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MESSAGE page 3

das Yisroel-Mogen
"May there soon
Abraham, perhaps
be heard, Lord our
the best symbolism
God, in the cities of
of the current issues
Judea and in the
comes not from a ser-
streets of Jerusalem,
mon, but from an
the sound of joy and
aufruf (pre-wedding
the sound of celebra-
aliyah) planned for
tion, the voice of a
this Shabbat.
bridegroom and the
He'll tell the story
voice of a bride."
of a 16th-century
And it is these
songwriter who took
words, Rabbi Loketch
Rabbi G roner:
the words from the
said, that Jews must
Uncond itional.
ketubah, the mar-
remember. That
riage contract. He
above all else, above
wrote a song that talks of a Jew's the conflicts and peace process,
marriage to Israel, to God.
there's Israel. ❑

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Groups Battle
Utah School

Washington (JTA) --- Six Jewish
and Christian groups have come
together in defense of a Jewish
high school student who contin-
ues to wage an uphill battle
against her school's effort to com-
pel her to sing religious devotion-
al songs.
The American Jewish Com-
mittee, the Anti-Defamation
League and the Union of Ameri-
can Hebrew Congregations joined
with the Presbyterian Church
(U.S.A.), the United Church of
Christ and the General Confer-
ence of Seventh-day Adventists in
filing a friend-of-the-court brief in
support of Rachel Bauchman.
The 17-year-old from Salt Lake
City has alleged that her public
school's choir class, of which she
was a member, violated her con-
stitutional rights during the 1994
1995 school year by continuously
performing Christian songs prais-
ing Jesus.
In May, a U.S. District Court
judge dismissed Ms. Bauchman's
complaint, calling many of her
claims "speculative" and unsup-
ported.
She appealed her case to the
10th U.S. Circuit Court of Ap-
peals. That same court handed
her a preliminary victory last year
by issuing a temporary restrain-
ing order forbidding her choir from
singing religious songs at the
school's graduation ceremony.
The court has scheduled open-
ing arguments for Nov. 20. The
choir, however, defied the court
and prayed anyway.
Ms. Bauchman and her fami-
ly, who were vilified by the pre-
dominantly Mormon community,
have said they intend to press
their complaint until she receives
an apology from school officials,
her choir teacher receives pun-
ishment and a review committee
is established to set guidelines for
choral music.
In their brief, the religious
groups argued that the District

Court erred when it failed to rec-
ognize that coercing student par-
ticipation in religious worship
services and using the classroom
lectern as a preaching pulpit con-
stitutes a violation of the consti-
tutional separation of church and
state.
They also argued that by re-
quiring the "plaintiff to overcome
extraordinary hurdles merely to
get into court, the District Court's
ruling sets an unwarranted and
dangerous precedent that clearly
signals to those who would seek
to preserve their religious liber-
ties that they will receive an un-
welcome reception in the courts."
Lisa Thurau, executive direc-
tor of the National Committee for
Public Education and Religious
Liberty, which has assisted
Bauchman in her legal challenge,
said she was "delighted with this
show of ecumenical support for
- Rachel."
"It proves that this is not a case
about being against religion,
which is how it has been framed
in Utah," she said. "It proves that
this is an issue that affects all of
us, and that we must all be vigi-
lant about any effort to undermine
religious liberty."

Flower Growers
Mark Protest

Jerusalem (JTA) — Hundreds of
flower-growers demonstrated on
a busy Tel Aviv corner to protest
what they said was a government
plan to cut subsidies in their in-
dustry.
The demonstrators passed out
roses and sunflowers to pedestri-
ans and also threw flowers into
the street.
Representatives from the Agri-
culture Ministry met with the
demonstrators and promised to
act on their behalf.
The secretary of the Flower-
growers Association said the in-
dustry is responsible for some
$200 million in exports annually.
They said the industry would
collapse if state subsidies were cut.

C

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