ding to, HIAS
(Hebrew Immigrant 'Aid
Society) President Edwin
Shapiro, a total of 2,483 HIAS
the month of April. Eleven bf
these new immigrants have
joined the Columbus Jewish
Community and .are
receiving resettlement aid
through the New Americans
program of the Jewish
Family Service, Peter Glick,
JFS Director, reports.
Mr. Shapiro stated that
this wa ' ihe. largest volume
since the beginning of the
current Russian movement
vity this month when 4,000
Soviet Jews are expected to
arrive here. By mid-May,
Columbus already welcomed
12 new Russian residents,
with a larger total anticipated by month's end.
Since the beginning of the
current fiscal year last July,
Columbus has resettled to-
■date 91 Soviet refugees, with
a total of 108 individuals to
(CONTINUED ON PAGE 4)
the point that an outreach
program to non-Jews would
strengthen self-understanding and identification among
members of the Jewish community and that Schindler's
call' demonstrated the vitality of Judaism and the Jewish community in this country.
...The Christian leaders also
praised Schindler for not
seeking to imply a superiority of Judaism over other
faiths. None indicated con
cern that a Jewish missionary effort would damage interfaith relations. At the
same time, however, several
respondents made the point
that seeking converts among
the "unchurched" was a
two-way street'and that the
large number of unaffiliated
Jews in the United States
might be deemed legitunate
'-'targets" for Christian proselytizing. -
Krister Stendahl, dean of
(CONTINUED ON PAGE 9)
Noted Rabbi Will Discuss
"Coping With Death & Grief"
Rabbi Earl A. GroIIman of
the Beth El Temple Center,
Boston, Massachusetts, will
speak to the 5th Annual Kobacker Institute at Temple
Israel, 5419 E. Broad St., Columbus, on Tues., May 29.
His. subject will be "Coping
with Death and Grief. He
will be speaking at a luncheon meeting for members of
the clergy and an evening
meeting at 8 p.m. that is
open to the community.  ~ -
Rabbi GroIIman has
written eleven books on such
subjects as explaining death
to children, living through
grief and coping with
divorce. In addition, he is internationally acclaimed for
his pioneering effort in family crisis intervention and especially for his work concerning bereavement -and
death.
Known to virtually everyone in the field of dying and
death, Rabbi GroIIman has
Rabbi Earl A. GroIIman
appeared, on television AM'
radio-shows from coast to
coast and is constantly in demand as a speaker before
schools of medicine, nursing, -
theology, education, and
mortuary science. He is Past
President of the Massachusetts Board of Rabbis, a
Member of the Harvard University Bereavement Team,
Chairman of the Massachu-
settes Ecumenical Council
on Health and Morality, and
1      (CONTINUED ON PAGE 4)
Herbert H. Schiff and Jeffrey Paine Chosen To
Serve On UJA National Campaign Policy Board
Herbert H. Schiff and
Jeffrey A. Paine have been
chosen to serve on the United
Jewish Appeal's National
Campaign Policy Board,
National Chairman Irwin S. x
Field has announced.
Members of the board, a
new body which replaces
UJA's Executive Committee, will assist
Federation campaigns in
other communities and
carry out important responsibilities on national
missions to Israeli
Mr. Schiff, who is Chairman of the Board and President of SCOA Industries
Incorporated is a Past President of The Columbus
Jewish Federation and is a
Past General Chairman of
the United Jewish Fund
Campaign.
An active member of the
Columbus Community, Mr.
Schiff. holds, membership
and board positions in a
Herbert II. Schiff
large number of civic, trade,
professional and philanthropic ^organizations.
Within the Jewish Communr
ity, his activities include
being a member of the Board
of Trustees of Heritage
House, B'nai B'rith Hillel
Foundation at OSU, and The
Jewish Center and he is a
member of the Investment
Jeffrey A. Paine
Sub-Committees of the
Columbus Jewish Federation's Endowment Fund.
On the national Jewish
scene, Mr. Schiff is on the
Board of Directors of the
Council of Jewish Federations and is Vice-Chairman
of its Legacy and Endowment Fund' Committee, is a
(CONTINUED ON PAGE 11)
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