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Main 994-0202 NkasterCam! •FREE Road Test •FREE Towing •FREE Hoist Check •FREE Pan Examination •FREE Adjustment Diagnosis ( American * * tranimunons Hours Mon.-Fri.: 8-5 Saturday:8-Noon 1111=1=1111.11 ■I■i Y7SA A new choice for the frail elderly Independent Living with Supportive Services A new caring alternative for the frail elderly is now available at the exciting new and elegant West Bloomfield Nursing and Convalescent Center. Deluxe semi-private or private mini suites all with private baths and a beautiful view of a courtyard or wooded grounds. Town Center Plaza with a It's called Independent Living snack shop, beauty salon, with Supportive Services. It's flower and gift shop and on the choice between old-fashioned ice cream parlor. independent living and skilled nursing care for the elderly • Fine dining in an elegant person who needs the dining area with meals essentials of living such as housekeeping service, meals, prepared by an executive chef aundry service and • and served by a courteous, friendly staff medication, if needed. Licensed nurses are on duty 24 hours a day. Exciting and varied activities, planned and supervised, to Residents in this program can keep residents involved and enjoy a relaxed, elegant happy atmosphere that includes: • Pastoral and weekly Sabbath Honor us with o visit. Weekdays 9 o.m-8 p.m. Saturday & Sunday, noon-5 p.m. services provided by Rabbi Moshe Poker An Affiliate of William Beaumont Hospital Vest 0 00 ara 17.9 6445 West Maple • West Bloomfield, MI Phone: 661-1600 Centel" Premium Quality Drycleaning and Fast Service Are Compatible Phrases .. . We Guarantee It! Every Customer Can Receive 510 FREE DRY CLEANING Asa. VI ax! :^r CNIS HOURS: Monday thru Friday 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. 31221 SOUTHFIELD ROAD • 646 0047 North of 13 Mile — Next to MC Sporting Goods 33210 WEST 12 MILE ROAD • 553 0025 LADIES' FASHIONS AT THEIR BEST Exceltence in Fashion for the Young at Heart - - One Block East of Farmington Road 6389 ORCHARD LAKE ROAD • 626 0047 In Orchard Mall — Orchard Lake Road and Maple 26263 WEST 12 MILE ROAD • 353 0048 Just East of Northwestern — Next to Burger King 31140 HAGGERTY ROAD • 661 0083 Just South of 14 Mile — Country Ridge Commons SAME DAY SERVICE • ON SHIRTS — In By 10 a.m. Monday-Friday • DRY CLEANING — In By 10 a.m. Monda•.Satuday SATURDAY DRY CLEANING 6919 Orchard Lake Road W. Bloomfield • 855-5528 - - - 64 FRIDAY, MAY 24, 1991 CLASSIFIED GET RESULTS! Call The Jewish News 354.5959 DEBRA NUSSBAUM COHEN Special to The Jewish News A fervor has gripped the Lubavitch commun- ity. With the gleam of divine promise in their eyes, mem- bers of this Chasidic move- ment report that Messianic redemption is imminent. Around the clock, in yeshivot around the world, Lubavitcher men gather to study the laws of the Mes- sianic age. Some, known all their lives by secular names, have assumed more traditional Jewish names, citing the legend that the Jews in Egypt merited redemption in part because they refused to adopt Egyptian names. Posters in storefront windows throughout the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn, where the move- ment is based, advertise speeches devoted to the su- ject of Messianism. A full-page advertisement, signed by 20 Lubavitcher and other Chasidic commun- ity leaders, ran last week in several New York English- and Yiddish-language Jewish newspapers. "We must sincerely realize that the Gulf war and its ac- companying miracles mean the imminent arrival of Mashiach (the Messiah)," the ad, under the headline "An Urgent Message," stated. The sense of mission which ordinarily fuels the Chasidim's efforts has in- tensified. The ante has been upped. In a recent address to his followers, the Lubavitcher rebbe, Menachem Schneer- son, exhorted his followers to study Jewish law, to do good deeds, and to do everything they can to hasten the ar- rival of the Messiah. "What more can I do to motivate the entire Jewish people to clamor and cry out, and thus actually bring about the coming of Mes- siah?" the rebbe cried out. "All that has been done un- til now has been to no avail. "Now do everything you can to bring the Messiah, here and now, immedi- ately," he said. For his followers, in Crown Heights and around the world, it was a call to action. Debra Nussbaum Cohen is a reporter for the Jewish Tele- graphic Agency. One Crown Heights Chasid said it was "like a fever sweeping through here, like a brush fire." The revered rebbe's plea was the latest indicator that the day of redemption is near, say his followers, the latest in a series of signs which began with the out- break of the Persian Gulf war. Chasidim point to the Messianic prophecies of Isaiah and to the 13th- century midrash, Yalkut Shimoni, which foretells that in the year of the Mes- siah's arrival, the ruler of Persia (interpreted by Lubavitch to mean Iraq) will clash with the king of Arabia. The Lubavitcher rebbe himself has said, as his followers are fond of re- peating, that this is a year of great wonders. Expectation of the Messiah is a tenet of Jewish faith, and this is not the first time that the day of his arrival has been awaited so expec- tantly. Earlier generations of Jews, in their fervent desire to witness the redemption, have followed men who proved to be false Messiahs. Among the most famous was Shabbtai Tzvi, the 17th- century Turkish kabbalist who proclaimed himself the savior, attracting large numbers of followers throughout the Near East. He later converted to Islam but, despite his apostasy, many followers did not lose their faith. The movement survived, and was transmuted into messianic Frankism in mid- 18th-century Poland at the hands of Jacob. Leibovicz Frank, who ultimately began posing as the newly arisen Jesus, appointing 12 apostles before being im- prisoned by order of the papal court. Today nearly every member of the Lubavitch community agrees that the rebbe has that potential to be the Mashiach. Some even say, privately, that he is the Messiah. But they hesitate to do so publicly. "Is he the most likely can- didate? Can he be (the Mes- siah)? Most certainly," asserted Rabbi Avrohom Hecht, president of the Rab- binical Alliance of America. "I can't think of a more likely candidate," agreed Rabbi Friedman. ❑