I EDITORIAL

Expanding
Neighborhoods

The recent decision by the Jewish Welfare Federation's Neighborhood
Project advisory committee to expand its loan program in Southfield
signals the winning of a battle,.but in a different area . . . north Oak Park.
The loan program, in combination with private sector commercial
revitalization, the Federation's acquisition of the B'nai Moshe facility for
Yeshiva Beth Yehudah's Sally Allan Alexander Beth Jacob School For
_ Girls, completion of the Teitel Federation Apartments and the Ten Mile
community campus, improvements to the Jewish Community Center's
Jimmy Prentis Morris facility and the development of the concrete decks
over 1-696 for recreational purposes, has contributed to the north Oak Park
area's stabilization.
The synergy generated by these efforts, in a relatively concentrated
geographic area anchored by a significant Orthodox community, is what is
lacking in current strategies to strengthen Southfield's Jewish presence.
Expanding boundaries for home loans in Southfield, and the amount
available, will be meaningless without broader commitment, participation
and coordination from Jewish communal agencies, congregations and
leaders, inside and outside of local and state government. Fundamental,
grass-roots organizing centered on strengthening neighborhood public
schools is also essential.
Right now, there is no synergy in Southfield. Federation must provide
the Neighborhood Project with the necessary resources — beyond the loan
program — to try and create it. Or else, why undertake the battle at all?

Israel Holds Steady

Reeling from the horrid murders of three Jewish civilians at the hands of
Arab members of Hammas, an Islamic fundamentalist group dedicated to
killing Jews, Israel responded, not with violence, but by deporting four
leaders of Hammas.
As a result, the United Nations, including the United States, voted to
condemn Israel, without mention of the violence that precipitated the ac-
tion or the efforts of Hammas to spill Jewish blood.
The wording of UN. Resolution 681 is particularly disturbing, referring
to Jerusalem as part of "Palestinian territories occupied by Israel." This is
a direct challenge to Israel's sovereignty of her capital.

During these same few days, the Jewish state was fulfilling her mandate
by rescuing Soviet and Ethiopian Jews as fast as her planes could carry
them.
It wasn't a typical week. Soviet Jews, fearful of the deteriorating polit-
ical system in the USSR, were arriving at record numbers of up to 3,500 a
day. This, despite the fact that Saddam Hussein is threatening to bomb Tel
Aviv as the first strike in any military conflict with the West, even if Israel
is not a participant.
Is it any wonder that Israelis feel the world is out to get them?
The mood in Israel is somber, given the Persian Gulf crisis, the
murderous intifada and the sharp drop-off in tourism. Israelis feel espe-
cially bitter about the fact that American Jews have canceled planned
visits.
The truth is that going to Israel does not require an act of great bravery.
What it does require is a heightened sense of empathy among American
Jews who need to feel the pain of their brethren in the Jewish state and re-
spond by visiting. If we are truly one, as the slogan goes, then now is the
time to express our solidarity not only with words and dollars but with our
bodies as well.

LETTERS

Sinai Needs
Response

Sinai Hospital: what comes
to mind when it's mentioned?
What should is pride, a sense
of belonging and a proud feel-
ing of unity. Unfortunately, to
the masses it brings
negative adjectives with
nothing said or done that
resembles an inkling of
responsibility on our part.
Could it be that the ones
who built and supported the
idea of a Jewish health in-
stitution in the city are also
the ones responsible for its
current fate? The question
that our community faces is
do we want to neglect and ig-
nore what we fought so hard
for? Sinai Hospital is
everyone's, but it is also a
place for all Jews to go when
others have rejected them.
What about the influx of
Soviet Jews? Do you think
that when they come to a big

6

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 28, 1990

city and get sick, they are not
proud to have such a facility
available to them? The best
way to deal with this problem
is to think what Sinai was
and its reputation which
made it the hospital for all.
There have been state-
ments that Sinai has no
financial problems. If so, then
why the merger? There are
those who say, if a merger,
what happens to the reputa-
tion as the hospital for the
Jewish faith?
I argue that a merger is as
dangerous as if the hsopital
just closes its doors. The pro-
mises will turn into echoes
and the reality and end result
will fall on our shoulders.
Can our community sit by
and watch our heritage just
disappear? Sinai Hospital is
in intensive care but it's not
critical. The cries you now
hear are for our help, not for
us to be closed-minded and
say that's too bad.

It is time for our religious
and community leaders to
stop worrying about new
responsibilities, such as
where to build a new
building, and address old
responsibilities. This is not
only the Jewish way to ad-
dress a problem but also the
mature and responsible way.
If not now, then when?

Robert N.V. Seffinger
Southfield

Chanukah Winner
Is A Celebrity

I just wanted to let you
know how much winning the
Chanukah art contest has
meant to both Lesley and
myself. She has felt like a
celebrity, with kids going so
far as to bring copies of The
Jewish News to her class to be
autographed! I know now
what the parent of someone
famous feels like, and it's
been great.

Chanukah has never been
better for us, and all in all
that's due to the recognition
that has been paid to Lesley.
Thank you once again for
providing children with the
opportunity to shine.

Joyce M. Serri
Walled Lake

Minding The
Family 'flee

In regard to the article
printed Dec. 21 about the
Butzel family and the one re-
maining female relative left
to the Butzel family, I wish to
state that there are a brother
and sister living in the
Detroit area who are related
to the Putzel-Butzel line.
We are Michael Steven
Lovenstein, age 28, and Lin-
da Jo Lovenstein, age 30. We
are related through the
Putzel family of Philadelphia

through the Lowenstein-
Putzel line.
I have been tracing my
family to Russia and Ger-
many for years and connected
with the Putzel family of
Philadelphia last year where
I located the graves of my
great, great, great, great-
grandparents. Upon locating
wills of the Lovensteins, I
found the Putzels and the
Butzels, including the family
crest.
Mr. Putzel of Philadelphia
was nice enough to send me
his genealogy and I have
since received phone calls
from California, Ohio and
Virginia asking for copies of
this family tree.
So you see, we are spread all
over the U.S. But the
(P)Butzel genes are quite
healthy and living in
Michigan and very proud of
the heritage.

Linda J. Lovenstein
Livonia