Important
Lessons

For Steven Baum,
increased obligations
don't start
and end with his
bar mitzvah.

Steven Baum:
Tzedakah is "not too
hard"

LISA BRODY

Special to The Jewish News

CI

n Saturday, Steven Baum
will follow in the footsteps
of his father, and his father
before him, to become a bar
mitzvah at Congregation Beth
Shalom.
Steven, a seventh grader at Hillel
Day School, is the second of four chil-
dren of Denise-and Elliott Baum of
Franklin. He is also the grandson of
Leah and the late Fred Baum and Ray
Davis.
For the Baum family, Steven's bar
mitzvah is a moving experience. "It's
something we have looked forward to
for a long time," says Elliott. "It
means he will be reaching a new level
of responsibilities as a Jew. He is ready
for the challenge."
Besides intensive training for his
bar mitzvah (Steven is most worried
about how he will do on his Torah

portion), he performed several
mitzvah projects as part of accept-
ing these new responsibilities. He
spent six to eight hours at Yad Ezra,
putting together food packages and
moving food and non-perishables
around the kosher food pantry's
warehouse.
"I like helping them. Sometimes
there are people in there when I am
helping, and I feel bad for them,"
Steven says. "My working there helps
them get some food."
Steven follows in his parents' foot-
steps when it comes to mitzvah.work.
Last year, Elliott donated a Torah to
Hillel Day School in memory of his
father and Elliott's friend from Hillel,
the late Jimmy Caplan, who died a
few years ago.
"It is something that will outlast
myself, and something that taught
the students there, and was mean-
ingful to our family and to the stu-
dents," says Elliott.

The Baums, along with Howard
and Robin Schwartz, underwrite a
program through the Daniel Sobel
Friendship Circle that allows devel-
opmentally and physically chal-
lenged Jewish children to meet every
other Sunday at the Kahn Jewish
Community Center in West Bloom-
field. The children enjoy special hol-
iday programming, swimming, art
and other activities. "It's a great
opportunity to interact with other
kids, many of whom never get to get
out and socialize otherwise," says
Denise Baum.
Steven has begun helping those
youngsters through a boys' volunteer
group begun by the Daniel Sobel

Friendship
Circle. An all-
girls group has
been operating for a
while, and Steven is
among the first volunteers
with the boys' group. While the
mitzvah requirements for his bar mitz-
vah have been completed, he is just
beginning in his commitment to help-
ing these children.
"I like working with the kids," says
Steven. "They're fun to be with.
They're like normal kids, just a little
different. But everyone's a little differ-
ent, so it's not too hard."
Elliott Baum hopes he is impart-
ing a family lesson to his son. "I
learned from my father to be active
in the Jewish community, to give
tzedakah (charity), and to leave this
earth a better place than when we
got here," says Elliott. "I hope he
learns that from me." ❑

11/20
1998

Detroit Jewish News

65