"I wish someone could help me with my taxes." If you're an older adult looking for a special service or referral to a helping agency, pick up the phone and call ElderLink. If you need advice or simply have a question that needs an answer, think ElderLink. For day care, hot meals, home- maker, recreation and other ser- vices for older adults,get informa- tion and referrals from /4I1 ! 16). ElderLink ‘.3 7 . .11 -55,71 Sponsored by the Commission on Jewish Eldercare Services of the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit. EQUILIBRIUM "You will feel better in ten ses- sions, look better in twenty ses- sions, and have a completely new body in thirty sessions.' JOSEPH PILATES (1881-1967) Call Equilibrium today and find out how you can become an instructor of this unique method of exercise — training begins in June of 1998. 248.723.6500 Bloomfield Medical Village on Telegraph just 1 block north of Maple. www.stottconditioning.com AL HARRIS NO. 1 AGAIN IN BUICK SALES! 5/15 1998 36 TaMaROFF 28585 Telegraph Rd. 353-1300 OPINION Two Sides Of The Coin, Jewish Continuity, Security American Jews, that the very reason l ewish education and Jewish the community is facing the intermar- continuity are appropriately riage problem is because we are so issues at the top of the Jewish comfortable in America there are few community's agenda. Here inhibitions on anything, including and in Israel there have been confer- intermarriage. Anti-Semitism, it is ences, discussions, projects and financ- said, is not an issue in today's Ameri- ing in an effort to combat the assim- ca. ilative trends that are so destructive. A recent American Jewish Commit- Unfortunately, at times one hears tee survey of Jewish opinion remarks by some individuals indicates, however, that the that in order to properly community believes other- address these matters, the wise. When asked whether community ought to dimin- anti-Semitism is a problem ish or even abandon its tradi- today, 95 percent of those tional commitment to com- polled said yes — either a bat anti-Semitism and to very serious one (33 per- safeguard Jewish security. cent) or somewhat of one We have never believed (62 percent); only 5 percent that there need be an said it was not a problem. either/or proposition con- When asked whether they AB RAHAIVI H. cerning Jewish continuity anticipated a decrease in the FO XMAN and Jewish security If the future, only 9 percent Spec ial to community will be successful The Jew ish News expected a decrease. Fifty- in reinvigorating Jewish life seven percent said anti- with a consequent decline in Semitism is a greater threat intermarriage and a heightened Jewish to Jewish life than intermarriage, while identity, the need to protect and 38 percent said intermarriage is. defend Jewish institutions and individ- Some might say that those figures uals will remain. It is unnecessary and reflect a gap between perception and shortsighted to make it appear that reality, but not only is this conde- American Jews have to choose scending to the Jewish public (we between these matters when, in fact, experts know better), but it also con- they are two sides of the same coin. tradicts the notion that assimilation is Both are intrinsic elements of main- a product of the decline of anti-Semi- taining a strong Jewish life in America. tism in the minds of American Jews. Some will say that, in fact, anti- In fact, this survey leads to three Semitism is no longer a threat to conclusions. First, perceptions about Abraham Foxman is national director anti-Semitism do matter. As long as of the Anti-Defamation League. American Jews believe that anti-Semi- il tism is a threat, they will expect lead- ers and organizations to continue to take all the steps they have historically to address it. Leadership would be doing itself and the community a dis- service if they conducted themselves as if the public is not interested in this age-old struggle. Well-meaning indi- viduals who call for giving up on the security agenda are out of touch with the people. Secondly, there is no reason to con- clude that a reality gap exists. Ameri- can Jews are not saying there is an imminent threat, but they reject the idea that the virus of anti-Semitism has been eliminated. Reality backs this up. Even as Jews attain leadership positions in every walk of life, signs of the vitality of anti-Semitism abound. Militia groups and other right-wing extremists, engaged in conspiracy thinking and capable of violence, invariably see Jews as an enemy. Black extremists, particularly Louis Far- rakhan and the Nation of Islam, con- trive to disseminate messages of anti- Semitism; yet that does not stop them from attracting large crowds and gain- 40 ing increasing legitimacy. The continuing effort to Christian- ize America, while not directly anti- Semitism, is a potential threat to Jew- ish security, which has been bolstered over the years by the high wall of church-state separation. Now that high wall is under siege. The increas- ing efforts by Southern Baptists to tar- get Jews for proselytizing and the despicable duplicity of the so-called LETTERS The Public Must Know Sen. Carl Levin proposes that the Clin- ton administration should pursue Mid- dle East peace negotiations privately, without public disclosure of the U.S. proposals ("Advice From The Hill" April 24.) No, that is very wrong. The question is, Can the administra- tion be trusted to be concerned about Jewish rights and Israel's security, which means survival? Consider that President Clinton refuses to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, even though Republicans and Democrats in both houses voted almost unanimously for such recognition. Clinton's U.S. Agency for International Development has pro- vided the equipment and operating expenses for the PLO's Palestine Broad- casting Corporation TV station and , their Voice of Palestine radio station, which broadcasts hatred and incites vio- lence against Jews and Israel to the Arab world. Sen. Levin praises the Clinton administration for support of the "peace process." We strongly dis- agree. Forgiving a despotic hate group dedicated to Israel's destruc- tion for its torture and murder of thousands of innocent Arabs and Jews — and rewarding it with Jewish •land to form a nation that never ever existed in Palestine — invites a hor- rible disaster to Israel and its people. Hymie Cutler Director, Michigan Committee for a • Safe Israel A Spotlight On Realism There will be no peace in the Middle - East during our lifetime. The reason is the implacable hatred of Islamic Arabs toward Israel. This hatred has its roots in the fairly recent history of the region. Any statesman, politician or journalist could easily trace these events if they are willing to do their homework. In the late 1920s, the Mufti of Jerusalem wanted to establish him- self as a leader of the Arabs in Pales- tine. To that end, he invented a tale of Jews killing Arabs and their fami- lies which triggered a massacre of Jewish families in the town of Hebron in 1929. When the British authorities were on the verge of arresting and prosecuting the Mufti for his activities, he fled to his friends and allies, the Nazis of Ger- many. These events were, of course, not the only cause but were major factors to let the genie of hatred out of the bottle.