One bite and you'll be hooked
"One of our region's
better little dining secrets."
MIXED MARRIAGE
from page 51
— Danny Raskin
*** Detroit Free Press
A Sampling of Our New Menu Items...
Sig'ma'
LAKE SUPERIOR WHITEFISH
Flash fried in Japanese bread crumbs with lemon butter sauce. $13.95
Author probes stereotypes, difficulties encountered by non-Jewish women
who enter the Jewish community.
SUZANNE CHESSLER
Special to the Jewish News
T
he title of Christine Benvenuto's
book is Shiksa: The Gentile
Woman in the Jewish World (St.
Martin's Press; $23.95), but "Shiksas"
might seem more appropriate.
Benvenuto, who writes about her
experiences as a gentile woman marry-
ing a Jewish man and converting, tells
about many women with difficult social
experiences on their way to practicing
Judaism. The author goes on to point
out biblical passages that describe rela-
tionships between Jewish men and non-
Jewish women, and she quotes scholars
who have studied this subject.
"I really hoped to help other women
in Jewish families find a way into
Judaism," the author says. "I also hoped
to make people become more welcom-
ing to women converting to Judaism."
Benvenuto, a freelance writer with her
first published book, explores negative
stereotypes associated with the term
"shiksa," religio&-identity according to
the faith of the 'bother and the accessi-
bility of leadership roles by converts to
Judaism.
"I heard some wonderful stories as I
was working on this book, and I like
that there are so many voices that I
could include," says the writer, who
changed the names of most of the repre-
sented women found through people
she knew personally or inquiries made
on the Internet. "I was most interested
in perceptions and how people felt."
Benvenuto, who follows practices that
combine Conservatism and
Reconstructionism, explains that one of
the most interesting paths of her
research led to studies that had to do
with the genetic makeup of Jewish pop-
ulations. The findings indicate examples
of long-term Jewish heritage that can be
traced to Jewish males intermarried with
non-Jewish local women in the regions
where the men resided.
"It's a curious fact that while Jewish
men have formed the avant garde of
assimilation, the shedding of religious
and cultural ties and intermarriage, it is
Jewish women — and of course, gentile
women — who have been blamed for
it," Benvenuto writes.
CEDAR PLANK SALMON
Oven baked on a cedar plank and served with tarragon sauce. $15.95
r
Bring in this ad to receive
your lunch or dinner bill
15% off
(excluding tax, tip and alcoholic beverages)
Offer valid Sunday through Thursday
One coupon per couple
Expires on 9/10/04
L
111111,011.0WAIMMWMPWIPORMOPOWN.
39455 West Ten Mile Road in Novi • Southwest corner of Ten Mile & Haggerty
Phone: 248.478.9742
www.moesonten.corn • Same ownership as Leon's Family Dining
VW;
"Easily joins the list of Detroit's culinary treasures."
- Danny Raskin, Jan.16 2004
4 dee bYtta,
17546 Woodward Ave. (2 blocks north of McNichols) Detroit
313-865-0331 Closed Monday • Enter rear • Valet parking
food • spirits • fun
`Introducing My Faith And My Community'
R
abbi Kerry Olitzky gives a
wide definition to the term
"interfaith relationship"
through his latest book, Introducing
My Faith and My Community: The
Jewish Outreach Institute Guide for the
Christian in a Jewish Interfaith
Relationship (Jewish Lights Publishing;
$16.99). Spouses, siblings, in-laws,
children and friends fall into this cate-
gory.
The straightforward book, present-
ed as an overview, covers faith, values,
culture and community and offers a
summary of Jewish holidays, dates
important to Jewish history, a glossary
of Jewish terms and resources for fur-
ther study. Topics reach from beliefs
about God to examples of folk music.
"This book emerges from real expe-
riences in my daily work," says
Olitzky, executive director of the
Jewish Outreach Institute, an organi-
zation that offers opportunities for
including the intermarried in the
Jewish community. "I want readers to
have a comprehensive understanding
of Jewish life and provide an easily
accessible portal into the mindset of
the Jewish community."
Olitzky, who hopes to open dia-
logue between Jews and non-Jews, has
an ultimate goal of bringing Judaism
to children of interfaith marriages.
"There is plenty of room along the
continuum of Jewish life for those
whose perspectives on the Jewish
community differ in kind or in
breadth," Olitzky writes. "While the
Jewish religion takes a primary role in
Judaism, there are many other aspects
... and many Jews relate to those other
expressions of Jewish identity just as
powerfully as their more observant
brethren do. There are more Jews who
are not affiliated with synagogues
than those who are. "
EL- 14 0 IC
Foods from China to Thai
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418 S. Washington Ave. • Royal Oak Downtown
248 591.0028
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SUZANNE CHESSLER
Special to the Jewish News
4 Sit4rtl
Dine-In • Carry-Out • Catering
~ • _ ►
Rabbi discusses Judaism and Jewish lift through lens
of interfaith relationships.
7/30
1103 East Lake Drive approx. cloi7r ntilifleis4‘‘t%,esilteoRf d N ovi Rd. • Novi
248.668.9005
868650
2004
55