OPINION

During Search For A Director, We Must
Stand Behind The Ecumenical Institute

book. And from Avot 2:21, "You are
he Rev. Dr. James R. Lyons
not required to complete the work,
("Jim" to most of us) is a
but neither are you free to desist from
name probably known to
it," was the heading of his goodbye,
most Jewish News readers. A
which
told us that while he had
frequent contributor to Community
"walked
in the valley of the shadow of
Views, an oft-quoted source for local
death,"
it
was "in the positive thrust
stories, and a speaker and
of loving relationships that
teacher who showed up on
'11g1Pio''
life becomes creative and
these pages frequently, Jim
exciting."
was the director of the Ecu-
The Rev. Dr. Mark P.
menical Institute for Jewish-
Jensen, the Rev. Monsignor
Christian Studies, which he
F. Gerald Martin and Rabbi
and I founded.
Norman
Roman were the
The short name for the
honorees
that night, joining
institute, "The Ecumenical
Rabbis Syme, Hertz, and
Institute," is so much a part
Groner; Fathers Malcolm
of our community that
RIC HARD
Carron, Alex Brunett (now
indeed some readers might
LOBENT HAL
Archbishop), and Adam
even be surprised to know its
Maida (now His Eminence,
Specia 1 to
full title. And some readers
The Jewish News Cardinal); and the Rev. Dr.
may not know that Jim suc-
Nicholas Hood Sr., and
cumbed to complications
myself
as
Dove
Award winners.
from diabetes and passed away March
The symbolism is clear: whereas
19.
past dinners honored a Jew and a
And so it was that Jim Lyons was
Christian, this night we honored a
the unseen presence at the Dove Din-
Protestant, Catholic and Jew (where-
ner — The Ecumenical Institute's
fore
is this night different from (all)
annual fund-raising dinner — on
others...?).
April 28. Unseen presence, maybe,
I remembered the beginnings of the
but "Jim's Goodbye," read at his
institute.
We took great care that it
memorial service, was the first thing
not
be
too
heavily supported by Jews,
one saw on opening the program
lest Christians perceived it as a "Jewish
front." But I remember the reluctance
Richard Lobenthal is interim execu-
of the Jewish community to view
tive director of the Ecumenical Insti-
without suspicion this Christian min-
tute for Jewish-Christian Studies
ister who was concerned with anti-
and retired executive director of the
Semitism and (in the words of Jules
Anti-Defamation League/Michigan
Isaac) "the Teaching of Contempt."
Region.
Some of us suspected he was

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disingenuous, and feigned concern
with anti-Semitism so he could con-
vert us.
Not only were we so terribly
wrong, but indeed the descriptive
statement of the institute states: "...
designed to improve the relationship
between Christians and Jews in a non-
conversionist way."
But we're past that now Everybody
sees the institute as an imperative:
honest, compelling and critically nec-
essary. The institute not only seeks
Jewish-Christian relationships, or
understanding, but seeks to enable a
dialogue between Judaism and Chris-
tianity. Thus it moves beyond toler-
ance to understanding and apprecia-
tion.
"From Vision To Reality" was the
Dove Dinner's theme. So the question
at this dinner was — subscribed to in
large part before the death of its exec-
utive director, its founder, indeed its
public image and spokesperson —
with the vision dimmed, is there a
reality? With the engine gone, will the
train still run? With the major draw
out of the picture, will people still
come for the performance?
And that is the challenge to people
of good will.
Surely, we Jews have an enormous
interest in an ecumenical establish-
ment that confronts anti-Semitism
and its theological roots of anti-
Judaism.
And surely Christians want this
confrontation with what their own
theology calls "sin," which impedes

LETTERS

Teacher's Ability
Earned Respect

As a former student at Akiva Hebrew
Day School, I was very interested in the
article "Age or Philosophy" (The Jewish
News May 22).
During my two years at Akiva (ninth
and 10th grades), I took classes taught
by Mr. Codish in both Judaic and secu-
lar studies. During this time, I devel-
oped a great respect for Mr. Codish's
ability as a teacher. He was by far the
best teacher I had at Akiva.
His classes were challenging and
intellectually stimulating. He encour-
aged students to analyze the materials
being discussed and to think things out
on their own. This was in sharp con-
trast to many of my teachers, who
expected students to memorize whatev-
er information they were presented with

and to regurgitate this information at
test time.
Mr. Codish taught his Judaic classes
in the same way he taught his secular
classes. The goal was always for students
to become educated about the subject
and then develop their own ideas on the
basis of what they had learned. He did
not teach doctrine and demand that
students accept it just because he
claimed it was the truth.
Unfortunately, that is what was
expected in many other Judaic classes.
This was particularly difficult because I
found many of the opinions that I was
asked to accept to be distasteful and,
sometimes, disgusting.
These are some of the reasons I left
Akiva. If there had been more teachers
like Mr. Codish, I probably would have
stayed. He attempted to teach a
Judaism based on thought, questioning

and education. Mr. Codish fostered
exactly those values that any school
should strive to represent.
Charles Stuart
Ann Arbor

Spokesman
Is Questionable

In the May 15 Jewish News, I find that
yet another prominent black person has
made yet another reference to Jewish
control of the movie industry ("A Stern
Reprimand"). This time it is Spike Lee.
The article tells us that Mr. Lee has
been taken to task by Howard Stern.
Howard Stern? Is this who we have to
stand up for Jewish interests? Where is
the ADL?
On pages 13 and 14 of the same
issue of The Jewish News, we see the
QUESTIONABLE on page 36

H