I TRAVEL
TO OUR CUSTOMERS,
FRIENDS & RELATIVES
A VERY HEALTHY
AND HAPPY NEW YEAR
AL HARMS
ARNIE WEISS
MIKE GERMANSKY
TAMAROFF
Avignon
Continued from preceding page
May the coming year be
one filled with health,
happiness and
prosperity for all our
friends and family.
BUICK • HONDA • NISSAN • IZUZU • YUGO
RYMAL SYMES
New Used or Leasing
Realtors Since 1923
Open Mon. & Thurs. Til 9
Open Tues., Wed., Fri. Til 6
28585 TELEGRAPH ROAD
ACROSS FROM TEL-12
Southfield
353-1300
LIBBY BECK
BARBARA COHEN
ROBIN HAAS
ELLIS BEN JOSEPH
EUGENIA KINKEL
ZEDA NATHAN
JUDI NOSANCHUK
HOWARD NOVETSKY
RENEE PORVIN
ANDREW ROSE
DATLA SITA
BEN SKELTON
DAVEE WEINSTEIN
West Coast Putons
Natural Hams Furnishings and Sodding
LOOKING FORWARD
TO
SERVING YOU
IN THE
NEW YEAR
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
2544 Orchard Lk. Rd.
(between Cass Lake and Middlebelt)
(313) 681.5999
May The New Year
Bring To All
Our Customers
And Friends
Health, Joy, Prosperity
And Everything
Good In Life
TRESSA'S BOUTIQUE
178
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER. 21, 1990
Immm".
Sam Wohl & Family
and Bernard Hirsch & Family
Wish You A Happy New Year
liznzn riamto rutt)5
Robert & Steven Fink
of the
Button Men
Would like to wish
all of their
Customers, Friends
and Family
A VERY HAPPY
AND HEALTHY NEW YEAR
MARIETTA & ERNEST DRUCKER
AND STAFF
WISH THEIR CUSTOMERS
AND FRIENDS
A HAPPY AND HEALTHY
NEW YEAR
Executive Custom Shirtmakers, Inc.
223 S. Woodward Ave
Birmingham, MI 48011 642-0460
Nil
from his office to the top level
of the balcony. From this van-
tage point, the synagogue's
circular shape and its stately
classical columns looked
especially striking.
"We get many tourists,
Jews and non-Jews, and their
first reaction is, 'What a
beautiful synagogue!' " said
the rabbi, after taking me
downstairs to see more close-
ly other details: the
chandelier, the plaque honor-
ing those who died in the
Holocaust, and the winding
stairs leading to the curious
wooden balcony which the
rabbi ascends to deliver his
sermons.
Besides the design details,
the rabbi said, visitors are in-
terested in the history of the
synagogue and the communi-
ty it serves. The first known
synagogue in the town dates
from 1221 — before the popes
even arrived. The Jews con-
tinued worshipping for cen-
turies. In 1945, when a fire
destroyed their synagague,
they managed to rebuild it
within a year.
Then came another crisis.
For two-and-a-half years dur-
ing World War II, Avignon
was occupied by the Nazis.
They deported many Jews,
burned synagogue records,
and took over the synagogue
itself to use as a post office.
But after the war, the Jews
reclaimed their unusual
round synagogue, and now, it
is a national monument pro-
tected by the state. For the
450 Jewish families who live
in Avignon, a city of 100,000,
this synagogue is their pride
and their spiritual
headquarters.
Although they are a minori-
ty — they number about 2,000
in a city of 100,000 — the
Jews of Avignon have an ac-
tive community. Besides the
synagogue, there's a com-
munity center at No. 18 Rue
Guilaume Puy, a kosher but-
cher, a Talmud Ibrah, and two
cemeteries. About 90 percent
of the Jews here now are of
North African descent, in-
cluding Rabbi Amar, who
came from Marrakesh,
Morocco, five years ago.
Like others, he's very hap-
py with his adopted city. "We
have everything here that a
Jewish community needs," he
said. What's more, this
Jewish community has some-
thing many others don't have:
an unbroken and unusual
history.
As he located an entire
book written about the
Jewish history of the region,
he said, "I like very much
working in a Jewish com-
munity with a past." He has
surely found that in
Avignon. ❑
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