LIG TS E
4)1,
R E1/F 0
+Aok
•
THE FRANKLIN JUNIOR TENNIS PROGRAM
All Ages I All Levels I Non-Members.Welcome
SPRING SESSION
Special 7 Week Session Begins April 24
Call the Junior Tennis Dept.
for information and sign-up
SUMMER TENNIS
CAMP
352-8000 EXT. 38
• All Day & 1 /2 Day
• Camps Held Weekly
• Beginning June 19
With Tennis & Swimming
FRANKLIN
Fitness &Racquet Club
•
BASKIN
29350 Northwestern Ilwy./Southfield, MI
•
BASKIN ROBBINS
_28871 Southfield Rd.
near 12 Mile
•
kr
559-3131
ROBBINS •
Sorry — Not Kosher For Passover
But for an after-Pesach treat,
that's really a dream.
Come to Southfield near 12 Mile
for Baskin-Robbins ice cream
You can top it with cherry,
whipped cream or some nuts,
It will all be O.K.
for we sold our Chometz
COATS
UNLIMITED
Sterling Heights
Sterling Place
37680 Van Dyke at 16 1/2 Mile
939-0700
Oak Park
Lincoln Center, Greenfield at 10% Mile
968-2060
West Bloomfield
Orchard Mall, Orchard Lake
at Maple (15 Mile) • 855-9955
Wishing you a happy and
Kosher year.
GOT A QUESTION? —
Jewish Information Service
Sara Singal & Family
••••• ■ •11.1.
FIT FOR HEALTH
111111111•11111101111116
11111111111111MMIM
ar 111 11111111 111
NW If I NMI MI 1111•112 MUNI
W q
1 MR IPML • 6 AM
6:411111.4116 A
' Si. LIMN
MIMMIIMININI•1111
W
PERSONAL FITNESS TRAINING
IN YOUR OWN HOME!
by Jan Jacobs
exercise physiologist/certified exercise specialistlaccomplished athlete
FITNESS PROGRAM & EVALUATION
• Cardiovascular
• Body Fat Percentage
• Nutritional Analysis • Flexibility
THIS SPRING FITNESS IS THE THING . .
Hire YOUR PERSONAL MOTIVATOR
Call for an Appt. 545-4953
48
FRIDAY, APRIL 21, 1989
Call
967-HELP
Monday-Friday
9:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m.
"Where You Come First"
Kosins
Uptown
Southfield Rd. at
11 1/2 Mile • 559-3900
Big & Tall
Southfield at
101/2 Mile • 569-6930
A Jewish Irishman
Looks At Native Land
MASHEY BERNSTEIN
Special to The Jewish News
N
inety-five percent of
Ireland is Catholic;
five percent is Protes-
tant. I'm Chief Rabbi of the
rest." — Rabbi I. Jacobovitz,
Chief Rabbi of Ireland,
1948-1959.
I think that it surprises
most people to learn that I am
Irish and that I was born and
raised in Dublin, where I
lived until I was 25 years of
age. After all, "Mashey Bern-
stein" is hardly the most Irish
of names!
lb add insult to injury, I
don't speak with - a lilting
brogue. The only part of me
that does appear Irish is my
comparatively short stature,
which makes me seem like a
Jewish leprechaun. But the
truth of the matter is that,
until I came to the United
States to live in 1971, I
always thought of myself as
an Irishman.
Being a Jewish Irishman
appears a contradiction in
terms. Ireland is, to most peo-
ple, a Catholic country, and a
deeply committed Catholic
one, at that. Buried in that
perception is the belief that
Catholicism and anti-
Semitism are closely aligned.
So to find that Jews live there
safely • and securely strikes
people as odd.
This anomaly may explain
the American fascination
with Robert Briscoe, the first
— but not last — Jewish lord
mayor of Dublin. Although he
was mayor some 30 years ago
and has been dead for 20,
Briscoe's is still the name
people mention when I tell
them my national heritage.
He even outshines Leopold
Bloom, the sad hero of James
Joyce's Ulysses in the public
imagination. Not only was he
Jewish and Irish, but he had
actually been elected to a
high - office. Well, begorrah
and begob.
Until recently, Briscoe was
unique in Irish-Jewish
history. Part of his incredible
popularity among the non-
Jews was that he fought in
the 1921 war that brought
Irish freedom from centuries
of British domination. Most
Irish Jews in those days were
immigrants and steered clear
of Irish politics. The reason
was obvious: Irish politics was
mainly concerned with the
Mashey Bernstein is a
professor of English at the
University of Michigan.
religious persecution of
Catholics.
Even today, when there are
three Jewish representatives
in the Irish parliament — a
somewhat amazing feat, since
there are only 2,000 Jews in
Ireland — politics in Ireland
has a decidedly Catholic
taint. Because of this, I
always felt that I would be a
bit of a phony if I got actively
involved. Although second-
generation Irish, I could only
intellectually understand or,
at best, emotionally sym-
pathize with the struggles of
the Irish people. However
strong their feelings about
Irish nationalism, Jewish
boys and girls do not join the
IRA.
Interestingly, the Jews do
reflect Irish politics in a
I
—4
However strong
their feelings,
Jewish boys and
girls do not join
the IRA.
peculiar fashion. Despite the
fact that Ireland is split in
two, the Catholic and Protes-
tant churches, on either side
of the border, remain under
the domain of one leader. Not
the Jews. In this tiny island
with its miniscule Jewish
population, the Jews of
Southern Ireland have their
own chief rabbi, Rabbi Mer-
vis, while the Jews of North-
ern Ireland bow to the
authority of the chief rabbi of
England, Rabbi Jacobovitz.
Ironically, the latter was once
chief rabbi of Ireland. At
times, one would think that
the Jews of Ireland are
descendants of the people of
the renowned city of Chelm.
Every aspect of an
Irishmari's life comes with a
religious coloring. Two years
ago, the general population
voted against making divorce
legal. Contraceptives are
banned. On Sunday morn-
ings, the streets empty out as
everyone goes to Mass. When
passengers in a bus pass a
church, everyone crosses
himself. On Holy Thursday
and Good Friday, the movie
theaters close down.
On certain holidays, such as
Corpus Christi, processions
are held through streets. I
have no fond memory of these
occasions, as they frightened
my mother, who carried with
her images of less benign pro-
cessions in her native Poland.
We spent most of this time
huddling in my parents'
bedroom! Nonetheless, there
4
.04
4
'4
4
"4