We Are Pleased to Announce
the Opening of a
New Professional Practice

ZVI LEVRA% M.D., P.C.

Specializing in
Adult and Pediatric Urology

Marian Professional Pavillion
14555 Levan, Suite 309
Livonia, Michigan 48154

(313) 432-1913
FAX (313) 432-1915

Dr. Leiran is a graduate of Wayne State University
Medical School and completed his residency at
William Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak. He is now
affiliated pith St. Mary Hospital - Livonia.

JACK A. LITWIN, M.D.

takes pleasure in announcing his return to
the practice of medicine with specialties
in Internal Medicine and Diabetes.

DIFFERENT WORLD page 61

for the next bout of illness.
Drs. Eisenberg and Elena
Ackerman (who, herself, is Russ-
ian) will lead the upcoming
women's health seminar on April
28. In part, their goal is to famil-
iarize participants with a new
world of medicine, to make it less
strange, less intimidating.
A tour of Sinai will include
viewing the mammogram units.
Russian women rarely got mam-
mograms. Now, they'll have a
chance to see what breast-cancer
screening is all about.
The doctors will address other
specifically female issues like hor-
mone replacement, which is used
to prevent certain symptoms of
menopause, corresponding inci-
dents of osteoporosis and heart
malfunction.
"It's very difficult to talk to
Russian women about hormone
replacement," Dr. Eisenberg says.
"They assume they'll get cancer

from it. Unfortunately, some-
times with the language barrier,
I don't know how clear my ex-
planations are to them."
During the April 28 seminar,
a translator will be on hand for
those participants who do not
speak English. On any normal
day in the hospital, care-givers
use bilingual flash cards to dis-
cern if a patient is, for instance,
in pain or in need of water.
As a pregnant 37-year-old
woman, Khana S. feels extreme-
ly grateful for the care. In fact,
she can't quite believe all the per-
sonal attention she receives from
her doctors here.
"In Russia, when I became
pregnant, I went to the doctor for
the first time after seven
months," she says. "In America,
I've received treatment from the
beginning. Any treatment I need-
ed."
Sinai, on an annual basis, con-

tributes upward of 1 million dol-
lars in free health care to Jews
from the former Soviet Union. In
addition to regular check-ups,
they receive emergency care and
treatment for serious disease.
Members of the Sinai Guild, in
partnership with JFS, believe
such pro bono aid is exactly the
reason metro Detroit has a Jew-
ish hospital and family service.
And, for people like Khana and
Ms. Badalova, the assistance has
made a world of difference.
"They've taken care of me and
have put me through tests. They
tell me how my pregnancy is go-
ing and help me understand,"
Khana says. "Here, I feel like a
princess." E

' For more information
about the JFS/Sinai Guild pro-
gram for new American
women, call Rachel Yoskowitz
at (810) 559-1500.

The History Of Ethical Wills
Reveals Jewish Roots

SANDI DOLBEE SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS

As of November 1, 1995 he has been
associated with William G. Sills, M.D., a
specialist in Internal Medicine & Cardiology

1223 S. Washington
Royal Oak, Michigan 48067

To schedule an appointment
please call (810) 399-9083

ci

• Clinical Teaching
• Testing/Evaluation
• Therapeutic Tutoring

545-6677 • 433-3323

Oak Park

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LYNNE MASTER, M.Ed

Owner, Director

Bloomfield Hills

http://www.metroguide.com/lynne

•sworn coo Bloom •

• Registered Electrologists •

Come and lefts remove your unwanted hair problem and improve your appearance.

Near 12 Mile Rd. bet. Evergreen & Southfield

02

559-1969 Appt, Only. Ask For Shirlee or Debby

T

he scene is from "Chicago
Hope." Hospital counsel
Alan Birch is now a pa-
tient, struggling for life af-
ter a street thug with a gun
turned his body into Swiss
cheese.
Doctors Jeffrey Geiger and
Phillip Watters are ruminating
over their unconscious friend.
"He left a regular will dealing
with his financial assets," Dr.
Watters is saying.
"Then he also left a set of his
values with an ethical will.
Makes so much sense, doesn't it?

Dr. Geiger takes the document
and begins to read: "Admire in-
telligence. But admire kindness
more ..."
The scene was the handiwork
of series creator David Kelley,
who was so taken by the notion
of ethical wills when he heard
about them that he decided to
write one into an episode of his
TV medical drama. But ethical
wills are not new.
Jewish historians trace these
moral testaments back to the Tal-
mud and the Bible, though they
were often passed down orally —
such as King David's dying in-
structions to his son, Solomon.
One historian, writing about
ethical wills from the Middle
Ages, notes that they also were
prevalent among some Muslims
and Christians.
While regular wills leave be-

Sandi Dolbee writes for Copley
News Service.

hind your valuables, ethical wills
leave behind your values. They
deal in the currency of virtue.
"I think they're wonderful,"
says Rabbi Joseph Telushkin, a
writer who first told Mr. Kelley
about ethical wills. Rabbi
Telushkin was discussing ethical
wills during a synagogue service
in Los Angeles, and Mr. Kelley
happened to be visiting.
"It's sad that the last document
most people have from the peo-
ple that they truly loved is just

Jewish historians
trace these
moral testaments
back to the Talmud
and Bible.

sort of a nonemotional distribu-
tion of financial assets," Rabbi
Telushkin says.
Jewish educator Charlene
Neely of San Diego suggests that
part of the popularity of ethical
wills in Judaism stems from
times when Jews could not own
land, which would have been left
to their descendants. "So they
were giving their hopes and their
dreams," Ms. Neely says.
Reaching for a book, Ms. Neely
reads an ethical will written by
a French man to his son in the
12th century. The father talks
about how he struggled to pro-
vide an education for his son and
exhorts him to take care of the li-

brary left him. He also offers
moral advice: 'Though thou tak-
est fees from the rich, heal the
poor gratuitously; the Lord will
requite thee."
If Rabbi Telushkin and others
have their way, this aged custom
could make a modern comeback.
In a society short on close ties,
they are hoping these testaments
will create a sense of moral con-
nection.
"I think people who receive
them, treasure them," says for-
mer San Diego Rabbi Jack
Riemer, co-author of So That
Your Values Live On — Ethical
Wills and How to Prepare Them
(Jewish Lights Publishing).
"I know one person who has
four hanging on his wall —
father, grandfather, great-grand-
father and great-great-grand-
father," Rabbi Riemer says.
"Each one quotes the one before.
He's very proud of them and it's
his sense of continuity with his
ancestors."
His book includes dozens of
contemporary ethical wills from
this century.
"Above all — be forever vigi-
lant for those in need and don't
wait until they ask you — that is
humiliating," writes one.
"You can be in rags, in a poor
state ... but your good character
will earn you your way," writes
another.
Ethical testaments left by the
dead, according to Rabbi Riemer,
can work wonders on the living.
In a telephone interview from
his Florida home, Rabbi Riemer