More reasons to vote for
Svetlana
Continued from Page 5
DUICA.K.IS
Tuesday, November 8, 1988
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BUSH
DUKAKIS
Holocaust Museum
and Council
Not Involved
Early Supporter
and Fundraiser
Prayer In
Public Schools
For
Against
Sale of AWACS
To Saudi Arabia
For
Against
Move U.S. Embassy
to Jerusalem
Against
For
Sale of Mobile Hawks
To Jordan
For
Against
Not Involved
Long Working
Relationship
ISSUE
Links to Local
Jewish Community
,
Senator
Congressman
Carl Levin
Sander Levin
Member, State Bd. of Ed.
State Representative
Annetta Miller
David Gubow
Oakland County Comm.
State Representative
Dennis Aaron
Maxine Berman
Oakland County Comm.
Commissioner
Lillian-Jaffe-Oaks
Gilda Z. Jacobs
Oakland County Comm.
Councilperson
Vicki Goldbaum
Lawrence Pernick
Mayor Charlotte M. Rothstein
Not authorized by the Dukakis Campaign Committee
20
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 1988
Paid for by above listed supporters
Namlinsis
tionary when she took the
real etate licensing exam in
May. She passed, but said the
test "was real tricky. It was
multiple choice, and three of
the four answers to each ques-
tion were correct!'
Svetlana works at the Or-
chard Lake Road-Lone Pine
office of Real Estate One. She
has sold two homes since
receiving her license, and still
retains some of last year's
celebrity status. At an open
house last Sunday, two of the
eight couples who looked at
the house asked if she was the
woman who had emigrated
last year.
Her husband Keith has
been very supportive despite
her long weekend hours. "He
is happy that I am happy," she
said, "and he tries to help. He
carries my business cards!'
Sometimes, she pointed out,
Keith's help isn't needed.
"When I was closing on the
first house that I sold, Keith
called me almost every day.
He would say, 'Did you do
this?' or 'Did you do that?'
Finally I told him, 'Look, I
took the classes. I know what
I'm doing! "
But Keith gets lots of credit
from his bride for easing her
transition to a new life. "It
was easy for me," she said. "I
had an American husband.
He showed me how to do
things.
"People who come here just
with their (Soviet) families —
they are the heroes to me.
They have to learn everything
by mistake. I wouldn't have
survived. The first time I was
in the grocery store by myself,
I was there for three or four
hours!"
Today is different from a
year ago for Svetlana. Com-
fortable with English ("Some
people still ask Keith if I can
understand them"), and with
Detroit, she easily drives
around the city for business,
shopping and to visit friends.
"I had a client who wanted
to look at homes in Livonia,"
she said. "So I took out my
map and now I know my way
around Livonia.
"I think I'm doing pretty
good, being in this country
and being in business only a
short time . . . It has only
been a year, but I feel like I
have been here 10 years.
"It is certainly different here"
than in the Soviet Union.
"Even the food is different. I
learned, and I became an
American real fast."
Sometimes she will cook at
home and sometimes she
won't — "It depends upon my
mood. We like to go out with
our friends!'
Svetlana enjoys the same
problems many newly mar-
rieds face: her new home is
Svetlana Braun
sparsely furnished — "We us-
ed all our money to buy the
house" — and she is getting
pressure from Moscow to start
a family.
During her twice-monthly
telephone calls, Svetlana's
mother keeps asking about
grandchildren. "But I want to
wait a little hit. I know a lot
(about American life),"
Svetlana said, "but I still
have some things to learn. I
want to be sure I know what
I'm doing when I have
children!'
A report on Svetlana's pro-
gress was delivered to her
parents by Peter and Ellen
Alter last month. Peter works
with Keith at Honigman
Miller Schwartz and Cohn,
and the Alters were part of a
United Jewish Appeal mis-
sion that spent several days in
Moscow and Leningrad
visiting Soviet Jews.
Among the five or six
families that the Alters
visited in each city were Ilya
and Bella Shteingardt,
Svetlana's parents and long-
time refuseniks.
"We told her parents that
Svetlana has become a great
capitalist!' Peter said. "But
they were not surprised!' Mrs.
Shteingardt met the Alters at
their hotel and took them to
the family apartment.
"I don't know what glasnost
is doing for the Soviets on a
day-to-day basis, but people
weren't concerned about be-
ing seen in front of our In-
tourist Hotel," Alter said.
The Shteingardts served
the Alters a kosher meal. It
included meat from a 90-year-
old kosher slaughterer in
Riga, an overnight train ride
from Moscow.
The family refused the
Alters' gift of a kosher salami
until they were shown the
kosher symbol of the Chicago
Board of Rabbis. At the same
time, they asked the Alters to
take a a mezuzzah case, hand-
Continued on Page 22