DETROIT
- Temple's Caring Committee
Is Helping Individuals In Need
SUSAN GRANT
'Ow
Staff Writer
W
:7)
O
hen Karen Siegel
wanted to establish
a social group for
high functioning learning
disabled adults, she turned
to Temple Israel's Caring
Community Committee for
help.
Five years earlier, Siegel
had created a social group in
Florida to help her learning
disabled daughter make
friends. After moving to
Michigan last year, Siegel
vowed to continue the pro-
gram. But she wasn't sure
where to go for help until she
heard about the temple's'
committee.
The caring committee
agreed to help Siegel launch
Social Opportunities and
Support (SOS). What began
as a two-member group, in-
cluding Siegel's 21-year-old
daughter, will soon grow to
seven members.
SOS is just one project
undertaken by Temple
Israel's Caring Community
Committee. For eight years,
the 52-member committee
has helped create groups
which fulfill a need within
the Jewish community.
"The purpose is to make
congregational life more
supportive," said committee
member Nancy Gad-Harf.
"Not that it was lacking.
But to build on the support it
already had."
Sometimes in large con-
gregations, it is not always
possible to meet everyone's
needs or to know what those
needs are, Gad-Harf said.
When the Union of Ameri-
can Hebrew Congregations
suggested Reform congrega-
tions create a system where
those needs could be met,
Temple Israel responded by
starting the caring com-
mittee, Gad-Harf said.
The committee's first pro-
ject began simply enough. A
Shabbat shuttle service was
needed so temple members
who did not drive could at-
tend Saturday morning ser-
vices.
The shuttle still runs
every other week from the
Oak Park and Southfield
areas but has expanded to
include non-temple mem-
bers, said subcommittee
chairman Dr. Frank Roth.
The committee added a se-
cond project more than six
years ago: the Bereavement
Support Group. More than
250 grieving families have
gone through the four-month
program, said committee
member Lillian Schwartz.
Through the years the
committee has added other
projects open to the Jewish
community including the
Cancer Support Group;
Temple Treasures, a social
and educational program for
area seniors; SOLO, an edu-
cational and social outlet for
single parents, and Single
Extension for singles over
50.
The committee has
helped create
programs which
fulfill needs in the
Jewish community.
The committee's latest pro-
ject is finding ways to make
Temple Israel's newest
members — a group from
Jewish Association for
Retarded Citizens —feel
welcome.
The caring committee has
also helped Alcohol Anony-
mous and an Alzheimer's
Disease support group find
space in the temple to run
their programs.
Most of the projects have
been suggested by non-
committee members who see
a need in the community,
said committee chairman
Richard Traitel.
Even after the projects are
established, the committee
continues to guide the pro-
grams and offer help
whenever necessary.
"We're like an amoeba
with tentacles. We guide
them, give them direction
and then they break off,"
Traitel said. "But we help
keep them on track with
their stated goals."
The cancer support group
recently completed its first
eight-week program. Sitting
around a large table in the
Temple Israel library during
its June meeting, the commit-
tee listened as subcommittee
Sinai Hospital
Traces Heritage
Sinai Hospital is developing
a "Wall" depicting the events
leading to the creation and
development of the hospital.
The first phase will cover
1902 to 1953.
A search is being made for
photographs, documents, or
other material of this period
that may be relevant to
Sinai's heritage. Call Dr.
Herbert J. Bloom, 493-5097.
listened as subcommittee
member Barbara Dechter
explained plans to expand
the program to include peo-
ple who have a family mem-
ber suffering from cancer.
The subcommittee wanted
to create an additional sup-
port group for families deal-
ing with other diseases, sub-
committee member Barbara
Dechter explained it would
be too difficult.
"If you tackle everything
all at once, it gets sloppy,"
Dechter said.
Although some committee
members were disappointed,
Traitel supported the deci-
ion. "You have to start with
what is comfortable and go
with that," he said.
Traitel said the caring
community committee's
greatest strengths are its
willingness to provide sup-
port and its outreach to both
temple and non-temple
members.
"To me this whole thing is
a mitzvah," Traitel said. "I
know we're meeting a
tremendous need."
Adat Shalom Synagogue recently turned its lawn into a petting farm
complete with sheep, ponies and geese for the nursery school. Stu-
dent Robin King, 5, pets one of the goats.
Photo by Marsha Sundquist
❑
Struggles Of Soviet Jews
To Be Marked At Special Games
An obstacle course, sym-
bolizing both the struggles of
the developmentally disabl-
ed in Detroit's Jewish com-
munity and that of Soviet
Jews seeking freedom, will
highlight the fourth annual
Michigan Jewish Sports
Hall of Fame Games.
The obstacle course has
been added to the list of
events for the daylong pro-
gram, to begin at 10 a.m.
July 22 at the Jewish Com-
munity Center's Maple-
Drake campus.
Other events for the ap-
proximately 90 developmen-
tally disabled Jewish chil-
dren, teenagers and adults
include track and field,
swimming and basketball.
Channel 2's Eli Zaret will
direct the opening
ceremonies while former
University of Detroit and
National Basketball Associ-
ation star Spencer Haywood
will conduct an exhibition
after lunch.
Leanie Gunsberg, JCC
special needs director, and
Nate Pollack, Hall of Fame
vice president and Games
chairman, said the obstacle
course represents the
difficulties everyone en-
counters in life but more im-
portantly, that of the Soviet
Jews "in their struggle for
freedom."
Committee organizers said
recently arrived Soviet Jews
who have worked with the
developmentally disabled in
their native land will be on
hand.
The Games seek to foster
Jewish identity through
athletics, according to Mich-
igan Jewish Hall of Fame
president Seymour Brode.
The event will conclude
Sunday evening with a clos-
ing ceremony led by Mike
Yellen, national raquetball
champion. An invitation-
only dinner-dance for Games
participants will follow.
The Games are funded by
the Michigan Jewish Sports
Hall of Fame through an en-
dowment fund to ensure the
event's continuity. For in-
formation, call Bill • Jacobs,
855-6222.
STaR Set To Begin
A master's degree program
to train Jewish communal
leaders is set to begin in
September.
Through Project STaR:
Service, Training and
Research in Jewish Com-
munal Development, the
University of Michigan's
School of Social Work will
offer a professional leader-
ship program in Jewish
Communal Service.
Since its formation two
years ago, Project STaR
helped Jewish organizations
work on local projects and
provided training sessions
for community leaders.
To help fund Project
STaR's latest program,
United Jewish Charities, the
property and endowment
agency for the Jewish Wel-
fare Federation, approved a
one-year, $60,000 grant on
July 10. The leadership pro-
gram had also received a
three-year, $205,000 Wex-
ner Foundation grant earlier
this year. The money will
pay for student scholarships
and administration ex-
penses.
The five-semester program
combines a master's degree
in social work and 18 credits
in Judaic studies and Jewish
communal service, said Pro-
ject STaR Director Armand
Lauffer, who is also a pro-
fessor of social work at U-M.
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
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