N

N

We Can Start
With A Walk

We have programs that give Detroit Jews every
opportunity to show this community's exemplary
support of Israel.
Almost 1300 of you proved that with the recently
completed Michigan Miracle Mission. Then there
are the programs that continue to draw thousands
of us, be it a Mini-Mega Mission program spon-
sored by JEFF, a Yom Hazikaron program or the
Walk for Israel.
Still, with all of this involvement, it's important
for some of these programs to grow. The Walk for
Israel, for example, would be greatly enhanced if
it was educationally more user friendly. We would
recommend that instead of housing booths in the
JCC, that some of these booths and information-
al opportunities be located along the Walk.

For example, we could suggest that the Walk
be a voyage of sorts from Tel Aviv through
Jerusalem to the north. Along the way could be
booths applicable to the stops that are really found
in Israel. It would, of course, have to be logisti-
cally checked. But still, there's plenty of enthusi-
asm, fellowship, etc. An educational component
could only enhance the Sunday afternoon in May.
The community is doing a wonderful job, but
it still needs to keep building and growing, per-
haps running past any other major Jewish com-
munity in the United States. Even with its
participation and its programming, nationally,
only 20 percent of American Jews ever visit Israel.
We need to help change that, and we can start with
a Walk.

Remembering Shavuot

Shavuot, the Festival of Weeks which is celebrat-
ed on Wednesday and Thursday (May 26 and 27),
has sometimes been described on these pages as
the forgotten holiday, the least observed of the
three major festivals of Sukkot, Passover and
Shavuot. That is particularly ironic because it was
on Shavuot that God gave Moses the Torah at
Mount Sinai, the most important event in Jewish
history.
Tradition teaches that all Jews — past, present
and future — stood at Sinai and were present at
the revelation. That is our common bond and our
common destiny. And as Rabbi Abraham Joshua
Heschel taught, since that day "the Jew is never
alone in the face of God; the Torah is always with
him."
In this age there is so much to pull us apart as
a Jewish people. We are of different denomina-
tions, different ideologies, different beliefs — or

none at all. According to surveys and statistics,
our numbers are dwindling; we are producing few-
er children and assimilating deeper into Ameri-
can culture.
That is why it is important to remember what
it means to be Jewish and why it should matter
that we survive as a people. What links us to our
ancestors is our experience and our heritage, and
most of all the Torah, whose laws continue to chal-
lenge us to better ourselves each day.
Unfortunately, it is no accident that Shavuot is
under-observed. The Torah, its symbol, is under-
explored. When more people delve into the Torah
and its teachings, and when spiritual truths are
translated into the guiding factors of our daily lives,
Shavuot will surely be the most celebrated of all
holidays.
Happy Shavuot

Letters

Changes Needed For
Jews, Gentiles

U)

LLJ

(f)

w

CC

w

LLJ

4

I read with interest the arti-
cle by the Rev. James R. Lyons,
"Is Dialogue Possible for Jews,
Christians?" (April 23).
While still in the Detroit
area we heard the Rev. Lyons
on several occasions and were
impressed by his sincere desire
to improve relations between
Christians and Jews. Permit
me, however, to point out a
number of things which even
the good Rev. Lyons has failed
to resolve to this day.
It seems to me that if dia-
logue is to be more than the
tired platitudes of the past, two
things must happen:
First, our "constitutions"
must be amended, where nec-
essary, to reflect the realities

and aspirations of the modern
world. For Christians this
would mean nothing less than
a critical review of the New
Testament, looking to across-
the-board changes with respect
to all passages of bias toward
Jews and other minorities.
Second, we must examine
closely what we teach our chil-
dren. We must insist that text-
books be revised where
necessary to conform with mod-
ern thinking. Much of Christ-
ian Bible teaching,
unfortunately, is infused with
the very anti-Jewish biases
contained in basic Christian
theology. When taught to chil-
dren, these biases are difficult,
if not impossible, to remove in
later years.
This is not to suggest that
Christians and Jews cannot

ever get together on anything,
Far from it. We are both ethi-
cal people (though we derive
our ethics from different
sources). Hence there are many
areas in which we can cooper-
ate effectively, as for example
in political or community mat-
ters. Regrettably, any under-
standing involving culture and
theology is at this time out of
reach.
I would commend the Rev.
Lyons to continue his good
works. I would suggest, how-
ever, that he focus his attention
more upon his co-religionists,
for the basic problems inherent
in meaningful dialogue are not
mutual but reside most one-sid-
edly within basic Christianity
itself.

