P.I.M.E. Missionaries
Invites you to attend the
1998
Knights of Charity
Award Dinner
To benefit
areas of service
street children
around the
in P.I.M.E.'s
globe.
honoring
Next Stop: Detroit
The Sephardic Community of Greater Detroit
taps a peripatetic rabbi
to serve as its first official spiritual leader.
JULIE WIENER
StqlfWriter
R
Eli Brown, M.D.
Harold Samhat
Patrick Villani, M.D.
Tuesday, October 6, 1998 • Penna's of Sterling
38400 Van Dyke, Sterling Heights
Cocktails at 6:00 p.m. - Dinner at 7:30 p.m.
Master of Ceremonies
Baseball Hall
of Famer
Tommy Lasorda
For tickets and information contact:
Barbara Rubaie • PIME Missionaries
17330 Quincy St. • Detroit, Ml 48221
(313) 342-4066
$150.00
per person
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Wedding Photojournalist
.
some people take pictures. l tell stories
9/11
1998
20 Detroit Jewish News
216101 W. Warren Avenue, Dearborn Mts. 48127
313-271-7102 • E Mail PKubek@ AOLCOM
-
abbi Hanoch Gez moves
quickly.
A week after the 81-
year-old Sephardic
Community of Greater Detroit offered
him a job as its first rabbi, he and his
family — wife Naomi, two daughters
and two sons — packed up their
belongings, moved halfway across the
country and were ready to start their
new lives.
But Rabbi and Mrs. Gez, both
Israelis, shrug off the praise for their
speedy packing. Having lived in
Venezuela, Argentina and — most
recently — Houston, the family is
accustomed to a life on the go. In fact,
when they moved to Houston, they
spent four consecutive Shabbats in dif-
ferent countries: Argentina, France
(Mrs. Gez has family there), Israel and
the United States.
"Every place in the world, Shabbat
is Shabbat," said Mrs. Gez, who is a
Hebrew teacher. "It was summer in
Argentina and winter in France, but
we had the same siddur (prayerbook)
and were on the same Torah portion,
so the children felt secure."
In South America, Rabbi Gez per-
formed rabbinic functions as a com-
munity shaliach sent by the Jewish
Agency.
In addition to their interest in the
Sephardic Community of Greater
Detroit, Rabbi and Mrs. Gez were
eager to move to Detroit because of
the area's Orthodox day schools. This
week, the two sons enrolled in Yeshiva
Beth Yehudah and the two daughters
enrolled in Sally Allan Alexander Beth
Jacob School for Girls. In Houston,
where Rabbi Gez led a 150-member
Sephardic congregation called Beit
Ramban, there were fewer educational
options for their children.
The offer from the Sephardic
Community of Greater Detroit came
fast on the heels of Rabbi Gez's recent
interview visit to Detroit.
"We brought him in for an inter-
view and everyone liked him, so we
called him back right away, said we
were willing to hire him and he gave
the okay," said Eli Shalom, the con-
gregation's vice president. "Altogether,
it took about a week."
The quick decision followed a
lengthy search: the congregation had
been looking for a rabbi since its can-
tor, Sasson Natan, announced last year
that he would be moving to Chicago.
The Gez family is now living in
Natan's old house in Southfield and
will be moving to West Bloomfield
when the congregation's new syna-
gogue building — its first — goes up
next year.
The rabbinate is a family tradition
for Rabbi Gez, 36, who recalls hearing
Rabbi Hanoch Gez, with his wife
Naomi.
stories about his grandfather, a rabbi
in Tunisia.
"On his way home from synagogue,
the women would be waiting for him
holding their chickens outside their
houses, and he'd do the shechita (ritual
slaughter) for them right there," he said.
Rabbi Gez, like other Sephardic
rabbis, is trained as a shochet and a
mohel. But for now, he plans on serv-
ing in the role of a traditional spiritual
leader.
Through leading services, teaching
classes, answering questions, counsel-
ing and officiating at life-cycle events,
he hopes to strengthen and build the
local Sephardic community.
"The people here are very nice and
have a lot of honor and respect for
Judaism," said Rabbi Gez. "The basics
exist: now w e'll see what else we can
do."
❑