The Miami Herald, Inc.; Tuesday, April 15, 1997
Marilyn Marks; Herald Staff Writer

TEXT: When Barbara Gaynor learned her beloved son Johnny had AIDS, her despair had no bounds. Her oldest child, Charles, had been living with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, for a decade. Now, hearing about Johnny, Gaynor turned to the most natural of places for solace -- her community and Jewish faith.

She didn't find it there. Three months after Johnny's death, Gaynor received comfort at a Catholic church, gathering weekly with Hispanic parents who had also lost children to the disease.

"There was nothing organized in the Jewish community at all," said Gaynor, of Miami. "I had expected that, well, Jews are liberal and accepting; Jews are open, at the forefront of whatever is the most current issue. And then to be blocked at every point!

"I was absolutely shocked and angry," she said. "I'm still angry."

Soon, that should change for other Jewish families living with HIV and AIDS. A new Broward group, the Jewish AIDS Network, is organizing educational and support programs for South Florida's Jewish leaders, families and congregations.

The work begins Wednesday when Rabbi Cynthia Culpeper, an Alabama rabbi who has AIDS, comes to speak at Temple Sinai in Hollywood.

"One problem Jews face is that we feel these things happen to every other person -- except Jews," said Alan Schubert, the network's chairman. "Child abuse, AIDS -- these things happen in the Jewish community, but we don't acknowledge it."

It's unknown how many Jews have HIV or AIDS. But about 10 percent of the clients at Center One, Broward's largest AIDS agency, are believed to be Jewish, according to Executive Director John Weatherhead. An agency questionnaire includes an optional question about religious affiliation.

The new network's programs will be far-reaching. Gaynor and Henrietta Gordon, a Dade mother who is on the Jewish AIDS Network board, will speak to Broward rabbis about what they felt they needed from their synagogues when their sons were dying. A volunteer "Jewish buddy" program will begin at Center One -- which already offers a nonsectarian buddy program and support groups in Spanish and Creole -- to provide support from a Jewish perspective.

Medical supplies and kosher food will be collected. Educational presentations will be given at Hebrew schools and Jewish community centers. Free synagogue tickets and spiritual counseling will be provided as salve for the soul.

Congregation Etz Chaim, a gay and lesbian synagogue in Fort Lauderdale, has offered spiritual counseling for those suffering from AIDS since 1974.

But the Jewish AIDS Network is sorely needed, said Etz Chaim Rabbi Greg Kanter.

"For a Jewish person to get services from their Jewish community was very difficult," he said.

Mothers like Gaynor and Gordon say rabbis need to talk about AIDS prevention from the pulpit, not merely counsel individual families who confide in them. Support groups could be organized at synagogues, and AIDS information printed in synagogue bulletins.

Two months after Craig Gordon died of AIDS, his family's synagogue, Congregation Bet Breira in Kendall, held a "healing service" for Henrietta Gordon and others who were ill or needed support.

Gordon spoke about healing, even though she hadn't quite healed herself yet.

"It drew me closer to searching out the spirituality within myself," she said. "The loss of Craig has been so devastating. If I don't find some connection someplace with him now and for later on, it would be too devastating a loss for me to bear."

Herald Staff Writer Rick Jervis contributed to this report.

IF YOU GO

Rabbi Cynthia Culpeper will speak at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at Temple Sinai, 1400 N. 46th Ave. in Hollywood. For information on her presentation or to volunteer or receive services from the Jewish AIDS Network of Broward County, call (954) 921-8810, ext. 117.

CAPTION: photo: Barbara Gaynor holding a quilt with daughter Susie and son Charles (a), Rabbi Cynthia Culpeper (a)

PETER ANDREW BOSCH / Herald Staff MEMORIES: Barbara Gaynor holds a quilt with her dead son's picture; behind her are daughter Susie and son Charles.

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