Publisher and Editor-in-Chief SAMUEL KAPLAN
Our 59th Year
Since 1930 the only weekly publication serving Jewry of the Pacific Northwest
An Independent Newspaper
Advertising Manager RONFREEDMAN
City Desk MARTHA BARKER
Thursday, AugusM7,1989
Published every Thursday by Anglo-Jewish Publishers Ltd. 3268 Heather St, Vancouver. BrIUsh Columbia V5Z 3KS Subscription In Canada: $35.00 per year
Every time an elderly Jew in B.C. has to be turned away from the Louis Brier Home and Hospital for lack of space, it is a tragedy that should matter deeply to each one of us.
How many times, because there was no room for them at the Jewish Home for the Aged, have Jews here been forced to pass their last years on earth in an alien facility, bereft of Jewish companionship and a Jewish lifestyle, dying among non-Jews? ,
Who has not known lives touched by such unhappy circumstances?
The Louis Brier has launched a campaign to add 66 more urgently needed rooms — a projected 220 residents will then be able to live in their extended care (Hospital) and intermediate care (Home) facilities.
This is the first time in 21 years that B.C.'s Jewish Home for the Aged has come to the community for support in expanding its vital role in our lives. Can anyone refuse to help?
The far-sighted pioneers who built our community were aware that it is part of Jewish tradition to
we
care for our aged. When in 1945 they purchased the first facility on West 13 th avenue they were providing for their grandparents, largely an immigrant generation for whom a kosher Jewish Old Folks Home was essential.
Succeeding generations provided for their parents, building a hew Jewish Home for the Aged at Oak and 54th — soon outgrown again by community needs. The present facility at Oak and 41st, was erected in 1968 to house 153 residents. But we all know that the aging factor in our community has grown apace and even the projected 220 residents will eventxially be insufficient.
As Louis Brier president and campaign co-chairman Bernard Reed put it when announcing the present campaign, "Can anyone in the community say the Jewish Home for the Aged does not concern me? Yesterday you had your grandparents, today your parents. Tomorrow — who else but you?"
It is later than we think. It is time to come forward and ensure that the present expansion will go forward without delay.
Silence of the past
"Today's prayers cannot atone for the silence of the Past." That is the message which appeared on one of the banners held aloft by Jewish protesters as they held a demonstration in front of a Carmelite convent at Auschwitz last month.
The words are dramatic in the way they represent the failure of the Catholic Church to honor a commitment made to the Jewish people in 1987 by the Carmelite order that the convent, founded in 1984, would l3e rfiSimantled.
For five years an affront to the mbstly J victims at Auschwitz has been permitted to fester by ecclesiastical authorities in Poland who seem powerless to put into effect a decision which they themselves have taken.
This is not surprising since the Pope himself has decided to remain aloof from the controversy, replicating, on a lesser level, of course, the bitter experience of World War II when the papacy chose to remain silent on the anguish of the Jewish people.
The obscurantism displayed by church authorities in Poland is all the more ironical since it comes at a time when Poland's political life is becoming more enlightened.
The stunning victory of the Solidarity movement there and the willingness of the Communist cadres to accommodate the democratic forces stand in stark contrast to the -retrogressive stance of the Catholic Church on the Carmelite convent issue.
The forced ejection of Rabbi Avraham Weiss and six companions from the convent precincts by a group of hooligans (whose illegal deeds were calmly witnessed by nuns, a priest and police) is unhappy confirniation that Polish, anti-Semitism is alive and^ well in some parts of the country. Moreover, hews^ reports cited vile eipithets hurled at the Jewish com-onstrators by local bystanders. (See eye-witness account page five.)
In the wake of these disquieting developments, Poland's deputy foreign minister, Jan Majewski, has informed the Israeli government that "Warsaw would take steps to assure the convent's removal."
If the government of Poland wishes to maintain the deposits of goodwill it has accumulated in the West over the past several years, it would do well to honor this promise quickly and put an end to this flagrant offence to the Jewish people.
'Have we forgotten the dream of Israel?'
