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 STEVE BROWN'S Visit Our Showroom FIREPLACE & BARBEQUE DIST. IMICHIGAN • S PREMIERE FIREPLACE & B BQ SHOWROOM • Custom Mantels • Granite & Marble • Glass Doors • Gas Logs Master Card In The Warehouse Dislrict A 1 • Gas Grills 10662 Northend Oak Park, Michigan HOURS: Mon.-Fri. 7:30 am to aoo pm Sat. 8:30 am to 3:00 pm. or by Appointment (248) 547-6777 VISIT OUR DESIGN CENTER AND SHOWROOM RECOMMENDED BY MICHIGAN'S TOP ARCHITECTS, DESIGNERS & BUILDERS Paul Kuba 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." ❑