DETROIT
Jewish Army Reservists
Wait For Their Orders
SUSAN GRANT
Staff Writer
I
f it weren't for a quirk of
fate, Bruce Plisner would
be on his way to Fort
McCoy in Wisconsin with
the rest of the 5064th Army
Garrison.
A member of the United
States Army Reserve for 22
years in New Jersey, Illinois
and Michigan, Major Plisner
ended his service Aug. 22, a
few days before his ad-
ministrative unit based in
Detroit was called up for ac-
tive duty.
"I thought it was impec-
cable timing," said Maj.
Plisner, whose last position
in the reserves was man-
power control officer at the
garrison.
While his former unit left
last week for Fort McCoy to
carry out administration
functions for those in the
Army transferred to other
posts or to augment those
forces staying at the base,
Maj. Plisner is breathing a
sigh of relief.
In June, he was told he had
to leave the reserves by the
end of the summer because
of Army cutbacks, Maj.
Plisner said. When the crisis
with Iraq erupted a month
ago and talk of calling the
reserves began, he wasn't
sure where he stood.
"It wasn't until August 21
that (his departure) was con-
firmed," he said. "I thought
I might be sent out with the
rest of the unit."
While he is a little disap-
pointed he isn't going to Fort
"I'm all prepared to
go."
Dr. Earl Hecker
McCoy, "from the family
perspective I'm kind of
relieved," he said. The major,
who is a member of Temple
Beth El, has a wife, a 7-year-
old daughter and a 2-year-old
son.
Even though the initial
orders call only for a three-
month stay in Fort McCoy,
"it is enough to be disruptive
to family life," he said.
There is also the chance
those orders could be ex-
tended to six months or
longer if the crisis doesn't
end.
In his years in the Army's
medical service corp and his
current assignment, he has
never been sent to serve
overseas.
Not serving also means he
won't have to make ar-
rangements to leave his
sales job at Nova Health
Care in Royal Oak, he said.
"It was one of the few times
I've seen my boss smile."
So far, the 323rd general
hospital unit, an 1,000-bed
facility with almost 40 doc-
tors based in Southfield,
hasn't been called up for ac-
tive duty. But Dr. Earl
Hecker, chief of surgery at
Botsford Hospital, said he's
not taking any chances.
"I don't think we'll be
called up, but I have a
sneaking suspicion we will
be called," said Dr. Hecker,
who has been in the reserves
for 10 years.
"My family is upset," Dr.
Hecker said. "My mother
says I can't go because I
have people who need me."
Going to Saudi Arabia or
wherever the hospital is
needed would have an
adverse economic effect on
him, he said. The Army
doesn't pay as well as the
hospital does and he has four
daughters in college.
While the hospital could
Dr. Robert Tam
Bruce Plisner
get someone else to fill in as
chief of surgery, his own
practice will shut down com-
pletely, Dr. Hecker said.
Still, if he gets the call to
go, he's ready.
"I'm all prepared to go,"
Dr. Hecker said. "I'm all
packed and my credentials
are in line. Twelve hours
and I'm out of here."
Dr. Robert Tam, another
doctor in the 323rd general
hospital unit, isn't packing
his bags yet.
"It's my understanding
that there is little or no
chance our unit will be
called," Dr. Tam said. "I
would go if we were called
because I feel we are ready.
We've been together as a
unit for over 10 years." If the
unit is called, it won't be the
first time they've been ac-
tivated in the line of duty.
In September 1986, the
unit was sent to Holland to
assist with a burn unit. Last
March, they were sent to
Korea for service, and he's
ready to go elsewhere if he's
needed.
"I hate to go because it
would mean men are dying,
but I would go if we were
called," said Dr. Tam, who
served during the Korean
War and joined the reserves
more than 10 years ago. "I
think my family is relieved.
But I really wouldn't mind it
one way or the other if we
were called."
