I ES

I

ELIZABETH APPLEBAUM,

a r k
Nemzin
was 13
years
old. It
w a s
Y o m
Kippur.
He wanted to daven.
His parents didn't belong
to any congregation, so Mark
decided to go on his own. He
walked three miles to a syn-
agogue in northwest Detroit.
"Where's your ticket?" he
was asked as he approached
the front door.
When he said, "I don't
have one," Mark was not al-
lowed to enter.
"I cried the entire way
home," says Mr. Nemzin,
who today lives in West
Bloomfield. "And for 20 years
I didn't go back — not just to
that synagogue, to any."
Then he married and had
children and, because it was
in the neighborhood, decided
to take a chance with Tem-
ple Israel. It was a choice
that changed his life.
Today, Mr. Nemzin is ac-
tive at Temple Israel and
within the Detroit Jewish
community. He recently left
the dry-cleaning business to
work at Ira Kaufman
Chapel.
Among the projects to
which Mr. Nemzin is dedi-
cated is the Temple Israel
Minyannaires, 14 temple
members who regularly lead
shiva services at private
homes. Not one is paid. Each
works at least once every
week. Each has a story as to
what brought him to the
group.
For Mr. Nemzin, it is a
kind of sacred responsibility.
"For 20 years I lost Ju-
daism," he says. "This is my
way of giving back to the
community what I lost."
The Minyannaires was
started in the 1980s by Rab-
bi M. Robert Syme. With a

congregational membership
passing the 2,000 mark and
showing every sign of in-
creasing, it became impos-
sible for the temple's rabbis
to lead shiva services for
every family needing their
help after a loved one has
died.
Today, the only such pro-
gram in the country, the
Minyannaires is coordinated
by Rabbis Syme, Harold Loss
and Paul Yedwab.
The Minyannaires are
trained in a five-session pro-
gram that also includes prac-
tical experience. This year,
the class has seven new stu-
dents — one of whom is
learning Hebrew specifical-
ly so he can volunteer as a
Minyannaire.
Arnold Weintraub joined
the Minyannaires
in the mid-1980s.
How could he
refuse? Rabbi
Syme had him
tapped.
"Rabbi Syme.
was doing the un-
veiling for my ex-
wife's cantor
when he came to
me and said, 'I
know you. You
know Hebrew,
don't you?"' And
Mr. Weintraub, a
patent attorney
who lives in West
Bloomfield, was
signed up.
He trained to
be a Minyannaire
with Rabbi Syme,
who believes lay
involvement is
key to the future
of the Jewish
community.
"The danger is
that only the rab-
bis will practice
Judaism," Rabbi
Syme says. "But
the genius of Ju-
daism is that any-

one

ASSISTANT EDITOR

can daven."
The Minyannaires is part
of the outreach program at
Temple Israel, a place where
the phrase doesn't have the
usual connotations. It's not
"outreach" to gentiles. It's
aimed at anyone in the Jew-
ish community who has a
need that can't be satisfied
in the typical confines of syn-
agogue programming.
"We have support groups
for the physically challenged,
for those with cancer, for
Alzheimer's families," says
Temple Israel Program Di-
rector Nancy Gad-Harf.
"There are groups for single
Jewish parents and divorced
Jewish parents and a Jewish
Alcoholics Anonymous that
meets weekly at the temple."
Dr. Gad-Harf helps coor-

dinate the Minyannaires pro-
gram. After one of the tem-
ple's rabbis returns from a
funeral, she arranges for
Minyannaires to lead ser-
vices for three shiva days at
the family's home.
Like Rabbi Syme, Dr. Gad-
Harf believes it's vital for all
synagogue members to par-
ticipate in Judaism. Mem-
bers of the Minyannaires
serve as an inspiration to
others, she says. "When chil-
dren see their parents own-
ing Judaism, it's a model;
they know that they, too, can
be Jewishly literate."
Most Minyannaires make
the volunteer job a priority.
"No matter when I get a
call, I never refuse," Mark
Nemzin says. "I have literal-
ly done services for five days
a week, three
weeks in a row."
Services also
can run back-to-
back, with dav-
ening starting
in one home at
7 p.m., in an-
other at 7:30
p.m. A Minyan-
naire is always
found to lead
every service.
Marci Shul-
man joined up
with the
Minyannaires
11 years ago.
As a little
girl, she
dreamed of be-
coming a can-
tor. Instead, she
ended up drop-
ping out of He-
brew school and
was embar-
rassed for years
because she had
to read prayers
in English.
Then, when
she was an
adult, she de-
cided to learn

A SMALL
GROUP OF
TEMPLE
ISRAEL
VOLUNTEERS
HELPS
GRIEVING
FAMILIES.

Hebrew on her own. She
worked with her husband,
joined Temple Israel and be-
came a cantorial soloist,
studying with Cantor Nor-
man Rose of Temple Emanu-
El. She sees her work with
the Minyannaires as an op-
portunity to make up for the
years she lost touch with Ju-
daism.
Part of what brought Ms.
Shulman to the Minyan-
naires was the death of a 36-
year-old friend. The family
asked Ms. Shulman to come
to shiva services. "I said no,
because I was afraid I would
cry."
Then she reconsidered and
realized she could offer corn-
fort to those in pain.
Today, Ms. Shulman de-
scribes being a Minyannaire
as work that "comes from the
heart."
The Minyannaires hear
their share of unusual re-
quests. One family asked
that the Kaddish be recited
in English. Another didn't
want services at all, but fi-
nally gave in after speaking
with the temple's rabbis. Lat-
er, the family called the ser-
vice the most beautiful they
had ever seen and asked for
Minyannaires for two more
nights.
Minyannaire Annie Weiss
is the child of Holocaust sur-
vivors. She was raised at
Temple Israel and is a long-
time active member of the
congregation.
She's a Minyannaire sim-
ply because she wants to help
out. "It shows that someone
is there at a time of such
loss," she says. "That's a won-
derful feeling."
Other members of the
Minyannaires are Batya
Berlin, Linda and Stanley
Beltzman, Jeff Stewart, Lucy
Simons, David Haron,
Leonard Trunsky, Adrienne
Milin, Marcia Fishman and
Stanley Millman.

