"NO HASSLE SUMMER SALE" NOTEBOOK 30 70% Off SAT. JULY 12, 104 P.M. KINGSLEY INN 1475 N. WOODWARD BLOOMFIELD HILLS SAT. JULY 19, 10-4 P.M. LYNN PORTNOY 532 BRUSH DETROIT LYNN PORTNOY 964-0339 532 BRUSH DETROIT, MI 48226 Master & Visa Come feel the Scandia difference: The comforter of your dreams goes on sale only once a year The Ascensia. On sale now. Our magnificent Ascensia comforter is on sale. But only for a little while. And for the only time this year. We expect them to go quickly. Because Ascensia is our best selling comforter. Even at regular prices. The reason: meticulous workmanship, voluminous and extravagan white goose down fill, a choice of weights, and exquisite styling. You won't find this kind of quality or value in any department store. So come in soon and buy the comforter of your dreams. At a price you'll love. 30% OFF Regular Weight Twin Full Queen King Reg. $385 $420 $560 $640 Limited to stock on hand • 300 units. Phone & UPS orders welcome American Express. Visa & MaterCard. Mon.-Sat. 10-6 1- 1: 1 Thurs. & Fri. til 9 42 Friday, July 11, 1986 258-6670 Reg. $355 $380 $510 $580 Sale '269 $294 '392 '448 candia Shops- THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS Sale '248 *266 '357 '406 BIRMINGHAM PARK PLAZA 255 S. Woodward (& Brown) Birmingham, MI 49011 Reservation Na Place For This Sephardi Jew CARL ALPERT Special to The Jewish News HAIFA — The town is Kiryat Malachi, a development area in the northern Negev. The office is on the office on the second floor, over a bank. The business card reads: "Computer services, tax returns, consultations, bookkeeping; speedy and polite service." The "firm" is Israel Oren, who turns out to be a tall handsome man, with high cheekbones and a full black beard, a Chasid of the Chabad movement, a fol- lower of the Lubavitcher Rebbe. His Hebrew flows smoothly, and his speech is punctuated from time to time by appropriate references from the Talmud, the Bible or Jewish sages. At first it seemed strange that Ofer knew almost no Yiddish at all, but when the full story emerged, it was not so strange after all. Israel Oren is the name he assumed soon after he came to Israel. James Ray Faddis is the son of a full-blooded American In- dian of the Cherokee tribe, with some Choctaw blood as well. The family had no desire to live on a reservation (a "ghetto" Oren called it), and together with a number of other Indian families which had fled from the dust bowl of Arkansas, made their home in the small town of Plymouth, in northern Califor- nia. His People were lumbermen, and young James used to spend the greater part of each year in the woods with this father. He knew nothing of religion and there was no sense of identifica- tion with any Indian customs or tribal traditions. They felt themselves to be simply Ameri- cans. The impressionable lad was awed by the majesty of the tall trees and the marvels of nature, and even at a tender age began to search for the meaning of na- ture and of life. The minister at the local Sunday school, to which he was sent, tried to con- vince him of the virtues of Christianity, but the young In- dian found the presentation full of flaws. However, the school did introduce him to the Bible, and the subject of the Jews fasci- nated him. Not until he heard on television that there was a war between the Arabs and a Jewish state did he even realize that there were still Jews in the world. At 17, he joined the U.S. Navy, learned computer opera- tions and met his first Jew. He began to visit a Conservative temple in Stockton, as if he were investigating a cult, but found much to attract him, much that seemed to answer his questions. The Yom Kippur War shocked him into doing something, and he sailed off for Israel as a vol- unteer, under the impression that the quickie conversion he had undergone had made him a Jew. He spent' a year at Kibbutz Maagan Michael, and another year at Kibbutz Ein Zivan on the Golan Heights, always ask- ing questions and learning He- brew. He was interested in music, played the guitar, wrote songs and tentatively considered music as a career. One night, Oren had a dream, but when he awoke the only thing he could remember was "Amos 23". He was perplexed when he turned to his Bible and found that Amos had only eight chapters. A further search, how- ever, revealed verse 23 in chap- ter 5: "Take thou away from me the noise of thy songs, and let me not hear the melody of thy psalteries." He took this to be a revela- tion, gave up music, and went to There was no identification with any Indian customs or tribal traditions. Jerusalem, where he met Rabbi Israel Segal, a follower of the Lubavitch movement, and after a period of intensive study, a full Halachic conversion fol- lowed. The Chereokee lumber- man became Israel Ofer, a Lubavitcher Chasid. He married Mazal, whose family had come from Libya, and they today have four chil- dren, with a fifth on the way. Most of his friends and neighbors know that he is a ger, a convert, but not all are aware of his true antecedents. We asked. if he was familiar with the theory that the Ameri- can Indians may be descended from the Ten Lost Tribes. He was, and added that the likeliest candidates would • be the Cherokees, for they had the palest skin of all the Indian tribes. In the office, he operates his computer and handles compli- cated financial matters for his satisfied clients. At home, he helps Mazal by doing all the laundry, and by cleaning up the house erev Shabbat. He served in the army (con- tinuing with annual reserve duty as well) and had experi- ences in Lebanon where his In- dian lore acquired in the forests of California stood him in good stead. For rabbinical inspiration he draws on the tradition of Rabbi Yosef-Chaim of Bagdad, a noted Sepharadi scholar. In Hebrew accent and in traditional obser- vance this Chereokee Indian is a pure Sepharadi.