Not A Sale, But A Remarkable Simulation. *369 • Project Genesis 36 Mos. • " A cyber-yeshiva finds a home on the information highway. JAMES B. BESSER WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT THE '95 LEXUS ES300 with over 20 refinements, including driver's and front passenger's airbags SRS, aluminum alloy wheels, 3.0 liter V6 engine, leather, heated seats and electrical control trans- mission with intelligence (ECT) Stock #95038_ I '599* 64 36 Mos. THE '95 LEXUS SC300 with in-line 6 cylinder 225 hp engine, 210 Lb.-FT of raw torque, driver's & front passenger's airbags SRS, traction control, leather seats, heated seats, moonroof, compact disc. '95 LS400 AVAILABLE - CALL FOR CUSTOM QUOTE Lexus Certified Pre-owned Cars *Closed end lease for 36 months. 1st pymt. & $500 ref. sec. dep. plus tax and title, $1500 cap cost reduction on ES300; $3000 cap cost reduc- tion on SC300. Mileage 150 over 36,000 miles term allowed. Purchase option at end of lease on ES300 $21,019.86, on SC300 $27,790.77. Terms times pymt equals total commitment. Annual percentage rate with approved credit by Toyota Motor credit at 4.9% for 48 months. LEXUS OF LANSING The Relentless Pursuit of Perfection Al's Saves You Money! 1— T. (. 0 co 0 cc 0 0 cc 0 0 0 a. • OVER 74 YEARS OF SERVICE ESTABLISHED 1920 INSURANCE REPLACEMENT SERVICE • FAST SERVICE • QUALITY • PRICE WINDSHIELDS, REPLACED $25-$55 OFF MAY BE APPLIED TOWARDS DEDUCTIBLE coupon exp. April 30, 1995 cc GLASS & AUTO TRIM CUSTOM WALL MIRRORS TIRES & ACCESSORIES WINDSHIELDS REPAIRED INSURANCE COMPANIES MAY WAIVE YOUR DEDUCTIBLE WHEN YOU HAVE IT REPAIRED 0 • a. t— w ca coupon exp. April 30, 1995 N EW wINDS HIELDS 117. CC SURPLUS STOCK W. FROM $50.00 0 PLUS INSTALLATION 5 L - coupon exp. April 30, 1995 •Windshields — Replaced or Repaired, Mobile Service r TUB ENCLOSURES •Complete Insurance Replacement Service — SHOWER DOORS Fire, Theft, Vandalism or Floor Damage 25°'° OFF •Auto Theft Repair Experts — Car, Vans, Piclarps •Auto Upholstery & Alarms MARV SAYS! WERE #1 Bring Your Insurance Claims To Al's ■ • We Will Meet or Beat your Best Price on Mat i r Brands! coupon exp. April 30, 1995 24 hour Board Up Service MIRRORED DOORS Call BI-FOLD • SLIDING 20s-40sOFF 810-353-2500 "SENIOR CITIZEN'S DISCOUNT" 25% OFF 20% OFF VINYL or WOOD WINDOW REPLACEMENT IN SHOP STORM & SCREEN REPAIRS PARTS ONLY C) 0 m 33 C) r - . O — c .71 1 - > 33 z coupon exp. April 30, 1995 O SUNROOFS $1 4988 0 I- INSTALLED FROM cn 33 cn INSULATED GLASS REPLACEMENT • m PICTURE WINDOWS DOOR WALLS, ANY SIZE REPLACED • Storm Doors • Screens • Windows Repaired • Laminated or Tempered Glass • Plexiglas • Vinyl or Wood Replacement Windows ► WE COME TO YOU ... MOBILE AUTO GLASS & GLAZING SERVICE • 50 MILE RADIUS INSURANCE REPLACEMENT SERVICE CC •M ILI= For a personal showing: = Call 1-800-539-8748 OR 1-800-LEXUS-4-U Exit 104 off 1-96 • 5709 S. Pennsylvania, Lansing • 517/394-8000 (CALL COLLECT) z Many Styles & Sizes WE REPAIR ELECTRIC SUNROOFS SOME RESTRICTIONS APPLY L coupon exp. April 30, 1995 SOUTHFIELD - 24777 Telegraph Rd. • 810-3532500 • LINCOLN PARK n the old country, the study house was likely to be a dark, musty place with rudimenta- ry furnishings — the antithe- sis of high tech. But in this information age, rabbis and scholars are using cy- berspace — that great, unchart- ed, planet-spanning web of computer networks — to reach a much broader audience for seri- ous Jewish scholarship. Project Genesis, a New York State-based group devoted to reaching out to Jewish college students, has led the way in the development of the cyber-yeshi- va. Its primary tool for creating this electronic miracle is a col- lection of 11 Internet mailing lists — electronic publications dis- tributed automatically to sub- scribers with Internet access, or accounts on commercial on-line services like America Online. Each Genesis list is a "class," taught by a real, live Jewish scholar. Each edition is the equiv- alent of a detailed lecture on a specific subject or an electronic dialogue between teacher and students. A sampling from the Genesis E-mail lineup: • Genesis: a general list for Genesis announcements, as well as discussion of the weekly Torah portion. • Torah-Forum: a general list for the discussion of the tradi- tional Jewish perspective on any topic under the sun. • Dvaaorah: here subscribers write their own commentaries on the weekly Torah portion — and distribute them worldwide. • Gossip: No, it's not a list for trading information on Julia Roberts' love life. Instead, teacher Ellen Solomon teaches about the Jewish attitude toward loshon horah the evil tongue. • Halacha-Yomi: Easy-to-un- derstand translations of the Code of Jewish Law and appropriate commentaries. • Maharal: The Sayings of the Fathers, a study of the commen- tary of Rabbi Yehuda Loewe (the Maharal), a 16th-century Jewish philosopher. Genesis has attracted more than 2,000 subscribers world- wide. One, from Montevideo, Uruguay, says, "I can learn Torah from this end of the globe while I wait for things to happen at home and at work." Rabbi Yitzchak Etshalom, principal of SAJS (the communi- ty Hebrew high school) in Pitts- burgh and a professional storyteller, is teaching a new z m z m ARTERS • ALTERNATORS • FAN BELTS • FLOOR MATS • SEAT COVERS • JUMPER CABLES • BRAKE SPECIAL • WIPERS 12 Genesis course on Maimonides' Mishnah Torah or "Review" of the entire body of Jewish Law. Texts are posted in English. Hebrew terms are transliterated and translated for the benefit of the novices who are a prime tar- get for Genesis. The biggest advantage of the Internet yeshiva is the obvious one — its vast reach. And sub- scribers study the messages in the privacy of their own homes. As a result, Genesis is able to Genesis has attracted more than 2,000 subscribers worldwide. reach some Jews who might be intimidated by the prospect of re- vealing their ignorance in a tra- ditional shul. The biggest down side also is obvious: the lack of face-to-face contact that provides real-time input for teacher and student alike. "So far, you can't do that [on the net]," Rabbi Etshalom said. "But we're working on it." Project Genesis also is work- ing on new lists, which seem to appear almost monthly. The group also is expanding its World Wide Web "home page" — a cen- tral Internet location that allows users to browse through the group's offerings and select lists to join. More on using the Web in next month's column. ❑ Next Month: Touring Jewish Museums Via the World Wide Web. Mr. Besser can be reached on the Internet at: jbesser@clark.net . How to get there: For in- formation on all Genesis E-mail services and in- structions on how to sub- scribe, send an E-mail message from your Internet account or account on a commercial service like America Online to: learn@torah.org