F.
In France, A Warning:
Hate Is Gaining Popular Votes
You might not be familiar with names such as
Vitrolles or Toulon or Orange. But we think you
should be. No, they aren't anywhere to be found
in Oakland County or nearby.
The message, though, that is coming from the
Midi section of southeastern France should be
familiar to anyone living in Michigan or any-
where else across this country.,
It's a message of hate. There is a growing, scary
presence in France known as the National Front.
It has a political organization which recently re-
ceived 15 percent of the French popular vote. Its
message: Get the immigrants out of France. Its
targets now are largely Arab and African immi
grants. But its target of hate also includes Jews.
You think this is something small that will go
away? Think again. The National Front's elected
officials control the cities of Vitrolles, Toulon and
Orange. The Front controls an outright majority
in Vitrolles. Mayor Catherine Megret, a Front can-
didate, won that office with 52 percent of the vote.
In the city of Orange, anti-Semitic sections
have been added to the town's library. In the
town of Marignane, the school cafeteria stopped
offering Muslim children alternatives to pork at
lunchtime.
The Front's national leader, Jean-Marie Le
Pen, is openly racist and anti-Semitic.
We write this editorial because we want you,
in the safety of suburban America, to realize that
what is being considered by many experts to be
the most dangerous spread of hate since Hitler
is very much in existence in 1997 in France.
We say slogans like "Never Again," but we can-
not forget that the Holocaust and Hitler were
around within the past 60 years. Hardly ancient
history. Our Holocaust survivors are living to see
hate in Europe take center stage again. They,
better than anyone else, can tell all of us to pay
close attention to France.
In Germany, what started small was supposed
to "go away." Instead, much of European Jewish
society went away. We ask locally for our Anti-
Defamation League to keep all of us informed.
We ask our representation on Capitol Hill and
in Lansing to be aware of France. We ask Pres-
ident Clinton and everyone who loves freedom
and believes in the civility of diversity and the
danger of overzealous nationalism to help the
people of France rid this cancer from the face of
Earth's thinking, reasonable society.
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Judaism On The Road
28
For the kids, homework and Hebrew school is al-
ready ancient history. Besides, many of them are
creating new memories while swinging from
ropes and racing canoes at camp. At work, the
projects haven't vanished, but there's less ur-
gency about them. As such, many of us plan to
hit the open road soon for a few days of vacation.
Sadly, we often forget the Jewish opportuni-
ties of our journey. For example, planning to dri-
ve up north in the coming months? Before you
cross the Mackinac Bridge, remember there is a
congregation in Petoskey. On the Michigan side
of the Soo Locks is Beth Jacob Synagogue, dat-
ing back some 50 years. Directly across the Ke-
weenaw Waterway, in the city of Hancock, is
Temple Beth Jacob, founded in 1912.
In Iron Mountain, there is a white wood house
used as a Jewish house of worship; there's the
outline of a Magen David on the facade. In Ish-
peming, there is Temple Beth Shalom. Through-
out the UP, a traveler can find marks made by
the early Jewish settlers and enhanced by the
few Jewish families still in residence.
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During your travels, visit the nonphysical
realm. On Friday night, prepare a light meal
with challah and wine. And take it to the porch
or deck. It's difficult to argue that the peaceful
lighting of Shabbat candles while overlooking
the awe-inspiring Great Lakes or Michigan's ma-
jestic forests is a dull experience.
The next morning, ditch organized religion.
Stroll with the family on the beach, boardwalk
or a wooded path. Sing a few Hebrew songs. Then
return to your temporary home to relax with a
good Jewish book. Looking for a title? Check out
next week's "On The Bookshelf," a monthly col-
umn which appears in JN Entertainment the
third Friday of each month with a listing of the
newest books of Jewish interest.
Most of all, relish in the opportunity to place
an enjoyable dose of Judaism in your vacation.
Remember, we often hear that our heritage
should permeate every aspect of our lives. But
we're the only ones who can make it so. This va-
cation is a wonderful chance to enhance the ef-
fort.
The DJN@aol . com
"So What
Do You
n Is Jewish organizational life still
?..
relevant to you?
To respond: "So, What Do You Think?"
27676 Franklin Road, Southfield, MI 48034
Letters
Differences
To Be Noted
Our Community
Is Failing Us
On June 27, Elizabeth Applebaum
asked for help ("On Money, Lob-
ster and Yeshiva Students"):
"Please explain it to me if I am
missing something, but what's the
difference between the way one of
those students acted (he threw ex-
crement at Conservative Jews
praying near the Western Wall)
and Ms. Cohen who is out with
her gentile husband eating a ham-
and-cheese sandwich onYom Kip-
pur?'
Simply, Ms. Applebaum, the
student who threw excrement was
doing so as a Jew seeking to rep-
resent and defend Judaism in pub-
lic. Ms. Cohen is acting privately
and making no comment about
Judaism at all. The student is de-
faming Judaism and committing
a terrible desecration of God's
name. Ms. Cohen is, at worst, com-
mitting a violation of ritual law.
By the way, if Ms. Applebaum
cannot tell the difference between
a sack of excrement and a sand-
wich, I'd hate to eat at her house.
Once again the Jewish commu-
nity has let the Jewish people
down (in response to What Do
You Think, July 4: "Do you think
it's a shame there are Jews living
in non-Jewish nursing homes?").
It is a disgrace that we cannot,
that we do not care for our own.
Yet we help so many others. We
employ those of other faiths and
we provide many services to those
of other faiths, but we do not care
for our own without a high price
tag.
It all comes down to money
and power — not Jewish people.
Only the moderate and rich Jew-
ish families are looked after.
They're all that's left of the "Jew-
ish community."
B. Levine
West Bloomfield
Perception
Is Lacking
I was deeply disappointed in your
Ed Codish article on Mark Silverman
Oak Park PERCEPTION page 30