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.