WEDS r Wt4A)TS

substance. When the weather gets cold-
er, this stuff gets brittle; and when the
wind picks up, the leaves just snap off.
Also, that's how the season got its name:
fall. In the areas of the country in which
the leaves do not fall down, the season is
called autumn so as not to confuse peo-
ple.
• Why does snow fall? If it did not,
there would not be anything for skiers
or sledders to go on. The ski slope peo-
ple would have to double their machine
output and that would undoubtedly
raise prices.
• How do ice cubes form? When the
trays are filled with water and the door
is closed, the freezer elves go into action.
They blow the cool air of the freezer
over the trays until the water hardens.
They also keep the cool air circulating
through the freezer with their little fans.
• Does the light in the refrigerator

The Answer, Man

D

o you recall
when your
children start-
ed asking, "Why?"
Wasn't it nice to be
able to have an answer?
That is, until the whys
became so repetitive
that the reply from you
SY
was "Because I said so"
MANELLO
or "That's just the way
Editorial
it is.' Well, I have
Assistant
decided to enable you
once more by supply-
•
ing answers to some oft-asked questions.
• Why do leaves fall? There is some-
thing called sap — like tree blood —
that runs through the tree and into the
stems of the leaves. It is a very sticky

Hail To The Chief

Dr. Jerrold Weinberg and Dr. Alfred
Sherman recite the Maimonides Oath for
Physicians at the West Bloomfield JCC.
Dr. Jerrold Weinberg, one of Dr.
Sherman's first students, said many
physicians in attendance owed their suc-
cessful careers and lives to the values of
humanity that Dr. Sherman, in his quiet
way, imparted.
"We have all felt a special burden to
make our 'Chief' proud of us," said Dr.
Weinberg, of Farmington Hills.
— Robert A. Sklar, editor

2004

Which Jewish community performs a baptismal-
like ceremony on Rosh Hashanah?

— Goldfein

JILT

2004

12

Rabbi Lawrence Kushner, a
dialogues and lunch. Cost
former Detroiter who is con-
for the Friday dinner and
sidered one of the most cre-
the Saturday Day of
ative religious writers in
Learning is $36 each or $60
America today, will speak
for both days.
about "God in the American
This weekend is the open-
Jewish Experience" during a
ing event of a yearlong
Shabbaton Friday and
Temple Beth Emeth celebra-
Saturday at Temple Beth
tion of "350 Years of Jews in
Emeth in Ann Arbor.
America: 1654-2004."
Rabbi Kushner
The Shabbat will be filled
To register for these
with stimulating lectures and
events or for more informa-
discussions led by one of America's
tion, contact Devon Fitzig, director of
preeminent Jewish storytellers.
congregational services, at (734) 665-
Rabbi Kushner will speak at 6:30
4744 or
p.m. at the Friday night Kabbalat
dfitzig@ templeb ethemeth. org The
Shabbat service. Following the service,
Shabbaton is open to the community.
there will be a dinner honoring Beth
Temple Beth Emeth is located at 2309
Emeth's Rabbi Robert Levy on his
Packard Road in Ann Arbor.
25th anniversary in the rabbinate.
Following Shabbat morning services
— Keri Guten Cohen,
on Oct. 23, Rabbi Kushner will lead a
story development editor
Day of Learning featuring lectures,

Quotables

LEFIET 'cha

10/22

expand again. (This started with some-
thing called the vacuum tube, but now
technology is way advanced even though
the principal is the same.)
• Why does hair fall out? This hap-
pens so that wig and toupee makers are
not put out of work.
• Why do docks go tick-tock? If they
went tock-tick, all clocks would run
backwards and days would then be
reversed and lives would become topsy-
tUrVy.
I hope that these will help you the
next time you are confronted with a
Why of gigantic proportions. I'm
reminded of the child who asked many
of these of his father and the answer was
always, "I don't know." "Dad," said the
boy, "I hope you don't mind me asking
you all these questions." "Of course not,
son; how else will you ever learn any-
thing." ❑

Hear Rabbi Kushner

The topic was Jewish bioethics. But the
mood was not staid.
The upbeat setting was the eighth
annual Alfred and Sandra Sherman
Lecture on Ethical Issues in Women's
Health Care on Oct. 10 at the Jewish
Community Center in West
Bloomfield.
The lecture provided the backdrop to
celebrate Dr. Alfred Sherman's 60th year
as a physician. Forty of the 115 obstetri-
cian-gynecologists he trained at Sinai
Hospital of Detroit were there to honor
him, some from as far away as
California.
Guest speaker Zohar Raviv, a doctoral
candidate and Frankel Scholar at the
University of Michigan in Ann Arbor,
spoke about Maimonides, the revered
12th-century physician, philosopher and
religious thinker. After the lecture, Dr.
Sherman led all physicians in the
Maimonides Oath for Physicians.

Don't Know

really go off when the door closes? Of
course it does. Since there is no one
looking for anything, there is no light
needed; and the lightbulb, sensing this,
turns itself off. It also works that way in
the freezer since the freezer elves do
much better work when it is dark
• What makes the wind blow? It does
not really. The air around us gets stirred
up by all the moving we do. Add to this
such stimuli as airplanes, birds, etc., and
you can see why there might be quite
sizeable movement sometimes.
• Why is the sky blue? It feels sad that
things do not live forever. Besides, yel-
low was already used for the sun.
• How does the picture come on the
TV? There is a big suction machine at
the television stations and it pulls in the
image, forms it into a coil that will fit
the wires and then boosts it to homes
where the TV's open screen allows it to

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"There will never be a job as important as the one
I had before ... help produce food and get it to
those who are hungry."
— Dan Glickman, former secretary of agricul-

ture in the Clinton administration and brother-in-
law of Diane and Emery Klein of Southfield, speak-
ing at the local Yad Ezra kosher food bank dinner on
Oct. 11.

❑

Do You Remember?

October 1964

Comedian Eddie Cantor died at age 72.
Cantor raised thousands of dollars for Jewish
refugees, for Israel Bonds, the United Jewish
Appeal and nondenominational causes. He was
national chair of the Builders of Israel and of the
Israel Bond Organization. He also received UJA's
humanitarian award.

— Sy Manello, editorial assistant