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"I felt very good about it. It was
"It is irrational, illogical and
an easy decision to make," she
it is not fair," Mr. Jacobs said.
"What is a Christian but a fol- said. "It felt right."
She said she was never asked
lower ofJesus?" said Mark Pow-
ers, national director of Jews for if she had a religious affiliation by
Judaism. 'The (messianic) move- the schools that hired her.
"They assumed that if you are
ment is nothing more than Chris-
tianity in Jewish clothing." Jews from Israel, then you are Jewish,"
for Judaism is a full-time, coun- she said. "They were right. I am
t,ermissionary, countercult orga- Jewish. I am still Jewish."
She said she was charged with
nization based in Baltimore.
Ms. Bross, an Israeli raised in teaching the mechanics of the He-
a secular Jewish home, received brew language and at times in-
her education degree from Haifa structed the students in reading
University. She moved to the texts or in reciting a prayer. Nev-
United States two years ago and er once since her recent immer-
began teaching Hebrew in area sion did she preach to the
students about her beliefs, she
afternoon and day schools.
Although she had never con- said.
"I never mentioned anything,"
sidered herself religious in the
past, Ms. Bross began studying she said. "I never spoke about it.
her new faith at the home of I felt it wasn't my stage to do so."
She would have liked to work
Loren Jacobs this fall. She re-
cently went through an immer- until the end of the year but will
sion using the baptismal font at instead go back to school herself
to work on a master's degree. ❑
the Baptist church.

Women's Retreat
Is A Local First

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Karl Kutinsky Provizer, M.S.W., C.S.W.

Director of Resident Services
Fleischman Residence/Blumberg Plaza
6710 West Maple Road • West Bloomfield • (810) 661-2999

.11:M.7•1•1311

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PASSOVER
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2040 Easy Street • 2100 Easy Street
Walled Lake, Michigan 48390

(810) 624-7400

JILL DAVIDSON SKLAR STAFF WRITER

t first, planning a women's
study retreat seemed al-
most impossible to local
organizers.
Similar study sessions are held
in cities like Boston, Los Angeles
and New York. In fact, those cities
all offer Torah study programs for
women.
"There are no formally orga-
nized programs in place in De-
troit," Midrasha director Nancy
Kaplan said. 'The desire has been
there but finding the time and the
resources to accomplish this has
been difficult. We have had the
motives but not the means."
Because there is no institute
catering solely to women's stud-
ies in Detroit, organizers had to
start from scratch.
First, they needed to find a rea-
sonably priced place to hold the
daylong event as well as teachers
who could attract women from
the whole Jewish community.
Also required for the retreat was
a weekend that coincided with
Rosh Chodesh, a minor women's
holiday marking the start of each
month, and women willing to set
aside a day for study.
"But it all came together," said
Rhona Fidler, an organizer who
pushed for the retreat. "I guess
you could call it (fate)."
So far, 22 women have signed
up to participate in the Sunday,
April 30, event, titled "Exploring
Kedusha: Rosh Chodesh
Women's Study Retreat," to be
held at the Jewish Community
Center in Oak Park.
Scheduling the time and the
place was the easy part, Ms. Fi-
dler said. Designing the retreat

to attract women from the three
major Jewish religious move-
ments was more difficult.
"We all felt it was important to
make this a learning opportuni-
ty for all women," she said. -- ro do
this, we needed to appeal to a
broad spectrum of backgrounds."
In their efforts to accomplish
this goal, organizers recruited
teachers from Orthodox, Conser-
vative and Reform institutions to
conduct two study sessions fea-
turing six classes. The guest schol-
ar will be Dr. Devora Steinmetz,
author and director of a day
school in New York.
Another major consideration
was in making the retreat af-
fordable to all women who want-
ed to attend. In order to defray the
cost for the participants and offer
scholarships to those who can't
afford the $50 fee, organizers
looked to sponsoring organiza-
tions.
"It was amazing the number of
organizations that wanted to
help," Ms. Kaplan said.
Sponsors include the Jewish
Community Center of Metro De-
troit, the Michigan branch of the
Women's League for Conserva-
tive Judaism, Woman's Auxiliary
of the United Hebrew Schools,
Greater Detroit Chapter of
Hadassah, Temple Israel and the
sisterhoods of Adat Shalom Syn-
agogue, Congregation Beth
Shalom, Temple Beth El and
Temple Emanu-El.
The retreat may come to mean
more than just one day of study
to the participants, Ms. Kaplan
said. It could mark the beginning
of a women's study program. ❑

