"We're all volunteers, so every-
one's effort matters," she said.
"People have participatory roles
rather than sitting and watching."
Braunstein tagged Grosse Pointe's
Jewish connection as "Judaism
light." "From a religious standpoint
we are still developing, but as it has
matured and the bedrock issues are
being resolved, we pay more atten-
tion to the religious structure," she
said.
The council hired a rabbi,
Nicholas Behrmann, who officiates
at quarterly Shabbat services and at
bar and bat mitzvahs. GPJC uses a
local Unitarian church and hasn't
been pressing for its own shul.
Although mostly Reform Jews,
movement affiliation isn't a critical
matter, they say. "We all appreciate
and respect the opportunity to have
Jewish ideals, more than the type of
Jewish identity," Weingarten said.
"Once the opportunity was present-
ed to be active, people came out."
The Town Hall meeting was a
chance for representatives from
Jewish Apartments and Services,
Jewish Family Service, Jewish
Federation of Metropolitan Detroit,
B'nai B'rith Youth Organization,
Hadassah and the Jewish
Genealogical Society to explain their
services.
Grosse Pointe residents told the
representatives while they wouldn't
mind a Jewish bakery or a JCC
satellite facility, they really wanted
simply to be better connected to the
West Side.
"We need a contact person to let
us know when things are coming
up," Weingarten said. "We don't
have the same experience the West
Side has because we are out of the
core.
Other requests included adult
Jewish education classes and some-
thing of a Jewish Book Fair in
Grosse Pointe.
"The biggest thing was that there
was a connection made," Braunstein
said of the West Side's trip to the
East Side. "There was the acknowl-
edgement that we are here and there
is a real Jewish community."
That's a useful development, said
Moulton, because as things stand,
we know more about them than
they know about us."
"
Future Town Meetings will be
scheduled for Canton/Plymouth
and Troy/Rochester Hills.
In the Bloomfield Plaza
Telegraph Rd., Bloomfield Hills
(248) 855-8879
3/12
1999
Detroit Jewish News U