',Uzi • ,fito4 fr atti adini Custom (lathier Taut Cicchini jor Suits • Sportcoats Tuxedos • Slacks • Shirts Topcoats • Raincoats Shoes • Sweaters • Socks Ties • Cuff Links Custom Buttons GARY WETTENSTEIN Tau1 Ciccliini 3or cWornen Skirt Suits • Pants Suits Blazers • Slacks • Shirts Topcoats • Accessories PERSONALIZED SERVICE IN YOUR HOME, OFFICE OR IN OUR SHOWROOM BY APPOINTMENT 271 MERRILL BIRMINGHAM • 48009 (248) 646-0535 DETROIT JEWISII NEWS FOR SALE ri-Ficlaw at 6/4 II : INTERNATIONAL NEWS PLUS 372 Oullette Avenue Windsor, Canada 1999 12 Detroit Jewish News I Giving Knowledge New endowment will underwrite JCC's adult education program. LONNY GOLDSMITH Staff Writer n adult Jewish education program, which had a suc- cessful start last winter with more than 500 people sign- ing up to take classes, got more good news last week — an endowment that will help assure its future. The donation for the Seminars for Adult Jewish Enrichment program from Birmingham's Cis Maisel Kellman comes as part of the Jewish Community Center of Metropolitan Detroit's capital and endowment campaign, which has raised nearly $15 million. "I looked at what was to be offered and this (SAJE) program hit me," Maisel Kellman said. "In the area of Judaic education, a lot is being done for younger people and this would keep us older people involved." She asked that the amount of her gift be kept private. JCC Executive Director David Sorkin called it a "sig- ), nificant amount. Maisel Kellman moved from Illinois to the Detroit area 40 years ago with her late husband, Emanuel N. Maisel, an automotive parts supplier and shop- ping center developer. She was a homemaker and "professional volun- teer," who worked-at the JCC during the Jewish Book Fair since the agency's D. Dan & Betty Kahn Building in West Bloomfield opened 24 years ago. Despite Maisel Kellman's obvious interest in the SAJE program, she did not attend any of the classes that were offered in two, three-week ses- sions last winter. She, like many seniors, was out of town. "I'd like it if they'd be able to offer it at other times of the year because so many people are out of town," she said, suggesting possible summer ses- sions. "I didn't even pay attention to it at first because I knew I'd be gone." JCC organizers say they are at the mercy of the instructors when it comes to scheduling. "The timetable for SAJE was set by the clergy who are the instructors," said Margo Weitzer, director of programming for the JCC. "It was scheduled based on when they could teach." Although nothing has been set for next year's classes, Weitzer anticipates that the instructors, most of who are rabbis, "will feel their time is better available in the winter." In spite of the numbers that were out of town, we still did well," she said. The endowment of SAJE gives the JCC an "anchor program" in three seasons, including the Jewish Book Fair in the fall and the Jewish Film Festival, which makes its debut Thursday, June 10, in the Kahn Building's Aaron DeRoy Theatre. The money generated by the endowment will help underwrite staffing, publicity, food, mailings and postage. This year, the JCC and its program partners, the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit and the Agency for Jewish Education of Metropolitan Detroit, covered a gap Status Of Campaign When D. Dan and Betty Kahn gave $3.6 million to kick off the JCC's $25 million capital and endowment campaign last February, the money went into two separate and ambitious pots. Half of the Kahns' gift was earmarked for bricks and mor- tar; the remaining $1.8 million went to start a $7-plus million endowment. Since then, the endowment campaign has got- ten a $2 million matching grant from the Weinberg Foundation in Baltimore and smaller gifts, such as one for adult education, that brings the total raised to $5 Rabbi Herbert Yoskowitz of Adat Shalom Synagogue lectures at a SAJE class last January between program costs and tuition charged. The fee per course was $10. The JCC's part of the deficit was $4,800, less than it had been prepared to spend. "We had figured a deficit of around $7,000," Weitzer said. "The program fits into our mission as a high priority and that's where we want our budget to go. She figures that between the endow- ment money, tuition and sponsorships, the cost of the program now should be covered, even with two changes planned for next year: a speaker to kick-off the event and a campaign to get more singles CO attend. Unlike other cities where similar adult education programs are conduct- ed, there are no plans to pay any of the instructors. "To pay them all, it would take the tuition to a point that it might dis- suade people from attending," Weitzer said. "It's important that money not be an issue for people to attend." Pi )3 Both JCC Executive Director David Sorkin and Campaign Chairman Hugh Greenberg are adamant on the importance of having a strong endowment component to their capital cam- paign. Previously, the center had only $3 million in endowments, which go toward running pro- grams at the JCC. On the building side, $10 million of the intended $18 mil- lion has been raised. Construction has begun on Handleman Hall in the Kahn Building, which involves gutting and renovating the existing social hail. According to JCC Executive Vice President Mort Plotnick, construction is on schedule for completion in September. Since the Allied Jewish Campaign ended April 1, the date when local agencies can begin their own fund-raising campaigns, the JCC has obtained $800,000 in commit- ments and is negotiating for between $1 and $2 million more, according to Andrew Echt, campaign staff associate at the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit. — Lonny Goldsmith