A Jewish News Gift Subscription
Always Brings A Smile
Dick CCdcli
BAR MITZBEHAVED page 3
1 979
Now It Will Bring Laughter,
Order a Jewish News subscription
today and receive a FREE Big Book
of Jewish Humor.
This is a book you or your
friends, or relatives will love.
Filled with humorous stories and
articles by many different award-
winning writers and humorists
like Woody Allen, Max Appel,
Judith Viorst, Saul Bellow,
Joseph Hell& and many more.
EDITED
AND AMRYTATED BY
WELLAM NOS& MOSHE WALDO
KS
SHOLOM ALEICHFM WOODY ALLEN & DAN BEN-AMOT
APPLE&
ISAAC
BRUCE
& BABF-L & SAUL e•ELLOW & CH AIM
& MAX
JOHN
CALWF-LL & ELLIOT E. CORE N BERAIANT &LENNY
STANLEY ELKIN
& GARY
81____
SIGAtUND
EPSTE.1111_&RL
& DRY BONES &
JULES IFFER &
umr-ENBURG
FREUD & BRUCE JAY FF-DMAN & ROMAN EDWARD
CARY & FIELD
DA
FREUD GROSS & S. GROss
& & EPHRAIM SAN N
_JOSEPH
HF-LLER & PAUL JACOBS
LE . yr-11310N
& DAVID
RO&F-IFT GROSSMAN &
LEVINE
& WALLACE
E MARAFIELD
& MAD MAGAEINE a
SAM
& THE MARX BRO THERS BERNARD MALAMUD
TNAL
rr.rit.LASANSI
I. 1 - LAMPOON & HERSHF-LE
ik ROBERT ALEZEY &
PF - RETZ & MARIE
O
ICHL
STROPOLF-R & 3. J.
ROSEN
POD1VAL & RICHTER & AiORDECAI
1,11131-IP
ROTH & ISF-RG
RALPH & IS ROSF-11FELD
RER
& JOEL
& LEO ROSTER &
SC
..SHERBLAN
_ & MAX SHULMAN
HOENSTEIN & MAURICE SENDAB & ALLAN
A
SI
GER
TRUDEA
LVERSTEIN
& NEIL &
SIMON
LI &TE
RLPH
DMA N & ALD SUSSM AN &
THE TALMUD
G. & &
VIORST & THE WISE MENHELM
ZANGWILL & JUDITH
JACK
O F
ZIEGLER & OTHER
WRITERS & COTHF-R a ISR A EL
ARTIS T S
And, a Jewish News subscrip-
tion makes a great gift too. It's a
yearlong gift that opens up into a
weekly surprise of exclusive
features, up-to-the-minute news
and in-depth stories. Plus, you'll
receive 5 issues of Style, Oakland County's premier lifestyle maga-
zine.
This Chanukah, give a gift with a humorous side. It's as easy as ordering
a Jewish News subscription.
To order a Jewish News subscription for the low 1 year rate
of $42 and receive The Big Book of Jewish Humor for FREE,
call 810-354-6620 or return the coupon below.
Receive 52 issues plus 5 issues of
Style magazine for only $42. ($58 out-of-state).
❑ Please bill me.
❑ Charge to my
Card #
❑ Payment enclosed.
❑ MasterCard
❑ Visa
Name
Exp
Address
Signature (required)
City
My Name
Phone
My Address
Gift Card message:
City
1
❑ I'd like to send a subscription as a gift to:
Sate
Zip
Send book to
Phone
New Subscribers only
Please send all payments along with this coupon to:
LThe Jewish News, P.O. Box 2267, Southfield, MI 48037-2267. Allow 2-3 weeks for delivery
THE IEWISH NEWS
State
❑ Me
Zip
❑ Recipient
BBJH
I
mitzvah very seriously. It's real
stuff."
Rabbi Steven Weil, of Young Is-
rael of Greenfield, feels that be-
cause the nature of the celebration
is different in an Orthodox con-
gregation, teens don't have the op-
portunity to misbehave. "For the
most part, they are familiar with
the service and they know the peo-
ple in the congregation, which
usually doesn't allow for someone
to slip into the crack and get into
trouble."
