18—friday, September 26, 1969

THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS , '

Synagogues Experiment With Change

Reform Judaism Class
Registers 600 a Year;!
60 Pct. Are Gentiles

! also have been reported in wide
By BEN GALLOB
LOS ANGELES (JTA) — An in-
use by Reform rabbis.
(('opyright 1969. JTA, Inc.)
given
Widespread experimentation has Rabbi Erwin Schild of Adath Is- troductory Judaism course,
rael
of
Downsview,
Ont.,
and
here
under Reform auspices for
been reported by Conservative rab-
bis in worship services aimed at Samuel Schaller of Temple Gates .the past 15 years. has been attend-
attracting more attendance and of Prayer of Flushing, N.Y., were ' ed by more than 6.000 persons,
of them having enrolled as a
deeper participation by congre- among those expressing reserva- many
first step toward conversion.
gants and also much concern about Lions about the experimental ap- .
the possibility that such innovat- proach. Rabbi Schild asserted that ' Some 60 per cent of the 600 stu-
ing may change liturgy into du- while there was room in Conserva- dents attending each year are non-
tive services for innovation, crea- • Jewish, according to Rabbi Erwin
bious entertainment.
fixity and new forms, there was a L. Herman, national director of re-
The changes and the concerns
were discussed in detail at a ses danger that "if we all experiment gional activities of the Union of
sion of the 68th annual convention without permit, the identifiable American Hebrew Congregations,
element that ought to give the Con. the Reform congregational agency.
of the Rabbinical Assembly, the
association of Conservative rabbis, servative synagogue cohesion and He said many non-Jews take the
which was recorded in the recent- authenticity might become obliter- course because they plan to marry
ated." Jews. They are asked to have their
ly-issued proceedings of the con-
He declared that "much of Jewish p a r t n e r also take the
vention.
what is offered" in synagogue course. A few years ago, the UAIIC
The reported innovations includ-
services
as experimentation "is started a program to get data on
ed use of religious drama: discard-
a form of evading the true is- students "after they have left us
ing by the rabbi of the traditional
sue,- which he defined as the for a period of several years."
black robe for a business suit; ar-
need to "revitalize our service However. he added. until now lack
rangements for laymen, rather
staff h
as prove
pre‘e lute( uate as-
authentically,
beginning with the of sta
than the rabbi or the cantor, to
N,e
tradition as we have it," and de. sessment
of information on con-
lead services: use of modern mu-
ciding
"what
has
become
irrele-
sic, particularly with young peo-
Some non-Jews. who may have
ple: and efforts to introduce mod- van it by the passage of time."
RaO)bi Schaller reported he was already married a Jew, take the
ern materials into the liturgy: as
still suffering from the "trauma of course 10 make theirs a one-religion
well as to reduce the length of
seeing rabbis giving concluding family. Some students have a Jew-
services. Many of these techniques
benedictions with the light dim- ish background but have not prac-
ming automatically and with the tired Judaism. One graduate, Lar-
doors of the Aron Kodesh closing 1...$'!' Crites, attended a Baptist Sun-
Girl. Age 19. Named
or opening on cue, electronically." day school for six years as a child
by Temple as Canada's He said this was not dramatics but . because his Jewish father became
"a phony gimmick." a Baptist.
First Female Cantor
Now in his 50s. Crites enrolled to
He also declared that while Con-
WINNIPEG (JTA) — Nineteen- servative rabbis generally agree "reclaim" his Jewish heritage. Ar-

year-old Beverly Cohen. an attrac-
tive brunette who studies French
at the University of Manitoba,
earned the distinction of being
named Canada's first female can-
tor. Her appointment was an-
nounced by Temple Sholom here.
Miss Cohen, a mezzo soprano and
prize-winning pianist, sang leading
roles in three Gilbert and Sullivan
operettas while in high school and
appeared in the university's pro-
duction of "My Fair Lady." She
was the winner of the French gov-
ernment award in first year French
at the university.
A Temple Sholom official said
that Miss Cohen might also be the
only female cantor in North Amer-
ica. Miss Cohen is a resident of
Winnipeg.

Baltimore Congregation
Ordered From New Home

BALTIMORE (JTA) — A small
Jewish congregation in suburban
Laurel may be forced to vacate its
new premises because of zoning re-
strictions. According to the Balti-
more Jewish Times, the Prince
Georges County board of commis-
sioners has ordered the Jewish Con-
gregation of Laurel out of its re-
cently purchased 533.000, ranch-
-, style dwelling within 90 days. The
congregation was informed of the
order at Rosh Hashana services.
the first service to be held in its
new synagogue.
The congregation, headed by Har-
ry Rosenhluh. has been meeting in
a community hall for the past three
years. It purchased the former
residence in order to have space
for Sunday school classes. But the
neighbors complained that the syn-
agogue's garage has space for only
two cars whereas zoning ordi-
nances require synagogues to pro-
vide parking space for at least 20
cars.

