DIRECT FROM NEW YORK,
IN THE INTIMATE SECOND CITY THEATRE

skeletons of history rattled silently.
And then they saw it — solid mounds
of salt cakes inscribed with watery birth-
day wishes from the past, symmetrical
shapes and forms etched with eerie
echoes of ecstatic celebrations past.
Had they really found the hedonistic
cities of Sodom and Gomorrah?
"I think," says a cautious Sanders,
"there is good evidence that there were
cities that were destroyed in a great
catastrophe."
What they saw were mounds formed
by fire and brimstone. Forming his own
opinion based on anything but scientific
reason is anathema to the worldwide
wanderer. While he won't discuss his

He heatedly argues with the devout
Brasher, whose eclectic spirituality
leads her to draw upon sources as
diverse as the Hebrew Bible, the New
Testament and the Koran.
Though the character of Kate, like
Masterson, is non-Jewish, she shares
Tolkin's sentiment that the universe
will provide — if you work at it.
"Existence is a partnership between
God and man," Tolkin said.
Tolkin grew up in a Reform Jewish
household in a show business family.
He found the Reform Judaism of his
youth to be "despiritualized and

own belief system, Sanders knows how
many people make book on the Bible.
"If you're an Orthodox Jew, it's sim-
ple. God gave the information about
Sodom and Gomorrah [in the Torah].
It has to be right."
On the other
Michael Sanders:
hand,
he adds, "for
Going where
someone
trying to
no explorer
discover
scientific
has gone before.
information, it's
not that simple."
While breaking scientific news is a real
rush in the make-or-break field of
archaeology, this real-life raider of lost
arks never loses sight of the arc of his
accomplishments, often detailed on his
Web site, www.Biblemysteries.com .
"There are people who love going
down in submarines or climbing up
mountains for the adventure; that's
not for me.
"Would I do any of this just for fun?
No. But when the evidence is so com-
pelling, you have to do it. And, in the
process, you may have to take a few
chances." ❑

Biblical Mysteries: Sodom &
Gomorrah airs 7 p.m. Sunday,
March 11, on NBC.

empty," but felt differently after his
daughter, Theadora, entered religious
school at Temple Israel of Hollywood
in 1990. "I began listening to the
prayers," he said. "I attended a Torah
class with the rabbi. I started to think
about the applica-
tion of Torah to
Rhea Perlman,
everyday life."
Mary Stuart
Along the way,
Masterson and
he
began writing
Hector Elizondo
about
characters
in "Kate Brasher."
immersed in spiri-
tual issues. The
fictional Kate, for
one, is based on Tolkin's mother-in-
law, a spiritual but unaffiliated Jew.
"My mother-in-law prays in a very
direct way, the way Kate does," said
Tolkin, adding that the series also fea-
tures a Jewish character, attorney
Abbie Schaeffer (Rhea Perlman).
The fictional Kate, he added, is
engaged in the very Jewish activity of
"repairing the world."
"It's tikkun olam," he said. "Kate
wouldn't call it that, but we would."

BY POPULAR DEMAND A THIRD WEEK JUST ADDED!
This Tuesday, March 12-April 1 • 1LL,Secci4Gq Theatre

TICKETS STARTING AT $35!
Tickets are available at the Second City box office and all ficketmaster locations.
Charge by Phone 248.645.6666 • Information call 313-965-2222

DINNERS

FABULOUS
SELECTION
AND VARIETY
READY FOR
YOU TO
PICKUP
ON THE WAY
HOME.

To Go!

A Little Bit Of New York
Right Here In Bloomfield Hills

CALL AHEAD
OR FAX YOUR
ORDER, IT
Will BE
HERE WAITING
FOR YOU.
WHAT COULD
BE EASIER?

6646 Telegraph at Maple • Bloomfield Plaza • 248.932-0800

POSI S

Fine Italian Dining in a
Casual Atmosphere

All meat, fowl and fish dinner
entrees include antipasto, soup,
salad, vegetable, potato and pasta.

All pasta dinner entrees come with
all the above except pasta side dish.

Tuesday thru Thursday:

11 am - Spin
ftE.
11 am 1Opm

Saturday A Sunday:

4 pm -11 pm

:-
33210 AL
In Simsbury Plaza
Just East of Farmington goad
West Biat►alfield

[enlarged former Envoy Cafe location]

(248) 538 99

❑

Kate Brasher airs 9 p.m.
Saturdays on CBS.

tale Band

(2148) -144-7373