Thursday, October 12,1989 — THE BULLETIN 11
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Period of transformation' iieaitiiy for Diaspora Jews
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NEW YORK - Dr. Shimon Slavin of Hebrew University has received the first Wexner Foundation Research Award for his work in treating children with life-threatening diseases. jta
JWB Staff
The view of Jewish communities outside Israel as being on the brink of distinte-gration and despair is not held by Rabbi Wolfe Kelman.
In Vancouver recently as scholar-inrresidence at Beth Israel synagogue. Rabbi Kelman held a series of work-. shops, lectures and: discussions in which he stressed that he feels North. American Jewr ish communities are in a ?period of transformation."
V'Rabbi Heschel (one of our teachers) taught that no religion has a monopoly on holiness,- the visiting Rabbi told The Bulletin.
For 38 years Rabbi Kelman was vice-president of ^ the Rabbinical Assembly of the International Association of Conservative Rabbis. Two years ago he was elected chairman of the American
Frances Hoyd is the new president of the JCC Golden ■ Age ^ Club. . -.v.;
ByFRANCESHOYD
When I look around me,j realize that the members of the Golden Age Club represent a miniature profile of the population of Israel. If there is somewhere in the world a political upheaval, there are always the sarae.consequerices. ■
"All problerhs are caused by Jews" the bid age saying goes.
So we take our little children and the diapers and we flee from the pogroms: There are pogroms with bloodshed arid there are those-which manifest themselves with by-laws saying we are not fit to live with others. 5 .
But we live. Some of iis in Eretz Israel, some to.the Gajut, others to the.freedom of Western .counte^^ represent the latter. .
In the past the Golden Age seniors group were from the Slitetis^ of Russia and Poland. As the history and political changes unfolded in Europe the next waves arrived from middle Europe, fronitlieB^alkans. After World War,II the Holocaust Survivors came. As the Brit^^^ left the Sephardim came from India along With the remnants of.MarranoSyOriginaUy^^f^ Spain and Portugal. They arrived from Iraq and Iran and Turkey.
Over the last ten years The Golden Agers have mjade the full circle, we now have members from Russia and from Israeli
Golden Age members have now arrived at the point in our lives that we are not the doers or the builders of the Jewish community. We are now, or should be the receivers.
In Vancouver^ as in every large city throughout the world groups such as Hadassah-WlZO, Na'amat, B'nai B*rith, Ort and Synagogue sisterhoods are very active arid areperforming well. At one time most of us belonged to these hard working groups and some of us still do.
Now the majority of members belonging to Golden Age feel that, at this time in our lives, we are at the receiving end. We can finally sit back, gather for refreshments and entertainment. We bowlj we walk, we participate in crafts and art classes along with a sprinkling of serious discussions. We attiend concerts. We travel extensively by bus going to interesting places near aind far.
Weenjoy ourselves without guilt; we feel we have contributed plenty of work and time in our early days to Jewish charities and organizations.
All the nationalities together with Ganadian-born JeWs are now melded into one group. We are one big family. We are busy: planning to create moreclasses, lectures, discussion groups. We are always together in friendship. •
On behalf of the Golden Age merribers I invite all Senioirs of this Jewish community who have not participated until now to join us. I am sure that you will find many of our activities of interest.
We look forward to welcoming you in the New Year.
From Page 7
next Vatican statement must include a timetable. Even this beginning is encouragingand hopeful. It seems possible for Jews and their Catholic friends to build onit once more.
That I say thisduringNew Year season is not at all incomprehensible. These Jewish holidays are more universal than many others. We crown G-d as our sovereign. Only ours? We share Him with all the p^^^^ When G-d judges all the
riationsand seals the fete of all beings, we think not only of Jews but alsoof alliiuriiariity. But it is as Jewsthat we think about it. iTo be Jewish, thbri, means to stay faithful to the tradition, to the meriiory bfour people.^^T is in his memory
and in his faithfulness. "
Section of the World Jewish Congress.
Rabbi Kelman is presently director of the Louis Finkel-stein Institute of Religious studies at the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York. The philosophy of the Institute is that all religions are related in a pluralistic way.
"It is a time of return," he said. "The despairing view is wrong and dangerous and it might be self-fulfilling."
He believes that by almost any index Jews are doing well.
"Never have we been so affluent and secure and less subject to major discrimination in the free world," he said. Jewisih learning is at an all-time high with Yeshivot full, day schools and kindergartens popping at the seams.
In 1954, he reminded, there were only two universities in the U.S. with departments of Judaic studies — Columbia
and Harvard. Today there are literally hundreds at graduate and post graduate levels all over the world;
''There are people studyinjg Torah day and night. Even more than during the 'Golden AgeV of Jewish learning," according to the rabbi.
There are currently tremendous sources for spiritual renewal, he said. Among these he counts the greater role of women, the Baal Teshuva movement, children of Survivors and those electing to be Jews by choice. But, always there and available are the classic texts in which Jewish ideals are concretized.
The rabbi sees hope and strength in Diaspora communities.
And there has been a radical change in Christian teachings about Jews. The mainline churches seem to have re-
nounced any attempt to proselytize.
"That is now a part of official church teachirig," he saidi
Although there are "a lot of good guys among the Catholics", he is alarmed by the evident movement of some Catholics to appropriate the Holocaust, turning it from a mainly Jewish catastrophe to a Catholic tragedy. The estab-' lishment of the convent at Auschwitz seemed to bear witness to the fact that there was a movement among an element within the Catholic religion to change the emphasis. '
A member of the International Jewish Christian Inter-religious Consultation, Rabbi Kelman took part in the discussion process following the recent signing of the contract to remove the convent;
The activities at Beth Israel during Rabbi Kelman's visit
RABBIKELMAN
were reported to be well attended and elicited an enthusiastic response from participants^ During the Sunday session, participants from Beth Israel were joined by members from congregations Beth Tikvah, Emanuel (Victoria), Har £1 and Or Shalom.