Community Views

Editor's Notebook

Advice From
A Bibliophile

He's Kept Akiva Together
Because Of The Students

RABBI DAVID WOLPE SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS

PHIL JACOBS EDITOR

D

Should you lend one day, years later, you will find
books? When I it at a garage sale, battered,
was a teen-ager, mutely accusing you of neglect.
we lived across Believe me, I know.
the street from
In high school, I loaned a friend
an eccentric, in- (discretion forbids the mention of
teresting older your name, Josh) my complete
gentleman, Mr. Sherlock Holmes. This was a
Berger. A lover of book I treasured. I reread it pe-
Abraham Lin- riodically. Holmes and Watson
coln, each year, at a special break- were the constant companions of
fast in the synagogue, he would my youth.
declaim Lincoln's second inau-
When I finally got the book
gural address.
back — after threatening to in-
Mr. Berger brought a certain volve the CIA, the FBI, Interpol
actor's flourish to everything he and my parents — the binding
did, from the inaugural address was shredded, the cover torn, the
to the way he spoke. He had busi- pages smudged by alien finger-
ness cards printed with maxims prints. I was devastated. But I
he invented. Every day when he was also — foolishly— nice. I did
drove home down our street, he not demand a new copy. Besides,
would honk the whole way so I loved my original copy. Motley
that his beloved wife would know and disheveled, it still sits on my
he was approaching. Mr. Berg- shelf, and I would sooner loan my
er was an original.
liver.
He was also in possession of a
Another thing you must not do
fine library. One day he brought is loan a single volume from a set.
me over to his house to show me I own all the volumes of Hirsch's
his books. I asked to borrow one, commentary on the Bible except
and he happily assented. But first for the first of the two Leviticus
he produced a leather bound volumes. Now where would one
notebook and told me to sign my buy a Hirsch Leviticus No. 1? I
name, the book I was borrowing, once loaned it to a student (I don't
the date I was taking it, and a remember whom). I am sure from
promise to return it. Didn't he time to time the student thinks,
trust me? Was I not the son of the "I wonder where I got that from?"
local rabbi?
Loaned out books float, the flot-
Couldn't he see the sweet hon- sam of the world, from person to
esty in my cherubic face?
person, further and further from
Mr. Berger was not convinced. the original owner.
"When it comes to books, David"
Please don't tell me I can al-
he said, in his grandiose tone, ways read it in the library. I want
"people always forget."
a book I can write in, muse over,
Mr. Berger was wise. In the in- grow with, live with Libraries are
tervening years I have discovered for books one can either not af-
how easy it is to
ford, or does not
lend or borrow
care about.
books, and how
Libraries are
difficult to return
for people who
them.
want to borrow
The French
your books. Gen-
writer Gide once
tly point them
wrote, "The only
there.
books I have left
The day I be-
in my library are
gan writing this
the ones I have
column, a stu-
borrowed from
dent approached
others." Books are
me in class, em-
somehow differ-
barrassed. He
ent from other
found a book on
commodities. One
his shelf with my
feels instinctively
name in the fly-
Where is t hat book?
that they should
leaf. He did not
be everyone's
know how it got
property. Who would be so stingy there. We finally figured out that
as to restrict learning? Spread the I had loaned it to him four years
wealth!
earlier. How sweet when life
From one book lover to anoth- proves one's point.
er, a warning — don't do it. Ei-
Alas, I will probably continue
ther you must take up the Berger to borrow, and to lend. Indeed I
system, or lend only that which lent a book to a student the oth-
you would do without. For books, er day. It is a collection of essays
like lost children, know how to by the psychiatrist Anthony
leave home, but cannot find their Storr, with fascinating pieces on
way back again. Lend a book, and Churchill and Kafka. How do I
remember which book I lent? Be-
Rabbi David Wolpe is assistant to
cause Mr Berger, wherever you
the chancellor at the Jewish
are, when I got back to my office,
Theological Seminary.
I wrote it down. P,