By YAAKOV LEWIS
War is a horrible fact of life; a hateful thing. We all wish that, somehow we can find a way to end all wars. If only there would be peace. Unfortunately, there cannot be peace unless everyone can agree. This seems to be an impossibility of nature, but we must continue to find a way. But until a way is found, we are stuck with what we have. It is a noble thought simply to stop fighting, but even this must be by mutual agreement or the side that stops will lose.
The modern state of Eretz Visrael was born under the gun; not because it is a belligerent society but, because from its inception it was threatened with extinction of its people. In misplaced sympathy for a vanquished enemy, we have chosen to co-exist with them. Its founding Fathers thereby sowed the seeds of their eventual destruction. How normal it would have been to have evicted them as is the right of any nation in victory!
Nurtured by economic aid and higher education, health care and various social services, the Israeli Arab has grown from illiterate pauper, begging for crumbs of Israeli benevolence, to a formidable enemy who demands the return of all the land of Israel. We really cannot blame him for his demands, for it is we who have taught him and it is we who continue to give him hope he may one day see his dream realized.
The Arabs who choose to call themselves Palestinians are the blood enemies of the Jewish State. They claim Israel is illegitimate and there should be a Palestinian state in its place. No matter what the "Peace Now" (and Then!) movement believes, there is no room for compromise. Foolish Jews who believe compromise is possible deny all lessons that history has taught
and do not listen to the honest words of their enemies who make no effort to conceal their aims. They, at least, are honest — we are not. The self-haters among us say peace is more important than land. But all evidence has proved to us many times over
VIEWPOINT - Page 11
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Grief support group aids widow
Dear Mr. Kaplan:
A year and four months ago my husband, Lennie, was found dead in his car.
The devastation of grief was so profound that shock, confusion, anger, guilt, depression and isolation, all set in.
A grief group was recommended by my daughter, Bonnie. Nothing could help me, is what I thought. Abandoned, shocked, numb and functioning as two people, I went.
At Schara Tzedeck, I sat motionless, listening to people who had unfortunately experienced the loss of a loved one. We were able to converse and listen to one another. We would call each other on the phone for moral support, if need be.
I anl fdreycr grateful for^'i^ucha^^ 'a.ifr ri&t*tltit offthe
wd'od§^;&^et, but we afe all iearnihg to cop¥ah(d rec^ohs^^^^^ lives.'
The support groups help lessen the emotional turmoil caused by bereavement. It is nice to know these groups are available to help in the most difficult time of one's life that nobody is ever prepared for.
Anyone in need of this service should contact the Jewish Family Service Agency at 266-2396. The Group leader is Mari-lee Sigal.
MARY POWELL
Tiie way it was witSi Jessie' sums up singular woman's life
Dear Mr. Kaplan:
The editorial "The way it was with Jessie" (JWB July 6) was written with such love and affection and appreciation as to deeply touch any of the thousands of people whose lives were affected by her over the years, and most particularly, we of her immediate family, her sons, daughters-in-law, and grandchildren. We would like to take the opportunity to say "thank you" for the beautiful words.
We grew up sharing a mother with a much wider community than most children, which is not to say that Jessie was ever anything less than a full time mother. But, by some ability peculiar to her she was able to give "full time" in a number of directions, and all at the same time.
We think that the single attribute that characterized her and will be common to anyone's experience with her was the total attention, the concentration she gave to the person or problem at hand.
Jessie managed to make every one she dealt with feel they were important, and that their problem was paramount. Every person who came into contact came away with the feeling that this woman cared about them. But then, on re-reading the editorial, and the obituary article, we realize you know that. SHELDON, SAM, LORRAINE AND RUTH ALLMAN
in California
Oerman-Jewisil leader sougiit
Dear Mr.^ICiiplah:
in a Jiiri^ 1^8$ editi^ of The Jewish Western Bulletin, you published ^ii^^^^^a^^^ read something like the following:
"East Germany reparation of Jewish victims of Nazism: Fifty-eight rhillioh dollars (100 million marks) are being set aside for the restoratidh East Berlin. Heinz Galinski,
chairman of the Council of Jews of West Germany . . ."
To this date, I have heard no further news; even contacting the Germany consulate here in Vancouver brought no result.
As I am one of these victims mentiqned above, I am most
.'. . , .LETTER$,-r-,Pfflge,9. . , . .