R. I . J ewish Historica l Assoc i ation 1 1 1 3 0 Session s Street Providence , RI 029 06 Support Read By Jewish More Than Agencies 40,000 With Y9ur People Membership THE ONLY ENGLISH-JEW/SH WEEKLY IN R. I. AND SOUTHEAST MASS VOLUME LXVIII, NUMBER 7 THURSDAY, JANUARY 8, 1981 , _30¢ PER COPY Inflation Rate Controversy Brews Over Dismissal , In Israel Of Police Chief; Gov't Backs Burg World's Highest TEL AVIV - Prim e Mini s t e r In a vote o( confidence in Burg, the him to delay an investigation of criminal Menachem Begin's ministers · have joined Cabinet approved the appointment of Arye h irregularities in the Interior Ministry until af­ JERUSALEM -Israel's inflation rate j togethe r in support of Yosef Burg, the Ivzan to succeed Shafir. Burg was inducted ter national parliamentary e lections, reached the highest level in the world last Ministe r of Interior who has come under as the new police commandant within hours scheduled for later this year. year at 131.5 percent, according to a report public and political fi re for his dismissal of of the vote. Burg confirmed that he had told Shafir by the International Mone tary Fund. the national poli ce chief last week. The Government had ignored a telegram that political bodies should not be in­ The country surpassed the 118 percent in­ f Burg said he ousted He rzl Shafir, a former from the Labor opposition which asked that vestigated in an election year because vicious fl a tion ra te in Turkey, and the 112 pe rcent of top military commander, because he had the appointment be fro zen until the High accusations are often spread about can­ Argentina. resisted civili an supervision. Shafir accused Court heard an appeal by two poli cemen didates. And the country's gross national product Bu rg of placing the interests of his National challenging Shafir' s dismissal. Burg sa id Shafir had referred to" gossip" rose less than I percent, the worst in more Reli gious Party over the interests of the Hints Of No-Confidence Motion and "slande r" about his ministry and had than te n years, according to the Govern­ police, for which the Inte ri or Ministry is Labor whip Moshe Shahal sa id the opposi­ menti oned the existence of a police fil e call ed ment's Central Bureau of Statistics. repolisi ble. tion parties in Parliame nt may decide to vote "' Ope ration Peach " dealing wit h the Between 1978 and 1979, a bureau The re we re re ports that the dismissal of on a motion of no confidence in the Govern­ Ministry of Interior. spokesman said, the G.N. P. rose between 3 Shafir was related to his revelation that a ment as a result of the action. Labor Party He learned about the fil e only this a nd 5 pe rcent. police spokesma n had leaked fa lse informa­ Leade r Shimon Pe res postponed a visi t to the weekend, Burg said, and immediately or­ The country's g ross national product for ti on to the press during the investigation of U.S. as a result of the controversy. dered Attorney General Yitzhak Zamir tci 1980 was $19.3 billion, and the fo re ig n debt bribe- taking charges against Religious Af­ In a dramatic turn of events, Shafir this dete rmine whe ther it warranted further in­ was $20.1 b illion. fairs Ministe r Aha ron Abuhazira. weeke nd accused Burg of havi ng ordered vestigation. Israel's une mployment rate also grew, reaching 4. 7 pe rcent and troubling officials who are trying to encourage immigration. Rhode Island's First Jewish Baby Of 1981 T his was the hig hest ra te since Prime Minister Menache m Begin was elected in Stacey Irene Lehrer, who was born to May 1977. Freda and Stephen Lehrer of 63 Ri ve r Farm Israeli currency during I 980 (the lira and , Rd ., Cranston on F riday, Jan. 2 at I :52 p.m., the n the shekel) lost 114 percent of its value is the fi rst Jewish baby of the new year as far against the U.S. dollar. At the beginning of as we can ascertain. Stacey is the Lehrers' 1~ the year. $1 bought just over 35 Israeli first child and she weighed in at five pounds (lira), and a t the year's end boug ht pounds, IO o unces. U r. J. Grad y oer­ '/ 75.5. formed the delivery at Women and Infants ' 1 The few bright spots in the country's Hospital, Provide nce. 