75¢
THE lEvosH NEws
SECOND CLASS
Celebrating 50 years of growth with the Detroit Jewish Community
5
TISHREI
5 7 5 3/OCTOBER 2, 1992
Deadbeat Dads
When Jewish fathers abandon their families, everyone
including the Jewish community — loses.
ELIZABETH APPLEBAUM ASSISTANT EDITOR
arjorie S. had three young chil-
dren, no job, and a Southfield
home with a heavy mortgage
when, one day six years ago, her
husband walked out the door and
did not return.
Her family helped. Friends did
what they could.
The only one who had nothing
to offer was her ex-husband,
Marty. Claiming poverty —
though he has a college degree and
has held several jobs — Marty re-
fused to make child-care pay-
ments. It left Marjorie dumb-
founded.
"Does the man have no con-
science?" she asked. "How can he
look at himself when he gets up in
the morning?"
Among those places Marjorie
turned for financial assistance was
the Jewish community. A member
of a local Reform congregation, she
was able to secure a reduced mem-
bership fee and free Sunday school
classes for her children at the
temple.
What happened to Marjorie is
typical of what appears to be an
increasing trend in the Jewish
community: deadbeat dads. They
are fathers who
abandon their
families — often to
start "new lives"
— leaving their
former wives not
only emotionally
but financially re-
sponsible for their
children.
The problem is
starting to leave
its mark on local
Jewish institu-
tions. Jewish day
schools and Yad
Ezra, the kosher food bank, say
they are seeing destitute mothers
in greater numbers. And that
translates to an increased need for
dollars from the Jewish com-
munity.
"We started noticing a trend,
and I have to say it surprised us,"
said JudiCii Caplan Phillips, a
member of the Hillel Day School
tuition allowance committee,
which helps award scholarships.
"I guess we had always assumed
that parents who made a conscious
choice to send their children to a
Jewish day school came with some
kind of moral fiber."
"We have seen an increase (in
the number of families abandoned
by fathers) — not a tremendous
amount, but more this year than
last, and I venture to say it could
aside
DETROIT
Fast Facts
Myths and facts about
the Yom Kippur fast.
page 15
BACKGROUND
The New Israel
Post-election Israel
is not afraid of risk-taking.
page 33
ENTERTAINMENT
Still Laughing
easily go up," added Jeanette
Eizelman of Yad Ezra. "Some are
Russians; one is Orthodox; some
are Americans. They're women
from across the spectrum. All are
in bad shape."
Much of the growth in the num-
His namesake theater gave
George Burns something to do.
page 65
DEAD BEAT/page 28
CLOSE-UP
As Kol Nidre approaches, Rabbi David
Wolpe examines the role of spoken
prayer when compared to quiet,
internal, unsaid prayer. He writes that
we pray in words, because to speak
one's own sorrows is to learn from
them. At Yom Kippur services, we
concentrate on past sins and vows,
and publicly we ask for atonement.
We speak, he says, because words
spoken to God are real. Somewhere,
between the words and the silence is
the truth we seek.
AROUND TOWN
Chucginc Ahead
The Sound
Of Silence
Page 24
Model railroads were the symbol
for 25 years of moving forward
at Federation Apartments.
page 88
Contents on page 5