PURELY COMMENTARY I---- Uncommon Leadership. Re-elect Denise Richman Alexander c ommon sense. Uncommon leadership. With Denise Alexander, it adds up to a solid record... and she's not finished yet. Help her finish the job. Re-elect Denise Alexander to the Southfield City Council on November 5th. She's the com- mon sense choice for the Council. Intermarriage Will Lead To Self-Demeaning `Auch Juden' PHILIP SLOMOVITZ Editor Emeritus I n the approaching years, strategic planning based on our communal experi- ences is anticipated to clarify current needs and challenges to lead us into decisive activism for leader- ship roles. Guidance is cer- tainly needed for the younger generations. The duties are immense, and the obstacles that unavoidably arise will need to be con- fronted with great courage. The problems are too nu- merous for brief confronta- tion. The training of a prop- erly educated peoplehood will involve loyalties to create enthusiasm and con- viction so vitally needed. There have already been admonitions. They will sure- ly be tackled in the strategic planning. We are already aware that we need more learning. We are more con- scious than ever of the threats that stem from mix- ed marriages. We no longer dare to ignore the implica- tions. Intermarriage has always been a problem in our exis- tence. Often it was accom- panied by assurances that we could be making gains from new adherents. At best the acquisitions were minimal. In the main they have been accompanied by agonizing uncertainties. It is when the threats to our solidarity become disrespectful that we are compelled to end confronta- tion with those who may be abandoning us. We must teach with greater emphasis on loyalty. The failure in some ranks to be faithful to one's self has begun to be accompanied by disrespect. We found evidence of it not only in resorting to church obser- vances but also in accep- tance in some cases of per- formance of wedding ceremonies by " spiritual leaders." In one community in California, a Japanese woman performed the ceremony and resorted to breaking the glass as a con- cession to the Jewish mem- ber of the couple. Other concessions are proving shocking. One intermarriage was sensa- tionalized in a New York Times story of Oct. 1. The participants in the mixed marriage declared that the . Paid for by the Committee to Re-elect Alexander • P.O. Box 236 • Southfield, MI 48037 N\; -otk A\ eatin9 & Air Conditioning Year-Round Specials! UPGRADE TO A 90% HIGH EFFICIENT GAS FURNACE OR 10 S.E.E.R. AIR CONDITIONER Only $1700 Installed!! Financing Available $34 per mo. - $0 dn. 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Never- theless, they deluded themselves into the belief that they were good Jews because they loved Heine ... and left nothing to be desired in their praise of kugel and sholnt (sic) . They protested that.they were "auch Juden" (also Jews). I say that they are mere "bauch Juden" (bel- ly Jews). It is sad to lose adherents to our faith and our peoplehood. Every effort must be exerted to interfere with and reduce intermar- riage. The tolerance of it must not become an en- couragement. It would be pitiful to continue to apologize for condoning it. ❑ N EWS I Polls Show Israelis Favor Conference Tel Aviv (JTA) — Israelis overwhelmingly support their country's decision to participate in the Madrid peace conference, according to the latest public opinion polls. The two latest surveys, published in leading Israeli dailies, show heavy majorities favor Israel's par- ticipation in the talks, and significant numbers expect them to yield positive results. But the figures differ in the two polls. On the key question of Israel meeting with its Arab neighbors and the Palestin- ians, a poll published in Ma'ariv and conducted by the Teleseker organization got a 73.5 percent favorable response. Only 14.6 percent opposed Israel attending the con- ference and 11.6 percent had no opinion. A Dahaf poll, published in a rival paper, the tabloid Yediot Achronot, showed even more overwhelming sentiment in favor of the peace conference. Israelis support it by a huge majority of 91 to 7 percent, that poll said. By a 57 to 37 percent margin, respondents to the Dahaf poll believe the con- ference will produce signifi- cant results. • By a margin of 61 to 12 percent, Israelis are willing to pay some price for peace, the Dahaf poll reported. For 19 percent, the price is autonomy for the Palestin- ians; 26 percent would return most of the ad- ministered territories; and 16 percent would accept a Palestinian state. The poll published in Ma'ariv showed that 71 per- cent of Likud voters and 86 percent of Labor Party sup- porters favor the peace con- ference. Another poll, taken for Ma'ariv by PORI, the Public Opinion Research Institute, found that Prime Minister iNivo surveys show heavy majorities favor Israel's participation. Yitzhak Shamir is marginal- ly more popular than For- eign Minister David Levy. Mr. Shamir outpolled the more moderate Mr. Levy by 38 to 34.4 percent in a survey conducted before Mr. Levy was sidelined by Mr. Shamir's announcement last week that he would head the Israeli delegation to Madrid. But Mr. Shamir, an Ashkenazic Jew, led his Moroccan-born rival among Israelis of North African and Asian origin by an even larger margin of 48.2 to 40.4 percent. Mr. Shamir also got a higher rating than Levy among less-educated Israelis. Some 42 percent of those with eight years of schooling or less preferred him over the foreign minister.