THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS Friday, December 20, 1985
SHABOT
SHALOM
FROM YOUR FRIENDLY
Gres
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ions varied. Some, like Jeff Le-.
yin, 18, the current president of
MSTY, said they feel that reli-
gious speakers in schools could
"totally change your views right
there, and that's dangerous."
Others, like John Tarnow, 17,
said they believe "as long as
(the teacher) doesn't lend cre-
dence to what the speaker says,
it would be a great educational
experience."
Though Jondahl also agreed
with the MSTY position in not
favoring prayer in the opening
session of Congress, he asked,
"Should we say that it is im-
permissible to affirm the Pledge
of Allegiance because of the
reference to God?"
Here the students were less
divided. "Some people don't be-
lieve in any divine power," said
Lisa Schwartzman, 16, "so how
can they be expected to say they
are 'under God?' " Advisor
Frank supported her attitude.
"Sometimes we have to build
walls that are stronger than
what they need to be," he said.
The MSTY opinions on the is-
sues would not have been so
carefully formulated, though,
without the educational
weekend programming. As
MSTY Conclave Vice President
Michelle Epstein, 17, said, "We
don't want to tell people what
they should think; we want
them to think about the issues
in a way that will make them
form their own conclusions."
In a program called "MSTY
High School," the students went
to "classes" where they dis-
cussed controversial aspects of
the First Amendment and school
prayer. In one class, - they were
instructed to write an "ideal"
school prayer. Becky Pearlman,
15, easily saw the implications.
"Who are you going to be thank-
ful to without offending some-
one?" she wondered. Lisa
Schwartzman added that for an
atheist, praying is "a paradox."
Attorney and expert on civil
liberties Elliot Glickman also
spoke to the students, present-
ing both sides of the Supreme
Court case Lynch vs. Donelly,
which determined the constitu-
tionality of public nativity
scenes. He asked the MSTY
members to decide the case on
their own, "thinking of the Con-
stitution as the Torah and the
decisions similar to the Tal-
mud."
Glickman then joined Rabbis
Morton Hoffman of Shaarey
Zedek in East Lansing, Ernst
Conrad of Temple Kol Ami and
Gerald Schuster of Temple Beth
El in Flint for a panel discus-
sion and question session. The
panel spent much of the pro-
gram addressing the changing
political climate that forces us
to be "more politically alert
than ever," according to Rabbi
Hoffman.
"In the first Reagan Adminis-
tration we began to see people
from the extreme right making
statements ... that this was to
be a Christian nation. We began
to see the possibility of things
bedoming different in this coun-
Detroit's Hometown
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for Over 30 Years
try," said Hoffman. "It may
start off being a moment of si-
lent meditation, but it will not
end up that way."
The panel offered advice to
students in dealing with the
merger of church and state in
school situations like Christmas
pageants and songs in school
choirs. Rabbi Schuster suggested
more "community communica-
tion," and Rabbi Hoffman asked
the MSTY members to "make
your presence known by main-
taining a strong Jewish con-
sciousness ... be prepared to
say 'I am proud of being a
Jew.' "
The programming and lobby-
ing lifted the awareness of the
MSTY participants, as adviser
Frank concluded. "We have seen
a ... weakening of that wall
separating the area of state
from religion." But the respon-
sibility did not end with the
weekend. "We must now make
sure that what we have come to
enjoy will always be with us,"
reminded attorney Glickman.
The MSTY "Kallah" weekend,
though, was certainly a prepara-
tion. "It's informative," said Jeff
Robins, 17, "and being informed
is the first step toward making
a change."
Youth Re-Elect
Shawn Dines
Cong. B'nai Moshe's Junior
Congregation re-elected Shawn
Dines president. Serving on the
board with him are: Jeff Fried-
man and Paul Weiss, vice
presidents; Danny Goldstein and
Lisa Dines, secretaries; Renny
Barris and Ilana Rosenbaum,
program chairmen.
The board of directors in-
cludes Ezra Wanetik, Brad
Rotenberg, Brad Goldsmith and
Jonathon Rosenbaum.
Junior congregation meets at
10 a.m. every Saturday in the
board room. The weekly pro-
gram consists of services and
study topics, led by the officers
and Mark Eichner.
GREAT scan SUPERMARKET
CANDLE LIGHTING TIME 4:44 P.M.
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B'nai Akiva
Meets Saturday
B'nei Akiva-Galil Detroit will
have a snif (group) at Young Is-
rael of Greenfield at 3 p.m.
Saturday. The topic of discus-
sion will be "Gevura — Strengtn
and How It Relates to the
Jewish People." Students from
Grades six and up are invited.
At 7:30 p.m., the group will
reconvene at the Akiva Day
School in Lathrup Village for a
sports night and pizza. After the
games, the group will elect the
board for the upcoming year.
There is a small charge for the
night activity.
For information, call Jenny
Mandelbaum, 542-7736.
63
DOUBLE COUPON
UP TO AND INCLUDING 50c DETAILS IN STORES.
KOSHER FOODS AVAILABLE AT:
• TELEGRAPH/LONG LAKE IN BLOOMFIELD TWP.
• ORCHARD LAKE/13 MILE RD. IN FAMINGTON HILLS
• TELEGRAP_H & MAPLE RD. BLOOMFIELD PLAZA
• 12 MILE/EVERGREEN IN SOUTHFIELD
• ANN ARBOR RD./SHELDON PLYMOUTH TWP.
PRICES & ITEMS EFFECTIVE THRU
DEC. 26, 1985. NO SALES TO DEALERS.
STORES OPEN TILL
11 PM DEC. 20.21-23
OPEN CHRISTMAS
EVE TILL 5:30 PM
CLOSED
CHRISTMAS DAY