I CONTENTS OPINION Percentage of Jews who have been to Israel more than one time PERCENTAGES ORTHODOX 34% CONSERVATIVE 13% NON-DENOMINATIONAL 10% 24 CLOSE-UP Separation Strength JAMES D. BESSER Agudath Israel is playing hardball in Washington for the Orthodox. 42 LIFESTYLES REFORM Kids Considered CARLA JEAN SCHWARTZ A profile look at Alyssa Martina, children's newspaper publisher. 7% 1111 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 Do Reform Jews Feel Less Attached To State Of Israel? Alienation And Few Ties Commitment On Every Level STEVEN COHEN RABBI HAROLD LOSS I everal weeks ago, The Jewish News, in a front page article, reported on our trip to Israel. Forty-six members of Temple Israel experienced the thrill of visiting Israel, many for the first time. Upon my return, I discovered that more than 40 people had called the temple to receive information about our next trip. Members of previous groups had gone to our board of trustees asking, "When are we going to offer a program for those who already have been to Israel?" All of this oc- curred during what has been a very dif- ficult time in the Israeli tourist business. This past summer our congregation continued a tradition of taking teenagers to Israel. I have traveled to Israel with more than 350 teenagers. This past summer my colleague, Rabbi Paul M. Yedwab, con- tinued our tradition with a pilgrimage. When the Zionist Organization of Detroit was looking for leadership, Rabbi M. Robert Syme was offered the presidency — a posi- tion he now holds. I offer this information as background to my comments on the article "Are Reform Jews Abandoning Israel?" published in Reform Judaism magazine. The author, Professor Steven Cohen, begins by reciting facts of history and indicates that today Reform institutions have created an im- pressive record in service to Israel. However, he questions the depth of commit- ment on the part of individual Reform Jews on the basis of a sample of 1,100 Jews throughout the United States. Perhaps 250 Reform Jews were included in this study. My experience at Thmple Israel, not based upon any sociological evidence, runs counter to the theme the data presents. I n 1897, the first World Zionist Congress convened in Basle under the leadership of Theodor Herzl. The same year, the Central Conference of American Rabbis, meeting in Montreal, issued this ringing denunciation of Zionism: We totally disapprove of any attempt for the establishment of a Jewish state. Such attempts . . . infinitely harm our Jewish brethren, where they are still persecuted by confirming the assertion of their enemies that they are foreigners in the countries in which they are at home and of which they are everywhere the most loyal and patriotic citizens. The Reform movement has come a long way in its appreciation of Zionism and the Jewish state. By the 1930s, Reform leader- ship officially had renounced earlier stands in favor of a decidedly pro-Zionist position. lbday, the Hebrew Union College re- quires all rabbinical students to spend one year of their five-year training in Israel. The Association of Reform Zionists of America scored an electoral triumph by securing 33 delegates in nationwide elec- tions of representatives to the 1987 World Zionist Congress. • The Reform movement sponsors a growing network of institutions in Israel and every year, Reform youth movements send impressive numbers of youngsters to Israel. Despite this complete turnabout in the movement's institutional approach to Israel and Zionism, despite the solid dedication to Israel on the part of Reform Judaism's lay and rabbinic leaders, there is considerable evidence that much of the Reform public does not share the pas- sionate involvement with Israel that has come to characterize the movement as an Continued on Page 10 Steven Cohen is professor of sociology at Queens College in New York. This article appeared in the spring 1988 issue of Reform Judaism. S Continued on Page 14 Rabbi Harold Loss is rabbi at Temple Israel in West Bloomfield. EDUCATION Principled Pedagogue s 44 ROBYN KLEEREKOPER Two Detroit educators are cited by their peers. 48 SPORTS Pitching Change MIKE ROSENBAUM OU's Jeff Dorfman made the tough tr ansition from starter to reliever this season. 53 ENTERTAINMENT Pool Of Talent RITA CHARLESTON Actor Robert Wuhl did not need a film to make him successful. 70 ANN ARBOR New Age Deli FRANCINE. ALLEN Zingerman's is mixing new trends and old-fashioned cooking. 79 SINGLE LIFE Guide For The '80s ROBIN FREEDMAN The Selective Singles Guide has ideas far from the bar. DEPARTMENTS 30 32 36 40 64 76 78 106 Inside Washington Synagogues Life In Israel Business Cooking Youth Births Obituaries CANDLELIGHTING 11 July 1, 1988 8:53 p.m. THE DETROIT JEWISH, NEWS 7