xt7tx921gh9x https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt7tx921gh9x/data/mets.xml Jewish Federation of the Bluegrass Kentucky Jewish Federation of the Bluegrass 1990-12 Newsletter of the Jewish Federation of the Bluegrass, previously named the Central Kentucky Jewish Association and Central Kentucky Jewish Federation. The Federation seeks to bring Jewish community members together through holiday parties, lectures, Yiddish courses, meals, and other celebrations of Jewish heritage and culture. They also host fundraisers and provide financial assistance for Jews in need, both locally and around the world. newsletters  English Jewish Federation of the Bluegrass  Contact the Special Collections Research Center for information regarding rights and use of this collection. Jewish Federation of the Bluegrass records Jews -- Kentucky -- Lexington Jews -- History Central Kentucky Jewish Federation newsletter, December 1990, volume 13 number 9 text Central Kentucky Jewish Federation newsletter, December 1990, volume 13 number 9 1990 1990-12 2020 true xt7tx921gh9x section xt7tx921gh9x CK3§XJF

VOL. XIII

DECEMBER DILEMMA

One of the functions of the Central
Kentucky Jewish Federation Community
Relations Committee is to act on behalf of
community members with problems in the
schools and/or work at holiday times.

. Please contact CKJF (252-7622 or 252-

7600) for assistance.

This bulletin includes a pullout section
with guidelines for what should and
should not be acceptable in our public
schools in terms of religious observance.
These were taken from "The Art of Jewish
Living; Hannukah" by Dr. Ron Wolfson
published by The Federation of Jewish
Men’s Clubs, New York, and The
University of Judaism, Los Angeles.

in”!!!##1##)!IUD!!!#11”!!!***#**$*****¥*Ifl***#*l

The School Liasion Committee, a sub-
committee of the CKJF Community
Relations Committee, is in the process of
being reinstated. This committee will be
composed of volunteers who will act as
liasion between the Jewish community and
schools within our area to discuss any
matters of mutual concern which arise
(usually relating to holidays).

The chairperson of this committee is
Emily Shraberg. Anyone interested in
becoming part of the committee should
contact CKJF at 252-7622 or 252-7600.

DECEMBER, 1990

CENTRAL
KENTUCKY
JEWISH
FEDERA TION

NO. 9

GO TO ISRAEL? WHY NOT!
by Judy Saxe

Why not indeed! If one is to believe all the
headlines and editorials in the media, one
could easily say, ”of course not!"

The reality of Israel, however, is much
different. Having been in Israel only two
weeks ago, I can attest to that.

The priorities of the Israelis are focused on
the most recent Jewish miracle, the massive
aliyah of Soviet Jews to Israel. Everyone is
committed to making this aliyah a success.
Reading the papers, walking on the streets,
one sees signs in Hebrew, English, and
Russian, and hears Russian spoken
everywhere.

The joy of visiting Israel today is to see this
all happening. To breathe in and soak up the
special atmosphere that is Jerusalem. To
watch the crowds surging up and down Ben
Yehudah Street just off Zion Square; to stroll
along the new magnificently landscaped
promenade that connects East Talpiyot to
Abu Tor; to visit a small congregation on
Shabbat and “kvell” when one’s niece is called
to the Torah for her Bat Mitzvah.

The joy of visiting Israel is to see family
and friends, American olim and sabras. At
the same time it saddens me to hear from
their perspective their amazement that
American Jews seem to have abandoned
Israel at a time when she needs our support
the most.

(continued pg. 4)

 

 

 

   

HANNUKAH HIGHLIGHTS

CKJF PRESCHOOL HANNUKAH PARTY
Sunday, December 16, 1990
3:30 - 5:00 p.m.
Ohavay Zion Synagogue

Children ages 2 1/2 - 5 are invited to attend.
Parents of children under 3 must accompany their
child. Each child is asked to bring a gift of value
not to exceed $3 with his/her name on it. RSVP to
CKJF (252-7622 or 252-7600) or Sandy Adland
(271-3568).

Preschool parties are sponsored by OZS, TAI
and the CKJF Community Activities Committee,
and made possible through your contributions to
the CKJF/UJA Campaign.

