Conservative Rabbis
Reflect On 'Relevance'
RICHARD PEARL
Staff Writer
A
Jules R. Schubot Jewellers
Cordially Invite You
To Personally Meet
Renowned Fine Jewelry Designer
Henry Dunay
And Preview His Newest Gold Treasures.
Please Join Us For Champagne
During His Two-Day Personal Appearance
Monday, May 8th from 12 - 7 p.m.
Tuesday, May 9th from 10 a.m. - 5 p.m.
EMBE
JULES R. SCHUBOT
jewellers — gemologists
AZS
'9'CA N GEM so"
.94fe
3001 West Big Beaver Road • Suite 112 • Troy, Michigan 48084 • (313) 649-1122
PLAY STRUCTURES
For Fun at Home
Extra Heavy-Duty Construction
To Last A Lifetime
Sold With or Without Installation
Prices From
$650 to $1650
Visit Our Display
in West Bloomfield
at 7549 Pontiac Trail
1 /2 Mile East of Haggerty Road.
For Additional Information
Please Write or Call:
Guffrey Products
7549 Pontiac Trail
West Bloomfield, MI 48033
(313) 624-7962
in Brighton (313) 229-9646
14
FRIDAY, MAY 5, 1989
merica's love-affair
with nostalgia for the
1960s and '70s reach-
ed the synagogue level recent-
ly at Congregation Beth
Achim.
Images of long-haired,
bearded "hippy types" — rab-
binic as well as layperson —
strumming guitars, singing
protest songs and performing
skits with "messages" from
the bimah were evoked dur-
ing a discussion by three Con-
servative rabbis of Judaism's
relevance to modern life.
Participating were Rabbi
Milton Arm of Beth Achim;
Rabbi Allan Meyerowitz of
Congregation B'nai Moshe
and Rabbi David Nelson of
Congregation Beth Sholom.
Rabbi Meyerowitz, who has
been arrested eight times
during protests for Soviet
Jewry, commented how dated
the term "relevance" seemed
today. "Our hair was really
long then; we were singing
about going to San Francisco
`wearing flowers in my hair.'
It's a '60s term from a time
when everyone was concern-
ed with how to change the
world, better the world.
"But is there anything
more relevant than how
Judaism affects life and
makes you see life?" asked
the former New Yorker.
Halachic Judaism, he said,
teaches that "no individual
lives alone, by and for
himself. A Jew forms life with
the people around him .. .
Judaism says we have to be a
part of other people's world, in
order to share with others."
The Sabbath, he said, "is a
chance for each of us to return
to a less aggressive day — we
totally cease to acquire, to
destroy, to build; we are per-
mitted to just be who we were
meant to be . . . What could
be more relevant than to
teach a child you don't live
just for yourself?" He recall-
ed how, during one of his ar-
rests, his then 2-year-old
daughter Yael suddenly
began yelling, "Freedom now!
Freedom now!" as her father
was taken away.
"Judaism is relevant in life
because it guides how we
form families, how we care for
each other," Rabbi
Meyerowitz said. Judaism's
"one big failing" is that it
doesn't challenge people —
"it's become a peaceful
anesthesia, a way to escape
from the world. But, with the
help of the rabbis, Jews can
develop ways to cope with the
world — how to use
technology, how to keep the
world safe."
Rabbi Nelson, who served
congregations in Rio de
Janeiro and Baltimore before
coming to Detroit, said the
big question in the '60s and
'70s was, "Will a guitar-
playing rabbi in jeans turn on
young Jews to Jewish life?"
"He didn't," he said. "We
tried all that and it didn't
work — the long-haired rab-
bis, the 'telling it like it was'."
The latter, he said, was
hurtful and he quoted Reform
Rabbi Arthur Hertzberg, who
once said, "When rabbis
stress relevance, we all go to
hell a little bit quicker."
Rabbi Nelson said that, in-
stead of skits about
synagogues worshipping the
almighty dollar and the
overlapping of Jewish institu-
'No individual lives
alone, by and for
himself. A Jew
forms life with the
people around
him•
tions, such as were presented
at his Baltimore synagogue,
"there is a growing insistence
today on programs of
substance: singles programm-
ing for all ages, bringing
study groups back into the
synagogue, bi-monthly Friday
night services among the
synagogues." He said the
Jewish Experiences For
Families' Shabbat dinner,
"with all generations being
together," is another example.
Rabbi Arm, noting "the
high rate of intermarriage,
the lessening of Jewish obser-
vance and the lessening of
Jewish morals, vis-a-vis the
modern Wall Street ethic,"
called for involvement of con-
gregants "in the search for
making Judaism a part of
young people's world.
"People are saying, 'Rabbi,
don't give us a book review —
give us what the Midrash is
about.' There's a sizeable
number of Jews who want to
get back in, and a sizeable
number coming back in.
"Judaism needs to be rele-
vant to the needs and
challenges of the world —
that will affect our lives and
the world.
"Yes, we Jews have a lot of
big problems. But we have a
good 'product: and there are
always going to be 'buyers'
out there for it."
Rabbi Meyerowitz said con-