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Estate Jewelry Collection...
...Special Preview and Sale
F
rom theestates of some of America's finest
famines, comes an exquisite collection of
limited edition gold, diamond and platinum
jewelry. Over three hundred pieces —
many from the Art Nouveau and Art
Deco periods — will be on display at
Tapper's through the month of
September.
Don't miss this rare opportunity to view one
of the finest, most romantic collections of estate
jewelry in America today, and to take advantage
of our special collectors' prices. We're open
Monday thru Saturday, 10 to 5:45 p.m., and
Thursday, 10 until 8:45 p.m.
At Tapper's, you'll always find...
Jewelry Beyond Your Expectations,
At Prices Within Your Reach.
SAVINGS, SELECTION AND PERSONAL SERVICE
26400 W. 12 Mile Rd. (N.E. corner of Northwestern)
in the Franklin Savings Center.
Mon.-Sat. 10 till 5:45. Thurs. till 8:45.
26
FRIDAY, SEPT. 25, 1987
Rebels
Continued from preceding page
and gives them a feeling of
dignity which they lacked in
Russia."
Some, like Sam Valk, were
raised in one of the Baltic
countries, where Jewish life
survived longer than Russia,
and learned the fundamen-
tals of Judaism. Most, as Emi-
ly Valk says, "had zero educa-
tion."
"I'd like to know more
about traditions," says Julie
Shapiro, who came to the U.S.
from Kishinev in 1979 with
her husband, Mark. "But it's
very hard for us to complete-
ly change, with no religious
background."
Like many American Jews,
many Russians are pinning
their hopes for a stronger
Jewish identity on their
children, and send them to
Jewish day schools, afternoon
Hebrew schools and the
Jewish Center camps. "If [the
parents] don't use [Jewish
knowledge] themselves, they
make sure their kids do,"
Emily Valk observes.
"Our daughter went one
step farther than we did,"
Julie Shapiro explains. "She
joined a chavurah and took
classes in Bible and Jewish
law. But we feel more comfor-
table with those who are not
very religious."
Among the small wave of
Jewish emigrants who are
now making their way out of
the Soviet Union are Julie
Shapiro's sister, Maya
Kreynin, Maya's husband,
Michael, their 14-year-old
son, Alexander, and Julie and
Maya's mother, Gita Derban-
diner. The family arrived in
early June. Unlike the
Shapiros and others who
came during the '70s, the
Kreynins have family here.
Those relatives will help
them through the difficult ad-
justments they will face.
Most of the newcomers are
family reunification cases,
Lydia Kuniaysky explains.
The community will therefore
not be their only source of
support. Despite this, Jewish
Family Service's resources are
already overtaxed by the
unexpected immigration.
About 40 Russians arrived in
recent months, some of them
in need of urgent medical
treatment. Another 45 are
"in the pipeline" in Europe,
waiting to be transferred to
Detroit. "We feel it every day,"
Kuniaysky says.
The Jewish Welfare Federa-
tion, which this year allotted
$225,000 toward the Resettle-
ment Service — an increase of
$18,000 over last year's
budget — received a request
for additional funds from JFS
in Jtily, to cover the addi-
tional immigration. A
spokesman said Federation is
studying the request in the
context of a coordinated plan
for local Jewish agencies to
assist in the integration of the
newcomers.
The Kreynins, living in an
Oak Park apartment, are tak-
ing their adjustment to
American life "step by step,"
according to Maya, who used
her interview with The
Jewish News to practice her
newly-acquired English. Sim-
ple things which Americans
do not even think about are
"Coffee, coffee,
coffee. You don't
know what to buy.
You can't imagine
how much garbage
we bought in our
life."
sources of confusion for her
family, she says. "Every day
we have a problem to read our
mail." The family is dazzled
by all the coupons and junk
mail they receive. Sorting
through it can take hours.
Despite the confusion
which the supermarket
causes, Michael is happy
about the choices which must
be made. "There is nothing
wrong with varieties of food,
addressed to the particular
taste of the individual per-
son," he explains in Russian
as Mark translates.
The
Kreynins
find
Americans to be very warm to
newcomers. Michael wants to
return the kindness that has
been shown to his family.
"Seeing that we were sup-
ported by the Jewish com-
munity, in Italy and now here,
I want to make my own con-
tribution," he says and vows,
"The very first day I start to
work, I will make a contribu-
tion."
A television stands pro-
minently in the Kreynin's liv-
ing room. Despite the
language barrier, family
members say they enjoy
television, particularly the
commercials. Not having wat-
ched a lifetime of them, the
Kreynins say that from adver-
tisements they improve their
English, learn to recognize
products they may want to
buy and learn about fashions.
I
f the Russian people have
an oppressive government,
it is related to the nature
of the people," Mark Shapiro
believes. "They are very ac-
customed to dictatorship.
They are comfortable in this
society. It is a slave mentali-
ty."
How was it possible for the
Shapiros to escape from this
Continued on Page 28