Mazel Toy!

One phone call led to a
whole new life for
Jared Chimovitz.

Jared Chimovitz
and Amy Berkowitz:
A whirlwind year.

LISA BARSON
Special to the Jewish News

111

oving from Marquette to
Huntington Woods was
quite a switch for 25-
year-old Jared Chimovitz.
"Marquette did not have a lot of young
people, not to mention young Jewish
people," he explains.
The Flint native felt unfulfilled by his
job and unhappy with his lack of oppor-
tunity to meet Jewish women in the
U.P., so he packed his bags and moved
south to the metro Detroit area — with-
out a new job, but with plenty of hope.
He suddenly found himself sur-
rounded by a vibrant Jewish commu-
nity. But he was unsure how to
become involved. Chimovitz found
his first job working for EDS

through a temp agency, but was hav-
ing trouble connecting socially with
young adults. His mother had heard
of a program called Pro-Detroit, and
thought he should give them a call.
"Margo Lazar (former director of
Pro-Detroit at the Jewish Federation of
Metropolitan Detroit) was very helpful,
and she told me she would pass my
name to someone on her list of young
adults in the community who welcomed
newcomers," says Chimovitz.
She also encouraged him to go to
Jewish Vocational Service for career
counseling, because he was unhappy
with his job. Not long after meeting
with Lazar, his phone started ringing
and Chimovitz was deluged with
invitations to parties, lectures and
community events.
He received an invitation to a

habbat dinner, which he accepted. At

the dinner, Chimovitz met Rick Goren,

who is now one of his closest friends. In
the early spring of this year, Goren
began planning the Fresh Air Society -
sponsored Memorial Day weekend
whitewater rafting trip, and encouraged
Chimovitz to sign up. On the bus head-
ing down to West Virginia, he met Amy
Berkowitz, a vivacious 24-year-old Oak
Park resident. "We spent the entire
weekend together, and have been insepa-
rable ever since," says Chimovitz.
The two fell in love, and just four
months after meeting, at a brunch
celebrating his 26th birthday,
Chimovitz asked Berkowitz to be his
wife. "We had talked about getting
engaged, but I thought it wasn't
going to happen for another month
or two. I was so surprised," laughs

Berkowitz, "I couldn't eat my meal."
The whitewater rafting trip netted
another success for Chimovitz. He also
befriended a young man employed by
the Jewish Community Center, and
learned that the Center was looking to
hire someone to work with teens. With
his degree in education from Central
Michigan University, Chimovitz quickly
applied for and received the job, and is
now very happy as teen recreation coor-
dinator for the JCC. What is astounding
is that all of these events transpired in
less than one year. ❑

For information on services pro-
vided by Pro-Detroit, call Kara
Friedman, (248) 642-4260.

IMMINZEMMEakla4MTMW.M.MCM'i

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1999

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