NicE Tb Be

DI SC OVERED AFTER
ALL "MS TIME

Mayoral Interest Returns
To Jewish Community

In many major cities across the country, it is
not unusual for the mayor to have a working
relationship with the local Jewish communi-
ty.
It was, therefore, refreshing Monday to see
Detroit mayoral candidates Dennis Archer and
Sharon McPhail square off at the Federation's
Economic Forum.
There are precious few ties between the Jew-
ish community and Coleman Young's admin-
istration. There are, however, very few Jews
who call the city of Detroit home. While many
Detroit area Jews have deeply rooted connec-
tions and wonderful memories of life in the
city, we are mostly tied to the city through
business.
Still, this suburban Jewish community
would love nothing more than to see a strong,
vibrant and revitalized Detroit. We look around
the nation and we've observed other cities re-
build themselves with economic opportunities
and housing for their residents. In some of

those cities, Jews don't just make the city a
place to work or to catch a ballgame or play;
but they also have moved back.
While that doesn't seem to be on the imme-
diate horizon for Detroit, real connections with
both of these candidates have already hap-
pened. And for those who have become some-
what saddened by the deterioration of their
once proud city over the years, it must have
been music to their ears to hear both candi-
dates greet them in Hebrew.
With tremendous amounts of work to be
done in this largely Afro-American city, the is-
sue of black and Jewish relations might not be
on the front burner now. However, both can-
didates should know that by taking time to ap-
pear out of Detroit, in Southfield, they went a
long way to heighten the dialogue.
There's excitement in the Jewish communi-
ty about the mayoral election in Detroit. That
hasn't happened in years. It's great to see.

Letters

Adele Silver
Will Be Missed

We were shocked to read in The
Jewish News (Sept. 17) that
Adele Silver was suddenly re-
moved as cultural arts director
of the Jewish Community Cen-
ter.
One of the grandest events
on the calendar will occur Nov.
7-14, the annual Jewish Book
Fair. It was chiefly through

Halachah
And Peace

Realigning Our Priorities
During The Succot Season

We've all had an opportunity to pray, to repent
and to prepare ourselves for a year of good
health and happiness.
Our only hope is that what we all worked so
hard for doesn't end there, but instead is just
a beginning. The days of Sukkot are here. We
have an opportunity to experience autumn's
coolness and color, and to connect even further
with the traditions of our ancestors.
Those traditions, like the ones we observe
during the High Holidays, are for everyone.
Too many of us choose to stop building our
sukkot or even visiting the one at synagogue
or temple when the children grow. Sukkot is
not just a holiday for the children, it's for every
Jew. It's also a time when, by eating meals
in our sukkot and, for some, living in the
sukkah, we come to a better understanding of
our priorities. Sometimes it takes simplicity
to shake us from the phone calls, the faxes, the
work schedules and the impersonal nature that
life can take.
We can forget the true meaning of the sym-
bols, the prayers. Yes, it's important to have a

,
WE

SUKKOT! THE
HoLIDAV
ARE SaPosEt>
-1-0 SIT IN FoHscy

ED

goal of adherence to Jewish laws and customs.
But while learning those laws, it should be im-
portant that we understand the messages
handed down by those laws.
Proper orders of prayers and appropriate
ways to build a sukkah are blueprints of spir-
ituality for us all. Equally important is mak-
ing sure that our neighbors have food on their
table. Properly holding the lulav and etrog is
vital, but so is nurturing our children. Fasting
is critical, but so is calling an estranged rela-
tive and asking for forgiveness.
The letter of Jewish law can be hollow if we
don't look beyond the ceremony and see that
it is for our own continuity.
A great modern rabbi once said that he
brought many people to learn the joys of Yid-
dishkeit through friendships and a pot of
cholent.
We need one another. Our hope and prayer
during this Sukkot season is that we realign
our priorities and learn that compassion and
understanding goes a long way when it's hand
in hand with the prayers and customs.

ten by Albert I. Ascher.
Mr. Ascher points out that
the leaders of the Jewish Fed-
eration, in spite of increased
revenue over last year, have de-
cided to "turn their backs" on
those defined as "populations
at risk" in our Jewish commu-
nity.
I would question, along with
Mr. Ascher and others, the wis-
dom and the "heart" in the
choices made by our community
leaders who indeed have the
means to assist these most vul-
nerable of our people and
choose not to do so.
Arlene Goldberg
Bloomfield Township

Adele Silver

Adele Silver's efforts that the
Jewish Book Fair became the
community and financial suc-
cess story that resulted in its
position among the leaders in
the country. Many authors
claim it is the best and strive to
be invited to speak.
Adele Silver is the one per-
son to call when other commu-
nities start up their own book
fairs. Ann Arbor, Flint and
Windsor now have annual book
fairs begun with her advice and
help.
It will be strange, to say the
least, that Detroit's Jewish
Book Fair will lack Adele Sil-
ver's proven, longtime accom-
plishments.
Mr. and Mrs. Irwin T.
Holtzman
West Bloomfield

Who Should
Be Helped?

I read with great interest and
wish to underscore the Sept. 10
letter to The Jewish News writ-

Reasonable people can differ
about the consequences of the
recent agreements between the
State of Israel and the PLO.
But Rabbi Elimelech Silber-
berg's passionate condemnation
(Sept. 17) of the agreement is
misleading on several counts.
The Chabad movement to
which he belongs was mili-
tantly anti-Zionist well into the
20th century, but now appar-
ently has "done teshuva" and is
super-hawkish. As we say in
Yiddish, "A geborener iz erger
fun a geborener" (A convert is
always more zealous than one
born into the faith, as Lubav-
itcher know well).
The Lubavitcher Rebbe, who
has never set foot in the Jewish
state, urged the disastrous in-
vasion of Lebanon in 1982.
Now, he (or those who speak in
his name) has set the "party
line" in opposition to the Israeli-
PLO agreement. When Rabbi
Silberberg says that "some of
the greatest halachic authori-
ties of our time have prohibit-
ed the return of the land to the
Palestinians," I presume he has
his "Rebbe" in mind.
Whether or not his Rebbe is
the Messiah — it depends on
which Lubavitcher you speak
to — other halachic authorities,
including former Sefardi Chief
Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, Rabbis
Aharon Lichtenstein and Yehu-
d a Amital of the Har Etzion
yeshiva (whore students serve
in the IDF, unlike most Lubav-

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