ick your favorite controver-
sy and don't hold your
breath waiting for a unified
Jewish position. You know
the old maxim: Asking two Jews for
their views will elicit three differ-
ent opinions.
Multiply those two Jews by 48,000 and
what you'll get is Detroit's Jewish popu-
lation — an amalgam of 96,000 Ortho-
dox, Conservative, Reform, Recon-
structionist, Humanist, left-wing,
right-wing, pro-choice, pro-life, pro-you-
name-it Jews.
`The one word Pd come up with for De-
troit's Jewish community is diverse," said
Jewish Federation President David
Page. "It tends to be active rather than
passive. It's socially conscious. The vast
majority of its members probably would

agree on certain social issues and
wouldn't agree on many others."
Considering the diversity within the
community, where does politics fit in —
and should it? Literally hundreds of task
forces, committees, subcommittees, or-
ganizations, agencies and congregations
comprise the Jewish community. Which
ones speak for the Jews of Detroit on is-
sues like health care, education, gun con-
trol and abortion?
The National Council of Jewish
Women tackles issues pertinent to the
female constituency, so it might make
sense to consult that organization for the
Jewish view on abortion. But the open-
ly pro-choice stance of NCJW goes
against the grain of Orthodox Jews who
oppose abortion on a halachic basis. Tak-
ing this into account, can NCJW legiti-

mately say it is a Jewish organization?
NCJW President Ann Zousmer says yes.
"I don't think we base our stand on
Jewish law, but we do base it on Jewish
values, on respect for a woman's life, body
and privacy," she says.
The pro-choice stance — shared by
Hadassah, the Jewish Community Coun-
cil, Reform and Conservative rabbinic
groups and several other Jewish orga-
nizations — saddens Rabbi Elimelech .
Goldberg of Young Israel of Southfield,
an Orthodox congregation.
"It's my feeling that those 'Jewish'
groups that do not define themselves in
the context of a faith community are pre-
siding over a rapidly declining popula-
tion. It is an arrogance on their part to
assign themselves the title of spokesmen
for the Jewish community," he said.

!'"If their pronouncements on these
public issues are based upon the fact that
they have Jewish members — but are
unconnected to thousands of years of
Jewish law — then they cannot, in fact,
be representing Judaism, but rather a
mix of Jews who may have little to no
background on what Judaism has ever
stated regarding the issues."
Groups like the American Jewish
Committee, American Jewish Congress,
Anti-Defamation League and NCJW
counter such criticism with a two-
pronged response.
First, many of them do take into ac-
count Jewish law and history when form-
ing their positions. Some invite rabbis to
their meetings for consultations.
Second, many people say their groups
posture to represent none other than