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WE MUST MAKE ROOM
FOR CONSTRUCTION!
SALE PRICES ON ALL
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(Between Orchard Lake Road & 14 Mile)

7747 • Fax 248-538 7749

WASHINGTON WATCH

from page 20

first Bush administrations, will become
deputy secretary of state — making him
second in command to his old protege,
Secretary of State Colin Powell.
A pro-Israel lobbyist described
Armitage as "a bulldog — very conser-
vative, very much an old Cold
Warrior." Armitage has been relatively
friendly to pro-Israel interests, this
source said — except on the issue of
arms sales to Arab countries.
In line to serve as undersecretary for
political affairs the number three
slot at Stare — is Marc Grossman, a
former assistant secretary of state for
European affairs.
Edward Djerejian, the former
ambassador to Syria and Israel who
was expected to take a top State
Department job — and with it the
Mideast portfolio — has reportedly
decided not to join the new team at
Foggy Bottom. Now, informed sources
say the administration is looking for a
top diplomat to install in the Near
East bureau to oversee Mideast affairs.
John Lipsky, the chief economist at
Chase Manhattan Bank, is expected to
get the nod as undersecretary of the
treasury for international affairs; GOP
insiders say that if he gets the job, he
could be tapped to play a role in ongo-
ing attempts by Washington to facili-
tate restitution of Holocaust-era assets.

Minyan On The Hill

Congress is becoming a more obser-
vant place.
More and more, seriously Jewish
House and Senate staffers are getting
together for study and prayer — so much
so that now, for the first time, staffers are
setting up a regular Capitol Hill minyan.
The boost to Jewish observance
was the result of several factors,
including conversations between the
Senate chaplain and Rabbi Levi
Shemtov, the Lubavitch representa-
tive on Capitol Hill.
"It's clear there was growing interest
among Jewish staffers in doing some-
thing on a regular basis, and the chap-
lains have been very supportive,"
Shemtov said this week. "A regular min-
yan seemed like the obvious answer."
There have been Capitol Hill minyan-
im in the past, he said, but not on a reg-
ular basis. This year, he said, the number
of Jewish staffers interested in prayer and
ritual "reached a critical mass, so we
decided to go ahead with it."
Initially, he said, the minyan will
convene twice a week. "Hopefully,
when people on the Hill learn about
it, we can increase it to every day."

❑

24

Alia&k,z

- As trIllir11441.1211101LI

STAFF NOTEBOOK

from page 22

JET Performs
Anne Frank

The Jewish Ensemble Theatre (JET)
has been presenting school perform-
ances of The Diary of Anne Frank or
related Anne Frank plays for the past
six years.
However, this is the first year the
group will perform in Detroit itself.
Shows will take place at the Scottish
Rite Cathedral Theatre at the
Masonic Temple, 500 Temple Avenue,
Detroit, weekdays March 12-23,
except March 22.
Tickets are $5.
Teachers will receive a study guide
with extensive historical background
information, discussion guides and
activities for both pre- and post-per-
formance.
So far, more than 5,000 students
from throughout Michigan have been
booked to attend this year's shows.
For more information or reservations,
call Mary Davis at (248) 788-2900.

— Diana Lieberman

SOPRANOS

from page 18

and "you had speakers who spoke out
against the ordination of women."
"Six years later we have no one to
apologize to, no one's poor sport story
we have to listen to," Newman Kamin
said. "This is a real celebration. This is
wonderful."
Indeed, the mood of the conference
was overwhelmingly festive.
At one point in Sunday night's
dancing, the group lifted two JTS pro-
fessors — Anne Lepidus Lerner and
Judith Hauptman — on chairs, and
one young rabbi could be heard whis-
pering to a friend, "Those are the two
N. omen who should have been rabbis!"
Lerner and Hauptman, who
launched their careers in academia
long before the movement began
ordaining women, are widely viewed
as mentors for women rabbinical stu-
dents at JTS.
Heather Altman, who was ordained
in 2000 and is assistant rabbi of Bet
Torah in Mount Kisco, N.Y., described
the conference as "incredible."
"When I walked in this morning it
was a powerful feeling of being in a
room of women rabbis," Altman said.
"One of the things that shocked me
when I first came here as a student was
what a male space the seminary is." ❑