I CONTENTS
OPINION
CLOSE-UP
22
Kosher Kops
SUSAN WELCH
A new director, new policies,
and a state proposal may change
kashrut supervision in Michigan.
34
A Fitness Guru
CARLA JEAN SCHWARTZ
A profile look at one of the area's
leading health and fitness consultants.
39
Taste Of New York
HEIDI PRESS
Cong. B'nai Moshe: Other congregations are also considering moving out of Oak Park.
B'nai Moshe's Commitment
Is To Members, Not Oak Park
LEONARD I. WANETIK
0
ak Park Mayor Charlotte M. Roth-
stein's letter (Dec. 18) sounded very
much like an attack on both Cong.
B'nai Moshe's rabbi and our leadership, in
an attempt to pressure Cong. B'nai Moshe
to bend to Oak Park's will. The letter even
ended with the standard "I'll do anything
for you, dear" line. Let's stop kidding
ourselves and look at some facts.
Mayor Rothstein writes of B'nai Moshe
as though it were a community organiza-
tion. It is not. It serves the community, par-
ticularly the residents of the Federation
Apartments, but receives no funding from
any community organization. It is sup-
ported solely by contributions and dues,
almost all of which come from its members.
As such, an attempt to place the kind of
guilt on us which Mayor Rothstein explicit-
ly throws at B'nai Moshe is grossly out of
place and quite unwelcome. Let the com-
munity fund us, and it will have a voice in
how we serve our congregants. Until then,
butt out, to be quite frank. Or write equal-
ly about Young Israel, which recently
bought property in the northwest. Or Beth
Shalom, which has been quietly exploring
its options for years. But don't dump your
entire load on one congregation merely
because it is honest.
Mayor Rothstein asks where B'nai
Moshe's commitment to Oak Park is. Ten
years ago, B'nai Moshe's leadership con-
sidered making a move. Intense pressure
from Oak Park's secular government made
our leaders reconsider their commitment
to our synagogue and place the interests
of Oak Park first. Let any objective
observer check the record and declare that
the interests of B'nai Moshe were served
by that decision. Clearly, the interests of
Oak Park, Adat Shalom and others were
better served than ours.
Leonard I. Wanetik heads Cong.
B'nai Moshe's ritual committee.
Today, B'nai Moshe has at least 40 per-
cent of its members — and a greater por-
tion of its providers of revenue — located
in the northwest. It is equally consistent
with the interests of B'nai Moshe to move
to serve that population as it is for B'nai
Moshe to stay for the Oak Park and
Southfield populations. Mayor Rothstein's
attempt to interfere in B'nai Moshe's ser-
vice to its congregants smacks of a bid by
a municipal, secular, government to nose
its way into the affairs of a religious
organization.
Mayor Rothstein, as the head of a secular
government, is bound by the First Amend-
ment to the Constitution, which prohibits
her from involving the municipalilty in the
affairs of any religious institution. Thus, I
would like to know what concrete proposals
this municipality has for assisting a Jewish
congregation. If performance is an in-
dicator, the answer is none. Of course,
where Mayor Rothstein cannot act,
Charlotte Rothstein — were she to join
B'nai Moshe — would be welcome to add
her ideas, vibrancy and power in attracting
new members.
I question whether the monies spent by
the federal and state governments were
spent explicitly "to preserve our Jewish
community for access to synagogues and
temples" because of a love for either the
people of Israel or Cong. B'nai Moshe. As
she noted, hard political bargaining,
threats of lawsuits and possible delays in
construction helped bring the government
temporarily to its senses. As for B'nai
Moshe, it received less than $15,000 in
compensation after a trial in which the at-
torney for the State of Michigan reported-
ly engaged in fairly brutal tactics — tac-
tics which make the amounts quoted by
Mayor Rothstein irrelevant.
Mayor Rothstein's letter was written
without her having first spoken with our
rabbi. It would have been a nice touch for
her to have at least done that, or to have
Continued on Page 12
A young adult party brings out
the Big Apple in Motown.
feeling
Good,
,
center
Our special section
will help get
1988 off to a
healthy start.
ENTERTAINMENT
Barr None
RITA CHARLESTON
Motherhood and apple pie
takes on a new meaning.
SPORTS
59
Up Front
MIKE ROSENBAUM
Trainer-athlete Jack Front
looks at the positive side.
SINGLE LIFE
Matter Of Scruples
67
DONNA RAPHAEL
Values play a major role
in relationships according
to this EMU philosophy prof.
DEPARTMENTS
28
32
36
43
56
62 For Women
63 Engagements
66 Births
69 Youth
86 Obituaries
Inside Washington
Synagogues
Life In Israel
Business
For Seniors
CANDLELIGHTING
January 1, 1988
4:53 p.m.
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
7