Local News, pages 2-3 us· es 9·20 Inside: From ·The Editor, page 4 S.-cial foC ··ness, pag ~ ...-- In eus• ~ Around Town, page 8 wornen -~ - • -- ·C D'~, ]T •i"906 ~ ***********************~~- L~ ~~ • ..-,...,-:,;9 11 1 :,;;n;s7 ** .)"" R:i~ JEWIS~-~ISTORICAL ASSOCIATION 130 SESS JONS ST· 02906 PROV IDEN CE I Rl THE ONLY ENGLISH-JEWISH · WEEKLY IN R.I. AND SOUTHEAST MASS. , VOLUME LXXIV, NUMBER 48 THURSDAY, OCTOBER 29, 1987 35¢ PER COPY Jewish Home Seeks Volunteers As Union Contract Nears Expiration; Edelstein Terminates Employment by Robert Israel president of the Jewish Home, in PROVIDENCE - T he Board an interview last week. "We just of Directors of the Jewish Home want the community to know that for the Aged here has mailed out a volunteers are needed in the event letter to the Jewish community that a strike occurs." calling for a volunteer force to Edelstein Terminates register in the event of a strike Employm-ent with the employees of the New England Heath Care Employees In another development at the Union, District 1199. The current Home, the executive director, contract expires November 30. William Edelstein, has terminated The union represents the his employment as of Friday, majority of employees at the October 23, leaving the Home HotTle, including nurses, nurses without a full -time executive aides, dietary aides, housekeepers, director in his place. An interim laundry and maintenence workers. director, Steve Berk, is filling in In December, 1984, 240 workers the position. Interviews are being went on strike against the Home conducted to find a replacement for Mr. Edelstein. Jerusalem's Mayor Teddy Kolleck (left) met Gov. Michael for three weeks until a contract " We anticipate that a new Dukakis in Boston last week. The AOL urged Mayor Flynn to was signed. Over nine hundred director will be in soon," Mrs. boycott a Japanese conference because Jerusalem had not been volunteers, working around-the­ Leach said, "but it might take a invited. clock, kept the Home running during those three weeks. Despite month or two, since the new Mayor Flynn says Boston will Anti-Defamation League of B'nai director would have to give notice not pa~icipate in a historic cities B'rith, who attended the meeting these efforts, the elderly residents suffered hardship, as many of at his or her place of employment conference next month in its with Kolleck. before coming to Providence." William Edelstein Japanese sister city because "The Japanese government has them were forced to relocate to Jerusalem was not invited to the to understand there is a price to other nursing homes or to private U nion's Concerns problem at all nursing homes, not event. pay when you exclude one of the homes due to lack of services. The Stan Israel, (no relation to this just the Jewish Home. But it is Speaking after a private most historic cities" from a striking workers were also accused writer), spokesman for the union, something the Home's meeting with Jerusalem Mayor conference, Zakim said, adding of sporadic incidents of said in an interview this week that management will have t_o face Teddy Kolleck earlier last week, that Kolleck called Flynn's harassment, including physical there are a number of problems at when we sit down, because the Flynn said he was honored that decision "a courageous and very and verbal threats against the Home he hopes to address health care at the Home, in my Boston was invited to the World firm step." volunteers who crossed the picket when the negotiating sessions opinion, has been deteriorating." Conference of Historical Cities in Kolleck was in Boston to lines in order to help the elderly begin. Israel stated that from the time Kyoto, but that the city could not discuss Boston's plans to celebrate residents still remaining in the "One of these issues is the the strike was settled in January, participate because "we felt very the 40th anniversary of the state Home. None of those charges problem with short staffing," 1985 until now, "the relationship strongly that Jerusalem, one of the of Israel next spring. He also met resulted in court actions or arrests, Israel said. "If you walk around between the management and the most historic cities in the world, with Gov. Dukakis. however. The union settled for a the Home, the workers are angry workers at the Jewish Home has should be invited ... I think I am T he dispute surfaced in May 12.6% increase over a three year because of the shortage of health been good." He did stress, carrying out t he wishes of the when Zakim wrote to Flynn to period. care personnel. Many nurses these however, that his letter to the people of the city of Boston." protest Jerusalem's exclusion " We are hoping to avoid a strike days are joining nursing pools, Home's management calling for The decision, which