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