THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

Readers Forum

Nursing Homes Hit for Lack
Of Jewish Culture, Kosher Food

Editor, The Jewish News
I have previously been
associated with th a nursing
home which has a 75 or 80
percentage of Jewish pa-
tients. The program of su-
pervised. kosher food has
been discontinued there.
Furthermore, the activities
directors in this and all
other similar homes are
non-Jewish and bring no
Jewish cultural programs to
',e residents. Worst of all,
ergy of other faiths are
welcomed in the "ecu-
menical spirit" to minister
to these 80 percent of faith-
ful old Jews!
It is vitally important
that everyone be aware of
the following painful truth:
How are Jewish sons and
daughters in Detroit repay-
ing the years of tender af-
fection and care lavished on
them by their now aged par-
ents? By forcing them to eat
treifa for the first time in
their lives and submitting
them to the indignities of
non-Jewish culture and al-
ien religions.
Just think: many of these
old men and women have
resisted countless attempts
in the (mostly European)
countries of their origin to
pressure them into partici-

1

INDOOR OR
OUTDOOR
TENNIS LESSONS

Reasonable rates
357-0629 or 355-0629

David Deitch after 6

pating in non-Jewish serv-
ices, eating non-kosher food,
depriving them of their lan-
guage, their culture, their
mitzvol and their Torah.

Yes, they resisted — and
successfully; the tyrants of
Russia or Germany could
not browbeat them into
submission. But their chil-
dren succeeded where the
tyrants had failed!

It is the responsibility of
the entire community to
eradicate this scandal, to
bring in kosher food, Jewish
programming, and religious
services to the predomi-
nantly Jewish old-age and
nursing homes in metropoli-
tan Detroit.

RABBI MOSHE GARDYN

Absentee Landlord
Management Aid
Offered in Israel

TEL AVIV — The launch-
ing of a comprehensive
property management serv-
ice for absentee owners of
real estate in Israel was
announced here last week.
Isralom, Israel Homes
and Real Estates, Ltd. has
reported the establishment
of a new department to han-
dle all details involved in ef-
fectively maintaining real
estate holdings in Israel
while the owner is abroad.
This service is designed
both for foreign citizens and
Israelis living overseas who
own commercial and resi-
dential properties or vacant
plots in Israel.

Sam Barnett

Big or small, we custom the
music to your needs.

968-2563

get

he 4,01 Saaamsel at lire lirt/s1 price.

V

E

Judith Goren's poetry has
had wide circulation. Her
creative writing has earned
acceptance in many magzz-
ines. Her poems appeared,
among others, in Humanis-
tic Judaism.
Judith Goren has gath-
ered a number of her poems
into a book that has just
been published under the
title "Coming Alive," (Stone
Press). (Stone Press, 1790
Grand River, Okemos, Mich.
Barbara Drake, editor of the
Stone Press, published this
booklet.)
One of the poems,
"Yakrzeit Candle," has the
Jewish theme. It follows:
The day-long candle has
outlived its hours, as it
knew for whom it burns.
Lit at sundown yesterday,
it should have died by now;
yet it refused to expire as
though it sensed her
strength those extra
starved-out weeks.

I knew my mother only as
I know this light, through
protective glass that
distorts the glow and
separates me from its
source of heat. I want to
touch my finger to the
flame, but fear the pain of
offering m yself

All night the candle tvill
,clicker across the kitchen
walls, trying to illuminate
dark places. Tomorrow I
will throw away the empty
glass.

Glass-Breaking
Ceremony at
Jewish Wedding

By RABBI SAMUEL J. FOX
(Copyright, JTA, Inc.)

Music by

AA

Jewish Theme
Found in Poet's.
New Collection

Amer&

.41

‘D,

Norman Allan 8c To

•
Mon. & Thurs. 9:30-7,00

17540 WYOMING • TEL. 341-1330 •

Tues.. Wseadt .. 8. 10 7.309:30-6:00

11 Abe Cheraw, Says:

I HAVE EXACTLY THE
FABRICS YOU HAVE
BEEN LOOKING FOR.
OVER 10 POINT
INSPECTION SERVICE
ASSURES YOU OF THE
FINEST QUALITY
BACKED BY A 10 YEAR
CONSTRUCTION
GUARANTEE.
HOME ESTIMATES ARE
FREE!

ARTISTIC UPHOLSTERERS INC.

5755 SCHAEFER RD.
(1 block North of Food Rd )

Deorborn LU 4 5900
Open Doily 8 o.,rn to 5 p m

Call LU 4-5900

ABE CHEROW, President

Several reasons are given
for the breaking of glass at
the end of a Jewish wedding
ceremony. The Talmud
(Berakot 31a) cites it as a
means of bringing sobriety
into a moment of levity lest
the participants lose them-
selves completely in exhila-
ration.
Others relate this custom
to the incident where Moses
broke the two tablets bear-
ing the Ten Command-
ments. The bride and groom
are likened unto the two
tablets and are thus warned
that disloyalty can destroy
their newly-won happiness.

