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THE JEWISH NEWS

. Bar Mitzbehaved

Community members speak out about unruly teens
in the synagogue and at the party.

E CUE

JENNIFER FINER STAFF WRITER

ri a few days, Midge and
Joseph Stulberg will send
letters to their son's friends
to remind the teens of
something they already
know but, as adolescents,
often forget.
The letter politely asks the mid-
dle-school students to be on their
best behavior during Michael's up-
coming bar mitzvah. It also sug-
gests parents attend services with
their teens, and it outlines syna-
gogue dress code — no pants or
sleeveless tops for girls; nice
slacks, a jacket, sweater or suit for
boys.
The Stulbergs' letter, written
at the recommendation of their

ty guard for every 15 teens at-
tending a party at the temple.
Rabbi M. Robert Syme of neigh-
boring Temple Israel agrees the
situation often gets out of hand.
Two weeks ago, he devoted part
of his Shabbat sermon to the is-
sue.
"The worst part is when they
talk during the Kaddish," Rabbi
Syme says. "I can forgive them for
almost anything else, but when
the Kaddish is recited and they're
talking, that's unforgivable."
One area rabbi told a story of a
congregant who, while reciting
Kaddish, politely asked the teens
seated by her not to talk. When
she asked them again, they re-

Teens get an advance
lesson under the chuppah.

ALAN HITSKY ASSOCIATE EDITOR

Story on page 14

Pinning Down An Alibi

A deportation trial is imminent for accused concentration camp
guard Ferdinand Hammer of Sterling Heights.

DAVID ZEMAN STAFF WRITER

A

B'nai mitzvah casino gambling parties keep teens occupied and out of trouble.

synagogue, Congregation Shaarey
Zedek, represents one of the steps
parents, temples and synagogues
are taking these days to prevent
teens' unruly behavior during
both the bar mitzvah service and
party.
Other preventive measures, in-
cluding requiring parents to pro-
vide extra ushers during services
and hiring security guards to keep
an eye on teen-age party goers,
are more extreme. But many say
they are necessary to deal with
a problem that appears to be get-
ting worse.
"Who would have dreamed
they'd light fires in the bathrooms
and not listen to ushers," says
Rabbi Dannel Schwartz of Tem-
ple Shir Shalom, who four weeks
ago began requiring parents of

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sponded with obscene language.
Although they don't occur at
every bar or bat mitzvah ceremo-
ny and rabbis say a majority of the
teens are well-behaved, examples
of misbehavior are abundant.
Incidents at area congregations
include: breaking bathroom mir-
rors, setting towels on fire, climb-
ing on the roof, drinking alcohol
and starting food fights. Congre-
gation officials were more than
willing to share these incidents
but, in many instances, asked not
to be identified.
"I've never heard of it," says
Rabbi Alon Tolwin of Aish Ha-
Torah. "In the Orthodox world,
kids know this is a rite of passage
into serious responsibility. After
their bar mitzvah, they are treat-
ed as an adult. They take the bar

rs

. 11_

s trial nears for accused Death's Head Battalion, which Hammer has given conflicting ac-
Nazi concentration camp guarded Nazi concentration counts of his activities during the
guard Ferdinand Ham- camps, a position he never men- war, and they want to pin him
mer, government lawyers tioned in immigration papers. To down to a specific alibi before tri-
continue to tangle with the de- this allegation, the defense claims al.
fense over the hazy details of Mr. mistaken identity.
They note, for instance, that in
Hammer's past.
`The defendant, in no uncertain 1963 Mr. Hammer told immigra-
Attorneys from the U.S. De- terms, has stated his defense in tion officials he spent the war in
partment of Justice's Office of Spe- plain and simple terms," Mr. the German army "on the front
cial Investigations have expressed Hammer's lawyer recently told lines fighting the Russians."
frustration in recent weeks with the court. 'Defendant Hammer is
But while he listed "combat du-
what they describe as Mr. Ham- not who the United States Gov- • ties" in one court paper, Mr. Ham-
mer's vague and contradicto-
PHOTO BY AP/RICHARD SHEINWALD mer said elsewhere he "stood
ry accounts of his activities
guard outside (a) Russian
during World War II.
prison camp," an assignment
Mr. Hammer, a retired
from which he later deserted,
blacksmith, faces trial in Feb-
he said.
ruary in U.S. District Court in
In any event, he has told
Detroit. Government lawyers
the court, his war duties were
are seeking to have him de-
largely "ministerial tasks,"
ported, contending he lied
with "no personal act of as-
about his wartime duties
sistance or participation in
when he applied for a visa ap-
persecutorial acts."
plication and later for citizen-
Government lawyers also
ship.
complain that Mr. Hammer
Defense attorney William
has not adequately disclosed
Bufalino II did not return a
the identity and expected tes-
telephone call seeking com-
timony of potential defense
ment, and government
witnesses.
lawyers declined to discuss the Attorney William Bufalino II and Ferdinand Ham mer.
In some cases, the govern-
case.
ment says, the defense has
Mr. Hammer, believed to be 74, ernment believes him to be."
not listed complete addresses. In
has acknowledged serving in the
The government has com- others, witnesses are listed as
Waffen SS, but claims he was in- plained in recent months — and friends or character witnesses,
voluntarily recruited into the elite U.S. District Judge Horace with no indication that they have
guard and intelligence unit when Gilmore has largely agreed — that firsthand knowledge of Mr. Ham-
the Nazis invaded his homeland the defense has not fully complied mer's war activities.
in the former Yugoslavia.
with discovery, the process by
In at least one instance, the de-
But the government says it can which lawyers exchange infor- fense identified a witness, Ignast
prove Mr. Hammer served in the mation before a trial.
Schmidt of Eastpointe, as some-

11 /I'