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This Week's Top Stories
Infighting
Local leaders repudiate a small group of rabbis
condemning non-Orthodox movements.
LYNNE MEREDITH COHN STAFF WRITER
Julius Spielberg
Eight Over Eighty
Senior citizen awardees lead active, exemplary lives.
ILL DAVIDSON SKLAR STAFF WRITER
/ -
ou'll just have to excuse Julius Spiel-
"The reason these eight individuals were cho-
berg for slowing his pace.
sen was that they really stood above and beyond
Times for the walker in training for those other nominees for their achievements in
races this summer have increased - in perpetuating Jewish identity, for showing a ded-
the 1,500 meters from 12.5 minutes to ication to a volunteer cause, for overcoming risks
15 minutes in the past 12 years.
and challenges for the benefit of the general
"I am getting older and I am losing community and for leading a few to victory over
steam," the 94-year-old national r
ca..
competitor explained.
While he may have slowed on the
track, Mr. Spielberg's volunteer ac-
tivities have increased in recent Fs
years. Whether it is soliciting funds r,
for the Michigan Chapter of the
Friends of the Israeli Defense Forces
or serving as president of a group of
Jewish pharmacists or delivering
kosher Meals on Wheels as a vol-
unteer, Mr. Spielberg spends a good
portion of his time helping others.
Neil Gorosh, Mr. Spielberg's
grandson, said he nominated his
grandfather for the Eight Over
Eighty awards because he serves as
an inspiration for people of all ages.
"I know he is special," Mr. Gorosh
said. "He is more active than many
people 10, 15, even 20 years younger Julius Spielberg makes his rounds as a volunteer, delivering kosher food
for Meals on Wheels.
than he is."
In May, Mr. Spielberg will join
seven other individuals being honored by Jew- the many," he said.
ish Federation Apartments (JFA), The Jewish
The other awardees include Herman Canner,
News, HDS Services and BDO Seidman, LLP, Mary Fink, Charles Fink, Bess Krolik,
Accountants and Consultants.
Marian Mann, May Nosanchuk and Milton
D.J. Kucharski, development director for JFA, Rose.
said five judges pored over more than 30 nom-
inations to find the chosen eight.
EIGHT OVER EIGHTY page 6
CL
small group of right-wing
rabbis, members of the
Union of Orthodox Rabbis
in the United States and
Canada (UORUSC), announced
last week that the Reform and
Conservative movements with-
in Judaism are not Jewish and
advised Jewish individuals not
to affiliate with those groups.
Rabbis from across the reli-
gious spectrum have come out
against the divisive statement.
The dispute arose as the Is-
raeli Knesset considered a bill
this week on whether to invali-
date Reform and Conservative
conversions in Israel (see relat-
ed story on page 20).
The statement by the rab-
binical group has also been mis-
construed as a judgment against
individuals who affiliate as Re-
form and Conservative Jews.
Ralti Hirsh Ginsberg of
Brooklyn, the acting chairman
of the UORUSC, said the notion
that Jews who follow Reform
and Conservative doctrine are
not Jews "is most ridiculous —
any person born by a Jewish
mother is a Jew. We only said
that the Reform and Conserva-
tive doctrines, that their Ju-
daism is not Judaism, because
there is only one Judaism."
Rabbi Ginsberg's organization
is not the well-known Union of
Orthodox Jewish Congregations
of America, known by many as
the OU. Still, Rabbi Ginsberg
claims approximately 550 mem-
bers, including at least a hand-
ful of rabbis in Detroit.
Rabbi Chaskel Grubner is-
sued a written statement for De-
troit's Council of Orthodox
Rabbis:
"The Council of Orthodox
Rabbis of Greater Detroit is
greatly pained at the continuing
slide of the Jewish people into
the chasm of division and strife.
It is well recorded in the history
of our people that senseless ha-
tred leads to our greatest peri-
ods of destruction."
INFIGHTING page 20
A Heavy Price
A tuition hike at the JCC's Child Development Center
sends longtime customers searching for other
day-care options.
JULIE WIENER STAFF WRITER
W
endy Brickner has
been delighted with
the quality of care
and the Jewish-ori-
ented programming at the
Jewish Community Center's
infant-toddler program.
The program was expen-
sive, but until recently Ms.
Brickner didn't mind paying
a little more. However, in the
past month her feelings have
changed. Like many other
parents, Ms. Brickner has
placed her children on wait
lists at other day-care programs.
With the announcement that
the JCC Child Development Cen-
ter will be increasing its rates to
$975 a month, parents are up in
arms and scrambling for alter-
natives.
At the current rate of $39 per
day, plus a required family mem-
bership that can be as high as
$45 a month, the Jewish Com-
munity Center's infant-toddler
program is already the most ex-
pensive day-care program in met-
ropolitan Detroit.
On March 27, each parent re-
ceived a letter and packet of in-
formation explaining the
increase. According to the JCC's
chart comparing itself to First
Impressions, Children's World,
KinderCare, Child Time and
Great Beginnings, the JCC offers
the best staff-child ratio (1 to 3,
as opposed to 1 to 4) for infants,
and is the only one of these pro-
grams providing kosher lunch, a
Jewish curriculum, full outdoor
track and nature trails, a full li-
brary, an indoor gym and swim- -cr
ming lessons.
The JCC packet also asserts
that the daily equivalent of the
monthly rate will be $45 for a `c
child enrolled five days a week.
But Ms. Brickner said the in-
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HEAVY PRICE page 21
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