DETROIT

Temple Won't
Re-Open Yavneh

Fund Will Repair
Damaged Torah Scrolls

AMY J. MEHLER

Staff Writer

ne chipped crown or
faded letter can
render a sefer Torah
pasul, unusable.
Since mistakes like these
are usually discovered on
Shabbat, ba'al korim, Torah
readers, are required to stop
laning, roll up the Torah and
place it aside.
The Torah is taken to a
sofer, a scribe, who assesses
the damage and fixes it.
Often, all that's needed is a
minor touch up. However,
when whole words are
damaged or badly faded, ex-
tensive repair is necessary,
usually at great cost.
The problem has become so
severe at Young Israel of
Oak-Woods, it has, for the
first time, established a
Torah Maintenance Fund for
people to contribute finan-
cially to the physical well-
being of the synagogue's
Torah scrolls.
"The synagogue's been in-
volved in a steady crisis of
Torahs in need of emergency
repair," said David Tanz-
man, the president of Oak-
Woods. "Before we fix one,
another one's on the blink."
The concept of the fund,
which is to be named in
memory of long-time Oak-
Woods member Seymour
Ribiat, sprang from a recent
meeting of the synagogue's
board of directors and the
men's breakfast club.
The synagogue, which
owns nine Torah scrolls, has
four scrolls which are cur-

O

rently in use, Mr. Tanzman
said. Repairs can run
thousands of dollars a year
and can take weeks or mon-
ths to complete. A new
Torah can cost anywhere
from $25,000 to $36,000.
Mrs. Sonia Ribiat, a mem-
ber of the board, recently
donated $2,500 for the repair
of a Torah scroll.
"When I heard the idea, I
thought it would be a
wonderful way to honor the
memory of my husband,"
Mrs. Ribiat said. "My hus-
band was a very learned
man, who loved Torah."
When a person damages a
limb, he can continue living
and functioning, said Rabbi
Yosef Lang, a local sofer.
"With a Torah, each letter
must be perfect," Rabbi Lang
said. "A person can still live
with imperfections, but the
Torah must be perfect
always" since changes could
affect the meaning of the
words and, therefore, Jewish
law.
Rabbi Lang, who repairs
the synagogue's Torah
scrolls, said problems often
result from water damage or
fading. Other mistakes
which render a Torah
unusable are words or
letters which are contiguots.
"Letters or words must all
be in one piece," Rabbi Lang
said. "If a letter is chipped, it
can change the entire mean-
ing of the word. Accuracy
must be impeccable. There
can be no deviances or new
interpretations." -
Rabbi Lang said the best
way to avoid parchment

Family-To-Family
Plans Reunion

All participants in the Fam-
ily-To-Family program are in-
vited to a reunion of new
Americans and their match-
ed families 1-3 p.m. Aug. 11 at
Camp Ruth. The gathering,
which will take place rain or
shine, will include fun for peo-
ple of all" ages.
Judy Goldstein, folk singer,
guitarist and storyteller, will
lead community singing in
Russian, Yiddish, Hebrew
and English. Ms. Goldstein, a
performing artist with the
Jewish Community Centers
Association. Lecture Bureau
in New York City, is a
member of the National
Hadassah Artists' Bureau.
She organizes workshops for
educators on the use of group
singing in the classroom and

14

FRIDAY, AUGUST 2, 1991

teaches courses aimed at the
continuation of Yiddish and
H
_ ebrew folk songs.
Refreshments will be pro-
vided. Bus transportation for
newcomers will be available
from the Jimmy Prentis Mor-
ris JCC, leaving at 12:15 p.m.
and returning following the
picnic.
Co-sponsored by the Na-
tional Council of Jewish
Women and the Jewish
Federation of Metropolitan
Detroit Women's Division,
Family-To-Family has made
more than 270 connections in
the Detroit area.
For information about the
reunion or to be matched
with a new American family,
call Family-To-Family
258-6000.

ALAN HITSKY

Associate Editor

y

An open Torah scroll.

damage is to make sure that
Torah scrolls, which are
made from cow hides, get
enough air.
"The best way to do that,"
he said, "is to constantly use
Torah scrolls. Torahs should
ideally be rolled out every 30
days."

