!RICAN BULK FOOD
BOCA
BURGER
Distributors of Gourmet and Fancy Foods
211
6698 ORCHARD LAKE RD. in the West Bloomfield Plaza • 248-737-1610
SUN. 9:OOam-10:OOpm • MON.-THURS. 7:30am-10:00pm
FRI. & SAT. 7:30am-11:00pm
ri
ravel
ALL VARIETIES
ALL OUR KOSHER PRODUCTS ARE CERTIFIED KOSHER OR
SANCTIONED BY THE METROPOLITAN KASHRUTH COUNCIL OF MICHIGAN
Puerto Rico Possesses
Jewish History, Female Rabbi
Reg. $3.99 Pkg. • LiznitliPtge
sedocaia
ALL VARIETIES
SESAME $111
199
IN
lb.
Beg. $2.59 lb.. Limit 2 119
Blanched
Salted/No Salt
AVIV EGGS ONION
TURKISH
MATZOH APRICOTS
139
lb.
1:1
Reg. $2.99 lb. • Limit 2 lbs.
JELLS
JORDAN
SUMMER
79
ALMONDS
$ 2 9 9
ALL COLORS • ALL FLAVORS
lb.
lb.
Reg. $1.49 lb. • Limit 2 lbs.
Reg. $3.99 lb. • Limit 2 lbs.
ISRAEL
CAR RENTAL- PER WEEK
PEUGEOT 205 1.4 133
OPEL CORSA 1.4 161
DAIHATSU APPLAUSE 1.6 203
TAX. RESTRICTIONS
Round Trip + APPLY.
PRICE SUBJECT TO
From Detroit CHANGE WITHOUT NOTICE.
EL AL SPECIAL SUMMER
AUTOMATIC CARS
K1A PRIDE 1.3 203
MAZDA LANTIS 294
+INSURANCE, HIGH SEASON ADDITIONAL
CHARGE OTHER MODELS AVAILABLE
UNBEATABLE HOTELS
& TOUR PRICES
7/15-9/10
FROM N.Y.C/N.J.
779
849
979
L
1ST CHILD 749
2ND CHILD 519
3RD CHILD 259
(800) 354-8320
(216) 514-9000
Tours & Travel
MAKE YOUR HOME A HANDICAP
FRIENDLY ENVIRONMENT WITH
•
•
•
•
The above pictured ramp is portable and may be
disassembled. We provide custom installation and
adjust the incline to agency recommendations.
A
,
FROM CHICAGO
ELITE
5/1 - 6/18 FAMILY PRICE
PLUMB
BATHROOM MODIFICATIONS
GRAB BARS & ACCESSORIES
DOOR WAYS • RAMPS
WE CAN Do SIMPLE MODIFICATIONS
To YOUR HOME To MAKE LIFE EASIER
D.M.E. Supplier For
American Cancer Society of S.E. Michigan
FREE in Home Estimates
Licensed Contractors • Fully Insured and Licensed
6\.
5/8
1998
132
Toll Free (888) 337-1122
Advertise in our
new Entertainment
Section!
Call The Sales Department (248) 354-7123 Ext. 209
Dungan
JEWISH NEWS
N
MOLLY AROST STAUB
Special to The Jewish News
T
he Caribbean's only
ordained female rabbi pre-
sides over a congregation
in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
This is the latest innovation in a
Caribbean island Jewish community
that's not the oldest, but claims its
largest population — about 1,800,
according to the United Jewish
Appeal of Puerto Rico — and a fasci-
nating 20th-century story set amid a
17th-century city.
Rabbi Susan Friedman, originally
from Westfield, N.J., is the spiritual
leader of the Reform congregation
Temple Beth Shalom, composed of
110 "full" members and 60 "associ-
ate" members — snowbirds who win-
ter here. Mainlanders constitute
about 90 percent of the congregation,
which was founded in 1967.
The congregation's chair of the
Rabbi's Search Committee, Harry
Ezratty (an attorney and Jewish histo-
rian) said, "There was- no resistance at
all on the committee, and the rest of
the congregation had no problem
with a woman rabbi.
I heard one member resigned for
that reason but I haven't pursued it."
He said the committee had been
searching for an appropriate rabbi for
two-and-a-half years.
The island's slightly older Conserv-
ative congregation, Congregation
Shaare Tzedek, was established in
1966 but only found its own home in
1975. Its current leader, Rabbi Alfred
Winter, arrived several months ago
from Port Chester, N.Y. There are
about 275 members, about 80 per-
cent from Cuba and other Latin
American countries.
Although a few early Jews were
recorded, the Spanish-Catholic
colony with its inquisitional history
precluded Jewish settlement until the
late 19th century. A large group of
Jews fleeing the Nazis in the 1930s
settled there.
Another group came from the
United States in the '50s, when Oper-
ation Bootstrap, organized to help the
island nation economically, attracted
Jewish businessmen and workers. The
rise of the Castro regime prompted
an influx of 150 Cuban Jewish fami-
lies.
Operation Bootstrap was responsi-
ble for another attraction with a Jew-
ish twist — La Casa del Libro, the
House of the Book in Old San Juan.
It's beautiful architecturally, with its
successive arches, black-and-white
marble floor and Delft tiles in the
stair risers. The surprise, though, is
the building's contents — a $2 mil-
lion collection of 4,000 rare books.
"The original collection belonged
to the Jewish Dr. Luther Adler," said
former director John Blackby, "who
frequently vacationed in Puerto Rico.
The area was a slum in the '50s when
Teodoro Moscoso, an investor in
Operation Bootstrap, talked him into
donating his collection."
In 1992, an exhibit honoring the
quincentennial, "Conversos y
Sepharditas," focused on Spain's Jew-
The sanctuary of Temple Beth Shalom,
Reform synagogue of Puerto Rico.
ish connections. Among the treasures
is an original 1563 Bible containing
the word "Sepharad." This is the
only one using this word, according
to the museum's director.
A polyglot Bible, printed in Spain
from 1516 to 1522, is also important.
Spain retained the Hebrew language
after the expulsion so people could
study from the original Old Testa-
ment. There are a page from a 1490
Pentateuch, original books Columbus
read that obviously influenced him,
books published by Conversos in
Spain and a reproduction of a letter
written by Columbus to the Conver-
so Santangel, who was a financial
adviser to Ferdinand and Isabel and
provided funds for the navigator's
trip. Here also are original letters
from Ferdinand and Isabella, written
in 1493, containing the first written
references to the New World.
PUERTO RICO on page 134