This & That

Selling chametz in cyberspace; the first Shabbat at Shir Tikvah.

Programming will not be interrupted
as the Ecumenical Institute for Jew-
ish-Christian Studies considers nam-
ing an interim executive director and
developing long-range plans following
the death of the Rev. James Lyons
March 19.
Last week, the board voted unani-
mously to continue the work and pro-
grams of the Southfield-based insti-
tute, which Lyons founded in 1982.
"We definitely see a future for the
Ecumenical Institute," said trustee
Elaine Sturman of Temple Beth El.
"Jim's work and ours is not done. We
are looking forward to being an active
force in the community."
The institute's annual fund-raiser,
the Dove Awards Dinner, will be held
April 28 at Congregation Shaarey
Zedek. Honorees will include Rabbi
Norman Roman of Temple Kol Ami.
For reservations, call (248) 353-2434.

It's almost Passover, and that means
it's time to rid the house of chametz.
This year, it may be easier.
With a few keystrokes, you can

remember When ig

When we wander memory lane, all of
us can recallfavorite TV shows, popular
tunes and maybe what we were 'doing
when." To help jog those memories, here.
are some news 'billboards" from the
pages of The Jewish News for this week
10, 20, 30, 40 and 50 years ago.

1988
Israel signed a secret agreement with
the U.S. special prosecutor in the
Iran-contra affair, providing for coop-
eration on a government-to-govern-
ment basis.
Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir
unveiled the cornerstone of the
Simon Weisenthal Center's new
Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles.
Alan Frank of Bloonifield Town-
ship was promoted to vice president

"sell" your chametz to Rabbi Herschel
Finman via e-mail. Finman will "buy"
it and "sell" it himself to a non-Jew.
He believes he may be the first rabbi
in the world to offer such a service.
Finman explained that selling
chametz is symbolically achieved by
exchanging a handkerchief or, as in
this case, by signing a document.
Passover begins next Friday. For a con-
tract, sign onto hfinman@juno.com.

comes through, congregants of Con-
gregation Shir Tikvah may celebrate
their first Shabbat service in their new
home in Troy on Friday.
The service will begin at 7:45 p.m.,
followed by an "elaborate" oneg Shab-
bat, said Janet Schenk, the shul's
spokesperson. The service will honor
Sam and Jean Frankel, the honorees of

What kind of cat food to serve your
felines during Passover? Avocados
instead of a shankbone on the seder
plate? Questions, questions.
The toll free Passover Information
Hotline, open until April 9, will pro-
vide answers to the stickiest of holi-
day-related dilemmas. Sponsored by
the Union for Traditional Judaism,
calls will be answered by rabbis, lay
leaders and the editor of the magazine,
The Kosher Nexus.
The phone number is 1-888-628-
9241.

Sam and Jean
Frankel will be
honored for their
generosity.

-

If the temporary occupancy permit

Shir Tikvah's April 8 Rent fund-raiser.
The Frankels helped Shir Tikvah pur-
chase the property for the new syna-
gogue.
The only synagogue east of Wood-

ward Avenue, Shir Tikvah is sponsor-
ing the Detroit debut of the Broadway
play Rent at the Fisher Theater. Pro-
ceeds from ticket sales will benefit the
shul.
Friday's service is also a "thank you"
to the five couples who are honorary
chairs for Rent: Arthur and Gina Hor-
witz, Henry and Linda Lee, Abram
and Rhoda Medow, Irving and Bar-
bara Nusbaum, and David and Ilene
Techner.

Eric Mintz of West Bloomfield is
heading for Panama at the end of May
as a participant on a chiropractic mis-
sion.
Mintz, a graduate of Michigan
State University, will graduate from
the Life University of Chiropractic in
Marietta, Ga., in June. He was accept-
ed for the mission from among hun-
dreds of applicants. Participants on a
1997 mission to Panama did 180,000
adjustments during their stay.

a

and general manager of WDIV-TV,
Channel 4.

1978
The Arab-Israeli conflict came to the
Academy Awards when Vanessa Red-
grave, who won an Oscar for Julia,
praised the academy for not being
'intimidated by threats of a small
bunch of Zionist hoodlums."
Israel began operating two oil wells
in the Gulf of Suez with plans for 12
more in the next 18 months.
D. Dan Kahn, the new Detroit area
chairman for Israel Bondi Ambas-
sador's Society of Trustees, planned a
series of informational meetings.
Lawrence M. Loftis was named
executive vice president of the B.F.
Chamberlain Real Estate Company,

1988
Avraham Harman, Israel's former
ambassador to the United States, was
elected president of the Hebrew Uni-
versity in Jerusalem.
A Reform rabbi in Louisville, Mar-
tin M. Perley, resigned his pulpit to
become executive director of a human
relations commission focusing on civil
fights,
A midnight memorial vigil was set
at the Jewish Community Center to
commemorate the Warsaw Ghetto
Uprising. Shaarey Zedek Rabbi Irwin
Groner was scheduled to give the
keynote address.

1958
In Jerusalem, there was a large differ-
ence of opinion among ministers in a

cabinet meeting session over the legal
definition of who is a Jew.
The 50th anniversary of the birth
of the "Technion idea" was marked at
the Israel Institute of Technology.
Rabbi Joshua Sperka retired after
17 years4:)f service as the first Jewish
chaplain of Michigan state prisons.
Joel Simmer aided his grandfather,
Peter S. Goldstein, in opening the
doors of the new Hebrew Academy of
Oak Park, a branch of Yeshiva Beth
Yehudah named for Goldstein and his
wife.

1948
The American governthent indicated
that it was ready to enter into a joint
arrangement with other powers to
guarantee the security of Palestine,

"113

1998

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