Tribute To B'nai David
After 102 years of service to the Detroit Jewish
community, B'nai David is to be no more. By
Tuesday, the Southfield synagogue must leave
its facilities and move into a temporary office.
The congregation voted last Sunday to pursue
a merger with Congregation B'nai Moshe in West
Bloomfield.
The closure of B'nai David carries with it a
mixture of feelings. As the futures of other South-
field-based facilities, such as Beth Achim, are
weighed, hopefully we won't be looking at the
consummation of the predicted Jewish move-
ment out and away.
While Shaarey Zedek remains a beautiful and
solid anchor in Southfield, it would still be a
shame if it were one of the few remaining Jew-
ish institutional addresses in town.
We encourage the Federation to take a proac-
tive approach in studying the viability of South-
field's Jewish future. There are organizations,
some that haven't stepped forward, who would
still consider the area a place to locate if they
had the support of the organized community.
Organizations such as the Sephardic com-
munity, which uses Beth Achim facilities for ser-
vices, should be courted to buy land in Southfield.
Organizations such as Young Israel of South-
field and Akiva Hebrew Day School should also
understand that the community is behind a long-
term commitment.
On Monday evening, the Southfield City Coun-
cil voted its approval of Yeshiva Beth Yehudah's
renovations at the Lincoln Road facility. It's this
sort of municipal effort combined with commu-
nal overtures that will go a long way to keep
Southfield Jewishly alive.
B'nai David's memory should be more than a
bronze plaque on the outside of another syna-
gogue's building. Its memory should be kept alive
by a strong Jewish presence in the same area
that it considered home for so many years. De-
troit is full of former synagogue buildings now
used as churches and other facilities. In the sub-
urbs, the tour of former synagogues should end
with the B'nai David building. That's the best
tribute we can give.
Doubting Arafat
Its getting tougher to maintain hope in the desire
and/or ability of the PLO to hold up its end of its
peace accord with Israel.
The situation in the autonomous areas is
chaotic, particularly in Gaza, and terrorists —
including the killers of two IDF soldiers last Fri-
day — have been fleeing into areas ostensibly
controlled by Palestinian police. But instead of
seeking to build confidence, PLO Chairman
Yassir Arafat prefers to engage in rhetorical
excess. The latest example of this was his recent
South Africa talk in which he spoke of ajihad (a
phrase he has used in the past to mean a holy
war) for Jerusalem and the Prophet Muham-
mad's abrogation of a seventh-century peace
agreement. Even Israel's dovish environmental
minister, Yossi Sarid, said Mr. Arafat's words
have precipitated a "crisis of confidence."
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Its time for Israel to tighten the screws. Prime
Minister Yitzhak Rabin has said, through a
spokesman, that although negotiations would
continue, further implementation of the home-
rule agreement may not go into effect until the
PLO proves it can manage Gaza and Jericho.
This includes ending terrorist attacks against
Israelis that emanate from the autonomous
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areas. Indeed, that should be Israel's minimum
response.
Mr. Arafat's comments about the Prophet
Muhammad and jihad — his belated protesta-
tions notwithstanding — must be taken on face
value because the PLO chairman is a sophisti-
cated politician who uses language with clear
intent. His intent here, it seems increasingly
apparent, is to keep alive the Arab/Muslim
dream of destroying Israel while he negotiates
with Israeli leaders for whatever he can get.
We do not now advocate breaking off the peace
process in its entirety. Too much has been
invested and it could still succeed. But it's time
for Israel to get a lot tougher and to make Pales-
tinians understand that they will achieve nothing
more unless the violence -- both actual and
rhetorical — ends.
Land for peace is a cruel hoax if there is no
peace. Likewise, words are more than letters
strung together. They have meaning by which
people live their lives. Mr. Arafat needs to begin
speaking more about peaceful co-existence and
to drop his talk of holy war and breaking treaties.
If this does not soon happen, continuing to
maintain hope in the correctness of the Israeli-
Palestinian peace process will become impossible.
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Letters
Aldrich Ames
Vs. Jonathan Pollard
On the surface, the cases of
Aldrich H. Ames and Jonathan
Pollard appear to have striking
parallels. Both were convicted of
espionage-related activities and
received sentences of life impris-
onment. However, a closer ex-
amination reveals extreme
differences between the Ames
and Pollard situations. Several
American agents were said to
have been killed or to have dis-
appeared as a result of Ames' ac-
tivities. No one is believed to have
been hurt due to Jonathan Pol-
lard's transmission of informa-
tion to Israel.
Obviously Pollard assisted a
friendly power, Israel, in great
danger from Iraq and other coun-
tries, while Ames aided an ad-
versary of the United States (the
former USSR), which was not in
any peril.
Ames accepted huge sums of
money; what Pollard was given
by Israel barely covered his ex-
penses. Everyone seems to agree
that Pollard acted out of deep
moral concern, as opposed to the
substantial mercenary motiva-
tion of Aldrich Ames.
Beyond this we must remem-
ber that Jonathan Pollard was
obliged to spend extended peri-
ods of time in solitary confine-
ment and in a mental hospital,
despite the lack of proof con-
cerning a psychiatric illness re-
quiring such treatment. It is very
doubtful that Ames will meet a
similar fate.
Based upon these considera-
tions, more than ever Jonathan
Pollard's punishment appears to
be excessive and disproportion-
al. This being the case, a fresh re-
view of Mr. Pollard's sentence
should be immediately begun.
Dr. Larry R. Berkower
David L Berkower
Leon Trotsky
And The Bronx
born in 1879 in Yanovka,
Ukraine. As far as I know, he
never set foot in the U.S.A.
On the other hand, he had a
younger first cousin, also born
Lev Bronstein, who did emigrate
to our shores where he assumed
the more American-sounding
name, Lew Brown.
He was the Brown of the song-
writing team of DeSylva, Brown
and Henderson, creators of such
great American standards as
"Birth of the Blues," "The Best
Things in Life Are Free," "Good
News," "It All Depends on You,"
and enough others to fill the rest
of this page.
Rudy Simons
Bloomfield Hills
Editor's note: The story should
have said that Leon Trotsky lived
briefly in the Bronx, at 1522 Vyse
Ave., in 1917. He resided there
while publishing a Manhattan
newspaper. The rent was $18 a
month.
K
Albert Einstein:
Nobel is relative.
Einstein
And Relativity
In the Tell Me Why feature May
13, you incorrectly write that Al-
bert Einstein received the Nobel
Regarding the last item of "Home Prize for the "Theory of Rela-
Sweet Home" in the Round Up
feature May 13, "Leon Trotsky tivity."
Einstein was awarded the
was born at 1522 Vyse Avenue Nobel Prize in physics in 1921 for
in the Bronx.":
his work concerning the photo-
I believe you will find that Lev electric effect. His theories of
Davidovich Bronstein (later tak-
ing the name Leon Trotsky) was EINSTEIN page 8