* GREiND CON TINENTAL EXECL I SIVES* NOW AT SOUTHFIELD COMMONS 29209 SOUTHFIELD ROAD (BETWEEN 12 AND 13 MILE) NEAR THE HOUSE OF WATCHBANDS FORMERLY AT TEL 12 IN SOUTHFIELD, SOMERSET MALL IN TROY and Crosswinds Mall in West Bloomfield... 30 Years in the Business Gifts • Rrmani • Collectibles • Figurines • Crystal • Paintings • China 40% Off In-Stock Waterford Stemware • Lladro • 25% Off Baccarat GRAND OPENING SPECIAL 25% OFF EDNA HIBEL AND MORE •■■ , 1 1 ' . LARGE SELECTION OF JUDAICA Breaking Down The Wall We have something for everyone's taste and something for everyone's budget. 248-569-8255 EDITH KLEIN BERMAN MON - SAT 10-6 Joanie Berger is a "rally-going, Birkenstock-wearing," Federation insider — and she's recruiting. (with ad) DurAMER JULIE WIENER STAFF WR!TER roc. THE AREA'S LARGEST IN STOCK SELECTION WITH GUARANTEED BEST PRICE! GLIDERSFRom '168.00 ROCKERS FROM $98.00 excluding kids and cushions ECIAOS 21325 Telegraph 3337 Auburn Rd. (Between 8 & 9 Mile) 36539 Gratiot Ave. (Between Adams & Squirrel) - Southfield 948-1060 (South of 16 Mile) Mt. Clemens 790-3065 Auburn Hills 853-7440 E-Z Makes Your Life Easy. Our Exclusive Service Offers: • Home Space Planning • Packing • • Unpacking • Deluxe Move Packages • "Everything In Place The Day You Move" Ruth Schwartz ASID - IFDA House To House • EZ Move (810) 352-2264 Professional Interior Designer, 30 years' experience Space & Home Planner Call for a detailed brochure! 48 Originals & limited Editions Call: Marilyn Rosenfeld 248- 851-5499 Joanie Berger: Over the "wall" and on a crusade. en years ago, a career in the Jewish community was probably the last thing on Joanie Berger's mind. Growing up in suburban Cleveland, Berger attended a Re- form religious school but didn't get much out of it. "I call it TV dinner religious education because it was sup- posed to be nutritious but it barely tastes like anything and you just shove it down," she re- calls. As a college student at the University of Michigan, she tried Hillel but found it cliquey, feel- ing like people there "only reached out to me when they wanted money." Now 29, Berger is the senior staff associate, community out- reach and education at the Jew- ish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit. How did she make the switch from outsider to insider? In college, inspired by friends who were more Jewishly in- volved, Berger began reading up on Judaism. After working for two years at D.C. Cares, a non- profit volunteer effort in Wash- ington, she headed back to Ann Arbor — where she still lives — to pursue a master's degree in business and social work. Then she started talking to people enrolled in Project STaR, U-M's graduate program in Jew- ish communal service. "All of a sudden, I thought I could do all of this, and maybe Project STaR is the way for me to get inside this big, heavy wall in the Jewish community and break down the wall so people can come in," she recalls. While she's become more knowledgeable and more famil- iar with Jewish ritual, Berger does not consider herself more religious than before. "It's not that I'm a more ob- servant Jew in terms of religious practice, but I'm more observant in terms of observing all that's going around me," she explains. "Not just saying the words, but really looking into them, think- ing 'Do I believe it? Do I not? why not?' The real meaning of the word observant." Berger's job involves coordi- nating and managing volun- teers, staffing the New Leaders program and working with the finance department to help Fed- eration agencies share ideas and avert fiscal crises. It's a lot of long days crammed with meet- ings and phone calls. "I think one day I'm going to find that I can't take the phone away from my ear, that it's actually con- nected," she laughs. Although she loves her work, Berger says sometimes she gets frustrated, because it leaves lit- tle time for doing her own vol- unteering. She also misses being exposed to the ethnic and reli- gious diversity outside the Jew- ish community. But in those few hours that she's not on duty, you'll find Berger hanging out with friends, attending services at the Ann Arbor Reconstructionist Havu- rah or unwinding in the com- munity plot where she does organic gardening. "People imagine [Federation] work for people who are very conservative, and I'm far from that," she says. "I'm a vegetari- an, rally-going, Birkenstock- wearing person, and I believe in social change, social action, boy- cotting whoever's on my list ... But there is a place in the very organized, very old, very tradi- tional part of the Jewish corn- munity for people like that. Because if we don't get involved, then we can't make change." By change, Berger means greater accessibility to the Jew- ish community for people who are low-income, on the fringes or intimidated by Judaism. And the longer she's an "insider," the more she must remind herself of the people who need to be wel- comed in. "Sometimes it feels so natural to be part of the community that I have to remind myself how it felt for me to be outside," she says. Which is why Berg- er likes to share her story with others, to tell them that her own level of comfort with the Jewish community came gradually, and with considerable learning tak- en on as an adult. "I grew up thinking that your last name was going to deter- mine how you could get involved ... And you know what? A lot of that is still true, but it's not all true. If you don't have a lot of money and you don't know where the Jewish community fits in your life, it doesn't mean don't get involved — and it doesn't mean you're not a val- ued person." Sharing her learning story. ❑ (_ /