FOCUS CLEARANCE SALE 11301f2 OFF ON ALL FALL MERCHANDISE • All Sales Final • No Layaways • Previous Sales Excluded Sizes 14 to 26 Applegate Square 354.4560 Northwestern Hwy at Inkster Rd. 1\/114C)EDies. • dip000011111.0.1111011 ■ 1101. • FURNISHINGS Sumptuous Italian leather sofas and chairs in an array of breathtaking vogue colors offered at discount prices. GUESS WHO'S COMING TO COLONY INTERIORS SUGAR TREE • W. BLOOMFIELD YOUR CAR IN ISRAEL eldon 771W1 RENT-A-CAR FROM -Emcmy. 331-ff•turi $154 * PER WEEK Unlimited Mihage SPECIAL LOW PIIICES Monthly Rates from $599 Incl. C.D.W USA & CANADA RESERVAT & PREPYMNT if you want Italian leather, speak to the 800-533-8778; IN NY: VAUD 212-629-6090 UNTIL 19/12/89 Italians — at Moda Furnishings. (We offer the best special order time available) 1952 Telegraph, N. of Square Lake Road 332-7283 Bloomfield Design Plaza The Bright Idea: Give a Gift Subscription 66 FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 24, 1989 Specializing in Knit Separates .. . That take you anywhere, Anytime Mon: Fri. 10-4 • Sat. 10-3 THE JEWISH NEWS 29107 Northwestern Hwy. Southfield, Michigan 358-4085 Breaking Barriers Continued from preceding page In recent years, groups have formed seeking an in- crease in the observance of holidays in schools. Respon- ding to such requests, many school districts have drafted policies which they say are more sensitive to all segments of the school population. Despite some movements to teach religion in schools, educators - at the conference said teachers more often than not are taking trees and other religious or- naments out of the public school classrooms. Now, many educators said, it is time for more courses in culture and world religions. "It is important to under- stand different cultural backgrounds," Brouhard said, adding he now would like to see a mandatory com- parative religion course in the Bloomfield Hills high schools. "Comparative religion is just as important as teaching government," Brouhard says."We are mov- ing into a time of multi- ethnicity. And we need to heighten awareness of the different religions and cultures through teaching." At the institute, Rabbis M. Robert Syme, Harold Loss and Paul Yedwab led workshops. Speaker Rabbi Daniel Syme, vice president of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations, ad- vised the educators against teaching Judaism without understanding it. "Only the teacher who knows can transmit," Daniel Syme said. "We cannot fool our students." Institute founder Sonia Syme, wife of Rabbi M. Robert Syme, agrees that ethnic outreach belongs in the schools. She launched the first Judaism institute for educators while she was Rabbi Daniel Syme:Keynote Speaker teaching in Detroit 35 years ago to help people under- stand each other. The first programs, jointly sponsored by Catholic groups, were "the crowning glory for today's programs." The program, held each November, lasted for 17 years. Four years ago, Sonia Syme decided to start over. "You hear all sorts of things that surprise you when you sit in a teacher lounge in a place where you are a minority," Sonia Syme says of her teaching days in Detroit. "Prejudice is so prevalent." "It comes from every- where. The white teachers face it in black schools and vice versa. Hostility is everywhere. Arabs, Jews, Polish, etc. Nobody under- stands anybody." Sonia Syme says she planned the institute to br- ing people together. She has a grandiose vision for the institute, which would be supported by chur- ches, synagogues, temples and schools. "I would love to see this go to Cobo Hall." ❑ Christmas Continued from preceding page Superintendent Gary Doyle. "It was a highly inaccurate letter." Signed Concerned Citizens, the letter promoted a booklet to help teachers prepare holiday season cur- riculum. The booklet is called Christmas in the Schools: Constitutional Ways to Observe Religious Holi- days. It states in part: "Last year, there was much diversity when it came to the celebration of Christmas in many of our classrooms. It was not ap- parent that it was fine to discuss Chanukah but it was not generally felt that it was appropriate to discuss Christmas." Among the accusations, the letter said parents brought latkes to some school classrooms, but that candy canes were not allow- ed to be distributed in an- other. Doyle said the accusa- tions are false. "If you teach one religious holiday then teach them all," the letter states. "Don't just pick and choose depen- ding on what school you might teach at or your own religious persuasion."