Religious Business JOLIE LEWIS GREIFF SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS erusalem—You are a 57-year-old American rabbi set on making aliyah to a land flowing with qualified (and younger) rabbis. What do ?you do? If you're Jay Karzen, you find a way to create a unique job for yourself. Rabbi Karzen, from a large congregation near Chicago, officiated at ( 1,500 bar and bat mitz- vahs during his 27-year vahs rabbinical career. When planning his aliyah, he decided to capitalize on this experience and > founded "Rituals Un- limited," arranging bar/ bat mitzvahs in Israel for families from abroad. "We came at a difficult age," Rabbi Karzen said. "Too young to retire but not old enough to get social security. I knew I wouldn't be a rabbi here and have a congregation, so I decided that I had to come up with something else to make a living". The rabbi is an old hand at creative innova- tions. "When I was 15, I started a youth congre- gation in my synagogue in Chicago," he said. Given the chance to lead services himself, he went on to become a pro- fessional chazan (cantor) at age 18. During a sum- mer at Bnei Akiva's Camp Moshava, he met his future wife Ruby. "Who's that boy with the beautiful voice?" she asked a friend. Three years later they were married. During the next 30 years they lived in small towns and together worked on innovative ways to involve congre- gants in Jewish life. Now in Israel, "Com- munity involvement is my job," the rabbi said. "I had to come u_p with a frying." Rabbi Karzen He has arranged bar/ bat mitzvahs for tourists from throughout the United States, Canada, and South Africa. He also has a few native Israeli and new Soviet immigrant clients whom he doesn't charge. The rabbi also has a large clientele of adults who never had a bar/bat mitzvah. "I recently did Rabbi Karzen, right, with a bar mitzvah at the Wall. bar mitzvahs for two 75- year-old men from Florida," he said. "One was dying of cancer and the other had heart prob- lems and his doctors were not optimistic. You can't begin to imagine how emotional this was." Not everyone is satis- fied with the uniqueness of a bar or bat mitzvah ceremony is Israel. "I got a call from a man staying at the Plaza Hotel in Jerusalem who said he wanted to interview me to see if I was the right rabbi for them. "What he asked me was if I knew the 1945 Chicago Cubs batting order. (I did.) That was the last year the Cubs won the pennant and at 10-years-old I was a big Cubs fan. "'You're our rabbi!' he cried. The whole family was crazy about baseball and they wanted to make sure they had a rabbi who was a fan too. ❑ P400/401 PORTABLE PHONE High Capacity Battery • Up to 120 minutes continuous talk time • Up to 24 hours on standby time • Weights Approx. 8.8 oz. (250g) Slim Battery (Optional) • Up to 60 minutes continuous talk time • Up to 12 hours on standby time • Weights Approx. 7.7 oz. (220g) 3375 Orchard Lake Rd. West Bloomfield, MI 31710 Plymouth Rd. Livonia, MI 525-5900 683-2800 1-800-860-7474 ■ ■ Coverage Where It Counts III Quality Service Competitive Rate Plans ■ Cellular Experts F E BRU AR Y *Must activate phone through Select Communications for service on the Cellular One System for one year. Add $300 without activation. Limited to new activations, other service charges may apply. Applicable sales tax, pricing, programming fees apply.