East Side Jews don't want to be forgotten by the larger West Side community U .-0 Phoco by Karen Feldman 0 0 Above: Rabbi Nicholas Behrmann and GPJC co-founder JeffWeingarten. Left: Wendy Neuman, a Hebrew school teacher, explains Purim at a party at the Unitarian church in Grosse Pointe. a LONNY GOLDSMITH Staff Writer rosse Pointe's Jewish com- munity came together 11 years ago when newcomers to town hosted a Chanukah party for 123 others in their living room. Now, the Grosse Pointe Jewish Council begins its ninth year, dispelling the longstand- ing myth that Jews aren't welcome and don't live in the affluent East Side community. "I've lived here 15 years and it's not hard to be Jewish and I've never found Grosse Pointe unwelcoming," said Doug Camitta, immediate past president of the GPJC. "Those are all stereotypes. But, members said this week, they 3/12 1999 10 Detroit Jewish News wouldn't mind being a little bit more closely connected with the main core of Jews who live in southern Oakland County, particularly if that meant more accessible services from communal agencies. "We want to interact with the West Side, but would like them to come out here," Amy Moulton told a Town Hall meeting sponsored by the Jewish Community Council of Metropolitan Detroit and The Jewish News. "We are a big community." The March 4 meeting at the Grosse Pointe War Memorial drew 40 residents, a larger attendance than two previous meetings, in Commerce Township and Royal Oak, both of which are closer to the major Jewish population centers. Janet Braunstein, GPJC board sec- retary, noted that "geography is the big deal. We chose this area because it's a town and not a bedroom com- munity, but it doesn't mean we don't want to be a part of the bigger Jewish picture in Detroit." At the meeting and in subsequent interviews, Grosse Pointe residents noted they are 40-minute drives from the Jewish Community Centers in Oak Park and West Bloomfield. Most Jewish Grosse Pointers are Reform, but the nearest Reform con- gregation, Temple Emanu-El, is 20 miles away. According to Moulton, the presi- dent of the Grosse Pointe Jewish Council, 180 families are members of the GPJC, and the community is made up of natives, those new to the area and mixed-marriage families. Council members live in Detroit's Indian Village, Harper Woods, St. Clair Shores and Mt. Clemens, in addition to the Grosse Pointes. Distance has forced these East Siders to be innovative and a bit freewheeling, they said. Jeff Weingarten, who hosted the first Chanukah party with his wife Janet, said the first shofar blower for Rosh Hashanah services was chosen at the "boy's club" during a card game when one of the players men- tioned he had a shofar. The group's first ark for the Torah was built by hand by some of the members. Braunstein, a free-lance automo- tive writer who's lived in Grosse Pointe Park for six years, said she likes the element of being Jewish in a smaller community.