Dec. 6, 1957
S.F. Rabbis Disapprove Gambling At Fund Raising Events
Should bingo be banned when played for fund raising purposes by Jewish congregations?
The question drew sharp attention and affirmative replies from San Francisco rabbis this week following the recent action of the United Synagogue of America at its biennial convention when that body voted a ban on the playing of bingo or other games of chance by Conservative congregations for fund raising.
Inquiry among the local rabbinate disclosed for the first time that the Board of Rabbis of Northern California, several months ago, had taken an official stand against the playing of bingo or any other games of chance as congregation activities, whether for social or money raising purposes.
Here are comments from some local rabbis:
RABBI ALVIN I. FINE, Temple Emanu-El — I support the position taken by the Board of Rabbis against the playing of games of chance. They have no place in the synagogue. I advocated this policy at the time and support it wholeheartedly.
RABBI SAUL E. WHITE, Congregation Beth Sholom — I am in hearty agreement with the action of the United Synagogue. Games of chance played either for social or fund raising purposes as congregation activities have my hearty disapproval. Synagogues should be maintained by proper support — not by gambling.
RABBI STANLEY WEXLER, Congregation Chevra Thilim — Judaism, as it finds expression in the Codes of Law, does not look with favor upon any form of gambling or game of chance. While no formal sin is involved when these pastimes are practiced in an honest manner without cheating, our religion considers them forms of idleness. The inveterate gambler is held to be far removed from the creative and purposeful activities that enrich the life of a religious people. For this reason and for several others, the testimony of those who indulge in games of chance is not given much credence in Jewish courts.
Dec. 2, 1988
Russian emigre, Boxer try to perk up Moscow refusenik
When Isaac Yankelovich took the phone to talk to his old friend Georgi Samoilovich of Moscow on Monday, he made sure to talk in loud clear tones — so the presumably eavesdropping KGB would hear exactly what people around him in San Francisco were doing to try to help the refusenik.
At the side of Yankelovich, a Soviet emigre who now lives in San Francisco, was Rep. Barbara Boxer (D-Marin, S.F.), who has worked to help Samoilovich, a 66-year-old engineer who suffers from large-cell lymphoma. Samoilovich has been denied a visa to seek treatment in the West.
Others by the telephone included a handful of participants in last month’s mission to the Soviet Union sponsored by the Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco, the Peninsula, Marin and Sonoma Counties. There, they had met Samoilovich, who unsuccessfully sought an exit visa before the onset of his illness.
The onlookers hung on to every word said to — and by — Samoilovich, wanting to learn everything possible about his health, his life, his family.
The conversation jumped from English to Russian and back to English again. When Yankelovich talked with Samoilovich, it was in a spirited Russian, almost as if they were a few blocks apart instead of half a world away. “Georgi, Georgi,” said Yankelovich, offering his opinions on the Soviet policy of glasnost (openness) and then telling his chum, “It’s important that you come here. Georgi, Georgi, be well.”
Boxer was more somber during her portion of the 30-minute conversation. Speaking through Samoilovich’s son Victor, she told him that “many people in the U.S. Congress know about [your] case and are working hard so you can get here … and get well.”
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