ONE PAIR OF PANTS CLEANED & PRESSED With any $5.95 or more incoming order. Not good with other dry cleaning coupons. Expires 10-21-88 MUM. W. MileT iNWOA~ JN a on al I° CUSTOM DRY CLEANING $1.00 OFF any incoming cleaning order of $5.95 or more. Not good with other dry cleaning coupons. Expires 10-21-88 Ruth Shatkin, now a Lubavitcher devotee, once studied music at the University of Cincinnati. JN ....... World Within A World I t could be an old-fashioned girls' dormitory, the kind you really don't see anymore. In the hallways and stairwells of the spacious house, young women go about their studies or phone conver- sations, keeping _a slight, politely modest distance from a male visitor. The dorm mother, maternally vivacious and herself not many years out of the dorm generation, fields queries and smoothes household business with a quietly firm hand. But this dorm is especially far from the norm, finding shelter under the vast umbrella of the Lubavitcher Youth Or- ganization, offering home, study and all- embracing support to young women from all over America and scattered cor- ners of the world who wish to follow the Chasidic way of life. The dorm's supervisor, Ruth Shatkin, like many of her charges, is a Luba- vitcher Baala tshuva, having worked her way from the ground up, religiously speaking, as an original product of a non-religious home. Such "b.t.'s" are Chabad's prize recruits, assiduously courted on urban streets and college campuses. Learning the religious ropes is hard but, as Shatkin points out, gratifying work . A bawl tshuvah, male or female, can attain greater spiritual heights than even a lofty tzaddik (righteous person), simply because, as the sages explain, such an aspirant has so much more ground to cover. Shatkin's own quarters consist of a tiny, almost monastic room. A framed portrait of the Lubavitcher Rebbe behind a greeting card with Snoopy's likeness provides one of several haymishe touches. When not dorm mothering, Shatkin teaches music at Conservative-run Bialik Day School, holds Rosh Chodesh sings at Chabad girls' schools, gives special concerts, busies herself composing and arranging music. A product of the University of Cincinnati's Conservatory of Music, where she took the baala tshuva's route in her sophomore year, Shatkin is adept at piano, guitar, recorder and voice. Like many creative baalei tshuva, Shatkin feels that not only has her new life failed to crimp her artistic freedom, it's brought it closer to realization: "We're encouraged to express our- selves. It's an averah [sin] not to. All our work is in service of Hashem anyway. Our task is to extricate the holy sparks. The modern world calls it self-actuali- zation. In Chasidus, there's room for be- ing cool." Nevertheless, in the sexually segre- gated world of the ultra-Orthodox, only other females are permitted to ex- perience Shatkin's music. Shatkin is un- troubled by this, even though, unlike her sister Chabadniks born into their in- sulated world, she has seen both sides of the sexual politics fence. "Feminism is simply a reaction to man's treatment of women," she says. "It's a negative reaction. In the case of Jewish feminists, it's Jews picking up the goyishe mentality. "The educated woman is looked up to," continued yet-to-be-married Shatkin. "The Rebbe said he wished men knew what women are supposed to family purity, know — kashrus, holidays, Shabbos." -LW • SHIRTS LAUNDERED With any incoming shirt laundry order of $5.95. Excluding all other coupons and special offers. Expires 10-21-88 TAILORING/ALTERATIONS Coupon must be presented with incoming order. Excluding Expires 10-21-88 other offers. 1 coupon per order. JN (1988 LIMITED EDITION) WITH ANY INCOMING ONLY DRY CLEANING ORDER WHILE QUANTITIES LAST. EXCLUDING ALL OTHER ' 1 COUPONS AND DISCOUNTS OFFERS. JN ... 11111,111101L 4tKA,,P"