12

Friday, April 3, 1981

THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

Readers Forum

Materials submitted to the Readers Forum must be brief. The writer's name will be withheld from publication upon
request. No unsigned letters will be published. Materials will not be returned unless a stamped, self-addressed envelope is
enclosed.
• _ •
•
to a close. During my visit I

Composition of Vaad Is Questioned

Editor, The Jewish News:
The March 4 meeting
which took place at the
Young Israel of Greenfield,
actually a protest rally de-
manding the erection in this
community of an eruv, was
truly an "historic meeting."
One crucial question that
was raised, however, should
be answered immediately,
especially since it has noth-
ing to do with the Eruv is-
sue. Several of those present
asked the Beth Din to sim-
ply identify the members of
the Vaad Harabonim.

What these people wanted
to know is who are the
privileged few who are
given the right to °vote in
halakhic matters that will
affect. the lives of a Jewish
community 80,000 strong?
Who elected them, and by
what right do they presume
to represent the Jewish
community?
Several. of those who
spoke up at the meeting
raised specific questions
about several members
of the Vaad, -which, in
theory, consists exclu-

sively of rabbis who have
their own congregations.
The Beth Din was chal-
lenged to explain why
Rabbi Israel I. Rockove
of the Hebrew Memorial
Chapel, and Rabbi
Leonard Pearlstein,
supervisor of the kosher
kitchen at Sinai Hospital,
and Rabbi Max Kapustin,
a member of the faculty
at Wayne State Univer-
sity, are fully
enfranchised as voting
members of the Vaad,
when not one of them has

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a constituency of any
kind. Whom do they re-
present?
Furthermore, how does
the Vaad select voting
members for these crucial
issues?
The Beth Din refused to
answer any of these ques-
tions and stated that they
were not at liberty, at the
meeting of March 4, to dis-
close the names of the mem-
bers of the Vaad or their
modus operandi.
Perhaps, at the time, the
Vaad had its reasons for re-
fusing to respond. But cer-
tainly now, in the aftermath
of the meeting, now that the
heated issue of the eruv has
been shelved for a period of
seven months, the Vaad
should come forward and
explain its proponents.
Certainly, the Jewish
community has a right to
know who are the rabbis
who purport to be its
spiritual leaders, and by
what rationale they were so
designated, and by whom!
After all, an organization
that depends for its support
on the Jewish community
should at least disclose-who
they are!

Rabbi Jack Goldman

* * *

29173 Northwestern hwy.
at 12 Mile • Southfield
Phone 356-2525

Need for Aliya

Editor, The Jewish News:
My annual six-month
stay in the U.S. is drawing

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find people are very con-
cerned about the problem of
yordim — those that leave
Israel for other countries.
Some even insist that the
Israel government should
impose restrictions to pre-
vent Israelis from leaving
the land of Israel.
Little do they realize that
such restrictive measures
would be a worse tragedy
than losing Israel residents.
People have the right to
live where they want. They
even have the right to make
a mistake in their life style.
It is my belief that Zionism
is an aim to improve the
well being of a Jew who
lives in a Jewish state.
However, if someone is un-
happy in Israel both he and
the state are better off if he
leaves for another country.
. During the dark days of
Russian anti-Semitism
many Jews left Russia for
the United States. Later
some returned, forget-
ting why they left Russia
in the first place.
Even in biblical days
some Jews left the land of
Israel. During the days of
the Second Aliya (1905-
1914) many pioneers left
Palestine for other coun-
tries. Nevertheless, the
state of Israel was estab-
lished thanks to the stub-
born, obstinate and tenaci-
ous pioneers who remained
in Palestine in spite of the
hardships they endured.
This does not minimize
the present day importance
of aliya. Israel needs more
Jews to secure the Jewish
state and the survival of our
people. Those who share
these convictions have no
wish or hope that every Jew
in the U.S. will be forced to
leave America. Such a con-
dition would be a tragedy
for the Jewish community
as well as for other Ameri-
cans.
What those that favor
aliya hope for is a small per-
centage of Jews, say five or
10 percent of the present
Jewish community, to come
to Israel and live there. This
would improve the life-style
in Isra e l and would
strengthen the ties between
the Diaspora and the state
of ISrael.

'William Braiterman,
Honorary President,
Jewish Legion Veterans
* *

Jewish Family
Records Sought

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Editor, The Jewish News:
In response to the great
interest shown in Jewish
family history and geneal-
ogy, the Jewish Historical
Society of Michigan has
created a Michigan Jewish
genealogical reference file.
We are inviting member's of
all Jewish communities in
Michigan to help make this
project a success.
The file at present con-
sists mainly of birth and
death notices clipped from
The Detroit Jewish NeWs
and its predecessors, the

Detroit Jewish Chronicle
and • the Jewish American.
Recently, we were fortunate
enough to have acquired the
burial records of a Detroit
Jewish cemetery, and we
are eager to add similar
material from the outstate
communities.
The file itself will be
housed in the library of
the Jewish Community
Center of Metropolitan
Detroit, but will be under
the supervision of the
Historical Society. It will
be open to those engaged
in scholarly and
genealogical research,
and will be of tremen-
dous value also to histo-
rians, sociologists and
demographers.
We solicit your help in
securing the burial records
of your community for in-
clusion in this important
reference work. For infor-
mation, contact me at home
(548-9176) or at work (871-
8000).

Phillip Applebaum

24680 Rensselaer
Oak Park, Mich. 48237

* * *

True Yordim
Are U.S. Jews

Editor, The Jewish News:
I would like to comment
on the debate over how
American Jews should re-
spond toward the so-called
"yordim" (dropouts), the
Soviet Jews who leave Is-
rael or, worse yet, the
native-born sabras who
leave Israel. The current
talk of punishing the
"dropouts" seems vindictive
and rather pathetic.
It is totally hypocritical of
us to expect others to "live
Judaism" or to "live
Zionism" while we our-
selves are vanishing
through apathy and inter-
marriage.
How many American
Jews, so eager to heap scorn
and rebuke on the "yordim,"
are visibly absent from
synagogues except for the
annual visit on Yom Kip-
pur? How many of us who
are "holier than thou"
toward the Soviet Jews or
the Israelis have never
given our children any
Jewish education worthy of
the name?
How many of us make
any effort to reach out to
the millions of Jews who
are not connected with
Judaism in this country?
An how many of us are
making aliya this year?
Let us, the true "yordim,"
not accuse our brothers of
weakness when we are the
weakest of all.

Janet Abramson
East Lansing

New Dean

PHILADELPHIA — Dr.
David A. Goldberg, assis-
tant professor of Talmud
and rabbinic literature at
Dropsie University, has
been named academic dean
at the school.

