.•• ■ •••• 11=1.

RI DDE
R I

While most Jewish people
no longer live in
Detroit, a strong
Jewish presence remains.

.00

ELIZABETH APPLEBAUM

Assistant Editor

24

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 1992

arning: This is not the kind of tour
you can find in any guidebook.
You're not going to hear about big
buildings or parks. There are no
museums. No quaint shopping districts.
No music halls.
And don't ask if you can stop to pick
up a souvenir of the tour. This map is all
you get. No shopping malls carry
memorabilia of these sites.
Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to a
tour of Hidden Jewish Detroit.
Among our stops:
• A plaque honoring a long-lost Jewish
veteran.
• A church bearing a distinctly Jewish
name.
• A photograph of a Holocaust survivor
who left her reparations money to
establish a Jewish organization.
• An inner-city store decorated with
Stars of David.
So fastern your seat belt and leave
your food and drinks off the bus, please.
We'll be back in time for dinner.
And now, the tour begins ..

SPINOZA STREET

It's a cold day near the
edge of Detroit. The trees
are trembling; the wind
howls like an abandoned
dog. No one can be seen on
an obscure street named
Spinoza.
Spinoza Street is located
in Rouge Park on Detroit's
far west side. It was named
in the 1940s in honor of

Dutch philosopher Baruch
Spinoza, whose radical no-
tions resulted in his ex-
communication.
Spinoza, born in Amster-
dam in 1632, thought re-
ligion must be judged sole-
ly on reason. He rejected
religious tradition, believ-