EDITORIAL

Fight Harder, P'TACH

For 15 years, P'TACH has provided edu-
cational services, combining principles of
Torah with the modern skills of remedial
education to hundreds of Jewish school
children.
Now, P'TACH, like so many other Jewish
organizations and Jewish households, is
feeling the severity of the recession. Only
for P'TACH, this isn't a question of belt
tightening or cutbacks, this is a true threat
to its very existence. That existence could
end in the upcoming weeks.
The question is, 'could the Jewish com-
munity go on without P'TACH? Federal
law guarantees an education for every
child, be he learning-disabled, autistic or
even severely and profoundly retarded.
P'TACH's student population, largely Or-
thodox, would face the proposition of public
school training in the area of their disabili-
ties. They would, however, lose out on the re-
ligious connection that is not just a part of
their school day, but a part of their lives.
Yes, P'TACH needs quick cash to pull
itself through the remainder of this year.
We encourage the community to think of
P'TACH at this crucial hour and respond to
its need.
But we also want to encourage P'TACH
to perhaps take better advantage of the
system in place here in Detroit. The nation,
the world, knows Detroit's Jewish com-
munity not just for its ability to raise
funds, but for its strength in Jewish com-
munal management. We're certain this
community can raise the money quickly for

P'TACH. But it's up to P'TACH not just to
tap the wallets, but also the minds of the
planners of this community.
No, the Jewish Federation isn't always
the place to go for quick fixes. The Federa-
tion, however, can offer P'TACH invalua-
ble help in planning, identification and
management of their monies.
Wherever P'TACH chooses to go, solving
the current money crunch is but a band-
aid. The same intensity that goes into
"saving" a child's life needs to be put into
long-term planning and budgeting. Forget
the shmaltz. If it's love of children that
we're talking about here, then P'TACH
needs to really love those children by
taking a close, hard look at itself.
We also encourage P'TACH to separate
itself to a degree from the identity of
Yeshiva Beth Yehudah. Nobody is discoun-
ting the important role the Yeshiva has
played in support of P'TACH. But as-
suredly there are many who have given to
the Yeshiva, thinking that P'TACH was
part of the Yeshiva package. It's not
totally, and that degree of independence
needs its own financial and fund-raising
identity.
Also, we urge P'TACH to examine other
nearby models such as JARC and Kadima,
two groups who face and have fought many
of the same battles for their special popula-
tions.
P'TACH will be a victim only if it wants
to be. Hopefully that love they talk about
will move them to stay alive.

Mugging The Presidency

We are delighted that the New York
presidential primary finally ended. Both
Democratic candidates went into the
primary talking issues, and both came out
scarred and bloodied. They were mugged
by the New York news media (which seems
to take a great, perverse pride in being
among the toughest in the world). And Bill
Clinton, in particular, was mugged by
Jerry Brown (who seems to take great
delight in casting dubious aspersions on
the character of the Arkansas governor).
What is especially disturbing is that the
primaries have already degenerated into a
free-for-all even though they are only about
half over. More worrisome is what lies
ahead. If Democrats are talking about each
other the way Govs. Clinton and Brown are,

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then what does this portend for the fall cam-
paign between George Bush and a Dem-
ocratic standard-bearer?
The candidates have been discussing the
issues, but much of the press has been con-
centrating on non-issues like who smoked
marijuana and did he inhale. Who cares?
If the press is already stooping so low as
to occasionally publish news stories that
carry more innuendo than weight about
candidates, then what will it do between
now and Election Day?
At mid-April there is sufficient time for
the candidates and those who write about
them to clean up their respective acts. If
they don't, future candidates for the presi-
dency may only be those with the biggest
mouths and the thickest skins.

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LETTERS

Southfield-Lathrup
Is Exemplary

Recently The Jewish News
ran a series of articles on life
in Southfield, particularly as
it affects the Jewish com-
munity. As a follow-up to this,
it is interesting to note that
Southfield-Lathrup High
School was selected by Red-
book magazine as one of the
nation's finest high schools.
In fact, Southfield-Lathrup
High School was the only
school selected from the state
of Michigan.
Last year, the same high
school was named as an ex-
emplary school by the U.S.
Department of Education.
Any perception that this
school is inferior to high
schools further northwest
doesn't seem to be indicated
by these awards.

Harvey Bronstein
Southfield

The Background
Of Pollard Case

No non-Jewish citizen of a
democratic country in recent
history has been convicted,
let alone charged, in a court
of law with the crime of spy-
ing on a friendly country dur-
ing peacetime. The decision to
prosecute Jonathan Pollard
on the charge of spying for
Israel, rather than dealing
with the problem through
diplomatic channels, was, one
may suggest, political, made
by the prior administration at
the highest governmental
levels.
Using the legal system•
rather than diplomatic pro-
cedures was a strategy that
could have backfired if

Jonathan Pollard had had at
the outset the same kind of
competent legal counsel as
Oliver North had had. Why?
Simply because in a jury
trial, if it had gone that far,
the focus could have been
shifted from spying on the
United States to that of ex-
changing classified informa-
tion between friendly coun-
tries according to pre-existing
agreements, and whether or
not they were being lived up
to. Of course, this did not
happen.
The strategy to tarnish
Israel's image worked, using
Pollard as a pawn in this
political game. In turn,
the Shamir government re-
sponded irresponsibly, calling
it a "rogue operation," fur-
ther tarnishing Israel's
reputation.
What seems clear now is
that the stench from this case,
like the Dreyfus affair, will
not go away easily. The pre-
sent administration, the
Bush administration, has an
opportunity to show its com-
passionate side by granting a
pardon to Pollard — he has
suffered enough.

Irving Warshawsky
West Bloomfield

Rabbi Leizer Levin
And The JCC
It is both gratifying and

flattering to have a publica-
tion cited as a reference. This
is especially the case when a
professional like Elizabeth
Applebaum uses my work.
However, because I believe
the historical record ought to
be kept as straight as possi-
ble, I must respond to your

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