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LIST BREAD MAKERS #10 159 BRAUN & NORELCO ELECTRIC SHAVERS SEIKO WATCHES 0/0.50% OFF li2P PHONE ANSWERING MACHINES SONY TOSHIBA RCA ZENITH TV'S Cuisinart BRAUN PLAQUE REMOVER SO All 5 89.00 3-SPEED INTERPLAK FOOD PROCESSORS TOOTHBRUSH $5388 CLOSET COMPANY) INC. Foremost in Design, Installation and Service 626-5520 NMI Caltelt amass The Bright Idea: Give a Gift Subscription THE JEWISH NEWS Friends Fondly Remember Rabbi Abraham Gardin N ELIZABETH APPLEBAUM ASSOCIATE EDITOR of long after Rabbi Abra- ham Gardin's funeral, an elderly woman ap- proached the president of the Kollel. It was clear she was not a wealthy woman, but she want- ed to make a donation. Hand- ing Abe Silverstein two crumpled bills, she said, '1 want to give these to the Kollel, in memory of Rabbi Gardin." When Rabbi Gardin died on ik March 4, his funeral was at- tended by some of the leading Jewish fig- ures from throughout metro De- troit. But those com- ing to pay their re- spects also included numerous Rabbi Gardin senior citizens, like the woman who wanted to make a donation to Mr. Silverstein. Many of those seniors at Rabbi Gardin's funeral could barely walk, but they were de- termined to say goodbye to a man who, through his long- standing work as religous di- rector of Borman Hall, had deeply touched their lives. "He was kind and generous and loving," says Mr. Silver- Istein, who was friends with !Rabbi Gardin for more than 30 years. "He always had a good word about every person he `saw." "He brought a real European • Yiddishkeit with him," added Rabbi Mordechai Wolmark, head of the Mercaz, the lay- men's association of the Coun- cil of Orthodox Rabbis, where Rabbi Gardin served on the board. "He could communicate with religious and non-reli- gious, Jew and non-Jew. He al- ways made people feel good about themselves and he got such joy out of helping others. Someone like that is really hard to find." Born into a family with a long rabbinic history, Rabbi Gardin was a native of Poland. He was studying at the Mirrer Yeshiva near Minsk when Hitler came to power. To escape the Nazis, the entire student body and staff of the school moved to Lithuania From there, they made their way to Shanghai, where Rabbi Gardin spent much of his youth. In 1944, Rabbi Gardin set- tled in the United States. He studied in Detroit at Yeshivas Levin, then with the Va'ad's Rabbi Chaskel Grubner. He was the kind of man to extend his hand to even the youngest members of the Jewish com- munity, says his son-in-law, Dr. Maury Ellenberg. "He loved taking children with him when he went to 'take challah' at the bakeries," Dr. Ellenberg says. (Jewish law stipulates that a portion of each loaf of bread be set aside and given to the priest of the Tem---' ple. Today, the reserved portion \ is burned.) Rabbi Gardin died on the day of the bar mitzvah of his grandson, Odom. Rabbi Gardin is survived by his wife, Ruth; sons and daugh- ters-in-law, Hershel and Joy, Joseph and Gloria, all of Oak Park; daughter and son-in-law, Chana and Dr. Maury Ellen-F-/ berg of Oak Park; sister, Mala Rothenberg of Florida; 13 grandchildren. ` Autographs Raise $141 for Charity Chachmei Lublin on Linwood. Later, he worked for many years as a shoichet (kosher slaughterer), and was active at the Turover Shul before retir- ing in the 1980s. Then 14 years ago he suf- fered a heart attack. Though al- ways active in the Jewish community, Rabbi Gardin's life changed profoundly after the illness. "He promised himself then that if God was so good to him (to let him recover) he would work for the Almighty," Mr. Silverstein says. "He was al- ready retired, but that didn't stop him." Among Rabbi Gardin's great- est commitments was to the Kollel Institute because, Mr. Silverstein says, "he knew how much the Almighty loves the study of Torah." He volunteered as a fund raiser and looked af- ter the Kollel "just as a father looks after his children." In addition to his work at the Kollel, the Mercaz and the Home for Aged, Rabbi Gardin served as a mashgiach (kashrut supervisor) for area synagogues and hotels and was active at Yeshiva Beth Yehudah. Rabbi Gardin studied Torah first with the late Rabbi Leizer A STEVE STEIN STAFF WRITER n autograph session fea- turing Detroit Red Wings center Keith Primeau and ex-Wings Alex Delvecchio and Johnny Wilson raised $141 for three charities. "I was happy with the turnout," said Ron Elkus, own- er of the Shirt Box in South- field, which hosted the Feb. 28 c event. "I really didn't know what to expect." The money will be distrib- uted evenly to the COTS shelter, SHAR Inc. drug re- habilitation center and the Metro Detroit Youth Founda- tion, which provides training and tutoring for youths. The Shirt Box also held its eighth annual "Charity Trade- -\ In" during February, when more than 1,000 pieces of used clothing were brought in. The same three charities were the beneficiaries. ❑ Correction The photograph identi- fied as David Kramer in Politically Speaking on March 4 was actually Danny Goldberg. L-\ —/