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ability of the school officials to be
sensitive to children in minority
religious groups or those who
have no religious affiliation.
"It may be out of the equal ac-
cess, but that doesn't mean it is
proper," she said. "We hope that
the school officials can see this."
Sometimes the Council is suc-
cessful. Take the situation in a
Bloomfield Hills school a few
years ago.
There, a small group of Jewish
children were asked to perform
a religious demonstration of
Chanukah at a school-wide as-
sembly. While some parents and
community members saw this as
an opportunity to share their be-
liefs, Ms. Imerman viewed it as
ominous.
"It has the effect of putting up
a neon sign that says, 'Here are
the Jews.' It is like a yellow star,"
she said.
The JCCouncil intervened and
the school stopped the practice.
"We want to teach our children
about different religions, but we
don't want to make anyone feel
peculiar," she said.
The challenge is making offi-
cials become sensitive to such re-
ligious issues, she said.
Wendy Sadler has been facing
this challenge for the past few
weeks.
Upon reading the endorse-
ment of the Bible club, Ms. Sadler
called officials at Field
Elementary School. After receiv-
ing a response she felt was un-
satisfying, she called the
Anti-Defamation League and the
Jewish Community Council.
Using their information, she
made a presentation to the
Plymouth-Canton school board,
citing legal decisions to back up
her claim that the Bible club is
exclusionary. She is awaiting a
decision on the matter from the
school board at its Dec. 19 meet-
ing.
`The bottom line is, if we allow
this in the public schools, where
do we then draw the line?" she
said. "I need to know."
Ms. Imerman said challenges
will continue as long as the de-
bate on prayer and religion in the
public schools is alive.
"The old battles keep coming
back and they will as long as
Jews are in the minority," she
said. ❑
Experts Give
Tips On Observance
JILL DAVIDSON SKLAR STAFF WRITER
A
few years ago, a choir
master in an elementary
school in Farmington
Hills added some songs
laden with Christian messages
to the holiday concert. Tis the
season, right?
Wrong, said Miriam
Imerman, director of domestic
concerns for the Jewish
Community Council.
"There were no bones about
it. It was a Jesus song," she said.
The next year, the same
school removed the Christian
songs from the choir lineup but
asked a Jewish child to sing a
Chanukah song in a perfor-
mance. "They just don't get it."
To make school superinten-
dents more sympathetic to chil-
dren associated with minority
religions or raised in a non-re-
ligious environment, Anti-
Defamation League director
Richard Lobenthal recently sent
a letter to school officials, out-
lining what is permissible in
public schools' religious holiday
observance.
Citing High Court decisions,
Mr. Lobenthal gave the do's and
don'ts of involving Christmas,
Chanukah and other holidays
in school curricula.
Miriam !merman: Cool approach.
"Usually the schools are pret-
ty good about this but occa-
sionally something happens,"
Ms. Imerman said.
It could be a blatantly reli-
gious song at a concert or dec-
orating classrooms with creches.
Whatever it is, Ms. Imerman
said parents should react in an
appropriate manner.
The following are the mea-
sures that appear to be the most
effective in handling the situa-
tion, she said:
* The night of the pageant or
concert is not a good time to
OBSERVANCE page 10