The Letter
That Cost $8,800
New Rabbi Learns
From Mother's Death
ELIZABETH APPLEBAUM ASSOCIATE EDITOR
STEVE STEIN STAFF WRITER
etters by anarchist Emma Goldman
auctioned recently in New York
fetched between $400 and $1,400 at
Swami Galleries.
The letters were part of the "Voices
of American Radicalism: The Bruce
Rubenstein Collection," the largest pri-
vate collection on 19th- and 20th-centu-
ry radical movements ever to be
auctioned.
Expected to go for between $700 and
$1,000, the top seller — at $1,380 — was
a 1916 letter in which Goldman asked
L
together with myself, have gotten up a
manifesto which is to be signed by all the
real revolutionaries and of course, we
count you among them," it reads.
Other letters, written from .1911-1933,
sold for between $402 and $690.
Goldman (1869-1940) was born in
Kovno, Lithuania, and emigrated to the
United States in 1885. Always a fiery
spirit, she was outspoken about the in-
justices she saw in American life, many
of which she discussed in her newsletter
Mother Earth.
An early advocate
of birth control, Gold-
man was at her most
controversxial when
she voiced strong op-
position to World War
I — leading to her de-
portation to Russia in
1919. Goldman,
however, was any-
thing but happy in
Russia, where she
became disillusioned with
a friend to at-
the suppression of individual
tend a meeting. "We have called
rights. She later became active on
a meeting...to start a determined
behalf of anarchists in the Spanish Civ-
anti-military campaign. Gionan-
nitti and a number of others you know, il War.
7='
10...■=1
Singles Mission
Bar Mitzvah
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T
ty," Rabbi Bennett said. "It
was so comforting. It felt
like I had acquired a new
family."
Rabbi Bennett, 26, be-
lieves his mother's death
will have an effect on how
he performs his rabbinical
duties.
"My mother was always
teaching me, up to the day
she died," Rabbi Bennett
said. "Her death gave me
an opportunity to see the
dying process in a different
light. I think that will help
me when I need to comfort
families and friends follow-
ing a death, because I now
can empathize with their
experience."
Rabbi Bennett's first ser-
mon at Temple Israel was
Talent Bank
Gains Hundreds
ELIZABETH APPLEBAUM ASSOCIATE EDITOR
Wayne State professor who specializes in
feminist rhetoric, a human resources ex-
pert from West Bloomfield and a profes-
sional storyteller in East Lansing are
among the Michigan residents whose names ap-
pear in a new Lilith talent bank.
Lilith, the New York-based feminist Jewish
magazine, last spring. began a talent bank of Jew-
ish women to serve as speakers, advisers and
board members of Jewish organizations. The re-
sponse, the magazine's managing
editor said, has been impressive.
"We've already got several
hundred names an'
it's growing all the
time," with a number
of those listed from
Michigan, Naomi Danis
said.
The National Women's
Talent Bank and Resource
Network is organized ac-
cording to state, city and
area of expertise, to be as
user-friendly as possible. Al-
ready, it comprises "sever-
al hundred categories" of
experts, Ms. Danis said.
The project was created to fos-
ter an increased presence of
women in Jewish leadership po-
sitions and as spokesmen for the
Jewish community. For infor-
mation, contact Lilith, (212) 757-
0818.
A
JENNIFER FINER STAFF WRITER
irk Nemer was a of my main reasons for go-
man on a mission — ing on the singles mission."
A few days before his
both figuratively
bar mitzvah celebration,
and literally.
Last month, he was one Mr. Nemer met with a rab-
of 33 Detroiters who
went on the United
Jewish Appeal Sin-
gles Mission to Israel.
During the 12-day
trip, Mr. Nemer, a
West Bloomfield at-
torney, observed his
bar mitzvah.
"When I was 13, it
was impossible to
bring my family to-
gether," Mr. Nemer
said. "Having a bar
mitzvah was some-
thing I wanted to do.
I put it off during col-
lege and law school.
"I thought going to
Israel and having my
bar mitzvah there
would be most mean-
ingful. This was one Kirk Nemer
emple Israel Rabbi
Joshua Bennett rode
a roller-coaster of
emotions during his
first few days on the job.
The June graduate of the
Hebrew Union College-
Jewish Institute of Religion
in Cincinnati began work
at Temple Israel on July 1.
On July 12, his mother,
Marian, died in Wilming-
ton, Del., following a long
illness. Mrs. Bennett, 62,
was a retired music teacher
who was a graduate of the
University of Michigan
School of Music.
After he returned to
Temple Israel from
Delaware, "I received an in-
credible amount of support
from the, temple communi-
bi and learned some of his
Haftorah.
On July 9, Mr. Nemer
was called to the Torah
during services held at the
mission's hotel. Much
of the Detroit contin-
gent was on-hand for
the event.
"The importance of
having a bar mitzvah
is the ceremony and
my devotion and
rededication to Ju-
daism," Mr. Nemer
said. "Israel seemed to
be the best place to do
that, not here in Oak-
land County."
In Israel, Mr. Ne-
mer and mission par-
ticipants went to
Jerusalem, Tel Aviv,
Ramat David Air
Force Base, Tiberias,
Masada and the Dead
Sea.
Rabbi Joshua Bennett:
"Incredible support from the
temple community."
delayed because of his
mother's death. He deliv-
ered his sermon last week.
Natural Disaster
Haunts T'Chiyah
LESLEY PEARL STAFF WRITER
C
ongregation T'Chiyah is
changing its insurance pol-
icy.
The Reconstructionist syna-
gogue, located in Greektown, has
suffered its share of natural dis-
asters — &um a fire several years
ago to bursting pipes earlier this
year.
In January, the pipes connect-
ed to the heating and air-conch-
$159000 in repairs.
tioning unit of the St. Mary's
Community Center, where
T'Chiyah is located, froze and
burst. The fourth floor of the
building flooded and dripped
through to the third-floor congre-
gation.
Five of the pews, purchased
some 20 years ago from the for-
mer Congregation Mogain Abra-
ham near Eastern Market, were
damaged.
Repairs ran $15,000. Insurance
covered $4,000.
According to T'Chiyah Presi-
dent Harold Gurewitz, the policy
was limited. A pew fund has been
created to help alleviate the bur-
den to the small congregation.
For information, contact Mr.
Gurewitz, 963-8155.