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Temple Beth El Needs Help
To Get Coats Off The Racks

For once, our community has been given
Fifteen thousand coats, 500 pairs of shoes and
5,000 pounds of flour are heading to Detroit enough goods to distribute to people and agen-
in the care of the famous "shoe lady," Ranya cies dealing face to face with the poor. But what
Kelly. Ms. Kelly is one of those national heroes Temple Beth El, the congregation facilitating the
who isn't being paid millions of dollars for efforts, needs is a few good people — more than
hitting a baseball or making a movie. She mere- a few — who can volunteer in a massive effort to
ly found 500 pairs of shoes still in fine condition distribute the materials. Beth El needs help from
in a dumpster one day. After some research, all over the Jewish community for the massive
she learned that many retail outlets were dump- distribution of these goods.
Should the spirit move you, we are urging our
ing perfectly good items into the trash. She
and a partner have since turned the refused us- community to help get the goods to those who
ables into working items for those in need. Her need them. A call to (810) 612-4120 will result
friendship with Temple Beth El's Rabbi Daniel in information on how to help.
Not every dumpster is going to have a stack
Syme will benefit not only the temple, but the
entire Detroit metro area. She'll be here this of nice coats in it. But every coat does have a lin-
weekend to help distribute the thousands of ing. Hopefully, by reaching those in need, those
linings can become silver.
items.

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DE TRO IT JEWISH N EWS

Israel: Heading Toward
The Brink Of Disaster?

26

Israeli Prime Minister Binyarnin Netanyahu
won the May 29 elections by vowing to deliver
security to the terrorized residents of the Jew-
ish state.
On the surface, it may appear that he has
kept his promise. Overall, Palestinian violence
is down, despite the agony of last week's mur-
der of a Jewish woman and her son outside Ra-
mallah and the outbreak of violence following
the opening of the tunnel in east Jerusalem.
Since the Netanyahu victory, Israel has expe-
rienced a period of relative quiet. In Middle
Eastern terms, this is as close as you get to
peace without signing a treaty.
But the claim is misleading. It could be the
quiet before the storm. In fact, Mr. Netanyahu's
actions — along with the irresponsible
brinkmanship of Palestinian Authority Chair-
man Yassir Arafat — could lead the Middle East
to disaster.
Mr. Netanyahu's decision last week to restore
special benefits to West Bank settlers endan-
gers the peace talks and increases the likeli-
hood of a new flareup of violence — as does the
Palestinian Authority's contention that the lat-
est nod to the settlers represents a virtual dec-
laration of war against the Palestinians. By
reopening the settlements issue, Mr. NetanyaE
has added fuel to an explosive situation that
could destroy the peace process, give ammu-
nition to terrorist groups, divide the Israeli peo-
ple, drive a wedge between Israel and the
Diaspora and set the world against the Jewish
state.
He was told this by his two top security ad-
visers, Internal Security Minister Avigdor Ka-

halani and Gen. Ami Ayalon, director of the
Shin Bet, the internal security service. But he
did not listen.
The Jewish settlements have always been
seen by the world as obstacles to peace. Many
Israelis agree with this observation. The fact
is, despite all the economic incentives provided
by the Israeli government in the past two
decades, fewer than 150,000 Jews have moved
to the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
The Rabin-Peres government de-emphasized
settlements during its negotiations with the
Palestinian Authority; by restoring government
incentives to the settlers, the Netanyahu gov-
ernment is alienating not just the Arabs, but
also many of its own citizens and also the Unit-
ed States.
This week, President Clinton rebuked Israel
in unmistakable terms. On Monday, he agreed
with a reporter's assessment that the decision
on settlements was "absolutely" an obstacle to
peace. If Mr. Netanyahu's rhetoric is followed
by changes on the ground, the pressure from
Washington will mount quickly.
This does not bode well for Mr. Netanyahu,
whose political support is evaporating. The cen-
ter, which put the prime minister in power, is
sliding away from him. And if the Arabs decide
to give up completely on the peace process and
turn to a full-blown campaign of terrorism, he
will lose much of the support he has today.
Mr. Netanyahu must keep his promise and
deliver security. To do that, he must make com-
promises and put Israel back on the path of
peace.

-

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GLOSSARY: 'COUDJCO: Formerly the UNITED CONGRESS OF DISENFRANCHISED JEWISH BUREAUCRATS and the
CENTRAL JEWISH ORGANIZATIONS CONFEDERATION until budget cuts necessitated a merger
, FLEISHEGEH = YIDDISH FOR MEAT

Comment

Intimacy Without Risk

RABBI DAVID WOLPE SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS

I

here is a raging debate in
the press over whether the
Internet is good or bad. Let
me throw one more voice
into the void.
First, it must be said that my
computer literacy extends to
pushing buttons I am told to
push. I do not program; I do not
problem-solve. I can type. I can
call other people for help. I can
spill coffee onto the keyboard.
With those three procedures, my
technical skills are exhausted.
However, I managed to find
my way onto the Internet. Ear-
ly on I discovered that I could
read the London Times each
morning. There is almost noth-
ing in the London Times that
helps my work or that I really
need. Whether John Major has
lost his parliamentary majority
Rabbi David Wolpe is assistant to

the chancellor of the
Conservative Movement's
Jewish Theological Seminary.

is interesting in an academic sort
of way, I suppose; but it will not
tip the scales of my existence to-
ward darkness or light. Having
said that, I should also say that
reading the London Times each

morning is fascinating, time con-
suming, and slightly addictive.
But I do have real work to do,
right?

What would the
Kotzker Rebbe have
said about e-mail?

As a news junkie, I also browse
through other newspapers and
magazines.
This is equally wasteful and
equally fun. I browse through
the opinions of people who, oth-
erwise, I would not have heard
of and probably not care about.
INTIMACY page 28

