Letters

2011

Lecture Series

Presented by OAKLAND UNIVERSITY'S Student Life Lecture Board
in connection wil h the
Vitality Seminar Series

THOMAS FRIEDMAN

A three-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize, Thomas Friedman is the foreign
affairs columnist for The New York Times. His latest book, "Hot, Flat and
Crowded: Why We Need a Green Revolution — and How It Can Renew
America," was a New York Times best-seller.

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2011

7 p.m. in the O'rena at the Recreation and Athletics Center

Tickets are free for OU students, faculty and staff (limit one); $5 for one
guest of each OU student, faculty and staff ($10 for additional guests); $5 for OU alumni; $5 for high
school or non-OU college students; and $10 for the general public. VISA and MasterCard will be accepted.
Please call (248) 370-4407 (tickets ordered by phone will be held at will-call).

Friedman's lecture will be presented as part of the Varner Vitality Seminar Series, named in honor of
Oakland's first chancellor, Durwood "Woody" Varner. The series aims to energize and sustain the highest
academic and scholarly aspirations of the university community.

For parking information or to request special assistance to attend the lecture, contact us at (248) 370-2400
or csa@oakland.edu .

ALUMNI

ASSOCIATION

Gail Rosenbloom Kaplan

OAICAND UNIVERSITY.

Oakland

This program is sponsored through the generosity of the Student Life Lecture
Board, the Academic and Student Affairs divisions, the Student Program Board,
and the Oakland University Alumni Association.

UNIVERSITY

CSA-4249/1.11

Celebrate the
DISCOVERY

LEARNING
at Eton Acadamy

Ci t

4 •

3'B

Inspired Story
Thank you for your
cover story "Sacred
Art" (Jan. 13, page
16), highlighting
the Judaica art of
Martin Lowenberg.
It was a wonderful
Martin
experience for both
Lowenberg
Martin and myself to
work with your story
development editor, Keri Guten Cohen.
She portrayed great sensitivity when
interviewing Martin as a Holocaust
survivor whose story and art are an
inspiration to all of us. The photos by
Brett Mountain and Monni Must added
to the message of the art and artists.
Also, we want to thank Temple Israel
in West Bloomfield for inviting Martin
and myself to show our Judaica at the
Goodman Family Judaica and Archival
Museum.

tiro

A•p,

Educating smart kids, grades 1-12 with learning
challenges such as dyslexia and ADO,

Open Houses

Visit Eton 9-11 am Tuesday in February (8,15, 22) to learn
about the Eton ApproachrM and talk with students, parents
and teachers,

Community Presentations

"Five Ways to Help Your Child Overcome ADHD and
Dyslexia" presented by Pete Pullen, Head of School.

–

Eton teachers tutor students from any school

Feb, 3rd • 7:00pm

Auburn Hills Public Library,
3400 East Seyburn Dr.

Feb, 10th • 6:30pm

Redford Township District Library,
25320 West 6 Mile Rd.

Farmington Hills

Defining Jewish
In one sentence
in his Community
View article "Is
Gabby Giffords
Jewish Enough?"
(Jan. 27, page
22), Rabbi Jason
Rep. Giffords
Miller manages to
disenfranchise from
the Jewish community every Orthodox
Jew in the world when he shares his
wish that "we had a consensus on what
determines Jewish status through lin-
eage, even if only in the non-Orthodox
Jewish community."
I am no rabbi and will not address
halachic (Jewish law) issues, leaving
that to more capable minds. But I am an
American citizen, deeply proud of my
country and those who serve her, such
as Congresswoman Giffords. I identify
with her as an American and as a citi-
zen. She is as much "mine" as she is my
gentile neighbor's. We are all part of the
same community of American citizens.

Laurel Stuart-Fink

West Bloomfield

March 3 at 6:30 pm

Brighton Area District Library,
100 Library Dr.

Halachic Perspective
In his Community View "Is Gabby
Giffords Jewish Enough?" (Jan. 27, page
22), Rabbi Jason Miller, a Conservative
rabbi, states: "I am in agreement with
the Jerusalem Post on this matter. If
Rep. Giffords considers herself Jewish
because her father is Jewish, and she
lives a Jewish life, then she's Jewish:'
Rabbi Miller's position underscores
the great disparity that exists within his
own movement concerning something
as fundamental as the issue of "who is a
Jew?" After all, the official position of the
Conservative movement is that Judaism
is matrilineal — i.e., a person is Jewish
if his/her mother is Jewish or if she/he
has converted to Judaism — neither
condition which is met by Ms. Giffords.
Rabbi Shlomo Amar, chief rabbi of
Israel who is in charge of conversions
in Israel, is doing all he can to maintain
the halachic (Jewish law) criteria that
determine "who is a Jew?" Unfortunately,
many powerful Jewish American orga-
nizations and spokesmen continue to
undermine the efforts in Israel to main-
tain Halachah as the criterion for conver-
sion to Judaism, when they themselves
have no consensus as to what should
be proper standards for conversion.
Nobody denies that Gabby Giffords
is an exceptional person, and that what
happened to her is tragic. We wish her a
refuah shleimah — a complete recovery
— very soon. But that doesn't make her
Jewish. And that's OK. We don't claim
that one has to be Jewish to be special.

Rabbi Elimelech Silberberg

West Bloomfield

Corrections
• In a photo caption with the story
"Winter Fun" (Jan. 13, page 45), Naomi
Slow, 7, should have been identified as
a Huntington Woods resident.

•An incorrect date was listed for the
Intercongregational Men's Club Dinner
("Inter-Sect:' Jan. 27, page 50). The
event will be held 5:30 p.m. Wednesday,
Feb. 16, at Young Israel of Oak Park.
For tickets, call David Tanzman, (248)
968-7022.

How to Send Letters

Register online for events and
tutoring at
www.etonacademy.org
248-642-1150

6 February 3 • 2011

We prefer letters relating to JN articles. We reserve the right to edit or reject letters. Letters of
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the JN: 29200 Northwestern Highway, Suite 110, Southfield, MI 48034; fax (248) 304 8885; e mail,
letters@the jewishnews.com . We prefer e-mail.

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