: : f." .4 ,W W"-ZAMS ,:W: r.MNVMNN%M. 41. Questions For Us All Many of us have more than four questions run- ning through our minds as we sit down for seder with friends and family Saturday night. It's al- most as if we wish the Haggadah was rewritten to have a space for contemporary questions, queries about issues in our lives or about the con- dition of the world. Will April 13 really be the beginning of peace between Israel and the Palestinians? Will Syria take an active role in regional stabilization? Will the killing of soldiers, civilians and children come to an end? On other fronts, we ask ourselves what hap- pens a year from now, five years from now when the euphoria of Schindler's List's Academy Awards domination is only a memory. How do we take the tidal wave of Holocaust interest generated by the movie and keep it going day to day? Other more soul-searching questions: When am I going to work on myself instead of finding relief in the problems of others? Passover is a time when we encourage our children to ask questions. We also should look at this as an opportunity to examine how the traditional four questions ap- ply to our lives. These are four possible attitudes toward life that are best illustrated by the story of the four sons; that of the wise son, who knows what to ask; the wicked one who refuses to ask even though he knows the question; the simple son, who knows the question but is indifferent; and the ignorant son, who doesn't know the ques- tion and is unable to ask. All of these questions can be a guide for us. They help us ask in our attempt to understand a He- bron massacre, a peace treaty, hunger in the world, and the good news of spiritual growth and the joy of being together as a family. Our exodus from Egypt has enabled us to ask these questions in a setting of freedom. We are free because we continue to ask the four ques- tions. Seeking those answers, those truths, according to the Bible, will keep us always free as individuals and as a people. They are ques- tions not just reserved for biblical times but for all times. Being together is wonderful. But understand that this is more than making a charoset sand- wich. It's more than getting through the Hag- gadah as quickly as possible. The questions. It's about the questions. Let the youngest ask them. But let the youngest also hear the oldest asking, as well. Letters Terrorism And Terrorism I am outraged at Baruch Gold- stein's deplorable actions. I con- demn the actions of Baruch Goldstein. However, they were the actions of one desperately ill and frustrated man. I do not buy into the collective guilt that The Jewish News portrayed in the March 4 issue. I do not understand how The Jewish News could not find space to even mention the four yeshiva students gunned down by Rashid Baz. One of these TH E D ET RO IT J EW IS H N EW S Paying For Day Schools, What Is The Answer? 4 The very moment our community asks, "How vi- able is the tradition of not denying any child a Jewish education?" is the moment we give our death notice as a people. But this is exactly what Hillel Day School, and perhaps other area religious schools, face as mounting costs for quality teachers and curric- ula drive the price of a Jewish education beyond reach for many families. Schools such as Hillel are not trumping up costs as a way of keeping anyone out. If costs are con- tinually cut back, there is less to pay good teach- ers, and the parents who complain about their child's education often will be the ones angry about tuition increases. Martin Gene, Hinds president, was besieged by concerned parents at a recent school meeting to discuss tuition increases. "For years," he said, "we were identified as a community school. But as the years have gone on, the definition of community has become a mis- nomer. The community doesn't support this school; the parents do." Mr. Gene went on to say that community shouldn't always be defined as the responsibility of Federation. The Conservative community, he said, should bear the responsibility for a Conser- vative day school, too. We agree that the Conservative movement should do a better, more complete job of fund rais- ing and support for its day schools. However, we also know that many Jews, be they Conservative, Reform or Orthodox, are so financially strapped by day-school costs that to ask for more is a form of strangulation. We witnessed two years ago as Yavneh Acad- emy, a Reform day school, closed with a lack of support from area temples and the Reform com- munity. Federation's role also cannot be blamed com- pletely. How many times in the recent past did Federation rescue Yeshiva Beth Yehudah from possible financial disaster? Still, Federation has to be part of the answer. Its recent decision to keep three more percentage points of the budget in this community instead of going to Israel is a good start. Let's hope it will re- visit that decision and take more aggressive ac- tion as soon as possible to invest even more dollars in local needs. Also, afternoon religious schools are seen by many as a viable alternative. For many families, this might be true. But there is no way to underestimate the value of a full-day's sub- mersion into Jewish issues, history, morals, Bible and Hebrew language. There has to be a way to come together, to take leadership and find ways of helping our fami- lies afford this choice. How many young men and women can credit their day-school education for their active, thriving Jewish lives? The answer: thousands. The number will diminish unless Federation, and all of the denominational communities, step forward, exchange ideas and work on a plan. Shame on all of us if we let politics and religious and personal differences get in our way now. Maybe Federation isn't responsible for coming up with all the money needed to make day schools affordable. But with its personnel and its re- sources, we suggest that it bring educational lead- ers together and plan this through with urgency and immediacy and be willing to shoulder more of the community's share of the cost. If our neighbors cannot afford day school in 1994, what will it be like in 1999? Who is going to be educated? Will it be a matter of socio-eco- nomics; or will it remain as our community founders saw it, as the right of every Jewish child? citizens of Germany (in the name of crime control, ala the Brady Bill). The settlers have been en- couraged to settle in these dis- puted "territories" by the Israeli government (whether these ac- tions were correct or not), and the fact is that it is an ex- tremely dangerous situation for these families. They are con- stantly exposed to the threat of death from Arabs' murderous actions that occur daily. To dis- arm these people would be to condemn them to death. I, more than anyone, want shalom for Israel once and for all, but I am objective enough to realize that good feelings, wishing, praying, or trust in God will not bring shalom. Now, more than ever, the old Roman axiom of "Let those who seek peace, prepare for war" must be adhered to, to insure the very existence of Israel. Karyn Wartel Farmington Hills Violating Kedushah Israeli Arabs march In prayer on March 14 in memory of the Hebron massacre. students has since died. Is this your idea of political correctness in reporting? (Just a eu- phemism for moral incorrect- ness). Are these students any less victims of terrorism than the victims in Hebron? Both of these atrocities were commit- ted by terrorists. Let's define our terms here. Terrorism is terrorism. I condemn terrorism in all of its forms, by whomev- er. I am offended by the wimp- ish babble of disarming the set- tlers! How can Jews support gun control in any form after what happened in Nazi Ger- many??! As the Warsaw Ghet- to Uprising unequivocally proves, the Holocaust never could have happened to an armed populace; and the first thing Hitler did was disarm the It was with great sadness that I read the article by Rabbi Alon Tolwin, "A 'Sensitive' Man Cries Out With Action" (March 4). I will grant Rabbi Tolwin's statement that those of us here in the United States can't imag- ine the daily pressures that ex- ist for our Jewish brethren living in Israel. However, his < shameless apologetics on behalf of a Jewish mass murderer can- not go unanswered. The bottom line is that this rabbi seems to be saying that there are times when we are al- lowed by Judaism to act in di- rect defiance of Jewish Halachah that forbids us to kill other human beings unless it is to save our own lives. Certain- ly this was not the case with a mosque filled with Moslems at prayer! Ironically, the act performed by the Jewish doctor was rem- iniscent of Amalek who at- tacked defenseless Hebrew women, children, sick and el- derly, and will forever be the symbol to Jews of supreme cow- ardice — this, taking place on VIOLATING page 8