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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.