III ■ ■ ■ III ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ II ■ ■ ■ ■ 111 ■ ■ •III IN ■ ■ III ■ ■ • ■ ■ ■ III ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ IN Ill III ■ IN ■ III ■ III ■ II ■ ■ ■ III • • ■ ■ Ill R im YOUR LANGUAGE WE SPEAK 1 1. • • Uri Regev's Letter Comes Under Fire 4 %0 WM ass SUNDAY JEWISH PROGRAMMING SCHEDULE Noah's World TV - This program was designed to acquaint the 9:30 - 10:00 AM American public with a true picture of Israel, the land, its people, business, technology and science. Isravision - A variety talk show featuring music performance and 11:00 - 12:00 PM dancing in Hebrew. Freebee - A talk show hosted by journalists from Israel and the 12:00 - 2:00 PM U.S. Topics include politics, culture, art and related issues concerning Israeli Life, and the relationship between the Israeli and American community in the U.S. Talkline with Zev Brenner - Features in-depth interviews with 2:00 - 3:00 PM community leaders, artists and sports celebrities from both Israel and the United States. Moshiach In The Air - This weekly program features debates 3:00 - 3:30 PM with Rabbis' journalists and celebrities dealing with Jewish Messianism. Hosted by Rabbi Shmuel Butman. TIM : p CHANNEL 32 Continental Cablevision® INTERNATIONAL CHANNEL NETWORK Discover Ware Beauty aft LEVIN'S BEAUTY SUPPLY Discover our incredible selection of hard to find fragrances, exclusive cosmetics, beauty supplies and accessories. Regular $80 SAMSARA eau de parfum 2.5 Tester 50% OFF New Fragrances • Dolce & Gabbana • "Tocade" by Rochas • Sun-Moon-Stars by Lagerfeld • Angel • Lalique • Jean Paul Gaultier • Issey Miyake (Men & Women) • Donna Karan • Catalyst For Men • Champagne C/) LU Cr) LU 1-- CC F- LU LU Reg. $35.00 Ysatis 3.4 oz. EDT Spray Only $39.95 Bijan 1 oz. Parfum Spray Only $24.99 Detroit "s Original Discounter LEVIVS BEAUTY SUPPLY West Bloomfield 54 Reg. $65.00 OPEN 7 DAYS Oak Park - • 547 9669 Orchard Lake Road In The West E. oinfield Plaza 24695 Coolidge At 10 Mile Road • 851 7323 - Jerusalem (JrA) - Uri Regev, a civil rights activist and Reform rabbi, has come under fire for a letter he wrote a year ago to a Canadian lawyer attesting to in- stances of alleged religious dis- crimination against intermarried couples in Israel. The letter was solicited from Rabbi Regev to help determine whether a particular family of im- migrants to Israel from the for- mer Soviet Union could be granted refugee status in Cana- da on grounds of religious dis- crimination in Israel. The incident follows headline news last summer that hundreds of Israeli immigrants from the former Soviet Union had been ad- mitted to Canada as refugees based on claims of religious dis- crimination here. Canadian government officials have since responded to Israeli diplomatic protests by claiming powerlessness. They say the board governing immigration and refugees is an independent body. In his letter of November 1993 on behalf of the Grosman family, who had applied for refugee sta- tus in Canada, Rabbi Regev con- cluded, "The situation of the family in Israel would be truly undesirable and demeaning and would deprive them of basic civ- il and human rights." The husband, Yuri Grosman, is Jewish and his wife, Olga, is not. Rabbi Regev is the director of the Religious Action Center in Is- rael, which, among other things, runs advocacy centers through- out the country for new immi- grants. He is also an attorney and key legal combatant, working through the High Court of Jus- tice, against the monopoly of the Orthodox establishment over re- ligious affairs in Israel. The letter has laid Rabbi Regev open to charges that he is hurting Israel, Zionism and the Reform movement. - The furor arose last week af- ter the Israeli daily Ha'aretz ob- tained a copy of Rabbi Regev's letter with the names of the in- dividual family deleted. The let- ter was apparently being used as a form letter by other Israeli im- migrants attempting to gain refugee status in Canada. Rabbi Regev, who has been aware for several months that the letter was being reissued without his authorization, said he had no idea who made such "unautho- rized and improper use" of his let- ter. He protested its misuse in a letter to the Grosmans' attorney in Canada several months ago. In the letter, he protested "in the strongest of terms all unautho- rized use of these modified let- ters" and demanded their "immediate cessation." Despite his concern that the letter was being misused, Rabbi Regev said he stands by the orig- inal letter, which was written Nov. 15, 1993, to an Ontario lawyer in response to an inquiry about possible religious discrim- ination in Israel against the Gros- mans and their daughter, Alissa. In that letter, Rabbi Regev wrote that "harassment" against mixed marriages, "especially in particularly Jewish neighbor- hoods, is quite prevalent." "Beyond the fact of intoler- ance," he wrote, those in mixed marriages and their children face "serious civil rights problems." Rabbi Hirsch took pains to dissociate the Reform movement. 'The difficulties for the family would follow them from birth to death," he said. Such difficulties would range from the refusal of the Orthodox "to perform a ritu- al circumcision on a son," to the inability of the children to marry Jews in Israel, to the impossibil- ity of burial together "because the cemeteries are run by Orthodox authorities who do not permit burial of a non-Jew next to a Jew and there is no civil burial alter- native." Rabbi Regev said that in an- swering other periodic inquiries from research coordinators for the Canadian refugee board, he was careful to distinguish between le- gitimate and illegitimate claims of religious discrimination. "Several times I was very clear in countering arguments that had no basis in fact" which claimed religious discrimination, Rabbi Regev said in an interview in his office last week. "I was quick to set the record straight. "On the other hand, when aslKed about issues confronting mixed families, I saw no reason and no way in which I could close my eyes, my ears, my mouth, and refuse, in a professional way, to clarify what the facts were," he said. "I limited my response to those areas where, unfortunately, the problem is real and acute," he said. "My letter did not recom-