. `kkr.1 \ Looking For A Leader Young Israel-West Bloomfield takes steps to find a rabbi. LYNNE MEREDITH COHN STAFF WRITER he search is on for at least a part-time rabbi to lead Young Israel of West Bloomfield (YIWB), and members say that when they can afford it, hiring someone full time will be their top priority. In the eight years since the congregation was established, it has had one spiritual leader. Rabbi Alon Tolwin served about two years, but around 1995 he stepped down from the post, says Rita Morse, a YIWB board mem- ber. Rabbi Tolwin now heads Aish HaTorah's Detroit office. "Because we're part of Young Israel, the two existing Young Is- rael rabbis in the community (Rabbi Elimelech Goldberg and Rabbi Steven Weil) have offered their services," Mrs. Morse says. "Periodically we get one of the Young Israel rabbis out for Shab- bat or holidays, or we get one of the people that they recom- mend." Bev Leuchter, YIWB treasur- er, says, "More than anything, T we would love to have a rabbi. It's not as though we've enjoyed our privacy or freedom from lead- ership. It's not that way at all. If we could afford it, we would have had a rabbi from day one. It's one thing that we badly need." YIWB claims about 24 mem- ber families. The congregation, which meets in a house near Maple and Farmington roads, does not have a rabbi for two main reasons, Mrs. Morse says. Taking the next step. First, it was without a per- manent home until this year. Also, "we did not know what we had to offer. There are limited funds, and it's hard to prioritize when you have to buy a building and get a rabbi at the same time," she says. "Now that we have a building available, we feel that we have much more to offer, we have per- manent space." At the shul's last board meet- ing, it re-established a rabbinic search committee, says Mrs. Morse. The members have asked local rabbis for recom- mendations, and they will start interviewing potential candi- dates. "Ideally, my goal would be to have a rabbi for us by the High Holidays, but that would prob- ably be a part-time rabbi," who facilitates holiday and Shabbat services and leads classes, Mrs. Morse says. At this time, the congregation "cannot fully sup- port a rabbi and his family." "It's one thing if you're a chavurah and getting together to enjoy one another's company," Mrs. Leutcher says. "Our syn- agogue is like that. But we're not a chavurah; we're a synagogue," and in order to be a full-fledged shul, "you have to have spiritu- al leadership. It's caused us slow growth." Mrs. Leutcher says even if the congregation and its members offer a warm, friendly place to daven, or a unique form of ob- servance in that neighborhood, "people want more than that. People want authority, someone they can learn from." ❑ You've never heard sound this big from a home theater surround system so small. Calling All Campers The Shalom Campers — 25 years old this year — are planning a reunion for August, and a great future. LEE SNIDER SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS L ife would be a lot easier if everything fell into place the way the Shalom Campers organization did 25 years ago. When Marlene Toby and her husband, Chuck, came up with the idea of starting a camping club back in 1972, little did they know that a brief announcement in The Jewish News would un- leash an outpouring of pent-up demand. According to Marlene, the ink was hardly dry on the page be- fore the responses began rushing in. "I started getting calls, and an hour and a half later we had the nucleus of the club," she recalled. The Tobys, who live in Sylvan Lake Township, convened the group's first meeting two weeks later and found themselves with more prospective members than they could handle. "There must have been 100 people there," Marlene said. "You had to step over the bodies." That initial meeting was a pro- ductive one. The group officially voted on the name "Shalom Campers," made a decision to limit membership to 40 families and established a waiting list for the people who continued to re- spond to the newspaper article. Eventually, Shalom Campers drew up a "constitution" desig- nating the second weekend of the month for their regular outings. To make sure everyone could get to the campgrounds soon after work on Friday, they decided to limit their trips to areas within 100 miles of home. The outings were so popular, club member Fern Kopnick said, there was no keeping the campers away. 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