EDITORIAL
Sinai Crossroads
As Robert Steinberg assumes the presidency of Sinai Hospital,
his agenda is already overflowing. Costs — and payroll — will have
to be further reduced to balance the institution's $200 million-plus
budget. Crumbling physical plant and aging equipment will have
to be repaired and replaced. Bruised egos — especially among
members of the medical staff — will have to be soothed and morale
boosted. Long-range plans will have to be developed and implemented
to assure the hospital's viability in a highly competitive health ser-
vices environment.
It would be easy for one other agenda item to become lost under
the weight of these pressing concerns — clarifying and strengthen-
ing Sinai's relationship with the Detroit Jewish community.
While the just-concluded administration of Irving Shapiro has
been credited with making tough decisions to improve the hospital's
economic viability and prospects for continued independence, it was
less mindful of developing ties with the Jewish community.
Steinberg's Jewish communal involvement and knowledge of the
hospital through a stint as president of its board of trustees make
him a natural bridge for involving the hospital more intimately in
the health and well being of the Jewish community. We look forward
to the improvements.
Michael Dukakis would not look to Rev. Jackson for foreign policy
advice, since the two men have a very different approach, particularly
to Middle East problems, on which Dukakis has spoken forcefully
of his support for Israel while Jackson has urged a tilt toward the
Arabs. Dukakis has said as much in interviews, and reliable sources
point to Rep. Lee Hamilton of Indiana as a likely Secretary of State
in a Dukakis administration.
Readers may in all good conscience feel that the Bush-Quayle
ticket would be more beneficial to Israel, and to American Jewish
interests. Certainly the Reagan administration has fostered a strong
U.S.-Israel relationship. But our point is not to tell readers who to
vote for. It is, rather, to urge them to vote with their minds as well
as their hearts. And certainly the Mideast, as important as it is,
should not be the only political gauge for American Jewish voters.
The candidates' views on domestic issues from the economy and social
welfare to education and church-state offer real alternatives that
must be weighed.
The choice is between Duakakis-Bentsen and Bush-Quayle. Let's
leave the Rev. Jackson out of this one.
PLO
ELING UNIT%
Jackson Factor
The Jewish News is not in the habit of endorsing candidates for
election, but does seek to provide readers with the facts, viewpoints
and analyses to help them make intelligent decisions.
That is why we feel it necessary to address the issue of Rev. Jesse
Jackson in the upcoming presidential election. Many Jews seem con-
vinced that a vote for the Dukakis-Bentsen ticket is a vote for Jackson
and against Israel. They fear that Jackson will assume a major
foreign policy role in a Dukakis White House. There is also wide-
spread belief that a secret deal was made between Jackson and
Dukakis just prior to the Democratic convention assuring Jackson
of a cabinet post as Secretary of State or National Security Advisor.
Our investigation into these rumors has found nothing to
substantiate such claims. Democratic officials ascribe them to rumors
spread by the Bush campaign. In any event, logic dictates that
LETTERS
Oak Park Not
On Death Bed
I take serious issue with the
tone of your Sept. 30 article
"Revitalize" about the new
developments along 1-696 in
Oak Park.
The subhead states, "The
flavor of Dexter-Davison may
be the price of progress." But
even though I read the entire
article, I couldn't figure out
what you meant. Are local
residents supposed to be sad-
dened that a dirty, crowded,
poorly-stocked supermarket
is about to be replaced with a
shiny, new, clean, large one?
Are we to assume that
because this store is bigger it
will no longer carry kosher
foods? .. .
We in Oak Park, southern-
Southfield and Huntington
Woods are excited about this
shopping plaza and other
developments in Oak Park. I,
6
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 21, 1988
for one, am tired of The
Jewish News' constant
disparaging of my city and
your bias that Oak Park has
no future as a Jewish
neighborhood .. .
You seem blind to the fact
that this is a vibrant Jewish
community, not one which is
on its death bed.
Barbara Lewis
Oak Park
Frieda Stollman's
Unspoken Legacy
I returned to Detroit after a
three-week absence to learn
that my friend and mentor,
Frieda Stollman, had died.
Like the community which
has lost this magnificent
woman, I am deeply grieved.
I have devoured the
memorials and tributes to
Frieda in our local press,
smiled and wept at the
beautiful woman they
portrayed.
Still, a little something has
been left unsaid. She lived
with an enormously high
sense of ideals, a moral
obligation to walk the
sometimes unpopular path.
There were lessons she
shared with me over the
years, urging my generation
forward to fairness and com-
munity justice. -
Frieda taught countless
young women to stand tall, to
act and think with pride of
the Jewishness that binds us
all. In diversity she saw
strength.
By bringing Israel home to
us after long overseas flights,
she helped us to see the whole
earth as our realm, and plac-
ed in our hearts and hands
the knowledge that we collec-
tively could make a
difference.
I know that Frieda
Stollman cannot be captured
on a written page. But the gift
she leaves a whole generation
deserves to be spoken of. She
leaves us an abiding sense of
responsibility to our homes,
our community, and Jews
everywhere.
Janet Birnkrant Levine
Huntington Woods
Charge And
Countercharge
It was with utter amaze-
ment that I read "Charge .. .
And Countercharge" (Oct. 7).
Buried on Page 25 is a col-
umn, which deals with Max
Fisher's accusation of anti-
Semitism in the Democratic
party. There is a one
paragraph resume of what
Mr. Fisher said. The rest of
the article, all 3 columns,
deals with refuting his
position.
It seems to me that The
Jewish News owes its readers
the complete statement of one
of the great American Jewish
leaders of our time. The arti-
cle quotes such "disinterested
and impartial" parties as the
director of the Arab American
Institute, the deputy state
director of the Dukakis/Bent-
son campaign and those two
stalwart Democrats, Sander
and Carl Levin, who owe
their election to the solid sup-
port of those people against
whom Mr. Fisher is directing
his accusations.
Continued on Page 10
Let Us Know
Letters must be concise,
typewritten and double-
spaced. Correspondence
must include the signa
ture, home address and
daytime phone number of
the writer.