LETTERS
LZA Opposes
JCCouncil Changes
a hallmark of his leadership.
The Labor Zionist Alliance
Council of Metropolitan
Detroit is opposed to the
following constitutional
amendments proposed by the
Jewish Community Council
for consideration at its April
7 Delegate Assembly:
1. "Delegate status should
be restricted to organiza-
tional presidents!' There is no
such restriction at present.
The constitution now pro-
vides for one organizational
representative for the first 25
to 100 members and then one
representative for each addi-
tional 100 members or major
fraction thereof.
2. "The Delegate Assembly
shall be convened at least
twice a year, once for the pur-
pose of an open forum and in
May for the annual meeting
and election of officers and
board members:' The con-
stitution now reads that "the
Delegate Assembly shall be
convened at least four times
a year, one of which shall be
an open forum:'
We do not believe that
"changes sought would great-
ly enhance two-way com-
munication between Council
and its member organiza-
tions, transform the Delegate
Assembly into a more deliber-
ative body, and promote coor-
dinated and effective action
by the organized Jewish com-
munity."
The better way for improv-
ed communication, more
deliberation and effective ac-
tion is to provide the Coun-
cil's member organizations
through the Delegate Assem-
bly the opportunity to have
open and knowledgeable dis-
cussions and to take action
where it is required on those
subjects which are of concern
to the whole Jewsh communi-
ty. The Jewish Community
Council has the broadest
representation in the Jewish
community and its Delegate
Assembly should be used for
education and consciousness-
raising, discussion and action.
There is no dearth of sub-
jects for consideration and
discussion: young people,
their affiliation and integra-
tion into Jewish communal
life; intermarriage; poverty
and homelessness; Russian
acculturation; single parent
families and their support
and assistance; Israel, . its
security and support; the
Jewish elderly, their condi-
tion and needs; anti-Semi-
tism, racism, and bigotry;
Jewish education, its pro-
blems and requirements; the
human values of Judaism and
their application; neighbor-
hood integration and our rela-
Editor's note: The information
was taken from Dr. Sidney
Bolkosky's book, "Harmony
and Dissonance."
Irwin Shaw
West Bloomfield
UHS Letters
Missed Point
tionships with the non-
Jewish community, to name a
few.
While there are existing
organizations whose agendas
include some of these impor-
tant issues, the Jewish Com-
munity Council Delegate
Assembly provides the oppor-
tunity for a cross-section of
the Jewish community to
have open and democratic
discussion, input and action.
There is need for improved
communication, but the pro-
posed amendments will not
achieve that.
Norman Naimark
President, Labor Zionist Alliance
Loan Guarantee
Letter Opposed
As members of Jewish or-
ganizations, we have received
Jewish Community Council
President Jeannie 'Weiner's
letter dated March 23 concer-
ning the loan guarantees.
The position which she ad-
vocates is certainly represen-
tative of many American
Jews. However, we thought it
would be useful to let her
know that there is another
point of view concerning this
issue.
There are Jews both in
Israel and the U.S. who share
her strong commitment to
the welfare of Israel and the
absorption of the new im-
migrants. However they (and
we count ourselves among
them) believe that a settle-
ment freeze is essential to
achieve both of these ob-
jectives.
We believe that the absence
of a. freeze on settlements
facilitates the Likud govern-
ment's policy of accelerating
settlement activity in order to
make an eventual resolution
of the Israeli-Palestinian con-
flict based on the exchange of
land for peace impossible.
Selma Goode, Norma Shifrin,
Norman Naimark, Sheryl King,
Seymour Faber, Francine R
Rosemberg, Harold Strom,
Kenneth Knoppow
Rabbi Levin
And The Center
I hate to take exception to
anything my friend Elizabeth
Applebaum wrote in your
very impressive Jewish News
50th Anniversary Commem-
orative Issue Supplement.
But in the interest of his-
torical integrity, I must point
out that for her comments
about Rabbi Leizer Levin
("Making Their Marks"),
someone must have given her
information which simply is
not correct.
She reports that the resolu-
tion of the Sabbath opening
dispute was made possible by
a compromise which included
stipulations proposed by Rab-
bi Levin, namely "that the
parking lot stay closed and
that only cultural-religious
programs be permitted on
Shabbat."
It is true that the rabbi did
propose such stipulations to
the citizens committee, of
which he was a member. But
he soon realized that they
would not be accepted by the
committee and therefore did
not attend its last meeting
when the final decision was
made.
I called him personally, just
before the meeting began, to
make sure that he knew that
it was being held. He said he
knew that the meeting was
taking place and he also
knew — in view of previous
discussions in which he par-
ticipated — what the commit-
tee's decision would be. He
had decided not to attend in
the interest, as he put it, of
"shalom bayit" (peace in the
home).
The program ultimately ap-
proved by the committee and
adopted by the Jewish Com-
munity Center board was vir-
tually the same as the one
which had originally been
proposed by the Center for its
operation "in consonance
with the spirit of the Sab-
bath." The threat of a divid-
ed community never
materialized.
As a matter of fact, Center
membership rose from 4,000
in 1959 to over 13,000 by the
mid-1960s and included a
significant number from the
Orthodox community.
Moreover, when in the ear-
ly 1970s the Center con-
ducted a capital fund cam-
paign for the construction of
the Maple-Drake Building, a
number of large contributions
were made by Orthodox
leaders — some of whom had
even been part of the opposi-
tion in 1959.
Rabbi Levin, with whom I
enjoyed a very friendly rela-
tionship before the controver-
sy and continued to do so ever
since, did not need a distor-
tion of history to qualify as a
great spiritual leader in our
community. Even though in
this particular case, his sug-
gestions were not accepted, he
still demonstrated the kind of
statesmanship and personal
integrity which were always
The recent Jewish News ar-
ticles and letters to the editor
on Federation's education
decisions miss several essen-
tial points.
The Agency for Jewish
Education's afternoon school
system is an inequitable use
of a significant portion of
Federation's education
dollars. While AJE has been
open to any institution to
form a branch, or any in-
dividual to be a student, in
practice it serves and benefits
only a few congregations
(notably Adat Shalom of
which I was president) and a
minority of students. Nonpar-
ticipating congregations have
complained for years.
Reasonable minds may
disagree on which is better, a
synagogue-sponsored school
or community-based school,
but the respected national ex-
perts who met with the Giles
committee, all favored syna-
gogue-based schools. I believe
hardly any other major U.S.
city has a community school
anymore, and unaffiliated
families in other cities must
enroll at a congregation
school.
The Federation decision
was, in part, motivated by a
desire to strengthen the cen-
tral services for the benefit of
all congregations and any
other providers, and hopefully
provide the best expertise
available, on such matters as
teacher training and cur-
riculum development. Among
other goals, funding for
education will be increased,
no child will be denied a
Jewish education for lack of
money, and congregation af-
filiation is encouraged.
The decision was not made
from any expressed anti-AJE
sentiment; rather it was to
change priorities within AJE,
to strengthen all schools and,
importantly, to more equit-
ably allocate community
dollars.
This letter is a personal
perspective, since Federation
speaks only through its
reports and official designees.
However, as a member of all
three special Federation
education committees, and as
the current chairman of the
Federation Education Divi-
sion, I have participated in
many hours of discussions
about these issues.
Irwin Alterman
Bloomfield Hills
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS,
7