Celebrating 50 years of growth with the Detroit Jewish Community

THE JEWISH NEWS

8 TEVET 5753/JANUARY 1, 1993

White Collar Blues

JVS program aims to get unemployed
mid-level professionals back to work.

KIMBERLY LIPTON STAFF WRITER

Escape From
Memory

e was born Heinz
Alfred Kissinger
in 1923 in a five-
room, second-
floor apartment
in Furth, Germany.
He loved reading and was
crazy about soccer. Long after
the Nazis forbade Jewish at-
tendance at the games, young
"Kissus," as he was known,
sneaked off to the stadium.
Young Heinz — Henry, as
he would become known once
he immigrated to the United
States — also loved going to
synagogue every morning.
In later years, Henry
Kissinger would minimize his
Jewish heritage.
He also minimized the
trauma he faced as a child
in Germany: the persecution
and the beatings and the
daily confrontations with a
virulent anti-Semitism.

Story on page 18

nemployment w not on
Ellen Siegel's -_Ind when
she moved last March from
Ohio to Michigan for a mar-
keting and strategic plan-
ning position with a computer
products company.
In fact, for the past nine years of
her career, Ms. Siegel, 34, of
Southfield, has continued to climb
the corporate ladder in her profes-
sion.
Yet three months after she began
the job, declining profits forced her
employer to implement cost-cutting
measures. She was the last person
hired, and she was the first person
laid off.
"It's a shock," said Ms. Siegel, who
holds an MBA from the University
of Michigan. "You hear about this
kind of thing happening, but you
never expect it to happen to you."
Like many unemployed middle-
level professionals, Ms. Siegel turned
to Jewish Vocational Service for as-
sistance. She met with an employ-

JVS is seeing more and more clients who have

lost jobs In the $40,000 and above bracket.

ment counselor, and she found some
part-time consulting work (that ends
Jan. 8.)
Ms. Siegel is optimistic that she
will find full-time work through her
own skills and the assistance of
JVS's new corporate placement ser-
vice for professionals in the $40,000-
plus salary range.
The program, Corporate Oppor-
tunities, was launched late Sep-

oxide

Face To Face

Detroit brings its largest group to student leadership conference.

LESLEY PEARL STAFF WRITER

T

wo years ago Matt Levine
visited Washington, D.C.,
and came face to face with
the individuals shaping
U.S.-Israeli policy.
He was one of four Detroit high
school students attending a three-
day leadership conference called
Panim El Panim — literally, face to
face. Panim El Panim is a program
of the Washington Institute for
Jewish Leadership and Values.
Matt will return to the nation's
capital with 75 other students from
Detroit at the end of the month. In
former years, only a handful of stu-
dents have attended. This year,
hopeful participants are on a wait-
ing list.
The Detroit students will be joined
with about 30 youth from Long
Island, N.Y.
"I learned a lot last time. And now
I've just returned from a semester
in Israel. I think I'll have a better

tember in response to the growing
needs created by the ongoing reces-
sion. It is being funded through a
$35,000 grant by the United Jewish
Foundation.
Corporate consultant Bill Atkinson
heads the program, which he calls
"an excellent source of highly quali-
fied, pre-screened, professional and
managerial candidates with no fees
to hiring organizations."
Ms. Siegel remembers her first
meeting with other unemployed pro-
fessionals seeking help at JVS. She
was sitting next to a man with a
doctoral degree.
"Just having the support from oth-
er people in the same position as you
is helpful," she said. "And knowing
that someone else is trying to help
market you is nice."
For a sliding scale fee, JVS, a non-
profit agency, always has been avail-
able to assist job seekers. Emphasis,
however, never was placed on the
white collar professional.
Yet since last year, 1,600 middle
and upper-income professionals have
contacted JVS for help finding jobs,
said Shirley Schlang, JVS director
of career counseling and placement.
Of those, about 650 required more
intense services than had been avail-
able at the agency.
The Corporate Opportunities Pro-
JOBS page 16

perspective," Matt said.
After Shabbat ends on Jan. 30,
students and chaperons will fly to
Washington, D.C.
For the next three days, students
will hear the nation's top experts
speak on the environment, separa-
tion of church and state, and human
rights. In addition, they will meet
with legal aides to senators, visit the
Israeli Embassy, hear from AIPAC
representatives, visit the Supreme
Court in session and hand out food
on a homeless walk.
The program is a cooperative ven-
ture between the Agency for Jewish
Education Department of Teen
Education and area synagogues and
temples. Detroit has sent students
to the sessions since it was imple-
mented five years ago.
Six new Americans enrolled in
classes at Community Jewish High
School will join students from local

STUDENTS page 16

FEELIN' GOOD

Health & Fitness

The latest tips,
plus great trips.

Center

14 ► 14301 11,114

Born To It

Mike Burstyn followed
his parents on stage.

Page 51

Second Time Around

Divorced singles
find changed rules.

Page 64

Contents on page 5