EDITORIAL Taking A Stand The nearly 3,000 persons representing more than 800 Jewish communities at last week's Council of Jewish Federation's General Assembly focused considerable time and attention formulating responses to the proposed change in the definition of who is a Jew in Israel's Law of Return. High-level delegations departed for meetings with Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir. Resolutions contained uncharacteristically strong language. Petitions, claiming the proposed amendment, if passed, "will tarnish the image of Israel as it assigns millions of us to an inferior status which we do not deserve and will not accept — certainly from any temporal body" were circulated. Clearly, as past CJF President Shoshana Cardin told those at- tending, this issue may be the most divisive world Jewry has faced in decades. While no formal action was taken against those religious par- ties and organizations pushing for the amendment in their bargain- ing with Shamir, informally, Generally Assembly participants were vowing to withhold support from Orthodox institutions in their com- munities that advocated the amendment. In particular, the Lubavitch movement was singled out for its support of the amendment. Other Orthodox groups, including the Rabbinical Council of America, have opposed the amendment on the grounds that this is a religious rather than a political issue and should not be determined by the Knesset. In Detroit, Lubavitch leaders have offered many important in- sights and observations — off the record — about their position on the amendment. However, they have declined to have their full view- points presented, under their own names and the name of their organization, in the columns of this newspaper. We invite them to inform our readers now, while the debate rages, of their positions regarding amending the Law of Return in the Knesset and encourage those in our community seeking additional information to contact Lubavitch leaders directly. sumed, quite naively, that what happened outside a nondescript Book Depository Building in a major Southern city was the sort of thing that happened only in Balkanized nations with names that rolled with great difficulty off the tongue. It is easy to mythologize John Kennedy: He was handsome, wit- ty, articulate. He brought a new glamor to a somnolent White House. He had two sweet children and a charming wife. But, alas, he did not have a charmed life. He could arouse the nation, but he could not, in the end, save himself. But Kennedy did manage to transform, however briefly, the Oval Office into the "bully pulpit" championed by Teddy Roosevelt. He gave the nation, especially its youth, an invigorated purpose and idealism. Down that deep abyss opened by Kennedy's death went much of that idealism. The Peace Corps — Kennedy's dream — still lives, but its ethic of service has largely been subsumed by that self- centered crew known as "Yuppies." Kennedy's successors in the White House have proven to be largely uninspiring. And America itself is no longer the great colossus; not with the Japanese breathing down our necks economically and the homeless in our streets sham- ing us morally. For many Americans, no matter how old, their youth ended with the Kennedy assassination. The world never again seemed to have so much potential or opportunity, so much pizazz. In his personal life and in some of his international policies, Kennedy brought a recklessness that may not have befitted his office. But there is little denying that he also brought a vitality — and an ability to inspire — that the nation has not seen since. And that it sorely lacks. 25 Years Later As nations go, a quarter century is not much time. But during the 25 years since the fateful November of 1963, America has changed so much that it can be said to little resemble its former self. With the assassination of John Kennedy in Dallas, the nation was more than traumatized. It was derailed. The events in Dallas made Americans look into the soul of their nation. What they found they generally did not like — the violence, the hatred, the pent-up furies of a nation that had for too long as- LETTERS P'tach Helps Learning Disabled In regad to your article by Heidi Press on the different programs in the Detroit area for the learning disabled (Nov. 4), I was saddened by the exclusion of P'tach. This year we celebrate our 10th year of existence. We have grown to a full day program of both Judaica and secular studies. For the boys' program, which is hosted by Yeshivath Beth Yehudah, we offer a program through grade 8. In the Sally Allen Alexander-Beth Jacob School 6 FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 1988 for Girls, we offer our services to girls through the 12th grade. The main objective of P'tach is to mainstream all of our students into their proper classrooms with their peers. We achieve this through the use of our resource rooms. Our teachers are specially trained in the area of learn- ing disabilities to make use of all the new and innovative techniques to teach these special students .. . Michael I. Hochheiser Chairman of the Board P'tach Michigan Chapter A Reminder Of Painful Past For a Holocaust survivor like myself, the effort to define who is a Jew is a reminder of a painful past. "Who is a Jew" was the first step in the genocidal design of the Nazis. The Orthodox rabbis use bloodline to determine Jewish heritage, another variant of the "biological" definition of who is a Jew. The contemplated revision of the Law of Return would be deep- ly divisive, according to Mor- ris B. Abram, chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations. For me it would also have a practical implication. It would divide my family. I have three children, two daughters in their 30s, whose mother is Jewish, and a 17-year-old son, David, whose mother is not of Jewish "blood:' Neither my parents nor I have ever been religious. In order for David to be a Jew under Orthodox rabbinical definition, my wife and I would have to become Or- thodox Jews. For us to do so would require an act of decep- tion. We would have to pre- dent to be religious and Or- thodox — another remem- Continued on Page 12 'VW 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.