so genuine that you would never
believe this is something he just
learned," said Irving Skolnik, who was
Patinkin's Hebrew school principal in
Chicago.
As a child Patinkin stood out — as
a talented singer and, as he recalls it,
something of a troublemaker who
spent a lot of time in the principal's
office.
He was a soloist with the children's
choir at his Conservative congrega-
tion.
"The music, the holidays, junior
congregation appealed to him because
it involved davening," or praying,
Skolnik recalled. "That was the thing
that really turned him on.
As a teen-ager he went to Jewish
camp. But in college, Patinkin said, he
had "no Jewish life" at the University
of Kansas.
"My Judaism came back to me in a
rush when I met my wife," he said,
referring to Kathryn Grody, an author
and actress.
"When I met her I just loved her,
and that had never happened before.
My feelings were so full. I started
saying the Shema once a day. It was
always in my head. And then the
kids were born." Patinkin and Grody
have two boys — Isaac is 15 and
Gideon is 11.
At that point, he said, "I often
increased the prayers. Before I die, I
will write down what I pray so my
kids can have my prayer book."
The Jewish life Patinkin and Grody
have with their kids is home-based.
They don't go to synagogue much
anymore, he said, even on the High
Holidays, though they pay dues to a
neighborhood Conservative syna-
gogue.
"Every theater I'm in is a synagogue
— it's the place where I feel in touch
with God and humanity" Patinkin said.
They sent their older son to a
Jewish day school through second
grade, but found that the formality of
the rules he was being taught, includ-
ing kashrut, didn't jive with how they
live. They moved him to a private
school with no religious affiliation.
Instead of attending Hebrew
school, both of their boys have had
private Hebrew tutors — and the
older one became a bar mitzvah as the
younger will be in a couple of years.
Patinkin often takes his older son,
who loves nature, camping. One day,
when they were backpacking in the
mountains, they got lost.
Frightened, Isaac began reciting the
Shema.

"

"That was nice," Patinkin said. "I
want to pass it on."

— Debra Nussbaum Cohen

MUSIC FOR MAX

The family of industrialist and phil-
anthropist Max Fisher — in honor of
his 90th birthday and the 50th
anniversary of Israel — commissioned
a symphonic piece by Yale University
composer and professor Ezra
Laderman.
The university hosted the world
premiere of that piece, Yisrael, on May
2, when it was performed by the Yale
Philharmonic under the baton of
Lawrence Leighton Smith. It will be
made available to public radio stations
across the country.
A symphony in three movements,
Yisrael was planned to be melodic,
accessible and highly personal with
echoes of traditional Jewish folk and
liturgical music.
"The piece reaches an incredibly
powerful level," said Laderman, who
was commissioned by CBS-TV in
1973 to compose music celebrating
Israel's 25th anniversary. That was pre-
miered by the Jerusalem Symphony
Orchestra and broadcast throughout
the world.
"I've been to Israel at least 20
times, and I love the country and
what it stands for," said Laderman,
whose music also has been performed
by the Detroit Symphony Orchestra.
"My whole background is oriented
toward Israel. My father was a rabbi in
Poland and
spent the last
10 years of his
life as director
of Histadrut in
the United
States. My
mother knew
David Ben-
Gurion."
The Fisher
family picked
Max Fisher
Yale for this
honor because
of Max Fisher's
association with
two Yale gradu-
ates, according
to Rabbi James
Ponet, the
Jewish chaplain
at the universi-
tY.
Rabbi
Herbert
Ezra Laderman
Friedman, a

1938 graduate, was executive director
of the national United Jewish Appeal
in 1967, when Fisher was national
chairman. Peter Cummings, Fisher's
son-in-law, graduated in 1968.
Fisher also has contributed money
for the Center for Jewish Life at Yale.
"We are delighted that the
Laderman concert stands as the cen-
terpiece of Yale's salute to Israel at 50,"
Rabbi Ponet said. "Israel says to the
world, 'It's never too late to begin
again.'"
Laderman was dean of the Yale
School of Music from 1989 to 1995
and has served as president of both the
American Music Center and the
National Music Council. In addition,
he has been chair of the Composer-
Librettist Program of the National
Endowment for the Arts and director
of its music program.
A recipient of three Guggenheim fel-
lowships as well as the Prix de Rome,
Laderman was elected to the American
Academy of Arts and Letters in 1991.

— Suzanne Chessler

A STERN REPRIMAND

Radio shock jock Howard Stern,
who often claims to be "half-

Jewish," has accused filmmaker
Spike_Lee of "hatemongering." The
filmmaker, according to a report in
New York's Jewish Week, blamed the
Jews for his loss of this year's
Academy Award for Best
Documentary Feature.
Lee's Four Little Girls, about the
1960s bombing of an Alabama
church that resulted in the death of
four young black children, was beat-
en out by The Long Way Home, pro-
duced by the movie-making arm of
the Simon Weisenthal Center under
the tutelage of Rabbi Marvin Hier.
... when I saw the list of nomi-
nations ... and then saw one of the
films was a Holocaust film, I knew
it was over. And then when I saw
one of the producers was a rabbi,
then I definitely knew it was double
over," said Lee in a taped press con-
ference played by Stern on his morn-
ing radio show (airing on 97.1 in
Detroit).
"I guess all the people who voted
for the Academy Awards are Jews,"
mocked Stern. "Is it possible the
Holocaust movie was any good?"

— Gail Zimmerman