EDITOR'S WATCH New Temple Israel Siddur A Celebration Of Jewish Life' Where is God? Wherever you let God in. — Kotzker Rebbe on those prayer themes. Unobtrusively placed prayer notes explain the origins, meaning and vital- ity of prayers in lay terms. "Prayers emple Israel's new prayer have a dynamic. They're not just a book, Shema Yisrael: Hear, string of words. Once you 0 Israel," is visually striking understand that dynamic, and spiritually enriching. you're more likely to be "The Temple Israel Siddur is ours moved," Yedwab said. — our guide to worship, our guide to Benefactors Renee and Mar- the celebration of Jewish life," said tin Laker dedicated the siddur Jimm White, president of in memory of their the 3,200-family Reform beloved fathers, Harry congregation in West Laker and Samuel Bloomfield. Meltzer, and in honor o "If a movement pro- their mothers, Sarah duced this prayer book," Laker and Florence Rabbi Harold Loss said, Meltzer. "the movement itself In the opening pages, would be extremely the Lakers write: "May proud. That our congre- this siddur guide you gation — our clemv and through prayer in the b. ROBERT members together — pro- gentle and loving way A. SKLAR duced it is something our parents have guided Editor memorable." us through life." And he's right. Teamwork by the The power of prayer and the vigor congregation produced the sid- of meditation radiate from the color- dur. But it never would have fully illustrated, 225-page siddur, to be seen print without Yedwab's used on Shabbat, holidays and festi- stay the course perseverance. vals. We want worshippers to feel it's Rabbi Loss likened his col- something special the moment they league of 12 years to "a brilliant touch it," said Rabbi Paul Yedwab, captain of a ship." who served as editor. To Yedwab's parents, Rabbi The hardcover book is laid out in a Stanley and Myra Yedwab of two-page format so facing pages relate Lakewood, N.J., in town for to one another in design and content. the dedication, Loss said: Typically, right-hand pages carry tradi- "Much of what you taught your tional prayers while the facing left- son is exemplified in every hand pages offer creative meditations aspect of his life. The prayer T - Large Numbers Don't Know Jews Who would think my little fluff piece of Oct. 30 ("Unprepared for Mary Elizabeth Doyle") would provoke even a single letter, much less two? One of these comments demands a reply. On Nov. 20, Ben Mandell writes: "He wrote, 'We live in a largely un-Jewish Detroit.' He proba- bly meant un-Orthodox Detroit. I am also inclined to believe he was referring to the northwest area where many Jews live who are not Orthodox." I guess there are a few who hold that only the Orthodox are Jews. Please don't snare me in that trap. This is one idea I emphatically reject. Nor was I referring only to the I11/27 11998 34 Detroit Jewish News northwest. "Detroit" includes the core city, Flat Rock, Sterling Heights — a host of cities and towns where hardly a Jew can be found. I meant that Jews — in all forms of practice — make up such an inconsequential fraction of greater Detroit that the gener- al population is remarkably ignorant of Judaism. So it doesn't surprise me anymore when people who know full well of my religious leanings ask me if I celebrate, or enjoyed, Christmas. Our profile here is so low that a lot of our neigh- bors don't know without asking that I don't, and I didn't. Brooklyn, it ain't. When I said "non-Jewish Detroit," I meant literally that. Elliott Shevin Oak Park book, so much of which he inspired, is now an extraordinary part of our life." Yedwab was worried the siddurs, printed in Jerusalem, wouldn't arrive iitt&-itro ',veva) the STatibath in Irander before the'. tai c, creation. G. r ays wilen -e*tioothint.; at,t!4 by the Nov. 20 dedication. So he enlisted support from the 30 couples he and Rabbis Steven Weil of Young Israel of Oak Park and Stephen Weiss of Congregation Shaarey Zedek were with on a Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit- cosponsored "Future Leaders of Clal Yisrael" mission to Prague and Israel. The couples, who came home Nov. 18, stuffed 200 of the newly printed siddurs in their El Al luggage. "With some bags weighing more than 100 pounds, it was a miracle that plane even took off," Yedwab quipped. As it turned out, Federal Express delivered From 540 more of the "Kabbalat hot-off-the-press Shabbat." siddurs in time for the dedication. Reform couples on the 10 day mission were the first to expe- rience the beauty of the sid- dur when they used an unbound version on Shabbat at outdoor services overlook- ing the hills of Jerusalem. The siddur took a painstaking four years to cre- ate grew arew our of The New Temple Israel Siddur experi- mental edition used at sum- mer services in 1994. A sub- sequent series of town meet- SIDDUR on page 38 - ' Letters Policy The Jewish News welcomes letters to the editor on topics of interest to the Jewish community. We reserve the right to edit letters. They should be limited to approximately 350 words. Deadline for consideration is 10 a.m. Tuesday for Friday's edition. Letters should be typewritten and double spaced. They must con- tain the full name of the writer and a daytime telephone number so authorship can be verified. Include the town of residence or employment of the writer as well as a position or title, if appropriate. Original copies must be hand signed. Letters can be mailed or brought to The Jewish News at 27676 Franklin Rd., Southfield, MI 48034; faxed to (248) 354-6069; or e- mail to: TheDJN@AOL.COM . Letters to the Editor are posted regularly on our JN Online web- site at www.detroitjevvishnews.com ■ "N "\. ; '