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An era was buried along with the longtime 'Torah reader
at Congregation Irnai Moshe.

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LYNNE MEREDITH COHN

Staff Writer

I

says Marc Sussman, ritual committee
chair. "Mr. Rabinovitz was the
Energizer bunny — he just kept going
and going."
The high number of Torah readers
among B'nai Moshe's membership is
"far too unusual," Sussman says, as
most Conservative congregations
retain paid Torah readers:
Steven Rabinovitz, son of the late
ba'al koreh and immediate past presi-
dent of B'nai Moshe, also reads on the
bimah.
"People are filling in, but it's noth-

ing age, his son says, but no one
addressed the issue.
In the last year, "we started to
address it ... because after my mother
passed away, his heart started giving
out, and there were a few weeks that
he couldn't come in," he says.
On Yom Kippur, the senior
Rabinovitz read psukei d'zimros,
shacharit, the Torah and mincha,
while fasting the entire day. This year,
Len Wanetik, who regularly partici-
pates in services, led Yom Kippur min-
cha.

t has been four months since
Avram Rabinovitz died,'and
Congregation B'nai Iyfoshe is
still regaining its balance.
1
For 41 years, B'nai Moshe paid
Rabinovitz to read Torah, and now its
clergy are searching for people who
can read part of the weekly parsha.
Volunteers will have to do.
"A lot of people are interested and
willing
to davit, just not fii11 time,"
CASUAL FURNISHINGS
says Cantar'Earl Berris.
"They are willing to take
on small portions on a reg-
ular basis. But large por-
tions, full time —that's
hard to find."
Readers, male and
female, range from post
/bar/bat mitzvah to a man
in his 70s. About 20 volun-
teers are reading, but not
weekly; the most often is
every other week, and most
read once a month.
6465 Dixie Hwy., Clarkston
Berris has scheduled
readers until the High
• 625-3312 •
Holidays. If someone can't
make it, he or Rabbi Elliot
Pachter will stand in.
"It's a very difficult role
to find on a professional
basis," says Berris. "It has
been for a generation or
more. It's a skill that is
slowly going by the way-
side. It's difficult, it's time-
consuming preparation,
memory-intensive."
On the bimah: Avram, Steven and Michelle Rabinovitz.
B'nai Moshe reads the
entire Torah in one year,
ing new at B'nai Moshe because we've
rather than spreading it out over three,
been doing that for years," he says.
as some shuls do, Berris says. That
During the shul's transition from Oak
OrAfe rVV.TF ATZWM.,,z/vw 7,:ermi5w-rrglry-A
means longer, more complex portions
Park to West Bloomfield, members led
every week.
0 1
various
parts of the service — except
To increase the number of readers
Torah
reading.
— ideally by 15, Berris says — B'nai
"We're trying to involve the youth
Moshe has opened an adult Torah
as much as possible," Rabinovitz says.
reading class to anyone who wants to
"It really enhances the congregation
EUROPEAN COLLECTIONS
learn to lein. The class began Monday
by
having the membership partici-
and meets every week for two months.
\VEST BLOOMFIELD (248) 626-3362
pate."
. Berris also trains readers individually.
SOUTHFIELD (248) 559-7818
Meeting minutes from about a
"People don't realize how difficult it
decade
ago show that the congregation
is to read Torah unless they do it,"
CLASSIFIEDS
Dort
was cognizant of Rabinovitz's advanc-

www.classicphcrtography.coti ,

0
0

.

jrN

JEWISH NEWS

1/16
1998

18

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"He wrote a very moving piece
about how he realized how much we
really missed my father," Rabinovitz
says. "It increased his respect for the
endurance that my father displayed in
being able to accomplish that up until
the age of 90."
The motivation behind the elder
Rabinovitz's commitment? "He had a
sense of obligation, and he would
never let anybody down. When he
committed to doing something, he
would just do it," his son says. 0

