On this day, Rabbi Schnipper recited prayers in He-
"The community is anxious for this," Ms. Parr said.
brew, including the Sh'ina, and spoke of the crusade of
"The needs are just tremendous."
Rabbi Schnipper says he would be willing to con- Martin Luther King Jr., weaving in the theme of the
enslavement of both blacks and Jews,
tinue his work, but he doesn't know
coming back finally to the Rev. King's
how the new chaplaincy will work.
message of universal love.
Before his "ecumenical service"
"He had a dream, just like the Is-
got started, Rabbi Schnipper
raelites," he told the group.
strode down the hallways of the
After a rendition of "We Shall Over-
fourth floor, dropping in to
come,"
led by a group of Arnold staffers,
rooms to coax residents down-
Rabbi Schnipper concluded the half-hour
stairs for the service.
service with two psalms and a few He-
Dora Wolf didn't feel like
brew songs. Maracas and tambourines
it because of a recent fall
were passed to residents around the
that left a gash in her fore-
room.
head. Theodosia Brody
At the end, everybody clapped.
asked him to come back lat-
"God bless you," a woman in the au-
er to do prayers with her.
William Shulak said he Rabbi Schn ipper listens to an dience yelled.
Rabbi Schnipper wiped the sweat from
Arnold H ome resident.
might come down.
Rabbi A. Irving Schnipper lichts up the
lives of Jewish and non-Jewish
nursing home residents.
JULIE EDGAR SNIOR \AMIlLti
he lounge was mostly full,
and most of the crowd was
not Jewish.
Yet they sang, listened,
chuckled, and offered
"amens" as Rabbi A. Irving
Schnipper worked the room 4
at the Arnold Home in Detroit last
week in what could best be described
as part performance, part revival meet-
ing.
Only 10 or so of the nursing care fa-
cility's 265 residents are Jewish, but it
hasn't seemed to matter. The rabbi's
appeal cuts through religious and
racial boundaries.
"Residents come down an hour ear-
ly for his service. They love his per-
sonality; they love his stories," said
Arnold's activities director Robin Man-
heimer.
The rabbi, retired last summer from
Beth Abraham Hillel Moses, is in the
z
second month of a part-time interim
chaplaincy with the newly formed
Commission on Jewish Eldercare Ser-
0
vices (COJES). Twice a week, he visits
Jews in five non-Jewish nursing homes
— a lot of ground, but not enough to
Rabbi A. Irving Schnipper conducts an "ecumenical service" at the Arnold Home in Detroit.
cover some 650 Jews scattered among
135 non-Jewish facilities throughout
"These things are heart-rending. My feeling is once a his brow and wished everybody well before continuing
the metro area.
his rounds. He dropped by Oscar Eichman's room up-
To reach out to isolated Jews in those homes, as well Jewish person is put in these facilities, he or she is cut stairs to say hello, talk about the Yankees, bridge, and
off
from
the
community.
Nobody
comes
to
see
them,"
Rab-
as others in assisted living facilities and in hospitals,
Mr. Eichman's now deceased wife, Frances, a Ziegfield
Jewish Home for Aged, under the auspices of COJES, bi Schnipper said as he continued his brisk rounds of the Follies girl. Photographs of a marcelled young woman,
is interviewing rabbis for a full-time chaplaincy. The floor.
Esther Lazar, a five-year resident of Arnold, made it oozing sophistication, line a wall in his room. Mr. Eich-
new chaplain will coordinate and provide direct pas-
man offered salty anecdotes about his courtship of
to
the service, taking a seat in the fifth row.
toral care, tapping into an existing network of area rab-
Frances, his job as a sales manager for "top importers
She
was
disappointed
that
the
rabbi
may
be
leaving
bis and others trained as chaplains to ensure nobody is
so soon. A former saleswoman at Hudson's, Ms. Lazar of women's accessories" and his life in the Bronx, N.Y.
without, at the very least, regular friendly visits.
"I'm not a religious person," he said, reminding the
"The program will require the support of a lot of in- moved into the Arnold Home five years ago. A niece who rabbi of his position. "But I like to see you. I enjoy your
lives
in
the
East
visits
now
and
then,
but
her
immediate
dividuals like Rabbi Schnipper," said Margot Parr, ex-
company. I enjoy your sense of humor."
ecutive director of Jewish Home for Aged. She hesitated family is gone.
As Rabbi Schnipper got up to leave a few minutes lat-
"He's
the
kind
of
fellow
you
get
to
know.
Even
once
a
to say whether Rabbi Schnipper will finish his work at
er, Mr. Eichman yelled after him, "Come again, will
week
wasn't
bad,"
she
said.
"It
makes
me
feel
close
to
my
Arnold, only that she hopes he'll stay on with the pro-
ya'?" Cl
own people."
gram.
T
1.1.1
Co