CKJF PRESENTS EXHIBIT
AT LEXINGTON PUBLIC LIBRARY

"HANNUKAH
THE FESTIVAL OF LIGHT "

During the month of December, CKJF and the
lexington Public Library are hosting an exhibit on
Hannukah. The exhibit, under the auspices of the
CKJF Community Relations Committee which is
chaired by David Kaplan and Bill Leffler, will be in
the display cases on the second floor of the
Lexington Public Library, 140 East Main Street.

CKJF SPONSORS
HANNUKAH PROGRAM
ON WUKY

CKJF is pleased to sponsor "Chanukah
Lights", a program of Jewish holiday lore on
WUKY, FM 91.3. The program will air on
Wednesday, December 12, 1990, from 9:00 to 10:00
p.m.

National Public Radio’s Susan Stamberg and
Murray Horwitz share the classic stories of Sholom
Aleichem to the contempory humor of Pulitzer
Prize winner Wendy Wasserstein. These stories
relate the cultural meaning of the holiday linking
traditions of the past with celebrations of the
present.

 

CKJF LONG RANGE PLAN
COMMITTEE HARD AT WORK

The Long Range Plan Committee is hard at work
preparing a survey to be sent to the community.
Committee members are: Michael Ades, Bruce Broudy,
Steve Caller, Gail Cohen, Bruce Engel, Gloria Katz,
Lenny Lerner, Judy Levine, Marty Luftman, Ira
Mersack, Jack Miller, Penny Miller, Judy Saxe, Phyllis
Scher, and Dave Wekstein.

CKJF MAKING PLANS
FOR YOM HA’ATZMAUT ACTIVITIES

CKJF plans to stage a play depicting scenes from
different stages of immigration for Yom Ha’Atzmaut.
We need costume seamstresses, actors, narrator's,
musicians, singers, scenery artists and anyone else
willing to help. Tentative performance date for our
community Yom Ha’Atzmaut celebration is Sunday,
April 14, 1991. Please contact Carmit Sadove (266-
2494), Tamara Lenhoff (269-8248), or CKJF (252-7622
or 252-7600) to volunteer.

This program is sponsored by the CKJF
Community Activities Committee and made possible
through yourparticipation in the CKJF/UJ A campaign.

HADASSAH
WELCOMES
NEWCOMERS

Attention all New and Prospective Members!
Hadassah invites you to be our guest at our New
Members "Nosh", Tuesday, January 22, 1991, at 7:30
p.m. at the home of Norma Allweiss, 500 Laketower
Drive, Apt. 95. There will be lots of new friends to
meet and plenty to eat! Please join us for a fun
evening. For further information contact Marcia
Epstein (269-7071) or Kathy Grossman (268-2596).

CKJF TO PUBLISH DONOR LIST

CKJF will publish a list of those donors who have
honored their 1990 Campaign and Operation Exodus
pledges and indicated that their gift may be published
by category. Please pay your pledge so that your name
may be included.

 SKETCHES OF ISRAEL

The following article was written by Nina
Davidson, a 1990 CKJF Israel Scholarship
Recipient. This scholarship was made possible by
your contributions to the CKJF—UJA Campaign.

My trip to Israel this summer was a great
experience. I love to travel, and I was really
excited to go overseas for the first time. Our
group, NFTY Archaeology/Hagigah, met at the
airport 42 strong in New York and then flew to Tel
Aviv. Israel is a tiny country compared to the
U.S., so the bus ride from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem
only took one hour. I was surprised as I looked out
the bus window to see the rolling Judaean hills
covered with dry brush and yellow grasses, not at
all like the parched desert I expected. We stayed
in Jerusalem for a week at Beit Shmuel, the local
reform youth hostel. Jerusalem is a beautiful city.
All the buildings are made of the same sun
bleached stone, which takes on a pearly or rosy
glow depending on the angle of the sunlight. While
in Jerusalem, we went to Herzl’s grave, the Israel
Museum, a model of the second temple, and the
Western Wall. I touched the stones of the Wall
almost in awe, their rough texture smooth and
well-worn in patches, hardly able to believe that
they were the 2,000 year old remnant of the second
Temple. It struck me what an enduring faith
Judaism is, ancient with history but still vital and
alive in this modern world.

