WHAT DID MESE PEOPLE I DO TO ACHIEVE A HEAL MONGER 1, I Y? THE NEW YORK CITY BALLET SAN FRANCISCO BALLET MARTHA GRAHAM COMPANY SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS CINCINNATI BENGALS CAST OF "MISS SAIGON" MARTINA NAVRATILOVA CHRIS EVERT KRISTI YAMAGUCHI GREGORY PECK BILL MURRAY NORMA KAMALI CANDICE BERGEN JASMINE GUY ALI MACGRAW LOU GOSSET, JR. STUART BORMAN SHARON STONE MADONNA UMA THURMOND JULIA ROBERTS KATHERINE HEPBURN SIGOURNAY WEAVER GLENN CLOSE JODI FOSTER BEBE NEUWIRTH-- OLYMPIA DUKAKIS THE EAGLES MICHELLE HICKS DYAN CANNON BARBARA STREISAND SHALOM HARLOW AMBER VALLENTA STELLA TENNANT NOW OPEN 6405 Telegraph In the Bloomfield Medical Villa Bldg. G, 1 Block North of Ma Call today for your Free Introduction to Pilates 248-723-6500 Private instruction and small classes in the methods of: 4/3 1998 16 • Pilates • Callanetics • T'ai Chi • Feldenkrais • Yoga • Physioball • NIA (Answer: Pilates) Reconnecting Women join Jewish Women International for advocacy, issues and LYNNE MEREDITH COHN Staff Writer he name has changed, but the goals are the same. Jewish Women International, formerly B'nai B'rith Women, has operated independently since 1962, but official- ly broke from B'nai B'rith International about three years ago. The final break had to do with finan- cial independence, says Gail Rubinson, executive director of the Washington-based group. JWI decided not to pay dues to continue member- ship in BBI. About 2,500 women in Detroit affiliate with JWI, "a fairly good-sized population," according to regional director Robin Winner. Chicago, New York and Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., have the largest JWI memberships. still maintains solid ties with B naiirrith offshoots Hillel, the Anti- Defamation League and B'nai B'rith Youth Organization, but relations with - B'nai B'rith International are still strained due to the breakup, Rubinson says. Elana Shelef, Detroit's paid project coordinator, said, "We've changed our name, but we're the same organization that your mother or your grandmoth- er belonged to." For 14 years, one of the group's pri- orities has been domestic violence. "One of our members was killed by her husband, and since then, our organization has chosen to focus on this area," said Rubinson. That includes working with shelters and publishing a rabbi's guide for handling domestic violence. The group also supports a residen- tial treatment center in Israel. "It's become a training center for therapists around the world because [it's] so successful at reintegrating seri- ously disturbed children back into society," Shelef said. Some JWI Detroit chapters have a specific focus, like the Mitzvah Chapter, comprised mostly of young mothers. At 90, Detroit's oldest JWI member, Irene Rodman, belongs to the mostly senior citizen Marshall Israel Brandeis chapter, which was created from the merger of three chapters. 7 At age 90, Irene Rodman is the oldest Detroit-area member of JWI. "Our chapter has a membership of over 500, [but] they have trouble get- ting leadership," Rodman said. "The only reason they have so many mem- bers is because they have diversified groups — mahjj club, book club, sewing club, bowling. The older women have trouble keeping their chapters viable because younger women will not join with us; they go for younger chapters, with younger women. We want to get them in, that's the future, and the older chap- ters are holding on for dear life." Shelef admits that, like other Jewish women's groups, JWI has an "aging population." And, it must compete with the National Council of Jewish Women, Na'amat, Hadassah and other Jewish women's groups that are vying for member- ship. In fact, she was hired part-time to plan community-wide programs to entice new members. Still, membership in Detroit has stayed steady, Shelef said. "In a way, we have to recreate our identity in the community because we changed our 4 4