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The case involves action by the State of New York setting up a special public school dis- trict for Kiryas Joel, an enclave of the Satmar Chasidic group in Orange County northwest of 2 Days Only • December 18 & 19 Saturday 10-6, Sunday 12-5 eleoanza boutique West Bloomfield Location Only Robin's Nest Park 7415 Orchard Lake Rd. • West Bloomfield 737 2666 - Mon. - Sat. 10-6, Thurs. 10-8 We accept Visa, MasterCard and Discover Nathan Lewin Savings reptewtit 20% off manufacturer's suggested retail. AVA I LA B LE .4 THESE OCA T/ONS ON!, /: West Bloomfield • (313) 737-8080 • Orchard Mall • Orchard Lake & 15 Mile Ann Arbor • (313) 761 - 10112. The Colminade • Just outside 1ti i;irwond Mall Lisenhower Livonia • (313) :, 22-185() • IVIcrii-Five l'Ioz,t • Five Mile & Mci i mum Novi • (313) 3.49-8090 • Novi Town ('enter • Novi Okemos • (517) 3 - 19 - 411111; • RIciRliali Midi • l'/ S2 (1,11),11:ivci Sterling Heights • ( )1;1 2 - 17 - S111 Commons • 1.2 mile .111,111.1vc, But Israeli officials, who had previously pushed for a more active role by Washington, do not favor American interven- tion in their talks with Pales- New York City. The district was created to allow the Satmar group to operate its own special education facilities, with public funding. But that action was over- turned by a New York state ap- peals court earlier this year, which ruled that the state's ac- tion was really intended to meet the special religious needs of the Jewish group. And that, the court ruled, would violate the so-called Lemon test — the benchmark against which the Supreme Court has evaluated church- state cases in recent years, a standard that has generally strengthened the church-state wall. Aside from the details of the case — which involves real chil- dren with serious problems, not just abstract legal principles — the Court's decision to hear the case could lead to a reexamina- tion or a scrapping of the Lemon test, something a few justices have been edging toward in re- cent years. The Lemon test lays down strict rules for judging a gov- ernment practice in terms of church-state suitability: To pass the test, a government practice must have some secular pur- pose, it must not have the "pri- mary effect" of advancing a re- ligion — and it must not lead to excessive government entan- glement with religion. "We invited the Court in our petition to kill [the Lemon test]," said Nathan Lewin, a legal ad- vocate for Orthodox causes who is representing the Chasidic school district. "It causes a lot of confusion in lower courts, and it should not apply in cases of this kind." The appeals court's ruling that the special school district resulted in a "symbolic union" between church and state, Mr. Lewin argued, demonstrated how Lemon has caused inde- fensible decisions in lower courts. He also cited a recent New Jersey Supreme Court decision striking down a state kosher food law based on their reading of the legal benchmark. "As long as the Lemon-Kurtzman test is on the books, the courts will be applying it in these very strange ways," he said. "So we think it's best that it's done away with." But others see just a Pando- ra's box of constitutional hor- rors. "Lemon has worked very well, from our perspective," said Michael Lieberman, associate director and counsel for the Anti-Defamation League's Washington office. ADL filed a brief in opposition to the school district in the New York court action, and expects to do the same when the Supreme Court hears the case, probably in March. "It is an understandable standard. From our perspective, any change in the Lemon stan- dard could be very dangerous in terms of church-state law." Christopher To Mideast With Secretary of State War- ren Christopher back in the Middle East for more shuttle diplomacy, both Jerusalem and Washington are wondering what America's role should be in the troubled negotiations over implementing the Sept. 13 Israeli-PLO accord. The Clinton administration is eager to help clear away the last obstacles to Israel's pullout from Gaza and Jericho, sched- uled to begin Dec. 13 despite Is- raeli warnings that there might be a delay. Warren Christopher tinian and PLO officials. But they also recognize that politi- cal factors make intervention almost irresistible for the ad- ministration. "The Americans' domestic agenda makes them want to be in the talks at this time," said a source close to the talks. "They see the possibility of some fair- ly easy political profit. But they also think they can be genuinely helpful. So their motives are mixed." Israeli leaders have told Washington about their posi- tion, while making it clear that they will not turn any new me- diation effort by Mr. Christo- pher and his Mideast team into an issue. On the eve of the secretary's departure, State Department officials seemed unusually op- timistic that the visit might break the impasse on the Syri- an-Israeli front. They were less optimistic about progress on the Arab boycott, although Mr. Christopher promised to raise the issue in his meetings with Syria's President Hafez Assad. This week, several members of Congress led by Rep. Elliot Engel, D-N.Y., Rep. Chuck Schume, D-N.Y., and Rep. Ben Gilman, R-N.Y., also pressed Mr. Christopher to renew his pleas on behalf of Syrian Jews. Redefine Israel Ties On top of trying to keep U.S. Jews up-to-date on the many details of the Mideast peace process, Israel's embassy in Washington is moving quietly on an even more ambitious agenda: Trying to redefine the relationship between Israel and