THE JEWISH NEWS
THIS ISSUE ar
SERVING DETROIT'S JEWISH COMMUNITY
NOVEMBER 20, 1987 / 28 CHESHVAN 5748
Arab, Jewish Debators
Address Audiences
DAVID HOLZEL
Staff Writer
T
he ground beneath the Jewish
Community Center in West
Bloomfield did not tremble in
revelation, nor did it open up in
ARABS- -
?2 HOMELANDS
Irvin Schlussel demonstrates.
retribution when Hyman Bookbinder
and and former Senator James
Abourezk addressed a Book Fair au-
dience Sunday.
An estimated 800 listeners sat in
mostly polite silence as Bookbinder,
Washington representative of the
American Jewish Committee, and
Abourezk, a founder of the American-
Arab Anti-Discrimination Commit-
tee, debated their views of Israeli
history and the Arab-Israeli conflict
for an hour.
The two debated the issue exten-
sively in a recent book, Through Dif-
ferent Eyes.
The pair's appearance sparked a
peaceful protest, as a dozen
demonstrators stood with signs and
handed out fliers prior to the debate.
Criticism that Bookbinder and
Abourezk's Book Fair appearance was -
not being duplicated in the Arab com-
munity proved unfounded. The two
left the Jewish Center for an ap-
pearance before 300 Arab Americans
at the Kingsley Inn, where they
repeated their debate.
Noting the demonstration outside
the Center and the opinion pieces
criticizing their tour which appeared
in The Jewish News, Bookbinder said
Continued on Page 14
Teacher Certification
Divides Local Jews
LILA ORBACH
Special to The Jewish News
D
etroit's Jewish schools are
siding with Christian funda-
mentalists in support of
Michigan Senate Bill 116, which
would permit private schools to use
non-certified teachers.
"We support the separation of
church and state," said Rabbi Raphael
Skaist, principal of Yeshiva Beth
Yehudah. "What constitutes ex-
cellence in the quality of our teachers
should not be dictated by a secular
authority."
The yeshiva has attempted to
make contact with fundamentalist
organizations to jointly support the
bill. "To them its a question of sur-
vival," said Rabbi Skaist. "To us it's
a question of principle!'
But that position is being
countered by the Jewish Community
Council of Metropolitan Detroit,
which has launched a major letter-
writing campaign to oppose the bill.
In an urgent memo to the communi-
ty, the Council claims the bill creates
a "double standard" for Michigan
education: "One standard for the
public schools and another totally dif-
ferent standard for non-public
schools."
Since 1921, teachers in private
and public schools in Michigan have
been required to hold valid state cer-
tification. While local private schools
claim they prefer hiring certified
teachers, many uncertified teachers
can be found within their ranks.
Akiva Hebrew Day School in
Southfield, which employs 21 general
studies teachers, admits the certifica-
tion of at least two teachers has not
been confirmed. "We always look for
certified teachers when positions are
available," said Barry Levine, Akiva's
general studies principal. "However,
there have been times when im-
mediate replacements are necessary
and we're hard pressed to do
so." Hillel Day School in Farm-
ington Hills claims all 35 of their
general studies teachers as well as
substitute teachers are certified.
Cranbrook Schools in Bloomfield
Continued on Page 16
Violent death is no stranger to
medical examiner Werner Spitz.
So he tries to soften tragedies,
like the crash of Flight 255.
Special
Thanksgiving
Issue