I PROFILE I HE'S EARNED YOU. MILLIONS! "NR, Confrontational Rabbi 77'0740.0 RE-ELECT Continued from preceding page ROMAN J. GRONKOWSKI 14' TREASURER-CITY OF SOUTHFIELD Gronkowski's past performance is an indication of future achievements: • He has helped increase the bond rating of Southfield from BAA to AA. Moody's Investment Services ranks Southfield in the top 10% of all cities nationally. • During his tenure as Treasurer, Gronkowski has earned over $62,000,000 for the city, helping to maintain the high level of city services that Southfield citizens enjoy. • He has earned the designation, "Certified Municipal Finance Administrator", from the Municipal Treasurers Association of United States and Canada. This certification has been awarded to only 10% of all finance administrators nationally, and acknowledges academic achievement and knowledge of municipal treasury operations. "He's Earned Your Trust" We're proud of the job performance of our Southfield Treasurer. That's why we're urging you to vote for him on Tuesday, November 7. This ad was made possible by the contributions of: David Pollock Eli Robinson Philip Langwald Mark E. Schlussel Paid for by the Citizens for Gronkowski 28541 W. Kalong, Southfield. MI 48034 Roman J. Gronkowski, Treasurer The Jewish Community Center with Nancy Gurwin Productions presents the musical WET ME SERI( Directed and Choreographed by Kathi Bush' Music Director: Lee George FINAL WEEKEND NOVEMBER 4TH & 5TH 8:00 p.m. — Saturday 7:00 p.m. — Sunday General Admission $8.50, Seniors $8.00, Students $5.00 Group Rates Available, 20 or more $7.50 For reservations call the Jewish Community Center at 661-1000 or Nancy Gurwin at 354 0545 - 24 Hr. HOT LINE 351-4444 Presented at the Jewish Community Center, 6600 West Maple Rd., W. Bloomfield, MI 48322 A DAVID ROSENMAN'S ALTO alma PURCHASERS NEW & USED CAR BROKER (313) 851-CARS (313) 851-2277 46 FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 1989 great willpower in his quest to communicate with people, and recalls. the Coalition engaging some 700 Austrians in one-on-one conversations over a. four- day period during a protest in Vienna at the time of Kurt Waldheim's inauguration. "People have the right to question our tactics," said Richter, who acknowledged that Rabbi Weiss has "a healthy ego." But he noted that with all of the stress, criticism, financial expense and death threats that go along with the activism, it is unfair to dismiss Rabbi Weiss's involvement as moti- vated by ego. "He does it lishma, or for the sake of heaven," he insisted. Rabbi Weiss claims he does not like being an activ- ist. He's interested in teach- ing, he says, in being a rabbi. And being a rabbi "more than anything has to be a process of I-thou relation- ships. I view activism as a very depersonalizing and dehumanizing activity. Whatever you act for or against becomes an object to you. People in the Soviet mission become objects — you forget they are also husbands, wives and parents. The police and re- porters lose their humanity and become objects you want to manipulate. "At times I detest it. I do it because I have no choice." The risks Rabbi Weiss have taken are not just pro- fessional. In 1986, he suf- fered a heart attack after he was beaten at an anti-Soviet demonstration in front of Carnegie Hall. The incident and heart attack continue to have a profound effect on him, but they haven't damp- ened his activities, despite subsequent heart -bypass surgery. . 50% OFF MADE 10 MEASURE DRAPERI ES YOU MEASURE, HANG St SAVE! NOW OPEN IN MADISON HEIGHTS MADISON PLACE - 589-3032 also ORCHARD PLACE 855-0122 FIGHT THE BIG "F"... FURNITURE FADING SOLAR SALES, INC. 537-7900 3M Authorized Dealer/Applicator Sun Control Products Perhaps the most contro- versial stand Rabbi Weiss ever took involved his sup- port of the Jewish under- ground group in Israel con- victed in the early 1980s of planning bomb attacks against Arabs. He says now, "it was the hardest activist issue I've ever been involved in." Rabbi Weiss stresses that the only underground activity he defended was the action against two Palestin- ian West Bank mayors. (Bombs had been placed in their cars and one mayor had his legs blown off.) "My understanding was that these mayors were in- tent on murdering Jews." In hindsight, he admits, "I think the reason I became so vocal was my relationship with Era Rappaport." Rap- paport had been a childhood friend and someone Weiss considers "a wonderful per- son." Rappaport was in- volved in the attack on the mayors. Now, he says, he would defend such an action again, but he would also say it is wrong. On other issues relating to Israel, Rabbi Weiss comes across as a hard-liner, even though he rejects the de- scription. He believes that the West Bank territories occupied by Israel in 1967 should be "incorporated" into Israel. He feels the Pal- estinian residents of the West Bank should be wel- come to remain as citizens of Israel, if they want that op- tion. He says the only way to deal with the intifada is to deport its leaders, even if that involves thousands. -He thinks American Jews who dialogue with the PLO are traitors to the Jewish people and he will not allow them to speak in his shul. The ultimate challenge of the Jewish state, he says, is to balance power with love. "I categorically reject any philosophy which says that the Arabs are evil. That is against Torah. I favor Pal- estinian expression in a Pal- estinian state — and I be- lieve that state should be in Jordan." Rabbi Weiss has been linked by some to Rabbi - Meir Kahane but he is out- raged at the comparison. "I'm unalterably opposed to any form of violence," he argues. "I reject with all my strength the concept of transfer. " Rabbi Weiss' heart is part- ly in Israel, where his father is now a rabbi. He wants to live there, too, he says, but "there is a task to be com- pleted here." Leaving aside his daily and global concerns for a moment, Rabbi Weiss dreams a little. "I wish this synagogue was in Israel," he says. "The spirit of open- ness...Israel could really use that." I NEWS I"' Feminists Plan Israel Mission New York — On the an- niversary of the historic First International Jewish Feminist Conference, which was held in Jerusalem in December, 1988, the Commis- sion for Women's Equality of the American Jewish Con- gress will sponsor a Women's Mission to Israel Nov. 25 to Dec. 3. Mission participants will receive in-depth briefings from political, judicial, legal, military and religious authorities on the status of women in Israeli life.