Still other sources relate
this practice to the tradi-
tional breaking of a stick
at the conclusion of a judg-
ment to indicate that it
was final. Likewise, the
broken glass indicates
that the decision and judg-
ment of this marriage is
final and complete.

It has been suggested that
a glass is broken because
technically broken glas-
sware can be mended or re-
fitted somehow, whereas
chinaware cannot.
The purpose of this is to
remind man that no matter
what damage takes place,
love can mend the break and
heal the wound. Others
claim that as glass can be
re-made so is man re-born
upon his wedding day, and
is therefore to be regarded
as starting a new life.

Friday, July 4, 1975 35

,Naturei Karta: Religious Extremists

"Naturei Karta" is a
term currently applied to
the most extreme religious
faction in the state of Israel.
Many of this sect refuse to
recognize Israel as a state
until the arrival of the Mes-
siah.

The name "Naturei
Karta" has an interesting
origin. It technically means
"keepers of the gates."
Rabbi Judah once was said
to have sent his students to
survey the condition of
scholarship throughout the
land of Israel.

They arrived at a certain
city and found no scribe or
scholar. They asked the city
fathers to bring to them the
watchers of the gates. When
they brought before the
students the gate keepers,
who literally were the
watchmen of the physical
gates, the students replied:
"These are not watchmen of
the gates. They are the de-
stroyers."

When the townspeople
asked them, "Who are the
keepers of the gates?"
they replied, "These are
really the scholars, scribes

`Making Qf Modern Jew'

By MILTON STEINBERG
In "The Making of the
Modern Jew"

Jews, surveying their own
past, often express astonish-
ment at the breadth and
depth of the civilization
which they have inherited.
It seems unreasonable that
such exquisite and varie-
gated flowers should have
blossomed on a sterile soil
and in an.uncongenial at-
mosphere.
Amazement disappears
when one considers the ur-
gency which impelled Jew-
ish cultural life. For, since
the Jew would not die, he
had his choice of only two
alternatives. He must either
cultivate a compensating
culture or go stark mad.
This accounts for the pas-
sionate devotion of the Jew
to ideas, for his intense ab-
sorption in books, for his
reverence for scholarship.

Out of rigid necessity the
Jew concerned himself with
study and instruction. In no
other society was education
taken so seriously as in the
ghetto. Mothers in their lull-
abies assured their infants
that Torah was the best of
all wares. Jewish parents
held always before them-
selves the example of the
mother of Rabbi Joshua ben
Hananya who "used to take
her child to the door of the
academy in his crib so that
he might early become ac-
customed to the sound of
learning."

and teachers." The indica-
tion was, of course, that
the solidification of a city
or a country rests with its
religious leaders and reli-
gious scholars.

Thus, in defiance of the
literal government leaders,
this sect set themselves up
as an autonomous body
claiming authority over
their own domain because
of their piety and scholar-
ship.

Kabtzan Defined

A "kabtzan" is another
name for a poor man. The
term technically means "a
collector."
This is applied to a poor
man because a poor man
used to go around and col-
lect alms to sustain himself.
In many communities in
Europe the poor man had to
have a letter from the head
of the community or the
rabbi testifying to the fact
that he was indeed poor and
unable to support himself in
any other way.

MICHAEL KAPLIT
Photography

Weddings • Bar Mitzvas

642-1039

With other peoples, cul-
ture was an afterthought,
a by-product of normal liv-
ing, an amusement for lei-
sure hours. With the Jew
it was a condition for san-
ity.

I Weep for You
My Child

Editor's note: Rose
Kaufman, a former Detro-
iter now residing in Los
Angeles, is the author of
many poems and songs
that have been heard at
national and international
public functions. She dedi-
cated- the following poem
to the Israeli schoolchil-
dren who died at Ma'alot,
and all children who have
suffered because of war.

My eyes are filled with tears

for you
Although we never met
You lived and died so far
away
.ind vet. I can't forget
The tragic loss of treasured
lives
The heartache pain I share
.1 mother's love can feel the
grief
.1nd sorrow so hard to bear.
I weep for you, but you can't
see
And yet, I must express
My pledge to y011 and those
who read
With souls of conscience-
!! ess
The world must heed our sol-
emn 1'0
For endless wars to cease
.'to you. my child, won't have
to die
Sleep. sleep, my dear, in
peace.

SHORT SLEEVE

SUMMER

SHIRTS

$ 6 90

were $12

SHORTS

50% OFF

val. to $10

PRINT
SLEEVELESS

PRINT

SHELLS
$480

T-SHIRTS

were $8

were $12

PANT

POLYESTER

SHIRTS
$790

PANTS
$790

were $16

val. to $18

$ 690

Master Charge

Bank Artiericarct i

aiLiba ps
WA IE OUSE STORE

Daly 10-6, Thurs. Frill 9
Daly 10-6 Mon., Thurs. Fri 'hi 9

3160 W.12 Mk Berkley
23 Mile & Van Dyke Shelby Plaza

Sunday 12 to 5