ERUV page 1

Gillham questioned why a reli-
gious symbol needed poles and
wire.
He also wondered if the city
would be liable if a car were to
run into a pole on the public
right-of-way.
Commissioner
Gordon
Hassig, who voted in favor of a
smaller eruv in 1985, expressed
concern about separation of
church and state. He asked the
rabbi and his colleagues why a
city-wide eruv is different from
the controversial picture of Jesus
Christ in a public school in west-
ern Michigan. (In the early
1990s, the Michigan Supreme
Court ordered school officials to
remove the picture. That deci-
sion was affirmed by the U.S.
Supreme Court this year.)
Mr. Hassig's argument elicit-
ed rebuttal from residents who
said an eruv, unlike a picture
of Jesus, cannot be seen by
passersby and is not a public en-
dorsement of religion. Dan
Kramer, a resident of
Huntington Woods for 13 years,
was furious.
"I came home from the meet-
ing speechless," he said. "I don't
know if these comments were
made out of meanness or igno-
rance. I think it might have been
a little of each.

From Our
Wino&
Fall Collectio

Bloomfield Plaza • Telegraph at Maple Road • Open Mon-Sat 10-6 p.m., Thurs. til 8 p.m.

11_,,-

op 10 Reasons To Get In
Top
Gear With the Stu at
arite
fix9areoto
focitem

vea

Membership, 2 years for the price of 1 plus
1 $100 (new members only).

-s Rabbi Herbert Yoskowitz, Cantor Max

•

Shimansky and Reverend Joseph Baras.

c81 Religious School with 2 locations: Southfield &
"I West Bloomfield/Walled Lake.
CI Youth Programs.

01 Bagel Beat for Teens.

c' Sisterhood, Men's Club, Young at Heart and
-1 Chavuras.

(±1 Shabbat Dinners and Sit Down Kiddushes

Outreach Programs for New Americans.
I21 Lunch and Learn, and Book Bites.
Rabbi Herbert Yoskowitz BEHIND THE WHEEL
revving up your Spirit!

vea "faeo,

(centrally Located)
21100 West Twelve Mile Rd. Southfield • (810) 352-8670

his hope to "break up the old-boy
network."
Mary Cooper, a 12-year resi-
dent of the city, also was dis-
tressed. After the meeting, she
called friends and encouraged
them to run for a seat on the city
commission. She believes some
of the city officials blew the issue
out of proportion. After all, an
eruv, she says, is nearly invisi-
ble.
"I think this boils down to a
question of whether or not the
city should be facilitating the ex-
pression of someone's religious
choice, and I think there's been a
clear precedent that the city has
in the past," she says.
The next commission meeting
has been scheduled for Sept. 19.
The eruv issue likely will be
scheduled as an agenda item,
and Ms. Cooper is hoping her
neighbors will voice their sup-
port.
During the August meeting,
commissioners labeled the eruv
debate "complicated and contro-
versial." At least two city officials
referred to a task force which, in
the late 1980s, recommended the
banning of multicolored
Christmas lights on public land.
White lights, rather than red and
green, more appropriately reflect
the religiously diverse popula-
tion of Huntington
Woods, those task
4— Telephone Posts --•— ■
force members con-
cluded.
"If we studied hol-
iday lights, we can
certainly study this,"
Telephone Wires
one commissioner
said at the meeting in
August.
Horizontal Wire t
A Jewish resident
For Eruv
of Huntington Woods
responded: "So what
you're saying is, it's
payback time."
Other Jews also in-
terpreted the
Christmas light ar-
Vertical Poles
gument as an at-
Of Eruv
tempt to even the
scoreboard between
members of the
Christian and Jewish
faiths.
"How things be-
came a them-versus-
us issue, I don't
understand," Ms.
Cooper says.
As tensions rose,
Mayor Giliham called
Most of the eruv would take advantage
for a quick conclusion of the Aug.
of already existing poles and fences.
22 meeting.
"I think at this point in time,
"I'm not the most sensitive we'll terminate this discussion
individual in the world, but before it gets further out of hand,"
I was offended. This is a com- he said. "We want to have cool
munity that is somewhat heads prevail and that is about
diverse, although not as not to happen."
diverse as it could be. I think we
To prepare for the Sept. 19
should do everything we can to meeting, Rabbi Rabin and mem-
accommodate each other," he bers of the Huntington Woods
said.
Minyan plan to compile a report
Mr. Kramer also referred to addressing the issues expressed
city elections in November and by the commissioners. ❑

