THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS Friday, December 21, 1984
25
A PLACE
FOR
EVERYTHING
Continued from Page 88
constitute a religious minority in a
town that may be a Detroit suburb but
is still, in some ways, quite provincial,
expressed a wariness at the prospects
of instigating changes in the way their
city marks the holiday season.
"I suppose they (city officials who
happen to be Christian) can put any
kind of decoration they want any-
where they would like to see it," Sally
Radner said. She added that while she
wasn't sure if a creche on city property
was an extensive entanglement of gov-
ernment and religion, she felt that
Berkley officials should be more sym-
pathetic to the feelings of non-
Christians.
Dick Lobenthal, the Michigan
region director of the Anti-Defamation
League of B'nai B'rith (ADL), feels
that not only is this kind of govern-
ment involvement improper, but that
it is an affront to Jewish Americans
"whose tax dollars are going to support
something that is against their par-
ticular religious beliefs."
The ACLU meanwhile, in choos-
ing to be the organization that would
challenge the legality of city-
sponsored Nativity scenes, set itself up
as the "heavy" in the Christian com-
munity, according to Simon. But the
ACLU executive director is adamant
in his belief that America can't afford
to be hypocritical on matters of con-
stitutionality.
We can't live in a society where
we have these principles concerning
church-state separation, but we wink
at small violations of them," Simon
argued. "You either have the princi-
ples and decide to enforce them, or you
eliminate them altogether."
It was thought that the ACLU had
proved its point when, earlier this
year, U.S. District Court Judge Anna
Diggs Taylor barred the display of the
Birmingham creche. But a number of
area communities have chosen to ig-
nore the local ruling and display
creches of their own, forcing the ACLU
into further legal action. The city of
Birmingham also plans to appeal the
decision by Justice Taylor sometime
next year through the Sixth Circuit
Court of Appeals in Cincinnati, ac-
cording to Mayor Robert Appleford.
These events don't surprise the
ACLU executive director, who said
The Nativity scene in front of Madison Heights City Hall.
that it would take an unusual politi-
cian to admit that a pro-Christian,
government-sponsored display was
inappropriate.
The glut of city hall Nativity
scenes in southeastern Michigan mir-
rors a national trend set off last March
when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled
that a creche erected on city property
in Pawtucket, R.I. did not constitute a
state "establishment" of religion be-
cause the figures were part of a larger
display that included traditionally
secular Christmas symbols such as
Santa Claus and his reindeer. (In
Washington, the National Park Serv-
ice has, for the first time since 1973,
erected a Nativity scene on the Ellipse,
a public park near the White House.)
Some cities, including Detroit,
have taken advantage of what they see
as a "Catch-22" in the Birmingham
ruling and have allowed private
groups to erect creches on government
property. This, Rabbi Nelson said,
amounts to nothing less than "sub-
terfuge." In addition, according to Si-
mon, it paves the way for other special
interest groups to demand use of the
property for displays that may be of-
fensive to others, such as the neo-
Nazis have requested in Detroit.
When Judge Taylor ruled against
the city of Dearborn and its Nativity
scene Tuesday afternoon, ordering
that the scene be dismantled within 48
hours, the city council voted unanim-
ously to sell the creche and the land it
sits on to a charitable organization for
$1,000. The Harry A. Sisson Founda-
tion purchased the display and the
land through Foundation custodian R.
Bates Feuell and then donated it to the
Dearborn Chamber of Commerce.
The Dearborn suit was filed last
week by the ACLU on behalf of eight
city residents, two of whom are
Jewish. Don't look however, for legal
action against every other city that
displays a creche this month.
We do not have the resources to
be the enforcement arm of the federal
courts," Simon said. "What we have to
do is make an example out of someone.
In Dearborn, the mayor was very out-
spoken. He publicly said that he was
going to ignore the Birmingham rul-
ing.
"If the court decides in Dearborn
the same way it did in Birmingham,
hopefully, that will send a message to
other communities."
Action on the Jewish communal
level has been gaining momentum
after a slow start, according to Jewish
Community Council President Alvin
Kushner. The church-state subcom-
Court
approval on
the creche
issue could
lead to
further
breakdowns
in the First
Amendment.
mittee of the JCCouncil's community
relations committee has been given
the task of investigating and forming a
response to the government's increas-
ing involvement in religious issues
throughout the Detroit area. Kushner
feels that the Jewish community
should abandon the traditional ap-
proach of staying clear of the issue dur-
ing the Christmas season in favor of
immediate action.
Another technique for combatting
the creeping pervasion of Christmas
into what seems like every aspect of
Jewish life at this time of year — albeit
a somewhat controversial one — is in
evidence throughout the metropolitan
Detroit area in the form of traditional
Chanukah symbols alongside many
Christmas displays. The dreidels and
six-pointed Jewish stars are often pro-
vided by the municipality itself. Or,
they are sometimes the result of a lob-
bying effort by the Chabad Lubavitch
movement.
Rabbi Chaim Bergstein, of Cong.
Bais Chabad of Farmington Hills, led
the Lubavitch effort to erect a
menorah in Downtown Detroit for
Chanukah. "Similar things have been
done in New York, Washington, San
Francisco and other cities," the rabbi
said, "so why not here?"
Rabbi Bergstein originally pro-
posed that the menorah, to be con-
structed and maintained by the Cen-
tral Business District Association, be
placed on Hart Plaza so as not to corn-
pete for attention with the CBDA-
sponsored creche in front of the City-
County Building. But the city turned
down the request and 'offered addi-
tional space in front of the City-
County Building.
The menorah is situated on the
southeast corner of the property while
the Nativity scene is on the southwest
side. The two displays are separated by
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