Letters
Shaarey Zedek On Board
Publisher Arthur M. Horwitz certainly
gives us much to think about in his charge
to strengthen the Conservative movement
locally ("Emboldening The Conservative
Movement;' Sept. 13, page 43).
We join him in seeing our movement
as a critical link in the dynamism of
the Detroit Jewish community at large.
Over the last year, many of our local
Conservative rabbis, cantors, educators,
youth workers, executive directors and
synagogue presidents have been meet-
ing and actively working on plans for a
combined Conservative-movement after-
noon high school at Hillel Day School of
Metropolitan Detroit.
This is a natural development for us
following many years of joint programs
and religious services between the five
Conservative synagogues, most recently
this past Selichot evening. We are excep-
tionally proud of our long history and look
forward to an enduring and even more
promising future.
Rabbi Joseph H. Krakoff
Rabbi Eric S. Yanoff,
cially in the realm of education. The
Conservative movement in Detroit already
has several joint ventures focused on
prayer, youth activities and education. In
fact, we are already hard at work prepar-
ing several other community programs.
While we agree that Hillel Day School of
Metropolitan Detroit is a wonderful com-
ponent of our Conservative community,
we also believe that the synagogue needs
to remain a focus for Jewish life.
Mr. Horwitz, for some reason left
unsaid, you deliberately omitted any
mention of three of the five Conservative
synagogues in Metro Detroit, all of
them active, vibrant, spiritual homes of
medium-sized congregations. What's true
in Metro Detroit, and nationwide, is that
many Conservative Jews (and Jews of all
movements) will not be well served by
mega-shuls. It is hurtful and shortsighted
to have our congregations omitted from
your "vision" of the future of Conservative
Judaism. Further, by strengthening each
shul — no matter its current size — all
shuls win. Indeed, the Jewish community
of Detroit wins.
Congregation Shaarey Zedek
Rabbi Elliot Pachter,
Oakland County
Congregation B'nai Moshe
'Mega-Shur Isn't Best
We wish to commend Publisher Arthur
M. Horwitz for recognizing the need in
our community for a strong presence of
Conservative Judaism ("Emboldening The
Conservative Movement:' Sept. 13, page
43); however, we also wish to express our
disappointment in the manner in which
Mr. Horwitz chose to make his opinions
known.
As the leaders of three of the local
Conservative synagogues, we would have
expected and appreciated Mr. Horwitz
sharing his opinions with us first. Not only
would this have been the courteous thing
to do, it also would have led to clarification
of some of his views. In turn, our response
to him could have been a private one, had
Mr. Horwitz not chosen to make this a
public forum.
Your article encourages us to central-
ize our movement's activities at Hillel
Day School in Farmington Hills — espe-
Rabbi Steven Rubenstein,
West Bloomfield
Congregation Beth Ahm
West Bloomfield
Rabbi Daniel Wolpe,
Congregation Beth Shalom
Oak Park
Hillel Day School Leads
As head of Hillel Day School, I read with
particular interest the Sept. 13 edition of
the Detroit Jewish News. Editor Robert
Sklar's and Publisher Arthur Horwitz's
thoughtful proposals ask that Detroit's
Jewish leadership closely examine and
reflect on what we need to do in order to
strengthen both the Conservative move-
ment and Jewish ties to Israel.
Mr. Horwitz's bold vision for the
future of Conservative Judaism in
Detroit ("Emboldening The Conservative
Movement:' Sept. 13, page 43) is long over-
due; our Jewish community is uniquely
positioned to create a Conservative Jewish
community that is both vital and authen-
tic and that will serve as a role model for
other Jewish communities throughout
the country. Mr. Horwitz bravely proposes
many exciting initiatives; I hope that his
challenge will act as the springboard from
which Detroit's Conservative Jewish lead-
ership will begin a constructive dialogue.
Hillel Day School stands ready to engage
in this conversation as well as to open its
doors to become Detroit's Jewish center of
learning and culture, just as Mr. Horwitz
envisions. Indeed, Hillel Day School is pre-
pared to take the lead in initiating these
discussions.
Robert Sldar's commentary (Sept. 13,
page 5), which examines younger Jews'
disillusionment with the State of Israel,
considers the need to develop closer ties to
Israel at a younger age. As a leader in this
area, Hillel Day School offers an eighth-
grade class trip to Israel, making our
school Detroit's only Jewish institution to
connect Jews with Israel at such an early
age. Research indicates that students who
visit Israel with their classmates in the
eighth grade are not only more likely to
make a return visit as teenagers, but also
increase the likelihood of multiple visits
as adults, helping to maintain a lifelong
connection. Hillel is proud that we are
bringing Jewish youth closer to Israel, one
class at a time.
As Hillel Day School celebrates its
50th anniversary, its commitment to the
future, both here in Detroit and in Israel,
has never been more steadfast. The "50
Fabulous Alumni," profiled in a supple-
ment to the same Jewish News issue, typify
the diverse directions Hillel students take
when they graduate and represent the
thousands of students who have attended
Hillel throughout its history.
Our students — prepared for advanced
academic studies — are poised to actively
participate in and become the future lead-
ers of our Jewish community. They are
skilled in the many rituals that link us to
our people and grounded by our Jewish
ethical and moral foundation.
Steve Freedman, head of school,
Hillel Day School of Metropolitan Detroit
tg• MERV 'cha Don't Know
— Goldfein
•ualueij iy Isou mous
September 27 • 2007
Dennis L. Green
Farmington Hills
Corrections
• The name of Seth Wald was misspelled
in the Sept. 20 article (page 40, "Hall of
Famers") about high school grads honored
by the Michigan Jewish Sports Foundation.
•"Awaiting Maccabi" (Sept. 20, page
37) should have indicated that Jewish
youngsters age 13-16 participate in team
sports and those 12-16 can participate in
individual sports.
How to Send Letters
We prefer letters relating to IN articles. We reserve the right to edit or
Minnesota has had a run of Jewish U.S. senators since the 1970s, from
Rudy Boschwitz to the late Paul Wellstone, to Norm Coleman. Which Jewish
candidate there might be next in line?
6
Farmington Hills
Manipulated Schooling
In his Yom Kippur message, Editor Robert
Sklar ("A Good Seal," Sept. 21, page 8)
bemoaned attacks on Jews on three fronts:
physically by Islamist terrorists, spiritually
by Jews for Jesus and emotionally by anti-
Zionists. The front of Christian evangelists
succeeds only through Jewish negligence.
Predators seek out the weak and strag-
glers. The conventional response to the
weakness of commitment among young
Jews is to advocate a more comprehensive
Jewish education, but it never took root
with me. I was given an English bible
at my bar mitzvah, but I never read it
before being approached by an evangeli-
cal Christian. Reading that bible cover to
cover several times along with the New
Testament and Koran did not divert me
from the wrong path because I did not
realize I was being manipulated on my
journey to enlightenment.
What set me straight was a booklet by
Jews for Judaism with astonishingly sim-
ple responses to the missionary claims.
Missionaries should qualify for mem-
bership in the Magician's Union because
they pull Jesus from the Jewish bible like
a magician pulls quarters from your ear,
both using concealment and misdirec-
tion. Likewise, presenting Jewish children
with examples of missionary tactics and
explaining how they deceive will immu-
nize them with the necessary skepticism
to resist similar tactics without necessarily
knowing how to answer every claim.
After reading that booklet and listening
to the 12-tape course, I started asking why
I was never told these things in Hebrew
school. I am still waiting for an answer.
pue umawo3:Jahtsuy
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