From Torah To Television

TELUSHKIN

Detroit Friends of Alyn

are proud to honor

Gina and Arthur Horwitz

at their 10th annual fundraising celebration on

Thursday, May 25, 2000
at Shaarey Zedek, Southfield
Look for your invitation this spring!

THE CASUAL HOME FURNISHINGS STORE

•

Jimmie wishes

he could have all the styles

of outdoor furniture he carries in his own yard.

314

3/3

2000

14

While he knows that isn't practical he is happy that he has

just the right thing for you.

RUSTICS

TOLL FREE 1 - 888 - 560 - JIMS

BIRMINGHAM 248-644-1 91 9 I 690 OLD S. WOODWARD
1.1VONIA 734-522-9200 I 29500 W. 6 MILE RD.

NOVI 248-348-0090 I 48700 GRAND RIVER
Please call for store hours.

from page

12

in the room [with someone of differing
beliefs] and Rabbi Telushkin, who has
an ability to go with the flow and reach
out to people who may not practice
[Orthodoxy]. It shows where Judaism
is, and how much Rabbi Telushkin is
necessary. He very much embodies
Judaism at its best," says Rabbi
Wolkoff.
Rabbi Telushkin himself considers his
affiliation as merely "committed Jew."
He belongs to a modern Orthodox syn-
agogue in New York, but the Synagogue
for the Performing Arts is non-denomi-
national. His philosophy on divisions
within Judaism is guided by a mentor,
Rabbi Irving "Yitz" Greenberg. Rabbi
Greenberg is a founder of CLAL, the
New York-based National Jewish Center
for Learning and Leadership.
"He said, 'I don't care what denomi-
nation of Judaism you belong to, as
long as you're ashamed of it,"' says
Rabbi Telushkin. "The reason that
statement is so brilliant was because it
underscored that, since the goal of each
movement in Judaism is tikkun olam —
the perfection of the world — can any-
body reasonably maintain that the only
reason the world is not perfected is
because of the other movements? So
I'm all over the place."
With all the balls he juggles in the
air, that statement can be taken literally.
But who can look around and say that
Rabbi Joe Telushkin has not made a
difference? He considers himself
blessed. The books sell. The scripts are
produced. The people come. And the
word gets out.
Besides, like a pebble dropped into a
still lake, the reverberations may travel
across space and time.
Rabbi Telushkin tells the story of his
book Jewish Literacy being published in
Russian by the American Jewish Joint
Distribution Committee. He had
released his copyright for the project, so
there would be no royalties. The book
was supposed to have a small run —
5,000 copies.
A few months later, he received a let-
ter asking if JDC could publish 50,000
more.
"It's the only time in my life this
happened to me. When I read that let-
ter, I got up in my office and did a little
dance .of joy," he recalls. "And I remem-
ber thinking — my grandfather, Rabbi
Nissen Telushkin, left Russia in 1923
convinced that Judaism had no future
in the Soviet Union. The thought that
70 years later his grandson would write
a book that would have distribution in
Russia on Judaism just gave me great
joy. And that's what I mean when I say,
I feel very fortunate." 0