Last Sunday
night I had the
opportunity,
along with sev-
eral hundred
other communi-
ty members, to
enjoy the annu-
al Akiva Chi-
nese Auction at
Congregation Beth Achim.
It's a fun event because par-
ticipants have the opportunity
to silently bid on some great,
useful gifts for rea-
sonable prices. For
example, two years
ago, my family
placed a $20 ticket
on a catered dinner
for 25 from Unique
Kosher Catering in
Oak Park. We won,
and we used the
prize to feed our out-
of-town guests dur-
ing my daughter's
bat mitzvah.
That's really be-
side the point, how-
ever. Because last
Sunday night, while
most of the crowd
was interested in who won what,
a small moment occurred. That's
when Barry Eisenberg, the
school's executive director for the
past four years and a man who
has served in almost every vol-
unteer capacity possible, was
presented with a kiddush cup for
his services. Mr. Eisenberg will
be stepping down from Akiva in
January to pursue other busi-
ness interests.
To most of Detroit's Jewish
community, Barry Eisenberg
probably isn't a familiar name.
But it doesn't have to be. Every-
one knows a Barry Eisenberg.
He's the man or the woman in
your organization who does it
all.
He's the one who you know
has internalized the mission of
the group, and who takes every-
thing associated with the orga-
nization personally. Every team
needs at least one worker, man-
ager, team player who under-
stands. Barry Eisenberg always
knew beyond a shadow of a
doubt what the mission of Aki-
va was. It was perhaps his chal-
lenge that not everyone else ran
at the same speed he did. Some-
times that speed angered others,
but such is the case for many
leaders. When you lead, even
when you surround yourself by
like-minded people, you find
yourself alone.
For Barry, that loneliness
came during the many nights
spent staring at the ceiling won-
dering how teacher payroll
might be paid. Or who was
going to fix Akiva's legendary
furnace, or 1,001 other mainte-

nance problems in an aging
school building.
There was another gift given
on Sunday night at the Beth
Achim social hall. It had noth-
ing to do with high-tech elec-
tronics or trips to New York or
Chicago. Without a doubt, it was
Barry Eisenberg's favorite of the
evening.
In past years' conversations
with Barry, he's always brought
up the names of Akiva students
who have gone on to successful

Barry Eisenberg:
Who will step up now?

collegiate and professional ca-
reers. For Barry, fixing the park-
ing lot was important, but it was
an Akiva alum now in medical
school that he wanted to talk
about, and the Akiva graduates
now in Israel.
True to his passion for Akiva,
Barry stopped the program mo-
mentarily Sunday evening to in-
troduce Misha Feldman, an
Akiva student from the former
Soviet Union who would be go-
ing to Israel next year. This, he
demonstrated to the audience,
was the real prize to be won.
This was the gift that Akiva
could give back to Judaism.

Every team needs at
least one worker,
manager, team
player who
understands.

You know what is troubling,
though. It's a shame that
Barry Eisenberg had to miss
one second of sleep worrying
about teacher payroll at Akiva.
It's a travesty that the execu-
tive director of any educational
facility, religious or secular, has
to worry about where the next
dollar is going to come from for
the basic maintenance of his
school.
In recent years, day schools in
the Detroit area have received
increases in Federation alloca-
tions. But the situation that

administrators like Barry
Eisenberg and others in our area
and all over the country have
been dealing with for years is a
much bigger, broader issue. If
Jewish education is such an im-
portant priority, why do we beg
and borrow to keep Jewish edu-
cational institutions afloat?
Jewish schools should not be
hurting. There's got to be a rais-
ing of awareness in the general
thinking of our communities.
Whether or not you have ever
been in Akiva or the oth-
er day schools, they are
and remain institutional
anchors. With an Akiva,
the Detroit Jewish com-
munity is a far richer,
better place to be a Jew.
You might not agree with
an institution's religious
philosophy, but as a Jew
you should heighten your
awareness of its commu-
nity role.
Barry Eisenberg is
moving on. A leader who
has left his mark, how-
ever, will always keep an
eye on and a presence
near his cause. We doubt
Barry will distance himself We
hope, for the sake of our children,
that he stays close.
I love to compare situations in
modern life to facts I've studied
from the U.S. Civil War. During
that war, it was an honor to car-
ry the flag of one's company into
battle. With bullets flying, men
would lead their companions
with the colors, presenting
themselves as targets. When a
comrade fell, another picked up
the colors. Barry Eisenberg
raised and waved the flag at Aki-
va during the prime years of his
career. Who will carry the colors
now?
Not just at Akiva, but every-
where in our community.
Akiva was Barry's passion.
You could see it in his eyes.
But Jewish education has to
be the passion for all of Klal Yis-
rael.
We were fortunate to have
such a foot soldier. There are oth-
ers, of course, all throughout our
community. We hope that people
aren't discouraged by the strug-
gle for dollars. We pray that
someone else will always step for-
ward. We wonder why anybody
would want to, based on the mis- CO
sion these people face.
rn
Then we remember how Bar- 0)
ry Eisenberg would always bring
C)
up the names of the kids, the stu- C
dents, with such urgency in his CC
LLI
voice.
CO
He was the one who was los-
ing sleep, yet he could stop and LJ-I
remind us why this is all so im- CD
portant.
Who will pick up the colors
now?

❑

23