We further explored the ancient history of
Israel in the Archaeological Dig part of the
program. Our dig site was at Beit Guvrein in Tel
Maresha; Tel is a Greek word referring to a
complex of buildings atop a hill. The layer we
were digging at was during the Hellenistic period
(around 200 B.C.E.), before the fall of the second
temple. Our duties included digging, schlepping,
and sifting. Digging was the most fun because it
was the most exciting. Armed with spades and
picks, we’d shovel the soft dirt into buckets,
carefully checking for pottery or any object not
bearing a resemblance to dirt or rocks. I found
several pottery fragments, including jug handles
and pieces of bowls. Since we were digging in a
cave that was thought to serve as a stable -- the
heat was so strong that the animals had to be
underground during the day -- goat skulls and
animal bones were also found frequently.
Schlepping, as the name implies, was a chore. The
schleppers lifted the heavy buckets out of the cave
and carried them to the Sifters, who dumped the
buckets onto a sifting frame and sifted all the dirt

00

.course we hiked up Masada.

out. Sifting was usually interesting because we could
find the small objects, like nails or coins, that had
escaped the digger's attention. Coins were especially
valuable to the archaeologists because they could then
date the site.

Hiking was also a large part of the trip, and of
Climbing the steep,
zigzagging trail to the fortress was rigorous, to say the
least. Even at 4 a.m., the temperature still hovered
around 100 degrees. Masada is right next to the salt-
scalloped Dead Sea, so it was humid too. The view at
the top was breathtaking, though. The red sandstone
cliffs and desert dunes stretched out for miles through
a curtain of hazy sunlight. We also hiked through the
Negev desert, which was one of the best parts of the
trip. The sky was a dazzling cobalt blue, clear and
cloudless. The wind sighing through the caramel cliffs
was the only sound for miles; otherwise the landscape
was completely still. We camped out in the middle of
nowhere beneath the stars, which were so bright that
we could see the whole Milky Way. After the Negev,
we returned to Jerusalem for our last days in Israel.
We were all saddened to leave the Holy Land. The trip
was a great way to spend the summer, learning about
archaeology and the vibrant heritage of Judaism. I
want to thank CKJF very much for giving me a
scholarship in order to make this trip possible.

CANIPERSHIPS AND
SCHOLARSHIPS AVAILABLE

Based on need, camperships are available from
CKJF to community children who wish to attend a
non-profit Jewish camp. All information is kept
strictly confidential.

CKJF also has scholarships (not based on need)
available to students wishing to study/travel in Israel.

Scholarships (not based on need) are available for
Anytown, a one week summer leadership program of
the National Conference of Christians and Jews aimed
at junior and senior high school students.

For additional information about these
camperships and scholarships, contact the CKJF office
(252—7622 or 252-7600).

Deadline for applications is February 28,
1991.

Camperships and scholarships are made possible
through your contributions to the CKJF/UJA
campaign.

 

 

 KENTUCKY

By I. J. Schwartz. Translated by Gertrude
Dubrovsky. Adapted from a book review by
Barbara Zingman in the Courier-Journal.

 

Kentucky is a long narrative poem written in
Yiddish and translated by Gertrude Dubrovsky,
who offers an excellent analysis of Kentucky’s
contribution to both American and Yiddish
literature.

I.J. Schwartz, the author, emigrated to New
York in 1906 and moved to Lexington, Kentucky,
in 1918. Writing his poem shortly thereafter,
Schwartz tells of Joshua, a European peddler, who
comes to Kentucky soon after the Civil War.

The poem, the first Yiddish literary work with
the American experience as its subject, reveals the
values of American rural life to Jewish readers,
many of whom lived in New York tenements.

Writing mainly as a poet rather than a
historian, Schwartz presents an emotional picture
of how Joshua, though assimilated, keeps his own
values in marrying, raising children who
inter-marry, and dying.

