HOUSE OFiDENMARK BECAUSE YOU'RE NOT GOING TO BE OUTSIDE ALL SUMMER! Seeing The World Through Jewish Eyes ILENE MUNETZ PACHMAN Special to The Jewish News A) Windsor Whitewashed Table. B 41" Diameter. Value S329. Sale $265. Windsor Whitewashed Chair. Value S165. Sale $129. Windsor Dining Package. Sale $697. B) The Wall System. Narrow Unit, Measures 24"x 22"x 79"H. Value S484. Sale $387. Entertainment Unit. Measures 48"x 22"x 79"H: Value S914. Sale $730. Lighted Display Unit. Measures 48"x 22"x 79"H. Value S964. Sale $770. t C) Jesper ST Teak Bedroom Suite. Includes: Queen Bed With Attached Nightstands. Double Dresser and Man's Chest. Mattress and Accessories Not Included. Value S3,319. Sale $2,199. Also Available In Iced Ash. Value S3.629. Sale $2,399. D) The Mondo Sofa. 72" Long. Value S662. Sale $529. Loveseat Sleeper Available At Similar Savings. house Knowledgeable staff and expert service Sale Ends June 30. of denmark-F3 Acme/Traverse City 5600 U.S. 31 North (616) 938-9694 Okemos/Lansing 4794 Marsh Rd. (517) 347.2455 Keego Harbor 3325 Orchard Lake Rd. 682-7600 Livonia 35555 Plymouth Rd.A25-4040 Rochester 893 South Rochester Rd. 651.9430 Open: Tues., Wed., Sat. 10-5:30/ Thurs., Fri. 10-9/Sunday 12.5 (Closed Mondays) Most major credit cards accepted. • I , Pia-nowarks Interiors by Ruth Schwartz A.S.I.D.-I.F.D.A. design ideas to suit your lifestyle • PIANO CONSULTATION • SALES • SERVICE • • CONCERT RENTALS • PETROF AUGUST FORSTER SA t 541-6334 I! 23225 WOODWARD • FERNDALE 68 FRIDAY, JUNE 14, 1991 I • FURNISHINGS • CONSULTATION • FINE ARTS 30 years experience Please call 352-2264 ecause of my friend- ship with little Marie Abottella, along with my observations of the ubi- quitous displays of the Christmas season, I learned at a relatively early age that not everyone was Jewish. I wasn't sure, however, if my grandfather knew about the non-Jewish members of society. Today, I remember with a chuckle how Grandpop Itz, who looked at life through Jewish eyes, sprinkled his speech with Yiddish expres- sions and used to refer to that famous television varie- ty show host as Ed Solomon. I remember how my parents would kibbitz, "Are you ticklish or Jewish?" I also recall they had an added concern whenever a crime was reported in the news: Was the criminal (God forbid) Jewish? Of course, as far back as I can remember, my parents have always related joyfully to the good news of a Jew's accomplishments, magnan- imity or other meritorious deeds. If my family is any indica- tion, the modern-day descendants of Abraham probably see free-form Torah scrolls and menorot in every Rorschach ink blot. This distinctively Jewish perspective has been in- herited by my children. Dur- ing their early Hebrew school education, my sons enthusiastically pointed out that the set of yellow drink- ing glasses I had bought to coordinate with our kitchen plates were covered with Jewish stars. To the careful observer, the lattice work pattern on the glasses clearly could have been perceived as rows of stars of David. Yet, I doubt a non-Jew would have discerned the outline of the familiar Jewish symbol as quickly as my sons did. As Grandpop Itz might have said, "Judaism is in the eye of the beholden" A subjective, ethnic perception can affect Jews' hearing as well as their sight. Ilene Munetz Pachman is the motherhood columnist for the Philadelphia Jewish Expo- nent, from which this is reprinted. In one of Woody Allen's films, for example, his paranoid persona believed Jews were always being talked about. "Jew (D'you?) this and Jew (D'you) that," everyone seems to be saying, pointed out Allen's character. I remember going to day camp with a child who, at snack time, used to playfully chant, "I love Jews; I love Jews: orange 'Jews,' apple `Jews,' pineapple 'Jews.' " Recently, the German Catholic woman who was shampooing my hair at the beauty parlor said some- thing that made me perk up my sudsy head and take notice. What I thought I heard was a reference to her Israeli husband. What she actually said — further con- fused by her heavy accent — was a reference to something he's rarely doing. A few weeks ago, a fellow alumnus from my adult bat mitzvah class misunderstood a waiter's use of the words "bar mix" and said to me, "I thought he said, 'bar mitz- vah.' " Another member of our adult bat mitzvah class shared with me a story she had heard on the radio about a judge in Chicago whose name was something com- parable to Abraham Lincoln Cohen or Abraham Lincoln Goldberg. It seems the judge's mother, who came to the United States from Lithuania when she was a teen-ager, learned at a lec- ture that Lincoln had been shot in the temple. The im- migrant was so impressed that the great. president had visited a synagogue that she named her son after him. It's not unusual, but it's always gratifying when we accurately hear celebrities — Jewish or otherwise — make references that are Jewishly meaningful. Sometimes, these refer- ences are delightful sur- prises. The Jews were in good company when Steven Spielberg referred to his — and the world's —beloved E.T. as a "squashy little mensch." It was heartwarm- i ng when the hero of "Quantum Leap" found himself to be a rabbi on an episode of that television program, or when actor Jack Gilford gave his regards to Broadway while singing in Yiddish. ❑