EV
A fresh look at recent stories in The Jewish News.
JPM Pool
In Hiding
efore last Sunday's
snowstorm, contrac-
tors were making
good progress on the
additions and renovation
at the Jimmy Prentis
Morris Jewish Com-
munity Center.
"The underground
work has been moving
right along," said Irving
Protetch, property man-
ager for United Jewish
Foundation, which owns
the building and land for
the Jewish community.
Some of the concrete
block walls are up
around the area of the
new swimming pool
being constructed on the
east side of JPM. Mr.
Protetch said the con-
tractor, Schiller Con-
struction, hopes to
enclose the area "to get it
under cover" and then do
the pool excavating.
The two-story addition
will include a 25-yard
pool and health clubs for
men and women. New
offices and a new main
entrance to JPM will be
added in the spring.
Contractors are hoping
to complete the $3.5 mil-
lion project by the end of
August or the beginning
of September.
son, Ms. Rosenfeld decid-
ed to fix that.
Last summer, she
started the Detroit Stars
of David, holding the
first gathering, a picnic,
at Temple Israel. Today,
about 25 families belong
to the local chapter of
Stars.
Among the group's pro-
jects last month was a
Chanukah party that
included a sing-along
and a rousing game of
musical chairs. Even Ms.
Rosenfeld was impressed
by the size of the crowd;
she termed the party
"very successful. We all
had a great time."
The Stars also host
regular parent coffees
where various aspects of
adoption are discussed.
One recent program cov-
ered "Adoption in Child-
ren's Literature."
Ms. Rosenfeld said rep-
resentatives of Stars of
David are ready to dis-
cuss any aspect of adop-
tion, including interna-
tional and private adop-
tions, adopting from
other states, networking
and information about
conversion.
For information, con-
tact Ms. Rosenfeld at
737-3874.
eace activist Abie
Nathan has raised
more than $300,000
— including $58,000
from Israelis — to aid
victims of the famine in
Somalia.
The money will be
used to establish a tent
city, to be located in
Kenya near the Somalian
border, which organizers
hope will house and feed
20,000 refugees. When
he began the project sev-
eral months ago, Mr.
Nathan estimated he
needed about $1 million
p
for the tent city.
Initially, Somali lead-
ers rejected any assis-
tance from Israel or
Israelis. Later, Gen.
Mohammed Farah
Aideed, leader of the
Somali National Al-
liance, said he would
accept aid from Mr.
Nathan and any other
nongovernmental Israeli
group.
Thirty-six Knesset
members, representing a
variety of political par-
ties, have endorsed Mr.
Nathan's project.
Once the tent city is
completed and fully oper-
ational, it will be turned
over to the United
Nations High Commis-
sion on Refugees, which
will be responsible for its
operation and adminis-
tration.
Meanwhile, another
drive, conducted by Mag-
en David Adorn in Israel,
has brought in another
$23,000 for Somali relief,
according to a report in
the Jerusalem Post.
tion last year handled
125 graveside services —
up from 100 the year
before.
"We are doing better
than expected," Mr.
Dorfman said, adding the
business has handled sev-
eral pre-arranged ser-
vices.
Meanwhile, Mr. Dorf-
man's son, Jonathan
Dorfman, recently joined
the business after gradu-
ating from Wayne State
University's school of
mortuary science.
The duo has no imme-
diate plans to expand.
Alan Dorfman said he
hopes to keep overhead
costs low to pass savings
on to the families. He
recently purchased a
heating system for tents
for graveside services
held during the winter
months.
Before Dorfman Fun-
eral Direction opened, Ira
Kaufman and Hebrew
Memorial were the only
Jewish funeral parlors
serving metropolitan
Detroit. The three cha-
pels handle about 1,200
funerals each year.L1
ALAN HITSKY
ASSOCIATE EDITOR
B
Closing in the swimming pool.
Stars Help
Adoptive
Families
— .._ ELIZABETH APPLEBAUM
k
ASSISTANT EDITOR
_ gri ne of Elissa Rosen-
IV
-- feld's first projects
when she settled in
West Bloomfield in 1990
was looking for Stars of
David.
The Stars of David,
founded in Massachu-
setts in 1984, is an infor-
mation and support
group for adoptive Jew-
ish parents and Jewish
couples hoping to adopt:
It had chapters through-
out the country, but none
in Detroit. The new
mother of an adopted
Tent City
Raises
$300,000
For
Somalia
ELIZABETH APPLEBAUM
ASSISTANT EDITOR
Able Nathan
Funeral
Business
Prospering
KIMBERLY LIFTON
STAFF WRITER
orfman's Funeral
Direction, a two-
year-old funeral busi-
ness specializing in low-
cost graveside services,
has grown by 30 percent
in the past year, owner
Alan Dorfman said.
Mr. Dorfman, who
opened in Berkley the
Jewish community's third
funeral venture, said
Dorfman Funeral Direc-
D