The Jewish Times

              WITH
PERSONAL
... See Varon's Column On Page Three
THG
jewi
TIMES 
Vol. XXXIX, No. 5
Thursday, September 22, 1983
25 Cents
Shamir9s Background
May Cause Trouble
By Alex Wohl
Towards the end of Yom Kippur,
during the solemn Nilah service,
Rabbi Richard M. Yellin raised the
question "Are People Capable of
Change?"
Rabbi Yellin of Congregation
Mishkan Tefila pointed to the
September 13 issue of "Israel
Update" which devoted its cover
story to Israel's new Prime
Minister Yitzhak Shamir. Entitled
"Murder in the Underground," the
story exposed facts of Shamir's
background which are not common
knowledge.
Yellin asserts he is interested
only in disseminating the informa-
tion about Shamir, so that his con-
gregants and other interested
parties may evaluate it. "I do not
think it should be hidden," he
commented.
Rabbi Richard Yellin
He added that he "does not
intend to use his pulpit to discuss
politics, but that he brought the
topic up in his sermon "only to ask
the question of whether or not
Continued on Page Nine
Professor Upheld In
Anti-Zionist Stance
professor had not breached aca-
demic ethics or the bounds of aca-
demic freedom in teaching "The
Politics of Race." It was that
finding that prompted the Gover-
nor's denunciation.
The executive committee finding
was subject to review by the full
Faculty Senate, which upheld the
Faculty Senate committee finding.
Academic Freedom
Siegman said Dube had directed
his students to write a term paper
on the theme "Zionism is as much
racism as Nazism is racism."
Commenting that it is often hard
to "devine with precision when the
line between academic freedom
and academic abuse has been
crossed," Siegman declared that
when members of the academic
community engage in "base hate-
mongering, that on its face is an
exercise totally unrelated to the
goals of the academy, then they
are engaged in an activity which
perverts the principle of academic
freedom."
The faculty investigation was
ordered after a complaint was filed
with university officials by Selwyn
Troen, a visiting professor from
the Ben Gurion University in the
Negev, in which Troen charged
that Dube "employed his position
for the propagation of personal
ideology and racist biases."
Troen, who has since returned to
Israel, said he was acting on a
complaint from a student and sub-
mitted Dube's course materials to
support his charge.
by Ben Gallob
NEW YORK (JTA) � The full
Faculty Senate of the State Uni-
versity of New York at Stony Brook
upheld Monday a finding that one
of its professors had not violated
academic freedom by teaching a
course equating Zionism and
racism. This was denounced by the
American Jewish Congress as
"base hate-mongering."
Henry Siegman, AJCongress
executive director, said state-
ments defining Zionism as racism
by Prof. Ernest Dube, who
Siegman said had designed and
taught the course, were a "shabby
and shopworn technique to delegit-
imize Israel and provoke hatred
and antagonism against the Jewish
State." Siegman added that "too
often, hate-mongering against
Zionism is but a thinly-veiled
attack against the Jewish people
themselves."
Dube had previously been as-
sailed for his teachings by Gover-
nor Mario Cuomo, who issued a
statement denouncing the Long
Island University faculty for
failing to openly oppose Dube's
teachings.
The Governor called the course
"intellectually dishonest and per-
nicious because it is designed to
serve as a justification for geno-
cide in the form of completion of
the 'final solution' through anni-
hilation of the State of Israel."
Dube was exonerated on August 17
by the executive committee of the
Faculty Senate, which ruled that
the      South   African-born   Black
Hartford Police
Sifting Leads
Home Of State Legislator Fire Bombed; Fourth Act
Of Arson In Six Weeks; Reward Of $ 50,500 Posted
By Alex Wohl
Jewish Times Staff
HARTFORD � Police have
several leads in the pre-dawn fire
here which damaged the home of a
Jewish state legislator on Yom
Kippur.
The fire, which authorities said
was the fourth arson attack on the
Jewish community here in less
than six weeks, is still under
investigation.
