7 50

THE

DETROIT

SH NEWS

10 TEVET 5754/DECEMBER 24, 1993

Seeing A Movement's Change
From A Post Of Authority

Spielberg's Triumph

PHIL JACOBS EDITOR

"Schindler's List" comes to the screen.

SchindlerTaps Into Memory

LESLEY PEARL STAFF WRITER

skar Schindler
was a woman-
izer, an alco-
holic, a
manipulator.
He also Saved
the lives of
1,300 Jews dur-
ing World War IL
To Sid Bolkosky, Mr.
Schindler is an enigma.
Professor Bolkosky, a
University of Michigan-
Dearborn instructor and
author of the Holocaust
curriculum "Life
Unworthy of Life," recent-
ly traveled to New York to
learn more about the man.
He sat among Holocaust
survivors, their children

"Schindler"

and a handful of newspa-
per reporters, previewing
Steven Spielberg's latest
endeavor, Schindler's List,
which opens tomorrow in
Detroit.
Based on the historical
fiction novel of the same
name ' by Thomas
Keneally, Schindler's List
is the true story of a
German man who,
through his cunning and
business sense, came to
save the lives of Jews by
employing them.in his fac-
tory, claiming they were
necessary for the war ef-
fort.
"I was completely taken
by surprise. I didn't think

Spielberg could make a
movie so uncompromising
about the Holocaust,"
Professor Bolkosky said.
"The tone was set early in
the film. And it wasn't E.T
Meets the Holocaust as I
feared.
"You never knew when
terror would strike, but
you knew that it would.
Such unimaginable, gra-
tuitous violence. The
killings — these people
don't antiseptically roll
over and die. They're
blown apart."
Professor Bolkosky said
the movie is true to the

SCHIMILER page 8

everal years ago, might have been unclear, now there's a
Dr. Mark Smiley, definite sense of spirituality. Indeed, Dr.
the Hillel Day Smiley talked about the urgency his
School headmas- staff of teachers, both male and female,
ter, talked about have to pick up continuing education in
the need for spiri- areas such as Torah and tefilah (prayer).
tuality to play
"The Schechter movement itself is
more of a role in 30 years old," he said. "We've come into
the Conservative home. It wasn't some- our own as a movement in the last 10
thing just learned each day in school, years. There are many ways in which
but it was a part of Jewish continuity we can tell that the news is positive.
that was most important
when taught by parents.
That message will now gain
a national audience as Dr.
Smiley takes office as the
president of the Solomon
Schechter Day Schools
Principals Council, an um-
brella organization that in-
cludes some 70 schools and
20,000 students in North
America. Dr. Smiley becomes
the organization's sixth pres-
ident since the group was
formed 12 years ago.
He received the appoint-
ment recently at the
Schechter School of
Westchester, N.Y., the school
where he once taught courses
in computer science and in
Mishnah. As part his duties,
Dr. Smiley will also sit on the
Jewish Theological Seminary
Chancellor's Cabinet.
"My role is to further the
agenda of community day
school education," said Dr.
Smiley. "At our recent confer-
ence we spent time talking Dr. Mark Smiley: Seeing a difference.
about the future of
Conservative day schools and the
"One way is in our national enroll-
Conservative movement. It's this rela- ment. So many people, who are driven
tionship that we're working on, this re- by careers, will only move to a specific
lationship that we need to understand city if they know that there is a
fully if we're to understand our mission Schechter school there. There's a conti-
as Conservative educators."
nuity about these schools now. If you go
That mission seems to have changed from Baltimore to Detroit to Atlanta
in recent years, he said. Where once the
mission of the Conservative educator MOVEMENT page 10

Redevelopment

A New Generation

Spielberg creates
.movie triumph.

Archer excites
business leaders.

Young women learn maj
from their predecessors.

Page 40

Page 24

Page 77