"7Dr. Brothers stressed the importance of friends.
• sanctify
time,"
Ms.
Appelman said. "For me,
that meant not allowing
> what I had believed tradi-
tion to be to stop me from
• healing myself (spiritually)
• with new traditions. Yes, we
(my children and I) lit can-
dles, said Hamotzi. But
sometimes we ate on paper
plates and sometimes we
ate pizza. It was my
Shabbos, too."
All three presenters
agreed sanctifying time,
and asking the community
and other single parents for
help, is key.
Other workshops avail-
able were "Re-entering the
Workforce," "Family Law,"
"Credit Survival" and
"What You Don't Know Can
Hurt You."
Esther Shapiro, director
of the consumer affairs
department for the City of
Detroit, led the last two
seminars.
Combining humor and
practical knowledge, Ms.
Shapiro briefly led the
women in a quiz through
consumer law of contracts,
landlords and responsibility
for children running up
the phone bill with 900
numbers (the phone compa-
ny cannot turn off service
for non-payment of such
lines).
"Do you get what you pay
for? If you're lucky," Ms.
Shapiro said.
Prior to the speakers and
workshops, dinner was
offered and an exhibition
was shown of available ser-
vices — among them,
Jewish Family Service,
Hebrew Free Loan, Sinai
Hospital and Oakland
County Child Care Council. ❑
Bricks Assist
Children Of Minsk
LESLEY PEARL STAFF WRITER
s the walls of commu-
nism have been torn
down, Jewish Com-
munity Council has
been selling bricks — hop-
ing to build up Jewish iden-
tity in the former Soviet
Union.
Minsk, the sister-city of
Detroit, has been the recipi-
ent of more than $4,300
through JCCouncil's Buy A
Brick efforts.
For a minimum donation
of $2 a brick, the wall will
symbolically grow taller.
During the past 15
months, dollars have gone
toward medicine, vitamins,
Jewish camps and refur-
bishing a building to be
used for communal purpos-
es.
Most recently, Detroit's
youth have joined the cause.
At Congregation Beth
Shalom and Adat Shalom
Synagogue, bricks have
been bought for each
bar and bat mitzvah stu-
dent.
About 35 students have
been represented through
Beth Shalom. Rabbi David
Nelson said he hopes the
program will bring an
awareness of Jewish life in
A
the former Soviet Union.
"We want to maintain a
connection with the mish-
pachah we've spoken of for
more than 20 years," he
said. "As changes have
occurred, the problems of
the Jews have remained.
We need to maintain a con-
sciousness."
Adat Shalom's sisterhood
and men's club have hon-
ored about 80 students with
the purchase of bricks. Past
sisterhood president Trudy
Weiss said the Buy A Brick
program was chosen for sev-
eral reasons.
The $2 "bricks"
help Jewish life in
Minsk.
In past years, donations
have been made to various
causes in the name of the
b'nai mitzvah students.
They have received
bracelets bearing the name
of a Jew in the Soviet
Union. One year, donations
were made to the Fresh Air
Society.
The two charity concepts
were merged for the 1992-
93 donation to Buy A Brick,
with monies directed toward
a kosher, Jewish camp out-
side of Minsk.
"We wanted to emphasize
the idea of tzedakah and
keep the concept youth
oriented. The students
know the money donated in
their names will be helping
other youth in the former
Soviet Union," Ms. Weiss
said.
Students at Temple Kol
Ami and Temple Israel also
donated their tzedakah for
the 1992-93 school year to
the Buy A Brick program.
During the past six
weeks, Buy A Brick dollars
have gone toward a summer
camp and health needs of
the elderly in Minsk.
Future monies will, in
part, help sponsor a young
couple's trip to Minsk to
teach in Sunday schools and
train other instructors.
JCCouncil's involvement in
the education project is in
partnership with London's
Belmont Synagogue
under the auspices of the
Joint Distribution Commit-
tee — the organization
assuring dollars raised go to
Minsk. ❑
Maple-Drake JCC
Offers Bus Service
LESLEY PEARL STAFF WRITER
or about five years,
Celia Rubin has been
riding a United
Hebrew Schools bus
once a week from her home
in northwest Detroit to the
Jimmy Prentis Morris
Jewish Community Center
in Oak Park.
It's more than an oppor-
tunity for her to learn about
Israel or attend an exercise
class. It's a way for Mrs.
Rubin to meet friends and
stay connected.
"I think it's wonderful.
We're all friends. We call
and check on each other,"
Mrs. Rubin said.
In October, other adults
like Mrs. Rubin — unable to
drive or without transporta-
tion — will have the same
opportunity to participate in
Maple-Drake JCCenter
activities.
Following the lead of
Jewish Information
Service's door-to-door pro-
gram to JPM, the Maple-
Drake JCCenter will offer
bus service, dropping off at
10:15 a.m. and departing at
2:15 p.m. two times a week.
Margo Weitzer, adult ser-
vices program director at
Maple-Drake, is excited
about the new program, but
emphasized it is not a taxi
service.
"We don't have the man-
power for that," she said.
Instead ; interested indi-
viduals in the West
Bloomfield, Bloomfield
Hills, Farmington Hills and
Southfield areas will call
adult services and receive a
scheduled time and day to
be picked up each week.
Participants, if ill or unable
to attend, should call in so
the bus will not make its
regular stop. And if a group
of riders would like to come
for a special program on an
unscheduled day, accommo-
dations can be made.
A $1 donation for round-
trip service is suggested.
"We are thrilled," Ms.
Weitzer said. "I remember a
few years ago, a woman
called and asked that we
stop sending her our
newsletter. She said she
couldn't bear to see all the
activities and programs that
she was unable to attend
because she had no way to
get here."
The program at Maple-
Drake is a response to the
success of the transporta-
F
tion to JPM (there is an
average of 40 pickups each
week), requests from the
community (three or four
each week), studies by
Jewish Federation of
Metropolitan Detroit and
the lack of mass transit in
the area.
"We looked into the
SMART (Suburban Mobility
Authority and Regional
Transit) connector which
goes directly to people's
homes. It costs $1.25 each
way. And people get frus-
trated calling to schedule a
pickup and only hearing a
busy signal," Ms. Weitzer
said. "Cabs are too expen-
sive."
"Transportation is
an absolute need
for isolated
elderly. We bring
them to
activities and
learn of new
problems and
concerns."
Barbara Lefton, adminis-
trative assistant at Jewish
Information Service, said
her group's program was
started for many of the
same reasons. But out of it
grew friendships, cama-
raderie and an end to isola-
tion.
Originally a one-day-a-
week program serving resi-
dents of Oak Park,
Southfield and northwest
Detroit, in six years door-to-
door service has expanded
to three days a week,
reaching individuals in
Berkley and Huntington
Woods also.
"We definitely have a
problem we're trying to
address," Ms. Lefton said.
"Transportation is an
absolute need for isolated
elderly. We bring them to
the Center to participate in
activities. And through this,
we learn of new problems
and concerns which need to
be addressed."
For information or to
schedule a pickup for JPM,
call 967-HELP. For Maple-
Drake, beginning in
October, call adult services
at 661-1000. ❑
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