❑
New Temple Israel Academy For Adults Only
SUSAN GRANT
Staff Writer
T
emple Israel's newest
education program
isn't for the children.
The Academy, which opens
Oct. 7, gives adults a chance
to go back to school and get
the Jewish education they
might have missed as a
child.
While adult education
offered by the Reform com-
munity is nothing new to the
Detroit area, Temple Israel
has expanded its program
this year to include two
courses taught by four Uni-
versity of Michigan pro-
fessors.
"We've always been strong
in the area of adult edu-
cation, but we wanted a
method to consolidate them
and to broaden the cur-
riculum to bring it under one
organization," said Dr. Nan-
cy Gad-Harf, Temple Israel's
program director.
Seymour Greenstone,
Academy subcommittee
chairman, said, "We wanted
to do an expanded adult edu-
cation program, but we
couldn't do what we wanted
to because of a physical limi-
tation."
"Now that the temple has
built an addition, we will be
able to use more classroom
space. It made it possible for
Temple Israel to commit to a
formal adult education pro-
gram," Mr. Greenstone said.
For the past nine months,
temple members have been
putting together the Acad-
emy, Temple Israel's Center
to Lifelong Learning, which
offers 16 eight-week courses
and two 10-week classes.
Mr. Greenstone, who has
contacts at the University of
Michigan, suggested the
temple invite professors to
teach a few classes. After
talking to Dr. Todd
Endelman, director of the
Jean and Samuel Frankel
Center for Judaic Studies at
the university, the temple
negotiated a deal.
In addition to Dr.
Endelman, Drs. Zvi
Gitelman, Anita Norich and
Miriam Bodian will teach
two, two-hour courses for
eight weeks. The American
Jewish Immigrant Experi-
ence will be taught Sunday
morning, while Jewish Re-
sponse to Modernity will be
taught Monday night.
"We're treating the Uni-
"It is our hope that
this will have a
broad appeal for
the whole
community."
Nancy Gad-Harf
versity of Michigan classes
as a self-contained module,"
Mr. Greenstone said.
"Because of other com-
mitments on campus, this
may or may not happen
again."
In addition to the univer-
sity courses, Temple Israel
offers an introduction to
Judaism class where par-
ticipants take two hours of
class. The b'nai mitzvah
course, the only Academy
class open just for temple
members, is a two-hour
commitment for two years.
A third class will introduce
Judaism to Soviet immi-
grants. Taught by Zina
Shaykhet, a Soviet Jew who
came to Detroit 12 years ago,
the class is in Russian. It is
free except for the $2 fee for
the shuttle bus from the
Jimmy Prentis Morris Jew-
ish Community Center in
Oak Park to Temple Israel.
The Academy also includes
classes which deal with
everyday Jewish life.
Ellyce Field, who writes
about parenting, is teaching
a hands-on course to help
parents raise a Jewish child.
In another class, Rick
Halberg, co-owner of R.I.K.'s
Total Cuisine Center and
Tom Murray, executive chef
of Mark of Excellence Cater-
ing Service, will lead a Jew-
ish cooking class. The pro-
gram also offers courses on
the Bible, anti-Semitism,
Shakespeare, Israel, music
and God.
"It is our hope that this
will have a broad appeal for
the whole community and
not just temple members,"
said Dr. Gad-Harf. "We
wanted to have a program
that would be appropriate to
a wide variety of Jewish con-
cerns. We didn't want all the
courses to be academic
courses nor did we want the
whole program to be on Jew-
ish cooking either."
Classes will meet Sunday
mornings and Monday
nights. The schedule allows
parents who normally drop
their children at the re-
ligious school to stay a while
and learn something for
themselves, she said.
Academy students are eli-
gible to participate in both
the Union of American Heb-
rew Congregations KEVA
program and the Jewish
Welfare Federation's
MAKOR program, Dr. Gad-
Had said. Both program en-
courage adult education by
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
15