7nZatttNN,'V. • • If You Are A Survivor, Collect What Is Owed You On Sunday, what could turn out to be arguably the most important conference held anywhere in Michigan is slated for Congregation Shaarey Zedek at 1 p.m. Holocaust survivors from around the region will be given an opportunity to hear presentations from compensation expert William R. Marks and Claims Conference official Greg Schneider. The event, planned and coordinated by Fran Victor, will give survivors an opportunity to learn. This is not about disputing anyone's claims to any sort of compensation. It almost boggles the mind that the pain and suffering that the sur- vivors experienced could ever be compensated ad- equately. No, this conference will discuss the "how." As Mr. Marks will clearly explain, this is all about legal issues and bureaucracy and how to best nav- igate those legal avenues to obtain what is right- fully owed. - Ms. Victor has asked The Jewish News to make it clear to those who plan on coming not to bring documentation and not to plan to tell their stories to the speakers. This is one of those town meet- ings where it would best serve the Holocaust sur- vivors to ask straightforward questions that will help compensate them. Hundreds are expected in what could be the largest meeting of its kind held in the United States. We suggest you get there in a timely fash- ion. There is free transportation available from both campuses of the Jewish Community Center. Bring pens and notebooks and your questions. This is going to be an important day. T H E PROMISED LAND THE CONTINUING STORY OF JEWISH LIFE IN THE DIASPORA by Jordan B. Gorfinkel ISRAEL 15 BEING UNREALISTIC WITH THE PA!-e5tINIAN5. I_E-rarAc6 IT-- NO ONE'S MOVING 50 THEY mm5T MAKE ROOM FOR EVERYONE. DETR OIT J E WIS H NEW S License To Offend We can't imagine what could be more inten- honorable than what they claim.) tionally offensive than the license plates some The state answered this challenge by revok- low-life in Virginia chose to buy from the state. ing the plates; the case is still in court. Until Monday, Ryan Maziarka's vehicle plate In that case, it was African-Americans; in the read ZYKLON B, in tribute to the poisonous gas Virginia case, it's the Jews' ox that's being gored. used in the extermination of Jews and others in Can we retain our devotion to the ideal of free Nazi death camps during World War II. The tags speech when the price is the pain and degrada- were issued in 1995, the year Mr. Maziarka was tion of our own people? convicted of scrawling racial and religious slurs One easy answer for Virginia, Maryland and on a predominantly black church. any other state facing a prickly license plate prob- On Monday, the Virginia Department of Mo- lem is simply to ban vanity plates entirely, and tor Vehicles revoked the plates on the grounds for that matter to ban all personal expression in it violated a policy that prohibits tags deemed by any government-sponsored arena. As long as the a review committee as "socially and ethnically censorship isn't based on content, the Consti- insensitive or damaging." tution allows it. We're sure someone will come down the pike What it forbids is selective censorship based and outdo this ugly exploitation of the First on the ideas behind the speech — short of ob- Amendment's free speech guarantee. And, just scenity. Smarter judicial scholars than us would as it was in this case, the Anti-Defamation have to decide whether a "ZYKLON B" license League will argue that hate speech is unaccept- plate is de facto obscene. able. The harder question is After the initial wave of revul- whether such expression should Society that sion and outrage passes — and be allowed, even when it causes for some it may never pass — the devalues free speech anger and pain. Isn't it easier to license plate issue suggests two just let people say what they silences the important questions: Should the want on their own time and dol- government selectively ban lar, and not involve the govern- minority. patently offensive expressions of ment? What is the cost of speech in government-sanctioned trimming the outermost edges settings, such as automobile license plates? And of free speech, the territories occupied only by lu- if so, who gets to decide what is patently offen- natics, neo-Nazis, militia-types and other pro- sive, beyond the famous "seven dirty words"? fessional haters? Even the Supreme Court couldn't define ob- The cost is a less vital society, certainly one scenity — it just knows it when it sees it. which devalues free speech. We're seeing it again Maryland faced a similar situation last year in the renewed campaign for an anti-flag burn- when someone discovered that the Sons of Con- ing amendment to the Constitution. Can my federate Veterans — a group that claims only to words be so painful to you that I should be pro- honor the sacrifice and historical significance of hibited from saying them? Confederate soldiers and not the racist cause Free expression is a safety valve for more dan- they fought to defend — were riding around with gerous impulses. Let's not confuse the words with vanity plates that included a small Confederate the actions. And never forget that a society that flag. (We'll leave it to the disputants in that case devalues free speech always starts by silencing to judge whether the SCV's motives are any less the minority. _ YEAAAH COMMENTS? SUGGESTIONS? KVETCHES? EMAIL US AT >TPL@JEWISHCARTOON. COM< 'VV> SECCA BETH BEFORE the Re the Lberal Skeptic Ideafel YAEL the Perplexed LOUIS ZAYOS SUBS the S the Rebel Tracktionalbl Bobby 11-1E 51111AfION REQUIRES COMPROm15. YA61--- ! AWN ARE YOU GOING TO GET YOUR Stuff Orr My sx() OE OUR APARTMENT?!? • Letters Day Schools Worth Supporting In the May 9 issue, The Jewish News published Laurence Imer- man's community view titled `The Education Question: Is Day School The Answer?" Mr. Imerman extensively dis- cusses the day school views of his friend "Marv," who has re- cently moved to Australia. Mary tells us the Sydney Morning Her- ald reports that more than 50 percent of the Jewish school- aged community attends the five local day schools. Mary laments the significant investment in day school as the reason that atten- dance has increased. Mary is dis- couraged that the Detroit Jewish community is headed down the same path. Mary neglected to state an- other important factor in the se- lection of these schools — the Jewish day schools of Australia are ranked as the best educa- tional institutions in the coun- try, according to the country's own survey of its schools. As the leader of Detroit's Hil- lel Day School, I note we have al- most doubled the size of the school in the past decade. In the coming year, we project an en- rollment of over 700 students. Fortunately, I believe the rea- sons parents send their students to Detroit's Hillel are some of the same as in Australia. We have found that by pro- viding an excellent quality gen- eral studies education and a serious course of Judaic studies in a bi-lingual environment we have been able to attract a grow- ing group of families committed to a day-school education. In the annual Jewish News highlight of the best high school graduates, we always note our alumni are represented in dis- proportionately high numbers. Our graduates go to the best col- leges, become professionals, business leaders, educators, pro- fessors, researchers and, yes, even a rabbi or two. We pride ourselves on being open, inclusive and respectful of all denominations of Judaism. We provide an environment open to those parents who may not know Hebrew and who are SUPPORTING page 28