Michigan Jewish AIDS Coalition CAUCUS page 103 and Hospice of Southeastern Michigan r":„Vi in cooperation with The Jewish News and Jewish Community Center The MICHIGAN JEWISH AIDS COALITION was formed to help the Jewish community understand the HIV virus and its ramifications, We are here to help those whose lives have been touched by the disease. Join us at our series of educational forums. Learn the facts. Learn how to help. present EVEN IN THE BEST OF FAMILIES... A Forum on End of Life Decisions Sunday, October 17, 1993 2-4 p.m. with guest speaker Dr. John Finn Medical Director, Hospice of Southeastern Michigan Jimmy Prentis Morris Jewish Community Center 15100 W. 10 Mile, Oak Park For further information call Rachel Satz at the JCC, 967-4030, or call MJAC, 356-2123. Watch for our next two programs: Sexuality -- It Takes All Kinds, Feb. 6, 1994 Family Life Issues -- Living with HIV/AIDS, April 27, 1994 EAT WELL EAT SMART EAT KOSHER AND FOR THE FINEST OF KOSHER PRODUCTS Look for this emblem and be a name select kosher products which are not a number by shopping at a certified kosher by a recognized member market of the Detroit area Orthodox rabbinical council Retail Kosher Meat Dealers as required by, and in full compliance Association who sells only the finest of with, the law of the State of Michigan. EMPIRE FRESH CHICKEN BREAST WITH WINGS EMPIRE FRESH '2.5911b. BONELESS & SKINLESS TURKEY BREAST TENDERS U.S.D.A. CHOICE KOSHER BONELESS CHUCK ROAST '2.89/1b. These Specials Exclusively A t... STORE HOURS: COHEN'S KOSHER MEAT & POULTRY MARKET Sunday 8:30-5:00 6734 Orchard Lake Road, near Maple Monday - Thursday 9:00 - 6:00 in the West Bloomfield Plaza, West Bloomfield Friday 9:30 - 3:00 PHONE 932-3930 & 932-3931 OUR FAMILY HAS BEEN SERVING THE JEWISH COMMUNITY FOR OVER 70 YEARS, MICHAEL COHEN, OWNER-OPERATOR Established 1920 104 SUNDAY, OCTOBER 17th through FRIDAY, OCTOBER 22nd • communities, we will sup- port the efforts of anyone committed to the restoration of hope through self-help and self-empowerment, while at the same time reserving the right to disagree on other matters of policy and princi- ple," the caucus chairman said. "We must at least try to find new solutions to old problems," he added. "We can only do that by reducing the rhetoric and reaching out and mutually respecting others' religions, cultures and sensitivities." A source close to the con- gressman said he was at- tempting to build a bridge between the Nation of Islam and the Jewish community. Meanwhile, the American Jewish Congress has criticized other Jewish groups for pressing Mr. Mfume on the Farrakhan issue. "It is up to (the caucus) to decide who they wish to as- sociate with, and if they want Minister Farrakhan around their able, that is their decision," Henry Siegman, the group's ex- ecutive director, said in a Sept. 28 statement. "They understand us well enough to know that we will not sit down at a table with Mr. Farrakhan, who be- lieves that Judaism is a `gutter religion,' " said Mr. Siegman. "If our inability to come to a table at which Mr. Farrakhan is sitting is not a problem for the Black Caucus, so be it." Abraham Foxman, na- tional director of the ADL, who met with Mr. Mfume on Sept. 29, said, "We agreed not to make a litmus test of our relationship but to con- tinue to see how things de- velop in the weeks and mon- ths ahead." Efforts are under way to organize a broader coalition of groups other than Jewish ones that would find it difficult to work with the black caucus as long as it embraced Mr. Farrakhan. Rabbi Lynne Landsberg, associate director of the Reform movement's Re- ligious Action Center, ap- proached gay and lesbian rights groups, women's groups and abortion rights groups, all of which have been maligned by Mr. Far- rakhan in the past. While all expressed inter- est in joining such a coali- tion, they have not yet pur- sued the matter, said Rabbi Landsberg. One issue underlying the discussions between Mr. Mfume and the Jewish groups was lingering resentment against Jews in the black community over the fact that Mr. Farrakhan was not invited to take part in the mass civil rights mar- ch in Washington two mon- ths ago. Mr. Farrakhan and others in the black community, in- cluding Wilbert Tatum, editor in chief and publisher of New York City's pre- eminent black newspaper, the Amsterdam News, have accused Rabbi David Sapers- tein of "forcing" march or- ganizers to dis- invite the Nation of Islam leader. Rabbi Saperstein, who has worked his entire life on behalf of civil rights for blacks and Jews, is director of the Religious Action Center. He is also the only repre- sentative of a Jewish organ- ization on the boards of di- rectors of the National Association for the Ad- vancement of Colored Peo- ple, the Leadership Con- ference on Civil Rights and various other civil rights groups. Rabbi Saperstein, who was also the only representative of a Jewish organization on AJC has criticized other Jewish groups for pressing Mr. Mfume on the Farrakhan issue. the civil rights march organ- izing committee, drafted a "confidential and personal" letter to the organizers describing the planned in- vitation to Mr. Farrakhan as "a devastating blow to the solidarity of the coalition." The letter was addressed to the Rev. Jesse Jackson, Coretta Scott King and Ben- jamin Chavis, executive di- rector of the NAACP. But it was leaked to the press and published, with Rabbi Saperstein's office and home telephone numbers, by the Amsterdam. News on Oct. 2. His letter was described by Mr. Farrakhan's newspaper, the Final Call, in a Sept. 22 article, whose headline blared: "Negro Leaders Bow to Jewish Pressure; Ban on Min. Farrakhan from March on Washington." During remarks at the black caucus Leadership Weekend, Chavis of the NAACP called it "a mistake" to exclude Mr. Farrakhan from the civil rights march. ❑