Mr. Tanzman said most
synagogues rotate the use of
their Torah scrolls.
"Every Jew has a mitzvah
to write his own Torah
scroll," Mr. Tanzman said.
"Our fund is one way for
everyone to take part in the
mitzvah." ❑

avneh Academy, the
Reform Jewish day
school which closed
its doors in June, will not be
revived by Temple Israel
this fall.
"The numbers were just
not viable," said Rabbi
Harold Loss of Temple
Israel.
The temple had surveyed
Yavneh students and
graduates of its own nurs-
ery-kindergarten programs.
"We had three or four inter-
ested students, but that's not
enough," Rabbi Loss said.
The temple will continue
to study the situation and
has not ruled out its own day
school in- the future. More
than 30 Hillel Day School
students are members of
Temple Israel families. ❑

The Vaad Harabonim Apologizes
For Politicking In Oak Park

KIMBERLY LIFTON

Staff Writer

T

he Council of Or-
thodox Rabbis (Vaad
Harabonim) this week
apologized for using Vaad
stationery to endorse two
"shomer Shabbos" can-
didates running in the Aug.
6 Oak Park City Council
primary.
The letter, sent out last
week to members of the
Vaad's mailing list, publicly
supports candidates Michael
Seligson and Paul Braun-
stein.
Mr. Seligson and Mr.
Braunstein are members of
Oak Park's Jewish commun-
ity, and some Orthodox
rabbis expressed individual
support for each candidate.
Mr. Seligson also served four
years on the Oak Park
School Board. Mr. Brauns-
tein is a political newcomer.
Vaad- representatives said
they are not in the political
business and said the organ-
ization hasn't before endors-
ed candidates.

"We made a mistake. We
didn't realize it," said Rabbi
Chaskel Grubner. "We
signed it. We regret the
mistake. •
"Normally, we stay away
from politics. It was just
done," Rabbi Grubner said.
Mr. Braunstein and Mr.
Seligson will face
. _ City

Councilman Ray Abrams,
Planning Commissioner
David Dystant and Ethnic
Task Force Commissioner
Minerva Freeman in the
race for two open council
seats. The four who gamer
the most votes will face each
other in the November gen-
eral election.
Councilman Gerald Nafta-
ly is uncontested in the city's
mayoral race.
The letter, which
originated from a request
from Mr. Braunstein, has

"We made a
mistake. We didn't
realize it."

Rabbi Grubner

raised some eyebrows within
the organized Orthodox
community, whose members
said the Vaad should stay
out of the political business.
"It is not a rabbi's job to
endorse political can-
didates," said Rabbi Eliezer
Cohen of Young Israel of
Oak-Woods. "In general,
rabbis try to exert too much
influence and need to let
people make their own deci-
sions."
Mr. Braunstein said the
letter was the result of con-
fusion within the Orthodox
community, whose members
thought just one council seat
was open.

.

"We wanted the Vaad to
tell them there are two
seats," Mr. Braunstein said.
"I wasn't looking for the en-
dorsement of the Council of
Orthodox Rabbis. I meant
for it to clarify that there
were two seats, and that if
someone wished to vote for
the shomer Shabbos guy,
they wouldn't have to pick
one over the other.
"I'm certainly upset that
the Vaad has gotten itself
into trouble. The last thing I
want is bad feelings," Mr.
Braunstein said. "All they
wanted to do was to clear up
any confusion and prevent a
division in the Orthodox
community."
The letter states in part,
"We are writing to urge all
members of our community
to unite as one behind Paul
(Pinchas) Braunstein and
Michael (Mendel) Seligson.
These are the only two
shomer Shabbos candidates
running for two available
seats on the Oak Park City
Council.
"We each have two votes
and we must use both of
them," the letter states.
"Our goals and needs will
not be accommodated as
they were in the past . . . We
must vote to ensure that our
special and unique interests
are protected."
The letter is signed by
Vaad officers Rabbi Leizer
Levin, Rabbi Leib Bakst and
Rabbi Grubner.

❑

