• 26 Friday, September 7, 1984 THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS NEWS PAUL'S SHOE REPAIR & SEVAG'S SHOE REPAIR NOW OWNED By FINE SHOE REPAIR 851-1840 Continued from Page 1 West Bloomfield Plaza, 6670 Orchard Lake Rd., S. of Maple on the north side IS YOUR DETROIT RENTAL PROPERTY GIVING `7 YOU A HEADACHE? WE SPECIALIZE IN RESIDENTIAL PROPERTY MANAGEMENT R & R INVESTMENTS 25511 Southfield Road • Suite 112 . 569-5863 NEW RENTALS • MAINTENANCE • COLLECTIONS WE DO IT ALL! ii FREE FREE II:. I I 11"111' ,IIIIII.: III, AEROBICS & FULL FITNESS CLASSES INDOOR & OUTDOOR POOLS FREE TENNIS COURTS , , ,, .4, .":. :!„ El: 0111111111011 - II • IIIIIIII10101 111, IIIIII ' .: FRE E I I I1 . 1. 1 1 '1 4 10i i ' r li, 1„.010 11:1111 1 l 1 i 1 i i iI I 1'1111:1 1 0 ,10 4418111 NAUTILUS & UNIVERSAL EQUIPMENT INDOOR & OUTDOOR JOGGING I i,„. FREE LA1100 11 ertificate Good towards dues. initiation. guest passes or restaurant. S100.00 Certificate issued for family or couples memberships. $75.00 Cer. tificate for singles. CERTIFICATE NO. B — CER71 CER- ISSU 101.INT A TE EXPIRES 1! HAMILTON PLACE 646-8900 Athletic S Social Club 30333 SOUTHFIELD RD (Between 12 & 13 Mile Rds.) Hall Ili I. • Presented by HALL REAL ESTATE GROUP Rabbis cancel Kahane President Manny Mittelman and Board Chairman Shlomo Rabinowitz had told The Jewish News earlier this week that Kahane had a right to be heard, Rabinowitz said Thursday morning, As an Or- thodox congregation, we fol- low the Halachic rulings of our rabbis." Rabinowitz said that the Young Israel rabbis were con- cerned about avoiding any im- pression that Young Israel "supports or endorses the causes or views" of Kahane. The rabbis placed a large ad in today's Jewish News to that ef- fect in response to last week's ad advertising the Kahane speech. At the same time, the Jewish Welfare Federation and the Jewish Community Council issued a joint state- ment outlining their opposi- tion to Kahane, and the Con- servative rabbis of Detroit were being polled to issue a similar statement. The Na- tional Press Club in Washing- ton announced that it would not invite Kahane to speak. Rabinowitz told The Jewish News that Wednesday's meet- ing was called to explain the circumstances of last week's ad, "which some people de- scribed as an inflammatory poem with the name of Young Israel of Greenfield at the bot- tom." Rabinowitz pointed out be- fore he learned of the rabbis' ruling that Young Israel of Greenfield has rented • its facilities to Kahane in the past. Now he is a Member of the Knesset and there are additional ramifications." Rabinowitz said the board meeting Was called because of the confusion created by the ad. Young Israel officials feared that the public would be left with the impression that YI was sponsoring the Kahane forum. "Some people think the ad was placed that way on purpose. We called the meet- ing to explain to our board — and through them to our con- gregation — what happened, how it happened, and steps taken to correct it." Mrs. Harriet Drissman, president of the Jewish Idea, admitted that omission of Jewish Idea sponsorship in the ad was her mistake, but she also blamed The Jewish News for not catching her error. Drissman, distraught over the controversy, tried to place a new ad in today's paper to cor- rect the error but was unable to because of early deadlines for Labor Day. Mittelman has placed an ad at his own expense which dis- avows YI-Greenfield sponsor- ship of the meeting. He tried calling Mrs. Drissman, but was unable to reach her before the Jewish News deadline. Mrs. Drissman reacted with astonishment over the Young Israel rabbis' ruling. "I think it is an over-reaction. I am absolutely puzzled. I don't understand what there is in Torah quoted by Rabbi Kahane that Orthodox rabbis 'cannot agree with. The Torah is the same for everybody." Mittelman, who rented the synagogue to Kahane's sup- porters, defended the rental. "The same justice or injustice should apply to everybody," he said before Wednesday's meet- ing. "Maybe some people are right about him, but this is America and he should be heard. He has the same right to speak that a Louis Far- rakhan has." "He (Kahane) means well. I don't always like his ap- proaches, but he means well. If it wasn't for him, there wouldn't be a single Jew out of Russia. I don't agree with his inflammatory statements or (the Jewish Idea's) inflam- matory advertisement." Rabinowitz said the decision to rent the YI-Greenfield syn- agogue to the Jewish Idea was based on past precedent. The president and the rabbi agreed last time (two years ago) and there were no problems. There are probably some members of the board who are opposed to his appearance, the same as in any group. There are others on the board who feel he is entitled to speak. It is the American way — he is entitled to speak." Kahane was originally scheduled to appear in Detroit last spring, but he canceled his visit in favor of a tour of Canada after the Canadian government lifted a several- year-old ban against his entry into that country. Kahane's long-held aim of ejecting all Arabs from Israel, as well as from Judea and Samaria, has become more controversial since he gained a seat in. the Knesset in Israel's July elections. At odds with the Jewish "es- tablishment" since the begin- ning of his public career and his formation of the Jewish Defense League, Kahane's anti-Arab policies have been described in recent weeks as fascist, and have been com- pared to Hitler's anti-Jewish policies. Rabbi Efry Spectre of Adat Shalom Synagogue, a past president of the Conservative rabbis' organization in De- troit, telephoned his fellow rabbis to request endorsement of an anti-Kahane statement. Rabbi Spectre questioned whether Kahahe Should have been provided a foruth by YI- Greenfield. "I was just as upset when a black church in Detroit pro- vided a forum for (Black Mus- lim leader) Louis Farrakhan," Rabbi Spectre said, question- ing whether Kahane or Far- rakhan are entitled to forums under the Constitutional guarantees of free speech. "Maybe some people are right about him, but this is America and he should be heard." The joint statement Of the Federation and Jewish Com- munity Council was issued over the signatures of their re- spective presidents, Joel D. Tauber and David Lebenborn. The statement said: "The Jewish Welfare Feder- ation of Detroit joins with the Jewish Community Council of Metropolitan Detroit, whose membership consists of 300 local Jewish organizations, in expressing unalterable oppo- sition to any individual. or group which advocates or con- dones violence and terrorism. "Meir Kahane's statements as leader of the Jewish De- fense League and the Kach Party in Israel foment hatred and vigilantism against an entire group. The Jewish People knows only too well the ugly results of such appeals to fear and group hatred. Our history is filled with dire examples. "Kahane would have us be- lieve that he speaks in the name of Jewish tradition. In fact, what he advocates is not only antithetical to Jewish law, tradition and ethics, but violates the letter and spirit of Israel's declaration of inde- pendence which accords equal- ity of citizenship to all, regard- less of religion or race. "Kahane does not speak for the vast majority of Jews — Americans and Israelis. Both Israeli Arabs and Jews have stood side by side in rejecting his views. In a nation and a world rent by conflict, it is the urgent task of decent people everywhere to reject speech .