THE JEWISH NEWS SEVENTY-FIVE CENTS SERVING DETROIT'S JEWISH COMMUNITY JANUARY 4, 1991 / 18 TEVET 5751 Jewish Federations Begin Cutting Services, Staff ALIZA MARCUS Special to The Jewish News A cross the United States, from San Francisco to New York, from Buffalo to Phoenix, the accents of Jew- ish federation officials may be different, but the words they use are the same: Retrench. Restructure. Merge. Maximize resources. Avoid duplication. In other words, cut back on services and staff. Detroit may be the excep- tion, but for other Jewish communities, money is suddenly tight, thanks to a widening recession, growing demand for local services and the pressing needs of tens of thousands of Jews emigrating each month from the Soviet Union. As the proceeds are tallied up from the United Jewish Appeal's enormously suc- cessful Operation Exodus campaign, which set out to raise a whopping $420 mill- ion in 1990 to resettle Soviet Jews in Israel, some federa- tion officials are finding Continued on Page 18 Burial Society Makes Changes KIMBERLY LIFTON Staff Writer A fter 27 years, Mark Klinger has bid farewell to Ira Kauf- man Chapel to become managing funeral director for Hebrew Benevolent Society, Chesed Shel Emes, one of a handful of non-profit funeral parlors in the coun- try. In his new position, Mr. Klinger, 54, will supervise funeral arrangements and will meet with bereaved families. He said he was ex- cited about the management opportunity. "Our Jewish funeral prac- tices have served us well for thousands of years, but we can also promote a more pro- fessional and contemporary method of operation at the chapel, while continuing to preserve custom," Mr. Kl- inger said. "That is my ob- jective." Mr. Klinger replaces longtime funeral director Alan Dorfman, who worked at the chapel for 22 years. Also joining Hebrew Benevolent is Robert Bodzin, 40, who has been named business manager and asso- ciate funeral director. Although he is not a state certified mortician, Mr. Bod- zin, formerly general man- ager of Sunrise Supply and Kramer Food, holds a degree in mortuary science. He plans to take his board ex- ams in March. "This really represents a return to my original career path and earliest profes- sional experiences," Mr. Bodzin said. Rabbi Boruch Levin, Heb- rew Benevolent's executive director, said Mr. Dorfman's departure was in the best in- terest of both parties. The Chesed Shel Emes board last summer opted not to renew Mr. Dorfman's contract. Mr. Dorfman said he could not comment until his con- tract with Hebrew Memorial expires on Jan. 7. He has re- tained an attorney, Larry Jackier, who said his client is weighing his options. Mark Klinger has replaced longtime funeral director Alan Dorfman. Rabbi Levin said Chesed Shel Emes is reorganizing to take on a new team ap- proach to management. This, he said, will afford him more time to visit with bereaved families. Hebrew Benevolent Socie- ty was started at the turn of the century to provide Jew- ish burials. "Our facilities are available to all Jews, tradi- tional and liberal, affiliated and non-affiliated," Rabbi Levin said. "All rabbis are welcome to officiate here. I'm Orthodox, Mark is Con- servative and Bob is a mem- ber of Temple Israel. "We hope these moves will help us serve the entire community more fully and efficiently," Rabbi Levin said. ❑ A Justice Department unit is still prosecuting war criminals.