30 Friday, May 2, 1986
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
Gifts for
BOOKS
Birthday • Bat Mitzvah
Sweet Sixteen • Confirmation
AL KLINE
nakkiVi
ordifimmorApr.r.77,ra
WAW.1
BY PHILIP SLOMOVITZ
"See me for a heimish deal"
1/11111
NIPT//,/i/Lorifid/LM 11111
'Book Of Abraham'
Messages Of Hope
■■
Editor Emeritus
(
CADILLAC1 PEUGEOT
6161 Woodward
Detroit, MI 48202
Hunters Square
Orchard Lake Rd. at '14 Mile
Just south of the G.M. & Fisher Bldg.
855.6566
875-0300
AL'S SAVES YOU MONEY!
CUSTOM WALL MIRROR SPECIALISTS
SPECIALS
TUB ENCLOSURES
SHOWER DOORS
BEVELED
MIRROR
BIFOLD
DOORS
TUB ENCLOSURE
• Chrome or gold frames
• Clear, bronze or
textured glass
• custom units
anit
NOW
$11550
$9988
SAVE $75.62
FRAMED MIRRORS
ON DISPLAY
#458
EXPIRES 5-31-86
EXPERT INSTALLATION AVAILABLE
VISIT
OUR
SHOWROOM
Reg.
Pope John Paul II greets Marek Halter in Rome.
TABLE TOPS
•
1/4 3/8 1/2,
3/4 thick
• Clear, gray or
bronze glass
• Beveled glass
• patterns-
GLASS & AUTO TRIM
111 CUSTOM WALL MIRRORS
TIRES & ACCESSORIES
I,I1PLISHED 1920
SOUTHFIELD: 24777 Telegraph —
353-2500
Other locations: Wayne and Lincoln Park
For thatspecialsomeone on Mother's Day
at 30% OFF
JEWELERS
•
A
.
32940 Middlebelt Rd. at 14 Mile
In The Broadway Plaza
855.1730
Mon., Wed. G. Fri. 10-6
Sat. till 5:30, Thurs. 10-8
INC.
I
, ,
,
,
.
s
. 4 ,*
•
• AA
....
• •
•'• , "!.• •^1• 72'••2••••••:"
.
.asprian.114....awsv
Cardinals and fellow dig-
nitaries of the Vatican staff came
to hear a message of cheer re-
garding Catholic-Jewish rela-
tions and othei peoples of differ-
ing faiths from Marek Halter,
author of The Book of Abraham.
The session followed the meeting
Halter had with Pope John Paul
II on June 21, 1985, soon after his
book appeared in the Italian
translation and immediately be-
came the success it has attained,
first in French, now in English,
in the sensational volume pub-
lished by Henry Holt and Co.
It was one of the hundreds,
thousands of acclaiming accords
given the book that is becoming a
worldwide sensation, the Pope
greeting the author with the
cheering words that his efforts
help strengthen the best rela-
tions between faiths.
Here for a brief visit Tuesday,
Halter described his life of end-
less studies which resulted in the
massive work that is actually a
history of the Jewish people from
earliest times.
Having escaped with his par-
ents from the Warsaw Ghetto
where he was born, Halter had
multiple experiences filled with
fascinating confrontations with
negatives such as anti-Semitism
during a brief stay in Warsaw
after the war, before settling with
his parents in France, and then
his life of glory in Paris.
After escape from the Warsaw
Ghetto, he was first in Russia
where the youngster of eight
mastered Russian and at that age
already was an editor of. an es-
capees' newspaper. Then came
the trekking to the permanent
home in Paris. That's where he
mastered his knowledge, first bf
French and then of Jewish his-
tory.
"Mein gass is geven mein
shule," explaining that he had no
formal education, always self-
taught, he said, "The street was
my school." Yet he achieved
envious status as an historian in
his associptions,Kith.,4wiqh
-
- - -
scholars, learning from his father
the printer and his dedicated
Jewish attitude.
Halter speaks with love and
devotion of France. He views the
French-Jewish community as the
exemplar for freedom and justice.
When his book appeared in
French it was given semi-
government acclaim with nota-
bles like President Franocois
Mitterrand among those in
attendance.
The amazing Halter experi-
ences began upon his arrival in
France when he could not yet
speak the language. He became a
pantimimist, working with Mar-
cel Marceau, and gradually at-
tained a knowledge of French.
Halter describes the 700,000
French Jews, half Ashkenazi,
half Sephardi, as a folk working
together.
"We are dedicated to Israel. We
help Russian Jewry," he said.
"When we demonstrate for either
or both, we gather in the hun-
dreds of thousands, non-Jews as
well as Jews. That's the interpre-
tation of the great French
idealism, the French Jewish
idealism. Our motto is freedom
and we learn from our history to
always live up to this ideal."
Halter's The Book of Abraham
has reached sales in the hundreds
of thousands from the time it first
appeared in French. Its author
appeared here, in the many in-
terviews with the media, as a
symbol of self-taught scholarship
and Jewish devotions he aims to
keep encouraging as he meets
with fellow Jews speaking Yid-
dish and French' and now having
begun to master English.
,
Lupus Meeting
Michigan Lupus Foundation
will sponsor a free information
program for lupus patients and
others interested in learning
about the disorder on Sunday at 1
p.m., at Sinai Hospital, Zucker-
. man .AAdttoripp-i,,
r
.
44' '' . "" '""'•9;INNifiIPiaGI•sswa.datwirzt s=,s rme• i =srkri:q.zrar.r.zsdrrosiss ira•o sow•mrs•—..•••• ■■ •••47 ---" -
_
75,