58 Friday, February 10, 1984'
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
Readers Forum
n1-- Births
Feb. 6 — To Mr. and Mrs.
Harris Schneider (Sheri
Ide) of Farmington Hills, a
son, Samuel Merle.
* * *
Feb. 4 — To Mr. and Mrs.
Jay Prinstein (Dayle Wein-
garden) of Southfield, a son,
Justin Michael.
* * *
Feb. 3 — To Dr. and Mrs.
Jay Novetsky (Paula
Rosner of Dayton, Ohio) of
Southfield,' a daughter,
Rachel.
* * *
Feb. 1 — To former De-
troiter Sheldon Lewis and
Mrs. Lewis (Sheila Kauf-
man) of New York City, a
son, Zachary Charles.
* * *
Jan. 31 — To Rabbi and
Mrs. Harold Caminker,
former Detroiters of
Bayonne, N.J., a daughter,
Rachel Edith.
* * *
Jan. 29 — To former De-
troiter Raymond Spiro and
Mrs. Spiro (Linda Rogers) of
Wimberley, Tex., a daugh-
ter, Michelle Shaina.
* * *
Jan. 28 — To Mr. and
Mrs. Marc Fishleder
(former Detroiter Brenda
Levin) of San Francisco,
Calif., a son, Matthew El-
liott.
* * *
Cantor Sidney
RUBE
Certified Mohel
358-1426 or 357-5544
Cantor SAMUEL
GREENBAUM
Certified
MOHEL
Serving Homes & Hospitals
,
399-7194
allik
C
,,_
earl
547.7970
REB HERS$t
ROTH
Certified Mohel
557-0888
RABBI S. ZACHARIASH .
Specialized
MOHEL
In Home or Hospital
557-9666
RABBI DR. LEO
GOLDMAN
Expert Mohel
Serving Hospitals aria Homes
LI 2-4444
547-8555
Jan. 28 — To Mr. and
Mrs. Alan Gluck (Debra
Gruskin) of West Bloom-
field, a daughter, Lisa
Nicole.
*
Jan. 25 — To Mr. and
Mrs. Yehoshua Abraham
(Dvora Wrotslaysky) of Oak
Park, a son, Eliyahu Chaim.
* * *
Jan. 25 — To Dr. and Mrs.
Marc Beals (Susan Eve
Politzer) of Southfield, a
daughter, Jodi Gabrielle.
* * *
Jan. 25 — To Mr. and
Mrs. Alan Bloom (Kathy
Peters) of Ann Arbor, a
daughter, Alisa Michelle.
* * *
Jan. 25 — To Mr. and
Mrs. Steve Levine (Kathy
Scheflin) of Oak Park, a son,
Eric Jordan.
* * *
Jan. 23 — To Dr. and Mrs.
Robert Robins (Elaine
Burstyn) of Windsor, Ont., a
daughter, Jessica Faye.
* * *
•
Jan. 21 — To Mr. and
Mrs. Robert Stulberg
(Michelle Green), former
Detroiters of New York, a
son, Jacob Green Stulberg.
Jan. 18 — To Mr. and
Mrs. Stephen Sucher
(Marcy Hitchcock) of South-
field, a son, Scott Andrew.
* * *
Jan. 15 — To Dr. and Mrs.
Bruce Gursky (Beth
Raderman) of West Bloom-
field, a daughter, Danielle
Erin.
* * *
Dec. 16 — To Mr. and Mrs
Peter Tainsh (Janice
Levine) of Ann Arbor, a son,
Peter Kenneth Graves
Tainsh.
* * *
Dec. 8 — To Mr. and Mrs.
Jamie Craig (Andrea Kay
Wilson) of West Bloomfield,
a son, Gabriel Aaron.
To Mr. and Mrs. Ted
Strunck (Jane Rosenberg)
of Royal Oak, an adopted
son, Jesse Alan.
Auction to Aid
Day School
The annual goods and
services auction for the
benefit of Ann Arbor's He-
brew Day School will be
held at 8 p.m. Feb. 18 at the
Bnai Brith Hillel Founda-
tion Building, 1429 Hill.
