rout
You've
Got Our
Number
If you've ever worried
about an aging parent, or
needed services for your-
self, you'll want to keep
this phone number close
at hand.
For information, referral
and access to services for
older adults, call
ye- aid
ElderLink
Sponsored by the
Commission on Jewish Eldercare
Services of the Jewish Federation of
Metropolitan Detroit.
MiCHAEL A, Jo M"
PHOTOGRAPHY
Certified Professional Photographer
Specializing
In
Weddings
Bar/Bat Mitzvahs
And Fine Celebrations
BIRMINGHAM, MICHIGAN
(248) 647-5060
"The Difference IS The Difference!"
U Choose It!
20% Off
one in stock item of your
choice thru Jan. 17, 1998
One item per person per day.
Limited list of items are excluded.
DOLL HOUSES • MINIATURES •
TRAINS • CRAFTS • PLAYMOBIL
• BRIO • DOLLS • SCIENCE •
BIRTHDAY PARTY GIFT IDEAS
3947 W. 12 Mile
Berkley
(248) 543-3115
1 / 1 6
1998
26
TOYNiZ
(Conveniently located near 1-696)
Mon.-Sat. 10-5:30 Fri. 10-8
Par Excellence
The National Co-uncil of Young Israel chooses Oak Park
as its best branch synagogue.
which has 147 U.S. branches and 54
in Israel, was created 86 years ago "at
Staff Writer
a time when Orthodoxy was on a
decline, when people had to take jobs
he building sits back from
on Shabbos because they had no
10 Mile Road, looking a
choice but to do so. Young Israel
bit forlorn and due for an
started employment bureaus to find
update. But inside, it's
jobs
where they wouldn't need to
another story.
work
on Shabbos," Tirschwell says.
Young Israel-Oak Park has won
In an effort to thwart assimilation,
the branch of the year award from
Young Israel shuls gave sermons in
the National Council of Young Israel,
English instead of Yiddish.
the first time the accolade has been
Tirschwell says part of YIOP's
given.
excellence
comes from the way it
"It means that we've been recog-
handled
the
merger between Young
nized for being activist in our out-
Israel-Oak Woods
and Young Israel-
Greenfield. Green-
berg agrees.
"The last cou-
ple of years and
the next couple of
years promise to
be particularly
important. We
merged ... and we
are building, so
that, combined
with all the activi-
ties that Rabbi
[Steven] Weil is
involved with, has
made us what we
Young Israel-Oak Park: award-winning, on a national level.
feel is an exciting
place to be," he
says.
reach, for being exciting in our activi-
He also credits the shul's growth to
ties and for thinking about and inter-
the
presence of Rabbi Weil, who has
acting with the community around
us," says Joseph Greenbelt, president
of YI0P, the largest Orthodox con-
gregation in the state.
The National Council of Young
Israel created the award to highlight
"what the Young Israel movement
needs," according to Rabbi Aaron
Tirschwell, director of synagogue ser-
vices for NCYI. "Young Israel of Oak
Park is the prototype Young Israel by
the fact that it has grown in the com-
munity and has been a source of Jew-
led the burgeoning congregation for
ish pride to the community. This is a
3 1/2 years, and "the foresight" of
synagogue that's open to the entire
past president Dr. Steven Tennen-
community, by the fact that its rabbi
berg.
and its leadership are so open to pro-
"We've made it very clear to Rabbi
moting Jewishness, not only among
Weil
in our recent [three-year] con-
[synagogue] members, but certainly
tract
that
we've signed with him that
throughout the community."
we
value
him and we look for him to
The Young Israel movement,
LYNNE MEREDITH COHN
T
Cited for
activism in
outreach.
stay with us for many years," he adds.
Rabbi Weil says the award is
indicative of "the large amount of
involvement in the congregation. The
fact that there are so many people
involved in so many different aspects
of this congregation enables us to do
a numerous variety of programs, both
educational and social, which relate
to all ages."
Says Greenberg, "We're trying to
build from the inside out, as well as •—\
the outside in. Not just the body, but
the mind, the neshama (soul)."
NCYI also has awarded YIOP
members Ruvi and Shelley Singal the
national Shofar award, in recognition
of Mr. Singal's service as YIOP's
takiya (shofar blower), and the cou-
ple's commitment to the shul. Mr.
Singal is currently chairman of the
board.
"It's because of people like him
that are involved with the shul, that
we are getting this award," Greenberg
says. "We have a lot of people like
that."
❑
Corrections
Eilu v' Eilu classes are co-spon-
sored by Congregation B'nai
Moshe, Hillel Day School, Con-
gregation Beth Abraham Hillel
Moses and Congregation Beth
Shalom with Michigan Branch of
the Women's League for Conserv-
ative Judaism.
The correct address for the Jew-
ish Web site developed by Bernard
and Idit Nadel is www.michi-
ganet.com.
An article last week on the
search for locations for two kosher
restaurants inadvertently omitted
four kosher establishments: Bagels
Plus, New York Pizza World, Sun-
shine Bakery and Ray's Ice Cream.
The lecture by Professor Scott
Spector, sponsored by the Cohn-
Haddow Center for Judaic Stud-
ies, will take place 7:30 p.m.
Thursday, Jan. 22, at St. Ives
Church, 29350 Lahser in South-
field.