This Week
Please loin us for brunch as we
pay tribute to
World Briefs
Another Way
To Tie The Knot
Israel's Conservative
Jerusakm/JTA
and Reform movements have launched
an advertising campaign aimed at
attracting more Israeli couples to
marry through a non-Orthodox rabbi.
The advertising campaign will target
Israeli couples seeking an alternative to
the state-recognized Orthodox wedding.
Since the Orthodox establishment
controls marriage in Israel, couples
that are wed by a non-Orthodox rabbi
are not eligible to be registered as mar-
ried by the state. Instead, most opt to
fly to Cyprus afterward to be married
in a civil ceremony, which is recog-
nized by the state.
The Reform and Conservative
movements say they married 600 and
300 couples, respectively, in Israel
last year. Their .marriage ceremonies
differ from Orthodox ceremonies by
allowing couples to play a bigger role
in crafting the ceremony For example,
the liberal ketubah, or marriage con-
tract, is designed to stress the partner-
ship of marriage instead of the
Orthodox concept of kinyan, or
"acquisition" of a bride by a groom.
The non-Orthodox ketubah is also
written in Hebrew instead of Aramaic.
—
Dr. Morton Plotnick
on the occasion of his retirement from the
Jewish Community Center of Metropolitan Detroit
Sunday, April 30, 2000, 11 a.m.
at the
Jewish Community Center
D. Dan and Betty Kahn Building
Eugene and Marcia Applebaum Jewish Community Campus
6600 West Maple Road, West Bloomfield
Ex-Slaves Benefit
From New Fund
$36 per person, $360 table of ten
Casual dress
Seating is by reservation only.
—
Reservation deadline is April 18.
For reservations, call Michelle Haarer, (248) 661 7600.
-
248)545-6677 • (248)433-3323
Oak Park
Bloomfield Hills
www3dclinic.cont
NEW IN DETROIT?
&O,
3/31
2000
38
German and Jewish
Berlin/JTA
negotiators reached agreement on how
to distribute a $5 billion fund for
Nazi-era forced and slave laborers.
Each of the approximately 240,000
ex-slave laborers who are still alive will
receive about $7,500 each, while up to
$2,500 will go to the approximately 1
million living forced laborers. The
German government last week
approved a bill that would create the
foundation necessary to set up the fund,
which was hammered out by represen-
tatives of the German government,
German industry and survivors groups.
SHALOM DETROIT
WELCOMES NEWCOMERS TO
OUR JEWISH COMMUNITY
Call the Women's Department at
(248) 203-1494 for more information
Bay Area Plans
2 Day Schools
San Francisco/JTA — Two non-
Orthodox Jewish day high schools are
being planned for the San Francisco
area, both with opening dates slated
for September 2001.
Kehillah Jewish High School and
Jewish Community High School of
the Bay are among 13 Jewish day high
schools in formation around the coun-
try, reflecting a growing interest in day
school learning beyond the elementary
years among religiously liberal Jews.
Projected tuition at the two schools is
expected to top $15,000, higher than
the national average for such schools.
Soviet Jewry Group's
Name Changed
Washington — The National
Conference on Soviet Jewry changed
its name to "NCSJ: Advocates on
behalf of Jews in Russia, Ukraine, the
Baltic States & Eurasia."
NCSJ, a non-for-profit agency cre-
ated in 1971, is the mandated central
coordinating agency in the United
States on behalf of the 1.5 million
Jews in the successor states.
Bible Week Proposal
Rejected In Hancock
Susan Burack of Temple
Lansing
Jacob in Hancock, Mich., a Hancock
City Council member, helped defeat a
resolution declaring Thanksgiving
week as National Bible Week, reports
the Michigan Jewish Conference.
"They needed to be reminded
about the First Amendment," she said.
—
Jewish Lawmaker
Asked About Beliefs
Frankfurt, Icy/JTA — A Jewish state
legislator from Kentucky was ques-
tioned about her religious beliefs dur-
ing discussion about a bill that would
allow the Ten Commandments to be
posted in classrooms and public prop-
erty. State Rep. Kathy Stein responded
to questions about Jesus by saying,
"The Jewish faith does not believe he
was the Messiah." The bill, which the
House passed by a vote of 77-17, now
goes to the state Senate.
Christian Study
At Hebrew U.
Jerusalem/JT.A — The Hebrew
University established what is believed
to be the first Christian study center at
an Israeli university.
Research at the Center for the Study
of Christianity, established with a grant
from a Christian family from Belgium,
will emphasize the role of Christianity in
the Holy Land and the historical relation-
ship between Christianity and Judaism.