TFALL. SPECIAL:I
HE
YAPD
BA, R
Open
7 Days
11 a.m.-12 Mid.
BBQ SLAB
FOR 2.. 5 10.55
BBQ CHICKEN
FOR 2 .. $6.95
I FE
P ACE
FOR
RIBS
EXPIRES 12-25-87
LUNCHEON SPECIAL—MON.-FRI. 11-4
COUPON ORDERS
DINE-IN OR
CARRY-OUT
HOMEMADE SOUP
AND SANDWICH $375
(Except Bar-B-Q Rib)
FARMINGTON HILLS — 851.7000
31006 ORCHARD LAKE RD. AT 14
LIVONIA — 427.6500
30843 PLYMOUTH RD.
I
JEWISH
NEWS
let your words
do the talking
in the
Call The Jewish News Advertising
Department at 354-6060
ENJOY A GALA
NEW YEAR'S EVE AT
r
0$
on the Park
• 5-COURSE DINNER
Choice of 2 appetizers, 2 soups, 2 salads,
4 entrees, dessert & coffee or hot tea.
•
•
•
•
Passed Hors D'Oeuvres Before Dinner
Passed Breakfast Hors D'Oeuvres 2 a.m.
Live Entertainment & Dancing
Champagne Toast At Midnight
PER
COUPLE
10 p.m. seating
(Regular Menu Served Till 9 p.m.)
RESERVATIONS ONLY! 964.3160
246 Madison Ave. • Detroit • Across From The D.A.C.
1 BLOCK WEST OF MUSIC HALL
Restaurant
Featuring Special
New Years Eve Cuisine
Come & Experience
Our Beautiful
Holiday Island Setting.
142 E. WALLED LAKE DRIVE
WALLED LAKE, MICH.
66
I EN 1 ER IAINIVIEN 1 I
-1
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 18, 1987
Top
Continued from preceding page
our wonderful but very
technological society — where
virtually everything is at
their fingertips."
She mused, "How was it
that King David, who wore
sandals and a beard, ac-
complished all he did? He was
a soldier and a king. He wrote
poetry and played the harp.
How does one make him come
alive to today's kids, to show
what a hero he really was?"
Serling said that she
found combining lyrics and
melodies with a lesson format
an attractive way to present
history.
She provided ten holiday
songs to celebrate Shabbat,
Purim, Chanukah, Rosh
Hashanah and Tu B'Shevat.
There are also activity songs
such as Singing the Aleph Bet
and Boker, Boker, Boker Toy.
The songbook offers extensive
suggestions to teachers gear-
ing specific selections to age
groups. Guidelines for instru-
ment accompaniments and
the connection with holiday
symbols are also included.
Whether helping develop
Hebrew langauge skills or in-
stilling an appreciation for
Jewish culture, Serling
claims Sing and Celebrate is
the culmination of her whole
life's experiences.
"When I was nine years old,
my parents gave me a choice
of dance, singing or piano
lessons. I chose singing."
She remembers singing and
acting in plays during
Hebrew school at the Sholom
Aleichem Institute, and, as a
teenager, she was much in de-
mand as a performer of both
Hebrew, Yiddish and secular
songs at private parties,
synagogue functions and
public affairs.
One engagement she won't
easily forget was par-
ticipating in USO (United
Service Organization) pro-
grams at Detroit's Light
Guard Armory during the
time of the Detroit riots.
"We went on performing,
even as the National Guard
was called in."
She claims her parents
were always supportive of her
efforts, and she affectionate-
ly called them her "stagedoor
family?'
"But I never really had a
concrete goal of, say, going on
the Broadway stage. Music
was always a part of my life,
for relaxation and enjoy-
ment."
was
Serling
After
graduated from Wayne State
University's School of Nurs-
ing, she worked for Sinai
Hospital of Detroit, nursing
homes, and as a Detroit area
visiting nurse.
In 1971 Serling and her
Children inquire about Serling's book at the Jewish Book Fair.
husband Michael moved to
Israel.
"Michael wanted very
much to make aliyah. We liv-
ed in Natanya on an ulpan for
six months, then went on to
Jerusalem."
She applied her nursing
skills to a job in the outpa-
tient surgical department of
the original Shaare Zedek
Hospital. Her husband's con-
cern for his professional
future was a factor that in-
fluenced them to return to the
States.
"As an attorney, Michael
would have had to do a three-
year internship. Then he'd be
placed in a job, possibly in a
remote, rather than cosmopo-
litan city, in Israel. We also
really missed our families,
and after deep consideration.,
returned to Detroit."
Shortly after, their first
daughter, Aliza, was born.
Daughter Dana followed.
The family belongs to Adat
Shalom. Perhaps following
their mother's talent, both
daughters love music, and
take jazz and tap lessons.
Aliza also studies piano.
"I have found that my ex-
periences as a young adult
and my self-image as a
Jewess were very much
strengthened by living in
Israel," Serling reflects. "I've
always loved dance, and join-
ing the Festival Dancers was
a way to express that as well
as my appreciation for Israeli
traditions."
Because she was the only
member of that dance group
to play guitar, she often ac-
companied some of the dances
they performed.
She also initiated private
exercise classes called Fun
Fitness With Elaine, which
she continues to teach several
times a week.
Six or seven years ago, she
mailed several Top 40-style
voice demos to studios. There
were some interested
responses.
"One producer, without
knowing my background,
commented that my voice had
a kind of Middle Eastern
twang. He suggested that
might be a direction I could
follow. It stayed in my con-
sciousness, but didn't im-
mediately crystallize into a
goal to write 'Jewish music.' "
When she did tackle the
undertaking of her songbook,
Serling remembers singing
over and over again onto
tapes until she was happy
with the results. Local musi-
cians and colleagues from
Jewish schools and temples
assisted with transcriptions,
editing and translations.
"I don't have perfect pitch,
and I just recently began
piano lessons," she explains.
"But I can listen to a melody
and pick it out on a
keyboard."
As for Serling's future, she
would like to take her music
out of Michigan, and perhaps
publish secular songs, as well.
For the moment, she is proud
to be contributing to
Judaism's legacy of music.
The concluding song in her
book, Time to Celebrate cap-
tures her hopes eloquently:
We look to you, our next
generation,
With voices strong and
clear,
To sing out children, to the
future,
Sing and celebrate, year
after year.
❑
Hillel Art
At Sinai
A show of artwork,
celebrating Jewish holidays
and customs by students from
Hillel Day School is on
display in Sinai Hospital's
three main lobbies through
Jan. 4.
The show, cosponsored by
the Sinai Hospital Guild, con-
sists of artwork submitted by
students from kindergarten
through 9th grade.