EDITOR'S NOTEBOOK
Sage Encounters
education is the keystone to Jewish identity and survival. It's the
1 31 ewish
gateway to our heritage and history — and to what unites us.
Notably, adults who make the commitment to learn don't just enrich
their knowledge. Their children, and those of others, also benefit.
Children mimic adults, who serve as role models whether
we like it or not. So if we invite them to learn about Judaism,
but spurn doing so ourselves, what kind of message is that?
It's a hypocritical one, at best.
Children need to see us experience the joy of learning. They
want us to have such joy so they can, too, without feeling self-
conscious.
Rabbi Paul Yedwab of Temple Israel put it this way: "I
believe that children automatically discount anything that
ROBERT A. their parents do for them, but they are profoundly affected by
anything that their parents do for themselves. Schlepping to
SKLAR
Sunday school, while self-sacrificing and important, will have
Editor
one fraction of the effect on your children that walking into
the shul to study on your own will have."
Enter SAJE. It's one, but hardly the only, example of the Detroit Jewish com-
munity's adult study opportunities.
Now in its third year, the Seminars for Adult Jewish Enrichment program
allows us to gather as a'community to informally learn, itself a reward.
A fragile experiment shaped from an Atlanta Jewry model, SAJE is a stun-
ningly successful effort of the five local sponsors — all dedicated to helping us
transmit Jewish values and teachings from one generation to the next. The Jew-
ish Community Center, the Jewish News, the Jewish Federation and the Agency.
for Jewish Education have teamed with Cis Maisel Kellman, who provides gen-
erous support funding. The instructors — clergy, professional and lay — gener-
ously donate their time.
Diversity Reigns
Each of the past two winters, SAJE drew more than 500 participants and 1,300
course registrations. So the thirst for learning is huge.
The student mix has been as diverse as our community as
a whole — secular, observant, converts, unaffiliated, under-
affiliated, intermarried, thirtysomethings, retirees.
Some have talked about growing spiritually. Others have
grown culturally and communally. Many have reveled in the
discussion and camaraderie.
For some, it's SAJE, but nothing more. And that's okay. SAJE
isn't about learning through force, fear or guilt.
• Still, the hope is that the vast majority of participants turn
to a lifetime of Jewish studies.
SAJE organizers face the significant hurdle of sustaining
Rabbi Paul Yedwab
the momentum of the past two winters. Which is why
they aren't standing pat.
This year's teaching corps features familiar faces, new faces and a ton of wisdom
representing different backgrounds and beliefs. Some courses are updates and others
are new The 50-course lineup includes a lunch-and-learn series, a young adult series
and an online course. You shouldn't be disappointed, whatever your interest. Each
seminar is geared to helping learn about what it means to be Jewish.
Ultimately, we must light the way of learning for our children, tomorrow's
flag bearers for Jewish continuity and leadership.
"If you want your children to be good, knowledgeable, faithful and believing
Jews, you must become one yourself," says Rabbi Yedwab, who has taught two pop-
-
ular SAJE classes.
"Adult learning is the beginning of that process," he added. "SAJE is a wonderful
and enjoyable way to dip your toes into the sea of Torah."
And he's right.
Why should we expect our children to want to strengthen their under-
standing of, and appreciation for, who we are as a people if we don't care to
do so ourselves? El
SAJE brochure inside this issue
LETTERS
Letters are posted
and archived on JN Online:
wwvv.detroitjewishnews.com
Jonathan Pollard
A Symbol For Us
America has a case of civil disobedi-
ence — a courageous defiance in the
face of wrongdoing.
There is a man rotting in an Amer-
ican jail because he defied orders and
gave Israel urgent warning of prepara-
tions of poison gas attacks on the
country that could have murdered
hundreds of thousands. That man is
Jonathan Pollard, an American intelli-
gence officer ["No Pardon For Pol-
lard," Jan. 26, page 25].
Pollard did what any decent person
would do. He defied orders that, if
obeyed, could have led to mass
slaughter of Israelis. Pollard learned
Syria and Iraq were stockpiling mis-
siles armed with poison gas warheads.
That was no secret, of course, to Syria
and Iraq, not to the European coun-
tries that designed and built those
poison gas plants, nor to the Soviets
that supplied those missiles. It was an
American "secret" that Pollard was
ordered to keep only from Israelis.
As a result of Pollard's warning,
Israel acquired gas masks and anti-
poison medicine kits that it distrib-
uted to protect its people during the
Gulf War.
Jonathan Pollard is a hero who did
the decent and right thing in disobey-
ing orders that were corrupt and evil.
Pollard in jail says the United States
does not mean Israel and the Jewish
people well.
Hymie Cutler
director,
Michigan Committee for a Safe Israel
Detroit
`Just Jewish' Story
Was Intriguing
Warmest congratulations for provid-
ing us with the fascinating and
absorbing article on cultural Jewish
life ["Just Jewish," Jan. 19, page 6] by
Sharon Luckerman.
The article exposes readers to a
variety of organizations that possibly
may be of interest to those seeking the
appropriate kind of affiliation.
I have had the good fortune of
being an affiliated Jew for most of my
life. All of us who are affiliated have
family and friends who are not. My
own dear daughter, Diane Kreger, is
quoted and pictured in the article.
You mention in your introduction
that at least half of the Jews in Ameri-
ca don't belong to a synagogue. While
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