DETROIT 75' THE JEWISH NEWS 16 TISHREI 5754/OCTOBER 1, 1993 City Politicking In Suburbia Jewish leaders appear to be unanimous that this year's Detroit mayoral race will affect suburban lives. RUTH LITTMANN STAFF WRITER udith Kaplan celebrated the first record bat mitzvah celebration in 1922. Howeve the rite-of-passage ceremony did not gai popularity until much later, Adult women, and a growing number of men, are reclaim- ing their history, culture and religion thro b'nai mitzvah. Each participant has a per-- sonal reason, but most share the feeling t adult bar or bat mitzvah was amon g important moments of t usan Harold of Bloomfield Hills be- lieves Jews have a role to play in Detroit's renais- sance, but not nec- essarily as Jews — more as business people interested in seeing the metropoli- tan region prosper at large, she said. "I think we need to drop the Jewish-black issue. If we try to deal with the religious and race issues of the past, then I don't think we'll get anywhere. If we're more comfortable in Detroit be- Sharon McPhail and Dennis Archer surround cause we've helped Detroit come Jewish Federation President David Page and back (economically), then maybe Community Council President Jeannie Weiner. the problems of race and religion that meets several times a year to lis- can be resolved." ten to speeches and discuss issues rel- Ms. Harold was one of about 350 evant to the metropolitan area. people who attended Monday's forum The mayoral candidates addressed featuring Detroit mayoral candidates a two-pronged issue this week: What Dennis Archer and Sharon McPhail. should the next mayor do to revitalize The two may be competing neck- Detroit, and how will these actions and-neck for the city's highest politi- affect the future relationship between cal position, but that doesn't mean the city and suburbs? they don't see eye-to-eye on at least Mr. Archer, an attorney and former one point: the interdependence of teacher, advocated the implementa- Detroit and its suburbs. tion of metal detectors in schools to cut The theme wound its way through crime. Opposing Ms. McPhail's pro- Monday's joint forum, sponsored by POLITICKING page 10 the Jewish Federation and Jewish Community Council. It marked the first in a series of 11 face-offs between the Detroit mayoral candidates be- fore election day in November. Jewish Federation President David Page said the Southfield setting for Monday's forum held significance. Referring to his childhood in Detroit, excursions to Tigers and Red Wings games and Orchestra Hall, Mr. Page told audience members that many of them share his background and on- going interest in the city. He reminded the largely Jewish One Detroiter knows crowd that Jewish institutions, like which movies will make it. Sinai Hospital and Borman Hall nurs- Page 32 ing home, are city-based. "And yes, in addition to all that, we also contribute to Detroit's political campaigns. We are, indeed, all Detroiters, regardless of where we live and vote," he said. "I think today's turnout indicates that the Jewish com- munity is vitally interested in the well- being of Detroit." Red Wing wannabes Federation and the JCCouncil skate out the fantasy. planned the event after mailing invi- tations to top candidates last summer. Page 51 After the primaries, officials from the Jewish agencies reconfirmed that Mr. Archer and Ms. McPhail would ad- Contents on page 3 dress the Economic Forum, a group nside BUSINESS Selling Hollywood SPORTS Field Of Dreams