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National Roofing in Southfield Contractors Association L 22 j Free Inspections 646-2452 JEWELRY APPRAISALS At Very Reasonable Prices Call For An Appointment taetu,g O 6 /1 established 1919 k, FINE JEWELERS GEM/DIAMOND SPECIALIST AWARDED CERTIFICATE BY GIA IN GRADING AND EVALUATION FRIDAY, DECEMBER 16, 1988 30400 Telegraph Road Suite 134 Birmingham, MI 48010 (313) 642-5575 Daily 10-7 Sat. 10-4 Sun. 12-4 state and the people. These are times of emergen- cy. There is an anger in our people, a sense of profound alienation and resentment that threatens the interde- pendence of our people. The centrality of Israel is in jeopardy. Signs of the disso- ciation of large numbers of Diaspora and Israeli Jewry are inescapapble. This is the rime to call upon the example of the spiritual heroism of our rabbinic sages who when confronted with such crises turned to Psalm 119:126: "It is time for the Lord to do something; they have made void Thy Torah," and dared to translate it as a call for audacious rabbinic action—"It is time (for us) to do something for the Lord, so make void Thy Ibrah." There are times our rabbinic sages of the Talmud taught when one is commanded not to say that which will not be obeyed (T. Yebamoth 65b). For "the sake of peace," traditions and laws are bent. Rabbis are like physicians, Maimonides argued. "Just as the physician amputates an arm or leg to save the whole body, the bet din court may advocate, when an emergen- cy arises, the temporary dis- regard of some of the com- mandments so that the corn- munity as a whole may be preserved. As it is written, "Rebuke not a scorner lest he hate you." And here we are not dealing with scorners. So too, if, to bring back the multitude to religion, the court takes into account the "needs of the hour" (Hilchoth Mamrim 2:4). This wisdom is in keeping with what the ear- ly sages said: "Desecrate one Sabbath on his account so that he be able tc: observe many Sabbaths" (Yuma 85b). The amendment clause of the Law of Return relentlessly pushed by the Israeli rab- binate is a rabbinic decree, even though the venue of its deliberation is the secular Knesset. It is a decree which the majority of the Jewish community cannot and will not endure. The Talmudic sages did not function in a sociological vacuum. "One does not issue a decree which the majority of the com- munity cannot endure." As an Orthdox rabbi, I would know that the libelous characterization of my non- Orthodox rabbis are unwor- thy, a violation of the precepts of Judaism so insistent upon guarding the words of our mouth. I would search for compat- ible Jewish colleagues and I would not be alone. I would seek out my own Orthdox brethren and hope to per- suade them to exercise their erudition and devotion to Jewish law and Jewish life and thereby raise the glory of Torah and the people's respect for Jewish law. I would not allow the politicizatiDn of the Jewish law. Especially in this time of emergency, I could act to defend the integrity of Jewish peoplehood and the dignity of Jewish law whose ways are "ways of pleasant- ness and paths of peace." I NEWS I Quayle Replacement Upsets Activists Opponents of forced prayer in public schools were not pleased by the appointment of Rep. Dan Coats, (R-Ind.), to fill the term of Sen. Dan Quayle, now headed for the vice president's mansion on Massachusetts Avenue. Coats, who has made a ca- reer of keeping close to Dan Quayle — he once worked as an aide to Quayle, and won the congressional seat va- cated when Quayle stepped up to the Senate — has earn- ed the reputation as a fierce advocate for Christian Right causes, including prayer in schools. A spokesman for People for the American Way, a group that monitors church-state issues, quickly blasted the appointment. Coats spearhead an unsuc- cessful drive to attach a silent prayer amendment to an edu- cation bill — the measure is still remembered as the "Coats Amendment." And the Indiana conserva- tive was a leading player in equal access legislation, which required school admin- istrations to allow religious clubs to meet in public schools. Coats also has opposed for- eign aid — apparently a stan- dard practice in Indiana politics. "Congressman Coats' rec- ord on church-state issues is quite troubling," said Mark Pelavin, assistant Washing- ton representative of the American Jewish Congress. "He is not just a supporter of the conservative moral agen- da on school prayer, but one of its chief advocates."