COMMENT GLASS & PLASTICS • SPECIALISTS IN CUSTOM SHOWER ENCLOSURES • EXPERTS IN CUSTOM MIRROR DESIGN AND INSTALLATION 20% OFF A Rabbi Laments War In The Gulf MARTY PASTERNAK Special to The Jewish News I (in stock only) ALL BASCO SHOWER and TUB ENCLOSURES 13c,SCO Call today for a free estimate, or visit our Southfield showroom for a consultation. 22223 Telegraph Rd. (South of 9 Mile) 353-5770 — Interior decorators and Builders Welcomed - - Custom Glass Experts Since 1964 — From Tuxedos $39?9 President Tuxedo is releasing select new and used formalwear — including items from top designers — to make room for additional inventory. Some sale items are brand new and not from our rental collection. Some were gently worn for just a few hours. Alterations available at reasonable charge. Used Forrnalwear New Formalwear • Designer & Famous-maker Tuxedos* (coat and trousers) $39.99-$99.99 • Dinner Jackets from $19.99 • Formal Shirts $2.99-$8.99 • Ties, Cummerbunds & Vests $.99 and up • Formal Trousers* (black wool) $19.99 *select sizes available • Designer Tuxedos from $169.99 • Formal Shirts from $14.99 • Formal Trousers (wool and poly/wool) 40% off • Ties, Cummerbunds & Suspenders 20%-50% off • Cufflinks & Stud Sets up to 30% off • Formal Shoes from $21.99 Clearance Sale 1 WEEK ONLY? Mon.- Sun., Feb. 1lth-17th: 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily. Saturday 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. AT OUR WARREN LOCATION ONLY Checks Accepted 29212 Hoover Road North of 12 Mile (313) 751-0045 President edo. vra 10 am a rabbi, not a warrior. I work with open hands, not clenched fists. My on- ly access to this war is through my experience: peo- ple, not guns. My heart tells me to stop this war before another soldier, no matter which nationality, is killed, before another nervous mo- ment is spent, before another tear of dread runs down an already moist and lonely cheek of a child, or spouse, or parent. A warrior might think dif- ferently, but not me; I'm a rabbi. Neither the hardware, nor the vocabulary, nor the bloodlust of war is an idiom that I speak. I don't march, salute, or wear a uniform; dig a trench or operate a sophis- ticated weapons system. In my experience warriors live in comic books and history, myths and King Arthur's court, and on TV. Sometimes it doesn't even seem real. The "War in the Gulf' is really the "War on TV." Videotape of Iraqi anti- aircraft fire and Allied air- missile strikes turn my living room into an arcade. BDAs, Triple A, intelligence assets, and scenario-dependence are more familiar to me from popular fiction than from real battlefields. This whole thing makes me afraid, but not of bullets, bombs, or gas. A person can- not be afraid of something that he has never experienc- ed. I've never worn a gas mask, lived through an air- raid, crawled on my belly toward the enemy, or held a dying comrade. I've never shot a rifle. I'm not a warrior. Fear comes from what you know, events or feelings that you have experienced and dread having to face again. I am not afraid of bullets or bombs; I am afraid of grief, emptiness, and sorrow. I am a rabbi, not a warrior. I've shared the grief of a widow, dropped earth in the grave of a parent, and been asked why. I reply that there is no answer. Mr. President, what is your reply? What will you say when thousands of men die in ground combat while Saddam lives in his bunker? Can you Former Detroiter Marty Pasternak is rabbi of the Conservative Synagogue, Westport, Conn. 22 FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 1991 say something that us non- warriors can understand? non-warrior children? non- warrior spouses? I am a rabbi, not a warrior. I work with open hands, not clenched fists. God did not let King David build the Temple in Jerusalem. He was a war- rior; he worked with his fists. The Temple, the symbol of peace and justice, the nexxus point of heaven and earth, could not be built with fists but with open hands, the hands of a non-warrior, the hands of Solomon. Similarly, the reputation of a nation should be built with open hands. Unfortunately our national self-esteem is Unfortunately, our national self- esteem is pumped up by clenched fists . . . I work with open hands, not clenched fists. currently pumped up by clen- ched fists, inflated by bomb- ing sorties, missile defense systems, and heavy human casualties. Before Uncle Sam becomes a bully and not a builder, let's stop for a few days and try to talk. Before the ground war begins, let's open the door one more time and reach out an open hand and pray that it is grabbed by another. The Temple, built by Solomon, stood for over half a millenium because it was built upon a foundation of peace, because it was built by open hands. If we are to build a new world that will endure it too must rest upon a similar foundation. A founda- tion of peace built by many open hands, hands that were once fists, hands freed from guns and grenades, hands of non-warriors. 0 •••11H DETROIT Adat Shalom Family Shabbat The Adat Shalom Syna- gogue Nursery School and Social Club will co-sponsor a Family Shabbat Dinner 6 p.m. Feb. 8. The evening will begin with the nursery school youngsters singing their favorite Shabbat songs and displaying their art work. There is no charge.