* * * * * HANNUKAH GIFT * * * * * Arts & Entertainment 50% OFF LATKES BUY I DOZ AT REG PRICE GET NEXT DOZ AT 50% OFF LIMIT I DOZ 50% OFF p f lUS R ESE,' Tr At Heavenly Postcards W HEty E—RDER 'NG A-P 09 ••mstereodefiemi • bloomdleldthweveodelLeaat • 2484314800 6646 'Telegraph Rd. at Maple (1.5 Mile) • Bloomfield Plaza • Wax. 248432.1465 * * * * * HANNUKAH GIFT * * * * * Screenwriter stays interconnected with loved ones — even after death. P OSTCARDS Suzanne Chessler Special to the Jewish News (7) )iisi \( \\ 4 yEAWS EE V 1•44:10,7p. • Five Course Meal • Live Entertainment • Champagne & Party Favors at Midnight 9pm - lain $80 per person RESERVATIONS ONLY! 248.592.1500 5586 Drake Road • West Bloomfield HAPPY CHANUKAH Pay Less. Eat Southern Style. A complete meal $8.99 Specials Entrée choices: Only $8.99 The HEART & SOUL of • Salmon Croquettes • Old Fashioned Meatloaf Southern Cooking • Down Home Fried Chicken Beans & Cornbread Soulful Bistro • Blackened or Fried Catfish 29508 Northwestern Hwy. Southfield, MI 48034 • Baby Sis' BBQ Style Rib Tips 248-208-1680 Plus 2 sides, Cornbread, Sweet Potato Muffins, and Dessert 115% OFF COUPON I Save 15% on your next meal Monday - Friday 4 to 7 PM Twilight Dinner ION now serving... cocktails, wine, & martinis at Beans & Cornbread I Monday through Friday only. Eligible on lunch or dinner. I Not valid on Specials or Brunch. Exp. 1/09 1463730 10% OFF - TOTAL BILL Excluding tax, tip and beverages • With this ad Dine in only • Expires 12/30/08 JN ORCHARD LAKE RD. SOUTH OF 14 MILE Farmington Hills • 851-7000 •Catering •Carry-Out •Our Speciality "Low Carb Ribs & Chicken & Lamb Ribs" 14 65060 C18 December 18 • 2008 D an Gordon's long-held reli- gious beliefs have given rise to his daily messages to God. In more recent times, faith has led him to interpret certain experiences as positive messages from departed loved ones. The sighting of an unusual jackrab- bit, for instance, was connected to a long-ago episode and then understood as upbeat tidings regarding his oldest son, Zaki, who died in a car accident on the first day of Chanukah 1998, when he was 22. Gordon, a writer for stage and screen, describes what he considers otherworldly communications and explains his reasoning in Postcards from Heaven: Messages of Love from the Other Side (Free Press; $19.95). "The book explores the notion that what we call life doesn't end with what we call death:' explains Gordon, 61, who was head writer for the Highway to Heaven TV series. "I truly believe there are messages sent to us con- stantly from those who have crossed over to the other side. "They're not great, weighty tomes or long letters. They're really postcards. They're lovely, sweet, gentle messages, often at times when we need them the most. "That is a very hopeful notion. It defines the soul as eternal and presup- poses all kinds of wonderful possibili- ties." Gordon's book, originally written just for close family and friends, was completed in three weeks and finished last year during Chanukah. It is meant to be read in one sitting. Gordon want- ed to express deep feelings about loss, beyond his son, that he had not been able to say face to face. "After I had a chance to let the man- uscript cool down and began talking to people about it, I heard comments that others had similar experiences:' Gordon says. "I sent the manuscript to my manager and asked what he thought. He said he knew an agent who would be right for this as a book, and the agent went ahead with it." - Gordon — currently working on a play set for Broadway and an indepen- dent film, both with Jewish themes — compares Postcards to a family scrapbook that also has universal qualities. "It tells a lot of the immigrant expe- rience and the creation of Israel: he explains. "Through our family's his- tory, it tells the history of the Jewish experience over the past 100 or so years." Gordon, not someone merely linger- ing in the past, is keeping his son's memory alive by establishing and steering the Zaki Gordon Institute for Independent Filmmaking in Arizona. The instruction is patterned on Zaki's ideas during his college years, and there are film festivals and awards. "I think the idea of postcards is completely embedded in Jewish phi- losophy, stories and literature says Gordon. "The notion of reincarnation of souls is not foreign to Chasidic thought nor is the notion that the soul is eternal. "I hope the book gets readers think- ing about the times when loved ones on the other side seemed to reach out with messages of love. I hope that has a healing and quietly joyous effect." ❑ Gordon maintains a Web site, www.postcardsfromheavenonline. corn, inviting people to share their own personal "postcards" for a second book on the same theme.