THE DETROIT CONSERVATIVE MOVEMENT SCHOLAR IN RESIDENCE Thursday, May 1 Conservative Movement Lunch* and Learn Max M. Fisher Federation Building, 6735 Telegraph Rd. 12:00 lunch, 12:30-1:30 study for reservations call JTS (810) 258-0055 Women In the Rabbinate (or What Will They Call Your Husband?) - Rabbi Debra Orenstein Shabbat Morning Services, May 3 Shaarey Zedek • 9:00 A.M. A Holiness Code for Contemporary Jews - Sunday, May 4 Women's League for Conservative Judaism B'nai Moshe • 12:45 P.M. Lunch* for reservations (810) 788-0600 or (810) 489-0783 New Perspectives on Life Cycle, Spirituality and Gender: A Woman's View - Friday Evening Shabbat Service and Family* Dinner, May 9 Adat Shalom Synagogue • 6:00 P.M. The Shema: And You Shall Teach Them To Your Children Made possible in part by support from: Jewish Federation Fisher Foundation, Metro Detroit Conservative Synagogues, A.J.E., Hillel Day School, Detroit Friends of the Jewish Theological Seminary and the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism (Michigan Region) BOOKS 0 KOSHER CATERERS Bought and Sold LIBRARY BOOKSTORE 545-4300 CLASSIC CUISINE Approved by Council of Orthodox Rabbis PHILIP TEWEL Food and Beverage Director (810) 661-4050 Farmington Hills, Michigan Open 7 Days Book, Bo,gh, s Your Himic Next time you feed your face, think about your heart. Go easy on your heart and start cutting back on foods that are high in saturated fat and cholesterol. The change'II do you good. 140 V American Heart Association WERE FIGHTING FOR YOUR LIFE M. Sempliner I t's the time of year when And in Virginia, Gov. George Jews reflect on slavery and Allen Jr. proudly proclaimed liberation, and when we re- April "Confederate History and alize anew the endless con- Heritage Month," despite the sequences of that collective shocked outrage of civil rights experience: Thousands of years leaders. later, we still mark our own de- The first story showed how liverance from oppression with bigots like Mr. Farrakhan are one of the year's most important making it harder for Jews to do holidays. what they have to do — fight to And it's a time when we naturally think about oth- er groups that face op- pression, discrimination and the bitter legacy of slavery. But in today's world, with intergroup tensions on the rise and the Jewish community facing anti- Semitism from unexpect- ed quarters, that empathy — which is really just self- interest in disguise — is harder to muster. Two recent news stories point to the Jewish com- munity's growing confu- sion over racial justice, and to the fact that even with that confusion, we need to be an active force in work- ing for reconciliation, not merely one more group shrilly demanding our own rights and ignoring the plight of others. In Philadelphia, a rally Louis Farrakhan again. to promote racial reconcil- iation generated storms of con- bridge a racial chasm that troversy because of the threatens the foundations of participation of Nation of Islam American democracy. leader Louis Farrakhan. The second shows why that Ara.....immikos.a.....isillmilighlabliMinsivilOPA-- PH OTO BY ANS/ REU TERS Selected engagements open to the public. For more information, please call the Jewish Theological Seminary office (810) 258-0055 or the United Synagogue (810) 642-4890. *Cost for meal JEWEL ❑ JAMES D. BESSER WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT - 0 "There could be significant problems if RFRA is overturned, depending on the grounds for the decision," said Marc Stern, legal director for the American Jew- ish Congress and a major play- er in the coalition that passed the law in 1993. He said that a sweeping deci- sion restricting the right of state and federal governments to pass specific laws protecting religious liberties could force backers to seek a constitutional amend- ment — something that would be even harder than the original RFRA battle, and a prospect that leaves many Jewish activists un- easy. "At this point, there's no inch- cation of what the court will do," he said. "But the possibility that it could be overturned is some- thing that we have been dis- cussing, in terms of the options we'd face." The Rev. Louis Farrakhan has some white help in raising the race card again. Shabbat Morning Services, May 10 Adat Shalom Synagogue • 9:00 A.M. A Holiness Code for Contemporary Jews Synagogues, Temples, Hottls and the Halls Of Your Choice ried about things like how it would affect seniority in the workplace. So you might say there has been no rush to get this thing moving." If this sounds like deja vu, it should; the first version of the re- ligious accommodations bill was introduced in the late 1980s, but abandoned in 1990 after a Supreme Court ruling in the so- called peyote case forced Jewish groups to fight for even more fun- damental religious liberties — a battle that eventually produced the Religious Freedom Restora- tion Act. RFRA itself is under review by the Supreme Court, with a de- cision expected in several months. And Jewish activists are beginning to think about their options if the law, which makes it harder for the government to make rules limiting religious practices, is cast aside. Slavery And Liberation Friday evening Shabbat Service, May 9 Adat Shalom Young Adult Services • 8:00 P.M. Israel-Diaspora Relations: Beyond Security and Philanthropy TRUST YOUR NEXT CATERED AFFAIR TO THE FINEST KOSHER CATERER O We Cater At O O Most SABBATH page 139