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If Cleanliness Is Important,
Why Don't We Demand It?

Traditional practices demand so many examples
of cleanliness and purity.
For many Jews, going to the mikvah is the ul-
timate act of striving for purity of one's soul, one's
self and one's family. Women who monthly go to
the mikvah fastidiously prepare themselves,
smoothing out the last callous with a pumice
stone, trimming nails and becoming totally clean,
and that's before they submerge themselves in
the ritual waters.
Many of these same women and their families
scour over every last inch of their homes prior to
Passover in search of any remaining particles of
bread, cleaning their homes with effort and a
spirit of the holiday that rids the spiritual
chametz from their lives as well. Whether one is
Reform, Orthodox or Conservative, the effort
to spend time cleaning for Passover is monu-
mental.
New dishes, before they are even used, get tak-
en by some to the mikvah for purification prior
to use.
We kasher houses, sometimes asking our rab-
bis to come in and supervise the tedious clean-
ing and transformation of treife to kosher.
We put all of this pressure on ourselves, our
families, our homes, to reach a level of sanctity.
In all walks of Judaism's spiritual life, be it sec-
ular to the most religious, spirituality is akin
to a level of purity.
Yet, when it comes to the levels of cleanliness
in places where we purchase food, we don't have
such demands. As long as the levels of kashruth
are high, we turn the other way.
Keeping kosher is not inexpensive, and it is
sometimes difficult. It requires a commitment to

follow the commandments of the Torah and the
trust and advice of those who produce kosher
products, provide these products and supervise
the level of kashruth of these products.
Detroit's Vaad Harabonim does a thorough job
of supervising the level of kashruth for this area.
While the Vaad keeps an eye on local business-
es, providing advice and supervision, it relies on
the state of Michigan to monitor the cleanliness
of these facilities.
We believe, though, that this is not enough.
There are certain health and cleanliness viola-
tions that are obvious to a state inspector and
not so clear to anyone else, including a mash-
giach. But then there is a question of the obvi-
ous: There is no mistaking the smell of foul odors;
dirty floors; not wearing hair restraints; clean-
ing chemicals and equipment within eyeshot of
the customers and in proximity to food products.
These are mistakes that only the blind can't see.
If the Vaad supervisors are not empowered to
make suggestions in the area of cleanliness, then
it's up to the kosher consumer to demand nothing
but the cleanest. Goodness knows, cleanliness
standards are not to be compromised in many
practices of our faith. Why we allow them to be
stepped on in the marketplace is anyone's guess.
We encourage you to act with your senses and
your pocketbooks. Dirt, roaches and rodents do
not belong in a kosher setting. "Kosher" should
not only mean food was processed in strict ac-
cordance with Jewish law; it should also mean
cleaner.
Why is this so much to ask?
We do answer to a "higher authority," don't
we?

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THE DETRO IT JEWISH NEWS

Is It, Or Isn't It?

The Council of Orthodox Rabbis of Greater De- DMC intends to preserve the hospital's mission
troit insists it has been providing supervision within the Jewish community. Also, other DMC
facilities, such as Huron
of Sinai Hospital's kosher
Valley Hospital (which will
kitchen since Sinai's doors
also carry the Sinai name),
opened. The hospital's
may seek to expand their
20-year kosher supervisor,
kosher capabilities, with
Rabbi Leonard Perlstein,
additional cost for the su-
former Sinai chief executive
pervision.
officer and president Philip
We ask the Council of Or-
Schaengold, and other past
thodox Rabbis, Rabbi Perl-
leaders of the hospital insist
stein and Sinai's former lay
the Council of Orthodox
and professional leaders to
Rabbis has never done so.
issue one clear statement
They say Sinai has always
about who oversees Sinai's
provided its own supervi-
kosher kitchen. Without it,
sion, totally independent of
DMC may find itself nego-
the Council.
tiating with two different
While the kosher kitchen
parties claiming to provide
is a small part of the Sinai- Sinai's kosher kitchen: Who's been supervising?
kosher supervision. This
Detroit Medical Center
merger, it goes to the symbolic heart of what could prove embarrassing for the community and
makes Sinai a uniquely. Jewish institution. the Council.

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Letters

We Must
`Keep Kosher'

Generalizations
Are Unprofessional

It is the Jewish community's re-
sponsibility to keep a kosher
restaurant in business ("So, What
Do You Think?" Jan. 31).
Detroit is the only large city
that can't support a kosher
restaurant by the normal means.
Very few Reform or Conservative
Jews feel the need, unless they
have to entertain someone who
won't eat in a nonkosher place.
The Orthodox try, but with large
families they cannot afford to pa-
tronize a kosher restaurant on
a regular basis due to the expen-
sive prices.

If the Publisher's Notebook col-
umn of Feb. 14 ("Thank The Docs
For Administrating CPR") had
been written by a non-Jew,
I would have considered it anti-
Semitic and reported it to the
Anti-Defamation League. The
generalization that doctors are
cheap and that their wives pro-
tect them from donating money
to charity is both sexist and un-
true.
It seems to me to be based on
age-old canards that have been
spread about Jews for centuries
by our enemies. Congratulations.
You have contributed mightily to
their cause with your published
sentiments. (You might also note
that many doctors indeed have
husbands rather than wives.)
I can tell you from my own vol-
unteer work that many doctors
and their spouses do give gener-
ously to Federation as well as to
charitable causes such as JARC,
JET, Yad Ezra and Forgotten
Harvest. Having served as both
treasurer and vice president of
Temple Israel, I can report with
confidence that, as a group, doc-

Helen Kuperman
Oak Park

Sarah's Deli suffered the

Classic Coney Island.

same fate as

GENERALIZATIONS page 30

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