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Jewish population. At that point,
no Jew, in the world, would be
safe.
We have to remember that Is-
rael, indirectly, protects the
status of all Jews everywhere. He
is sounding a warning for the fu-
ture of Israel.
I may not agree with all his

methods but I do agree that every
Jew needs Israel to remain a
Jewish state. When Hitler asked
the world to take the Jews, which
country came forward and an-
swered, "We will"? Can we risk
that again? I think not.

Opp°

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LOCAL NEWS

ACLU plans 'follow-up lawsuit'
against city-sponsored creches

Staff Report

The American Civil Liberties
Union (ACLU) is planning a
"follow-up lawsuit" against a
number of area communities who
have chosen to ignore the recent
federal district court ruling
against Birmingham's city-
sponsored nativity scene by dis-
playing creches of their own.
Howard Simon, Michigan di-
rector of the ACLU, listed Madi-
son Heights and Dearborn as two
of the cities the civil rights group
plans to take to court. Madison
Heights erected a nativity scene
in front of its City Hall last week
despite receiving a Nov. 19 letter
from the ACLU declaring its in-
tention to take action against
such displays.
The Birmingham City Com-
mission meanwhile, voted Mon-
day night to carry on its legal
battle to display the city's nativity
scene ,but decided against filing
an emergency appeal in an effort
to use the creche in time for
Christmas.
Federal District Court Judge
Anna Diggs Taylor in Detroit bar-
red the display of the creche ear-
lier this year in a suit brought
against the city by the ACLU.
Birmingham plans to appeal the
ruling through the Sixth Circuit
Court of Appeals in Cincinnati in
the near future, according to
Mayor Robert Appleford.
Simon, who attended the city
commission meeting Monday,
said he wasn't surprised at the
move for an appeal. "I think it
would take an unusual politician
to say 'Yes, Christmas is a won-
derful holiday and I'm all for it,
but this kind of government-
sponsored display is hardly
appropriate.' "
The Michigan ACLU director
also said that he doubted that this
week's U.S. Supreme Court ruling
on a creche in Scarsdale, N.Y.
would have much impact on the
eventual resolution of the Bir-
mingham case, explaining that in
Scarsdale, the city is leasing its
property to private groups for
Christmas displays. A similar
situation exists in Downtown De-
troit, where the Central Business
District Association is sponsoring
a nativity scene in front of the
City-County Building.
In a related development, the
treatment of the creche issue in
the local media has drawn some
criticism. One person called The
Jewish News last week to corn-

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Friday, December 7, 1984

plain about an editorial page car-
toon in the Nov. 29 Royal Oak
Daily Tribune. The cartoon
showed three of the Marx brothers
standing with a lamb around a
manger that holds a dollar sign.
The cartoon is captioned "An
ACLU approved, secular Christ-
mas cartoon — suitable for dis-
play on lawns of municipal build-
ings . ." The caller complained
that the cartoon is anti-Semitic.
Simon, who said he had heard
reports concerning the cartoon,
but had not seen it, felt that it may
have been confusing several, un-
related issues.
"If they are making a commen-
tary on the commercialization
and secularization of Christmas
then why drag us into it. We're not
the ones who are making the holi-
day into something secular."

Retiring director
honored at brunch

Mildreth Rubinoff will be hon-
ored at a special by-invitation-
only brunch on Sunday at 11 a.m.
on the occasion of her retirement
after serving for more than two
decades as the executive director
of Cong. Beth Abraham Hillel
Moses.
Ms. Rubinoff joined the staff of
the former Beth Abraham in 1963
when Beth Abraham was located
on West Seven Mile Road in De-
troit and was actively involved in
the building and settling of the
congregation in West Bloomfield
in 1971.
That same year, as president of
the Council of Executive Direc-
tors of Greater Detroit, she played
a strong role in the creation and
development of the present
Synagogue Council of Greater De-
troit.
Born in Pittsburgh, Pa., Ms.
Rubinoff was raised in Detroit
and in San Diego, Calif., and her
formal education was concluded
at University of California at Los
Angeles.
After her marriage to Philip
Rubinoff, now deceased, she took
up residency in New York City
and was employed as a publicist
for the arts while associated with
the Colston Leigh Lecture Bureau
and Columbia Concerts and con-
tinued these associations when
she returned to the Detroit area in
the early 1950s.

2 000 Ethiopian Jews died

of starvation and disease in
Africa awaiting rescue by
world Jewry

Are we going to permit
the same gruesome
fate for the
remaining

14 000?

,

Cable or write Prime Minister Shimon Peres.

Contact your Senators and Congressmen to
press for massive rescue without delay.

M•SIMMIIIMMINIMM• NIN IIM M IN•••••• =1 111•1= U M•M OI• MI • 111• 11MININI MM IEN NI

I WANT TO HELP SAVE ETHIOPIAN JEWRY. NOW

I Hereby Contribute S

To The American Association for Ethiopian Jews

2789 Oak Street, Highland Park, Ill. 60035

To Promote The Rescue and Relief of Ethiopian Jews

Name (please print)

Address (please prii It)

Zip code

C(itrihtiti(m. Arc tax LIeduitIble

