BUY A CASE OF FOOD TO HELP FEED THE JEWISH HUNGRY. A, -0 1 1 4 •1■1 11tiiii rpr .111417 A Wise Man mil Why one Reform rabbi wanted a "free" synagogue. ELIZABETH APPLEBAUM ASSOCIATE EDITOR YAD EZRA feediv the .lefroh Holgfy Editor's Note: SO, can YOU Tell Me Why? Use this coupon to help feed the Jewish hungry. YAD EZRA will use your donations to purchase cases of food and distribute them to our neighbors in need. ❑ 1 case chicken (54 lbs.) $80.00 ❑ 1/2 case chicken (27 lbs) $40.00 ❑ 1 case 27 oz. canned gefilte fish (12 per case) ❑ 1 case 18 oz. Quaker oatmeal (24 per case) $39.00 $37.00 ❑ 1 case 6.5 oz. turia in water (48 per case) $30.00 ❑ 1 case 15 oz. tomato sauce (48 per case) $25.50 1:1 1 case 18 oz. creamy peanut butter (12 per case) ❑ 1 case 16 oz. thin spaghetti (20 per case) $21.00 $18.00 ❑ 1 case 16 oz. rice (24 per case) $13.33 ❑ 1 nutritious food package for family of four $50.00 YOUR CONTRIBUTION IS ELIGIBLE FOR A 50% MICHIGAN TAX CREDIT. (subject to certain limitations) Enclosed is my check in the amount of $ for cases of food as a tax deductible contribution to YAD EZRA to help feed the Jewish hungry. Name: Address . City/State/Zip• Area Code & Phone . Make checks payable and mail to: YAD EZRA 26641 Harding, Oak Park, MI 48237 Tributes and Memorials Available • For more information, call: YAD EZRA • (810) 548-FOOD (548-3663) BUY ONE r-c GET ONE FREEr UJ Up LU Buy one pair of Women's or Children's Shoes or Boots at the Sale Price.Get the Other Pair at the same Sale Price or less FREE! 325 prs. *Table & Rack Shoes & Boots only. All sales final. No refunds or exchanges CC LU f=1 LU 30 G r eg SH 0 E S ORCHARD MALL Orchard Lake Rd. North of Maple W. Bloomfield • 851-5566 Serving the Community for 40 Years Beginning this week, Tell Me Why wants to challenge all of you experts out there. Once a month, I will ask a question and see how many of you can answer it. Send in the correct response, and I'll print your name right here in the most popular column in the entire universe. Your friends will be impressed! Your boss will give you a $10 million annual raise! That good-looking guy who never even noticed you will offer you a 5-carat engagement ring! This week's question: Director Steven Spielberg was so particular about the voice for his beloved "E.T." that he tried all kinds of computer-altered animal voices, including those of a raccoon and cat. In the end, though, he decided to go with a then-little-known Jewish actress. What was her name? Send your answers to Tell Me Why, The Jewish News, 27676 Franklin Road, Southfield, MI 48034, or fax them to (810) 354-6069. The deadline is March 14. Q: I recently studied the life of Rabbi Stephan S. Wise, the Reform leader. I know he founded the fa- mous Free Synagogue in New York, and I'm interested to know how he happened to choose that name. A: Rabbi Wise was indeed a remarkable man. He was born in Budapest in 1874, but his family left when he was 2 for the United States. He studied at Columbia Univer- sity before deciding to become a rabbi. In 1907, Rabbi Wise found- ed the Free Synagogue, which he so named for two reasons. First, he wanted complete freedom when it came to • expressing his views, with no censorship from the synagogue board or congregational lead- ership. That might sound run- of-the-mill today, but Rabbi Wise held quite unconven- tional views for the time. He was an early Zionist who nev- er hesitated to speak out in fa- vor of the establishment of a Jewish state. So eloquent were his remarks on the subject that he gained a worldwide repu- tation, much to the chagrin of the majority of the Reform movement, which was decid- edly anti-Zionist at the time. The second aspect of "Free" in the congregation's title had to do with dues — or rather, lack of them. Interestingly, Rabbi Wise demanded no mon- ey from his membership. Before his death in 1949, Rabbi Wise also founded the Jewish Institute of Religion, which later merged with He- brew Union College. In addition to his com- mitment to Zionism and Jewish education, Rabbi Wise was probably the leading spokesman on behalf of Euro- pean Jewry during World War II. He worked tirelessly to help those devastated by the Nazis, and his efforts earned him the respect of Reform, Con- servative and Orthodox rabbis alike. Who was the voice of Spielberg's cute little pal? 0: Somebody recently told me that the Torah actually mentions the word "electricity." You've got to be kidding! A: Well, it's not electricity as you and I and Ben Franklin know it, but I think the pas- sage will spark your interest. It can be found in Ezekiel 1:4 and 27, which recounts: And I looked, and behold, a stormy wind came out of the north, a great cloud, with a fire flashing up, so that a bright- ness was round about it; and out of the midst thereof as the color of electrum, out of the midst of the fire... Here, the word is "electrum"; in other places you may see it "amber," and biblical scholars generally interpret the de- scription to mean that Jews of the time understood that they could produce sparks by rub- bing pieces of amber together. In the original, the Hebrew reads chashmal — also the contemporary word for "elec- tricity." Q: I love Hollywood gossip and would be interested to hear the name of the first Jewish celebrity to become a real box-office champ. A: Tell Me Why would be 2 willing to wager you could -z guess and guess and guess for the next 100 years and never be able to answer this question. I certainly was sur- prised. During the 1930s and 1940s, when it first became possible to chart the box-office draw of Hollywood figures, there were a number of popular Jewish performers like Edward G. Robinson, John Garfield and Jeff Chandler. But they could never compare to the really big stars like Shirley Temple, Bob Hope, Big Crosby and John Wayne, who topped the charts year after year. Then during the 1950s a comedic duo came along whose ridiculous films grabbed, and would not let go of the public's affection. In 1952, they were the biggest box-office stars in the country. One of the pair was an Italian crooner named Dean Martin. The other was a nice Jewish boy named Jerry Lewis. Q: I know that the word for "nonkosher" is treife, but what ex- actly does it mean? A: Treife comes from Exodus 27:30, in which Jews are forbidden to eat "any flesh that is torn [treife] of beasts in the field," a phrase the rabbis initially translated to mean any creature with a major physical ailment that would make it unfit for con- sumption. Later, however, "treife" came to include any food that is not kosher. 0 Send questions to Tell Me Why, The Jewish News, 27676 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 city of residence.