op EDITOR'S NOTEBOOK
Touring The 'Hood
In Lovely Crown Heights
burly synagogue, where boys and men
eryl Epstein has big dreams.
from age 2 to 100 davened. I stayed
As founder, president and
operator of the Hassidic Dis- on the main level, where a clutch of
girls and women listened to a lecture
covery Welcome Center, his
on Talmud and others davened above
aim is to bring the world to Crown
the fray downstairs in the sanctuary.
Heights, Brooklyn, his adopted home.
"Come in, come in, come
Epstein, a modest but exu-
in,"
I was entreated as I
berant man whose native
came
through the door.
Tennessee accent inflects the
Outside,
men and
Yiddish phrases woven into
women
pushed
double and
his conversation, has already
triple
strollers,
stopping
on
built a solid business with his
the
sidewalk
to
chat,
chas-
company. He's affiliated with
ing after hats lifted off their
the New York Convention
heads by a strong wind.
and Visitor's Bureau, Colum-
Next, we visited the late
bia, Hofstra and New York
Rabbi
Menachem Mendel
JU LIE
universities, and somehow, he
Schneerson's
library, which
says laughing, was the first to
ED GAR
includes
the
world's
largest
use the name "Jewish Tours"
News Editor
collection
of
haggadot,
for a Web site. Since his corn-
according to Epstein, and
pany's founding 14 years ago, Epstein
the
siddur
that belonged to the Baal
has taken an average of 7,000 people
Shem
Tov,
who is considered the
each year — many of them non-Jews
father
of
Chasidism.
— through the neighborhood. Among
On our way to the matzah bakery,
his customers: a group of German
a
milliner
passing us on the street
sociologists.
greeted
Epstein
and offered us a dis-
Last Sunday, my husband, David,
count
on
hats.
and I decided to leave Manhattan to
We entered an unmarked storefront
check out the center of the Chabad-
where
men squeezed around each
Lubavitch movement. Epstein and a
other
carrying
boxes of shmura
driver picked us up in midtown on a
matzah
for
Passover.
This was the last
beautiful morning and took us to a
step
in
the
process.
Further
in was the
place that isn't quite Old World, but is
two-man
mixing
operation:
one stood
nevertheless a bastion of spiritual fer-
at
a
bowl
of
flour
while
the
other,
sep-
vor and neighborliness that is familiar
arated
by
a
wall,
handed
him
a
pre-
and totally alien at the same time.
cisely measured cup of water. Further
We started at 770 Eastern Parkway,
in, two teenagers rolled out the dough
nerve center of the community. David
and handed the matzot on wooden
accompanied Epstein into the hurly-
sticks to women lining a long table for
in controversial programs. The criti-
cism we have received has reinforced
the need to increase our efforts to
consider the motives and intent of
the producers and filmmakers more
carefully.
Detroit Public Television is in an
ongoing process that will widen our
knowledge of the viewpoints of people
on all sides of these controversial
issues. We expect to be in a better
position to know whether adequate
and honest efforts have been made by
producers to educate rather than to
inflame.
In the spirit of public television, we
thank the public for its openness in
bringing these issues and problems to
our attention.
Steven Antoniotti
President and general manager, Detroit
Public Television
cutting. Next, the raw thin cakes were
hauled into a narrow oven and baked
for a few seconds. The burned ones
end up in a trough nearby. We
-
.11a0 . 0
4$4041$1400towsw
Vititaanin
om
Beryl Epstein at 770 Eastern Parkway.
squeezed out again.
After that, we watched a scribe at
work on a Torah that will take 10
years to finish. Hunched over a table,
he didn't look up or flinch as Epstein
enthused about his artistry and devo-
tion to the work. The scribe makes his
own parchment from the hides of
kosher animals, mixes his own ink and
makes his quills from the feathers of
turkeys or chickens.
After visiting a mikvah, we ate at a
kosher deli and stopped in a book-
those in the Jewish
.!community are very
.2 defensive and quick to
assail anyone who
One of our many assets
argues against the
as a democracy has
merits and value of
always been our ability
attacking Iraq. When-
to object to governmen-
ever someone dares to
tal policies and offer
question the motives
political dissent. The
of Berger, Cohen and
sexual saga currently
Albright, one is quick-
involving our president
Saddam Hussein
ly targeted as anti-
does display the value of
Semitic.
our nation as this topic
This knee-jerk reaction is, of
and press coverage have very been very
course, foolish and dangerous because
graphic and pervasive and open to var- it shuts down any constructive dia-
ious views.
logue of foreign affairs, especially
However, when the discussion about
given the potential loss of American
the decision to attack Iraq-is on our
lives when an attack of another coun-
national menu, many in certain parts of
try is on our government's menu.
our society forbid a realistic and insight-
As a person of color, I can under-
ful discussion on the merits of the pro-
stand my white friends who were
posed invasion of Iraq. In particular,
A Lesson
In Democracy
store. Again, I was struck by the num-
ber of children all around and the
happy chatter of adults who kept an
eye on them.
Rabbi Schneerson, whose image is
plastered in bookstores, restaurants
and on kiosks, set up shop in Crown
Heights and everybody followed.
Epstein estimates there are 1,200
Jewish families — or close to 10,000
Jews — now living there. Hundreds
more come to study. A new girls'
school is already filled to capacity,
and Jews are snatching up the pastel-
colored townhouses that are slowly
being sold by black families that have
lived in Crown Heights for many
years.
Then there's a vacated Gothic man-
sion that once housed a hospital.
Epstein pointed to it with a wistful
sigh and said he'd like to one day buy
it and house a tourist bureau and a
new home for his growing family.
We wished him well. While he
carves out a niche for himself,
Epstein is performing an invaluable
service — not just for non-Jews, but
for Jews who may doubt that
Judaism is as vital and relevant today
as ever.
❑
Hassidic Tours includes round-
trip transportation from Manhat-
tan to Crov,,, n Heights. The cost is
$36 per person. For more infor-
mation, contact Epstein at 1-800-
838-TOUR or, on the Internet at
JewishTotirs@ju no. corn.
often attacked by blacks whenever
they were vocal against a "black inter-
est." This posture by blacks, of course,
was wrong and counterproductive; I
now wonder if those in the Jewish
community can understand this lesson
in social democracy.
It is appropriate and incumbent
among those in the Arabic community
and others to question the motives of
Berger, Cohen, Albright and other
high-ranking government officials
whenever war is an issue. The mere
fact that they are Jewish should not in
any way be a bar to questions or give
these folks immunity from discourse.
Our democracy requires such an
exercise when the policies involve loss
of life and violation of another coun-
try's sovereignty.
Greg Thrasher
Southfield
2/27
1998
31