Jewish Post, Indianapolis, Marion County, 16 January 1981 — Page 4

11 Th* Jewish Post an<

The Sports Scene

In Reading Pa.

Young Pros Seek Traditions

By RABBI ALAN WEITZMAN In my small Jewish community of Berks County, we

are seeing a new group of people emerging who want Jewish identity for themselves land their chilIdren. These are *the young professionals, some

Weitzman of them have grown up here and others relocated in our community.

Our local hospitals have adopt-

icv to

wards having Jewish physi-

vAi

a more liberal policy

dans on their staff and this hoo brought new people into

THE RECENT “immigrants” are from the large cities where they grew up and were educated. They were accustomed to interacting with other Jews. Here they are faced with the dilemma in & fragmented Jewish community with four synagogues, and with the Jewish Community Center having a membership of more than 50 percent non-Jews. This group is beginning to move in a number of different directions. They are pushing for a Jewish Day School; they are requesting that the Center do more Jewish programming; and they are looking at what the Federation can do to increase a sense of peoplehood.

They are running into a number of barriers. People in this staid area are not open to change. They are facing the dilemma of the Center which has the need to cater to Jews and non-Jews. In trying to form a Day School, they are confronting a population which is not Orthodox. In approaching the Federation, they are coming to the realization that dollars talk and mless they are big givers, ‘.ieir voices will not be heard. WE MUST come to grips with their needs, or we will manage to turn off a fresh breath of life. We must realize first of all that “giving" is not the only criteria to be used in measuring value of ideas. Our Center has to realize that if they alienate Christians by offering more Jewish programming, so be it. If they lose these members, there will be others who will make up the difference because they want Judaism to survive. We have to also realize that in a city our size there must be flexibility in terms of accepting a traditional theology for a Day School. From a Liberal vantage point, it may not be my philosophy, but it is still my heritage, my roots, and my traditions. If we don’t interact together, we will miss another opportunity to strengthen our identity. . t , K

— Jerutalem Pott photo

THE PARATROOPERS — Girl paratroopers are no longer unusual in the Israel Defense Force, and here is an elated one getting help from a colleague in carrying her parachute after her jump at an Israeli air base somewhere in the Negev.

Adult Pen Pals This letter column is free for those seeking pen pals who are past the age of eighteen with no upper limit. The letters should be approximately 35 words in length, stating the writer's interests, and when necessary will be edited. No addresses will be printed, only a number and the name of the city, and responses to the letters published should be addressed to Adult Pen Pal, Jewish Post and Opinion, 611 N. Park Ave., Indianapolis, IN 46204, using the number appended to each letter printed. The responses, each one of which should be accompanied by a stamped envelope, will be checked for any untoward remarks before being forwarded, and a small charge of 50 cents for each response will be made because of the necessary bookkeeping. Coins may be attached to any card no matter how thin by using scotch tape. No stamps, please.

7348 —Tam 45 years 6137 Save two teenage children, 17 and 15. Work for the state of Michigan. I am religious and keep kosher. Would like to meet girl of similar qualifications. I live in Monroe, between Toledo and Detroit.

When Two Grid Players Said No On Yom Kippur

By SHELDON WALLMAN

Continuing P-O’s running commentary on the issue of

Jewish athletes and the High Holy Days, it was brought to my attention recently that Yom Kippur coincided with the seasoner opener for the

Wallman Tufts U. Football team. Marc Litner, the team’s place kicker, discovered the scheduling gaffe and informed the school administration. They decided to resolve the problem by having the players vote on the possibility of rescheduling the game for Sunday. Litner and reserve LB’er, Bruce Cohen, cast the only two votes in favor of a Sunday date and then both chose not to play on Yom Kippur. It is a sad but, unfortunately, rather typical story and Litner and Cohen deserve a standing ovation from the Jewish community for their personal courage

and integrity.

***

Rumors persist that ESPN, the sports cable network, is giving serious consideration to live, daily coverage of the 1981, Maccabiah Games in Israel. The network is committed to 24 hours per day of sports programming and the Maccabiah will help to fit their bill. If it comes to pass, Jewish athletics will receive a needed shot in the arm, with Jewish youth turning in greater numbers to a serious sports commitment. The names of the first ten members of the 1961 U.S. Maccabiah team have been

was No. 17 in the 1,500 M.

Freestyle.