Flynn said from the conference. Flynn, in at all costs," said Muriel Leach, where the pay is better. This is a (Continued on page 21) was made last month, was response, wrote in June to Mayor commended by Leonard Zakim, Mashiko lmagawa of Kyoto executive director of the New expressing Boston's concern over Conference Focuses On pemographics England office of the the omission of Jerusalem. JERUSALEM (JTA) - Israel, conference that close to half of which faces serious demographic Soviet Jews marry non-Jews and Six Refuseniks Emigrate problems because of the disparity the vast majority of the children of between the Jewish and Arab birth these mixed marriages chose to It ,kl~ NEW YORK (JTA) - Six applied in 1978. His wife, rates, is responsible nevertheless register 8s non-Jews. more long-term refuseniks, some Ludmilla, suffers from cancer and for offsetting demographic losses Altshuler estimated the number of them denied exit visas on is an invalid. among diaspora Jews, according to of Jews in the USSR as no more grounds they possessed . state . Shifrin and his wife, Slava, first material presented here at a than 1.5 to 1.6 million. Higher secrets, have been granted applied to emigrate in 1981. conference on t he demography of numbers often cited reflect either ~ 1:l7fl permission to leave the Soviet Lifschitz was first refused in 1978 the Jewish people. wishful thinking or politics, he ,_ ~_ . -~ 1 Union, and one of them, a much and has since worked as a janitor. Some 200 scientists and Jewish said. In fact, Soviet Jewry has decorated World War II hero, has He and Shifrin are both engineers community leaders from 20 entered a period of accelerated already left, the National and religiously observant. countries are attending the decline, according to Altshuler. It Conference on Soviet Jewry Alleged "secret" work as a conference, which opened last is now decreasing at an annual (NCSJ) reported. mechanical engineer deprived Monday. rate of ·1.5 percent ~ompared to 1 According to the NCSJ, Col. Y akir of a visa when he aplied in Conference participants were percent in the 1970s. Lev Ovsishcher, who fought with 1974. His wife, Rimma, is a told that it is doubtful how long Jewish emigration from the the Red Army, departed for Israel computer engineer. Yakir's father Israel can hold the line in the USSR since the early '70s has left last Monday. He had been denied and uncle were generals in the Red "demography crisis," which is behind a Jewish population with a a visa for 15 years on sef,recy Army, killed when Stalin purged aggravated by the high incidence low birth rate, a high percentage of grounds and was stripped of his his officers' corps shortly before of intermarriage and assimilation old people and a high proportion rank when he first applied. World War II. in the two largest diaspora of mixed couples, Altshuler said. Ovsishcher is expected to be T he Yakir family was adopted communities - the United States The situation is not much better followed shortly by Leonid by Congregation B'nai Jehudah, in and the Soviet Union. in the United States, according to Yusefovitch, Mark Shifrin, Nndrei Kansas City, Mo., on Yakir's 54th At present, the world Jewish Prof. Sidney Goldstein of Brown Lifschitz, Boris Fridman and birthday, June 8, 1985. The Mayor population is about 12,881,000 University in Providence, R.I. He Sidney Goldstein Evgeny Yakir, all with their of Kansas City proclaimed including 3,521,000 Jews living in said that intermarriage has been families. "Evgeny Yakir Day" at the time. Israel. But by the year 2000, the increasing among Americ8n Jews know how the crisis could be Yusefovitch, whose wife, But while more refuseniks are global Jewish population is in the past decade, fewer of the solved by discussions in a Ekaterina, is a Hebrew teacher in being granted exit permits, all is expected to decline to 12,212,000 non-Jewish partners have conference room. Moscow, refused to report for not well for the family of Anna and regress to the growth rate of converted to Judaism and fewer of Goldstein replied, "The first military reserve duty two months Kholmiansky, wife of former the J960's. their children are being raised as step in developing population ago because he considered himself Prisoner of Conscience Aleksandr If these trends are not reversed, Jews. policies is to understand what is a citizen of Israel. The couple was Kholmiansky. She began a hunger the demographers warned, the Journalists attending the happening." He said, "In that first refused exit permits in 1981 strike last Sunday to protest the limited natural increase of Jews in conference were skeptical when respect, we know less about because Leonid allegedly was continued refusal of Soviet Israel will not suffice to one of its organizers, Prof.