their numbers to 400 or 500
families. Adat Reyim also
recently built a small facili-
ty which will be expanded as
the congregation grows, he
said.
"I'd like to help to bring it
to the next step," Rabbi Aft
said.
He was also worried about
possible changes at the
Agency for Jewish Edu-
cation. "What I was looking
for was the best way I can
serve the Jewish commun-
ity. I feel we will soon be a
step removed from the active
people in education."
He sees a day when the
AJE will deal only with edu-
cation administrators as it
creates programs for
classroom use, Rabbi Aft
said. Instead, he prefers hav-
ing direct contact with
teachers and students.
Ms. Fisher said, "I think -
he would not have been so
eager to look if the situation
at the agency was different.
He doesn't know what will
happen." "
Yet, Rabbi Aft is proud of
his accomplishments during
the past three years.
"I think the thing I'm pro-
udest of is the decentraliza-
tion of the agency," he said.
Through programs like the
Family Living Room, which
allows teens and adults to
express their views on diff-
erent issues, the agency has
tried to reach out to the
community. The Midrasha
has also tried to make adult
Jewish education accessible
to more people by working
with synagogues to sponsor
classes.
"But the greatest thing we
will miss is Southfield be-
cause of the neighborhood,"
he said. "On our block alone
there are blacks, Christians,
and Chaldeans. Our kids are
colorblind. While we will be
in an ethnic neighborhood, it
won't be a black and white
mix."
Still, he is looking forward
to the challenge of leading
his own congregation, said
Rabbi Aft, who before com-
ing to Detroit was an assis-
tant rabbi at a Tuscon, Ariz.
synagogue. "I'm at the point
where I want to say the buck
is going to stop with me."
"My family would have
liked to stay here," he said.
"Any move is traumatic. We
had to almost sell the kids on
the move."
"My wife understands that
this is a unique challenge,"
said Rabbi Aft.
He hopes to make this job a
long-term commitment.
After living in Chicago,
Tuscon and Detroit, "my
wife doesn't want to move
anymore," he said. ❑

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THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

17