DETROIT
A Ten-Month Trek Changes
At Least One Person's World
JENNIFER GUBKIN
Special to The Jewish News
W
hen Fred Dobb
of West Bloomfield
speaks to Jewish
groups, he often titles his
talk, "What's a nice Jewish
boy doing on a walk like
this?" Dobb, 20, has taken a
two-semester leave of absence
from Brandeis University to
march across the United
States in the Global Walk for
a Liveable World 1990.
The walkers aim to raise
environmental awareness
and explain what individuals
can do to save the environ-
ment. Dobb is one of 35
volunteers making the
10-month trek from Los
Angeles to New York. Along
the way, Dobb has spoken at
Hillels, synagogues and
schools as a spiritual leader
and outreach chairman for
the walk.
Dobb sees caring for the
earth as an integral part of
Judaism with its mandate for
tikkun olam, to save the world
and bal taschit, to not waste.
He relates his concern for the
environment to the Book of
Genesis, where God gives
humans dominion over the
earth and then specifies only
fruits and vegetables for
human consumption. Dobb is
walking "to show that a
critical reading of Jewish
texts commands one to ac-
tivism on these issues."
"We all have yardsticks by
which we measure our
Judaism," he says. "Do we
keep kosher? How often do we
go to shul? I assert that those
are not the yardsticks we
should use to measure our
Judaism. It shouldn't be do
we keep kosher, it, should be
do we recycle; it shouldn't be
how often do we go to shul,
but how often we carpool."
Dobb's activism began long
before Earth Day 1990. He
became a vegetarian six years
ago for a combination of
ethical and environmental
reasons. He has participated
in various environmental
groups including a two-week
walk from New York to
Washington, D.C., in 1988,
which served as a catalyst for
the Global Walk.
Dobb attributes much of his
activism to his background in
Reform Judaism and his par-
ticipation in National Federa-
tion of Temple Youth, the
Reform youth movement. He
says, "a liberal, idealistic and
activist perspective political-
ly is one of the great guiding
lights in my life and Judaism
is the other. Between the two,
I'm always looking for how
they mesh."
Since Feb. 1 and until Oct.
24, the interconnection of
Judaism and activism for
Dobb includes waking up at 6
a.m. after sleeping in a tent,
walking about 20 miles each
day with up to 100 other peo-
ple, or travelling ahead to ar-
range speaking engagements.
Dobb estimates he has spoken
before more than 1,500 people
since the walk began. He
believes the number will in-
crease dramatically when the
walk reaches the East Coast
in September and October.
The walkers offer - a wide
variety of outreach programs.
The diverse group includes
environmentalists from
around the country and a con-
tingent from the Soviet
Union. The speakers —
veterans, clergy and pacifists
— address topics ranging from
nuclear disarmament to
alternatives to conventional
farming.
Dobb describes his par-
ticipation as "a phenomenal
learning and growth ex-
perience," but is disappointed
with the walk's ineffec-
tiveness. "Because we're so in
flux it is hard to have a
unified purpose and I think
our message has been
somewhat watered down by
that. We're not focusing all
our efforts in the most
politically savvy way possible,
but a lot of good has come of
what we have done." Some
synagogues have stopped us-
ing styrofoam and a few cam-
puses have started Jewish en-
vironmental groups in direct
response to Dobb's efforts.
After the walk, Dobb will
take another year-long leave
of absence from Brandeis,
where he is on a full scholar-
ship, to study in Israel
because he won a national
collegiate essay contest spon-
sored by Hebrew Union Col-
lege — Jewish Institute of
Religion.
In addition, Dobb may join
a second phase of the walk
when the participants come
to Israel and Egypt as part of
a world-wide trek in 1991 and
1992. Dobb also plans to work
with environmental groups in
Israel and with Ethiopian
Jews. He was one of the
founders of Student Action for
Ethiopian Jews, a national
college group whose head-
quarters is at Brandeis.