'I economic pictu(e include signs of improve­ The new fa ther was hes itant about joining ment in the balance-of-payments deficit. his wife in t he deli very room. But, Freda was Israel is heavil y dependent on imported raw confident he would be present at the birth of ;, materials and expensive weaponry. their child ... I had him by the arm and he Total imports dropped b y 6 percent his wasn' t goin g anyw he re," she said. " I was year, or by 9 percent if defense items are ex­ very reluctant to· even take the classes, but cluded, the sha rpest such drop in the past Freda wanted me to. I'm glad I did," said tt:~a decade. Stephen. I Government attempts to cut the money Freda finds her new role as a mothe r " ex­ supply as a way to reduce inflation, however, hausting," but she's not complaining. " Ac: j had a diversely affected the country's tually it's good that l get the baby most of the development potential by hampering invest­ day, othe r than visiting hours, because if m ent. there are any q uestions, I can find out now Total investment dropped 15 percent in what to do." 1980, in contrast to an 8 percent rise in 1979, ~l Stephe n teaches mathematics at Bri stol a nd in vestment in durable goods such as High School and Freda is a readin g speciali st buildings and a utomobiles fell by 11 percent in the Smithfie ld school system. in 1980, the same amount by which it had Stacey's mate rnal grandparents are Ruth :"Iii rise n in l 979. Stone of Cranston and the late Ira Stone. H er Labor Problems Foreseen paternal grandparents are He le n Le hrer of Economic speciali sts and officials referred Providence and the late Saul Lehre r. H er to the relative labor stabili ty of 1980, but ex­ great-grandmother is the late Edith Resnick THE FIRST R.I. JEWISH BABY, Stacey Irene Lehrer, with her parents, Freda and of Providence. pressed doubts it would continue. Stephen Lehrer of Cranston. As winne rs of the First Jewish Baby Con­ test the Le hrers will receive gifts from the food , from the Clark Flower Shop a pla nt or Village Flower Shop. The couple will also Loca I Leaders merchants who he lped sponsor the contest. fl oral arrangement, a homecoming cake from receive a gift su bscription to the Rhode Plan Benefit From Al macs they will receive a case of baby Korb' s bakery and a gift certificate from the Island Herald. For NJH/NAC French Jews ,,_inside: Joseph W . Ress, president of E.A. Adams Accused Of & Son, Inc., pres ided last week at the first Israeli Youth planning meeting of the Rhode Island Exaggerating F ri e nd s o f National J e wi s h PA RIS (JTA) =- The Jews of France ha~e Change Hospital/ National Asthma Center's annual been accused of having "exaggerated" re­ dinner gala. cent anti-Semitic incidents in France and of Attitudes Ress, a Providence resident, is chairman of "exasperating" the ir non-Je wish fellow page 8 the NJH / NA C 82nd Anniversary Dinner citizens. festivities. , The accusation appeared in a front page Honoree of this year's $l00-per-person article in Le Monde written by Jean-Marie International benefit to be he ld Tuesday, March 3 at the Paupe r! , a noted writer and philosopher, who Bi lt more Pl aza Hote l, is William H . He isler, stressed that there are Jews in his family and Folk Dancing .. , Ill chairman of the Citize ns Bank & Trust that he cannot therefore be suspected of har­ page 9 Co,mpany. Serving as dinner treasurer is boring anti-Semitic sentime nts. Lesli e D. Le mi eux, pu rchasi ng agent fo r the Pauper! said in his article that there can be i State of Rhode Island. no comparison between what happened at The Jewish Proceeds from the benefit will help fund the time of the bombing of the Rue Copernic Love Of patient care, research and educa ti onal ac­ synagogue in Paris last October and the ~ tivities at the Denver-based center. Since it s situation which existed in Germany in the Chinese Food , founding in 1899, NJH / NAC has provided 1930s. more than 14 ,000 days of care for res ide nts of Such a comparison, he wrote, would in­ page 13 Rhode Isla nd. dicate that within Jews, " hidden somewhere Additional information about the benefit at the bottom of your souls is a masochistic JOSEPH W. RESS dinner is avail a ble by calling 331-3211 . (Continued on page 2) I ~ 2 - THE RHODE ISLAND HERALD, THURSDAY. JANUARY 81 1981 MAX SCHWARTZ FAYE I_SRAEL PROVIDENCE - Max Schwartz, 73, of P~OVIDENCE - Mrs.