COLORWORKS STUDIO
OF INTERIOR DESIGN

Talking Turkey

No need to cry fowl! Some families are just observing tradition
when they refuse to dine on this bird.

ELIZABETH APPLEBAUM ASSOCIATE EDITOR

IWO

Q: I heard once that some Jews
won't eat turkey. Can Tell Me Why
enlighten me, please? -
A: The list of birds that Jews
are halachically permitted to eat
is based partly on law and part-
ly on tradition. Turkey is not part
of everybody's tradition.
In parshat Shemini and par-
shat Re'ey, the Torah lists birds
that are forbidden as food (Leviti-
cus 11:13-19, Deuteronomy
14:12-18). It states that Jews may
eat "all clean birds," but does not
specify what qualifies as a per-
missible bird (as it does with
mammals and fish).

mno.W'We

Robert Stewart Photography

Q: Tell Me Why, this is a painful
problem to discuss, but someone's
got to step forward and deal with
it.
My wife is a big Michael Bolton
fan. She has all his records. She
even thinks — gulp — that his hair
is "sexy." I say Bolton isn't Jew-
ish• she insists he is. What's the
truth?
A: It's as awful for me to have
to write as I know it will be for
you to read, but Michael Bolton
most certainly is Jewish.
What Tell Me Why will nev-
er be able to answer, though, be-

Join Us For A Double Celebration!

Preview our wonderful new studio at the
same location, just two doors away

and

Attend our Annual Fall Fine Art Event
October 23, 11 a.m. - 8 p.m.
October 24, 11 a.m. - 7 p.m.

Fine Art, Great Food, Good Company!

32506 Northwestern Highway • Farmington Hills
(810) 851-7540

s ie rt me s i e sm ie rn e w is ie s i one s m en n e di e s me s mAi se e rn e

ORA s NG DOT

OM SLEEPY id ,lye

The Whole
Month of
October!!

ti)

THE DE TRO T JE WISH NEWS

rne •

e

SALE

■

Michael Bolton: Just what do women see in him?

Deals • Deals • Deals
c
I t=i
GALORE
Can

Beginning
October 15
through
November 5

"Many of your favorite Ghosts,
Goblins, and Fall Decorations
will be on SALE !"

26,000 SQ. FEET & OVER 400 DEALERS!!

10:00-6:00 • Mon., Tues., Wed., Fri.
10:00-8:00 • Thurs. & Sat.
11:00-5:00 • Sunday
\s

111

■ 1

` :7 _ 1

11111

o

s-N. tr YS/:c y

;

I 0:

FREE
I Scented 1%
1
Candle 1%
I w/Purchase I ■

LExpires 10/31/96j Ile

0 Craft Mall & Antiques ;

■ :
Walled Lake • Sterling Heights -Livonia • Flint
%! -----------------------------------------.•

Lo

411 1154 E.TV. Mapk Rd. (Between Decker & Pontiac Trail) • (810) 926-8650 le

.10002W il' iWiti ll7 747:174%7 27 :17:6 21W 0 AVO NicceAw

' -100-

The Talmud, in tractate
Chulin, gives some of the char-
acteristics that define a permit-
ted bird, but also states that
"with regard to which birds are
clean, we rely on tradition."
For example, although ducks
and geese are permitted birds, by
tradition we eat only domesti-
cated ducks and geese, and not
wild breeds. In some countries
Jews eat pheasant; in others,
they have no such tradition.
When Jews settled in Ameri-
ca 300 years ago, they first en-
countered the turkey (which
exists naturally only in the West-
ern Hemisphere). As a new
species, the turkey was not part
of any Jew's tradition. With time,
most Jews accepted the turkey.
as a permitted bird, mainly be-
cause it has the physical charac-
teristics of other kosher fowl.
Some families, however, never
accepted the turkey. Halachical-
ly, such a personal tradition is
deed.solid ground for refraining
Tichireiting thikey.

- -

cause some mysteries simply
defy human comprehension, is
why Bolton, like fellow Jewish
crooners Neil Diamond and Bar-
ry Manilow (heard to remark at
a recent concert: 'We are all here
for the same reason: to love
me!"), has an entire cadre of fe-
male fans who find him irre-
sistible.
Michael Bolton was born in
1953 in New Haven, Conn. His

family name was Bolotin, but he

dropped it because he said no
one could pronounce it cor-
rectly.
By the time he was 7, Bolton
was playing saxophone, in love
with soul music and determined
to enter the entertainment in-
dustry. Amazingly enough, it
took more than 20 years for his
genius to be recognized, and to
this day he continues to be a fre-
quent target of music critics: One
referred to him as "the sledge-
hammer of pop — someone who
has never met a song he can't
pulverize." • -

Bolton was 14 when he start-
ed his first band, the Nomads.
Two years later he dropped out
of school and devoted himself to
advancing his brilliant musical
career. He managed to get a few
record contracts, but his albums
never went anywhere. In the
early 1980s, Bolton made nu-
merous appearances as the
opening act for hard-rock per-
formers like Ozzy Osbourn
where, inexplicably, he found
many fans. Still, his records did
not sell.
Bolton's breakthrough came
in 1983, after he wrote "How Am
I Supposed To Live Without
You?" which became a No. 1 hit
for singer Laura Branigan. Ap-
parently, Bolton had found a
niche writing for other singers
— perhaps because this meant
he stayed in the background,
where no one would actually
have to see his hair.
"How Am I Supposed To Live
Without You?" was followed by
a string of other songs, includ-
ing Cher's "I Found Someone"
and the Pointer Sisters' "Heart-
beat."
Bolton's own first fairly suc-
cessful album was "The
Hunger," released in 1987. On
it, he sang a great deal about
love, and also "Sittin' on the
Dock of the Bay." Otis Redding's
widow thought Bolton's rendi-
tion nothing less than brilliant;
critics were less than delighted.
By the late 1980s, Bolton had
received several awards, and in
1990 he joined another Jewish
guy with bad hair, Kenny G, for
what would be a sold-out tcur of
North America. Then finally, oh
happy day, in 1991 he released
"Time, Love & Tenderness" —
which sold 9 million copies and
at long last propelled Bolton to
the fame he was convinced he so
richly deserved.
Bolton's honors include Gram-
mys, American Music Awards
and New York Music Awards.
He has been active fund-raising
for numerous charities, includ-
ing City of Hope and the Pedi-
atric AIDS Foundation. El

Send questions to Tell Me Why,
The Jewish News, 27 676
Franklin Road, Southfield, MI
48034, or fax to (810) 354-6069.
All letters must be signed and in-
clude the writer's address. Ques-
tions answered in the column will
feature only the writer's initials
and cityof rside rice.-