Richard Braun
Asheville, N.C.

Comparing Abortion
To The Holocaust

Kimberly Litton's report (May
7) on the stir over comparing
abortion to the Holocaust in-
dicates to me warped thinking
on both sides of the debate.
State Sens. Lana Pollack
and Jack Faxon, both pro-
choice Jewish Democrats, are
understandably offended by
Republican Joe Gougeon's com-
parison of abortion to the Holo-
caust. There are legitimate
concerns on both sides of the
abortion debate.
Since Nazism has no legiti-
macy, except as an evil that
must be confronted, it is cer-
tainly tasteless to compare the
motives of women who choose
not to endure pregnancy to the
motives of Hitler's butchers.
But those in agreement with
Sens. Pollack and Faxon
should consider their own reck-
less analogies. Last year, a De-
mocratic candidate for U.S.
Congress in Oakland County
was sending out campaign lit-
erature in which he equated
the worthiness of the pro-
choice cause to the moral cause
of the Jewish state. Just as
there is no analogy between
abortion and the systematic
annihilation of the Jewish peo-
ple, there is no comparison of
the importance of abortion
rights to the importance of Is-
rael's existence. Jewish Amer-
icans who are as passionately
pro-choice as they are pas-
sionately pro-Israel (and it is
no small number of Jewish
Americans who equate these
causes) should re-examine
their priorities.
Unfortunately, passion over-
takes sanity in the abortion de-
bate, making it unlikely for
pro-choice advocates (Jewish
or otherwise) to re-examine
any of their tenets...

John O'Neill
Allen Park

The Holocaust And
Jewish Soap

Regarding the May 7 article
about the Holocaust Memori-
al Museum, Arthur Magida
touched on a very irritating
subject and then denied that it
happened: the references to the

A111.1.M.4

German use of Jewish fat,
skimmed from the ovens, or
other body parts for soap.
My father of blessed mem-.
ory told me that he had buried
soap, labeled as reine Juden
fetz (pure Jewish fat), in a Jew-
ish cemetery after the war. My<
mother verified the story that
a case of soap with the afore-
mentioned inscription was
found near our displaced per- \
sons camp is Eshwage, Ger-_
many.
The reason for persistence
of the rumor is not for the de-.
humanizing of the German tor-
mentor. Rather it is the/
horrified description of a hu-
man being witnessing evil per-
sonifying itself as human.
The Holocaust was horrible
enough without having to em-
bellish it. The survivors did not
have to exaggerate. Such
things occurred because of the
perverted thrill-seeking with
in the oppressor, who, in try L)
ing to subdue his conscience.
makes it into a game. Hence!
the woman who made lamp!
shades from skin. Hence, th
evil psychopath who woul
bathe in the fat of the mur
dered victim.
That this was true and yo
article's statement false mus
be decided on by the veracit
of the observer against the d
sire to rewrite history. My fa
ther was not one to lie abou
such matters. The emotion an
anger he expressed when h
described it were sufficien
proof for me.
In later years when my fa
ther would say the Azkara fo
the Holocaust victims he woul
cry and yell for justice agains
the Nazim Yemach Shemo
V'zichrom, may their nam
and memory be erased. In n
small part was this discove
a catalyst for his emotion.

Rabbi Chaim Moshe
Farmington Hills

Holocaust Museum
Will Educate

Several members of CHAIM-
Children of Holocaust-Sur-
vivors Association In Michigan, I
traveled to Washington to at-
tend the opening ceremonies
of the new Holocaust Museum.

LETTERS page 8

