EDITORIAL Trouble In School Akiva Hebrew Day School has had to re- vise its land contract with the Southfield Public Schools . . . again. (See Page 14.) Yavneh Academy is estimated to be more than $30,000 behind in its rent to the Jew- ish Community Center. In the not-too- distant past, Yeshiva Beth Yehudah staff experienced payless pay days and ad- ministrator Rabbi E.B. Freedman says the school is now $500,000 in debt. Contributing to the day schools' financial woes are the special services being provid- ed to Soviet Jewish emigre children. As discussed in our Close-Up article Dec. 21, the Yeshiva estimates it will spend $66,000-$80,000 this academic year on 28 Soviet students enrolled in its Academy for New Americans. That still leaves $420,000 in other financial problems for the school. The Soviet Jewish students are exacer- bating the difficult financial condition of Detroit's Jewish educational system. But the Soviet influx is not the problem. The Detroit Jewish community has yet to decide what to do about its educational programs. Seventy-one years after the United Hebrew Schools were consolidated, the community is still debating funding for community-sponsored educational pro- grams, the day schools and the indepen- dent synagogue and temple schools. The Jewish Welfare Federation's edu- cation task force studied the problem of ed- Mql.Ti-N4TiONAL FORCES iN SAUDI ARAM SALUTE NO, AMERiCA- NOW WE'D Lie TV Ziod YCO COR Vara FACE' AlARce,„ AND ucational delivery and educational funding for three years and now the Federation will hire a consultant for further study. It sounds like politics entering the picture as various groups protect their areas of inter- est: Should Sinai Hospital be sold and the proceeds be used to upgrade local Jewish education and solve all the community's short-term financial ills? Do the growing numbers of Reform Jews in Detroit give less to the Allied Jewish Campaign than their Conservative and Orthodox counter- parts because their temple schools receive no funding from the Campaign? Should the Agency for Jewish Education — with lim- ited enrollment in United Hebrew Schools and the Midrasha College of Jewish Studies — receive $900,000 of the $1.6 million allocated to education from the 1990 Allied Jewish Campaign? Is the AJE's role in helping other schools and in teacher education being ignored? Butzel Article Was Appreciated The easiest path, the one that bypasses the tough questions and all the politics, is the status quo. But the status quo is par- tially to blame for the alarming trends of assimilation, intermarriage, and lack of af- filiation with the Jewish community. Remember those boring days at Hebrew school? Your children do. But will your grandchildren? Thanks for printing that stirring story, "And So It Was," (Dec. 21) by that sterl- ing personality, Leonard Simons. I hear that Mr. Slomovitz has retired. I can't believe it. He may have poor sight, but he remains a man of great vi- sion and insights. 74, _Sr &itita°0 LETTERS Rabbi Samuel M. Silver Delray Beach, Fla. The Day Of Judgement As Jan. 15 approaches, the world grows increasingly anxious and fearful. Will there be a war in the Mideast, or will there be a diplomatic resolution to the Persian Gulf crisis that began with Saddam Hus- sein's invasion of Kuwait in August? More perplexing, is one who believes that there will be no war an optimist or a pes- simist? Certainly, no decent person wants to see the bloodshed that will result from a Mideast military conflict. But there are many who believe that if a diplomatic solu- tion is found that allows for Saddam Hus- sein to remain in power, then war will have only been postponed, not avoided. And that war, when it comes, will be even more destructive because Saddam will have de- veloped nuclear weapons. There are many supporters of Israel who feel that a war now, as horrible as it may be, is preferable to a war later. Now, the United States and most nations of the world are united in their opposition to Iraq. And Baghdad does not yet have nuclear arms. The fear is that if Saddam outlasts the United Nations' Jan. 15 deadline — whether or not he removes his troops from Kuwait — he will be the hero of the Arab world, having stood up to the mighty United States and championed the cause of the Palestinian people. And he will have 6 FRIDAY, JANUARY 11, 1991 Rabbi Schach And Holocaust Blame time to develop the nuclear capabilities to wield untold destruction in the region. What can we do besides wait and worry? One age-old Jewish response to danger is prayer, whether it be on an individual or collective level. The Council of Orthodox Rabbis sponsored communal prayers last Shabbat, finding comfort in the Psalms. Consider the words of Psalm 71: "For mine enemies speak concerning me, and they that watch for my soul take counsel together, saying, 'God hath forsaken him; pursue and take him, for there is none to deliver.' "0 God, be not far from me. 0 my God, make haste to help me. Let them be ashamed and consumed- that are adver- saries to my soul." Whatever our level of faith, it is instruc- tive to reflect on the psalmist's, and Judaism's, recurring theme: though our enemies seek our destruction, the God of Israel will protect His people. The day of judgement is near. Now is not the time to seek secret solutions with our enemy or to link the Palestinian conflict to his aggression in Kuwait. The world has given an ultimatum to Saddam and must be prepared to back its words with action, if necessary. If Saddam is not stopped now, the danger and destruction he represents will only increase. Man takes it upon himself to interpret the word of God, and when he sees the fear he instills in the minds of other men, he takes it a step fur- ther and enpowers himself to actually "speak for God." This kind of behavior is offensive to one's soul! A good account of this is found in the recent newspaper articles regarding the furor over Rabbi Eliezer Schach's remarks concerning the Holocaust. To some weak soul, statements made by Rabbi Schach would have them believe they actually are responsible for their own fate, and that it was not the fault of Hitler; it was not the fault of the Nazi army; it was not the fault of a world that failed to recognize the power behind the destruction of the Jews. Rabbi Schach writes, and I quote, "The Almighty keeps a balance sheet of the world and when the sins become too many, He brings destruction. We don't know how long His patience holds out." And now, Rabbi Schach has brought one more plight upon the Jews . . . It seems to me that the Almighty has a bet- ter way of expressing "love" for mankind .. . They call it a "quirk of the electoral system" that Rabbi Schach also is the kingmaker of Israeli governments. Does Rabbi Schach have this power at all? Does Rabbi Schach have the power to judge mankind? Does Rabbi Schach, in his self-fulfilling prophecy, have the power to violate the spirit of the Jewish people and does he have more power than God Himself? .. . We as Jews have been fighting for freedom of religion. According to Rabbi Schach's statement, there is no freedom of religion. I am a Jew; I am a man; I am free to choose; and I myself choose my heart's desire, freedom! Phil Ash Southfield The Slomovitz By-Line Is Needed Turning the front page of The Jewish News and glanc- ing at Page 2 leaves us with an uncomfortable, eerie feel- ing. No longer will we see Philip Slomovitz's by-line. Nor will we be able to read his articles, so full of insight, of Jewish history and of Jewish pride. Our best wishes go out to Mr. Slomovitz and his family. May he be able to continue his service to the Detroit com- munity, to the Jews in this country, in Israel, and all over the world — until the prover- bial ah hoondred and tzvantzig. Sally and Morton Horwitz New Haven, Conn. Editor's note: Mr. Slomovitz will continue to write occas- sionally for our Opinion page. He has an article on page 7 today.