***************CAR-RT SORT**C-0~7 2239 11 /30/96 - _ R.f. _0EWISH HJSTORICAL ASSOCIA 13v S~SSIONS ~T. PROVIDENCE RI 02906-3444 ll l,,,,,l ,l l,l,, 11,,,,11,,,,ll,,l ,,l ,l,,l, l,,l,,ll,ll,,,,l,l,I Rhode Island Jewish Jewish Community HERALD PAGES 3, 10, 11, 12 The Only English-Jewish Weekly in Rhode Island and Southeastern Massachusetts VOLUME LXVI, NUMBER 44 TISHRI 6, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 1996 35¢ PER COPY New Sierra Club President is First Jew to Head Group by Yaakov Arnold educating the masses on envi­ New York Jewish Week ronmental issues. NEWYORK UTA)-lt'stime "What we need to do now is to put up or s hut up for Ad am to create the new format fo r the Werbach. "I' ve been mouthing 21st century, whi ch is going to off for so long saying that young use the World Wide Web, it's people need to assume posi lions going to use MTV and it's going of authori ty," the 23-year-old to use rock ' n' roll. " southern Cali fo rnia native said. Werbach was a second-grader "Now was the time." a t Va ll ey Beth Sha lom Day The Sierra Club board of d i- · School in Enci no, Calif., when he rectors agreed , narrow ly elect­ came across a letter from the Si­ ing Werbach as its youngest erra Club asking his parents, who president. The December gradu­ also are members, fo r help in a In Time For The Holidays a te of Brown Un iversity as­ petition d rive to remove then­ _ Ben Halper; Aryeh Pliskin and Jacob Shore of Providence Hebrew Day School put the sumes control of the oldest a nd Interi or Secretary James Watt. fi ni shing touches on the shofars they made at Rabbi Eli ezer Levy's workshop, held at the school largest environmental organiza­ Adam took the petition to school, recently. Photo courtesy of PHDS tion in the country, w ith its a nd by the end of the day he had 600,000 members and $4 mil­ some 200 signatures. He was lion annual budget. Werbach is hooked on the Sierra Club. a lso the club's first Jewish presi­ Five years later Werbach be­ dent. ca me a bar mitzvah and took out Disenchantment with Arafat "There is a long Jewish tradi­ a student membership. tion of young people inheriting He also became a vegetarian, their future and taking respon­ "so d e fac to I w as kosher." Growing Among Palestinians sibili ty fo r p reserving it," he Werbach also created the now recent ca lls to protest the hard­ He called for a general strike, said, noting the biblical charac­ 30,000-s trong Si erra Student by Gil Sedan line policies of the Netanyahu and a mass prayer atJerusalem's ters David and Joseph. Werbach Coalition and served as its first JERUSALEM UTA)-Never before has Palestinian disen­ government. A I- Aksa Mosque. has delayed plans to attend film director. chantment with the leadership Arafat went so far as to warn But hi s call fo r demons tra­ school at Colum bi a University. In hi gh school and at college, ofYasser Ara fa t loomed so large. of a renewed intifa da, or upris­ tions backfired . He a lso had to move from he handed out black snow cones In recent months, Palestin­ ing, if the Netanya hu govern­ The general strike eli ci ted less Vermont, w here he was wo;k­ to dramati ze the risk of opening ians in the West Bank and Gaza ment did not move ahead with than a stunning response. ing on a novel, to Sierra Club up the Alaska Wildlife Refu ge to Strip hav~ grown increasingly the peace process. (Continued on Page 19) headquarters in San Fra ncisco. oil drilling. Duri ng his threesum­ critical of the Palestinian Au­ While it may seem stra nge mers at Camp Alonim in south­ thority leader, a ttacking the for a group w hose average age ern Cali fo rnia, Werbachinitiated human rights abuses of his se­ is 47 and w hose fo u nd er, John the Bra ndeis-Bardin Ins titute AOL to Settle Lawsuit curity police and sharply blam­ Muir, was 54 w hen he was cho­ ca mp's environmental program ing him for the lack of tangible by Tom Tugend The ADLdid agree, however, sen its first president, to elect a nd helped start composting and economic benefits from the LOS ANGELES UT A)-The to pay$175,000 toward the plain­ someone so young, Werbach has waste-reducti on programs. peace process with Israel. Anti-Defamation League has tiffs' legal fees and to establish a been acti ve in the 104-year-old Werbach - appropriately, Their growing discontent reached a settlement in a fed­ $25,000 community rela tions club since he was 8. Adam means "earth" in Hebrew became more evident than when