COMMUNITY
VIEWS
BERLIN
from page 38
hundreds of Russian Jews to travel to
New York. For the major Jewish holi-
days, he sent a bus of 45-50 people to
Boro Park [a neighborhood in Brook-
lyn, N.Y.] for several days to show tra-
ditional Jewish life.
We who were newly arrived from
Russia had no previous awareness of our
Jevvishness, except for our Soviet pass-
ports. We, the kidnapped children of the
Soviet government, had never heard
words like "rabbi," "kosher" or "Shab-
bat." For most of us, a Jewish nationality
only meant the possibility to receive a
refugee status to enter America.
Marvin Berlin allowed us to have a
much deeper Jewish experience.
In Boro Park, we visited Orthodox
families and were in kosher shops and
synagogues for the first time in our
lives.
For six years, he paid for an annual
five-day seminar on Judaism in St.
Louis, conducted by well-known Russ-
ian-speaking rabbis from Israel. He pro-
vided plane fare for dozens, rooms in a
luxurious hotel and elegant catered
meals for an enormous amount of peo-
ple. All this so that Russian Jews could
learn about our spiritual inheritance and
Jewish wisdom.
Long On Chesed
Mr. Berlin used his checkbook to
solve the problems of yeshivas and
Torah institutions in every corner of
the Jewish world. He created a $1 mil-
lion endowment fund for Yeshiva Beth
Yehudah in Southfield. He founded
three synagogues and was a main
sponsor of many charitable activities
in Detroit.
He recognized that for non-reli-
gious people, studying Torah was the
only reliable way for Jewish survival.
Mr. Berlin was a sharp, realistic
businessman who combined his busi-
ness sense with a devotion to Torah
and people. He invested in people and
transformed the Jewish community in
Detroit and around the world. His
material and psychological contribu-
tions profoundly impacted others;
through them, he has ideal representa-
tion in us.
The magnificent Marvin Berlin is
a clear illustration that after one
departs life as a biological entity, one
can be represented in others as a dis-
tinct personality, continuing to exist.
Marvin Berlin lives on in us; there is
nothing mystical about it. He is
warmly remembered and greatly
missed. ❑
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