B'nai David
Continued from Page 27
its affiliates to have a
mechitza (separation of men
and women during services).
Children and Hebrew
school may be the key to the
future for B'nai David and
the Conservative syn-
agogues.
"We expected to be part of
the United Hebrew Schools
system," Mr. Blumenberg
said. "Now we'll have to get
together with the Conser-
vative congregations and
reinvent UHS. We can't do it
alone."
"We are very concerned
about this," Rabbi Yolkut
said. "There will have to be
joint efforts or we will sink
individually."
The synagogue has em-
phasized its new young
leaderihip division, said
Rabbi Yolkut, "to get young
families' input, to encourage
them to play a more domi-
nant role."
While some members drive
to the synagogue and park
nearby, B'nai David locks its
parking lot on Shabbat and
the holidays. There is mixed
seating in the sanctuary, but
women are not given aliyot
or other honors at religious
services.
According to Rabbi
Yolkut, "We have not made
the liberal changes that the
Conservative congregations
have made" concerning wo-
men's participation in re-
ligious services. "We have
preserved the traditional
aspects — for some we are
not traditional enough, and
for others we are too tradi-
tional.
"But there's a need in a
community the size of
Detroit for something bet-
ween Orthodox and Conser-
vative." ❑
DETROIT
JARC
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LARRY DRAKE
JARC HUMANITARIAN AWARD RECIPIENT
for his sensitive and positive portrayal of Benny Stulwicz,
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at the
Annual Meeting and Election of Officers
Monday, May 18, 1992 • 8:00 p.m.
Adat Shalom Synagogue
I
Oak Park Library Adds
To Russian Collection
AMY J. MEHLER
Staff Writer
T
he foreign language
book collection at the
Oak Park Library is
fursting its shelf space.
New books, newspapers
and magazines — in Russian
and Arabic — arrive daily,
feeding the literary ap-
petites of Oak Park's two
largest ethnic groups.
Now Jewish Experiences
For Families adds a new
course to the menu: 90 books
in Russian covering periods
of Jewish history like the
Holocaust and the birth of
the State of Israel; holidays
such as Pesach, Sukkot and
Chanukah; Hebrew works of
literature; Jewish laws and
customs; Shabbat.
"The books come from
Israel and are a gift from
J.E.F.F. to the new Jewish
American community of
Detroit," said Sue Stettner,
director of J.E.F.F. 'This is a
way to learn about Jewish
history and culture in Rus-
sian at their own pace."
Mrs. Stettner said J.E.F.F.
will sponsor an open house
at the library May 31 with
storytelling and puppetry.
J.E.F.F. is also purchasing
50 Jewish children's books
to be put on audio tape in
Russian and English.
"Families will be able to
read along and discuss the
books in either language,"
she said.
The donation, worth about
$500, enhances the library's
existing 900-title Russian
language collection, started
12 years ago. A large
bookcase in the center of the
library is devoted to the
Russian classics and Rus-
sian translations of Euro-
pean classics such as Lewis
Carrol's Alice In Wonderland
and Jonathan Swift's
Gulliver's Travels.
The library also has a col-
lection of Kontinent, a Rus-
sian quarterly highlighting
Soviet dissident writers, and
subscriptions to Aleph
magazine, published in
Israel, Moscow News, and
the Russian- American daily
newspaper from New York.
"There's always someone
in the library speaking Rus-
sian," said library director
John Martin. "They study
English here every day. We
also have books for them in
Russian on how to get a
driver's license, how to find
a job and how to pay bills."
Sherry Wasserman, coor-
dinator of adult services for
the library, has supervised
the Russian collection since
its infancy.
"The library started its
collection when the first
wave of Russian immigrants
starting arriving in the
Detroit area," Mrs.
Wasserman said.
Mr. Martin and his staff
are committed to all their
foreign patrons. A $15,000
federal grant last July
enabled the library to begin
an Arabic collection. The
library has about 200 Arabic
titles. 111
There is no charge
A sign language interpreter will be provided
1992-1993 Slate of Officers and Directors
Joel Shere
President
I. William Cohen
Arthur Horwitz
Barbara Nusbaum
Vice Presidents
Nancy Grosfeld
Secretary
Nominated for
an additional
three-year term:
H. John Jacob, M.D.
Daniel Medow
Alan Stuart Schwartz
Eugene Mondry
Treasurer
Nominated for a first
three-year term
Ron Elkus
Nancy Grand
Joel E. Jacob
Carol'Kaczander
Ellen Lobes
Beverly Laker
Hannah Moss
Donna Pearlman
Rabbi Arnie Sleutelberg
Patricia Stamler
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THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
29