Darren Spilman
Darren, 24, who grew up Conserva-
tive in Farmington Hills, did not get
very involved in Judaism until college.
He graduated from the University of
Michigan and now works as sales and
marketing manager for Metropolitan
Alloys Corp.
Although he has become more obsdr-
vant than he was in his childhood years,
he refuses to classify himself in a move-
ment. "I consider myself to be a very
traditional Jew," says Darren. "I look at
Judaism as something that, at whatever
stage you are, you learn more through-
out your life and you adapt what you
learn to your life."
He spent a year volunteering in Israel
through Project Otzma and now serves
on the local Otzma board. He plans to
return to Israel in the Ell for at least one
semester, to study at Machon Pardes, a
co-ed modern Orthodox yeshiva that he
describes as liberal, progressive, intellec-
tual and has an emphasis on Torah
study.
"I feel very emotional about
Judaism," says Darren. "It was a sense
that I felt ever since I was very young,
even before I became observant in any
way, talking to my grandparents, seeing
how devoted my grandmother is to her
Judaism, how excited she is about it.
"She'd recite to me the first line of
Bereshit, she'd be almost crying. When-
ever I ran into another Jewish person, I
felt a connection, believed there had to
be something behind that connection,
there had to be some kind of spiritual
energy shared by all Jews.
"Everything Judaism has — Israel,
our cultural system, the achievements
we've made — so much of it is based on
the Jewish religion.
He became observant out of a "desire
for something more than just the goals
of secular society, which I see as being
financial wealth and individual fulfill-
ment." He yearned for "internal wealth
and a strong family."

What does spirituality mean to you?
"Spirituality is the deep-rooted con-
nection between the daily rush of life
and our connection to the eternal. It's
the ability to elevate our day-to-day
lives, to concentrate on tasks that, again,
go beyond the day-to-day."

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1998

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What does God mean to you?
"God for me exists not only in the
obvious beauty of life — such as the
wonderful smell of a flower or the
incredible love that one can have for
family — but also in the unexplainable,
such as our own mortality and the
thought that time will go on without
us.''

What does Judaism mean to you?
"Judaism is first and foremost a reli-
gious commitment that not only links
my daily life with God, but also adds
meaning to my daily life through God.
It's a structure that I was born into. It's a
nation that I am ethnically, morally and
philosophically connected to. And it's a
shared sense of history that has provided
one of the greatest moral foundations of
this world.
"Israel is absolutely central to my
concept of being a Jew. It's the only
country which is specifically set aside
historically for the Jews."

How does it fit into your life?
"I aim to achieve two goals as far as
Judaism and spirituality and God go: on
the personal level and communally.
"I pray every day, and through prayer,
I hope to add a sense of meaning and
freshness to that which I do every day.

By saying a prayer over a piece of fruit,
I'm consciously aware of everything that
has gone into that piece of fruit. If I
pray for the health of my family, every
action I do that follows that, my family
is first and foremost in my mind.
"I do a lot of meditation. Meditation
is recorded back to the earliest history of
Judaism, pre-rabbinic."
"I learn every Tuesday night in a chu-
mash class at Ohel Moed of Shomrey
Emunah, led by the Jewish Learning
Experience of West Bloomfield. Prayer,
meditation and an intellectual learning
stimulation, all of those things help me
maintain a balance in life, and a fresh-
ness and newness.
"The communal aspect would be
group Shabbat dinners, activities like
Rekindling Shabbat, belonging to a Jew-
ish congregation — I belong to Adat
Shalom — and I'm also part of a lot of
Jewish groups, such as AIPAC, Otzma. I
like being involved in Jewish groups,
secular and religious, pro-Israel, being
around Jewish people, engaging in Jew-
ish discussions."

Danielle Kuffler
A Bloomfield Hills resident,
Danielle, age 25, plans to relocate to
New York in the fall, to pursue a career
as a children's TV producer. She grew

Photo by Krista Husa

my life and my profession which is so
demanding.
"My spirituality colors everything I
say, do, think, so to not have that fully
developed in your life is frustrating
because it has everything to do with
every waking moment of your life."

up at the Humanistic Birmingham
Temple but has decided that she fits
more into Reform belief and practice.
Danielle taught fifth-grade Sunday
school this year at Temple Shir Shalom.
Her students called her "Miss D."

What does spirituality mean to you?
"I grew up in a Humanistic temple,
and went to JPI, the Jewish Parents
Institute. I have a deeper sense of spiri-
tuality, though. I'm a great believer in
that things happen for a reason — I'm
into fate.
"My spirituality is that when I walk
in a room, I can pick up all of the nega-
tive vibes and all of the positive vibes,
and I tend to sway towards more of the
people who need help.
"The people that grasp onto me are
usually interested in me because they
need things from me. I don't mind
because I understand that they need
support, a friend, someone to listen to
them."

What does God mean to you?
"God is something that is real per-
sonal. God binds all people, not just
Jewish people but all people, to a task of
being good. God keeps my faith togeth-
er with all other Jewish people but also
keeps future generations of our people
together. I have personal conversations
with God."

What does Judaism mean to you?
"Judaism is the law, it's part of our
° holy land, it's the cycle of the year, it's
prayer, it's sin and atonement, it's the
nature of man, it's the purpose of our
creation."

Wendy Starman

Adam Chalom

How does it fit into your life?
"I fit Judaism into my life because I
think Judaism has a lot of different
dimensions — its a lot more than just
the religion, it's a way of life for me.
Whenever I get the chance, I like to vol-
unteer.
"Teaching taught me so much about
me. I had to learn all the lessons that
they were learning. It had a lot to do
with the way I felt towards being Jew-
ish. I hadn't been to temple in a while,
I'd been around Jewish people.
"I felt like I was looking for so long
for a place that I felt comfortable and
for information I could digest. One of
my kids' families invited me to a Shab-
bat dinner." She had celebrated Shabbat
at Camp Tamarack and in Israel, but
had never gone with another family and
seen how important it was for kids.
"Once I saw that, I realized that is
SPIRITUALITY on page 82