•• •

SOUTHFIELD

A FAMILY AFFAIR

a variety of homes in every style and
price range
❑ central location with easy access to all
major freeways

❑

❑ rich community life

Ravages Of Time

Continued from preceding page

❑ warm, friendly neighborhoods
❑ award-winning City services and
recreational facilities

❑ a school system nationally-
recognized for excellence

City of Southfield Housing and Neighborhood Center, 354-4400
Open Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

SOUTHFIELD

The Center of It All

Parents for Torah for All Children.
"P'TACH," is a national non-profit
organization which provides secular and
Jewish education for children with learning
disabilities who are enrolled in our schools.
Before P'TACH existed, the doors of
almost all day schools were indeed closed
to children with all levels of learning
disabilities, and the parents of these special
children were often frustrated by a
community that failed to recognize the need
for providing special educational programs
in our schools. Now, through P'TACH, the
doors of our schools are "OPEN" to all
our children.

The Michigan branch, P'TACH of
Michigan, Inc., was founded in May of
1979 by a group of parents, lay people and
professionals in fields related to special
education. Our main objective is to provide
special education for learning disabled
children with the goal of mainstreaming
them into regular classrooms whenever
possible. Today, P'TACH has grown to
serve over twenty children in its two
programs. Unfortunately, due to a lack of
financial resources, children are currently
on a waiting list to enter P'TACH's
programs.

What other
charity
would

Photos By Samuel Gruber

WHAT IS P'TACH?

Detail of a wall painting, probably
from the 18th century, in the
women's section of a synagogue in
Pinczow, Poland.

roll over,

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
P'TACH of Mich., Inc.

25311 Ronald Court
Oak Park, Michigan, 48237
(313) 399-6281

All donations are tax deductible

WITHOUT YOU
WE'RE
HELPLESS.

rh

7401 Chrysler Dr., Detroit, MI 48211
Detroit
872-3400

Westland

721-7300

Unibed Way

for Southeastern Michigan

FRIDAY, AUGUST 2, 1991

The animals at the Michigan
Humane Society will do any-
thing for your support because,
for many of them, it's the only
chance they have.
Animals give so unselfishly,
they're begging you to do
the same.

Give to the Michigan Humane Society.

Give to the United Way
Torch Drive. For all the
good you can do.

98

and beg
for your
money?

Auburn Ms.

852-7420

ck

db ocis

Days. This 19th-century
landmark with distinctive
Moorish architecture could
cost $30 million to restore.
Among synagogues still in
use being considered for fu-
ture restoration:
• The Portuguese Sephar-
dic Synagogue in Amster-
dam. This 17th-century
brick and stone building,
which has appeared on
Dutch stamps, is one of the
best known buildings in the
Jewish world.
• The Ahrida synagogue in
Istanbul. This small, but
beautifully detailed Sephar-
dic synagogue was founded
in the 15th century and
rebuilt many times because
of fires. Hopes are that the
Turkish government will
help the Istanbul communi-
ty to restore this building in
honor of the 500th anniver-
sary of the large Jewish mi-
gration from Spain to 'Tur-
key in 1492.
Among sites no longer in
Jewish use being considered
for future preservation pro-
jects are:
• The Jewish Center of
Pinczow, Poland, a major
center founded in the 16th
century that became the hub
of Renaissance stone-
cutting activity. This mag-
nificent building, largely
still intact, has many wall
paintings including beauti-
ful animal and floral designs

painted in the 18th century
by the artist Yehudah Lieb.
Officials of the town, in-
cluding the mayor and the
priest, want to see the build-
ing restored to commemo-
rate Jewish history. Prewar
Poland had thousands of
Jewish monuments, but now
there are only some 300 left.
• A synagogue that was
built to look like an in-
conspicuous town house in
Pfaffenhoffen, in the Alsace
section of France. This tiny
synagogue is the only sur-
viving example of a French
synagogue before the Fren-
ch Revolution. Although the
Alsace-Lorraine area had
more than 200 synagogues
before the war, it now has
only 80.
The Khania synagogue in
Greece, which had an active
prewar Jewish congrega-
tion. All its members were
put into a boat by Nazis and
drowned. Located in an area
that now doesn't have
enough Jews for a minyan,
this former synagogue has
lost most of its identifying
features.
In considering sites for
restoration, priority is given
to those that are significant
historically, culturally or ar-
tistically, but also to those
that have a realistic possibil-
ity for improvement because
of the cooperation of gov-
ernments, institutions or in-
dividuals.
The situation is different
in each country. Germany
has taken the lead in preser-
ving monuments on its own,
Mr. Gruber said. Holland,
too, is "generous." Italy, in
the past several years, has
committed funds for restor-
ing historic synagogues.
Monuments in Hungarian
and Czechoslovakian vil-
lages are suffering because
of deterioration from such
sources as acid rain. In the
Soviet Union, the situation
is not known because for
many years Jews were not
even allowed to inquire
about Jewish sites.
Acknowledging the enor-
mity of the task ahead, Mr.
Gruber said, "The work is so
tremendous we don't even
know yet how to orchestrate
it."
The council, at 174 E. 80th
St., New York, N.Y., 10021,
is funded by grants from the
Ronald S. Lauder Founda-
tion, the Ralph Ogden
Foundation and private do-
nations. For information,
call (212) 517-9367. ❑