•

SHARE
YOUR
SOUL

For Openers

Prague
S ummer camps are anything but an
excuse to soak up the sun for Slovakia's
chief rabbi, Baruch Myers.
They are a key element in the U.S.-
born rabbi's mission to reach out to Slovak Jews
whose families lost touch with their heritage after
the Holocaust.
This Chabad rabbi and father of six has been
running summer camps since arriving in the
Slovak capital of Bratislava in 1993. But this
year's session was especially significant for Rabbi
Myers because it was held for the first time in a
new 600-square-yard educational center that he
and his wife recently set up in the capital. The
center, which costs $60,000 a year to run, offers
English lessons and will have seminars on Jewish
themes. Rabbi Myers wants to build a library,
too.
Thirty children, ranging in age from 2 to 12,
spent two weeks at the center in July. The pro-
gram combines camp activities with Jewish edu-
cation. They're introduced to simple Jewish
prayers before and after meals, and are taught
about Jewish festivals and traditions.
The camps offer Rabbi Myers a way to attract
assimilated Jews. Although Bratislava has an offi-
cial Jewish community of just 400, hundreds
more are thought to have abandoned their Jewish
heritage or simply refused to acknowledge it pub-
licly.
"In some ways, the camp is a centerpiece of
our educational program," Rabbi Myers said. "It
is a very short commitment, it is fun and it is a
non-threatening start to joining the program. It is
leading some parents to enroll their children in
our kindergarten because they gain faith in our
program."
The hardest part for Rabbi Myers is finding
the non-affiliated Jews. "Some people try to
obliterate their Jewishness. That is impossible,"
the rabbi said. "They assimilated, but not entire-
ly There is just enough of a vestige of their
Jewish identity, and if we can offer them some-
thing besides Jewishness, we can attract them." 0
— Magnus Bennett/Jewish Telegraphic Agency

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Yiddish Limericks

There once was a lab rat named Pete
Who had several mazes to beat.
He said with a wheeze,
"When I reach the cheese,
I'm too ohsgemutshet* to eat!"

— Martha Jo Fleischmann

* worked to death, tired out

quotables

Drop by a JARC home
on Friday night to...

"Nearly every day of our trip, we heard this message — others
gave of themselves so that we, the Jews of the entire world —
could build this promised land."

11- Lead Shabbat prayers

— Rabbi Joshua Bennett, one of two rabbis who led Temple Israel's
contingent on the Detroit' Teen Mission 2000 to Israel.

"Feminism has gone too far here, and I don't want to battle with

33

it.
— Israeli Ofer Elkabetz, 44, on why he married a mail-order bride
through one of the many Israeli companies that provide such a ser-
vice from the Ukraine.

"The reason people like my show is they know there is no shtick.
What I say, I mean deeply. I could not invoke the name of God
or Scriptures if I was shticking."

— Tough-talking radio talk show host Dr. Laura Schlessinger, on
whether she believes everything she says.

"The real breakthrough is not that a Jewish American was cho-
sen as a vice presidential candidate, but that a Harvard graduate
chose a Yale graduate as a vice presidential candidate!"

— Connecticut Senator Joseph Lieberman, Democratic presidential
hopeful Al Gore's running mate, on CNN's Larry King Live.

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Become a
Judaic Volunteer
for JARC

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PAY ONE SIMPLE FACT ALGJAC
KEEPS ME 60IM6...

Celebrate with JARC
friends at an Oneg— bring
your guitar! Sing a song!

Accompany your JARC
friend(s) to services

:*= Offer lessons in Hebrew
language or prayer to a
man or woman served
by JARC

11E- Share photos from your
trip to Israel, Jewish art
books or music with a
JARC friend

A great family volunteer
opportunity!

JARC's Judaic Volunteers
enrich the spiritual lives
of men and women with
disabilities in many ways.

Call (248) 352-5277, ext. 349
to find out how you can
share your soul.

Because doing something
good for someone will do a
world of good for you.

Helping people with disabilities
lead full, dignified lives
28366 Franklin Road
Southfield, MI 48034
jarc@jarc.org • www.jarc.org

8/11

2000

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