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NIF has found a way to link young idealists
with its organization.

As a local family gains citizenship, legislative hurdles
continue to mount for others.

JILL DAVIDSON SKLAR STAFF WRITER

JULIE WIENER STAFF WRITER

1m

An American Family

ost American Jewish
organizations date
back to well before
the establishment of
the State of Israel. Many of
their supporters do as well.
But the New Israel Fund
(NIF), founded in 1979, is
younger than even its newest
cadre of leadership. With its
alternative philosophy and in-
novative programming, this
new philanthropy is reaching
out to a small but growing
group of committed support-
ers in North America, Israel
and Europe.
NW staff and lay leaders at-
tribute the organization's suc-
cess to the appeal of its
mission: providing grants and
"capacity building assistance"
to Israeli grassroots organiza-
tions working in the areas of
civil and human rights, reli-
gious pluralism, improving the
status of women, Jewish-Arab
equality, bridging social and
economic gaps, environmental
justice and government ac-
countability.
NIF's donors are slightly

younger on average than
donors to other Jewish orga-
nizations, says the fund's di-
rector of communications, Gil
Kulick. According to a survey
commissioned in the early
1990s, the average NIF sup-
porter is in his or her late 40s.
But 33-year-old Debbie
Reznick, a native of Southfield
and the assistant director of
NIF's Chicago field office, ar-
gues that the
average donor is
probably even
younger now,
given the suc-
cess of an out-
reach program
called New Gen-
erations. -
Established
four years ago,
New Genera-
tions targets
people in their Roger Bennett:
20s and 30s Natural interests.
through pro-
grams and leadership devel-
opment offered out of its field
offices. (Chicago is the field of-

GENERATIONS page 26

A

lex Goldberg remembers
the days in Russia
when he thought he had
it good.
As a math teacher living
in Azerbaijan, he, his wife and
two small children lived in a two-
room apartment. Two rooms,
one for sleeping, one for living.
"We were lucky," he said, ex-
plaining that early in his mar-
riage he shared the same size
apartment with his parents, his
wife and oldest daughter.
Those were the days before
the bullets began to rip
'' through the air, before his
>"). daughters no longer felt safe
<
(7, from snipers as they walked
R a few blocks to buy bread at
the local bakery, before
things went bad in Azerbai-
jan.
Almost seven years after
he left his former country,
Mr. Goldberg is the program
manager of the transportation
and translation services at Jew-
ish Family Service. He is a res-
ident of Southfield and the proud
owner of a three-bedroom home.
And, last but certainly not least,
he is an American citizen.
"This is a country of freedom
and a land of opportunity," he
said. "I am very, very proud to
be an American citizen."

CL

I

PHOTO BY DANIEL LIPPITT

`Zei Gezunt'

A new, full-time rabbi is making life more
comfortable for hundreds of Jews living in
non-Jewish nursing homes.

JULIE EDGAR SENIOR WRITER

In front of her
Southfield
home, Sophia
Goldberg is
surrounded by
Kate and Alex
Goldberg and
Igor, Irma and
Jane Biem;
only Kate
awaits
American
citizenship.

Rachel Yoskowitz, director of
Resettlement Service in South-
field, said Mr. Goldberg is one of
hundreds of former Russian cit-
izens to take the American oath
of citizenship within the last
decade. He is also proof of the
contributions that immigrants
can make in society.
"We are a nation made by im-
migrants," she said. "That is
what makes this country great."
Judah Isaacs, senior planning
associate with Jewish Federa-
tion of Metropolitan Detroit, said
contributions made by immi-
grants are unquestionable.
"Immigrants bring a diverse
experience and a real will to suc-
ceed, he said. "The community
benefits with the perseverance
and determination these people
bring."

here's a new rabbi in town ter, she said, chose Alexander af-
and he's logging a lot of ter rejecting other homes be-
miles.
cause they were "filthy." She told
His mode of trans- him that she and her husband,
portation: a minivan. His mis- whom she described as "hand-
sion: providing comfort to the some," would walk to shul along
650 or so Jewish residents scat- Six Mile Road in Detroit before
tered among 145 non-
they moved to Southfield.
Rabbi Feld
Jewish nursing homes in
He died of emphysema,
the tri-county area and stops by to visit she said.
Evelyn Ginter
beyond.
And, while Bertha
On a recent sunny af- (foreground) and claimed that the food
ternoon, Rabbi Simon Barbara Mellon. she's getting is "wonder-
Feld paid his first visit to
. ful," Rabbi Feld offered to
Bertha Waldhorn, one of three bring her Jewish food. Her face
Jewish residents at Alexander lit up.
Continuing Care Center in Roy-
"A lot of places, they don't care
al Oak. Leaning toward her in if you live or die," she remarked
his chair, the rabbi grasped her matter-of-factly.
hands and asked about her up-
As with his other visits that
bringing in Detroit, her family, day, Rabbi Feld left Bertha with
and the food at Alexander, a a bag of kaiser rolls, a loaf of rye
Catholic home that is part of the bread and pastry from Zeman's
Mercy health care system.
Bakery, which for years has do-
Bertha told him she moved nated baked goods to Jewish
into Alexander a year ago after Home for Aged, now known as
she took a bad fall. Her daugh- Jewish Home and Aging Ser-

But those contributions may
be more difficult to achieve over
the years as United States leg-
islators craft measures to curb
benefits for legal immigrants.
Currently, food stamps and Sup-
plemental Security Income (SSI)
are slated to be cut for some ben-
eficiaries on Oct. 1, a move that
will mostly hurt immigrants who
are elderly or infirm and unable
to work or learn English well
enough to pass citizenship tests.
Most likely, families of the
immigrants will carry the
burden, working not only to
support themselves and their
families but their elderly and in-
firm relatives as well, Mr. Isaacs
said.
And for those who cannot rely

FAMILY page 30

vices, for nursing liorne
dents.
"Zei gezunt," he said to
Bertha. "Do you know what that
means?' "Stay well," she replied,
without skipping a beat.
Alexander administrator Car-
roll Evola remarked that she'd
never heard Bertha talk so
much.
"Focusing on the good old days
is a way of circumventing the
pain," Rabbi Feld explained.
-This lady is like a fish out of wa-
ter. I have to throw her a lifeline
of sorts."
Rabbi Feld, a Teaneck, N.J.,
native, comes to Detroit with an
impressive resume. He holds
master's degrees in education
and social work, with a special-
ty in geriatrics. He served as a
chaplain in the U.S. Army for 10
years and another eight years in
St. Louis ministering to the Jew-

`ZEI GEZUNT' page 31

PH OTO BY DANI EL LIPPITT

New Generations