Jewish speaker to join pickets
BY CATHERINE O'DONNELL
A Holocaust survivor's speech at a local Presbyterian church will take place as scheduled Saturday, but her plan to join a weekly picket outside a synagogue has irritated members of the Jewish community.
Hedy Epstein, 79, will speak at the First Presbyterian Church about the conflict between Israel and Palestine. At the beginning of World War II, Epstein was one of thousands of German children sent to safety in England, but later lost her parents at the hands of the Nazis. In her speeches, she opposes Israeli occupation of Palestine.
Before speaking at the church, Epstein plans to participate in a Jewish Witnesses for Peace and Friends demonstration outside Sabbath services at Beth Israel Congregation, a Conservative synagogue on Washtenaw Avenue. The Witnesses group wants Israel to leave the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem.
The Rev. Douglas Brouwer, who became pastor of First Presbyterian about two months ago, said a local group, Interfaith Council for Peace and Justice, rented a room at the church for the talk during the summer, before he began his duties. Brouwer said he was told about Epstein's visit shortly after his arrival. Within the past 10 days, Jeff Levin, executive director of the Jewish Federation of Washtenaw County, told him about her plans to picket the synagogue, Brouwer said.
At that point, he asked Interfaith to find another venue but was told it was too late, he said.
Brouwer said he does not endorse the demonstrations, which have occurred outside Sabbath services for the past year. "The Presbyterian Church has a strong history of interfaith dialogue, and I intend to retain that tradition," he said.
Levin said he telephoned Brouwer and told him of Epstein's picket plan. "The Jewish community finds this picketing abhorrent and an affront to religions of all kinds. If it can happen at synagogue, it can happen anywhere."
Levin said, however, that he understands the church's predicament. "Had First Presbyterian been fully aware of Epstein's intention to picket a house of worship three hours before her speech, I have no doubt they would have denied this rental."
Chuck Warpehoski, director of the Interfaith Council, which has operated in the Ann Arbor area since 1965 and whose office is at Memorial Christian Church on Tappan Avenue, said his group's steering committee voted unanimously not to endorse the Jewish Witnesses' demonstrations. "We want to hear Epstein talk because she has a story to tell. It doesn't mean that we support or oppose what she's doing on the rest of her trip to Ann Arbor."
Catherine O'Donnell can be reached at codonnell@annarbornews.com or (734) 994-6831.