THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

Friday, March 13, 1981 11

Purim Feast: Saving the Best for Last

By RABBI SAMUEL FOX

(Copyright 1981, JTA, Inc.)

The gala feast (Seuda)
that Jews partake of on
Purim is only one of the ob-
servances one is obliged to
perform on Purim. The feast
is thus delayed until late in
the afternoon so that the
other observances would be
fulfilled before one sits
down to enjoy the feast.
This is especially so be-
cause some traditions call
for somewhat more alco-
holic drinking than usual.
Thus the indulgence in the
feast would at least make
one drowsy and somewhat
intoxicated so that one
would probably neglect the
other requirements.
These other requirements
have to do with a relation-
ship with others and thus
they are important. For
example, one is required to
send charity to poor people.
Also, one is required to send
or exchange edible portions
with one's friends and
neighbors. These two activi-

ties make it possible for brethern elsewhere are
others to properly celebrate celebrating then.
the festival. One should not,
What makes our brethern
therefore, enjoy his own rejoice should be also shared
Purim feast without help- by us. Since it was the Per-
ing to make sure that others sian capital city of Shusban
would enjoy theirs as well. which was the exemplary
Also, according to the model of observing the fes-
Book of Esther, Purim is tival on the 15th day of
celebrated on the 15th Adar, our observance of this
day of Adar in Shushan day is referred to as
(Persia's ancient capital) "Shushan Purim."
and other walled cities
(e.g. Jerusalem) while in
What is currently a waste
other locations it is cele- product of coal-fuelled
brated on the 14th day of power plants could be re-
Adar, such as we observe cycled instead and provide
it.
valuable raw material for
Historically, the end of the cement, concrete, and
the struggle for freedom road-building industries,
from the
threatened according to research at the
Holocaust came a day later. Technion — Israel Institute
Therefore, the -Megilla of Technology.
(Scroll of Esther) is read a
day later than our reading.
Nevertheless, even if we
have already observed the
feast and the reading of the
Scroll of Esther on the 14th
day of Adar, we will reserve
some overtones of festivity
on the 15th day because our

Lawyers for Alleged War
Criminal Rest Their Case

CLEVELAND — The de-
fense rested its case Tues-
day in the trial of John De-
mjanjuk, who is accused of
lying about his past to ob-
tain U.S. citizenship.
The lawyers for the ac-
cused rested their case after
presenting a statement
from a former guard at a
Nazi death camp that he did
not recall ever seeing the
defendant there.
Meanwhile, the tes-
timony of two expert wit-
nesses in federal district
court supported the gov-
ernment's contention that
Ukrainian-born Demjanjuk
would not have been admit-
ted to the United States in
1950 or granted U.S. citi-
zenship eight years later
had he not lied about his ac-
tivities as a gdard in the
Nazi concentration camps
at Sobibor and Treblinka in
Poland during World War
II.
The trial has aroused
fierce emotions on the
part of death camp sur-
vivors and Jewish ac-
tivists on the one hand,
and the intensely
nationalistic Ukrainian
community which sup-
ports Demjanjuk and
claims that his alleged
participation in at-
rocities against camp in-
mates is based on "dis-
torted" evidence ob-
tained from the Soviet
Union.
Demjanjuk denies that he
served as a concentration
camp guard -and claims he
was a POW of the Germans
at the time in question. But
nine survivors flown here
from Israel, West Germany
and Uruguay to give eye-
witness testimony have
identified the 60-year-old,
heavy-set Demjanjuk as one
of the cruelest of the guards,
known to inmates as "Iwan
Grozny — Ivan the Terri-
ble."
The case, being heard by
Federal District Judge
Frank Battisti, is a civil

trial to determine whether
Demjanjuk, an employe of
the Ford Motor Co., ob-
tained entry into the U.S.
and citizenship under false
pretenses. If found guilty,
he could be stripped of citi-
zenship and face deporta-
tion proceedings.

Moynihan Claims
USSR Is 'Heart
of Anti-Semitism

NEW YORK (JTA) —
Sen. Daniel Moynihan (D-
N.Y.) charged last week
that the Soviet Union is at
the "heart" of a world-wide,
systematic and coordinated
anti-Semitic and anti-Israel
campaign that grows with
each passing day. He said
that his campaign is a
threat not only to Jews but
to democracy and liberty
and the very essence of
Western civilization.
Addressing a rally
against anti-Semitism at
the New York Statler Hotel,
attended by some 1,500
women volunteers to
mobilize support for the
1981 United Jewish
Appeal-Federation of
Jewish Philanthropies
Campaign, Moynihan said
that the aim of the Soviet
Union's anti-Semitic policy
is to make Israel "a de-
legitimized entity, a pariah
state, a non-state."

Dutch PVDA
Rejects PLO

AMSTERDAM (JTA) —
The Dutch Labor Party
(PVDA), one of the two
largest in the country,
adopted a resolution at its
pre-election Congress re-
jecting recognition of the
Palestine Liberation
Organization for the time
being. At the same time,
however, it supported the
creation of a Palestinian
state on the West Bank and
Gaza Strip and called for Is-
rael's withdrawal from the
territories it occupied in
1967.

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Announcing a special
new gas rate for
senior citizens.

Watch for details in your March gas bill.

Michigan Consolidated has a new senior citi-
zens' natural gas rate available to our customers
who are age 65 and older and who meet cer-
tain qualifications. Information on this rate,
which may save you about $20 annually, is
being sent with your gas bill. The qualifica-
tions are:
1. You are head of the household and at least
65 years old. (The head of household is the
person whose name appears on the gas service
account and who provides primary financial
support for the family at the account address.)
2. Your principal residence is the address where
this rate is to be applied. (This rate is not for a
seasonal home—a cottage, for example—or
for any rental properties.)
3. You do not have a natural gas air conditioner,
natural gas swimming pool heater, or natural
gas outdoor lighting.

4. You stay on this rate for at least one year.
Once you apply for thiS rate, we'll automat-
ically include you in our winter shutoff pro-
tedtion program. That means we'll code your
account so that, should you fall behind in bill
payments, your gas service will not be shut
off in the winter.
If you're a senior citizen who qualifies, it
makes a lot of sense to apply for this new rate.
Not only may you save about $20 annually on
your gas bills, you'll also be protected from a
shutoff in the winter.
The information in your March gas bill will
tell you how and where to apply. Be sure to
watch for it!

MICHIGAN CONSOLIDATED GAS COMPANY

MEMBER OF THE AMERICAN NATURAL RESOURCES SYSTEM