Tavior performs both public
and private concerts in his Mrs. Wolberg's
home, then sells tapes of his favorite gift; for
playing.
children is rag dolls
Mrs. Wolberg, who often
made
by senior
takes tour groups to hear
citizens
on a kibbutz.
Mr. Tavior, describes being
at his home for a concert as
"like being in heaven."
host look like a stu-
Mrs. Wolberg's favorite gift
dent in a basic re-
for children is rag dolls made by
modeling course.
senior citizens on a kibbutz. "Is-
Rabbi Sleutelberg
raelis feel it's important for
was in the Middle
everyone to be a part, to have
East earlier this
something to contribute," she
month for a 10-day
says.
mission sponsored
The hottest items — the "in"
by the Association of
souvenirs — these days are
Reform Zionists of
beauty products from the Dead
America. His stops
Sea, says Charlotte Edelheit
included Israel and
of Southfield. The former pres-
Jordan.
ident of the League of Jewish
While in Israel,
Women's Organizations, Mrs.
Rabbi Sleutelberg
Edelheit aLso says perennial fa-
purchased Jeru-
vorites include leather goods
salem ceramic tiles,
from Beged-Or, Gottex bathing
which feature multi-
suits and anything made of
colored designs on an
olive wood.
ivory background.
Two of Mrs. Edelheit's fa-
Sold at an Armenian
vorite purchases from Israel
pottery store, the
were a wooden podium which
tiles are decorated
she uses at speaking engage-
with "plants and
ments, and a Torah scroll by
trees. One has a bit
artist Frank Meisler which fea-
of a paisley look;
tures the bar mitzvah reading
The tefillin had belonged to
there are a lot of flowers and dif-
of her grandson, Bradley Hol-
Scott's great-grandfather, an
ferent kinds of birds," he says.
email. Mrs. Edelheit's daugh-
immigrant from Poland who
Rabbi Sleutelberg returned
ter, Janis Holcman of West
came to the United States to es-
with eight tiles, which he plans
Bloomfield, brought back Torah
cape persecution. He arrived
to use in redecorating his bath-
scroll covers she donated to
alone, then saved up enough
room.
Adat Shalom Synagogue.
money to bring his wife and
When Scott Selfon came
Bob Vila, move over.
other family
back from Israel in 1992 to
Rabbi Arnie Sleutelberg
members.
his home in Southfield, he Jason Shevach
of Congregation Shir Tikvah in
Among
brought a suitcase filled with
Troy returned from his recent
the
trea-
settled
on
some
pieces of tefillin.
trip to Israel with treasures that
sures that
Shevach's shoe
The story begins decades
would make the "Home Again"
eventually
ago.
polish, which
came into
he describes as
the hands of
"quality stuff."
his grand-
daughter,
Missy Self-
on,
Scott's
mother, was
his tefillin.
When Scott
was bar mitz-
vah, Mrs. Sel-
fon gave him
her grandfa-
ther's tefillin.
Several years
later, when
Scott visited Is-
rael, he took
the tefillin and
went in search
of new straps
to replace the
more than 100-
year-old
leather ones
which had
been on since
his grandfa-
ther's time.
The repair-
man studied
the tefillin,
then carefully
took them
apart. Much cf
the writing

had worn off, rendering the
tefillin unusable.
Mrs. Selfon was quite sur-
prised when Scott returned
with the tefillin in pieces. "Now
what do we do with it?" she said.
The family had an idea. They
had the tefillin framed, to pre-
serve forever her grandfather's
treasure. It now hangs in the
Selfon family room.
Among the Seltons' purchas-
es soon after their son returned
from Israel: a new pair of tefill-
in for Scott.
Jane Sherman, a Jewish
Federation vice president, came
back from the Miracle Mission
with additions for her collection
of ancient glass and mezuzot.
She also returned with an idea.
She can't pinpoint an exact
moment, but it wasn't long after
arriving in Israel on the first
Miracle Mission that Mrs. Sher-
man, of Franklin, was already
planning for a second mission.
"Actually, it was a commu-
nity decision, not mine alone,"
she says. "I knew going in to the
first mission — we were already
turning people down (because
all the spaces were filled) —
that we would have to do an-
other.
"As soon as we got back,
everyone was asking us, When
are you going to do it again?"
The second Miracle Mission
is set for May 1995.
Everybody has seen those
boring, ubiquitous pale-green
mezuzot for sale in virtually
every gift shop in Israel.
Birmingham resident Dr.
Charles Greenberg would
have none of that.
Dr. Greenberg, a frequent
visitor to Israel, brought back a

Chagall mezuzah.
Created by Menahem
Berman of ARTA Gallery in
'Jerusalem, the mezuzah is a
limited edition, glass-enclosed
in a gold-plated bronze case.
Featuring the Chagall work "I
Am the Lord Thy God" with
Moses and the Ten Command-
ments, the mezuzah is made of
an 18-color lithograph and is 5
1J2" tall.
Stevie Mendelson of Oak
Park couldn't resist bringing
back for his girlfriend a lovely
gas mask when he took his first
trip to Israel last summer.
He and two friends were "dri-
ving along when we decided to
stop in Tiberias," recalls Mr.
Mendelson, a medical student
at Wayne State University.
"We did a little touring, a
little shopping, a little eating.
Finally, we wandered into this
fancy Israeli hotel where, of
course, the manager started
screaming at us, What are you
doing here?'
"So we all scattered around
the hotel, and pretty soon I was
wandering around in the base-
ment, where I saw these boxes
marked gala."
The gas masks were the out-
dated version (improved masks
were issued for the Gulf War,
when Iraq threatened to use
chemical warfare against Is-
rael), but Mr. Mendelson was
impressed. "I thought, Vow!
These are really something.' So
I took one."
Some women might have
preferred perfume or jewelry,
but Mr. Mendelson insists his
girlfriend was delighted with
his gift. "She loved it," he says.
Diane Sasson of Binning-