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>> cover story

At The frorP

Reform rabbis challenge
Frankel Jewish Academy's
denominational sensitivity.

Keri Guten Cohen
Story Development Editor

- '

Rabbi Leiby Burnham speaks at a Torah on Tap session at Dick O'Dow's Irish pub in Birmingham.

Young Jews
And Booze

At some Jewish events, the lure
of free drinks attracts a crowd.

STORY ON PAGE 10

Prieed

Mich

1942 - 2011

Covering and
Connecting
Jewish Detroit
Every Week

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alks are under way between Frankel Jewish
Academy's board president and head of school and
rabbis representing Detroit's local Reform move-
ment over what the rabbis described in a formal letter to
FJA dated Aug. 10 as a "marked lack of denominational
sensitivity"
Issues had been brewing for several years, the letter stat-
ed, and the rabbis wrote that they have tried to work behind
the scenes with the school to resolve them quietly to uphold
community unity. The concerns brought by the rabbis center
around who can teach Jewish studies classes at FJA, student
complaints that the school was not offering an "open" atti-
tude toward liberal Judaism and lack of Reform representa-
tion on the school's board.
A recent incident involving a "Denominational
Differences" class at FJA pushed things to the forefront.
The discussion class allowed students to learn about
Judaism's three major movements from their respective
rabbis — Reform, Conservative and Orthodox. The class
evolved to include three roundtable sessions where the rab-
bis would field questions in an open setting.
"While sometimes heated, these discussions always
focused on our varying understandings of God, Torah
and Israel as they related to the course material and our
movements:' Rabbi Josh Bennett of Temple Israel in West
Bloomfield wrote in an email letter leading up to the Reform
rabbis' letter. "We worked hard to end each roundtable with
a handshake and a hug, modeling our message of pluralism
and a commitment to the Jewish community at large."

The Backdro

Bennett was asked to pilot the new class early in the West
Bloomfield-based school's 10-year history by Rabbi Lee
Buckman, former head of school. Bennett taught the class
for seven or eight years with various Conservative and
Orthodox partners.
In recent years, when the elective class, part of the history
department, became open only to seniors, it became dif-
ficult to fill the class because most seniors didn't need addi-
tional electives, but more Jewish studies or rabbinics credits.
Ultimately, the class for 2011-12 was moved to be under
supervision of the dean of Judaic studies, but remained in the
history department. All three rabbis were asked to participate.
The Orthodox rabbi declined. Bennett and the Conservative
rabbi decided to think about it before responding.
By mid-July, without a commitment from the two
rabbis, the academy's Board President Ken Goss said
the administration decided to take the class in

CONTINUED ON PAGE 9