Jewish, rather than civil, court of law.
"All Jews are, to our understanding,
obligated to seek a Jewish court of
law," he said. "This has been offered
to him and he's refused, which is his
choice."
Cohen plans to file a motion with-
in the next few weeks asking a judge
to dismiss the case.
Codish said he tried to resolve the
conflict internally, and that Akiva did
not suggest going to a Jewish court
until after he had filed suit in Oakland
County Circuit Court.
"Enormous efforts were made to
settle this without going outside the
school," Codish said. "When it
became clear to me that this wasn't
going to happen, I spoke to an attor-
ney and my own rabbi, both of
whom said that the civil courts of the
State of Michigan were much more
relevant and to the point for me than
a bet din."

Teacher's hours
and salary
were cut.

Few Akiva parents agreed to speak
on the record about Codish and his
conflict with the school. But Ben
Wolkinson, whose son David and
daughter Rachel had English classes
with Codish, said only that his chil-
dren respected Codish and never told
him about sexually inappropriate
materials being discussed in class.
Akiva graduate Estee Eisenberg,
now a sophomore at the University of
Michigan, praised Codish because he
"pushed us to think and analyze things
on our own and not to rely on other
sources."
Codish, an Orthodox Jew, is one of
the founding members of
Congregation Or Chadash in Oak
Park. A published poet and translator,
he holds a master's degree in writing
from the University of Iowa. Before
teaching at Akiva, he taught at Ben-
Gurion University and Bar-Ilan
University in Israel. He has also taught
through the Agency for Jewish
Education's Midrasha Center for Adult
Jewish Learning.
Barring dismissal of the lawsuit,
mediation is set for July. Trial is sched-
uled for October 20, 1998. ❑

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