"Rock me to sleep in my old Kentucky home,

and cover me with Dixie’s blue sky."

PLANS ARE FINALIZED FOR
RIO DE JANEIRO’S IST WORLD
JEWISH SINGLES HAPPENING

The agenda is set, the price is in and Jewish
singles from around the world have begun to
respond. They are signing up for the "lst World
Jewish Singles Happening" scheduled to take place
February 15-22, 1991, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Tailor made for Jewish singles, widowed and
divorced men and women between the ages of 20 to
120 from every corner of the world, the event will
include one week of relaxation and entertainment
in Paradise. The eight day, seven night package
includes airfare, five star hotels, eight full
breakfasts, six lunches and five dinners, gala
evenings, tours, parties, and first class tickets to
the final event of Rio de Janeiro’s Carnaval.

For further information contact CKJF (252-
7622 or 252-7600) or Chas Hite (266—0246).

 

 

GO TO ISRAEL (continued)

The joy of visiting Israel is spending a day in Tel
Aviv with Mimi Moosnick and Jacob Wertschafter,
former Lexington residents, and visiting their favorite
haunts such as the Carmel market.

The special satisfaction I derive from Israel comes
from personal encounters, rediscovering the familiar
things I love, and knowing I will always find
something new to cherish. I renew my sense of Jewish
self.

Life in Israel goes on as usual! You, too, can share
these joys by visiting Israel as soon as possible. Take
advantage of the UJA Midwest "Discovery" Mission in
March, 1991 (call CKJF 252-7622 or 252—7600 for more
information) or the Family Mission led by Rabbi Jon
and Sandy Adland in June, 1991 (call TAI 269-2979 for
information), or the Hadassah National Convention
next July in Jerusalem (call Kathy Grossman 268-2596
for information). Each trip will give you a special
perspective of this land and new insights of yourself.

CENTRAL KY. JEWISH FED. NEWSLETTER
333 Waller Avenue, Suite 5
Lexington, K Y. 40504
(606) 252-7622 or 252-7600
Michael L. Ades, President

Linda Ravvin, Executive Director
Sharyn Sharer, Program Coordinator
Betty Hickey, Office Manager
Member of Council of Jewish Federations

 

C

 V/

MAZAL TUV

" 'Susan Goldstein: exhibit at Airport Gallery

°Jack Sharer on being commissioned to design
and create the donor wall sculpture at the
Lexington Children’s museum.

'Nathan Cohen honored by the Clark County
'(Kentucky), Association for Handicapped
Citizens, Inc. as one of its Charter Members
and a valued member for twenty-five years.

INTERNATIONAL FOLK DANCING
Monday Nights
8:00 - 10:00 p.m.
Temple Adath Israel
All Ages Welcome
For more info contact Meg (887-1250)

THANKS

'Jana De Benedetti, Aviva Bowling and Kathy
Schattner for a well received performance at the
Lexington Public Library on Sunday, December 2,
in conjunction with the CKJF showcase exhibit:
Hannukah: The Festival of Lights.

'Leslie Brownstein and Kim Slaton for presenting
the program on Hannukah at the Lexington
Children’s Museum on Sunday December 9.
'Eugene Doren for doing a presentation at the
Unitarian Church on Sunday, November 11.

MARK YOUR CALENDAR NOW!
OZS ANNUAL MASQ UERADE BALL
March 16, 1991
Additional Info to Follow

 

‘

 

fliii mm

Emily Elizabeth Fried
will celebrate her Bat Mitzvah
on Saturday, December 15, 1990
10:30 am.
Temple Adath Israel.
A Kiddish luncheon in her honor
will follow services.
Bobbi and Drew Fried invite
the congregation to join them
in this joyous occasion.
Emily will be sharing her Bat Mitzvah
with Edna Kasseh, an Ethiopian girl
who has immigrated to Israel.

Mr. & Mrs. Joseph H. Miller
invite you to share their happiness
at the Bat Mitzvah of their daughter
Deborah Barron
on Friday, December 21, at 8:00 p.m.
Temple Adath Israel.
Please join us for a reception
following the service.
Deborah will symbolically share this occasion
With Esther Davit of Ethiopia.

