COMMON LANGUAGE page 9

meeting of their group, Fraylicha
Friendt, was held in Arnold's
West Bloomfield home.
She couldn't have known how
popular and enduring the group
would become. Within months,
it grew to 30 members. Mem-
bership was closed to keep meet-
ings manageable. Within years,
it spawned the formation of four
other such clubs, all sponsored
by B'nai B'rith, which continue
to meet today.
"I never realized how many
people felt the same way I did,"
Ms. Arnold said.
Next month, more than 13
years after that first meeting,
Arnold and the other 29 mem-
bers of the Yiddish-speaking
group will hold their annual an-
niversary party.
"I never would have guessed
we would be together this long,"
she said. "I think it is wonder-
ful."
The group originally formed
with the intent of simply gath-
ering to speak Yiddish, Arnold
said. But over the years, mem-
bers have sung in an ensemble
for residents of Jewish nursing
homes, heard speakers address
the subjects of art and Jewish
history, and have held book dis-
cussions — all in Yiddish.
"It is hard to find someone
who is knowledgeable about cer-

tain subjects and who speaks
Yiddish," she said.
Ruth Nelson of Farmington
Hills joined the group 10 years
ago after a membership lottery
was held for aspiring members.
Out of a hat full of names, hers.
was drawn.
"I couldn't believe my luck,"
she said.
Since then, she hasn't missed
many meetings. Like other mem-
bers, she enjoys the socializing
and speaking the language she
grew up hearing her parents
speak.
"It brings back a part of our
lives that no longer is," she said.
"And there is a warmth, a nos-
talgia attached to that."
Charlotte Goldin agrees. As a
founding member, she has con-
sistently attended meetings and
has discovered more than a love
of Yiddish in the group.
"Each meeting is two and a
half hours of wonderful, wonder-
ful Yiddish," the Southfield res-
ident said. "Our grammar is
awful, but we have a good time.
"The nicest thing that has hap-
pened is that this group of women
who barely knew each other had
this common denominator, and
now we are all friends," Goldin
said.
Others, including members of
a B'nai B'rith group, apparently

sought that same camaraderie
that Fraylicha Friendt offers.
Peppered by requests for mem-
bership, Arnold agreed to help
other groups form.
"I am more than happy to help
others start what we have done,"
she said. "It shows that Yiddish
is still alive and kicking." -
But she knows that soon those
requests will stop coming and
new groups may not crop up. She
said she knows her own group
may not survive into the next
generation.
Many younger individuals did
not grow up in homes where Yid-
dish was spoken, did not attend
Yiddish schools, are not inter-
ested in speaking what is con-
sidered by some to be a dead
language. With, the members' me-
dian age in the fifth or sixth
decade of life, membership is not
attained until a current member
dies or moves away, Arnold said.
But to her, passing on the lan-
guage is not essential. Instead,
the importance lies in happy
friendships between people who
speak a common language. ❑

2 For information on form
ing a Yieldish speaking social
group, contact Emily Arnold at
(248) 851-8628.

Moving Ahead

Former AJE co-workers form a new team
in Ann Arbor.

JULIE WIENER STAFF WRITER

S

hawn Locke and Naomi

ward, provide excellent leadership
Blumenberg are used to and represent the school in the
working together.
community," said school president
Former colleagues at the and longtime board member Prue
Agency for Jewish Education, the Rosenthal. "We were so pleased
two educators are now teaming with Shawn that we offered her
up to direct Ann Arbor's Hebrew the job knowing she would not be
Day School.
able to take it for a year."
Only instead of working out of
Rosenthal added that the board
nearby offices, they will be on op- was particularly pleased with
posite sides of the Atlantic.
Locke's broad professional back-
This spring, the 22-year-old
MOVING page 12
school hired Locke to
replace Marlene Git-
telman, who was re-
tiring after almost
20 years of service to
the school. She was
hired even though
the school board
knew Locke would
be spending the
coming year in Is-
rael, writing a book
on Jewish education.
"We were looking
for someone who Naomi Blumenb erg and Shawn Locke of Ann Arbor
would take us for- Hebrew Day Sc hoot.

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