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 reject letters. Letters of 225 words or less are considered first. Longer ones will be subject to trimming. Letter writers are limited in frequency of publication. 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