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A Place Called Home

Three families have donated houses to Kadima in the
past few months. Their gifts came at the right moment.

JULIE EDGAR SENIOR WRITER

s

ack in March, Tonya Victor it so their housing conditions are
of Kadima showed Murray taken care of and they can get
Pitt one of the apartments support, counseling and medica-
the organization operates tion without as many problems as
for people with mental illness who they would have ordinarily."
Like other donors, Pitt bought
are not quite ready for a fully in-
the house outright. It will serve
dependent lifestyle.
Pitt, of Bloomfield Hills, was as a long-term residence for peo-
moved by the warmth and effi- ple with bipolar disorder or schiz-
ciency of the place. The benefits ophrenia.
PHOTOS BY CHRIS IVEY
Sam and Carol
to the people liv-
Sobel also didn't
ing there were ob-
need much con-
vious.
vincing to donate a
Twenty min-
home to Kadima.
utes later, he de-
"I thought it was
cided to make a
a very worthwhile
gift to Kadima, a
cause, a cause that
Hebrew word that
really doesn't have
means "moving
enough communi-
forward." On Sun-
ty support because
day, the organiza-
it's really not
tion dedicated the
well understood.
house that he, his
There are so many
wife Ina and chil-
people with emo-
dren Erin and Jef-
tional and mental
frey donated in
problems who slip
the name of Pitt's
through the cracks
parents, Sara and Murray Pitt and his daughter Erin
and aren't being
Irving.
affix a mezuzah to the door of the
tended to," said Mr.
"I had heard newest Kadima home.
Sobel, who heads
about Kadima and
read a little bit about it. But see- Kadima's major gifts committee.
With their donations over the
ing is believing. I really knew a lit-
tle, but that's all that it takes," Pitt past few months, the Pitts, Sobels
said. "I realized there were so and Gloria Hamburger have
many people who have times in quadrupled Kadima's housing
their lives when things get rocky stock. The kosher homes will pro-
and they can't handle them, and vide long-term housing for 13 peo-
the last thing they should worry ple.
about is whether they have a roof
over their head. We tried to make HOME page 29

Detroit's Pittsburgh contingent is introduced at opening ceremonies at Carnegie-Mellon University.

Steel Action

Detroit's teen-age Maccabi athletes were tough competitors in
Pittsburgh this week.

LONNY GOLDSMITH STAFF WRITER

I

t was just past noon on
Sunday when three buses
rolled down Pittsburgh's
Forbes Avenue, carrying 101
athletes and their coaches,
bleary-eyed from the six-hour
trip from Detroit, to the Pitts-
burgh Jewish Community Cen-
ter.
The Pittsburgh games, one of
six regional Maccabi Games,
brought together more than 500
teen-age athletes from 17 Jew-
ish community centers across
the country, plus a team from
Pittsburgh's sister city of
Karmiel, Israel.
Through a driving rain on
Sunday evening, the athletes
proudly marched into Carnegie-
Mellon University Field for the
opening ceremonies.
"This is an Olympic-like at-
mosphere," said Lisa Schwartz,
a 16-year-old on the Detroit soc-
cer team in her third Maccabi
Games. 'I still get chills walking
into the stadium."
Swimmer David Brown was
looking forward to the start of
competition. "I can't wait to get

into the pool," the Maccabi rook-
ie said. "It's great being with the
whole group and getting to know
Jewish kids from all over the
country."
After the teens filed in and the
speeches concluded, the air was
filled with fireworks and "oohs"
and "oohs" from the rain-soaked
crowd.
Unfortunately for Detroit's 13-
14-year-old baseball team, the
rain postponed their opening
game of the tournament on Mon-
day.
"We have a good team," said
catcher Scott Duschinsky. "We
have a young team, but we're
here to have fun."
The 13-14 tennis and in-line
hockey teams also felt Mother
Nature's wrath on the first day
of the tournament. The boys and
girls tennis at Highland Park
tennis courts was moved indoors
to the Pittsburgh Racquet Club.
The hockey playing surface
dried as the sun and vacuums
came out to take care of the wa-
ter late Monday.
Once the tennis team got go-

ing, albeit an hour later than
planned, all went well for Eric
Megdall, Jason Rodnick, Danny
Matz and girls player Jamie
Royal.
Megdall went 4-1 on Monday,
losing only to one of the
players from Karmiel in a
tiebreaker. Matz's only
loss also was to an Israeli.
Rodnick, who went win-
less in his first day, then
started to show improve-
ment.
"Jason's the most inex-
perienced on the team, but LONNY GOLDSMITH STAFF WRITER
he's trying to get better,"
espite a valiant effort, Detroit
said coach Linda Okun.
dropped a heartbreaking two-
"After the matches were
and-a-half-hour, five-game
done, he was back on the
match to Baltimore in the gold
court working on his serve
medal
volleyball game at the Mac-
with another player."
Royal, the lone 13-14- cabi Games in Milwaukee.
Detroit, which trailed two games
year-old girl tennis player
from Detroit, split her first to none, rallied to tie the match with
a pair of 15-13 wins before falling in
two matches.
Detroit's 15-16-year-old the deciding game.
Earlier in the tournament, Detroit
players, Brad Jaffe, Jay
Frankel, Aaron Beitner lost to Baltimore for their only pre-
and Mark Frankel, were liminary round defeat.

Road Trip Success

Both Detroit and Ann Arbor brought home medals from
the Maccabi Games in Milwaukee.

D

ACTION page 28

Baltimore also got the better of
Detroit in 15-16-year-old baseball,
winning the gold medal game.
In 15-16 basketball, Detroit fell to
San Francisco in the championship
game, 63-47. Nate Kunzman led the
way in the final with nine points.
Detroit, which finished 3-2 in the
tournament with both losses com-
ing at the hands of the California
team, reached the final with a 66-60
win over Louisville. Doni Wohl led

SUCCESS page 24