WOMAN TO WOMAN

page 3

will speak on domestic violence,
family life, the status of females
and education.
Murray Feldman of WJBK-
TV2 and WJR-AM 760 will mod-
erate the discussion.
Sponsored by six organiza-
tions, Women's Joint Institute
Day will carry a theme of bridge
building, organizers say. Their
hope is that panelists will pro-
vide metro Detroit women with
a better understanding of do-
mestic issues in Israel while, at
the same time, unifying the ef-
forts of social action groups at
home.
"I think women best under-
stand other women's issues. It
doesn't matter what our religions
are; we all care about the same

thing," says Penny Blumenstein,
event chair.
Although usually sponsored by
the Jewish Federation of Metro-
politan Detroit, the event this
year will take place in coopera-
tion with the National Council of
Jewish Women, Hadassah,
Women's American ORT and The
Jewish News. The Abraham
Fund, also a co-sponsor, supports
programs seeking peaceful coex-
istence. ❑

For more information on the
Women's Joint Institute
Day, call Sherry Shanbom at
the Jewish Federation, (810)
642-4260. The cost is $30. Pre-
registration is required. Baby-
sitting is available.

Great Torahs
I Have Known

ERICA MEYER RAUZIN SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS

ust because your children attend college out-of-town
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their hometown, the nation and world. We'll give them stimulating
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them home every week. And that's good news for everyone.

Now it costs a lot less to bring them home.
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10

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n Simhas Torah, I think of sided building shaped like a Mo-
all the Torahs I have gen Dovid and situated in the
seen...and the images woods on the side of a lake. When
flood my mind.
you sat in the pews (which were
I remember a tiny printed giant logs split in half lengthwise,
Torah, a miniature, that was giv- shellacked and propped up on
en out at my cousin's bar mitz- wooden legs) and looked toward
vah when I was 11. It was a
toy, a party favor, but still
evoked a holy object. It was
printed in minuscule Hebrew
letters. I have no idea, today,
what the letters said, but my
miniature Torah became one
of those souvenirs of life that
traveled around with me,
from apartment to apai tment
to house to house, a talisman.
But now that I could decipher
some of what it says, I don't
know where it is anymore.
I remember the Torahs in
the magnificent ark at the
Conservative synagogue
where I grew up. I recall eight
or 10 scrolls, each with a mag-
nificent set of gold or silver
crowns and each with an em-
broidered velvet case and a
satin belt. I recently went to
a service at that synagogue, Torahs I have known"
and the Torahs all have new
cases. Each white case is deco- the bimah, you had the illusion
rated with the symbols of a dif- that you were looking over the
ferent holiday, needlepointed and prow of a ship on the lake. The
appliqueed with great artistry by Torah was accessible then, inti-
the women of the congregation.
mate, and at hand — not a dis-
I remember the Torah we had tant object that simply passed by
at summer camp, the only one I quickly for a swift touch with my
ever spent any real time touch- prayer book, but a familiar avail-
ing and looking at closely. Our able touchstone.
beautiful chapel was an open-
I remember the Holocaust
Torah displayed at our relatives'
shul. This rescued scroll was too
Erica Rauzin is a Miami Beach
free-lance writer.
TORAHS page 12

