THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
18 Friday, May 29; 1981
No Daylight Time
JERUSALEM (ZINS) —
Minister of the Interior
Yosef Burg has announced
that Israel will not observe
daylight saving time this
summer because of the con-
flict observant Jews have in
saying morning prayers and
getting to work on time.
Detroit's Oldest Orthodox Congregation
By ALLEN A WARSEN
Bnai Israel, Detroit's old-
est Jewish Orthodox con-
gregation, is also Detroit's
third oldest Jewish congre-
gation. Beth El, founded in
1850, and Shaarey Zedek in
1861, were both originally
vorloptr
Bloom
q*q- Bloom
Registered Electrologists
CoMe in and let us remove your unwanted
hair problem and improve your appear-
ance.
Ask For Shirtee or Debby.
Appt. Only
358-5493
11 Mile between Evergreen & Southfield
NOW OPEN
FINEST
LUXURY CAR SERVICE CENTER
in the Detroit area.
Dedicated to providing
High Quality Repairs
to the discriminating owner of
Jaguar—M.G.—Triumph
Rover—Mercedes—Audi
BMW and
other fine automobiles
Accepting Appointments
SAMPLE AUTO SERVICE I nc.
14611 W. 11 Mile Rd.
548-3366
Oak Park
Orthodox.
While the latter changed
their religious orientation,
Bnai Israel remained faith-
ful to its Orthodox ideology.
Recently, it merged with
Cong. Beth Yehud.ah form-
ing Cong. Bnai Israel Beth
Yehudah.
Incorporated on June 19,
1871, Bnai Israel's charter
members were Isaac Adel-
son, Jacob Brownstine,
Jacob Burnstine, Kalman
Freeman, Isaac Levy, Men-
del Rosenthal and Mendel
Starsky.
The Congregation's
constitution and by-laws
were revised in 1874. Re-
grettably, no record of
the original exists for
comparison. Neverthe-
less, the 1874 constitution
is a remarkable docu-
ment reflecting Bnai Is-
rael's strict orthodoxy.
The committee on re-
vision was made-up of
Myer Stone, Isaac Lip-
shitz, Moses Harris, Har-
ris Cohen and Harris
Barlunan.
Although the constitu-
tion is written in English,
its religious terminology is
in Hebrew and printed in
Hebrew letters. It consists
of eight concise articles. The
by-laws have a preamble
and 24 articles.
Curiously, the "pream-
ble," instead of stating the
objectives of the by-laws,
contains this statement: "It
cannot be supposed that any
person however unfit can
force himself on the Con-
gregation as a member
thereof, merely because he
attends weekly to the serv-
ice of the Congregation at
the synagogue, and is will-
ing to pay dues as seat
money, or what he may
think proper, freely to offer
to the charity fund, when at
the same time, he may be
immoral, irreligious, impi-
ous, or otherwise unfit for a
member of the religious
society."
LAWRENCE M. ALLAt.i
President
C, EmOLOGIST j DIAMONTOLOGIST
Diamond Stud
Earrings
A Super Look
At A Super Low Price
DIAMOND
OUR SPECIALTY
111111111111111
VISA'
30400 TELEGRAPH • BIRMINGHAM
LOCATED AT 12Y2 Mile SUITES 104/134
Awarded Certificate by GIA
in Grading & Evaluation
642-5575
Gs
It is similarly unusual
that the "preamble" pre-
cedes the by-laws instead of
the constitution.
The by-laws' first two
articles specify the duties
of the "parnes"
(president). He is in
charge of the
synagogue's "religious
ceremonies"; presides at
the meetings of the board
of trustees; is responsible
for the efficient perform-
ance of the paid officers;
is obligated to order the
treasurer to give $1 to any
poor man only once every
six months; and is
authorized "to designate
the spot in the burial
place belonging to the
Congregation for inter-
ring any deceased
member thereof, or any
stranger professing
Judaism."
Articles III through
XXII define the duties of the
treasurer, secretary and
"baaley tfilah" (readers)
and describe matters, such
as "aliyot," "brith mitzva,"
"kohen," "dukhn," "bar
mitzva," "yahrzeit" and
"kadish."
Characteristic of that
period was the avoidance by
certain Jewish institutions
of the expressions "Jew"
and "Jewish." Instead, they
employed terms, such • as
"Hebrew," "Israelite" and
"Mosaic." The Bnai Israel
constitution and by-laws
use the term "Yehudim."
Article XI, for instance,
states: "A member of any
other Congregation of
Yehudim or a seat-holder of
any other synagogue of
Yehudim in this city, may
also become a seat-holder in
the Synagogue Bnai Israel."
