I EDITORIAL If It's Garbage, Keep It Shande. A sin, something that makes one shake his head in sad puzzlement. It's a shande to talk about this great miracle of essentially evacuating thousands upon thousands of Russian Jews and then see what they see here in Detroit. We go around beating our chests about this wonderful job we've done, bringing these emigres here and putting them up in apartments. But few of us see just how empty these apartments and some of these new Americans' lives are. A tour of the Resettlement Service Warehouse at the Northland shopping center taints this miracle. This is the place where emigres may come to pick up do- nated lamps, furniture, box springs, mat- tresses, toys, linens, dishes and even clothing. Don't forget that they come here with little more than the clothing on their backs. But in the cavernous Southfield warehouse, there are only a few sticks of broken furniture, old sofas so worn and dir- ty that they can't be recycled. There are dishes chipped and crusted in dirt. There's even a drinking glass with hardened chocolate formed on the bottom. Somebody donated this, thinking they were doing a great favor. There are no lamps to give. Instead, there's a base to an old popcorn popper, a bag full of plastic cake slicers with a busi- ness name embossed on them for some sort of promotion that did not work. Three points: First, last week The Jewish News re- ported on the Helping Hands Project, a Jewish Community Council Social Action Committee effort in conjunction with various synagogues to bring in day-to-day living items to.the warehouse. This effort is in critical need of your support. The campaign asked for certain items during designated months. Artwork was scheduled for the month of March and cleaning items such as pails and mops for April. But don't limit the giving to those items at those times. Second, if a new item isn't to be donated, don't give garbage. A table with peeling wood veneer is garbage. A cracked mirror is garbage. A sofa warn down to wood and thread is garbage. It's enough that these people chose to leave a country that systematically stripped them of their re- ligious dignity. When they walk into a warehouse in Southfield, looking for basic help to get their lives going, don't give them a toaster oven with a burner out and crusted crumbs caked on the inside. Point three: Large items of furniture are also des- perately needed. How desperate? One cou- ple in their 60s stored their belongings in cardboard boxes and slept on two mat- tresses on the floor. These are someone's father, mother, grandparents. By the grace of God, it could have been all of us. The Resettlement Warehouse is located in the Northland Mall in Lot E, two doors from the Kerby's Koney Island. Its hours are Tuesdays and Wednesdays, noon to 2 p.m., or by appointment. Large items can be picked up at your door. The phone number is 559-4566. No more embarrassment. This commun- ity is known around the world for its Jew- ish community support. But a dirty glass with hardened chocolate inside? This is a shande. Black Tuesday Tuesday was a tragic day for Israel, which experienced physical, political and psychological assaults from friend and foe alike. A terrorist bomb in Buenos Aires brought death and destruction. The five- story Israeli Embassy was demolished, an- other painful reminder of violent hatred Israel endures, far removed from its disputed borders. Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Arens said the attack was "part of a terrorist campaign which is being waged against Israel by all kinds of Muslim holy warriors and Palestinian terrorists." That same day, in Tel Aviv, a Palestinian man went on a rampage with a knife and sword, killing at least two people and wounding 19 more on a busy street. Such violence has escalated dramatically since the peace talks began. And at the White House on Tuesday afternoon, President Bush rejected a com- promise from several key Congressional leaders, effectively killing the loan guar- antee Israel had requested to help pay for the housing of hundreds of thousands of immigrants from the former Soviet Union. No blood was shed, but the wound was 6 FRIDAY, MARCH 20, 1992 deep, marking a watershed of bitterness between Jerusalem and its most powerful ally. One practical result of the loan guar- antee rejection is that Israel will be looking to the American Jewish community and its already-strapped fund-raising organiza- tions to help bear the burden of absorption expenses. But on a political and diplomatic level, the Israelis may become even less willing to take risks in the slow-moving peace process. The Bush administration is hoping to portray Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir as the man to blame for the loan guarantee failure, for his refusal to agree to the administration condition of a set- tlement freeze. But Mr. Shamir's chief po- litical rival, Labor Party leader Yitzhak Rabin, told a UJA Young Leadership Con- ference in Washington this week that he would not be willing to withdraw to Israel's pre-1967 borders. Does the administration fail to under- stand that Israelis are united on their right to continue building settlements for securi- ty reasons and to keep east and west Jerusalem one city? Dry Bones -1146 BUSi4 ACSINIMATOIJS NOM EAST SnierreG, ...FoRcInz RIJANCIALCOALTItS tthu OK) I MAKE I PiAELIS LETTERS From Where Will The Cure Come? In the March 6 article writ- ten by Rabbi Harold Schul- weis entitled "Does Judaism Speak to the Heart?" we find that the remedy for the great destruction that is now plagu- ing the Jewish population of America is to turn inwardly to the so-called Jewish home and the illness will be cured. From where will this cure arrive? From two career parents who have no time and who have little or no Jewish education at all? From the home environment where not one Jewish book can be found and if there is one it is never opened? Where the Sabbath day is not observed and if it is, only to the barest minimum? No, Rabbi Schulweis, your conclusion is wrong. The modern "Jewish" home will not be the answer to a dwindl- ing practicing or interested Jew. The changes that you want to see will come about when the Jewish people begin to train their children from the moment of birth about what it means to be a "Jew." When the child sees a Jewish environment at home, a kosher home, a home that is filled with Jewish customs on a daily basis, where the words of the rIbrah are practiced and not only preached in the few times a year that the child is in synagogue, then we may begin to find a solution. h"-- Until then, do not put the onus on parents whose own parents neglected their upbr- inging and who may now ex- pect the grandchildren to be Jewish. Vivienne S. Feigelman Southfield Buchanan And Duke Repudiated The presidential election process in which we are cur- rently participating should be the confirmation of the American form of democracy in which citizens of diverse races, religions, ethnicities and political viewpoints have the opportunity to debate substantive issues of impor- tance to our society. As Americans concerned about the continuation of our democratic form of govern- ment, we seek leadership which will address important concerns and offer sound solu- tions to the issues which con- front us. Candidates such as Patrick Buchanan and David Duke who offer simplistic answers which tend to pit groups against each other are the antithesis of the American system of democracy. Mark Schlussel, Paul D. Borman, David Jaffe, Gerald Cook, Alan Zemmol, Robert I. Brown, Michael Eizelman, Howard Zoller, Melvin Raznick, Vickie Goldbaum, Rabbi Ernst Conrad.