1UP FRONT
Hungry Jews Turning
To Yad Ezra For Help
SUSAN GRANT
Staff Writer
month after opening
its doors to feed the
Jewish hungry, Yad
Ezra, Detroit's only kosher
food pantry, has helped 789
people.
Gary Dembs, one of the
pantry's organizers, said the
figure is "higher than ex-
pected. We did not anticipate
such a response."
According to the pantry's
latest figures, Yad Ezra has
aided 265 families by
distributing almost 11,200
pounds of food to the Jewish
hungry in February. In-
dividuals can come to the
pantry once a month to pick
up food packages.
Jeanette Eizelman, Yad
Ezra's executive director,
said she is surprised that all
the pantry's clients have
been Jewish. Although the
pantry is intended for
hungry Jews who keep
kosher, Eizelman expected
to see a few non-Jews ask for
help.
Most of those using the
pantry have been Soviet
Jews, she said. In its first
week 96 percent of Yad
Ezra's clientele were Soviet
emigres. Soviet Jews make
up 80 percent of the pantry's
client list.
More Orthodox Jews have
begun using the pantry,
Eizelman said. Although all
the food items are certified
kosher by the Vaad
Harabonim, the Council of
Orthodox Rabbis of Greater
Detroit, if an item does not
meet individual standards it
can be exchanged.
Yad Ezra is attracting
Jews to its Southfield pantry
on Ten Mile Road, west of
Greenfield Road, from as far
away as Dearborn, Bellevue
and Madison Heights, she
said.
Each person receives a
package of non-perishable
kosher food which includes
cans of tuna, salmon, fruit
and vegetables, pasta,
cereal, oatmeal, soup mixes,
cooking oils and vanilla
wafers.
"We try to make it
nutritious," Eizelman said.
"We also try to put together
a package that will last
seven to 10 days."
Most of those who come
into the pantry can make it
through the first three
weeks of the month, but food
stamps usually run out
before the month ends, she
said.
Yad Ezra volunteer Ethel Abrams stocks the pantry's shelves.
For some, it takes courage
to accept the food.
"Pride is a big problem,
especially among non-
Russians. It is difficult to
walk through that door," she
said. "But when you have
little kids who are hungry,
it's amazing what you can
do."
For those who can not get
to the pantry to pick up food
packages, volunteers are
beginning to deliver
packages to homes, she said.
The pantry is open on Mon-
day, Wednesday, Friday and
Sunday from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.
and Tuesday and Thursday
from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Dembs said Yad Ezra or-
ganizers will not begin a
fund-raising campaign until
later this month, but $8,000
has already been collected to
purchase food. He estimates
the pantry needs $5,000 a
month to make purchases
from wholesale food
warehouses and the Oak-
land County Food Bank to
stock the shelves.
The pantry also receives
food donations from area
synagogues, Hebrew schools
and individuals.
Yad Ezra is kicking off its
fund-raising efforts by
holding a "Hunger and
Friendship Dance" for sixth,
seventh and eighth graders
at 7 p.m. March 25 at Tem-
ple Emanu-El in Oak Park.
tion to help new immigrants
through their first weeks in
America. Chapters include
instructions on how to place
telephone calls and open
bank accounts, and an in-
troduction to U.S. political
structure, health care and
education.
and conferences, and
exchange of students and
trainees. The institutions
also plan to host joint-
commissioned projects in the
Soviet Union and Israel.
Tel Aviv Signs
Pact With Soviets
New York (JTA) —
Students at Yeshiva Univer-
sity recently collected
$18,000 in one day to help
Jews emigrate from the
Soviet Union.
The emergency appeal
stemmed from rumors that a
pogrom will occur in the
Soviet Union on May 5.
The money, which is being
sent to the United Jewish
Appeal's Operation Exodus,
will be used to bring out five
families of four people each.
It was contributed by
students, faculty and staff,
mostly in $18 donations — a
sum corresponding to the
letters in the Hebrew word
chai, life.
ROUND UP
New Rabbinic
School To Open
New York — The Institute
of Traditional Judaism, the
first non-denominational
rabbinical school for the
study of traditional
Judaism, is set to open in
September 1990 in Mount
Vernon, N.Y.
Rabbi David Weiss Haliv-
ni, professor of Talmud and
Classical Rabbinics at
Columbia University and
president of the American
Academy of Jewish Resear-
ch, will serve as head of the
school.
The institute will offer a
five-year program that in-
cludes study of Talmud, Bi-
ble, codes and jurisprudence,
as well as courses in history,
Hebrew literature and Jew-
ish thought. It will grant
traditional ordination and
offer non-matriculated
studies.
In announcing the forma-
tion of the new school, Rabbi
Halivni said, "The motto we
have chosen for the institute
is emunah tzerufah v'yosher
da'at, which may be trans-
lated as 'pure, genuine faith
and intellectual honesty.'
"By this we mean to con-
vey our love of God and of
man. That love is demon-
strated by our commitment
to living our lives according
to Jewish law and custom in
respect and awe of the
Divine, while at the same
time pursuing our study of
Judaism with intellectual
vigor and an open mind."
HIAS Book Aids
Soviet Jews
New York — HIAS, the
Hebrew Immigrant Aid
Society, just published two
bilingual acculturation
books for distribution to
40,000 Soviet Jewish
emigres who arrived last
year in the United States.
The Jewish World, by
David Harris, describes
Judaism and Jewish culture.
"My aim was to create a
book that people will return
to over and over and that
will whet their appetite to
learn more," said Harris,
EBPEVI VI IMP
THE JEWISH WORLD •
DAVID A. HARRIS
HIAS' new book for Soviet
immigrants.
Washington representative
for the American Jewish
Committee.
The Jewish World is a
companion piece to Entering
a New Culture, Harris' first
bilingual acculturation book
which HIAS published last
fall.
Entering a New Culture
contains practical informa-
Tel Aviv — Tel Aviv Uni-
versity has signed
agreements of academic co-
operation in the fields of
mathematics, physics and
chemistry with the Institute
of Control Sciences of the
USSR and Wroclaw Univer-
sity of Poland.
The two faculties agreed to
exchange scientific,
technical and ad-
ministrative information on
their teaching and research
activities, arrange visits by
academic staff members and
exchange publications.
Among the activities pro-
posed are short-term resear-
ch and lecture exchange
programs, joint symposia
One-Day Drive
Raises $18,000
Compiled by
Elizabeth Applebaum
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
5