SECOND CLASS

THE JEWISH NEWS

SEVENTY-FIVE CENTS

SERVING DETROIT'S JEWISH COMMUNITY

HMC And WS() Produce
Holocaust Children's Play

ALAN HITSKY

Associate Editor

A

charming children's
opera that was per-
formed in the There-
sienstadt concentration
camp will be revived in rnid-
December by the Holocaust
Memorial Center and
Wayne State University.
The 45-minute opera
Brundibar is a parable on
the theme of good and evil. It
was written by Hans Krasa

in Czechoslavkia shortly
before the start of World
War II and was frequently
performed in There-
sienstadt.
The HMC and WSU have
scheduled an opening pro-
gram and two performances
at Wayne State's Commun-
ity Arts Auditorium, and a
Sunday performance at
Temple Israel. The opening
program will feature pianist
Falvio Varani; Sister
Veronika, the German nun
who re-discovered Brun-

dibar; Temple Israel's Can-
tor Harold Orbach; and
WSU Professor Guy Stern,
who wrote a prologue and
epilogue for the local produc-
tion.
A 70-member children's
chorus of Detroit middle
school children, under the
direction of WSU Professor
Deborah Smith, is the
centerpiece. Brundibar will
also feature five WSU
students in adult roles and a

Continued on Page 26

Book Fair Organizers
Missing Yuppie Crowd

PHIL JACOBS

Assistant Editor

E

lien Yashinsky wishes
there were a book en-
titled "How To Get
Yuppies To Attend The JCC
Book Fair."
Ms. Yashinsky, the Book
Fair chairman, has the
nation's finest Jewish au-
thors willingly coming to
Detroit to speak and to sign
their books. She's got a
selection of books so numer-
ous that the lobby of the
Maple-Drake facility is hard-
pressed to handle the vol-
ume. She's got the biggest
and best JCC book fair in the
country. She doesn't say
that; everyone else in Jewish
America does.
But when Ms. Yashinsky
leans back and looks around
at a Book Fair lecture, or
when she pours through
stacks of books in the
lobbies, she notices a trend
that disturbs her. The lec-
tures and book signings are
not short of people, they're
just long on senior citizens
and young mothers with
children.
So on Monday, the day
after the 39th annual JCC
Book Fair comes to a close,
Ms. Yashinsky and her vol-
unteer co-workers will al-
ready be planning how to
make the 40th Book Fair
and the 40-something after
that more appealing for
those who are thir-
tysomething.
Book Fair vice chairman

Joyce Sherman said the
Fair's speaker list is pur-
posely diverse to appeal to
the entire range of age
groups.
"I would like the Book
Fair to enrich more lives in
the community of all age
groups," Ms. Yashinksy
said. "I think people are
used to a wonderful chil-
dren's program and it's a
wonderful day for mostly
older ladies to come and
spend time. But we want
other people in the commun-

Young mothers
come to Book Fair
to buy children's
books, but don't
buy something for
themselves.

ity to realize the value of
what we have. But, we also
hope to be able to offer lots of
other programs in the future
to better attract the yuppies
(young urban professionals).
"You mention the words
`Book Fair,' and the younger
adults think of it as an old
person's disease," she said.
Ms. Yashinsky added that
besides taking a look at the
speakers the Book Fair is br-
inging in, she is also going to
try to learn if there are cer-
tain time slots for speakers
when younger adults might
be more inclined to attend.
She said the Book Fair
committee will also look into
other issues that might not

have been covered in the
past, such as Jewish
homosexuality, AIDS and
other contemporary issues.
Past chairman Shirlee
Sachs said she is concerned
the yuppie generation isn't a
reading generation, that
they prefer instead to watch
television or play Nintendo.
She said young mothers
often come into the Book
Fair with their children to
purchase a Jewish children's
book, but they don't come to
buy something for them-
selves.
"Look, I'm finding the
Book Fair to personally be
an enriching, lively experi-
ence," Ms. Yashinsky said.
"But when I think about
next year, and I think of how
we can get even better, I
think about reaching the
younger adults."
The Book Fair will con-
tinue 8 p.m., Saturday, Nov.
17, with a performance
by the English-Yiddish
Theatre. On Sunday, lectur-
ing authors will include
Joseph Albright (Their
Promised Land?) at 11 a.m.;
Michael Bar-Zohar (Facing
A Cruel Mirror: Israel's
Moment of Truth) at 1 p.m.;
Shulamith Eisner (My
Jerusalem) at 2 p.m.;
Nechama Tec (In The Lion's
Den) at 3 p.m.; Bernard Got-
fryd (Anton The Dove Fan-
cier) at 4 p.m., and Rabbi
Manis Friedman (Doesn't
Anyone Blush. Anymore?) at
7 p.m. There will also be a 2
p.m. children's concert
featuring Robyn Helzner.

❑

NOVEMBER 16, 1990 / 28 HESHVAN 5751