22 Friday, August 1, 1980 THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS Controllers Meet in New Orleans NEW YORK — Control- lers from federations throughout the U.S. and Canada will discuss the fis- cal and administrative con- cerns of local federations and their agencies at the annual Controllers Insti- tute to be held Sept. 21-23 in New Orleans. The Institute will include PD POL ADV VOTE AUG 5TH PATRICIA A. KELLY State Representative -- 69th District workshops on auditing, fed- eration functional account- ing and the use of the word processor and other new office products. Bilingual Volume PHILADELPHIA (JTA) — A 108-page bi-lingual Handbook for Soviet Jewish immigrants has been pub- lished by the Federation of Jewish Agencies for the al- most 5,000 Soviet Jewish settlers in the Philadelphia area. FORESTS that bear your name Long after you have gone, forests in Israel renewing themselves in the cycle of sea- sons, will keep your memory ever green. When making . your Will, provide that a forest in Israel be planted in your name or in that of someone dear to you, handing down your last eish from generation to generation. A bequest to the J.N.F. is a bequest to the entire Jewish people, linking the name of the Testator with Israel in perpetuity. For information and advice in strict confidence apply to JEWISH NATIONAL FUND 27308 Southfield Southfield, Mi. 48076 557-6644 Rabbi Asserts the Americanized Bar Mitzva Is Costing Congregations Their Membership By BEN GALLOB (Copyright 1980, JTA, Inc.) A retired Massachusetts Reform rabbi is convinced that the typical lavish Bar-Bat Mitzva ceremony may be a threat to the con- gregation's stability as demonstrated by regular attendance at services, and that his findings apply not only to Reform bilt also to Conservative and Orthodox synagogues "here and abroad." Rabbi Herman Snyder, rabbi emeritus of Sinai Temple in Springfield, de- scribed his concerns in the Winter, 1980 issue of the "Journal of Reform Judaism," the scholarly quarterly of the Central Conference of American Rabbis. Describing the Bar-Bat Mitzva as an American "discovery," he asserted it was developed and ex- panded in the United States "and from here exported to other countries," including Israel. For the rabbi, the ceremony initially emerged as "a means to an end" — the solution to the "vexing" problem of "how to get our reluctant young people (and their parents) exposed to at least a minimal Jewish edu- cation." Rabbi Snyder cited "three major conse- quences" developing from the American ver- sion of the rite. One was that it was a boon to He- brew teachers and reli- gious schools; children were enrolled in the synagogue schools to be "prepared" for the event. Second, he reported, the American version "re- sulted in the creation" of "an entire industry cater- ing to the oneg Shabat, • • • • 041 • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •--• • • • • 7 •INEW- We Take The Worry Out Of DRAPERY CLEANING Drapery cleaning when properly done is an art, we at CUSTOM DRAPERY CLEANERS practice most diligently, in our never ending quest to improve our service to you by seeking better systems and methods. Don't take good drapery cleaning for granted. We at CUSTOM DRAPERY CLEANERS make good cleaning happen. • DRAPERIES • BEDSPREADS • BLANKETS (Cleaned or Laundered) • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • Bantam to Print • Weizman Volume • on M.E. 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In pre-war Eastern Europe, where Jews were accustomed to attend serv- ices daily, there was no spe- cial preparation of children who, long before they were 13, "could generally read or chant any Torah or Haf- torah portion." On or as close as possible to the boy's 13th birthday, he was called to the Torah, whatever the day.,was, but the Haftorah reading was reserved "for the distinguished elders." Rabbi Snyder also causti- cally noted that "people rise from sickbed or travel great distances to be present. Business and professional men who insist they cannot possibly be away from busi- ness or office, particularly on a Saturday, will be found in the synagogue, if they have been invited. Even the golf and tennis buff who plays every Sabbath 'reli- giously,' will feel com- pelled" to attend. The usual result of such "outstanding events" is that "the child is gift- laden, rabbi-blessed and — in most cases — promptly lost to the synagogue, together with his family," though the "euphoria" was great "while it lasted." Rabbi Snyder declared that the ceremony has be- come "perhaps the most popular and joyous religious institution in the American Jewish community," a "happy reunion" of family and friends, many of whom "seem to be so overcome by .emotion that they are un- able even to hold a prayer- rights to a book by former Israeli Defense Minister Ezer Weizman in which he will give a first-person perspective of the Middle Eastern policy-making and . peace negotiations from 1977 to the present. The completed manu- script of the as-yet-untitled book will be delivered to Bantam in October. A hardcover edition will be published in the spring of 1981. To despise money is to de- throne a king. book or to participate in the service. The rabbi stressed he was not dealing with the prob- lem of the "drop-out" parent and child. He wrote he sim- ply wanted to raise the issue of "whether the ceremony may not be exercising a de- structive impact on synagogue attendance," a result he said that was largely unnoticed. He said that where the Bar-Bat Mitzva was once incidental to the regular Sabbath morning service, in many congregations the family and the child now have "taken over" the entire service, with attendance re- stricted to invited guests. Specifically, he asserted, "a person who attends every Sabbath morning, even when there is a Bar or Bat Mitzva, is often considered `strange' and it has been de- scribed" as "bad taste" to come to such a service if "one is not an invited guest." Asserting that regular attendance at services is "a fragile habit that is easily broken," Rabbi Snyder said his findings were that "regular, week-in, week-out attendance is in direct re- lationship to the extent of the Bar-Bat Mitzva child's involvement in the services." In those con- gregations "in which the participation of the youngster is at a minimum, regular attendance is steady"' and where the "involve- ment is greatest, the 'reg- ulars' become fewer," he said. He cited a Reform con- gregation with which he was familiar and which has more than 1,000 members that "now has no Saturday morning service at all un- less there is a Bar or Bat Mitzva and no- member of the congregation would think of 'intruding' if not invited." FIRESTONE I JEWELRY Wholesale Diamonds & Jewelry Remounting Jewelry 8 Watch Repairing. SUITE 318 ADVANCE BLDG. 23077 Greenfield at 9 Mile (313) 557-1860 .1 ■ 11M=11, ■ 1•1•11•11•111. 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