ditorials

Editorials and Letters to the Editor are posted and archived on JN Online:
www.detroitjewishnews.com

Listening And Learning

R

mic course for their dream of a new
abbi Lee Buckman, Presi-
The
kind of school and a new way to
dent Jeffrey Garden and
Way,
We
learn.
other leaders of the new
Lear n
Enter Rabbi Buckman. In today's
Jewish high school so far
rapid-fire and often impersonal
have earned high marks.
world, he's a mentsh. Tirelessly, he
All signs point to the Jewish Acad-
moves from lunch meeting to parlor meeting
emy of Metropolitan Detroit, coeducational
— explaining, encouraging and, most impor-
and college preparatory, opening next fall on
tantly, hearing what you have to say.
the Eugene and Marcia Applebaum Jewish
Starting a school isn't easy. Top leadership is
Community Campus with two grades and at
forming, but teachers, a school's lifeblood, still
least 30 students.
need to be hired; classrooms at the D. Dan &
What's more, the administration is shaping
Betty Kahn Building of the Jewish Communi-
up to be top-notch: Rabbi Lee Buckman, head
ty Center in West Bloomfield still need to be
of the school; Dr. Helene Cohen, academic
negotiated; and parents of prospective students
affairs director; and Rabbi Aaron Bergman,
still need to translate family interest into pay-
Jewish studies director — all have proven rep-
ment.
utations for shaping young lives.
Not everything will be perfect on opening
Some community members were skeptical
day — and the pressure will be on the new
when Garden and other founders last year clar-
administration to deliver. For example,
ified their plans for a new Jewish high school
promised programs may,take a while to jell
that didn't recognize patrilineal descent, effec-
nto a cohesive curriculum with the right mix
tively eliminating some Reform Jews.
o
of
secular and Judaic studies. And expectations
But sticking to Conservative principles —
w ill be high to exceed the quality of tax-sup-
which was their prerogative — they perse-
vered. Their first hurdle was convincing the
P orted high schools.
With Jewish education at all age levels a key
Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit of
t o Jewish survival, and Jewish learning centers
their -resolve — which they did to the tune of
n short supply, we fervently hope that the
$750,000 in essential startup support.
J ewish Academy of Metropolitan Detroit suc-
They then held a national search for some-
c eeds. If it fails, we as a community will bear a
one to set a spiritual tone and chart an acade-
h eavy burden in our push to learn Jewishly. Fl

IN FOCUS

Resting Up

Brigadier General Eliezer Hemeli of the Israel Defense Forces
thanks 30 members of the Michigan Friends of the IDF for
their support in building one of five new rest and relaxation
centers for active-duty soldiers who patrol the front lines in the
West Bank, the desert and the Lebanese border. The Michigan
Friends of the IDF-supported Michigan House on the shores
of Ashkelon will provide free entertainment, room and board,
and activities for 100 soldiers weekly when it opens in January.
"This sends a strong message to a young soldier that some-
where in the world someone cares about him defending the
Jewish state," said Brigadier General Hemeli at an Oct. 31
brunch in Bloomfield Hills.

Chanuka's Silent Arrival

nly 20 shopping days left until
Chanuka!
Huh? The discordant sound of
such a phrase strikes the Jewish ear
with no small amount of peculiarity. It echoes,
of course, the commercial appeal of the
Christmas season, which many Americans —
Jew and non Jew alike — have come to accept
as the "secular winter holidays." But even the
semi-religious among us knows that Chanuka
and Christmas are imbued with distinctly sep-
arate significance.
We're thrilled on years such as this when,
thanks to the lunar calendar commanding
Judaism's rhythm, Chanuka comes well before
Christmas. It offers a chance to ensure that
meaning does not blur with merchandise.
After all, Chanuka offers wonderful mes-
sages — as well as philosophical dilemmas —
for the Jewish people. In contemplating the
modern appeal of the ancient revolt against
the Hellenist Assyrians, who had outlawed
Jewish practices, we confront the different
messages of Jewish civil war and belief in mira-
cles. For others, the holiday's essence is history
and freedom.

0

For all of us, Chanuka should be about
gathering family and friends for joyous cele-
bration. We are not foolish enough to think
that many Jewish parents will avoid gift giv-
ing. So we ask them to ensure that such
actions are balanced with holiday observance.
Remember, the most precious gift is celebrat-
ing with family and friends. So plan now to
ensure that on the first few nights you will be
at a Chanuka gathering complete with lighting
of the chanukia, (the nine-branched menora)
and holiday foods.
Make sure that someone retells the story
itself. There is an abundance of material in
books or on the Internet from which to
choose. Perhaps offer a Chanuka quiz with
small prizes to the winners. We also encourage
the adults to get into a dreidel game with the
kids and, of course, to stop by a synagogue on
the Shabbat during Chanuka for special
prayers of redemption and deliverance.
So begin planning now. There's only 20
days left — to invite friends and relatives, pre-
pare foods, get the candles and ensure that
meaningful messages of our heritage are retold
once again. I—I

LETTERS

Mideast Peace
No Certainty

"You Jews are fools," Egypt's
late Anwar Sadat told visiting
columnist Sidney Zion. "You
don't recognize what every
Arab knows. We all know
that Jordan is Palestine."
Unfortunately, that knowl-
edge doesn't prevent Israel's
Arab enemies from demand-
ing yet another Arab Palestin-
ian homeland, excised from
the heart of the Jewish holy
land. Neither does it keep
them from accepting whatev-
er land or money the Jews are
deluded enough to give them.
"Give peace a chance," they
wheedle, knowing that the
entirely peculiar formula of
Jewish "land for peace" must

necessarily prolong — not
end — the conflict.
Two burgeoning nation-
states locked together in the
tiny space between Jordan
and the sea can't possibly
peacefully co-exist for long
("Time To Start Healing
Process," Oct. 29). And then
why should an Israel hater
want to stop with only two
Palestinian homelands? Aren't
the Arabs living in Jaffa, the
Negev and the Galilee, Pales-
tinian Arabs, too?
Michael Dallen
Detroit

Screen Event
Is Accurate

I am a Holocaust survivor,
born in Lodz, Poland, and

11/12
1999

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