THE JEWISH NEWS

I) FRONT

This Week's T o p Stories

Class Of
2002?

A Jewish Future

For 17 years, Machon ['Torah and "Rabbi J" have shown Detroiters
what being Jewish is all about.

LYNNE MEREDITH COHN STAFF WRITER

Rabbi Naftoli Kirzner: Machon's presence in Ann Arbor.

abbi Avraham Jacobovitz
never wanted to be a pul-
pit rabbi. Technically, he
still is not. But for many
Detroiters, the man who is af-
fectionately known as "Rabbi J"
is nothing if not a spiritual
leader.
Seventeen years ago, Rabbi J
left a full-time studying position
at the Kollel Institute in Oak
Park to begin what has become
a sort of Jewish missionary out-
reach network, Machon L'Torah.

Three
Stars

Reaching out to area
Jews, Machon ['Torah
is looking to hire a
third full-time rabbi.

LYNNE MEREDITH COHN

STAFF WRITER

During three years of full-time
studying, "I realized that a lot of
Jews were roaming around, look-
ing for answers," Rabbi J says. "I
realized much more could and
should be done to educate the
community."
Rabbi J does not want people
to flock to him as a congregation.
Rather, he hopes to fit individu-
als into the community, wherev-
er they belong.
Jews who began learning
through Machon are every-

t's hard to imagine a rab-
bi with a thick Israeli ac-
cent and a generous smile
talking on the phone all
day long.
Rabbi Avraham Jacobo-
vitz doesn't really spend all
his time on the phone — but
he could, considering that
phone messages have been
piling up on his desk for
months.
The leader and founder of Ma-
chon L'Torah, the Jewish Learn-
ing Network of Michigan, says
there's just too much work for his

where — some have relocated to
larger Jewish population centers
such as New York or Israel, while
others now daven at Young Is-
rael of Southfield or Oak Park.
The organization takes its
name from the Hebrew transla-
tion for Machon L'Torah, which
is "foundation of Torah." Rabbi J
chose the name because it sim-
ply explains what Machon does.

Born in Tel Aviv and raised
in B'nei Brak and Jerusalem,
Rabbi J began his learning at
the Slabodka Yeshiva in B'nei
Brak. When he was 16, his par-
ents immigrated to Los Ange-
les. He began studying at the
Mirrer Yeshiva in Brooklyn,
where he later received rab-
binic ordination. In 1977, Rab-
bi J came to Michigan.
He began by leading a sum-
mer learning group for teen-
agers and a morning minyan/
study session.
Seeing how "large the quest
for knowledge" was, Rabbi J
then told a few individuals in
the community about an idea
to educate adults and college
students "who are deprived of
Jewish studies."
Virtually anywhere in the
Jewish world, someone knows
Rabbi J. Many — affiliated or
not — began learning with him
and Machon L'Torah, the Jew-
ish Learning Network of Michi-
gan. Others are drawn in by
the nonjudgmental friendliness
of the rabbi and his wife, Bayla.
Regardless of how they get there,
many now-observant Jews cred-
it Machon at least in part for
their newfound Jewish aware-
ness.
"I think anybody who would
take the time to sit down with
[Rabbi J] and have a heart-to-
heart about what it means to be
Jewish, just about anyone who
has a soul, would have his per-
spective changed,"
says Stuart J.

JEWISH FUTURE page 6

Rabbi Avraham
Jacobovitz:
Not enough time.

l

Begun in 1980,
Machon has grown
into a statewide

outreach organization to cur-
rently handle. Which is why he
plans to spend some time in New
York, post-Pesach, interviewing
potential program coordinators.

outreach vehicle. In
November 1995,
Rabbi Jacobovitz
hired Rabbi Naftoli Kirzner, who
now runs the organization's Ann
Arbor branch.
Rabbi Jacobovitz says he has

THREE STARS page 30

A task force is working to
create a community-
wide Jewish day high
school, but many issues
are unsettled.

JULIE WIENER STAFF WRITER

I

f a task force of Conservative
rabbis, educators and lay lead-
ers succeed, local Jewish stu-
dents entering high school in
1998 will have a new option for
continuing their Jewish learning:
enrolling full-time in a_ nonde-
nominational Jewish high school.
Hillel Day School parent Jef-
frey Garden, who is chair of the
"high school committee" task force,
says that while Hillel students will
be encouraged to continue their
education at the new high school,
enrollment will also be open to
students from other Jewish

Rabbi Daniel Nevins:
"Incredible resource."

schools, as well as public and pri-
vate schools.
"We want to set up an educa-
tional opportunity for graduates
of Hillel Day School, and in ad-
dition to that to have a more com-
munity focus," said Mr. Garden.
"Basically, what we're trying to
build to in a 10-year time horizon
is to have this become a regional
Jewish educational powerhouse,"
he said. "We hope to eventually
have a school that would grow to
400-500 students."
Rabbi Daniel Nevins of Adat
Shalom is also active on the 25-
person high school committee.
"High school is a time when kids
have a lot of intellectual ferment,
but they're also very peer-con-

CLASS OF 2002 page 30