SPECIAL COMMENTARY

RENAISSANCE FROM PAGE 37

ThuRsdAy • Nay

gational or communal school with a
serious culture of support for Jewish
education; participation in a vibrant
youth group, movement and programs
as an adolescent; time spent in Israel;
continuing formal and informal Jew-
ish learning and activity on a college
campus with a strong Jewish student
community; ongoing study, reading
and Jewish conversation throughout
one's life. The more Jews we can get to
walk this pathway, the more expansive
and vibrant our Jewish renaissance will
be.
But... Many Jews will not find their
way onto this pathway at the outset,
or will diverge from it at some point
in their lives. Today's Jewish journeys,
we know, tend to be circuitous and
idiosyncratic, full of surprising twists
and turns.
We need Jewish education that is,
in the words of the old Delta Airlines
slogan, "ready when you are." We
need to add access points, multiply
receptor cells, expand the matrix —
whatever metaphor you like. The
objective is to be agile and accessible,

• SATURdAy

NOVEMbER 18 • 19 • 20

to ensure that Jews coming from
whatever place with whatever concerns
and expectations find an entry onto
what we hope will be their Jewish
pathway.
This may mean that Jewish learn-
ing opportunities are offered in
unusual places and unusual times with
unusual teachers. It means utilizing
technology to bridge time and space.
It means personalized education. It
means continuous innovation, experi-
mentation and evaluation to extend
the reach of Torah farther and farther
into the lives Jews live.
Keeping all these components of a
Jewish renaissance in our conscious-
ness at one time and, even more, mak-
ing them all integral to our work, may
sound like a daunting task. But a peo-
ple whose one Torah has 70 faces
clearly has a track record in dealing
with multi-faceted challenges. The
bottom line is that "Jewish renais-
sance must not be seen as just anoth-
er buzzword, another campaign slo-
gan. It is a vision of substance and
excitement, if we let it be so. 1 -1

LETTERS

LETTERS FROM PAGE 37

th el ma r iollwa lk

LAkE Road • WEST

Write Us!

BloomfiEld

NORTH FARMINGTON HIGH SCHOOL
BAND AND ORCHESTRA BOOSTERS

WINIERARTs
CRAFTS FAIR

Saturday, Nov. 20

9:00 am - 5:00 pm
Admission $2.00

*

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* North Farmington High School • 32900 W. 13 Mile Road

between Orchard Lake & Farmington Road
No Strollers • Please

attacked. Since the 1967 war with
peacekeeping troops at the border,
strategic parity has been maintained;
even so, there have been incursions
by the Syrians. Yitzak Rabin chose
not to make them public, but finally
in 1994 did so to the United
Nations but without any response
from Syria.
How good is the word of Hafez al-
Assad? That his word is his bond is, in
fact, a myth, exploded by Daniel Pipes
in the October 1999 Commentary
dealing with Assad's promises made
and promises broken.
As to the financial side, the with-
drawal from the Golan Heights is
estimated at $32 billion plus an
annual $5 billion to sustain force
preparedness and civilian relocation
to be requested from Congress,
according to a report released citing
Col. (Reserve) Yoash Tsiddon-Chat-
to, former head of the Israeli Air
Force planning and operation
requirements. Clearly, a peace settle-
ment with Syria should be duly
deliberated.
Bertha Weil

Royal Oak

11/12
1999

38

CPR
can keep your love alive

American Heart
Associations.,

Fighting Heart Disease
and Stroke

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