Jewish Federation Apartments residents
treasure their community within a community.
LONNY GOLDSMITH Staff Writer
KRISTA HUSA Photographer
puter room. While there are
groups that meet to talk
about current events and
books, this is the only for-
mal class that Hechtman
offers.
With the group in place,
Sklar sits back and watches.
Doris Roby and Bertha Son-
shine help Dorothy Aaron
learn her way around the
computer.
"It helps if you have a
topic of interest that you can
search for on the Internet,"
says Roby, showing off the
array of Monet pictures she
found.
Aaron's assignment for the
next class is to bring in her
son's e-mail address.
"I love this because it's so
fascinating," Aaron says. "It
encompasses the whole
world."
The participants in the
class have set up their own e-
mail accounts, which allow
them to communicate regu-
larly with friends and rela-
tives online.
"I didn't think they'd be so
excited," Sklar says of her
students. "I had to start from
square one since many have
never used a computer
before, or even typed."
Friday, Feb. 27
Dancercise,
Teitel, 10:50 a.m.
Joan Williams and Mary
Weis lead the class of 10
women, who have not gath-
ered for three weeks. The ses-
sion, therefore, reviews dances
already learned.
The first is from Greece —
called "Miserlou." Williams
arranges her students as if they
are about to be photographed:
The shorter ones are in front;
their taller counterparts are in
back.
They move in a circle, clap-
ping their hands and shuffling
their feet to the music. As the
teacher, Williams breezes
through the dance, but it
takes a while for the partici-
pants to figure out when they
should be using their left foot
or their right, and when to
clap.
The second dance is
Israeli: "Zemer Atik." Rose
Schwartz and Selma Racklin
take a seat in the chairs that
line the dance floor. Both
are dizzy from running circles
and they give up for the
day.
Finally, a familiar dance:
the Hora.
"This began as an exercise
class, but we started dancing
recently," says Williams. The
students still do stretching for
exercise, which is fine with
Schwartz, who doesn't consid-
er dancing exercise.
Tsilya Gimelshteyn and Anna
Kausman serve Rachel Thomas at
Teitel's Beitel.
Teiters Beitel,
Teitel, 11:45 a.m.
As the clock approaches noon,
Tsilya Gimelshteyn and Anna Kaus-
man smile. The lunch-time frenzy is
coming to an end.
Teitel's Beitel, the resident-run store
at the Oak Park building, has been
open for a couple of years and
\;--)
Dorothy Aaron and Bertha Sonshine work on the Internet at
Hechtman's computer lab.
Gimelshteyn's been there from the
beginning.
"I like to help the residents," says
the Ukraine native, through translator
Larisa Kleschik. "I also try to make
conversation with them."
The store sells lunch goods such as
tuna, egg salad, cheese and peanut
butter and jelly sandwiches and bagels
and cream cheese, as well as grocery
items like milk, cottage cheese, orange
juice and eggs.
Gimelshteyn has the responsibility
of training Kausman, who's in her
fourth day of working at the store.
Internet Class,
Hechtman I, 2:35 p. m.
Hechtman I and II residents are
entering the computer age.
Laura Sklar, a social work student
at Wayne State University, teaches
class in Hechtman's small three-corn-
A Break In The Day,
Hechtman I, 3 p. m.
Pearl Gittelman takes
advantage of a wet and dreary
Friday afternoon to do some-
thing for others.
With crochet needles in hand,
Gittelman works on lap robes for
patients at Veterans and Children's
hospitals.
"I get yarn and material from the
veterans, and we make them," she
says. "But yarn is in short supply."
For the past two years, Gittelman
and a group she organized — including
Sarah Litvin, Dorothy Aaron, Ellen
Moss, Mercia Hoffman, Esther Caplan,
3/27
1998
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