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ws
Accept Nature's Way
"The success of
our business from
a little party store
into a major
player today is
due in part to our
advertising in the
Jewish News and
the wonderful
support it has
if
always given us.
Co-owner Ron Asmar
The Vineyards
"Because of our
advertising in the
Jewish News, my
mother Lil Bloom's
Kosher Catering
business
became a great
success and we
are very proud to
serve the Jewish
community with
wonderful
success."
JILT
12/24
2004
6
Co-owner Shirlee Bloom
Bloom's Catering
I was dismayed to read the article
"Tailored for Tots" (Dec. 10, page
19). To suggest that normally func-
tioning infants and young children
need an edge to develop properly is
misleading at the least, and, as far as
I am concerned, can be potentially
harmful.
While it is true that today's chil-
dren need to be encouraged to be
more active for their physical, men-
tal and social health, and that
parental involvement with their chil-
dren on a one-on-one level con-
tributes to the child's growth and
well being, the implication that
infants or toddlers may not develop
properly without a head start on par-
ents creating and participating in
structured exercise situations for
them is misleading.
With all the problems of our hur-
ried society and reportedly high lev-
els of anxiety in our American way
of life, this is just one more guilt trip
and busy work to saddle parents
with. Most infants and toddlers,
when presented with a varied envi-
ronment and time to explore, will
successfully develop on their own.
Motor development is not a compet-
itive race!
Susan Ruttenb erg,
physical therapist
Huntington Woods
JCC Opening Opposed
I oppose the Shabbat morning open-
ing of the Center Fitness Club
because I believe that a Jewish insti-
tution should at least respect the few
hours on Saturday morning as the
exclusive domain of synagogues to
conduct Shabbat services ("Shabbat
Fitness," Dec. 17, page 20).
By opening the Fitness Club in
West Bloomfield on Shabbat morn-
ing, the Jewish Community Center
of Metropolitan Detroit is not only
competing with other fitness facili-
ties, but also with synagogues.
There are quotations from
Maimonides and Hillel in large
print across the upper walls of the
Fitness Club. This was done pre-
sumably to show the compatibility
and importance of fitness in a
Jewish lifestyle. The quotes seem
hollow because competing with
Shabbat services does not seem corn-
patible with a Jewish lifestyle.
In my opinion, the JCC and the
Jewish Federation of Metropolitan
Detroit have quit trying to operate
the fitness facility as a part of the
Jewish Community Center. Of what
benefit is it to bring more Jews back
to the JCC if the JCC doesn't
remain closed in deference to
Shabbat morning? The symbol of
the Jewish day of rest has been trad-
ed in exchange for the possibility of
selling more fitness memberships.
Incidentally, I work out at the
Maple-Drake JCC almost every
Saturday afternoon.
Alan Pearlstein
director of JCC Health Club,
1989-1997
Walled Lake
An Unfortunate Direction
Jewish Community Center of
Metropolitan Detroit leaders are
extending weekend hours, including
Saturday morning, for the needs of
its Fitness Club members ("Shabbat
Fitness," Dec. 17, page 20).
Did they think of the members
when they closed the tennis courts?
Did they think of the members when
they closed the squash and racquet-
ball courts?
When the JCC board presented its
Shabbat-morning-hours proposal to
the Michigan Board of Rabbis —
not for approval, but as a fact — this
was the height of chutzpah.
The Federation allotted $1.6 mil-
lion to the JCC from the 2004
Annual Campaign. Does Federation
need to pour millions of dollars
annually into a JCC that ultimately
sees itself as a glorified health club?
The JCC in Oak Park has not
changed weekend hours. What is the
difference between Jews in that area
compared to West Bloomfield?
My rabbi, Elliot Pachter of
Congregation B'nai Moshe, said
something quite profound in your
article: The Shabbat morning hours
present an unfortunate direction."
Is the next unfortunate direction
opening on Passover, Rosh Hashanah
and Yom Kippur?
I quote Philip Slomovitz, then JN
publisher and editor, when the JCC
first added Saturday hours, "We
appeal to the board of directors to
reverse a decision we view as unwise
and harmful to our community."
Rudy Keller
Bloomfield Hills
Inspiring Role Models
Todah rabbah — great thanks — to
Staff Writer Shelli Liebman
Dorfman for putting together such
an inspiring article about our adult
Hebrew classes that have been meet-
ing on Wednesday nights during Joe
Cornell dance classes at
Congregation B'nai Moshe this year
("Disco With A Dalet," Dec. 17,
page 57). We hope that your readers
were inspired, as we have been, by
the personal stories shared by the
parents who talked with Shelli for
this article.
When parents decide to take the
plunge and start learning how to
read Hebrew, they are making a
powerful statement about their per-
sonal Jewish commitment and their
willingness to act on that commit-
ment even if — indeed, especially if
— it may well entail displaying vul-
nerability in front of their children.
The parents in our National Jewish
Outreach Program (NJOP) class
who have recruited their children to
tutor them in between class are
incredible role models. These fami-
lies are sharing a Torah experience
that will remain with them always.
Other congregations that host Joe
Cornell dance classes each year can
easily replicate what we have done
with our NJOP program. All they
need to do is line up an instructor,
coordinate direct publicity to par-
ents with the fine folks at Joe
Cornell, publicize within their own
shul and in the community and be
willing to run the classes for just
about any number of adult learners
who show up the first night to par-
ticipate.
We do not require advance regis-
tration, and we are willing to run a
class with as few as three students.
Nancy F. Kaplan
Kolel Moshe Institute for
Lifelong Jewish Learning
Congregation B'nai Moshe
West Bloomfield
Corrections
• "Warming Up To Cool" (Dec. 17,
page 5) implied that Hewlett-Packard,
headquartered in Palo Alto, Calif.,
does not currently have a skilled
workforce in Michigan. In fact, it has
a sales and service office in Livonia. It
also has recently expanded its IT
Operations Center in Dearborn that
employs more than 200 skilled IT
professionals.
• The photo caption in "Eye-
Opening" (Dec. 17, page 24) had the
name of Vicki Beneson misspelled.