750
DETROIT
JEWISH NE"'
29 TAMMUZ 5754/JULY 8, 1994
Agencies Fear Cutbacks
Lower AJCampaign may affect local programs.
ALAN HITSKY ASSOCIATE EDITOR
PHIL JACOBS EDITOR
on't sell summer short. Yeah, it's hot. It's sweaty. It's humid. It's
polluted. It's the dog days and sometimes it's the pits. But, it
does have some redeeming qualities: Barbecues. Pools.
Summer camp. Trips to the beach and jaunts to the moun-
tains. Gallons of lemonade, buckets of ice cream — and time to
swing in hammocks or spread out in chaise lounges with a well-
crafted, finely parsed, powerful, gripping, compelling book.
(But not one that's too thoughtful. After all, it issummer.) Ever
since we first learned the Euro-American rhythms of life —
school from September
to June, goof off from
June through August —
we've saved summer for
freeing our minds from
the more disciplined
tethers that tie it down
the rest of the year. Yet,
in any time of year — and especially in summer — books are a
fine way to pass the time; to be entertained, informed, inspired,
transfixed; to enter another time or another place or someone
else's thought patterns and see the world through a whole new
lens, whether it's rose-colored or crystal clear.
if2j
COOL
READING
STORY ON PAGE 38
ocal agency executives
"Yes, our enrollment moved from 1,500
last week expressed to 1,900 in two years, which is amaz-
grave concern about ing," said Mr. Finkelberg. "The money
pending program cuts in we spent on programming, facilities and
the wake of Allied
upgrading infras-
Jewish Campaign
tructure helped us
allocations adopt-
run a more efficient
ed by the Jewish
camp, as did the
Federation board
pricing structure.
of governors.
"But we can not
Officials of the Fresh Air Society
afford the cut we
and Jewish Community Council,
took from Fed-
which received lower allocations
eration."
than last year, and the Jewish
Mr. Finkelberg
Family Service, which received an
believes the $60,000
increase, said funding support from
reduction will force
the Campaign will not sustain cur-
the closing of the
rent programs.
camps' Horizons
The Campaign raised $23.2 mil-
program for special-
lion this year, compared to $23.7
needs children and
in 1993. The Federation board vot-
its Mitzvah pro-
ed weeks ago to reduce overall al-
gram on Shabbat.
locations to Israel and other
Other program
overseas recipients by 1 percent in
cuts might come
each of the next three years. Those Peter Al ter: Priority setting.
from Jewish identi-
allocations are being reduced from
ty trips to Israel for
$13.9 million in 1993 to $13.4 million this supervisors, and general scholarship as-
year, more than 1 percent.
sistance for campers.
While local allocations are going up,
"One-third of our campers are on schol-
from $8,367,262 to $8,405,071, or a CUTBACKS
page 8
total of $37,809, four day schools are re-
ceiving $135,000 in increases. This means
other local agencies, with some variations,
will have hold-the-line or decreased bud-
gets for the second or third consecutive
year.
In spite of praise from Federation for
record enrollments and new programming
at Tamarack Camps, Fresh Air Society
Executive Director Harvey Finkelberg
was upset that its allocation was reduced
from last year's $460,000 to $400,000.
What's Behind
Rabbi's Touch?
When a kiss results in a
violation of trust.
Inside
Loss Leader
A new weight-loss program _
in supermarkets. Page 28
AROUND TOWN
Work And Play
Playground from scratch
in just two days. Page 94
Contents on page 3
PHIL JACOBS EDITOR
Detroit area rabbi pleads "no con-
test" to assault and battery charges
after being accused of sexually
touching a woman.
Another Detroit rabbi is stalked by a
female community member.
A youth group adviser is remembered
more for his pedophilia than his contri-
butions to Jewish continuity.
On the West Coast, a man contracts to.
have his wife murdered because she is
having an affair with a rabbi.
It's a warm, spring evening in Detroit.
It could be any event for any Jewish or-
ganization. Along with the open bar and
hors d'oeuvres are handshakes, hugs and
kisses. Rabbis and community leaders
hug their friends, and more often than
not offer a kiss on the lips or the cheek.
More and more, rabbis and commu-
nity leaders are offering the kisses and
even the hugs with reluctance. It's not
A
TOUCH page 18