The collegiate swimming scene has been invaded by Israelies. Yoram Kochavy, the Israeli record holder in the medley, is a freshman at Georgia while Ron Kehrmann has matriculated at Ohio State and Amir Ganiel is at UCLA. Kehrmann and Ganiel both attended high school in California while training with America’s best swim clubs. Two outstanding home-grown products have also entered college. Dean Putterman, an All-American from Houston, Tx., in the breaststroke is at Harvard while Mark Gordin, an All-American backstroker, is at Long Beach State.

SPORTS BRIEFS Steve Zetolofsky (GB) won the Super Heavyweight title at the First World Cup of Power lifting with a hoist of 2087.8 lbs. Steve was a 1973 member of the English Maccabiah team. Undefeated Miami middleweight, Kenny Klingman, has won all 19 of his bouts via the KO route. His manager is Lou Gross, former ‘cut man’ for Joe Frazier and George Foreman. Gross has brought Kenny along very carefully and believes he is now ready to meet more seasoned and worthy opponents. The Detroit Tigers selected Larry Rothschild, a pitcher in the Cincinnati chain, as their No. 1 pick in the Minor League Draft. Jacob Cohen of Beersheba has become the third Israeli to sign with the English Football League in the past 16

months, joining Avi Cohen and Moshe Garayami. Native son Barry Silkman is the only other Jew in the League. Ken Miller, our Jewish AllAmerican tight end; >was named an All-American honorable mention by the AP. Erratum: We named the wrong brother to otir Football All-American team. David Bercovici of Claremount/Mudd was All-Conference and he, not Adam, should have been named to our team.

***

Our College Basketball Preview continues: (Ft) Brad Wynn — Pennsylvania — 5:10 (G) from Miami, Fla. Brad is a walk-on and has not seen much action. (Soph) Steve Goldstein — Connecticut College — 5:9 (G) from Bloomfield, Ct. Steve is a starter who drives strongly to the hoop and picks up numerous fouls. (Soph) Mark Rubenstein — Penn State at Ogontz — 6:0 (G) from Abington, Pa. Mark has won a starting position as shooting guard. Sam Kroll of Brown and Gregg Polinsky of Northern Arizona are no longer with their respective tearmv Dan Schay.es hag.bqea shining as Syracuse center. He was recently named Big East CoPlayer of the Week after shooting 11/13 from the field and 11/13 from the foul line in a road win against Detroit. Allen Silverman was named to the weekly ECAC Div III All-Star team after netting 61 pts., taking 45 rebounds and shooting 77 percent during a three-win week.

Jews May Be A Race After All, Study Says

released by the Track k Field Committee of the USCSFI. Assuming they approximate their personal best marks by May 1961, the ten will include Rich Brody, middle distance runner from Betl^esda, Md.; Paul Friedman, long distance man from New Jersey; Matt Oscar, hurdler from Pratt Institute; Gary Williky, outstanding discus thrower from Shore AC; Mike Sherber, exPrinceton 400 M. runner; Dov Djerassi, a I960 Olympian in the Hammer Throw; Brian Mondschein (paternal), an excellent Decathlete; Janet Tracy, a promising prep school sprinter from New Jersey; Brenda Kazinec, sprinter for the ,U. of Michigan and Sharon Mitnik, a weights performer from

Temple.

Swimming World, the sport’s bible, released its top 25 U.S. performers for 1980. Sam Franklin of Stanford was listed No. 8 in the 100 M. butterfly, Mark Gordin was No. 18 in the 200 M. Breaststroke and Tiffany Cohen (paternal)

JERUSALEM — What Jews have been denying all along — that they are a race — recent genetic studies in Israel indicate may in fact be true. More precisely, the description would be that of a subrace, but nevertheless they are more closely related to each other than to the indigenous populations among whom they have lived since the start of the dispersion 25 centuries ago. THESE ARE tentaUve findings in research begun here 10 years ago and still continuing. They are summarized in an article in Mada, a bi-monthly publication of the Weizmann Science Press. The article by Professor Batsheva Bonnee-Tamir, who heads the Tel Aviv University Medical School’s human genetics department, classi-

fies three sub groups. They are the Ashkenazi Jews, the Jews of Yemen and Cochin, and the Jews of Libya and Morocco. They show greater genetic affinity to each other than to the indigenous population among whom they lived. PROF. BONNEE-TAMIR stresses that the findings need further study, but points out that they are based on the comparison of 24 different genetic markers in the different groups being studied. The Israeli groups studied are Jews originating from Germany, Poland, Rumania, Russia, Libya, Morocco, Cochin, Iraq and Yemen, as well as Samaritans, Arabs and Armenians. The local findings are being compared with what is known about the genetic constitution of the general populations of the

countries of origin.