EDITORIAL
The Hope Of The Shofar
On Monday, in synagogues around the world, the eerie sound
of the shofar will trumpet in the arrival of Rosh Hashanah. From
the twists and turns of the ram's horn will come a peculiar cry —
the plaintive, mournful cry of the Jewish people who witnessed the
destruction of the lbmple; the same soul-wrenching cry that will
be sounded by a shofar on the Day of Judgement; the riveting cry
that awakens us to our responsibility to avert disaster and take
charge of our own lives.
The twists and turns of the shofar also represent the twists and
turns of the Jewish people over the ages — and the unknown
possibilities brought by the new year that is being heralded.
With each possibility comes a chance for renewal, the central
theme of Rosh Hashanah. Renewal will be manifest by a new, more
fervent turning toward God. It will be realized by new, more honest
and more caring turning toward our loired ones — and toward
ourselves. And it will be wrought by a new, more committed and more
concerned turning toward the world around us, toward an awaken-
ing that the ways of the past need not be the ways of the future.
Perhaps, if God is willing and our hearts are honestly renewed,
Monday's sound of the shofar will usher in not only a new year —
5749 — but a new era of hope.
To Our Readers
first anniversary, has united our community with its innovative,
hands-on approach to family-oriented Jewish education. Working
closely with Fresh Air Society's Jewish Experiences for Families pro-
gram, The Jewish News' L'Chayim family section has co-sponsored
several community-wide programs with many more scheduled. Aside
from inclusion in The Jewish News, L'Chayim is distributed free each
month to almost 5,000 Hebrew school students locally.
lb help determine ways to better serve you, we recently commis-
sioned The Scarborough Research Corporation of New York to survey
a random sampling of readers. What the researchers found was you
are very committed to the newspaper, with 93 percent saying you
read every issue, 70 percent saying you spend at least one hour with
it every week and 70 percent saying you keep it for at least one week.
This combination of improving editorial content, community ser-
vice and your appreciated loyal readership has propelled our growth
and ability to serve you. At a weekly average of 140 pages, The Jewish
News has doubled its size over the past five years
For the year 5749, we remain committed to providing you with
an always improving newspaper . . . one that you will continue to
look forward to receiving and utilizing.
May we continue to grow together from strength to strength.
L'shana Tovah,
Charles A. Buerger, Publisher
Arthur M. Horwitz, Associate Publisher
Gary Rosenblatt, Editor
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We, at The Jewish News, look upon the year 5748 with a sense
of pride and accomplishment, but are humbled by the ongoing respon-
sibility to publish a newspaper of integrity that both unites our com-
munity and meets its constantly changing needs.
The local newsgathering staff has been expanded to offer you,
our valued reader, important information about, and insight into,
the community. The work of our two newest staff writers, Elizabeth
Kaplan and Kimberly Lifton, is featured in today's issue. Ms.
Kaplan's story on the cost of being Jewish and Ms. Lifton's story on
the changing relationship between Sinai Hospital and the Jewish
community are examples of the thoughtful, sensitive reporting that
only an independent newspaper can offer.
Through Israel correspondent Helen Davis and Washington cor-
respondent James Besser, the joy of Israel's 40th anniversary, the
pain of the intifada, the strained black-Jewish relations triggered,
in part, by the Jesse Jackson presidential candidacy and the clout
of the American-Israel Public Affairs Committee on Capitol Hill have
been presented with clarity and insight.
The Jewish News' L'Chayim family section, now celebrating its
4
I LETTERS
Rosenbaum Story
Was Inspirational
I enjoyed your interview
(Aug. 12) with that young-in-
spirit law graduate Irving
Rosenbaum. His is an inspira-
tional story and further
evidence of the exciting,
dynamic things people can ac-
complish during the time
which used to be called old
age.
Marvin Meltzer
B irmingham
Rabbis' Position
Is Disappointing
I am very disappointed in
the Va'ad Harabbanim's posi-
tion on Ibmple Shir Sha-
lom's advertisement in the ar-
6
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 1988
title "Temple Advertisement
Draws Orthodox Ire" Aug. 26.
I am a Jew-By-Choice and I
accept the Jewish people as
my people. I embrace the laws
of the Torah as my laws, and
I follow the traditions of the
Jewish culture. However, I
know that converts still are
not accepted by all Jewish
people. In fact, the Orthodox
Va'ad would never recognize
me or any other Reform con-
vert as a Jew.
The ad was merely address-
ing the fact that converts face
special problems and pre-
judices and that Temple Shir
Shalom is open to discussing
those concerns.
Further, it is unfair of the
Va'ad to assert that this ad ad-
4
vocates
intermarriage.
Rather, the ad is an open in-
vitation to those who have
already intermarried to learn
about Judaism and be a part
of a Jewish family. It is
obscene to suggest that we
should shun intermarried
couples or pretend they don't
exist.
Carol LoPatin
West B loomfield
The Jewish News
Political Tilt
How ironic that a letter was
published in the Sept. 2 issue
of The Jewish News by a
reader bitterly complaining of
your paper's anti-Republican
bias, when that same issue
publishes a column by Rabbi
Meyerowitz under the false
heading "Tarah Portion."
In fact, The Jewish News
continues to tilt toward the
Bush-Quayle ticket. The
point is that Jesse Jackson is
not on the Democratic ticket.
The Democratic ticket is
Dukakis and Bentsen. As far
as I know, none of the can-
didates are anti-Semitic and
only Quayle has voted
anti-Israel.
Mr. Bush is in favor of
prayer in public schools —
something that all Jews
should be fearful of. The Bush
ticket is strongly supported
by Pat Robertson and others
from the far right.
I have been an avid reader
of this paper forover 35 years,
and I enjoy reading it. But
this Jackson paranoia is not
constructive.
Harvey S. Bronstein
Professor,
Oakland Community College
Attack On Nixon
Missed The Mark
A writer in your Sept. 2
issue seems to be comparing
degrees of anti-Semitism
when she wonders if her
fellow Jews find Richard
Nison's use of the word
"kikes" on his tapes more
palatable than Jesse
Jackson's epithet for New
York City as Hymietown,"
and wants to know, "Where
do you draw the line?"