evance and depth. When pro-
gramming on the Holocaust, we
avoid the large and primarily un-
fathomable details of what hap-
pened. We focus on the individual
experiences of survivors, resis-
tance fighters and liberators. And
we ponder the morality of it all.
Take two books that recently
crossed my desk. The first, Nazi
Gold, is by the English writer
Tom Bower. Its incendiary sub-
title promises "The full story of
the 50-Year Swiss-Nazi conspir-
acy to steal billions from Europe's
Jews and Holocaust survivors."
But most people would drop it
quickly for the second book, an
updated reprinting of Simon
Wiesenthal's 1976 work. It's title
includes: "You are a prisoner in
a concentration camp. A dying
Nazi soldier asks for your for-
giveness. What would you do?"
The 46 responses are by peo-
ple such as the Dalai Lama, ex-
Nazi Albert Speer, Emory
University's Deborah Lipstadt
and Chinese dissident Harry Wu.
Who wouldn't want to peruse the
one- to seven-page responses?
Now, the Shoah still remains

irrelevant to many Jews. As one
professional who works with col-
lege students recently told me,
"Everyone says students only
turn out for Holocaust programs.
It's really that it's what the few
who are involved want."
I only hope that we use this
phenomenal interest in Holo-
caust matters to understand far
more than the years 1933 to
1945. It must lead us to the cen-
turies of Jewish Europe that pre-
ceded the modern carnage.
If it does, we will encounter
wildly diverse and tumultuous
Jewish communities. They are, in
fact, the cradle of Reform, Con-
servative, modern-Orthodox and
Chasidic Jewry. In learning about
each, we can see a poignant mes-
sage to our present-day struggles
to counter assimilation and, more
importantly, Jewish communal
stagnation.
This will create a new chal-
lenge — one of molding a gener-
ation of Jews more interested in
using the Holocaust as an entry
to Jewish history, ethics and
thought than one comfortable in
the shadow of paranoia. D

The Old Mind,
The New Machine

"Computer Programmer and Analyst — that's me. I wouldn't
be at Compuware today if not for the degree and placement

assistance I received at MJI."

• Ilya Kozadayev

Computer Programmer
Cornpuware

A

t the Michigan Jewish Institute, we teach skills for tomorrow's technology in a warm, Jewish
atmosphere. Our state-accredited advanced computer and business studies degree program
prepares graduates for lucrative career opportunities in today's growing market

• A Bachelor's degree in Computer and Information
Systems

• A Bachelor's degree in Business
Information Systems

• Individualized instruction in small classes

• Financial aid and job placement
assistance

Our graduates have secured good jobs at
major companies, including Compuware,
Gale Research, UPS and EdcorThat's
because we give our students much more
than the basics. We teach the latest computer
applications using the most technically
advanced equipment.

Wouldn't you like to
succeed? Call us today
for more in formation.

ERICA MEYER RAUZIN SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS

I

have a new computer.
You might assume this would
be cause for rejoicing. And in
some ways, you'd be right.
It has a zillion megahertz; a
hard drive far vaster than my per-
sonal, pre-installed brain; and
memory by the simm and dimm
galore. I can actually claim 150
megahertz, a gig hard drive and
42 megs of Ram. Now if I only
knew what all that meant.
I was accustomed to my old
computer. I don't know how many
megahertz it had; we never
stooped to that kind of nosy inti-
macy. We bumped along togeth-
er merrily for years and years. It
always made its opinion clear and
it had the personality of a can-
tankerous Texas mule, but it
worked, almost all the time.
In the end, it began to clatter
and chatter every time I asked it
to do something. It started to whir
and sputter and complain when I
wanted to print. Things began to
happen v-e-r-y s-l-o-w-1-y. I would
have time to get coffee and call my
mom while a single page built on
screen and printed out.
I approached getting a new
computer the way reasonable peo-
ple would approach getting a new
house. I didn't want to move, but
the old place was being con-
demned.
First, I consulted with everyone
I knew. My dad, my brothers, my
brother-in-law, my nephew—the

real computer genius in the fam-
ily, my husband. I called every-
body but the Orthodox Union and
the Psychic Friends Network.
Then the old computer ate my
Hebrew alphabet font. This would
never do. I typeset our day school's
newsletter. UT can't set the aleph-
bet, rm out of business. Its most-
ly volunteer, mind you, but people
depend on me for it, and I de-
pended on the moral character of
my computer, the laggard.
The new computer finally came
two weeks ago. The old one sits
forlorn and monitor-less on a cup-
board shelf, awaiting rehab so it
can be passed along to my fifth
grader. The new one rules. My
brother was so impressed at the
speed of my new machine, he
claimed his hair blew back when
he turned it on.
By and large, it works great,
though I still need to buy new He-
brew letters. On-screen pages
build so quickly, I've given up caf-
feine.
But the new computer has had
the ripple effect,
My lumbering 1990-vintage
printer can't keep up with the new
kid on the desk. My backup tape
system died the first day. My old-
est programs have fallen down
and can't getup.
With it all, I am broke, up-to-
date, and somewhat tentative
about all this change. 0

Our new address as of
August 1997 will be:

25401 Coolidge Highway
Oak Park, MI 48237
phone: (248) 414-6900
fax: (248) 414-6907
e mail: info@mji.edu

Now accepting applications for enrollment into Fall 1997 courses.

The Simcha
Scroll

The Perfect Memento of a Special Day

For a Bar/Bat Mitzvah
for a Wedding Gift
for a woman of valor
for a Maimonides physician's prayer
for the Riches of a Good Name scroll

Nelson 557
1:141********* * 4114 9 11 4141

Tradition!Tradition!

call: Alicia

(248)

-

0109

I