FIND YOUR JEWISH SPIRIT Agency for Jewish Education Midrasha Center for Adult Jewish Learning presents FINDING JOY: A PRACTICAL SPIRITUAL GUIDE TO HAPPINESS Speaker: RABBI DANNEL SCHWARTZ Searching for happiness in our modern world of stress and struggle is common; finding it is unusual. The very concept of the Jewish mystical tradition is centered on the belief that if our focus is spiritual, then true appreciation of our lives, and true joy, are possible. Clear, creative, personal and down-to-earth, Rabbi Schwartz will introduce the insights of the Jewish mystics, and offer exercises for the soul which brings them into our daily routines. THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 7 & 21 7:00-8:30 P.M. Barnes & Noble 6800 Orchard lake • West Bloomfield (South of 15 Mile Road) COMMUNITY INVITED • NO CHARGE For reservations call Naomi Blumenberg at the Agency for Jewish Education (810) 354-1050 TH E D ET RO brought him to places like Libya, Iran and Iraq, and produced from his lips anti-American rhetoric that made mainstream black leaders even more uneasy about his bid for leadership of their community. The mutual admiration soci- ety he created with Libya's Moammar el Qaddafi finished off any lingering possibility that he would be the next Martin Luther King Jr. In 1996, Mr. Farrakhan's ap- peal in the inner city remains a concern, but there are fewer African-American leaders will- ing to defend him. Mr. Far- rakhan still has the ability to do considerable mischief, but it ap- pears unlikely he will extend his reach into mainstream Ameri- can life, black or white. But if Mr. Farrakhan's at- tempt to broaden his appeal has been a miserable allure, it is also true that the social and econom- ic ravages that gave him a small toehold in America's poorest com- munities remained unchecked. Despite the warning inherent in last year's march, the Ameri- can political establishment — black and white, Democratic and Republican — has steadfastly failed to address the economic and racial emergency in our cities, the widening chasm be- tween rich and poor, the decline of urban education or the grow- ing despair of a largely black un- derclass. - Indeed, politicians often seem intent on worsening the griev- ances that give Mr. Farrakhan his core appeal. This year's puni- tive welfare bill, which slashed benefits without providing new mechanisms to bring recipients into the working economy, is only one example. In this year's political cam- paigns, the plight of the inner city is almost entirely invisible, ex- cept for vague promises of com- passion from the Democrats and a resuscitated supply-side solu- tion from the GOP. The sense of ultimate crisis gripping the inner city will con- tinue to attract people to Mr. Far- rakhan's cause, despite the bigotry inherent in his platform. If the urban slide continues, we can expect even worse dema- gogues to emerge. ❑ The Overlooked Jewish Voter JAMES D. BESSER WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT A " Shop Sherwood... Ws worth it. MARCH page 106 With declining numbers in the population, and at the voting booth, our political punch is losing its sting. l_18110CES boxes to p ress" up /4Diur home: Over styles to choose from. • All Hits d Iways 3C% off (most mfrs.) CCMIDLIMENTAMY GIFT WUAMINC GC44 Orchard Lake I?d at Maple West Bloomfield • 810 SiiJACOID Mon-Muir-Fri 1C--) Tue-Wed-Sat Sun 12-5 funny thing happened on the way to the 1996 pres- idential election. Last year, Bob Dole and President Clinton were all over the Jewish community as they tried to fill their coffers with the millions of dollars it takes to mount a successful campaign in this age of media mega-money. Mr.,Dole, whose campaign fi- nance committee is top- heavy with wealthy Jews, came to the American hrael Public Affairs Committee pol- icy conference bearing a big gift: a bill to prod the ad- ministration into moving the American Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, a turnaround for the ex-Senate majority leader that left political observers breathless. Mr. Clinton, already widely re- garded as the most overtly pro- Israel president ever, missed few opportunities to talk about his close personal relationships with Israel's leaders. But in the weeks and months before the election, neither cam- paign has the time of day for Jew- ish voters. That's not an insult, but a re- flection of plain political reality: More and more, the Jewish vote in presidential contests is nu- merically unimportant except in exceptionally close races. The story is much the same in House and Senate contests. This year, the Jewish vote could prove piv- otal in two or three races — Illi- nois and New Jer- sey lead the way — but will likely prove statistically insignificant in hundreds of others. Several factors, including an apathy epidemic, and the in- escapable fact that the Jewish community is shrinking as a pro- portion of the American popula-