LETTERS RAMON LOMBARTE Lithographs Join the many notable European collectors and major museums around the world by stepping into the refreshing and realistic works of internationally renowned Spanish artist Ramon Lombarte. Each of his personally drawn lithographs are hand-signed and available now at Linda Hayman Gallery. "Sunday #14 11 o'clock p.m." THE ART OF SOPHISTICATION From original art and sculpture to fine art prints, unique table top pieces and custom museum framing, Linda Hayman Gallery caters to the most sophisticated taste. Yours. - DAMT 11 .1 N VIAN R A Y 32500 Northwestern Hwy., Farmington Hills, MI 48334 932 0080 - Jewish News T-Shirt Offer Please clip coupon and mail to: Yes! Start me on a subscription to The Jewish News for the period and amount circled below. Please send me the T-shirt. JEWISH NEWS T-SHIRT 27676 Franklin Road Southfield, Midi. 48034 NAME This offer is for new subscriptions only. Current subscribers may order the T-shirt for $4.75. Allow four weeks for delivery. (Circle One) (Circle One) ADDRESS CITY STATE 7.IP 1 year - $29 — 2 years - $52 — Out of State - $41 — Foreign - $62 Enclosed $ ADULT EX. LG. ADULT LARGE, ADULT MED. CHILD LARGE CHILD MED. CHILD SMALL Tables • Desks Wall Units Bedrooms Dining Rooms 12 Years' Experience & Expertise in the Design of Affordable Laminate, Lucite & Wood Furniture For Appt. Call Muriel Wetsman 661-3838 There Will Be An Annual Meeting of the JEWISH VOCATIONAL SERVICE for the purpose of electing officers on June 20, 1991 from 4:00 pm to 6:00 pm at THE SOMERSET INN 2601 W. Big Beaver Road, Troy, MI 12 FRIDAY, JUNE 14, 1991 ND ff IN THE Lessons From Population Study The article on the 1990 National Jewish population Survey (June 7) discussed a number of social trends within the Jewish communi- ty. However, the trends were evident decades before the study's publication. American Jewry is becom- ing ever more secularized and assimilated, with fewer delineations between Jew and gentile. The consequence of the accelerating movement toward assimilation is ap- parent in the marked growth of intermarriage and the drift away from the conversion of the non-Jewish spouse in the situation of mixed marriages. At the same time, the survey showed that Jewish adults usually define themselves in terms of membership in a cult _ ural or ethnic group rather than a faith community. Yet, this means of self-identification runs counter to assimilation and the great American "melting pot." The result of the struggle between the forces of assimilation and ethnic iden- tification is clear from just one of the study's findings. Less than 50 percent of children with one or more Jewish parents are being rais- ed as Jews, with the figure decreasing to 28 percent in the case of mixed marriages. The same issue of The Jewish News contained a story about a mother whose child attends a local middle school. The woman supported the school's multi-cultural programs as well as teaching her son respect for the cultural, ethnic, and religious traditions of others. This woman's support for such a position, I believe, is one com- monly found in the Jewish community. By placing everyone on an equal footing, the theory is that inter-group hostilities should decrease. The unin- tended consequence, however, of this cultural relativism is that many Jews feel uncom- fortable telling their children to marry within the faith, to suggest conversion in the situation of a mixed mar- riage, or even to strongly voice the conviction that their grandchildren should be rais- ed as Jews. A question Jewish leader- ship should have been debating is the institutional response to the problem of maintaining the integrity of the Jewish community in a country where Jews travel where they want, work where they want, live where they Distribution of All Household Members by Region and Jewish Identity (Total Percent = 100.0) Total Population = 8,100,000 W- E- L - 113 _ Midwest 5.8% t8% 2.6% 2.3% want, attend the schools they want, and marry whom they want. But what has consumed the energies of the community? Such issues as: who is a Jew; patrilineal descent and the indicia of conversion; internal Israeli politics; and the relative portion of fund- raising dollars going to Israel. While the aforementioned are important questions, without a healthy Jewish community, the other questions become largely irrelevant. Jewish leadership has not addressed the converse ques- tion of what brings us together. What made a group of Jews in Grosse Pointe feel the need to form a communi- ty organization or another group of Jews in Troy to establish a congregation? Nor has Jewish lay leader- ship meaningfully examined the painful question of why so many Jews feel alienated from the Jewish community. We must begin to both ask the right questions and to ex- amine those unintended con- sequences before it is too late. Laurence R. Imerman Birmingham Black-Jewish Relations I read with interest your editorial entitled "Reality Check Needed in Communi- ty" (May 31). While it is clear that the Jewish community and the black community need to work harder to re- build the relationship that we once enjoyed, it is misleading to suggest that the Jewish Community Council is doing nothing to improve black- Jewish relations. For well over a year I have enjoyed and benefited from the lively discussions that oc- cur monthly among a group of black and Jewish attorneys. The group was organized by David Gad-Harf of the Jewish Community Council and Winston Lang of the City of Detroit Human Rights Department. We certainly don't agree on everything and there is a lot of work to be done, but we are sharing ideas and we are treating each other as fellow human beings. Reuben A. Munday Detroit