The public is invited. Ad-
mission is nominal. A
cheese and wine preview
will precede the auction. All
contributions and pur-
chases are tax deductible.
Among the items to be
auctioned off include: auto-
graphed memorabilia; orig-
inal art work; dental, medi-
cal and plumbing services;
classes in art, dance and ka-
rate; weekend get-aways;
gift certificates; junior and
adult Y memberships; cat-
ering services; cases of
wine; hair design; simple
wills; color consultation;
deli tray; restaurants; a
gingerbread house; and a
programmable thermostat.
WHERE ELSE . . . BUT "THE WAITING GAME" .. .
FOR THE MONTH OF FEBRUARY, WE'RE
OFFERING LAYETTES UP TO
30% OFF
COME IN . . . LET US SHOW YOU THE FINEST VALUES IN
LAYETTE . . . INCLUDING NAMES LIKE ABSORBA, PETIT
BATEAU, FINNWEAR, PATSY AIKEN, LAMBS & IVY . . . AND
OTHERS.
The
Waiting
Game
Applegate Square
Northwestern Highway
Southfield
352-9799
Mon.-Sat. 10-5
Thurs. 10-8
P.S. Call ... AND MAKE AN APPOINTMENT IF YOU CAN'T MAKE IT DURING REGULAR
BUSINESS HOURS.
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.
Lubavitchers
vs. Orthodox?
Editor, The Jewish News:
Rabbi Eliezer Shach,
prestigious dean of the
famous Yeshiva of
Panevezys in Bnei Brak, Is-
rael, issued a statement re-
cently, in which he gave
warning concerning the in-
sidious spread of Lubavitch
idealogy in institutions of
higher rabbinic studies and
talmudical academies, as
well as the Israeli Defense
Forces in Israel and in
Lebanon (The Jewish News,
Feb. 3)
Rabbi Shach's principal
objections to the Lubavitch
missionaries is that they
spread their own brand of
Judaism which is very often
at variance with Jewish law
and tradition as set forth by
the Shulhan Arukh, the
Code of Jewish Law, set
down and redacted by Rabbi
Joseph Caro of Egypt in
1555 and brought up to date
ever since.
A disciple of the Maggid
of Mezhirech, Shneur Zal-
man composed his own
Shulhan Arukh. It was pub-
lished in 1814 and became
known to Lubavitcher
Hasidim as the "Shulhan
Arukh of the Ray." Al-
though in many instances,
it simply updates the tradi-
tional Shulhan Arukh,
bringing it in line with con-
temporary rabbinic re-
sponsa, in some cases it
boldly takes issue with the
accepted traditions of Or-
thodox Jewish life and
strikes out with its own
"traditions."
Lubavitcher Hasidim
have always insisted that
wherever there is a dif-
ference between the
Shulhan Arukh and their
own traditions, they will es-
chew the Orthodox view and
follow the teachings of the
"Alter Rebbe." Likewise,
they spurn the traditional
commentaries on the Torah
in favor of "Tanya," a com-
mentary on the Scriptures
revered by the Lubavitch
sect.
When the movement first
became widespread, mostly
in Belorussia, it was looked
upon and accepted as a new
form of the world-wide
Hasidic movement. Later, it
became obvious that
Lubavitch was a sui-
generis, unlike the other
Hasidic movements in Au-
stria, Poland, and Hungary,
and, in a sense, antinomian.
All the other Hasidic
groups followed the
Shulhan Arukh unswerv-
ingly, utilizing a uniform
prayer book, and following
the laws and practices of Or-
thodox Judaism that were
recognized the world over.
The Lubavitch move-
ment, as it continued to de-
velop, brought to light its
own prayer book, its own
customs, its own traditions.,
in a sense, its own brand of
Judaism. As a result, many
bitter conflicts arose be-
tween Lubavitcher Hasidim
and other Orthodox Jewish
groups. Some of these
polemics exist to this day.
