•

THE
SYNAGOGUE
CAMPUS
OF LIVING
JUDAISM
•

JOIN US

for the

ANNUAL LUBAVITCH
FOUNDATION DINIIER

Benefiting the

Synagogue Campus
of Living Judaism

Sunday, September 20, 1992
Elul 22, 5752
The Grand Manor at Fairlane

Guest Speaker

Elie
Wesel
Nobel Laureate, Author and

Human Rights Activist

Dinner Chairman

Florine Mark

Dr. ERIC GORDON

SIDNEY FIELDS

orn and educated in New York, Sidney Fields
received his B.B.A. from the CCNY School of
Business and worked briefly in the area before electing
to try his fortunes in Detroit.
"My wife, Jewel, urged the move," Fields said.
"She believed our future was here."
It was.
Sidney Fields raised a family in Detroit, estab-
lished a professional firm in Detroit and became
involved in Detroit's Jewish community.
In 1945, Fields helped found Zack, Fields and
Company, a local accounting firm. In 1989 he retired,
but his involvement in the field continues. He sponsors
the Distinguished Tax Lecture at Wayne State
University, 'an annual event that regularly features
the finest tax experts in the country, and the Fields
scholarship is annually awarded to the best accounting
student in Wayne.
Fields has also been a fervent supporter of
Detroit's Jewish community, contributing, he guesses,
to almost every Jewish organization in the city.
Raised in an orthodox environment, Fields drifted
from its rigorous tenets during his adult life, but finds
himself returning to his roots, through Lubavitch.
He serves on several committees for the Synagogue
Campus of Living Judaism. He is a member of Bais
Chabad Torah Center of West Bloomfield, and he
attends Lubavitcher programs and classes. He par-
ticularly enjoys his study sessions with Rabbi Herschel
Finnan.
His wife of 50 years supports his philanthropy and
encourages his interest in education. Their children,
who have chosen helping professions as their careers,
follow their example.

B

"The Lubavitchers don't just talk about Jewish education.
They're creating a Synagogue Campus of Living Judaism
that will serve as a resource center for the region."

native Detroiter, Eric Gordon received his
Bachelor's and Master's degrees from Wayne
State University and his Ph.D. from Michigan State
University, specializing in educational psychology.
He knew what he would do with his degrees while he
was earning them.
He started I.D.E.A. (Instructional Development
and Evaluation Associates) while in graduate school.
Today, the firm employs 30 who provide program
evaluation services, as well as information manage-
ment systems and promotional activities. Clients
include Chrysler, Ford, General Motors and the State of
Michigan Department of Education.
When he's not working, Gordon is still working —
this time for many Jewish organizations, devoting time,
energy, financial assistance and his considerable
administrative skills. His children, who attend Hillel
and Akiva, local day schools, are acquiring the same
commitment to the Jewish community.
In addition to these activities, Gordon is also
involved with Lubavitch. He dates his connection to
the organization to his grandfather, a member of the
original Nusach H'Ari Synagogue in Detroit. That
institution later merged with Mishkan Israel and
subsequently became the Lubavitch Center of
Oak Park.
Gordon's grandfather was also a friend and
supporter of Rabbi Shemtov when he first came to
Detroit. But it is not simply nostalgia that brings
Gordon to Lubavitch lectures and Lubavitch events.
"I believe we need to identify as Jews, and I see
Lubavitch reaching out to our college youth, helping
them establish and maintain their Jewish identities."
His wife Sarah, a child of Holocaust survivors,
supports these efforts. She, too, believes fervently in
Jewish preservation.

A

"When Jews intermarry, they disappear. The Lubavitch
are helping ensure that our Jewish children grow up to have
Jewish children of their own."

President, Weight Watchers Group

THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS 27