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THE PROMISED LAND by Jordan B. GorfInkel

11-11S MONTH, JEWISH EMPLOYEES
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How About A Return Trip
When Admission Is Free?

Why is that when we are asked to pay hundreds
of dollars, sometimes thousands, to attend our
temples and synagogues, we attend in droves?
We withstand traffic jams and run to the gro-
cery store to feed our large family get-togeth-
ers. We purchase new suits, dresses and hats.
Some of us spend exorbitant amounts on hon-
ors such as reciting blessings over the Torah or
opening the Ark during a certain prayer.
Then, in a matter of a week's time, it's busi-
ness as usual. And temples and synagogues go
back to the core of Shabbat-goers known as the
"regulars." The "non-regulars" might pop in dur-
ing the year once or twice. But in general, it's
out-of-sight and out-of-mind.
We don't often talk about synagogue atten-
dance in our editorials or about the purpose of
a temple in our lives. We editorialize about Is-
rael and national Diaspora issues.
But this time, we are pushing synagogue at-
tendance, not the High Holiday variety, but the
every Friday night, Saturday morning type.
Guess what. It's free. You really don't have to
pay to pray. Know what else? The services aren't
held in shifts. People aren't checking for tick-
ets. There's a better chance of being called up
to the bimah. Plus, you can meet and make
friends with a group of people who are honest-
ly glad to be at shul.
This week, as some of us prepare to observe

the mitzvah of eating and sleeping in our
sukkah, we feel each passing breeze and rain
cloud that passes by. We are reminded of how
fragile life can be and that we are part of the
great outdoors as well as our own homes.
The strength in the sukkah's walls comes not
from wood or burlap. It comes in a people who
re-enact a tradition that is thousands of years
old. Like the sukkah, Judaism doesn't draw its
strength from a High Holiday ticket or the mon-
ey paid for an aliyah.
There are younger sets of eyes watching us.
And if we are to have a future from strength to
strength, our children must see us attending
Shabbat services when it's not the fashion. They
need to see us hoping that a strong wind doesn't
come along to blow over our sukkah. And they
need to know that a sukkah is built with im-
perfection. Because we are all imperfect.
There is more to Judaism than showing up
twice a year. By not taking advantage of the op-
portunity to attend synagogue, we're cheating
ourselves by not allowing our rabbis, our lead-
ership to know us and our families.
Yes, Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are
critical days to be in temple.
Try the other times, though.
You don't need a ticket.
This time, the free admission is worth some-
thing.

Vote Will Determine
Walled Lake's Future

On Saturday, Walled Lake Consolidated School
District residents will have an opportunity to
vote for a very important bond proposal. If
passed, the consolidated school system, which
includes portions of West Bloomfield, Walled
Lake, Farmington Hills and other townships,
will see the construction of an elementary school
and two middle schools.
Passage would also mean the remodeling of
other school facilities.
Walled Lake finds itself in a position of growth
with 13,000 students enrolled in its schools. That
is 4,000 more students than in 1989, the last time
a district bond proposal passed. A Yes vote would
result in $108 million in construction and im-
provements. The estimated cost per household
is about 38 cents a day.
While we would rather see the vote happen on
any other day but Saturday, we are satisfied
that Sabbath observant Jewish voters have had
the opportunity to file absentee ballots.

Should the vote fail, the district would most
assuredly be forced to implement double shift-
ing. This means that students would be attend-
ing classes from 5:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. The late shift
would go through the evening time. Family life,
not to mention traditional school schedules, would
be disrupted.
Also, many families in the consolidated dis-
trict would probably consider moving out. Who
would want to reside in a school district if it
means putting a child of any age on a bus at 5 in
the morning?
The vote Saturday affects tens of thousands
of families, many of whom are Jewish. But Jew-
ish or not, a yes vote to this bond proposal will
most assuredly ensure a strong future for the
Walled Lake school district's children, their fam-
ilies and their communities.
A no vote?
There simply can't be a "no" vote this time.

OKAY.•.PINO.

■

AND, uh, THERE ARE ANOTHER

POUR, THE TWO WEEKS AP1XR...

ITS THE HOLIDAY OP SUCcO7Y.

YOU KNOW...
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HOW GULL/BLX DO you

THINK S AM--P

I GLOSSARY: TISHREI = FIRST JEWISH MONTH

Give Answers
Through Classes

Is Mark Powers, Jews for Jews
("Open Season on the Jews," The
Jewish News, Sept. 1), insinuat-

ing that the souls of some Jewish
people can be bought for $9.25
million by the Southern Baptists?
I hope not.
Although messianic Judaism
has slowly grown here in the De-
troit area since the early 1980s,
there is something both rabbis
and parents can do to counteract
this "onslaught" of money tar-
geted toward the American
Jewish community. Take the of-
fensive and educate. Begin class-
es that refute the prophesies used
by Hebrew Christians; discuss
biblically why Yeshua (Jesus)
cannot be the messiah, and teach
specific Torah and Talmud scrip-
tures that can best be used for an
educated response when one is
confronted.

Judge Hilda Gage

Statement Vs.
Substance

As a nondenominational gen-
tile Christian, years ago I ques-
tioned why messianic scriptures
were a non-issue for most rab-
bis; so I took it upon myself to
"educate" some of my Jewish
friends.
Education is the key. Scrip-
tures will be taught — but from
whom is the question. So, when
do the classes begin?

Jennifer Finer's article on Judge
Hilda Gage ("Gauging the
Supreme Court," Sept. 13, 1996)
says nothing about any of the
three candidates now running for
the state Supreme Court. I pre-
sume the offensive comment, "I'm
running against a Kelly and a
Murphy. It's going to be rough,"
is meant to imply that the elec-
tion is between a Jewish candi-
date and two Irish candidates. I
wonder what the response would
be if a "Kelly" or a "Murphy" said,
"I'm running against a Cohen and
a Schwartz; it's going to be
rough."
Judge Gage goes on to say,
"Hopefully, my information will
get out. "Unfortunately, not in the
DJN article. If the DJN wants to
endorse Judge Gage, I, for one,
would like to know why. Prefer-
ably something a little more sub-
stantial than her unstated
religious affiliation.

Diane Keils

Barry Mehler

Oak Park

Big Rapids