THE JEWISH NEWS Incorporattng The Detroit Jewish Chronicle commencing with the issue of July 20. 1951 Member American Association of English-Jewish Newspaper,. Michigan Pres..: Association. National Editorial A,sociation Published every Friday by The Jewish News Publishing Co., 17515 W. Nine Mile, Suite 865, Southfield. Mich. 48075 Second-Class Postage Paid at Southfield, Nlichigan and Additional Mailing Office ,. Subscription IV.? a scar PHILIP SLOMOVITZ Editor and Publisher ALAN HITSKY News Editor ' CARMI M. SLOMOVITZ Business Manager HEIDI PRESS DREW LIEBERWITZ Assistant News Editor Advertising Manager Sabbath Scriptural Selections This Sabbath, the 10th day of Tammuz. 5738, the following scriptural selections will be read in our synagogues: Pentateuchal portion, Numbers 19:1-22:1. Prophetical portion. Judges 11:1-33. Candle lighting. Friday, July 14, 8:49 p.m. VOL. LXXIII, No 19 , • Page Four Friday, July 14, 1978 Day Schools: Major on Agenda Without exception, every assembly devoted to troit day schools. It is even more encouraging the consideration of Jewish needs places em- that more and more parents have learned the phasis on the education of the youth and on necessity of enrolling children in schools which giving priority to educational needs in the pro- have a maximal program for traditional educa- cess of allocating funds for major causes. tional tasks. The day schools have grown im- At World Jewish Congress and World Zionist mensely and their enrollments indicate a rec- Congress sessions, at meetings of federations ognition of the school systems which aim for and community councils, in gatherings devoted greatest emphasis in providing Jewish know- to synagogue matters and at conferences of wo- ledge for the largest possible numbers. men's and other movements, the emphasis While new studies involving the status of the placed on education now includes recognition of Detroit Jewish school systems are currently in the importance of the day schools. For these progress, it will be helpful, in the consideration there are now the recommendations that chief of the status of the day schools, to take a glance consideration must be given to the maximum _ at the school enrollments here. For more than educational processes that have become vital in half a century the United Hebrew Schools was assuring the training of an oncoming genera- the central educational movement in the com- tion whose knowledge must be rooted in the munity. Like all other movements, the number maximalism of Jewish educational efforts for of children it serves has reduced in recent years Jewish youth. and the enrollment at present totals approxi- As a matter of fact, at the assemblies listed it mately 1,200, including the nursery and other is the educational process that is more vital classes. The UHS enrollment also includes an than any other factor in communal planning. Of additional 170 in the high school. course, the funds necessary for the social, While comparisons generally are odious, this economic and protective aims in support and cliche is not applicable to the day schools. This defense of Israel receive lesser discussion than system now totals an enrollment of 861 in all of the cultural-educational. The fund-raising pro- the Detroit day schools, with an additional 99 in jects are taken for granted; money must be their high school classes. These numbers repre- raised and there is no disputing the fact. But the sent a challenge to the planners for future tasks educational efforts have involved' lead- in the community's educational systems. Tak- ing to the forms that demand recognition, and ing into account the fact that tuition in a day because of the difficulties that have been ex- school is considerably expensive the numbers in perienced in assuring the best in Jewish educa- these schools represent a real challenge to the tional efforts in the past decade or two the new previously-established communal school sys- emphasis on maximalism gets prior considera- tem. It is a challenge also to -the very idea of a tion. reduced period of studies. Considering that The fact of the day schools is becoming well perhaps three or four times the hours of studies established. They began with the Orthodox, the are provided by day schools, in comparison with Conservative community followed suit, and the emaciated time schedules in the afternoon now even the extremists who were skeptical, schools, the day schools apparently have begun who had formerly belittled day schools as un- to assume major importance in local educa- necessary parochial substances, now also are tional processes. adopting the idea of fullest provisions for the These facts need to be known in the planning training of the Jewish youth. There are Reform processes which involve allocations. Assuming day schools to which as much devotion is given that the increased recognition of the day schools as to similar educational tasks in the Orthodox as the most vital factor in educational processes and Conservative ranks. could vastly increase enrollments if oppor- The reasons for such emphases are under- tunities could be provided for scholarships for