Rabbi Shach heads up one
of the most respected
yeshivas in the world. In
crying out against
Lubavitcher inroads, both
in Israel and in the Dias-
pora, he is voicing the opin-
ion of many Jewish leaders
throughout the world, espe-
cially those concerned with
the future of Orthodoxy. His
plea is that the Orthodox
Jewish world craves unity,
not dissension, harmony
and uniformity, rather than
dichotomy and maveric-
kism. There is no need, in an
age marked by widespread
assimilation and intermar-
riage, to seek to further
splinter the Jewish com-
munity with sectarian
rivalries.
Orthodox leaders and
committed laymen should
fraternize with the
Lubavitch adherents and
try to wean them back to the
time-hallowed traditions
which have given stamina
and strength to the Jewish
community, and warn them
of the folly of pursuing divi-
sive innovations.
Rabbi Jack Goldman
* * *
Quotas and
Discrimination
Editor, The Jewish News:
The concept of selecting
individuals to responsible
positions by the numbers,
quota system, is an enigma
in itself. In former years,
the term "quota system"
was used as part of the af-
firmative action program.
However, a great deal of ug-
liness was associated with
the term. Hence, numerical
equality is the contempor-
ary usage.
While strict quotas for
raising the number .of
women and minority groups
in employment and other
social endeavors are urged
by affirmative action sup-
porters, they agree it is in-
compatible to maintain
strict competency
standards. Since past dis-
criminations have occurred
in terms of education ex-
periences etc., their real
competence is that hiring
the discriminated individu-
als or groups by preferential
treatment may actually
raise the general compe-
tency levels since they were
"denied" the use to develop
and use their talents.
The affirmative action
advocates recently, rather
than make race a qualifica-
tion to amend for past dis-
criminations, have initiated
the numerical equality
policies as a way to correct
injustices — and rather
than make sex a qualifica-
tion to restore womens' self
respect, preferential hiring
is the vehicle to correct that
self respect and make up for
past insults.
The opponents of re-
verse discrimination
have argued that the
numerical system is un-
just by demonstrating
that academic standards
of excellence suffer and
that the most qualified
individuals do not re-
ceive positions because
of numerical equality._
Do individuals and/or
organizations have the
right to control their assets
and give them out to
whomever they please and
the right to hire as part of
their moral rights as stated
in -the 14th Amendment?
They argue that under the
equal protection clause this
right is granted since it
states that a state body may
not act in any way to dis-
criminate for or against a
person because of his race.
They feel that philosophy of
our nation deplores dis-
crimination of any kind in
favor or against one an-
other.
Simply stated, there can
be no equality unless there
is a compliance to non-
discriminatory policies. The
egalitarians argue on this
point that the principle of
hiring by competence is un-
just since it regards initial
social positions and pure
native talent. They reason
that past discrimination
should be acted upon by
some type of compensation
principle — that is, a person
harmed in violation of his
rights should be restored by
the perpetrator of the injury
to the position he would
have had, had not the injury
occurred.
The opponents of numeri-
cal equality feel the system
creates and perpetuated
mediocrity instead of excel-
lence for the sake of equal-
ity.
True equality has to be
earned. It cannot be given.
The selection of people to re-
sponsible positions cannot
be given because they be-
long to a group that must
account for a certain
"quota.' The best qualified
person (although not al-
ways the case) should be
selected regardless of which
group the represent.
Aaron Goldberg
San Diego
Disabilities Topic
at FH Library
The Oakland County Li-
brary for the Blind and
Handicapped will present
"Coping With Disabilities:
An Awareness Program" at
7 p.m. Thursday at the
Farmington Hills Library
Auditorium, 32737 W. 12
Mile, Farmington Hills.
Speakers include Pamela
Berryman, rehabilitation
teacher of the adult blind for
the Greater Detroit Society
for the Blind; and Susan
Odgers, educational consul-
tant and a doctoral student
in counseling at Wayne
State University.
Admission is free. For de-
tails, call Carole Hund,
553-0300.