LOUTH

Staff Writer

J

onathan Bruss
came to dinner
at Congregation
Shaarey Zedek
Nov. 14 hoping to
make some new friends.
It didn't exactly happen
that way. Time didn't allow
for strong friendships to de-
velop between the 27 teens
from the Soviet Union and
the 75 Detroit high school
students who came to the
_0 synagogue for a spaghetti
dinner to meet them. But the
students said they were glad
they had an opportunity to
talk with each other.

The Soviet teens, members
of the Kinor Jewish Chil-
dren's Choir of Riga, Latvia,
were in Detroit Nov. 14 to
perform traditional Hebrew,
Yiddish and Russian songs
as part of the Laker Concert
series. The concert, one of 14
performances the choir gave
during its month-long tour of
the United States, capped off
a two-day stay in Detroit.
Dina Reznigsvaia, 19, the
oldest choir member, said
the tour has been hectic, but
interesting. "I'm having a
good time, but I would
rather meet more people
than see the tourist attrac-
tions," she said. "People here
are friendly."

During their Detroit visit,
the Soviets toured the Henry
Ford Museum, the Ford Motor
Co. Wayne Assembly Plant,
went swimming and shopped
at a local mall and in
downtown Birmingham.
As they sat down for
dinner, Jonathan, president
of the United Synagogue
Youth at Shaarey Zedek,
tried to strike up a conversa-
tion with Albert Nioyel
about life in the Soviet
Union.
Albert's father, who died
last year, was Riga's only

Teens from the Soviet Union
take a break from their
music to meet American
high school students.

Top: Jonathan Bruss talks to
Albert Nioyel. Bottom left: Debbie
Hortick, Jessica Tam, Ramona
Kleinshtein and Marina Khaitova
share a joke. Bottom right: Dina
Resnigskaia takes a break.

rabbi and no one has replac-
ed him.
Riga, which was home to
more than 40,000 Jews
before World War II, is slow-
ly rediscovering its Jewish
heritage. Money from the
concert tour will be used to
support the recently opened
Riga Jewish Day School and
the town's Jewish commun-
ity center.
But the boys soon ran out
of things to say.
Then, with a little push
from Rabbi Chuck Diamond
of Shaarey Zedek, the teens
started by playing a name
game. Suddenly, both
Soviets and American teens
were laughing as they tried
to copy each other's hand
signals in an attempt to re-
member everyone's name.
For a few minutes, it was
difficult to tell which teens
were American and which
were from Riga.
As the teens were making
conversation, Jonathan gave
the Soviets red T-shirts with
"Someone at Shaarey Zedek
Loves Me" printed on them.
Then the Americans began
singing "Oseh Shalom."
Choir members joined in
their clear, melodic voices.
After the song, choir con-
ductor and founder Michael
Leinwand told the Riga
teens it was time to go
into the main sanctuary for
another rehearsal. After all,
the concert was only an hour
away.
But American teens were
disappointed the rehearsal
interrupted the dinner.
Jessica Tam, a member of
Shaarey Zedek's USY, said,
"We really didn't have time
to talk to them. It was
hard."

❑

THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

109

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SUSAN GRANT

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