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Fighting City Hall

Israeli Mayor Shaul Amor is a Likud member
seeking peace in the conversion controversy.

PHIL JACOBS EDITOR

S

AvIgal Yosef and Nathan Keller look on as Jewish News Editor Ph
Jacobs recites one of the seven brachot under the chuppah. Rabbi Mon
Tolwin holds the prayer book, while Jewish News Copy Editor Lynne
Konstantin holds an end of the tallis.

With on y a ew hours notice,
The Jewish News hosts a wedding.

UE EDGAR SENIOR WRITER

Avigal Yosef and Nathan Keller under
chuppah.

1 1 1
t was the Star of David Alon Tolwin used to set down a
etched into one of Nathan bottle of wine and other imple-
Keller's molars that won over ments of the ceremony, Avigal
Avigal Yosef.
and Nathan sealed their love.
He'd been trying to get her at- Their guests included Torah
tention at a dentists' convention class members, Jewish News
in Florida, where he was hawk- staffers (one of whom held up a
big medical latex products, but corner of the tallis chuppah), and
she barely spoke English and Keller's folks, Irving and
was staying close to her broth- Nathalie.
er. When Nathan noticed her
It didn't matter that the air
name tag and country of origin was hazy and hot, nor that the
--- Israel—he opened his mouth cork fell into the bottle, nor that
and flashed the star. That's the glass Nathan smashed bore
when Avigal "relaxed," she re- a Pepsi logo. They were only con-
, :Called.
cerned that they get married.
"G-d sent him to me," she Rabbi Tolwin, of Aish HaTorah,
'said.
agreed to perform the ceremony
Nine months later, the two with the condition that Nathan
were wed in what their rabbi be- and Avigal, both in their late
heves is the most unorthodox 30s, attend his Torah study for
ceremony he has performed.
at least a month. He called them
After their weekly Torah a day before his Thursday class
study class in a Jewish News to tell them he'd do the service
conference room a week ago either after Tisha B'Av, Aug. 12,
Thursday, the pair changed into or the next day.
their finery and headed to the
Irving Keller, national service
building's grassy courtyard. officer for the Jewish War Vet-
' Standing before two large air erans Department of Michigan,
conditioning units that Rabbi learned about the wedding that
-
-
- .
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Wednesday. It was fine with
him.
"The first time we met [Avi-
gall, we liked her right away.
The word `beshere means some-
thing in this situation," he said.
Mrs. Keller, a tiny woman
with a broad East Coast accent,
beamed throughout the cere-
mony. As the guests looked on,
Rabbi Tolwin and Jewish News
Editor Phil Jacobs signed the ke-
tubah. After the chuppah, every-
body retreated from the heat to
the conference room for donuts
and pop.
"We're going to have a mez-
zuzah installed on the genera-
tor here," Mr. Jacobs laughed.
He got the request to be a wit-
ness the day before the wed-
ding.
Last October, Nathan accom-
panied Avigal to Israel to visit
her family — 42 of them, in-
cluding nieces and nephews —
and ask her father, Natan Yosef,
for permission to marry Avigal.

SIMCHA page 27

haul Amor was relaxing on conversion law doesn't pass.
the sofa in the front room Here in Detroit, I guess my role
of his hotel suite. Bottles of is to calm the rabbis I meet
pop, some opened from a about this."
previous meeting or two, line the
The mayor, even though he
counter. Piled on the floor were had an interpreter present, was
bags filled with white satin ban- pressing' his broken English
ners with blue Hebrew text and when he talked about the con-
gold fringe. They were certificates version controversy.
of sorts, handed out by Mr. Amor.
"My fear is that American
He's probably given out hundreds donors to Israel will make a link-
of these.
age between donations and the
On the sofa, he looked like he'd conversion situation," he said.
had enough. But it was only 11:30 `They do have a legitimate argu-
on a Thursday morning. There ment, but it is my hope that there
was still a meeting in Ann Arbor. is no linkage there. A little child
There was the traffic jam to from Europe or Ethiopia, you'll
worry about from the art fair, and hurt him if you don't give because
the other committee meetings you are angry. And they become
and a visit with Detroit Mayor the victim.
Dennis Archer.
"Whatever you hear about
But the mayor of the Central Israel growing is true. But we
Galilee city, Migdal HaEmek still need the help of the Ameri-
seemed less concerned about can Jewish community. That
"still" another meeting than he relationship can't be threatened
did with the hottest issue in by a decision in the Knesset. The
Israel.
relationship needs to be efficient
The mayor was visiting De- and strong. We're still one
troit as a guest of the Jewish people, we can never forget
Federation and its Partnership that. And sometimes families
2000 program. Partnership 2000 fight."
links 27 regions of Israel with
The mayor said the Jewish
Jewish communities in the Di- community worldwide, not just
aspora.
in Israel, has a critical problem:
A native of Morocco, Amor what Israel should be. Half in Is-
made aliyah in
rael, he said, view
1956. He is the for-
Israel as secular,
mer director of so-
half view Israel as
cial services for
I a religious state.
Migdal HaEmek
"The code word
and in 1978 was
is 'Jewish,' he said.
elected mayor. He
8 "What does that
was first elected to
word mean? If you
the Knesset in 1988.
identify with the
Mayor Amor is a
word 'Jewish,' does
member of Likud
that mean you are
and very much in-
necessarily reli-
volved in the debate
gious? I think if Is-
surrounding the
rael didn't have the
proposed conversion
s ng Jewish iden-
law within Israel.
tification, we'd of
Mayor Sha ul Amor A
That law would
course have a very
whirlwind
trip around
place Diaspora con-
big problem. But
Michi gan.
versions other than
what we need to
Orthodox in the po-
work on is what
sition of not being recognized by `Jewish state' means."
Israel.
He said Jews who are religious
In his visit around the Detroit and Jews who are secular need
Jewish community, especially to find ways to work together and
with the Reform and the Con- to respect one another. A secular c"
servative rabbinate, Mayor Amor Jew, he added, especially in Is- _
said he did a great deal of listen- rael, does not consider himself
ing and reassuring.
less Jewish if he is not Orthodox.
"As a member of the Knesset,
"You know, when children ar-
I have good relations with the rive to our region from any coun-
religious parties," he said. "I will try on a mission or a vacation, it
do whatever I can do within
Knesset to make sure that the FIGHTING page 27

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