Enlightened Decision
Facing an emergency fundraising campaign for Soviet emigres
and a long list of communal agencies seeking additional financial
support, the Jewish Welfare Federation could have postponed or
cancelled plans to launch a detailed study of Detroit's Jewish com-
munity. After all, arguments could be made that the approximately
$265,000 earmarked for the study and follow-up analyses would
satisfy some immediate needs, such as for the elderly and single-
parent families or, perhaps, could be used to buy freedom for Jews
trapped in Iran and Syria.
Despite ongoing demands for funds, Federation leadership wisely
decided this week to spend money today to save money, and help raise
more money, tomorrow.
The completed study will enable Federation and its agencies to
make well-founded decisions, improving the chances of investing
scarce resources wisely. The recent Identity and Affiliation report,
the task force studying Jewish education and committees attemp-
ting to stabilize the Oak Park-Southfield area are examples of how
important decisions, impacting tens of thousands of people and
costing millions of dollars, are often being made with little depen-
dable data. And through the study, an assessment of Federation and
its Allied Jewish Campaign will result in more successful fund
raising.
Future communal leaders, when confronted with new challenges
for the provision of service to Jews locally and abroad, will thank
today's leaders for providing them with the data base and analyses
needed to make enlightened decisions.
beating in the media and the international forum for the deaths of
Palestinians in the uprising. On the diplomatic front, Yassir Arafat
scored points around the world when he renounced terrorism and
recognized Israel's right to exist, and Israel has found herself on the
defensive in explaining why she refuses to negotiate with the
Palestine Liberation Organization. In the Jewish world, though the
"Who Is A Jew" issue has faded for now, the wounds left among
non-Orthodox Jews who feel alienated are still there.
And yet there is cause for pride and celebration. Israel helps lead
the way in areas of science, medicine and technology. Most impor-
tantly, and for all of its crises, Israel lives. For centuries a dream,
the Jewish state is a reality, a democratic society and haven for the
oppressed. Yom Ha'atzmaut, Israel Independence Day, which is
celebrated in Israel this year on May 10, is a time for prayer and
thanksgiving, a time to reflect on the modern-day miracle of the
Jewish state and renew our pledge to her survival and growth.
CAN YOU MAW iT
BEEN TOGETHER FOR 41 Ysits!
'MERE HAVE BEEN MANY BEAUTiRIL
MOMENTS AND A FEW ROUGH ONES,
BUT THERE'S ALWAYS BEEN LOVE!
HAPPY ANNiVatS4RY!
Israel At Middle Age
Israel, at 41, has reached middle age — still looking to the future
with hope, but no longer brimming with youthful idealism.
The past year has been a difficult one for the Jewish state. The
intifada continues unabated, with Israel unable to find a military
solution to a political problem. The Jewish state has also taken a
LETTERS
Cryonics
And Death
In her nice piece on cryonics
(April 21), Elizabeth Kaplan
quotes Rabbi Binyamin
Wallfish: "Jewish law
demands that we bury the
body immediately after
death. And freezing is not
burying." With all due
respect, I think this state-
ment was too hasty.
1. If we want to play with
words, we could perhaps keep
the liquid nitrogen storage
units underground and call
this "burial."
2. More seriously, we must
remember that the definition
of "death" has become less
clear cut. We don't bury
"dead" heart attack victims
until we have tried to
resuscitate them. The whole
point is that we think the
frozen people are not really
and truly dead in any final or
irreversible sense.
3. Finally, we all know that
Jewish law and custom allow
disregard of a lesser good to
achieve a great good: for ex-
6
FRIDAY, MAY 5, 1989
ample, a surgeon may break
the Sabbath to save a life —
and that is a close parallel; we
are trying to save a life.
R.C.W. Ettinger
President, Immortalist Society
Oak Park
Kelly & Co. Show
Was Very Fair
I was outraged, like others
who read The Jewish News
staff report, about Channel
7's plan to air the live
Holocaust retrospective on
Passover.
It moved me to call WXYZ-
TV erev Pesach to find out
more about the content. Once
told, I suggested that the tim-
ing was unfortunate because
those Jews who faithfully
observe Passover do not watch
television on holidays.
L'm glad I watched Kelly &
Co. I hope it will be re-run.
The show was responsible and
produced with sensitivity to
the feelings of the Jewish
community and the com-
munity at-large. The ex-
periences of Alfons Heck and
Helen Waterford were honest,
moving and educational.
I don't agree with The
Jewish News' statement that
Channel 7 "solicited the
Jewish community." I think
what really happened was
that, unfortunately, a staff
reporter, without all of the
facts, stirred up an over-
reaction from the Jewish com-
munity and the daily press
which proved to be
unwarranted.
Mary Shapero
Detroit
Editor's note: Kelly & Co. at-
tempted to place an advertise-
ment in The Jewish News,
soliciting its readers to be a part
of the studio audience on the
first day of Passover. This ad
was rejected.
'Silence Is
Most Dangerous'
We are writing to address a
number of concerns raised in
your April 14 issue regarding
the WXYZ-TV "Kelly & Corn-
pany" program that aired
April 20.
This particular date mark-
ed the 100th anniversary of
Adolph Hitler's birth and, as
such, received considerable
media attention. The purpose
of the "Kelly & Company"
program in question was to
focus on the atrocities com-
mitted under Hitler's regime
in a manner that would pro-
vide information and insight.
The guests selected were
Alfons Heck, a former Hitler
Youth officer, and Helen
Waterford, a survivor of the
Holocaust. They were booked
based on their background
and their mutual availabil-
ity — which happened to be
April 20.
Your article led area
residents to believe that the
program would in some man-
ner honor Hitler when, in
fact, nothing could have been
further from the truth. By
concentrating on the date of
the airing rather than com-
menting on the program after
reviewing its content, the
writer of the article missed
what we feel was the message
of the broadcast, that there is
no "bad" day to talk about
the Holocaust, or to para-
phrase Elie Wiesel, "It is the
silence which is most
dangerous."
The overwhelming response
of the studio audience and of
the majority of those who
called in was that they felt
better informed and enlight-
ened by the time the program
had ended.
For those who were dissuad-
ed from watching the pro-
gram because of misinforma-
tion regarding its purpose or
content, and for those who
missed it for other reasons, we
are making videotape copies
Continued on Page 10
Let Us Know
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