Texas Jewish Post (Fort Worth, Tex.), Vol. 38, No. 5, Ed. 1 Thursday, February 2, 1984 Page: 2 of 24
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TEXAS JEWISH POST THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 1984 PAG
BY JOSEPH POLAKOFF
Chief Correspondent
TJPost Washington Bureau
W ASHINGTON - Dur
ing his recent (January) visit
to America, Chinese Prem-
ier Zhao Zyang's most poig-
nant moments came when he
met in Washington with the
parents of the young Jewish
student who died of an
incurable disease he had
contracted while in China
learning about its people, its
language and its culture.
The Chinese leader met
with Jewish Americans on
both coasts and apparently
was impressed with the
quality of their character
and their support for Sino-
American friendship. San
Francisco Mayor Dianne
Feinstein, who welcomed
him there, is a founder and
leader of the city’s citizen
group for improvement in
the bilateral relationship. In
New York, Mayor Edward
Koch, an expert in banter,
gave ground to the Premier
in the proper manner of a
host for an honor guest. In
Washington, ZHAO formed
deep respect for the State
Department’s top official
for Sino-American relations,
Paul Wolfowitz, the assis-
tant secretary of state for
far eastern affairs.
But it was at the Sidwell
Friends School here that
tears came along with
elation among students of
the Chinese language class
of 20 students which was
started in memory of John
Fisher Zeidman, who was
graduated from the private
school in 1979. He died less
than three years later after
contracting viral encephali-
tis in Peking where he was
an exchange student.
Zhao cancelled a formal
U.S. Government farewell
ceremony on the Washing-
ton Monument Grounds to
visit the class and meet
Attorney Philip and Nancy
Zeidman, the youth’s par-
ents, and one of his two
sisters, 16-year-old Jennifer.
His other sister, Betsy, was
unable to be present. Zhao
told the enthusiastically
appreciative class that John
had “a warm heart for
China. His schoolmates in
Peking and his teachers miss
him very much.”
Meeting with the Zeid-
mans in the school’s library,
the 64-year-old leader of a
billion Chinese told them
their effort to establish the
Chinese studies program “is
the best way to cherish the
memory of your son.” He
invited them, as he had the
class members, to be his
guests in China. Zeidman
later indicated (to this
reporter) that they would go
there but could not give
dates.
John Zeidman, while
spending a year as a student
in China, fell ill on Sept. 26,
1982, his 20th birthday. On
January 3, at Johns Hopkins
Hospital in Baltimore, he
died. The school started its
Chinese program last au-
tumn wiui an endowment of
more than $200,000 raised as
a memorial to John Zeidman
begun by his parents.
The Zeidman family effort
for the program was aided
by the Chinese Embassy in
Washington which contrib-
uted some 400 books on
Chinese history, literature,
and customs. It also sent
moon cakes and calendars to
the class. “There’s a special
tie,” the program’s director,
Lucia B. Pierce, said.
Attorney Zeidman, who
came to Washington from
Birmingham, Ala., about 20
years ago, wrote the eulogy
for his son’s funeral service
held on Jan. 5, 1982, at the
Washington Hebrew Con-
gregation. It was read by
the youth’s uncle. Rabbi
Daniel Jeremy Silver. In it,
the father recalled his son’s
aptitude for Chinese, his
illness, their visit to him in a
Peking hospital, and John’s
Bar Mitzvah speech seven
years earlier at the same
altar at which the eulogy
was being given. He recalled
the boy saying at the altar:
“For the brief period of our
lives, we are allowed to
inhabit this earth. And it is
our duty and our privilege to
improve it, cultivate it, and
enrich it — and, if we are
wise, to leave it a better
world than we found it.”
Zeidman also recalled
when he was in Peking and
his son lay mortally ill that
“there is in the world far
more love and empathy than
a popular cynicism would
have us believe.” The lesson,
his eulogy text said, emerg-
ed “unforgettably at a
hastily assembled Kol Nidre
service in Peking, where I
was surrounded by Catholics
and Protestants as well as
by Jews, all praying for
John Zeidman.” The eulogy
concluded with the father
repeating in Yiddish a
“silent message” from
John’s grandfather.
Attorney Zeidman be-
came well-known in China
for his rebuttal of a
published criticism by David
Finkelstein, a free lance
writer, about the medical
care John received in China.
Both articles appeared in
The Washington Post in
January 1982. Zeidman
praised Chinese care for his
son before he was flown to
Baltimore, saying: “John did
not die of inadequate care or
unsanitary medical facilities.
He died of viral encephali-
tis. And while he was far
likelier to have contracted
that disease in China than in
America, he was a good deal
less likely in China to have
died at the hands of, say, a
drunk driver or an armed
mugger. One of our com-
panions on an earlier trip to
China was Dr. Michael
Halberstam, who returned
safely to Washington only to
be shot to death by a burglar
in his own home.”
