Sarah Tugman Bais Chabad Torah Center Torah Portion and Hyman 8 Sonia Blumenstein Outreach Center `////tititeJ v/att to/ pcmtici pate/ i/n/ curry M 'WW1 bil/ftey7/ TORAH PORTION from page 57 96/1/Witt cqu,ost Specdwt/ Dr. Lawrence Natalie Lipnik Dr. Daniel Pipes Director of the Middle Eclat Forum Comments by With the Litz Chaim Award Morton Klein National President Zionist Orsanization of America Dr. Jerome & Mindy Kaufman Dinner Committee Paul Draznin, Chairman Honorary Committee Martin Goodman 8 Ken Kohn With the Community Service Award Sunday, March 9, .2.003 Fifth of AcLar II, 5763 Program Chairman Stuart Weiss Tribute Journal Chairmen Arthur Liss, Paul Malty Part of the proceeds will be distributed to Israeli victims oy terror and members of the Israel Defense Forces. At the Ramada Inn 17017 W. Nine Mile Rd. • Sduthfield, MI 48075 For ticket and ad information please call 2 4 8– B5 5 -61 7c) 687940 Move into Sunrise of Ann Arbor on Saline Road, North Farmington Hills, or West Bloomfield by 2/28/03 and receive one month free rent! Sunrise o ers a fill! spectrum of supportive care to meet the challenges of advanced age in a warm and comforting environment. At Sunrise Assisted Living, It's about Care. • • It's about Value...It's about Choice is no secret that happy families are close I together—in families. Sunrise is helping to keep families their neighborhoods and in their hearts. Sunrise is a place that's like home and close to home. Here, cherished relationships continue to flourish, and new friendships are forged. Sunrise offers seniors a warm and comforting living environment. With great regard for the individuality of each resident, compassionate caregivers meet needs that are light, comprehensive or somewhere in between. Sunrise is a positive alternative to an institutional setting—competitive with home care and far less expensive than a nursing home. Call today to discover the value of assisted living by Sunrise! SUNRISE ASSISTED LIVING Ask about our hmoratire Reminiscence Program for those with memory hnpairment. www.sunriseassistedliving.com Ann Arbor / 734-327-1350 • Clarkston / 248-625-0500 • North Ann Arbor / 734-741-9500 North Farmington Hills / 248-538-9200 • Northville / 734-420-4000 Rochester / 248-601-9000 • Troy / 248-293-1200 • West Bloomfield / 248-738-8101 1/31 2003 58 likely to execute innocent defendants, who often reject offers to plea bargain. There is simply no way to justifi, these abhorrent practices. What about Rabban Shimon ben Gamliers argument of deterrence? Except in situations of self-defense, this argument has little relevance for our day. America, which executes criminals, has a murder rate roughly four times higher than that of similar nations that do not practice capital punishment. Michigan, which does not execute crim- inals, has a lower murder rate than Illinois, which did (until outgoing GOV. George Ryan commuted death sen- tences to life in prison for 167 death row inmates Jan. 11). Indeed, death penalty states in America have a signifi- cantly higher rate of violent crime than do their sister states. Where's the deter- rence? America is not a theocracy — the U.S. government does not represent God, who alone creates life. What prin- ciple then entitles it to kill citizens whom it can remove from harm's way with lifelong imprisonment? Revenge and revulsion are natural human responses to violent crime. But are these principles of justice? Jewish opposition to the death penal- ty is not absolute. If capital punishment can protect the public — as in the case of Wartime treason — then it can be justified as a way of saving lives. If a serial murderer is finally apprehended, it may be possible to establish that crimi- nal intent is amply proven. The Israeli system of reserving capital punishment for genocide, active terrorism and wartime treason is far more defensible than is America's uneven system of exe- cution. The alacrity of our nation to kill criminals, even in the face of proof that our system is terribly flawed, is a moral abomination. Judaism may support cer- tain forms of the death penalty, but cer- tainly not what we have mandated in our time. Our job as Americans and as Jews is to protect society and to strip violent criminals of the freedoms that we all cherish. Let's let God decide who shall live and who shall die. El Conversations Should Jews advocate specific public policies on the basis of Jewish law? Is a Torah perspec- tive relevant to non-Jewish citi- zens and public officials?