eral civil lawsuit that was initi­ fund fo r programs to "facilitate Not surprisingly, Werbachis -credits his love of nature to a improved relations between and they fail ed to respond to Arafa t's ated by a dozen ethnic organi ­ taking a modern approach to (Continued on Pag'e 19) zations and that charged that among Arab American, Jewish, the veteran Jewish defense African American and other mi­ agency had illegall y spied on nority communities in the United them a nd their members. States." The settlement, expected to ADL National Chairman be approved by a federa l judge David Strassler and National in Los Angeles, appears to put Director Abraham Foxman no­ to rest a series of charges and tified their leadership in a letter legal entanglements that have that they had agreed to the fol­ kept ADL officia ls on edge for lowing points in the settlement: the better part of 3-1 /2 years. • A court injunction prohib­ The class action suit was filed iting the AOL from obtaining almost lhree yea rs ago by Arab any information from a govern­ American, black and Ameri ca n ment employee in California, Indian groups and individuals. when theADL knows, or should They a ll eged that the AOL had know, that the employee is pre­ hired intell igence agents with cluded by law from givi ng such close police ties as part of a pri­ information to the AOL. va te national intell igence op­ • The ADLand the plaintiffs eration that kept labs on thou­ will review and rctnove certain sands of Ameri ca ns. "confidential" file, in its Cali­ During the course of the suit, fornia and New York offices. The Gang's All Here a nd an earlier probe by the Sa n Peter Schey of the Cenlt>r for Francisco district attorney, the I luman Ri ghts and Constitu­ The B'nai B'rith Youth Organization held its ki ckoff event on Sept. 7. More tha n 150 teens from AOL co nsistently d enied a ny tiona l Law, representing the Rhnde Island, Massachuseth and New I lampshire bnard ed the USS Nantasket for a three-hour improper or il lega l actions, a plaintiffs, said a mutually tour and dance around the Boston I !arbor. For more information about BtlYO, ca ll 467- BBYO. position reiterated in thesetll e­ agreed upon referee would Pholo rnurlrsy of Dnmd Il ochmar, ment. oversee the process. INSIDE THE OCEAN STATE Shriners Sponsor Free Solving Psychiatric Take Your Teddy With You Screening Clinics Problems in The Classroom On Sept. 28, Roger Willia= Park Zoo will hold its seventli The Shriners of Rhode Island opportunity for families whose A clinical presentation of psy­ and treatments." Francis' pro­ annual Teddy Bear Rally. Teddy are now in their fourth year of children are currently under chiatric disorders in the class­ gram will offer an overview of bears, stuffed buddies (of all spe­ sponsoringoutpatientscreening treatment by a physician. room will be the topic when the the current major psychiatric cies), and the people that bring clinics for the Shrine Hospitals. The following is a partial list Bradley School embarks on its disorder with an emphasis on them, will be the stars of the day. Chairman James R. Rapson has of problems treated at Shrine Speaking of Kids educators' se­ how associated problems will There will be a teddy greet­ announced that two clinics will Hospitals. ries on Sept. 26 . Begi nning at 6 manifest in school. ing station, where visitors can be held on Sept. 21 to determine • Scoliosis (curvature of the p.m., Greta Francis, Ph.D., will Professio nal development whether a child with an ortho­ spine) lead the program at Middle­ credits for teachers have been pick up a schedule of the day's activities. pedic problem or a burn-related • Osteogenesis imperfecta town's Bradley School, located applied for, as well as continu­ injury is eligible for treatment at (brittle bone disease) behind St. Lucy's Church at 915 ing education credits for social Teddy ac ti vities include: a host of celebrity bears roaming a Shriner's Hospital. • Hand and back problems West Main Road. workers and nurses. The pro­ The Shri ners wish to make it Francis, associate director of gram is free and the community the zoo grounds including • Limb deficienci es and Smokey the Bear, Sam Boni , the clear that their hos pi ta! care is at growth problems the Bradley School and assis­ is invited. Registration in ad­ Providence Bruins' mascot, the no cost to the patient, the fa mily Orthopedic problems of tant professor at the Brown Uni­ vance is required.