Jessica Leigh Kemp
will celebrate her Bat Mitzvah on
Saturday, December 29, 1990
10:30 a.m., Temple Adath Israel.
Howard and Stephanie Kemp
invite the congregation to join them
in celebrating this joyous occasion.
A Kiddish luncheon in her honor
will follow services.

Amy Joy N igoff
will celebrate her Bat Mitzvah
on Saturday, January 12, 1991
10:30 a.m.
Temple Adath Israel.
A Kiddush luncheon in her honor
will follow services.

Lowell and Betty N igoff
invite the congregation to join them
in celebrating this joyous occasion.

Amy will be sharing her Bat Mitzvah
with Anna Shifrin of the U.S.S.R.

 

  

EDITOR’S NOTE: The following article was taken
from Babayit, a publication of the Jewish Agency
for Israel, Jerusalem, October-November, 1990.

Housing and employment are the two major
concerns of new and veteran Israelis. As the
number of olim increases and the supply of rental
housing diminishes, the need for immediate, even
temporary, housing solutions is rapidly becoming
the predominant concern of Israeli policy makers.
As many as 3,000 needy veteran Israelis are
currently unable to find affordable housing in
today’s housing market.

The arrival of 100,000 immigrants during the
past 12 months created a demand for some 25,000
housing units, the majority from available rental
stock.

At present there are no more than 25,000 to
30,000 vacant housing units. These include several
hundred new apartments which are either
complete or in the final construction stages. There
are also about 14,000 government-owned
apartments, most of which require renovation. An
additional 10,000 to 15,000 apartments are
available for rent from privately owned sources.

The past decade marked a decline of
construction in the public sector, particularly of
residential housing for subsidized rental or sale.
Of the approximately 20,000 annual construction
starts in the past few years, the government
accounted for 2,700 units in 1988 and 7,000 units
in 1989. A total of 60,000 new residential
construction starts are planned for this year, of
which 45,000 units will be government initiated
public housing.

Building these homes often takes between 18 to
21 months. Anticipating that not all the necessary
apartments will be complete in time to meet the
immediate demand, the government is planning to
import 5,000 caravans and 9,000 prefabricated
homes which can be assembled in a very short
time. The government also intends to provide land
for the private sector to import 6,000 prefabricated
houses. Eight sites in development areas have
been prepared for the caravans. There are also
plans for temporary accommodations of new olim in
hotels and IDF army bases until permanent
housing is available.

But the cost to the potential buyer of
permanent housing is perhaps the more serious
problem. The demand has driven prices up by as
much as 34 percent in the past year, while the cost
of rental apartments has doubled in prime areas.
The Government of Israel provides rental subsidies

 

COMBATING THE HOUSING SHORTAGE

to needy families and together with the Jewish Agency
funds a "basket of services" for new immigrants in
their first year to cover rent. Olim are entitled to a
subsidy in their second year if required. Steps are now
being taken to increase the allotment to needy families
and extend the period of subsidy for olim to bridge the
gap between affordable rent and what entrepreneurs
would regard to be an adequate return on their
investment in the construction of rental housing.

The chronic shortage of housing in the private
rental market is expected to continue as long as the
cost of land and construction do not allow for a good
return on investment capital. Among the incentives
already implemented by the government is to provide
land to building contractors at no cost in peripheral
areas of the country. The cost of construction is also
being reduced through the introduction of more modern
methods and wider use of industrialized building.

UNUSUAL FACT ABOUT
THE ARAB BOYCOTT

“illméllllllglllill:
“mew
mil/Emu;
=2“;

    

In The Economic War Against The Jews, by
Terence Prittie and Walter Henry Nelson, an
interesting item included in the Arab boycott of Idsrael
is revealed.

The film Snow White and the Seven Draws was
blacklisted because the Prince’s horse was called
"Samson"--a clear Zionistic allusion." The Arab
boycotters suggested that film could be taken off the
blacklist if the horse was given a new name.
Damascus suggested "Simpson."

 December 1990/ January 199]
KISLEV - TEVETH 5751

 

 

 

 

 

 

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