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descendants of Abraham, or
Jews because we're used to
suffering and persecution.
Sinai means we intend to go
beyond that, making choices
as to the lifestyle we want to
follow, a way that draws us
closer to God, a nation unlike
any other in its quest for
holiness and becoming a
priestly kingdom. At Sinai,
fate (what a person is born in-
to) was turned into destiny
(what emerges from the will
of the person).
We find both of these cov-
enants evident in two of
Judaism's major rites of
passage: circumcision and the
bar or bat mitzvah. The first
is foisted on the child when
he's eight days old. It's the
choice of the parent, thereby
perpetuating this covenant of
fate, and even if the infant
lives to regret the parent's
will, in terms of fate he is a
Jew from the moment his fate
is 'cut' into the very organ of
propagation. The symbol of
this covenant is blood and
pain. In his major novel, The
Assistant, Bernard Malamud
describes the Jews essential-
ly on the basis of this cove-
nant of suffering. A Jew is a
Jew because he suffers.
The second important rite
of passage occurs on a girl's
12th or a boy's 13th birthday,
when for the first time a
young person publicly
declares before the congrega-
tion of Israel that he is now
part of the Jewish people, ac-
cepting privileges and
obligations.
The Holocaust, a six-year-
long circumcision of pain and
blood, is the most vivid ex-
, pression of the covenant of
fate. Before he hauled the
Jews off to Auschwitz, Hitler
didn't ask if they believed in
God or not, if they kept the
Sabbath and ate only kosher,
or if they were perhaps con-
sidering conversion. Indeed,
Hitler's definition of who is a
Jew was extremely liberal; he
had room for everyone in his
death camps.
But on May 14, 1948, some-
thing happened to the Jewish
nation. The declaration of the
State of Israel signaled the
culmination of a 2,000-year-
old dream, quiescent for so
long but finally pulsing again
with life. The desires of many
had made the dream real.
But the real aliyah could
only begin after the Holo-
caust, when the will to
become a sovereign nation
became so powerful that noth-
ing could stop it. Invisible for
so long on the edge of history,

1

•

S

Sunday ,
May 6, 1990

when we walk as one
on the

Day
of
Jewish
Solidarity

In honor of Israel's 42nd anniversary of
statehood and in support of our brothers and
sisters leaving the Soviet Union for
new lives here and in the Jewish homeland.

Registration: 10:45 a.m.

Walk: 11:30 a.m.

(Rain or Shine)

Jewish Community Campus
maple& Drake Roads, West Bloomfield

. e Come to Israel's Independence Day Celebratio
•

osins' willsomilm•••••••••••••••••••••• ■ •• ■ •••••••ssamamm•

•
•
at the Center following the Walk
kal.• ••••••••••.„,„,••••...••••....•••••••••..••••••••••••••••••••.11

Free commemorative hats to the first 3.000 walkers who Pre-register

• Walk the entire 3.5-mile route, or
• Take a mini-walk for any distance

For information: Call the Walk Office
965-3939. ext. 149

f EDERA ,

404,

Sponsored by

ga jj

Please detach and mail to: Marta Rosenthal & Robert Orley. Chairmen
Walk for Jewish Solidarity. 163 Madison Avenue • Detroit. M148226-2180

Yes. l fwei will be happy to join you on the Walk for Jewish Solidarity.

Name fs)

(Please Print)

Address

Phone

Children's ages

Adults' ages

FENDY-STEIN

• BlOOM aid 00M

553.9966

• Registered Electrologists •

Come and let us remove your unwanted hair problem and improve your appearance.

Near 12 Mile Rd. bet. Evergreen & Southfield

559-1969

Appt. Only. Ask For Shirlee or

Debby

Talent Agency

Jerry Fenby 5 + 2 Tango
Simone Vitale
Sunset Boulevard Higher Ground Bill Meyers
Tim Hewitt
Fenby-Carr
Sun Messengers
Loving Cup
Classix
George Benson Jazz
Krosswinds
Seasons
DJs including ERIC HARRIS
VIDEOS AVAILABLE FOR ALL BANDS

THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

51