EDITORIAL

Bridge Building

On November 8, a unique concert will
take place at Temple Israel in West Bloom-
field. It will be a joint effort between Tem-
ple Israel and the Chaldean Community
Center, which became a West Bloomfield
neighbor when it purchased the Shenan-
doah Country Club last year.
Called "Building Bridges," the concert
will jointly feature singers and dancers
from both communities. It marks a major
step in cooperation between the two com-
munities.
Our hope is that the two communities
don't stop with the concert and that they
continue to make music together for many
years to come. Certainly, both com-
munities know what it is like to fall under

the negative focus of world and local opi-
nion when homelands such as Israel and
Iraq are involved.

And certainly, both communities corn-
prise important roles in the leadership of
many aspects of metro and suburban
Detroit society. It is crucial that the con-
cert receive cross-cultural support. But it is
even more crucial that the goals of the or-
ganizers for future get-togethers of both
adults and youths be met.

many American Jews remain fearful.
Most disturbing is the fact that national
Jewish organizations and community mis-
sions are being canceled. Just last week,
six major missions sponsored by federa-
tions in Philadelphia, Washington, Pitt-
sburgh, Cincinnati, Ft. Lauderdale and
Baltimore were "postponed" because of
massive cancellations by Jewish con-
tributors. Such a response is understan-
dable, even pragmatic, but regrettable
nonetheless. We as a community expend a
great amount of time and rhetoric asser-
ting that "We Are One," that we stand
together with our brothers and sisters in
Israel, that Israel is a bastion of democracy
and stability in the Mideast, that to be in
Israel is to be inspired by the history of our
heritage and the dedication of our fellow
Jews.
Israel may be close to war, but she has
been in a state of war since the day she was
founded. Even during her four wars,
tourists have been safe. If American Jews
are afraid to visit, our communal leader-
ship should be at the vanguard of those
allaying the general public's fears by
leading trips to Israel and proving, with
their very bodies, that we are, indeed, one
people. Today, Israel needs more than our
dollars. She needs our presence.

Is Duke A Fluke?

Politics in Louisiana have always been
out of the ordinary. For the seven years
starting with his election to the governor's
mansion in 1928, Huey Long ranted and
raved in the most demagogic way about
redistributing wealth — and was finally si-
lenced with an assassin's bullet in 1935.
From the mid-1950s through the early
1970s, many of the state's whites fought
fiercely — and, often, violently — against
school desegregation. But bigotry did not die
as black and white children began to suc-
cessfully attend school together. It just
went underground. David Duke's recent
campaign for the United States Senate

6

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 26, 1990

11A-r -114E isMEU
04ER-RFAcrior4 wAs
UNPRovoKED

We applaud the efforts of both Temple
Israel, the Chaldean community and the
overall West Bloomfield community and
look to other community-minded organiza-
tions to build bridges with their neighbors.

Israel Needs Us In Israel

Israelis are becoming increasingly angry
over the dramatic decrease of tourism
among American Jews, which is said to be
off by as much as 80 percent. But should we
visit out of guilt? After all, the Mideast
seems close to war, gas masks are being
distributed to Israelis and the intifada has
been revived.
To respond that it is a mitzvah to be in
Israel, that Christian groups continue to
visit or that Israel relies on tourism as its
major source of income may not be enough
for those Jews who are afraid. They may
prefer to increase their pledge to the
United Jewish Appeal or the Federation
from afar, rather than feel they are jeopar-
dizing their safety by coming to Israel.
(There are also those who are angered at
Israel's defiance, and prefer not to visit
Israel now.)
The frustrating factor is that those
American Jews who have been to Israel
can appreciate when Israelis say that,
despite the frightening headlines, life goes
on as normal in Israel. And overall, there is
a prevailing sense of safety and security.
Israelis never tire of saying that walking
down the street in Jerusalem or Tel Aviv is
far safer than walking down the street of
virtually any major American city. Statis-
tically, they are correct, but emotionally,

iT is CLEAR FROM

ALL THE EVIDENCE

proves that Louisiana is still in the
vanguard of the nation: the vanguard of
racism and hate.
Running as a Republican and scorned by
national and state GOP leadership, Mr.
Duke attracted 44 percent of the vote in
Louisiana's open primary. This was 35 per-
cent more than the Republican contender
had received in the last election against
the same candidate.
For such a candidate to appeal to almost
112,000 voters in the state contest is a
warning to the rest of the nation that we
are still far from immune from base ap-
peals to contempt and intolerance.

LETTERS

The `No-Known
No-Known
History' Scroll

Elizabeth Applebaum's ar-
ticle "Every Torah Has A
Story" (Oct. 12) was wonder-
ful! Torahs, like families, have
interesting, multi-
generational histories that
should be documented.
Congregation Shir Tikvah
in Troy also has a memorial
scroll rescued from the
Holocaust and acquired from
the Westminister Torah Trust
in England. Its uniqueness is
in its lack of history and its
new life in America.
While most congregations
request a Torah, no matter
how poor the condition, with
a known Holocaust history to
serve as a memorial scroll,
our congregation needed a
scroll in relatively good con-
dition that could be used
regularly to establish a new
Jewish community east of
Woodward. After a crash
course in Torahs, a con-
gregant, Elaine Denison, ac-
companied her son's soccer
team to England for the ex-
press purpose of visiting the
Torah Trust and picking out
our precious scroll.
The Torah was later ship-
ped to us wrapped in one
layer of cardboard and brown
paper. It was almost slit in
two pieces by a razor when
the customs official at Metro
Airport insisted on opening
the package. Two horrified
and frustrated congregants,
Pam Spitzer and Bruce Tur-
bow, tried to answer
unanswerable questions
about the Torah's antiquity
for more than an hour so
customs officials could deter-
mine duty charges. Finally,
somebody reached somebody
who knew something about
Torahs and both congregants
and scroll were immediately

treated with the utmost
respect and expediency.
This precious "no-known
history" scroll was acquired
in 1983 and served as our on-
ly Torah for more than five
years. Although it remains
unadorned with silver out of
respect for its previous con-
gregants, it continues to ac-
tively facilitate a new Jewish
community and Jewish lives
here in America.

Phyllis Wenig
First president of Shir Tikvah

The Story
Of Scroll 1022

In addition to the five Torah
scrolls on permanent loan
from the Westminster Syna-
gogue in the Detroit area
synagogues is Scroll No. 1022,
from the town of Sedlcany, a
Torah written in the 19th cen-
tury. Congregation Beth
Shalom acquired it in 1981.
This Sefer Torah occupies a
special place in our Aron
Kodesh, and is used only once
each year. We open it to the
Shema Yisrael, and read
these sacred verses during
the martyrology service on
Yom Kippur at the exact mo-
ment when we finish reading
that Rabbi Akiba dies while
uttering, "The Lord is One."
It is then wrapped in a
special wimpel which records
the family history of John
Leopold, of blessed memory. It
is a very moving moment in
our Yom Kippur liturgy.

Rabbi David Nelson
Congregation Beth Shalom.

Torah Story
With A Twist

In May 1981, Temple
Emanu-El consecrated a
Sefer Torah in honor of the
retirement of Rabbi Milton
Continued on Page 14