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April 06, 1990 - Image 27

Resource type:
Text
Publication:
The Detroit Jewish News, 1990-04-06

Disclaimer: Computer generated plain text may have errors. Read more about this.

The Libermans say answering newspaper ads isn't enough.

a real estate license. Vera, who
wanted to be a teacher, would like to
teach the Dale Carnegie course,
which she took in 1988 through GM.

Typically, the families have
changed residences. The Libermans
— he works for Chrysler, she for the
University of Michigan Medical
Center in Ann Arbor — moved from
an apartment at Coolidge and Nine
Mile in Oak Park to a house in
Southfield to a Farmington Hills
apartment complex. They now are
becoming "empty-nesters" — their
older son practices law in Los Angeles
and their younger son is eying
medical school.

All three families also have
become, in the words of Ludmilla
Liberman, "Columbuses who opened
up the new world" for new Soviet
immigrants. In the case of the
Gesses, that's been a dozen families.
Said Ludmilla Liberman, "We
give them our time. We help them
find an apartment, pay the security
deposit for them, fill their
refrigerator with food for a week or
so, install the telephone, teach them

how to drive, help them find a car,
loan them money if necessary.
"We also teach them how to write
resumes and read the newspaper
ads," she says.
But the key factor in these efforts,
say the families, is making the
newcomers feel at home. A recent
night at the Bermans' home in nor-
thern Oak Park bears this out.
It is almost 11 p.m. on a
weeknight, but guests are arriving.
On the table is fresh food: rolled
turkey, slices of bread and cheese,
crackers and fruit and a specialty of
the house: two chunky, fruity jams
made from Eastern European rec-
ipes by Isaac's mother, Esther
Hadassah Shaposnik, who lives with
them.
The Bermans, who arrived in 1978
from Kishinev in the Soviet Union,
speak English and Russian and
understand some Yiddish, which
Shaposnik speaks fluently. Isaac is a
civil engineer with a construction
firm while Emma, who holds a
degree in economics, works for the
Resettlement Service. They have
two young sons.

The Bermans, Shaposnik and the
jams seem to provide an Old World-
New World link for their guests,
who are longtime friends from the
Soviet Union.
Two of the guests, a couple who
arrived in November from Kishinev,
have just finished another evening
of English classes. The third guest is
a female doctor from Kiev studying
long hours to gain U.S. certification.
The Bermans recall being
newcomers: Emma was three mon-
ths' pregnant with their first child
by the time Isaac became employed,
earning $4.50 an hour and
sometimes working 20 hours at a
stretch. When the Bermans had
their second child three years later,
their two-bedroom Oak Park apart-
ment was becoming crowded.
The biggest help they got back
then came from the American Jew-
ish families who took them under
their wing.
The Bermans appreciated the
kindness, generosity, "the willing-
ness to help and to listen." They
were "amazed that people from two
different cultures could get so close."

When they left the Soviet Union,
they thought they had forever left
such relationships.
The Bermans have tried to repay
that help by helping others. Last
Chanukah, they had a party for
almost 50 people, many of them re-
cent immigrants. There was candle-
lighting, food and gifts. And two
years ago, Isaac was among the
200,000 who marched in Washing-
ton, D.C., for Soviet Jewish freedom.
The Bermans have gone from the
"terror, lies, humiliation" of the
Soviet Union to the comfort and
stability of Oak Park, with its
kosher butchers and bakers, other
Jewish stores, Jewish neighbor-
hoods and good schools. Even their
youngest son, who was born han-
dicapped and attends special school,
has the chance to achieve, too,
Emma says. "I'm afraid to think
what it would be if we still lived in
Russia.
"This is a wonderful country to
any who want to achieve, who come
here for a better life," Emma says.
"But the priority in coming," says
Isaac, "is freedom." ❑

THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

29

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