For Openers
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Coming Together?
Is it purposeful to probe Pope Pius
XII's actions toward Jews during
World War II?
T
elltale signs show that Israel's Orthodox leadership is begin-
ning to recognize the Conservative movement, the Detroit
Conservative movement's scholar-in-residence said in
Southfield Saturday night.
"It's happening — but behind closed doors," said Rabbi
Benjamin J. Segal, immediate past president of the Schechter
Institute of Jewish Studies, the academic and educational center of
the Masorti-Conservative movement in Israel.
Rabbi Segal was speaking at Congregation Shaarey Zedek's
"Tapestry" program, a yearly celebration of Jewish
culture and thought. "There's dialogue, although
it's all semi-secret," he said about Orthodox-
Masorti relations in Israel. "Nobody wants to
talk openly about it. But we're (Masorti-
Conservative Jews) drawing good grassroots
support. There is interest among the
Orthodox in our movement."
And that's a significant change, Rabbi Segal
told an audience of 70 at his talk, "Encounters
in Israel."
"We've never been welcome because we're not
considered authentic," he said, but then
added: "Still, I'm very optimistic."
Rabbi Benjamin J. Segal
Rabbi Segal, a 1969 Jewish Theological
Seminary graduate who made aliya four
years later, traced the roots of that optimism to the Masorti movement's
non-confrontational approach to Israel's Orthodox-dominated religious
leadership. "We try to build from within, not demand our own rights.
We try to be a giving group," Rabbi Segal said.
His leadership tries to include Reform leaders in meetings with
the Orthodox-controlled chief rabbinate, rabbinic councils, yeshivot
and political parties. But their overtures are always rebuffed, he said.
Rabbi Segal floated the notion shared by some American
Conservative leaders that the Masorti movement should market
itself as the left wing of Orthodoxy.
"The more we give to the people of Israel without opposing
Orthodoxy, I think the more we will be accepted," he said in closing. "I
believe a moment will come when organized Orthodoxy will say, 'We
want you, we welcome you publicly, but you must disavow Reform
Judaism.'"
At the afterglow afterward, Rabbi Segal clarified that Israel's
Conservative Jews strongly believe in religious freedom.
As he put it, "We might work with the Orthodox on program-
ming but when it comes to rights, let me be absolutely clear: We
will never sell out the Reform movement for power or privilege."
— Robert A. Sklar, Editor
• Yes, to determine if he aided
Hitler's rise to power.
* No, there's no point in dredging
up 60-year-old history.
• Not sure, I don't know enough
about his past.
Vote on JN Online
wvvw.detroitjewishnews.com
Results from last week's poll (39 respon-
dents)
I consider Prime Minister Ehud Barak's
first 100 days to have been ...
good for Israel's security. (56%)
bad for Israel's interests. (15%)
poor enough to bring back Bibi. (28%)
JARC
Merle and Shirley Harris
Children and
Family Division
Services for children with special
needs and their families.
Yiddish Limericks
There once was a cook known as Vetter;
A yenta* since when I first met 'en
She gossiped all day
With nothing to say.
No kochleffel** ever was better!
* busybody
** (literal) cooking ladle
(idiomatic) someone who mixes in, stirring up
trouble; gadabout
— Martha Jo Fleischmann
Quotables
"I've always been drawn to Yiddish, drawn to that
accent, drawn to that sensitivity"
— Robin Williams, star of the new Holocaust
film Yakob the Liar," on rumors that the Catholic
actor is Jewish.
"Maariv (evening prayers) will be at 7:30 in the
Chocolate Factory."
— An announcement at Hershey Park during
Sukkot, when the Pennsylvania amusement park is
rented for a Jewish fund-raiser.
GRAPEJEWZ BY Mendel
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Services Currently
Available
✓ Outreach, support,
information, referral and
advocacy for families
✓ Educational and social
programs for families
✓ In-home respite care with a
trained JARC staff person
✓ Case management with a
person-centered focus
✓ Aides so children with
special needs can
participate in organized
recreational activities with
their non-disabled peers
✓ Comprehensive supports to
help a small number of
children with special needs
successfully attend
religious schools
Call JARC at
248-352-5272
•
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Southfield, MI 48034
jarc@jarc.org
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