Follow Op
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A fresh look at some recent stories in the headlines.
He's Still
Pounding
Pavement
ALAN HITSKY
ASSOCIATE EDITOR
Mary Berman
Stepping
Stones
Is Growing
LESLEY PEARL
STAFF WRITER
I
ast year, 27 families
gathered on Sundays to
learn about Judaism.
They came from far-
away Plymouth-Canton and
nearby Farmington Hills and
called it Stepping Stones To
A Jewish Me — a two-year
program for children of in-
terfaith families that are un-
affiliated. The program is
sponsored by local Reform
and Conservative rabbis.
Excitement was rallied,
families turned on — so much
Agencies
Say
Thanks To
Helpers
RUTH LITTMANN
STAFF WRITER
B'nai
B'rith
Launches
Group
KIMBERLY LIPTON
STAFF WRITER
F
national
ollowing
trends to boost involve-
ment of young Jewish
professionals, B'nai
B'rith International has
brought its Young Leadership
Network to metropolitan De-
troit.
This month, the group, al-
ready comprising 46 mem-
bers, will obtain its national
charter. Membership Vice
President Robbie Franklin
said she expects to add at
least 14 new members to the
group's roster before it re-
ceives its charter.
year after he was re-
leased by the Fresh
Air Society, Marvin
Berman continues
searching for a full-time job.
He hasn't hit the soup
kitchens, however. The 59-
year-old former director of
Camp Maas, who was first
employed by Fresh Air in
1955, has been doing some
consulting work, substitute
teaching and undergoing
some re-training (paid for by
Fresh Air).
"I still don't have a full-
time job, but I have several
possibilities," Mr. Berman
said, including two teaching
positions at the college level
and working with a human
resource development com-
pany.
In the meantime, he has
been doing part-time con-
sulting with an experimental
Head Start program in De-
troit and conducting some
training seminars. His semi-
nars identify behavioral pat-
terns in the workplace and
show people how to get along
better.
"The (full-time) job situa-
so that in its second year,
Stepping Stones recently
hosted 115 people at its open-
ing program.
The first- and second-year
classes will learn together.
Class A, those participants
who began studying in 1992-
93, will graduate in the
spring. Class B, those en-
rolling this fall, will learn
Class A material during the
1994-95 year.
New additions to the pro-
gram include a parent/rabbi
discussion and learning com-
ponent and administration
from the Agency for Jewish
Education.
"We have people from all
over, checking out the com-
munity and finding affilia-
tion. I think we're doing our
job," said Rita Abramson,
Stepping Stone director.
"We're bringing people into a
Jewish way of life who would
have been lost otherwise."
ewish Family Service
and Resettlement Ser-
vice are sending thanks
111 to people who often go
without the recognition they
deserve: volunteers.
"In our busy, frenetic dai-
ly lives, we sometimes take
for granted the work done by
volunteers," said Sandra Hy-
man, executive director of Re-
settlement.
But many volunteers serve
as the community's lifeline to
Detroit Jews in need, she
said. To show appreciation for
these helpers, JFS and Re-
settlement have organized a
formal "Thank You Ceremo-
ny" 7:30 p.m. Oct. 11 at B'nai
Moshe.
The event, which will fea-
ture a reception and enter-
tainment by new Americans,
is open to the more than 300
persons who have volun-
teered for JFS and Resettle-
ment, as well as individuals
interested in volunteering for
these agencies.
Many new Americans, who
have been helped by volun-
teers, are helping organize
the event.
"I feel very strongly that
for us to have successful pro-
The Young Leadership
Network hopes to bridge pro-
fessional, social and political
gaps for Jewish men and
women under age 40 in met-
ropolitan Detroit. B'nai B'rith
International is a 500,000-
member organization, com-
mitted to building unity and
strength of world Jewry.
Ms. Franklin, a data re-
search analyst, joined the
group about a year ago at one
of its first meetings. She
wanted to get involved in
Jewish issues, and she be-
lieved this group offered
something different from ex-
isting organizations because
it is membership driven.
"I joined to meet new Jew-
ish people," Ms. Franklin
said. "This was something
new, and I could get in from
the ground up."
Stuart Novick will take the
helm as the first president of
the Young Leadership Net-
work at an Oct. 26 installa-
tion meeting at the Townsend
Hotel in Birmingham.
There is a charge for mem-
bership. The installation is
open to the public. For more
tion is tight out there, with a
lot of people just like me who
have been let go as companies
downsized. In response to
that, there seems to be a need
for part-time contractors but
I still want a full-time posi-
tion," Mr. Berman said.
He attended two recent
programs at camp: the dedi-
cation ceremonies at Camp
Maas in Ortonville in memo-
ry of the late Michael Zaks
and the program at Camp
Tamarack last month as
Fresh Air permanently closed
the Brighton facility.
A bb-
Stepp II
S I(nes
grams for the emigres, we
have to have input from
them," Ms. Hyman said.
Southfield resident Harold
Israel, 69, will be among the
volunteers attending next
week's ceremony. For almost
three years, Mr. Israel has
dedicated 24 hours a week as
a JFS driver, transporting
new Americans and elderly
to their doctors, the hospital
and shopping centers.
"The work keeps me occu-
pied," he said. "It keeps my
mind working, so maybe I'm
a little selfish for volunteer-
ing."
information, contact Ms.
Franklin at 288-2052.
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