standable. The afternoon Jewish schools have children stemming from families unable to declined to the minimum of studies. What had meet the present costs of day school attendance, been a five-day-a-week program in such schools then the duty to meet the needs financially has dwindled to less than half of that time ele- grows with the possibilities of assuring con- ment. Those who were responsible for such di- tributions towards the growth of the day school minutions can, indeed, beat their breasts with a system. "we have sinned" admission. The result is that While the Jewish Welfare Federation earns youths attend schools for the sake 'of disposing commendation for the new step in the direction — yes, disposing! — of such obligations as Bar of increasing support for the day schools, the and Bat Mitzva and then there is an end to immensity of the project, the demand for its Jewish studies. support, the importance of the day school The day schools, which provide excellence in movement, now demands that day schools be secular studies as well as in the Hebrew and considered major on the agenda of communal Jewish traditional training, fulfill a great need. planning. The increased allocations for their There has to be a fulfillment in Jewish studies. support must be viewed as a mere beginning There is the need of providing a totality of train- towards much great assistance to efforts which ing, a devotion to Jewish knowledge, a are the most significant in adhering to the need thoroughness acquiring the necessary links of giving the youth the training that will pro- with the Hebrew language. Time is needed for vide for their proper Jewish knowledgeability. such purposes, and day schools demand and If there is to be a Jewish future rooted in dignity provide respect for such needs. and fullest devotions to the people's historic It is heartening, therefore, to be able to record heritage it will depend upon a well-trained and that the Jewish Welfare Federation has re- knowledgeable youth. Acknowledging that the sponded to the need and has increased the allo- day schools serve that purpose, the obligations cation so vital to the existence of the three De- to them remain unchallenged. A KTAV Volume Vast Variety of Themes Found in Freehof's Latest Responsa Dr. Solomon B. Freehof has established a reputation as the leading Reform Jewish author of Response on Jewish law. As chairman of the Responsa Committee of the Central Conference of American Rabbis he has provided leadership in this field of endeavor as well as having produced numerous volumes interpreting and defining Jewish tradi- tional precepts. His newest work is "Reform Response for Our Time" (Ktav). Comprehensive in all details, the Freehof explanations, the ques- tions and answers on a vast variety of subjects, emerge as notable contributions to Jewish knowledge. So extensive are his definitive essays that this new work, like the previous ones, serves well as textbook for a knowledge of Jewish traditional laws and practices. Modern Jewry's problems are touched upon and the sociological subjects he deals with reveal the changes that take place in Jewish life, as indicated in some of the titles of the definitive essays in his new book. Some of the questions posed with which Dr. Freehof deals indude sports on the Sabbath at Jewish centers, cannibalism, "possible" electronic eavesdropping in Jewish law, photographing the dead, woman doctor as mohel, use of tobacco, two coffins in one grave, use of cornea of the dead, marital rites of a raped woman, gambling in state lotteries, abortion and life fetus study, marrying a transexual, cir- cumcision of proselytes, hysterectomy, Gentile membership in the synagogue, etc. Dr. Freehof resorts to Halakhic rules. His interpretations will be found as impressively valuable not only for Reform Jews but for all others. For rabbis, these Response may well serve as guidelines when confronted with the issues touched upon. For the lay reader there is fascination in the manner in which the eminent scholar pursues his studies and interprets his themes. Kar-Ben Copies Publication `Shabbat' Book Emphasizes Joys in Its Observance "Come Let Us Welcome Shabbat" is a relatively small book. It is a 9x12 brochure of only 32 pages. But in it the authors, Judith Robbins Saypol and Madeline Wikler,have included the traditional prayers and songs, the regulations for the Sabbath, a variety of specialties that make the Sabbath joyous. In 'Shabbat," the two authors, who formed their own publishing house for the printing of their works, under the name Kar-Ben Copies, in Silver Spring, Md., are not only listing the laws for the Sabbath. They also emphasize that the giving of charity, Tzedaka, before the Sabbath sets in, as a vital Jewish tradition. Properly illustrated, "Shabbat" explains how to prepare for the Sabbath, has the regulations for the prepartation for the Sabbath, the kidush, the Birkat Hamazon, brief items of interest relating to the Sabbath in entertaining fashion and six pages of songs with the musical notes. As the authors state, this is an instructive booklet that will be useful for adults as well as children.