I RELIGION ITALIAN CUSTOM CABINETRY Send it for Less at ... OLIO- F t u SPECIALIZING IN FORMICA® 2523 W. MAPLE ROAD BIRMINGHAM 433-3070 $1000 OFF — TEENS — LEARN TO DRIVE COMMERCIAL & RESIDENTIAL DRIVING SCHOOL kitchens • bathrooms • bedrooms furniture — wall units • tables 851-9684 626-8587 Valid First Day Only at Beth Abraham location. Helane Feldheim Woolf Roofing & Maintenance Inc. A Third Generation Roofing Family in Detroit Commercial & Industrial Flat Roofs And High-Rises Single-Ply and Built-up Systems Member National Roofing Contractors Association 5-20 Year Warranties FULLY INSURED Free Inspections 18161 W. 13 Mile Rd. in Southfield 646-2452 Beth Abraham Hillel Moses IS PEOPLE There's a warm, friendly feeling at Beth Abraham Hillel Moses. It comes from people who care about their congregation and their community. Our young couples club, sisterhood, men's club and Parent Teacher Organization provide opportunities for service and socializing. And family-oriented programming, including special Shabbat services and activities, are enjoyed by toddlers and grand- parents alike. But our interest in people extends beyond our walls. We have "adopted" residents of Jewish Association For Retarded Citizens group homes, involving them in all - congregational activities. Through Mazon, a Jewish- sponsored program for feeding the hungry, and the Oakland County Food Bank, our members contribute funds and foodstuff to the needy. People. It's one of the building blocks which makes Beth Abraham Hillel Moses a great place for you — and your family. (SETH ABRAHAM KIEL MOSES For information about membership and our education programs, please call us at: 851-6880 5075 W. MAPLE ROAD • WEST BLOOMFIELD 36 FRIDAY AUGUST 5 1988 Should Orthodox Talk To Non-Orthodox Rabbis? GARY ROSENBLATT Editor T he debate within Or- thodox Judaism over whether or not to talk with the leaders of Conser- vative and Reform Judaism has been the topic of a sharp debate, in print, between two rabbi-scholars in the pages of the Jewish Observer, the monthly publication of the Agudath Israel of America. At the core of this and other debates is whether it is better for the Orthodox to sit down and negotiate with the leaders of the Conservative and Reform movements over religious divorce, conversion and other personal status issues that may determine the future of Jewish life or if it is preferable to distance Orthodoxy as far as possible from the other branches, reaching out to individual non-Orthodox Jews while refusing to deal with the - leaders of the movements for fear of legitimizing their beliefs. The latest round began when Rabbi Norman Lamm, the president of Yeshiva University, spoke at the Fifth Avenue Synagogue in New York last spring on "Centrist Orthodoxy." A 900-word sum- mary of his talk appeared in the New York Times, with Rabbi Lamm asserting that for too long the right-wing Or- thodox "have set the religious agenda" in the U.S. and Israel. He called on the more moderate, centrist or modern Orthodox to reassert themselves. Labels are slippery when it comes to describing the various branches of Ortho- doxy. According to Rabbi Lamm, while centrist Ortho- doxy follows Halachah (Jewish law) as the authoritative norm for daily conduct, it is, unlike the right wing, "open to secular culture, unabashedly Zionist, and values tolerance of dif- ferent opinions?' He said that since Reform "long ago abandoned Halachah" and Conservatives have sometimes altered it outside the boundaries, rightist Orthodoxy has no use for these branches and views them as illegitimate and anti- Torah. But centrist Orthodoxy, ac- cording to Rabbi Lamm, believes "that one must in- deed disagree with the non- Orthodox, but we must do so respectfully. That means Rabbi Normal Lamm: Opponent of pluralism. lowering the temperature of the polemical rhetoric, acknowledging that they are valid groupings and, indeed, in granting that, if they are sincere in their convictions, they possess spiritual digni- ty?' Rabbi Lamm's views were praised by the leaders of the Conservative and Reform movements, and strongly criticized by the right-wing Orthodox. Professor Aaron Twerski, a Brooklyn Law School professor with from the Ner Israel Rab- binical College in Baltimore, challenged Rabbi Lamm to Rabbi Lamm's views were praised by leaders of the Conservative and Reform movements, and strongly criticized by the right-wing Orthodox. define what he meant by cen- trist and right-wing Ortho- dox, and to explain how the Reform and Conservative movements were "valid:' Are Conservative and Reform rab- bis to be seen as legitimate in terms of Jewish law? Writing in the April issue of the Observer, Professor Twer- ski addressed the Times report and faulted Rabbi Lamm for appearing to deal with Conservative and Reform leaders with respect and dignity. Rabbi Lamm responded in the June issue of the maga- zine by suggesting the Times article did not reflect the