This
Helping with
intermarriage;
Falwell says he's sorry;
Levin is hopeful.
Intermarriage may be the end of the
world to some Jews, but it doesn't
have to be, according to Secular
Humanists.
To make that point, the
International Institute for Secular
Humanistic Judaism in Farmington
Hills has set up a new Intermarriage
Department. The goal, it says, is to
encourage the Jewish partner to
remain connected or to reconnect to
the Jewish community while respect-
ing both faiths in an intermarriage
"It is time for the Jewish communi-
ty to aggressively address the sociolog-
ical reality of intermarriage, and to
embrace couples who choose a mar-
riage partner from a non-Jewish back-
ground with celebration and respect
for both partner's traditions," said
Miriam Jerris, the program's director.
The program will help North
American couples find Jewish clergy to
officiate at their marriages and will pro-
vide support systems for intermarried
families. For more information call
(248) 476-9532, or (888) 2 L'Chaini.
"I should have known better," The Rev.
Jerry Falwell said Wednesday, formally
regretting his statement two weeks earli-
er that the Antichrist is a Jewish man
who probably is alive today.
"I apologize to my Jewish friends
here and around the world and I apol-
ogize to the Christians here for having
created any kind of rift," Falwell, the
founder of the now defunct Moral
Majority, told a prayer breakfast in
Nashville, Tenn. "I apologize not for
what I believe, but for my lack of tact
and judgment in making a statement
that served no purpose whatsoever."
The Bible describes the Antichrist
as a force that will spread universal evil
before the end of the world but that
will be finally conquered at the second
coming of Christ, an event that Falwell
said will happen in the next 10 years.
His statement that "the only thing we
know" about the Antichrist "is he
must be male and Jewish" drew a
storm of protest from Jewish leaders.
A youthful provider of adult Jewish
education courses recently received a
$25,000 grant from the United Jewish
Foundation of Metropolitan Detroit.
Eilu v'Eilu, a two-year-old consor-
tium of local Conservative synagogues
and institutions, offers adult courses
on a variety of topics and for a range
of levels. Although sponsored by
Conservative organizations, the group
also uses Orthodox and Reform
instructors and attracts students from
all over the community.
Upcoming courses include a Rosh
Hodesh series focusing on women's
issues in Judaism, "It Could Be Verse:
Jewish Poetry from the Bible to
Today" and "How Rashi Wrote the
Bible."
The grant, through the UJF's Max
Fisher Foundation, will cover admin-
istrative expenses.
Calling the events in Washington "extra-
ordinarily discouraging," U.S. Sen. Carl
Levin told 150 student activists on
Sunday not to let the President's
impeachment trial discourage them from
becoming involved in public matters.
"Don't let these events turn you
off," he said, speaking at the American
Israel Public Affairs Committee
(AIPAC) Michigan political leadership
conference at the University of
Michigan Hillel.
He added, "We're going to work
through this... We won't be as strong
as we were before, but we will work
through it."
Marking 100 Years
Of Detroit Jewry
Remember
When . •
From the pages of The Jewish News
for this week 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50
years ago.
1989
Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak
Shamir sent a farewell message to
outgoing President Ronald Reagan
describing him as "one of the great-
est friends" Israel ever had.
Coalition government partner
Defense Minister Yitzhak Rabin
sent regards to departing U.S.
Defense Secretary Frank Carlucci
and Secretary of State George
Shultz.
1979
The Rabbinical Assembly heard a
recommendation by its study com-
mission for the ordination of
women as rabbis in the
Conservative movement.
A telecast of the NBC-TV mini-
series "Holocaust"broke every audi-
ence record for regional television
in Germany.
To protest Iraq's public execution of
nine Jews, thousands of people con-
verged upon the Meyers-Curtis
Jewish Community Center.
President Nixon conferred with
New Detroit Committee chairman
Max M. Fisher on the Iraq and
Mideast crises and issues of poverty
and race relations.
1959
National ADL Director Benjamin
R. Epstein's report that housing dis-
crimination is the most persistent
prejudice facing American Jews
cited a survey finding 56 percent of
real estate agents in Detroit suburbs
showed varying degrees of discrimi-
nation against Jews.
1949
The Young Women's Hebrew Association
on Rowena Street in Detroit provided
a place for young women to participate
in recreational activities. Dinah Connell,
right, gives table tennis instruction to
Evelyn Zweiman in this photograph,
circa 1930.
Photo courtesy of Leonard N. Simons Jewish Community
Archives/Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit.
2/5
1999
26 Detroit Jewish News
In a momentous week, the Mapai
(Labor) party of David Ben-Gurion
won Israel's first national election in
2,000 years and the United States
officially recognized Israel as a state.
The Karl Haas Ensemble per-
formed in concert at the Detroit
Public Library honoring the late
attorney Fred M. Butzel for his
unselfishness and devotion to cul-
tural movements.
c-7