VERy Mr. Phillip /y\y happy FLEISCHMAN RESIDENCE cx -r- him WhE/V his 0A-r home, et-73 o y_s- .3 rnealS osher (- co Fre S \\ ASS IS rctn CA Ct the I kbA . E Clock The spiritual leader of Oklahoma City's Reform synagogue speaks at the nationally televised prayer service. SECUFZify t Me clico„-rion Assis -ralAcC , • SERVIC-E-5 nTe n cLnd 4-1c) ,...)se Ke_e_r ri . 74 C50/10i Rabbi David Packman On Domestic Terror O Ay • MAN S pop -T-0cl' r o t-1 u c_-T- ir S • Cable I:V. A e I IV e nts .(A u,1 ory BOAZ DVIR SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS ir\ +- ke- SiNAGocToET abbi David Packman of Temple B'nai Israel in Ok- lahoma City joined Presi- dent Clinton and the Rev. Billy Graham Sunday, April 23, at a prayer service for victims of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building explosion. The nationally televised ser- vice, held at the Oklahoma City State Fair Arena, drew a crowd of 12,000 and several dignitaries, including state officials and At- torney General Janet Reno. Rabbi Packman, 56, who for 19 years has been the spiritual leader of Oklahoma City's only Reform synagogue, read from Lamentations during the service. The Jewish community in Ok- lahoma City is small but active, Rabbi Packman said in a phone interview after the prayer service. Its 2,800 members are mostly young and middle-age college-ed- ucated professionals and govern- ment employees. The Jewish Federation of Greater Oklahoma City raises about $700,000 a year. The city, which has many active churches, has two synagogues — one Re- form, with 420 families, and one Conservative, with 280 families. Most of the adult Jews in Ok- lahoma City, which has 440,000 residents, are married. "This is not a good place for Jewish sin- gles," Rabbi Packman said. But it is a good place to raise a family, he said. Even now, after the bombing. "I like the pace of life here," he said. "People are kinder, gentler. We have very harmo- nious relationships here." R Q-p) r -c -- (er\c wi (1 needs Mole heJ li) FLEISCHMAN ve CCARE P\ US CXbc:ie o.,\A FOr MORE incoc/A0,--r ion CO311 : LO DI Karl Kutinsky Provizer, M.S.W., C.S.W. Director of Resident Services Fleischman Residence/Blumberg Plaza 6710 West Maple Road • West Bloomfield • (810) 661-2999 nip iln Lila' WHERE CAN You FIND SA O i N KS ? ,.....",...tri, Diamonds and Fine Jewelry I 1 c-fiEll 24 (810) 932-7700 Eraron in Inside the Orchard Mall • 6337 Orchard Lk. Rd. • W Bloomfield, MI. 48322 EJI[D BD — What did you say dur- ing the prayer service? DP — I made a comparison be- tween Jerusalem and Oklahoma City. I said that Jerusalem, which was destroyed (in 70), came back to even greater splendor. A des- olated city rebuilt itself. We can do likewise. BD — Is Oklahoma City des- olate? DP — Yes. Everyone at the temple knew someone who is ei- ther dead or injured. Or they knew someone who had a relative who is either dead or injured. BD — Did you know any vic- tims or any relatives of victims? DP — A dear friend of mine (Peggy Thompson) — the head of the local chapter of the National Conference of Christians and Jews — lost her brother-in-law. She is devastated. BD — Were there any Jewish casualties? DP — No, we have been very lucky. It could have easily gone the other way. The only one injured was a woman from my congregation. She was slammed against the wall in the next-door building— the Federal Courthouse. BD — Where were you during the explosion? DP — I was at the temple, eight miles away. At first, I thought it was a sonic boom. But the ground moved. The ground doesn't move in a sonic boom. So I thought maybe it was also an -earthquake — by strange coinci- dence, at the exact same time. BD — What was your first re- action? DP — Honestly? I thought it was an act of Middle Eastern ter- rorism. BD — Is it wrong to raise such suspicions against a group of peo- ple? DP — Probably. But a lot of ter- rorism comes from the Middle East. BD — How did the Arab com- munity in Oklahoma City react to the suspicions, which were shared by many around the world? DP —There are 5,000 Muslims here. I am not talking about Na- tion of Islam followers. I'm talk- ing about real Muslims. They were scared to death. They were afraid that if it turned out to be a Middle Eastern (terrorist attack), they would be killed, injured, boy- cotted. Their businesses could have been destroyed. Their mosques could have been bombed. In 1979, during the Iranian hostage crisis, we had 3,000 Mus- lims in the universities in the area (including the University of Ok- lahoma). They were attacked very badly. They were beaten up. In one year, their numbers went down to 500. The people here rarely get an- gry, but when they (do), they re- ally get angry. The Arabs know that. So as soon as the news of the explosion came out, they issued a statement. They donated money. They gave blood. BD — Do you have any con- tacts with the Muslim communi- ty?