This Week gen! creel of 7O st Assisted livin g , Scouting Not For Everyone with catered services in beautiful surrounclinci s created especiall y for older adults. The Reform movement reacts to Boy Scouts' exclusion of gay leaders. Studios and suites with private baths Three well planned daily meals Emergency call systems Housekeeping and linen services Round the clock staffing Licensed Nurses 24 Hours Daily Personal care assistance Medical supervision Spa with pool and exercise room Scheduled activities Game room Library Hair salon Sundries shop Transportation Plus -- For the Memory Impaired SHELLI LIEBMAN DORFMAN Staff Writer A TOURS AVAILABLE DAILY on Accrodlotion ikthit ihathcary Organtathons call 248.683.1010 Joist &m is on Accnoiltion a Ns hash Orpnizotions EKNIGHT & DEUTSCH MASTER oFg4 (248) 352-7030 Creating images titat touch the heart... 26571 W. 12 Mile Road - Southfield, 48034 at Northwestern Highway I David M. Deutsch • Bloom co‘eiBloons • I REGISTERED ELECTROLOGISTS Come and let us remove your unwanted hair problem and improve your appearance. Near12Mile Rd. between Evergreen & Southfield Ask for Debby at 248 • 559. 1969 (Appointment Only) A401.5140a4MORMAIROARg P RIOR FT I E S concierge & errand service its bout time We offer exceptional quality services to individuals & business who expect the best. Errands, Personal Shopping, Concierge Services, Organizational Services, Maintenance, Detailed Cleaning, Handyman Services. Secretarial Services, Gift Baskets, Fresh & Silk Flower Arrangements, Event Planning, & more Let our team of professionals handle your unwanted tasks. 21Z 2001 16 248-393-5600 j ccording to the U.S. Supreme Court, the Boy Scouts of America can require troop leaders to be trustworthy, loyal, cheerful, clean, kind, reverent — and heterosexual. Although a June 28 decision of the high court allowing the Boy Scouts to bar homosexuals from leading troops was supported by some reli- gious groups, it came under fire by others — with the Reform move- ment of Judaism at the forefront. Based upon the ruling, involving the dismissal of assistant scoutmaster James Dale by a New Jersey troop that learned he was gay, the Joint Commission on Social Action of the Reform Movement responded. It sent a memorandum on Jan. 5 to its member congregations advising they sever ties to the Boy Scouts — or at least withdraw financial support or ask local Scout groups to rewrite their charters. The dispute over gay Scout leaders is a clear culture clash between the Boy Scouts, a traditional organiza- tion that views homosexuality as a threat to "family values," and the Reform movement, which sees dis- crimination against gays as a viola- tion of civil rights. Nationally, some schools, organiza- tions and corporations have with- drawn their support from the Boys Scouts, but the Reform Jewish movement, with about 7,000 Scouts meeting in their synagogues, was the first religious group to do so. A few Reform synagogues have evicted the Scout troops they once sponsored and housed, says Rabbi Daniel Polish, director of the Joint Commission on Social Action and former rabbi of Temple Beth El in Bloomfield Township. "We, as a movement, have been very assertive in embracing the full civil rights of gay men and women," he says. "From a religious perspec- tive, we stand for the notion that all people are equally children of God. So if you have a religious movement sponsoring a group with a diametri- cally opposed set of values, it sets up a terrible conflict." Michigan's Boy Scouts In the United States, there are 123,935 Boy Scout troops and Cub Scout packs, with 3.4 million young people involved. Jewish organiza- tions sponsor 277 of those units. Of the 65 percent of American Scout troops sponsored by religious organizations, very few are Jewish. None of 15 Michigan Reform syna- gogues surveyed have their own troops. Nondenominational troops, such as those once held at Hillel Day School of Metropolitan Detroit and the West Bloomfield Jewish Community Center, have folded. Still, Detroiters with ties to both Boy Scouts and the Reform move- ment have varied reactions to the memo. Although not a sponsor of a troop, Reform Congregation Shaarey Zedek in East Lansing is a charter partner of Troop No. 180, providing space in their building for weekly meet- ings. "As a charter partner, the syna- gogue legally owns our Scout troop," says Bruce McCrea of Lansing, a Scout leader there since he brought his elementary school-based troop to the synagogue in 1978. "But the troop is not sponsored by the synagogue. It is an association formed as a community ourreach program of Shaarey Zedek," McCrea says. Composed of both non-Jewish and Jewish Scouts, the troop cur- rently includes no Shaarey Zedek members, but has in the past. "We've been associated with them for 23 years," says Winifred Rome, synagogue president. We have a very positive relationship with the troop. We've never had any problems