Marsha Kifferstein of West
Bloomfield recently held her son's
bar mitzvah ceremony at a local
club where the teens were gener-
ally well-behaved. But Ms. Kif-
ferstein would later learn that a
few of the boys ventured into the
women's locker room and "en-
gaged in some semi-destructive
activities."
Before the party, Ms. Kiffer-
stein had asked friends if they
would keep a watchful eye on the
teens, and the club required that
she hire a security guard for her
son's 85 invited friends.
Star Trax, a West Bloomfield-
based entertainment company, of-
fers a Pre-Mitzvah Adventure
class for pre-teens before they hit
the bar and bat mitzvah circuit. A
portion of the class is 'devoted to
engaging the middle-school stu-
dents in exercises on appropriate
etiquette.
Issues are raised about behav-
ior during the candlelighting cer-
emony. Teens discuss what's OK
to write on a sign-in board and
what to do if all their friends are
in the hallway instead of inside at
the party.
Hillel Day School teaches stu-
dents similar behavior lessons as
part of a larger b'nai mitzvah cur-
riculum taught to bar and bat
mitzvah-age students.
Hillel requires students to in-
vite their homeroom class, usual-
ly 20 teens; but if a student invites
a majority of the grade, the school
requires that the entire grade be
invited — between 60 and 70
teens.
The school also stresses to par-
ents the importance of attending
the bar or bat mitzvah service
with their children.
"At the very least, the (parent
who drives the carpool) should at-
tend services," says Dr. Mark Smi-
ley, headmaster of Hillel. "Kids at
that age need to be supervised.
Dropping them off at the syna-
gogue door sends a mixed mes-
sage."
Rabbi Efry Spectre says Adat
Shalom Synagogue keeps ushers
in the hall to ensure that the noise
level outside the main sanctuary
remains low during services. The
rabbi says there have been minor
incidents of vandalism, but he is
more concerned about accidents.
In a recent Saturday-morning
sermon, Terrible. Israel's Rabbi
that Qolre (%...-
Svme
gregations appoint committees to
mitzvah ceremonies.
"It's very difficult for the older
generations to accept because good
manners were taught in every
Jewish home," he said. "Modern
Jewish parents are so generous
with their children, yet this is
where we've failed because we
haven't taught them respect.
"It occurred to me why I didn't
behave the way these kids behave.
I realized it was because my fa-
ther was seated beside me. I
wasn't sitting with a bunch of kids.
I sat with my father, unlike par-
ents today who drop off their kids
at the synagogue, drive away and
pick them up after services. By our
very behavior, we are teaching our
kids that religion is for kids."
. S hir
Shalom's
Rabbi
Schwartz is still trying to
figure out why teens would
stack and climb boxes to
pull out ceiling insulation. Tem-
ple insurance covered the $1,000
in damage.
"We wanted a totally open
building without locks on our (in-
side) doors," says Rabbi Schwartz
of his congregation's new facili-
ty. "We're now forced to put locks
throughout our building.
"When the Kaddish
is recited and
they're talking,
that's unforgivable."
Rabbi M. Robert Syme
• "It's like the bad seed got into
the bar mitzvah circuit. Not all
kids and all parties have prob-
lems. We just had &party with 90
kids and it was wonderful. Noth-
ing happened."
The rabbi believes the party
went smoothly because many of
the teens' parents also were in-
vited.
Ms. Stulberg is optimistic her
son's Dec. 16 bar mitzvah cele-
bration won't have any glitches
because, she says, Michael's class-
mates at Bloomfield Hills Middle
School are generally well-behaved.
But she is taking steps to en-
sure the weekend is problem-free.
Michael's party, which will be
held at a local racquet club, is
geared toward teens, although
some adults are invited. Liquor
will not be available for adults be-
cause "kids should know you can
have fun without it," she says.
Ms. Stulberg feels giving
Michael and his friends an op-
portunity to play tennis, go swim-
ming or play basketball is more
constructive and creates less of an
opportunity for any behavior prob-
lems.
Party professionals, including
Star Trax President Renee Cher-
rin Erlich, say p,:er pressure often
c p usps
'f 111).
Prentice says
A