The last by-law sets up a
scale of fines, ranging from
50 cents to $10, for offenses
committed by members of
the congregation. Fifty-cent
fines are levied for leaving
"meetings without permis-
sion" and for "not coming to
order at a meeting." One
dollar fines are imposed for
not attending meetings, re-
fusing to perform a mitzva,
and disturbing during di-
vine services. Fines of
$5-$10 are imposed for "in-
sulting officers of the con-
gregation."
Although no record is
available of the original
Bnai Israel constitution
to differentiate it from
the one under examina-
tion, the latter can be
compared with certain
passages of an early con-
stitution of Cong. Beth El
published in "The
American Israelite" of
Dec. 26, 1856.
Titled the "Constitution
and By-Laws of K.K. Beth
El Detroit," the "Israelite"
does not record the date the
constitution was drawn up,
but does mention that it was
written in German. The
characters K.K. probably
are transliterations of the
Hebrew letter "kuf' and
stand for the phrase "K'hila
K'dosha" (Holy Congrega-
tion).
Beth El's constitution,
like Bnai Israel's, consis-
tently avoids the words
Bnai
Israel
THE FORMER CONG. BNAI ISRAEL
278 E. Ferry
"Jew" and "Jewish." In-
stead it employs the ex-
pressions "Israelite' and
"Israelitish." However, un-
like Bnai Israel's, Beth El's
constitution is preceded by a
set of principles, including
the following:
"An Israelitish congrega-
tion should cultivate con-
cord and peace for all; the
members thereof should
meet each other in friend-
ship and fraternity; they
should assist and support
each other with words and
actions; they should be one
great family."
"The members of the
Israelitish congregation
ought to be true Israelites
by birth or profession,
and their actions should
in every case testify to
this fact."
"The congregation shall
in all its religious institu-
tions pay due attention to
the progress of the age and
maintain the respect due to
customs or laws handed
down to us by our pious
fathers. In cases of innova-
tion, this congregation shall
attempt to remain in unity
with the majority, at least,
of the American Congrega-
tion, and shall always at-
tempt to produce uniformity
in the American
Synagogue."
The last cited principle
and some of the by-laws that
will be quoted mark Beth
El's initial step away from
Orthodoxy toward Reform.
In contrast to Bnai Is-
rael's strict adherence to
"Minhag Poylin," Beth El's
by-laws proceed in the di-
rection of "Minhag
America" (Reform Prayer
Book). They abolish the
reading of the "Piyutim,"
"Megilot," "Selihot" (except
for the "Yeme Noraim" —
Days of Awe). They do away
with the prayers "V'hu
Rachamim," "Velamal-
shinim," and others. They
stress "order and decorum,"
a matter also emphasized in
Bnai Israel's by-laws. .
New Israel Envoy Welcomed
in Egypt by President Sadat
JERUSALEM (JTA) —
Moshe Sasson, Israel's new
ambassador to Egypt — its
second since diplomatic re-
lations were established in
1979 — presented his cre-
dentials to President Anwar
Sadat last week.
Sadat received the new
envoy only three days after
his arrival in Cairo — much
sooner than is usual — and
Sasson was given a private
audience. Customarily,
Sadat receives several new
ambassadors at a time, as
was the case with Sasson's
predecessor, Eliahu Ben-
Elissar.
His meeting with Sasson
lasted 40 minutes, twice the
usual time, and was
attended by Foreign Minis-
ter Kamal Hassan Ali. The
three engaged in lively con-
versation in Arabic, a lan-
guage in which Sasson is
fluent. The Israeli and
Egyptian anthems were
played.
Sasson performed his first
mission, which was to escort
visiting Israeli Agriculture
Minister Ariel Sharon.
Sadat was to receive Sharon
at Mit Abul Qam,, the Nile
delta village where the
Egyptian leader was born.
Sharon was reportedly
bringing a message from
Premier Menahem Begin.
Meanhile, six Egyptian
ministers attended a dinner
in Sharon's honor at the
Nile Hilton Hotel in Cairo.
Sharon is visiting Egypt
at the invitation of Agrici -
ture Minister Mohamn-.
Daoud and their purpose is
to discuss agricultural
cooperation between the
two countries.
Iran Seeks
Israeli Arms
LONDON (JTA) — Iran
has been secretly trying to
resume purchases of arms
from Israel to use in its war
with-Iraq, according to reli-
able Middle East sources.
But. Israel is insisting that,
Iran must first take steps
towards restoring relations
with Israel, broken off fol-
lowing the overthrow of the
Shah.