RELATIONSHIPS page 8

Though many Diaspora Jews
have formed such bonds, this ex-
perience is far from universal.
Our foremost task is to create
more opportunities for North
American and Israeli Jews to
interact, and by doing so, freely
engage in meaningful cultural
exchange.
Herb Aronow
Southfield

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Your editorial encouraging peo-
ple to help build the Weinberg
Biblical Playground at the Jim-
my Prentis Morris Jewish Com-
munity Center was truly
appreciated.
You would have to search far
and wide to find a more incredi-
ble group of volunteers! Young
and old, skilled and novice, reli-
gious and non-observant worked
side by side to accomplish a com-
mon goal: to create a community
playground, The tireless efforts
and tremendous enthusiasm of
300 caring individuals and a won-
derful Center staff definitely ful-
filled the goal.
Thanks to all who assembled
structures, fed volunteers, and
cared for children. Their fantas-
tic efforts have given our com-
munity a "gem" that youngsters
will be able to enjoy for many
years to come.
Linda Lee and Todd Sachse
Playground co-chairs

Beth Adam
And The UAHC

Congregation Beth Adam's recent
application to become a member
of the Union of American Hebrew
Congregations (UAHC) generat-
ed a great deal of publicity and
no little amount of controversy.
While appreciating that Beth
Adam represents a form of Jew-
ish expression, the UAHC fo-
cused on the narrow question of
how to define Reform Judaism as
this century draws to a close.
Obviously, Beth Adam be-
lieved then and believes now that
it would have been preferable for
Reform Judaism, as embodied in
the UAHC, to define itself in such
a way so as to embrace Beth
Adam and similar liberal-mind-
ed congregations. However, as it
had a right to do, the UAHC
elected to limit the scope of Re-
form Judaism.
Based on this restricted scope
(the precise nature of which will
be subject to debate for years to
come), Beth Adam agrees that it
should not be included within the
UAHC and that the correct deci-
sion was made. We do not antic-
ipate a new application to the
UAHC in the foreseeable future.
Rather, Beth Adam will contin-
ue its journey independent of the
newly redefined UAHC.
It should be noted that in the

June 17 article titled "UAHC Re-
jects Application from Humanis-
tic Congregation," it incorrectly
stated that Beth Adam had been
affiliated with the Society for Hu-
manistic Judaism. Beth Adam
was never affiliated with the So-
ciety for Humanistic Judaism.
Congregation Beth Adam was
and remains an independent con-
gregation.
Beth Adam's application
sparked a vigorous and sol-
searching debate about the na-
ture of Judaism in general, the
nature of Reform Judaism in par-
ticular and the role of God and
prayer in contemporary Jewish
liturgy. We believe that the re-
cent high level of discussion was
mutually beneficial for all con-
cerned and hope that we can con-
tinue the dialogue on a local and
national level, based solely on the
ideas involved and not on the nar-
row question of UAHC member-
ship.
These recent events have
caused Beth Adam to reexamine
and recommit to the values and
beliefs that make us what we are.
We assume that other congrega-
tions have done likewise. The
process and the result have en-
ergized and reinvigorated us to
continue with our original mis-
sion of a more liberal form of wor-
ship that fuses Jewish tradition
and values with humanistic be-
liefs.
The philosophy of Congrega-
tion Beth Adam does not deny
the existence of God. Out of re-
spect for the individual, the con-
gregation does not seek to impose
a concept of God, does not seek to
reach agreement regarding such
a concept, nor does the congre-
gation assume that one must em-
ploy the term "God" to give
expression to one's deeply held
religious beliefs.
Our liturgy is created by and
is written for individuals who do
not presume a God who inter-
venes or manipulates the affairs
of this world. As part of the con-
gregation's effort to create an en-
vironment which allows for
individual expression of deeply
held religious beliefs, we have
chosen to employ language which
we view as expansive and inclu-
sive. We will continue to strive to
create meaningful and fulfilling
Jewish liturgy that reflects these
beliefs.
William R. Jacobs
President
Robert B. Barr
Rabbi

Letters Policy

Letters must be typewritten,
double-spaced, and include the
name, home address, daytime
phone number and signature of
the writer.
Brief letters (less than a page),
arriving by noon Tuesday, will
be given preference.