According to a statement re-
leased by the Hartford Police
Department, a local man is no
longer a suspect in the fire.
The statement went on to say
that the police are continuing to
follow an "enormous number" of
leads that have been provided by
new information found at the scene
and by community members.
Evidence from the scene of the
most recent fire was sent to the
Connecticut State Police Labora-
tory in Meriden, Connecticut.
The police department is work-
ing "in conjunction with the
Connecticut State Police and the
Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms
Division" in an effort to follow all
leads in regard to the fire, the
release said.
In a conversation with The
Jewish Times, Officer Bockus of
the Community Relations Depart-
ment of the Hartford Police stated
that they "have several other
suspects to check out."
The home of Rep. Joan Kemler
and her husband, Dr. Leonard
Kemler, was damaged by a fire
reported shortly before 6:00 a.m.
The   Kemlers   and   their   two
children fled the house. Fire-
fighters said the fire was confined
to the outside walls of the first and
second stories of the home.
"Obviously there is someone
very close in the area who has
targeted a few places and few
people in the are," Kemler said
after attending Yom Kippur
services. There are some 7,300
Jewish residents out of a popula-
tion of more than 60,000 in this
affluent suburban community.
"It defintely was a case of
arson," said police Chief Francis
Reynolds. "Accelerants were
used." He said two empty soda pop
bottles were found outside the
home that were apparently filled
with gasoline used to ignite the
fire.
Continued on Page Nine
Tour Of JCC Campus,
Dessert At CJP Dinner
By Alex Wohl
Jewish Times Staff
BOSTON � There is an omni-
present attitude at the new Jewish
Community Center in Newton. It is
one of optimism. It is one in which
the positive features of a new and
allegedly unified Jewish com-
munity are stressed.
Sunday's 88th annual CJP dinner
at the Newton center was only
further evidence of this massive
promotion, this desire to show that
the future of the Boston Jewish
community is very much alive in
the new JCC campus now available
for the entire community's use.
From the guided tours of the new
structure, to an address by Senator
Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey,
the honorary speaker of the
evening, there seemed to be a
strong emphasis on the future of
Boston's Jews, and how much of
this future rests in the new JCC.
The tour, which gives one a brief
look at the structure, explains that
the five-story Victorian-style build-
ing was built in 1896 as a Catholic
Working-Boy's Home. It was con-
verted in 1971 to a home for the
Xaverian Brothers, an order of
monks. Then, in 1979, after much
deliberation and study, CJP bought
the building. According to the
guide, the organization determined
that 70 percent of all Jews in the
Boston area live within 20
minutes by car of this location. As
such it was a suitably central
location and it was purchased.
The New and the Old
Sen. Frank Lautenberg
The guide quickly added that the
building was purchased with
money from a fund "entirely
separate" from the regular CJP
collection money. How it was
raised she didn't say.
As the guide continued with her
explanations it seemed that they
had designed a location and
purpose for everything. "Over
here will be the old age home," she
said. "Scientists can keep us alive
but they don't know where to put us
then," she said in a patterned tour-
guide voice. "And over here is the
teen wing. We are giving them the
isolation we know they want,
because they are the most import-
ant people to us. OUR FUTURE
LEADERS," she stressed. "Over
here is where they will celebrate
holidays, and here is where they
will celebrate Israel Independence
Day." To this confused reporter it
seemed that they had a plan for
everything.  I wondered if there
was room for spontaneity any-
where in the building � maybe
in the pool.
There are many nice features
to this magnificent structure. In
one room, for instance, children
will be able to play musical instru-
ments, all supplied by the JCC.
And, of course, the grounds are
simply overwhelming. The 35
acres is certainly a choice piece of
property. The pool and gym also
are excellent features, although
still unopened. I assume that by the
dedication on October 2, the
construction dust will have been
swept away and they will be ready
for use.
Sen. Frank Lautenberg
It was with this same spirit of
renewal that Frank Lautenberg
took the podium as featured
speaker for the evening. Lauten-
berg, who was recently elected to
the Senate from New Jersey in a
Continued on Page Nine