Jewish Post, Indianapolis, Marion County, 29 May 1991 — Page 8

17 of 20 Jewish students marginal

CLEVELAND — Seventeen out of twenty Jews who enter college these days have marginal to no Jewish identity. This was the view of Richard M. Joel, international director of B'nai BTith Hillel Foundation as reported in The Cleveland Jewish News. "When they get to campus we are already dealing with the disaster story that is the modern Jewish community," he said. In an address to the Kent State University Hillel annual meeting, he said that the other 15 percent are the "super Jews," the students who were involved in youth groups, attended Jewish camps and continued their Jewish education beyond bar mitzvah and confirmation. The problem with this concept of "Super Jews,” he explained was that they remind the other students of their rabbis. "They think these students will be as unresponsive as the Jewish institutional life they've seen throughout their lives. I think the challenge of Hillel is how it transcends some of the historic perceptions." Joel was bullish, though, on Hillel. In the last few years, he said, "Hillel has burst forth. There is a sense of Hillel being the Jewish institution on campuses in the country." That distinguished it from its

previously perceived role as banding together to ward off anti-Semitism. The main challenge now is "reintroducing Jews to their Jewishness." Hillel may be the students' last connection to organized Judaism. Part of the problem, he explained, is the view that most of the world looks at Hillel as only for the Orthodox but the Orthodox look at it and say it’s for everybody but them." Joel, who came to Hillel with a background as a professor of legal ethics at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, and as a prosecutor in New York, said that Hillel is currently undergoing a self-review process, and a pilot program is being introduced on three campus Hillels that will become the program on the 400 campuses it now serves. Joel has his own ideas also. He said the key to success is to make the students "feel like they own the place," leading to "student empowerment." As for the annual conventions of Hillel student leaders in Washington, he would shift their programs from what he termed was rallies to brainstorming and taking the ideas back to effect change on the campus. BART billboards

Aaron Krickstein named by 2 as Mystery Person

Ken Barclay of San Luis Obispo, Ca., and Joyce Levi of Indianapolis named Aaron Krickstein correctly as the Mystery Person and both will receive a twomonth extension of their subscription. It required the full complement of five clues, which is the total that is provided before the contest is considered closed, before the pair could win. The first clue — that the Mystery Person’s grandfather and great grandfather were both rabbis — provided little information. But the second clue should have alerted contestants that the Mystery Person somehow was in sports, although it used the category "profession" when it stated that "At age 16 the Mystery Person became the youngest male ever to be ranked in the top world 10 of his profession." As for the third clue that the Mystery person was hampered by physical problems also indicated that he or she was engaged in sports. The fourth clue should have been a giveaway — that at

Aaron Krickstein

age 21 he had earned $250,000. The fifth clue, it is conceded, didn't add too much — that the Mystery Person was a world figure — but evidently when all five were considered, it was enough for the two who guessed correctly.

Rabbi Isaac Swift is taken by death ENGLEWOOD, N.J. — died here. He also served Rabbi Isaac L. Swift, who Manhattan's Fifth Avenue served Congregation Aha- Synagogue as guest rabbi, vath Torah for 24 years, Nathan Shainberg, Memphis leader MEMPHIS — Nathan L. the Jewish Community CenShainberg, who headed the ter, died in Hollywood, FI., Jewish Welfare Fund and at the age of 83. May 29,1991 Page National 4

pillory PLO SAN FRANCISCO — The BART, which is this city's perfection of the subway, has sprouted a crop of billboards condemning the PLO. Reading "Let's support democracies in the Middle East, not tyrants and terrorists." The billboards were paid for by the Committee for Democracy and Peace in the Middle East, a new group of about 10 people founded by Berkeley resident Natan Nestel. Not too long ago, ads critical of U.S. support for "Israel's military occupation of the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem" were withdrawn after protest, but restored when the question of free speech was raised. The billboard shows Yasir Arafat embracing President Saddam Hussein and quotes the Iraqi threat of making Tel Aviv a crematorium. In conclusion the message reads, "The world, and Kuwait, are still paying dearly for having supported Saddam's regime. Let's not make the same mistake with the PLO." Nestel told The Bulletin that the billboards cost $10,000 to create and install. Flu nasal spray superior to shots JERUSALEM — A nasal spray against the flu which is more effective than shots has been developed by two Hadassah Hospital researchers, Prof. Zichria Za-kay-Rones and Reuven Levy of its Virology Department. The new technique has been successfully tested in animal experiments and will shortly be tested in humans.

— American Jewish World photo FREEDOM OF SPEECH — Protected by the First Amendment, hate groups use free access channels as this one from the Aryan Youth Movement in St. Paul to get across their message of anti-Semitism. Public access cable boon to anti-Semites

ST. PAUL — If you want to propagandize the Ku Klux Klan, the Skinheads, or a program which contends that Jews of today are actually not the descendants of biblical Hebrews, then you have free access to Channel 45 of Continental Cablevision, an electronic billboard which presents continuous Video Text Messages. The person to contact is Neal Gosman, executive director of Cable Access St. Paul, Inc., who told The American Jewish World here that "As a Jew...I have more to gain from the protection of the First Amendment” than from its restriction. "Any Jew who thinks otherwise is fooling themselves in this country." His company a private, non-profit organization which has a monopoly on cable TV in the city, is required by state and city ordinances to provide free programming to the community. It manages the public access channel under a provision by which any St. Paul resident or group serving St. Paul may submit non-commercial tapes. "As long as it's not illegal, we can't keep it off," said Gosman. "We don't screen the programs for content." Even religious programs by hate groups are being aired. The World reported that the American Civil Liberties Union has gone to court to defend the KKK's freedom to preach on cable and legal decisions in recent years have supported the right of hate groups to use public access TV. Gosman told The World that he would not support efforts to restrict political expression on his channel. He pointed out that advocates of public access are "trying to extend the rights of the First Amendment to television. Until public access, the only way one could have free speech on tv was if you owned the station." He added that the problem of abuse of public access was minimal and quoted statistics showing receipt of 6,800 tapes, of which only a dozen have been "objectionable". Jewish sources understand Gosman's position. He has met with representatives of the Anti-Defamation League and the mayor's office. Morton Ryweck, executive director of the Jewish Community Relations/Anti-Defamation League of Minnesota and the Dakotas, said the First Amendment takes priority. "We're not trying to stop the programming itself, because it's generally covered by the law." Instead it provides the station with alternative programs on the Holocaust, racism and anti-Semitism.

Child survivors exchange stories

NEW YORK — Some 1,600 child survivors of the Holocaust and their spouses mixed with each other at the First International Gathering of Children Hidden During World War II, a joint effort with the AntiDefamation League of B'nai B'rith, whose director, Abraham Foxman, was himself a child survivor. He estimated that there were between 10,000 and 100,000 such hidden children

throughout the world. The two-day gathering

included panel discussions, speeches and workshops on such topics as "The Psychological Impact of Being Hidden as a Child," "What Motivated the Rescuers?" and "Memory: Commemora-

tion and Action."

Another international conference is expected to be held within a year or two in

Europe and Israel.