Photos by Glenn Triest
Curtis and Rachel Pulleyblank.
LLER
THE
Once upon a time, in a Detroit suburb known as Birmingham, a group of Jewish children began meeting
every Shabbat to hear about King David and Noah and Joseph...
ELIZABETH APPLEBAUM
ASSISTANT EDITOR
f your rabbi is
putting you to sleep
with his overlong
and boring sermons,
maybe you need a
good dose of Rabbi
Dovid.
Among his fans are
Rachel Kohn and Rachel
Nadler, both of Birming-
ham, who say the rabbi is
anything but dreary.
"He tells stories with
expression," said 8-year-old
Rachel Kohn.
"We eat and play games
(with him), too," adds
Rachel Nadler, 4 1/2.
The two Rachels are par-
ticipants in the Birmingham
Jewish Children's Story
Group, which meets
Shabbat afternoons each
summer.
Their rabbi is Dovid
Polter of the
Birmingham/Bloomfield
Hills Synagogue-Chabad,
and he is determined to give
the children "an exciting
approach to Yiddishkeit."
The story hour, the only
one of its kind in metro
Detroit, began last summer.
It meets June through
August and features Jewish
stories, songs and — what
draws anyone to a Jewish
event? — tasty eats.
There are games, too.
Remember the ubiquitous
"Candyland"? The hippest
game at the Birmingham
Jewish Children's Story
Group is "Kosherland." And
anyone familiar with
"Concentration" will recog-
nize a similar version
played by these children;
but instead of matching ani-
mals or shapes, players try
to uncover the two cards
showing the same mitzvah.
Special programs also are
held just before holidays
including Chanukah
and Tu B'Shevat.
A native Detroiter,
Rabbi Polter studied in
New York and Israel
before heading off to
Casablanca, where he
helped establish a
yeshiva and designed
programs for Jewish
youth. He worked at a
summer camp and coor-
dinated Shabbat clubs.
Of course, trips in and
out of the country
proved a little challeng-
ing: Since the kosher
food available was limit-
ed, everyone affiliated
with the yeshiva made a
point of filling his suit-
case with kosher meat Rabbi Dovid Potter
and cheese every time
he traveled abroad.
STORYTELLER page 42