Physically Challenged "F.U.N." Group Let's Get Together For F.U.N." at Temple Israel OPINION Community Values Are Revealed 5725 Walnut Lake Road • West Bloomfield, Michigan 48324 lourish nite I lurture Learn About: Nutrition Gizmos, Gadgets & Equipment to Increase Capability Assistive Technologies Bridging Abled & Disabled Communities Senior & Handicapped Housing Canine Companions Socialization Community Outings Yom ,..,.. . : _... April 14 April 30** May 7 May 21 June 4** June 18 June 30** **Denotes Community Outings Save These Dates Don't Miss Out On The 'F.U.N."!!! For more information and to register, please call Temple Israel 248 661 5700 - ■ • • 1 - • • 1 NOW IS THE TIME TO JOIN • BBYO • • • IN AZA & BBG (GRADES 9-12), YOU WILL MEET NEW PEOPLE AND MAKE GREAT FRIENDS! LEADERSHIP TRAINING CONCLAVES AND CONVENTIONS COMMUNITY SERVICE PROJECTS JEWISH HERITAGE NIGHTS AZA BASKETBALL & BBG SPORTS SUMMER ISRAEL PROGRAMS 8TH GRADERS ARE NOW ELIGIBLE! ■ -• ■ •11111111 ■ -•- ■ 1111110— - BBY0/JCC IN • • TEEN CONNECTION (GRADES 7-8), YOU WILL MEET TEENS FROM ALLOVER METRO DETROIT DANCES PHAZERLAND WHIRLYBALL ROLLERBLADING 5-PIN BOWLING HAYRIDE CEDAR POINT 6TH GRADERS ARE NOW ELIGIBLE! • 4/3 1998 32 • • • FOR MEMBERSHIP INFORMATION, CALL B'NAI B'RITH YOUTH ORGANIZATION AT(248)788-0700 • • • • 1 0 dollars spent on Holocaust memorials ccasionally it is possible to across the nation, after the phenome- peel away artifice and pene- nal success of the Holocaust Museum trate to the core. The juxta- in Washington, D.C., after creating an position of two articles in outstanding vehicle for Holocaust the March 6 issue of The Jewish News education in our own back yard, do revealed such a clear view of our com- we need to engage in another compet- munity's values. itive round of Holocaust We learned that $25 mil- building? Is this the legacy • lion is to be raised in an that those who perished effort to upgrade the West would have wanted? Bloomfield Jewish Commu- No one need abjectly nity Center. Additionally, a oppose JCCs or Holocaust sidebar reported that the memorials. They deserve Holocaust Memorial Center everyone's support. They also is planning a $5 million need to be maintained as renovation. One page later, sophisticated institutions that we were told that $750,000 are part of a balanced com- has been approved as start- ISAAC munal structure. The ques- up funds for a new Jewish LAKRI TZ" tion is one of degree: $25 high school. Special to million or $5 million as com- Have we forgotten that The Jewish News pared with a mere $750,000. Jewish continuity is the No. Even if the latter are start-up 1 priority of North Ameri- funds, does anyone really believe that can Jewry? Do we not know that edu- cation and learning are Judaism's para- we will allocate millions of dollars for intensive Jewish education to the same mount values? Notwithstanding that degree that we spend money for rac- ours is the leadership community of quetball courts and treadmills? North America, does the process that In this respect, our Jewish commu- culminated in these decisions truly nity mirrors our general society. Cities represent our community's desires? throughout the nation (including Do we really want to spend mil- Detroit) are much more eager to find lions so that people have less distance the means to build sports stadiums to traverse in the JCC parking lot, or than to invest in our children. We do would we rather spend those funds so not want rigorous study. We want to that our educational institutions (for- play and have fun. mal and informal, day school as well Central planning and allocating as supplementary programs) no longer organizations should not merely need to struggle? choose the path of least resistance to The vast majority of Jews every- maximize fund raising. They must where (including Detroit) never set critically assess communal needs and foot in any Jewish institution. These act to address them. To lead is not just individuals will never be reached by to measure consensus. It is to chart a investing in new building programs. course with creativity and vision, As an individual who has worked defining priorities which may not for nearly two decades in organized always be popular but which convey Jewish life, many of those years devel- passion for Judaism and its ideals. oping informal education programs Jewish nostalgia need not extend to that attracted national recognition, I outdated funding patterns. Do the • do not need to be convinced of the efficacy of Center programming. JCCs communal agendas of past generations still apply? Should we continue to have an important and unique mis- allocate millions of communal dollars sion to provide multi-faceted pro- for purposes that are no longer critical gramming that presents Jewish values while ignoring needs that are? Should in casual settings. the Jewish community compete with As someone whose family was health and sports facilities (many with directly affected by the Shoah and substantially Jewish clientele) just who was among the first to organize because such facilities were closed to educational youth programs to Jews 50 years ago? Poland, I am well aware of the impor- Can we not learn from the private tance of recounting and bearing wit- ness to that tragic epoch in Jewish his- sector (where many of our lay leaders are tory. But after hundreds of millions of so extraordinarily successful) to reduce costs by outsourcing services or by investing in virtual environments that Isaac Lakritz, now in business in West reach many more people at a fraction of Bloomfield, worked for two decades in the cost of elaborate physical plants? Jewish communal service.