When he returns from
Israel, Dobb plans to earn his
degree in history with minors
in peace studies, Judaic
studies and sociology. He also
will enter a two-year master's
program in Jewish communal
service. He also thinks about
ordination as a rabbi, pro-
bably within the Reform
movement. But when asked
what type of Jew he is, Dobb
identifies himself as "recon-
formodox" because he
believes no one movement can
fully express one's Judaism.
Ultimately, Dobb envisions
redefining boundaries bet-
ween the different
movements within Judaism
and softening the edges be-
tween clergy and communal
leaders.
"I think a vibrant future for
the Jewish people requires
that the roles not be fixed and
that one can be simultaneous-
Fred Dobb hands out literature in Phoenix during Global Walk.
ly a spiritual leader, a com-
munal leader and a layper-
son."
Dobb exemplifies all three
roles in his crusade to save
the Earth. "An action as sim-
ple as recycling, as simple as
carpooling, can make a dif-
ference . . . You can make a
difference and Judaism
asserts that you must try to
make a difference," he says. 0
Shaarey Zedek Will Move
Afternoon School To Hillel
SUSAN GRANT
Staff Writer
C
ongregation Shaarey
Zedek's plans to move
its afternoon re-
ligious school classes to
Hillel Day School have
angered some Huntington
Woods parents.
In September, Shaarey
Zedek plans to consolidate
its Orchard Lake Middle
School branch in West
Bloomfield with its syn-
agogue branch in Southfield,
said Rabbi Chuck Diamond,
the synagogue's educational
director. Although Sunday,
high school and nursery
classes will continue to be
held at the synagogue,
afternoon courses will be
moved to Hillel.
But Huntington Woods
parents feel the synagogue is
abandoning them and the
city of Southfield in favor of
the needs of West Bloomfield
members.
Congregation president
Irving Laker said the syn-
agogue began negotiating
with Hillel earlier this year
in part because of declining
enrollment at the Shaarey
Zedek branch. Although the
ideal class size is 15
students, some teachers at
the Southfield branch had
only five pupils.
As the Southfield enroll-
ment decreased, the
numbers of children atten-
ding the Orchard Lake Mid-
dle School branch increased,
Laker said. However, the
West Bloomfield school
could not offer a Jewish at-
mosphere because teachers
had to remove any signs that
students were getting a Jew-
ish education in the public
school once classes were
done.
"We're moving the branch
to Hillel because we want to
create more of a Jewish en-
vironment for the kids which
is hard to do at a public
school," Rabbi Diamond
said. "In terms of consolida-
tion, it would be good for the
school."
Shaarey Zedek had pro-
jected afternoon enrollments
for next fall at 72 students at
the synagogue and 270 in
West Bloomfield.
Huntington Woods resi-
dent Arnold Podolsky said
he and his neighbors don't
object to Shaarey Zedek's
plans to consolidate the
branches.
"I think it makes sense to
have the school all together.
We're not against the con-
solidation. But we wonder
why it has to be at Hillel,"
said Podolsky, who has two
children between the ages of
eight and 11 enrolled at
Shaarey Zedek.
Before opening a West
Bloomfield branch eight
years ago, Shaarey Zedek
had all its classes in
Southfield. Podolsky and
others want to know why
can't classes once again be
held in the synagogue in-
stead of catering to West
Bloomfield residents who do
not want to make the trip to
Southfield twice a week.
"I'd like my child to have
some loyalty to a syn-
agogue," Podolsky said. If
classes are at Hillel,
students won't have that
constant contact with a syn-
agogue which breeds that
loyalty, he said.
Changing the school's
location will mean driving
longer distances, said Hun-
tington Woods resident
Larry Rochind, who has
three children between the
ages of 10 and 14 enrolled at
the synagogue.
Told by synagogue officials
the decision to move the
school to Hillel was an econ-
omic one, Rochind said, the
synagogue "should concen-
trate not on profit but on
service. I think we have not
been served fairly."
Podolsky, a lifetime mem-
ber of the synagogue, feels
betrayed that he was not
told about the decision to
move the school until it was
too late.
"If they don't have a con-
cern for me, I have to
rethink my commitment to
them," said Podolsky.
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
15