This Week Register Now! CORNELIA'S SCHOOL of DANCE Cornelia Sampson, Director BALLET, POINTE, JAZZ, TAP (Child. & Adult) Creative Movement, Pre Ballet, Tap for 3-6 Yr. Olds Professional, Certified Adult Staff Progressive Syllabus That Trains Students From Beginning Through Advanced Levels Positive, Nurturing Atmosphere Day & Evening Classes Sprung Wood Floors Competitive Rates JAZZ & TAP DIVISION CUTTING EDGE CHOREOGRAPHY HIP HOP • LYRICAL GOLD MEDAL COMPETITION GROUP BALLET DIVISION RUSSIAN TECHNIQUE MASTER TEACHERS NUTCRACKER • SPRING RECITAL HOME OF THE MICHIGAN BALLET THEATRE Michigan Ballet Theater Company Auditions August 26 • 10 a.m. - Noon OUR REPUTATION PRECEDES US! Ibrk City Ballet, ,loffrey Ballot. Pittsbur1;11 nanceo- Currently Performing With: Ballet Theatre. Miami City Ballet, Cleveland Ballo and Ballo 11•esi. from page 17 the area, ultimately going to America. Instead, he decided to enlist in the U.S. Army at a base near Tel Aviv. Assigned to a truck unit, Leikin became a driver-dispatcher on convoys around Palestine, parts of Europe and North Africa. "Since the convoy route went through Palestine, I used my position to smuggle arms to the Hagana in a vehicle disguised as a Coca-Cola truck," Leikin said. "One time, I took a load of arms hidden beneath the floorboards into Tel Aviv, which then was under 24-hour curfew, and I was stopped by a British patrol. "I yelled at them: 'What do you mean stopping a U.S. Army convoy?' They replied: 'Take it easy. Just like you Americans have Al Capone, we have to worry about Menachem Begin.' (The Hagana leader later was elected prime minister of Israel.) "Of course," Leikin continued, "the U.S. soldiers didn't like the British too well. So they were happy that we were getting the arms into Palestine." Leikin became a corporal and went into a military intelligence unit, but the war ended before he could assume his new duties. After two years, he was reunited with his wife and son George (today a Southfield attorney) and the family returned to the U.S. MR. ZOA Many u /ents Receive Scholarships to Major l'niversities And Company Schools. NEW TO OUR FACULTY Eli:aboha Penvva - ballet instructor from the lamed Bolshi Ballet instructor. former !acidly member of the l'irginia School of the Arts Michael Hicks - 20 Years Of Proven Success Conte In And Viol . Our Roster Of Success Stories and :Ileet Our Nellie(' Faculty Cornelia's School of Dance (248) 681-5376 3080 Orchard Lake Road • Keego Harbor MASTER SESSIONS IN PROGRESS August 14-25 • Master teachers -David Holiday, from the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre School: Li Chou Chang former principal teacher at the Boston Ballet and principal dancer of the National Ballet of China: Michael Hicks, jazz instructor. 2nd Location School of Dance Rochester • 248-652-3117 D R ochester Since 1986 STEVEN TARNOW, C.R. PREFERRED BUILDING CO. (248) 626-5603 Fax 248-932-0950 Residential & Commercial Remodeling Building Quality Into Every Project With Unmatched Personal Service. 8/25 2000 18 NARF ;,011=1= Featuring Andersen Windows Licensed & Insured ZOA Career "My two heroes in life have been Jabotinsky and Rabbi Abraham Hillel Silver — two of the most ardent Zionists of history," Leikin reflected. "I wrote Rabbi Silver a letter seeking a job with the ZOA and that launched my career. "Rabbi Silver was an outstanding, magical person with great courage and an excellent speaker. Although his pul- pit was in Cleveland, he received national recognition and notoriety." In his ZOA career that began in 1946, Leikin served as regional direc- tor in Chicago, Minneapolis-St. Paul and Philadelphia before coming to Detroit more than 20 years ago. He has picked up many honors and tributes along the way, such as the ZOA's Brandeis Award for "exemplary service to Zionism and Israel" while he was living in Philadelphia. The Michigan Region named him Zionist of the Year in 1981. beikin maintained his dream of set- ding in Israel. In 1982, he and Bella moved to Jerusalem, where Leikin worked as a consultant with the Israeli Foreign Ministry. They returned to America when Bella became ill. She died at age 70 in 1984. Today, Leikin still makes at least one trip to Israel each year, health permitting, and maintains contact with international ZOA leaders and his friends from around the world. Leikin has found time to write a book and many newspaper articles and letters to newspaper and magazine edi- tors during all of his work and travels with the ZOA. In 1993, he published a book on the notorious blood-libel trial in Russia: The Beilis Transcripts: The Anti-Semitic Trial That Shook the World. Helping Hands Reflecting on the more notable members of the Detroit area's Jewish community who worked with him to carry forth the Zionist cause, Leikin singled out Rabbis Morris Adler of Congregation Shaarey Zedek and M. Robert Syme of Temple Israel; engineer Leon Kay, supermarket moguls Al and Tom Borman; steel offi- cial Leonard Kasle; paint company owner Walter Field; United Hebrew Schools President Bernard Isaacs and retired Judge Ira Kaufman. "They were among the great Zionists in Detroit's history," Leikin said. "I worked closely with them through the years, and I have nothing but admiration for their devotion and philanthropy to the Zionist cause." Leikin said he feels absolutely no pressure from local and national ZOA officials about continuing so long in his current position. "They know bet- ter than to ask me to step down because of my age," he said. Mort Klein of Philadelphia, the ZOA's national president since 1993, said a decision like that would be "strictly up to the ZOA's local officers and board." Klein said he has "the utmost respect for Zeke Leikin. He's the most committed Zionist anyone would ever meet; his knowledge of Zionism and world affairs is breath- taking; he's a superb writer who alwa makes crisp and concise points." Joseph Savin of West Bloomfield, president of the ZOA's 1,000-memb Michigan Region since last September, said Leikin can remain a executive vice president "for as long as he wants. "He probably could perform his tasks better at the age of 120 than someone half that age," Savin said, adding that Leikin is "an absolute pleasure on all levels — a marvelous writer and humorist, [and] deeply committed to the Zionist cause of international support for Israel as the Jewish homeland." 0