EDUCATION Gary Weinstein Champagne Reception and Grand Opening Celebration a also - Special Showing - Sharon meyer designs Dec. 1 - Dec. 5, 1988 Weinstein Jewelers of Novi 41990 Grand River Novi, Michigan 48050 (313) 347-0303 Gary S. Weinstein Graduate Gemologist Custom Mirrored Creations Top Quality Work, Top Quality Service Mirror your existing Closet Doors • • • • • other Custom Services Mirrored Walls • Tub and Shower Enclosures • Heavy Glass Table Tops Bars Fireplaces • Glass Shelving Pedestals • Glass Etching (Beveled Edges Available on Glass) Furniture MIRRORAGE Free Estimates Custom Mirror & GLass Work References JOSEP J D ES IgN A LIERY O RCHAR D • MALL O RCHARD• LAKE- ROAD WEST- BLOOMFIELD 855-0633 "Don't MONKEY around. See our selection of unique furniture, accessories & art. Enjoy our service. Affordable prices". 58 FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 1988 557-8776 Quiz Developed To Give Sense Of Jewish Role Through History HEIDI PRESS News Editor W alter Field is wor- ried that Jewish children don't really understand what role Jews played throughout history. lb help change the situation, he created a Jewish history quiz. Administered recently to sixth graders in Detroit-area Jewish religious schools, the quiz deals with personalities, places, ritual and practice. The students also were given a copy of Field's book, A Peo- ple's Epic, in which he gives a capsulized version of Jewish history through a verse form called tercet — three rhymed lines. Students who participated in the quiz had the option of writing a brief essay on a Jewish topic of their choice. Two winners from the 32 par- ticipating classes from 13 schools will receive cash prizes. Other contestants will receive certificates of recogni- tion. Awards will be presented at a special pro- gram at 7:30 p.m. Dec. 7 at Congregation Shaarey Zedek. A long-time Zionist, Field has been a student of Jewish history all of his life. It was his son Irwin who gave him the inspiration for creating the quiz. When Irwin was a child, Field said he could not get him to read Jewish history because his son complained the explanations were long and boring. Field tried to find him a shorter version, but could not, and so wrote his own in the tercet style. He sees the same phenomenon happening to- day. With the help of daughter Harriet Siden, vice president of the Jewish Society of Historical Michigan; the Jewish Educators Council and ad- visers Rabbi Irwin Groner of Congregation Shaarey Zedek, The Jewish News' editor emeritus Philip Slomovitz and advertising executive Leonard Simons, Field put the wheels into motion and donated the cash prizes through the Walter and Lea Fied Jewish History Fund of the Jewish Historical Society of Michigan. But he had another reason for creating the quiz. He pointed to an introductory note in his book in which he quoted Maurice Samuel: "For others a knowledge of. the Walter Field's quiz teaches children the role of Jews in the "drama of civilization." history of their people is a civic duty, while for the Jews, it is a sacred duty." Field surmised that this is the first time such a quiz is being offered to students in Detroit's Jewish schools. However, it is another project in his mission to make Jewish history interesting to Jewish youth. The former Jewish Welfare Federation president and retired paint manufac- turer began bringing Jewish history programs to youth in the 1940s when he worked with the late Rabbi Morris Adler in the Zionist Youth Commission. In the 1950s he began a lecture series on Semitic and Near Eastern studies at Wayne State University. During the 1960s, with the help of B'nai B'rith Hillel Foundations on college campuses, he personally fund- ed dormitory lectures for the students. Field aims the quiz at a 10- and 11-year-old audience because he feels that by bar/bat mitzvah the kids should have the knowledge of their people's past. "My hope is that they learn the role Jews played in the drama of civilization," he said. But he has another objec- tive. Field said American novelists show the "seamy" side of Jewish life. He said it was his duty to show the students Jewish ac- complishments. "I'm trying to stress the other side. We cannot do away with anti- Semitism, but we can strengthen our own position," he said. He started thinking about presenting the quiz 20 years ago when he learned of the Bible quiz which takes place annually in Jerusalem. (The Bible quiz is offered locally as part of the Detroit Jewish Community's annual Israel Independence Day obser- vance.) He hopes to offer the Detroit Jewish history quiz annually and to make it as important as the Bible quiz. The Los Angeles Jewish Federation has already ex- pressed an interest in Field's quiz, and he plans to donate copies of A People's Epic. A philanthropist and