Omit Grapes From Sukka
Decor, Urges Philly Rabbi

PHILADELPHIA (JTA) — Phila-
delphia Jews were urged to omit
grapes when they decorate their
sukkot for the fall harvest festival
that commences tonight.
Rabbi Elias Cherry, president of
the Greater Philadelphia Board of
Rabbis, said the omission would
be a gesture of support for Cali-
fornia grape-pickers who have been
striking for over a year for the
right to organize a union.
Sukkot is the most appropriate
occasion for Jews to take action
against the sin of "oshek," the ex-
ploitation of the hired man, Rabbi
Cherry said. The sukka is tradi-
tionally decorated with fruits of
the season.

Cleveland Temple to Move to Suburbs

CLEVELAND (JTA) — The in- second transfer were viewed as
creasing shift of the Cleveland typical of Jewish institutions fol.
Jewish population into eastern su- lowing their mobile memberships.
burbs has led the board of the
Temple on the Heights to build a
complete synagogue complex in
suburban Pepper Pike. The Re-
form synagogue has been a land-
mark for the past 45 years in the
Heights area.
Originally plans were made for
building a synagogue school on the
proposed 30-acre site, a gift from
Sidney Amster. The population
shift led to the decision to move
the entire operations of the syna-
gogue to the new site. Rabbi Ru-
20811 W. 8 Mile
dolph M. Rosenthal, the spiritual
leader, said that the congregation
between Southfield & Telegraph
was not yet ready to announce
plans for the actual construction.
He said many problems remained
to be resolved before a time-table
Prices Quoted Over
could be developed for building
The Phone.
plans. The Temple was the first
Jewish congregation to move to
the Heights area. Its plans for a

It's Nice
To Deal With
Joe Slatkin's

DEXTER
CHEVROLET

534-1400

DR. ALBERT DUNN

PODIATRIST - FOOT SPECIALIST

IS PLEASED TO ANNOUNCE THAT HIS OFFICE

IS NOW LOCATED AT

18239 WEST 12 MILE ROAD

One Block West of Southfield

LATHRUP VILLAGE, MICH. 48075

on the need to end the dichotomy ter graduation, he continued his
between the rabbi and the layman, Jewish studies and was a member
few had "taken the important step of the 1969 graduating class at the

For Appointment Call: 352-8560

of getting rid of some of the ex- Rhea Hirsch School of Education.
ternal symbols," particularly the which trains teachers for Jewish
rabbinical robe. religious schools under HUC and
UAHC auspices.

British Chief Rabbi Sends
Greeting to Soviet Jews

LONDON (JTA) — A New Year
message to Soviet Jewry from
Chief Rabbi Immanuel Jakobovits
was broadcast on the BBC's Rus-
sian service program.
The chief rabbi said: "The wel-
fare of Russian Jewry is constant-
ly in our thoughts. and prayers,'
particularly in this season when
Jews all over the world are re-
united with pleas for the blessings
of peace, prosperity and good will
among nations and communities.
"In these anxious as well as mo-
mentous days we especially plead
for the peace of Jerusalem and the
speedy relief of all now suffering
from fear. hunger or repression.
"May we hear happy tidings
from you and in turn be able to
convey to you reports of progress,
and stability from our communities
so that together we may secure in
freedom the Continuity or the Jew-
ish contribution to a better and
!
more peaceful world."

In some ways, electric heat is
better than warm summer sun-
shine. For one thing, it's even the
year around. And it stays that way
during weather changes. Also,
with electric heat, drafts and cold
floors become a thing of the past.
With flameless electric heat,
you'll never wake up in the morn-
ing feeling dried out.
You even get an operating cost
guarantee. In writing.
If you'd like a free estimate of
installation and operating cost,
we'll arrange for an Edison Ap-
proved Electric Heat Contractor
to call on you. Naturally, there's
no obligation.
Convert to electric heat. Winter
will never be the same.

DREAM HOME
YOUR HOUSE
WITH ELECTRIC
HEAT

Philly Synagogues Join
Computer Dating, Project

PHILADELPHIA (JTA) — More
than 25 Philadelphia-area syna-
gogues have joined in an expansion
of a program to bring together'
young single Jewish men and
women through computer dating.1
The project is sponsored by the
Greater Philadelphia Synagogues
Young Adult Committee.
Some 30,000 questionnaires are
being distributed by the participat-, 1
ing synagogues. Questionnaires I
have heen mailed to men and
women planning to attend out-of-
town colleges. When they return to
their home.4 for their first vacation
of the current academic year, the
names and telephone numbers of
potential dates will be available to
them.
Last year, some 4.000 young peo-
ple between the ages of 17 and 30
took part in the program, which
was sponsored initially by seven
Conservative synagogues.

First Jewish MP
Lionel R. Rothschild (1808-1879)
was the first Jewish member of
the British Parliament. He helped
financed the English purchase of
the Suez Canal shares in 1875.
He was the eldest son of Nathan
Mayer Rothschild, the founder of
the English House of Rothschild.

"Electric heat

is like having
warm simmer sunshine
inside your home,"
said Mrs. Noah Cochreum
of Troy.