up Fr011i

All In The Family

her son while also inspiring her
husband Ken, who attended He-
brew school as a child but did not
enjoy it, and their 11-year-old
daughter Amy, who dropped out
of Sunday school after finding it
boring.
I've never been big on Sunday
of education, said the new school of Kol Ami. According to Berg, school in the traditional method,"
aims to involve more families in parents and children will share said Markowitz. "For years, I've
Shabbat and holiday services, en- some activities and meet sepa- watched kids go through it who
hance the confidence of parents rately for others. A typical session are bored and only doing it be-
who do not have strong Jewish might start with a Shabbat morn- cause their parents say they have
backgrounds (or
PHOTO BY KRISTA HUSA to or they want to get a
don't remember
big party for their bar
what they learned)
mitzvah."
and provide enrich-
Markowitz thinks her
ment for parents
involvement will make
who want to be more
the experience more
active in their chil-
meaningful for her son.
dren's learning. By
"How can I reinforce
involving parents,
what they've taught at
Berg hopes to
school if I don't under-
strengthen the edu-
stand it myself?" she
cational experience
said. "I want [Judaism]
and Jewish family
to have some kind of
life of the children.
meaning in my home ...
"The value ofJew-
If I'm learning at the
ish education rises
same time as my son,
quickly in kids'
then it becomes dinner-
Margo and Charlie Markowitz: Learning together.
minds when they
time discussion, and
see their parents involved," said ing service and kiddush, after that's where his dad and sister
Berg, who will be teaching to- which adults and children would will get involved too."
gether with Rabbi Amy Brodsky. split up for separate classes.
Like Markowitz, Felsenfeld
So far, five families have signed
Markowitz, who is enrolling who is enrolling with her husband
up for the school, which hopes to with her 8-year-old son Charlie, Mark and 7-year-old daughter
enroll 10 families and is open to says she is looking forward to the Emily — hopes the class will help
both members and non-members learning. She hopes it will engage her keep on top of her daughter's

Temple Kol Ami pilots an alternative school for students and their parents.

JULIE WIENER STAFF WRITER

ergo Markowitz did not
attend Sunday school as
M a child, but wants to be
involved in the Jewish
education of her son and daugh-
ter.
Laurel Felsenfeld, a mother of
three young children, finds
squeezing both Sunday school
and Shabbat into the weekend
way too hectic and wants an op-
portunity to get to know other
Jewish families. •
Both women are looking to
Temple Kol Ami's Shabbat and
Chag (Holiday) Family School to
address their needs. A pilot pro-
gram starting this fall, the school
is for children in kindergarten
through third grade and their
parents and will meet 35 sessions
a year, on Saturday mornings and
holidays.
An alternative school, the pro-
gram covers the same material as
Kol Ami's traditional classes
(which will continue to be offered),
but requires participation of both
chit n and their parents.
E
Berg, Kol Ami's director

Great Selection of the Finest Outdoor &
Indoor Casual Furniture & Accessories

SUMMER
CLEARANCE „.0

THE DETROIT J EWISH NEW S

Patio Furniture
40%-60%

24

i

e

Temple Kol Ami will be
holding an informational meet-
ing for the Shabbat and Holiday
k Family School at 7:30 p.m.
Thursday, Aug. 7. For more in-
formation, call Elissa Berg at
(248) 661-0040.

DESIGNS IN DECORATOR
LAMINATES, LTD,

Iin

IT DOESN'T HAVE TO COST A FORTUNE...ONLY LOOK LIKE IT!

FEATURING

•

4ts

44.

,w40

• Wall Units
• Bedrooms
• Dining Rooms
• Credenzas
• Tables
• Offices

SPECIALTIES

"23m:. ■1 :'4:77"

MOW?

education. Although she and her
husband attended Hebrew and
Sunday school as children and
had originally enrolled Emily in
Sunday school, Felsenfeld likes
having the opportunity to refresh
her memory.
"I'm happy with the education
[Emily] is getting at Sunday
school, but it's just something
where you drop them off, do er-
rands and pick them up ... I like
knowing what my kids are study-
ing," she said. Felsenfeld also feels
that with Sunday now available
as a day for doing errands, the
school will make her weekends
less pressured, enabling her fam-
ily to more easily observe Shab-
bat.
While Shabbat school is al-
ready an integral part of the cur-
riculum at B'nai Moshe (which
eliminated its Sunday school five
years ago), Kol Ami's new pro-
gram will be the first metro De-
troit Jewish school meeting
exclusively on Shabbat and holi-
days and in which parents are re-
quired to attend each session. ❑

•■■■

ir —

• Formica
• Woods
• Stones
• Glass
• Lucite

LOIS HARON

OFF

85106989

Allied Member ASID

Relax in

Prior Sales Excluded
In-stock items only.
Moon Valley Rustic Furniture Excluded

CASUAL FURNISHINGS

6465 Dixie Hwy., Clarkston • 625-3322 • Mon.-Fri. 9:30-5:30 • Tues. 9:30-8:00
Sat. 9:30-4:30 • Sun. 1-4

I

MB-MASTER

HEATING & AIR CONDITIONING CO.

RESIDENTIAL & COMMERCIAL
SERVICE * SALES * INSTALLATIONS

QUALITY WORK * EVERY TIME
NO EXCUSES!

BERKLEY W. BLOOMFIELD

399-1800

N. OAKLAND

788-9073
682-9090
htip://www.giolink.commirmastc,

GROSSE POINTE

882-4870