The Zeidman article was
reprinted in The People’s
Daily the official Chinese
Party newspaper. A lauda-
tive commentary by a senior
foreign ministry official ac-
companied it. At the first
John Fisher Zeidman Me-
morial Lecture at the Sid-
well School, the following
cable was received from Zi JhJ
Jingruo, vice president
Beijing (Peking) Norma^^
School where John had j
studied:
“On the occasion of the
first annual meeting of t^^
Fund, 1 send you t^^H
warmest congratulations <Hg|
behalf of Beijing Normal J
University. The young Zeid- '
man loved the Chinese
people and studied Chinese t
language hard and seriously. J
Unfortunately he died of
illness at a young age. Th* 1
the peoples of China and til i
United States lost a greff
son. The work of the John
Fisher Zeidman Fund is of <
great significance which will
let more American youth
understand China and will
increase the friendship b^^
tween the peoples of Chirl^
and the U.S. We wish tl|
meeting a great success. We
would like to present 71
copies of books to the fund *
through the father of John
Zeidman. Please accept
them.”
■-*1
Conn. Sabbath Observance Law Supreme Court Asked To Uphold
The U.S. Supreme Court
has been asked to rule that a
Connecticut law requiring
employers to give workers
time off for religious obser-
vance is constitutional. The
request, made in a petition
filed on behalf of a Connecti-
cut chain store manager,
asks that the U.S. high court
review a decision of the
Connecticut Supreme Court
which declared the state’s
Sabbath observance em-
ployee protection statute
unconstitutional.
The Connecticut court had
declared that any law
requiring employers to allow
employees to take time off
for religious purposes vio-
lated the principle of separa-
tion of church and state. The
petitioner argues that it isn’t
so. He says that the
Connecticut court decision
conflicts with numerous
decisions of federal and state
courts which have held that
protecting employees in the
free exercise of religion is
constitutional.
The store manager is
represented by Nathan Lew-
in, a Washington attorney
and vice-president of the
National Jewish Commission
on Law and Public Affairs
(COLPA). On the brief with
Lewin were Dennis Rapps,
executive director, and Dan-
iel D. Chazin, general
counsel, of COLPA; and Lois
C. Waldman and Marc
Stern, acting director and
Yaacov Meridor [right] speaking with [L-R] Lawrence
Cohen, Congressman Martin Frost, and Connie Dorfman at
the home of David and Ann Sikora.
assistant director, respec-
tively, of the American
Jewish Congress legal staff.
In announcing the filing of
the petition, Howard Zuck-
erman, president of COLPA,
and AJCongress’ Waldman
said that although Thornton,
the plaintiff in Thornton v.
Caldor, is not Jewish, the
Connecticut Supreme Court
ruling against the Sabbath
observance protection sta-
tute is of “obvious impor-
tance and concern” to the
Jewish community.
The petition was filed by
Lewin on behalf of Donald E.
Thornton, a Connecticut
department store manager
with the Caldor chain of
retail stores, who asked to
be excused from working on
Sunday because he observed
the day as his Sabbath. The
chain offered to transfer him
to a store in Massachusetts
that was closed Sundays or
demote him. Thornton refus-
ed the out of state transfer
and sued Caldor under a
1976 revision of the state’s
Sunday laws, specifying that
no employee could be requir-
ed to work on his or her
Sabbath.
preme Court to overturn the
Connecticut Supreme Court
decision against Thornton,
Lewin says in the petition
that the Connecticut court’s
analysis was “‘faulty.” He
asserts the Connecticut law
was an anti-Discrimination
measure representing “leg-
islative accommodation to
the conscientious needs of
individuals” and served a
constitutionally acceptal|
purpose by providing pro-
tection to an individual in
the free exercise of religion.
Meridor Visits Metroplex Meets Leaders
■i
The Jewish Community
Relations Council (JCRC)
of the Jewish Federation
of Greater Dallas arranged
a series of events for Israeli
Minister of Economy, Yaa-
cov Meridor, during his visit
to Dallas January 16-17.
The evening of January
16, Meridor addressed the
Lawyers’ Division of the
Federation Campaign and
then attended a reception in
his honor at the home of
David and Ann Sikora.
Among the guests at the
reception were Represen-
tative Martin Frost, Repre-
sentative and Mrs. Steve
Bartlett, State Representa-
tive Patricia Hill, County
Commissioners Jim Jackson
and Chris Semos, City Coun-
cilmen Craig Holcomb and
Jim Richards, Ex-Council
member Fred Blair.
A trial court ruled in
Thornton's favor, rejecting
Caldor’s argument that the
law was unconstitutional.
The Supreme Court of
Connecticut, however, re-
versed the decision.
In asking the U.S. Su-
The next morning the
JCRC hosted a breakfast for
Meridor and JCRC members
and delegates.
Meridor also visited Tan-
dy Corporation and General
Dynamics in Fort Worth and
had dinner with leading bus-
inessmen in the city.
The purpose of Meridor’s
visit was to promote inter-
est in the high technology
industry in Israel among
the American business com-
munity.
During his visit to Dallas,
Meridor addressed a lunch-
eon sponsored by the Fisher
Institute and a luncheon
hosted by Mort Meyerson of
EDS.
Meridor was a founding
member and past Command-
er-In-Chief of the Irgun Zvai
Leumi. A close associate of
Prime Ministers Begin afl
Shamir, he was appointl
Minister of Economy aim
Interdepartmental Coordin-
ation in 1981._•
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Wisch, J. A. & Wisch, Rene. Texas Jewish Post (Fort Worth, Tex.), Vol. 38, No. 5, Ed. 1 Thursday, February 2, 1984, newspaper, February 2, 1984; Fort Worth, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth834476/m1/2/: accessed April 23, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; .