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Helping Akiva Grow

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Le arn

Related story: page 6

all of Judaism's major streams.
But with a new home in the for-
mer Congregation Beth Achim,
strong administrative leadership and
renewed dedication to meeting the
teaching, recruiting and funding chal-
lenges, Akiva has the wherewithal to rejuvenate
itself
Three years ago, the Jewish Federation of
Metropolitan Detroit, on behalf of Detroit
Jewry, kept Akiva on budget via a combination
grant and loan totaling $100,000. In 1998,
Federation bought the old Beth Achim build-
ing in Southfield as an alternative to Akiva's
aging school building in Lathrup Village. For
their part, school leaders kicked off a $1.2-mil-
lion capital campaign to renovate the former
synagogue.
Time will tell how well Akiva's high school
responds to the challenges of enrolling stu-
dents, involving parents and maintaining quali-
tY.
But there should be no misunderstanding:
we, as a community, can't turn our backs on
Rabbi Tsaidi's resolve if the test of time is to be
valid. We, as a community, owe our support to
his determined effort to buoy Akiva's future at
all of its grade levels. ❑

Photos by Bi ll Hansen

the
nrollment is the lifeblood
Way,.
of any school. Without
students, a school can't
thrive, no matter how
good its teachers and facilities.
Yeshivat Akiva, a modern Orthodox day
school, opened this school year with no 10th
grade because of limited enrollment.
At least a dozen students are in each of
Akiva's upper school grades (seventh through
12th). Lack of a 10th grade in this yeshiva,
serving preschool through high school students,
unquestionably is unsettling for staff, students
and parents. But the dedicated duo of Rabbi
Yigal Tsaidi, educational director, and Dr.
Charles Domstein, secular studies director, as
well as Akiva's lay leaders, aren't about to sound
the death knell for the 36-year-old yeshiva's
beleaguered high school.
And neither should we.
It won't be easy solidifying Akiva's tenuous
high school niche between the more traditional
yeshivot and the new Jewish Academy of Met-
ropolitan Detroit, which subscribes to Conserv-
ative principles while attracting students from

IN FOCUS

Just Ducky

About $30,000 was
raised to benefit pedi-
atric oncology research
and services provided
through the Hadassah
Medical Organization
at the first Detroit
Ducky Derby at Kens-
ington Metropark near
Milford. The
Greater Detroit
Chapter of Hadas-
sah hosted the
Aug. 27 event.
Above, Brandon
Ari Mostyn, 2, of
Waterford displays
his duckies. Left,
Leah LaDuke, 7,
of West Bloom-
field, and Danielle
Rapp, 7, of
Bloomfield Hills,
wait on the shore
of Maple Beach
while the ducks
are collected.

Nourishing Our Souls

A

t times, we take our rabbis and can-
tors for granted. We expect them to
be there whenever we need them for
the comfort they bring. They are
people, too, but we expect — no, we almost
demand — that they be something more.
And the wonder is that so many live up to
our ideal in a quiet, selfless way.
They have their own lives, their own needs.
But more times than not, they are there for us,
putting us first, showing sensitivity and com-
passion, instilling hope and resolve.
We want them to be our friends, and many
of them are.
In metro Detroit, we have a great group of
clergy, who together inspire us spiritually —
there's no mistaking that.
The latest additions to the group further
reinforce why Detroit Jewry is respected as a
national model for building and sustaining Jew-
ish identity.
At an Aug. 31 reception at the Jewish Corn-
munity Center in West Bloomfield, JCC Presi-
dent Lawrence Wolfe put it well in welcoming
our new clergy. "There is no question," he said,
"that you picked the right community."
And he's right.
Almost 100,000 strong, we practice a brand
of religious pluralism and understanding that

many Jewish communities only dream about.
On our entire community's behalf, we say
shalom to the rabbis and cantors who are new
to Detroit:
• Rabbi Scott Bolton, community learning
director at Hillel Day School of Metropolitan
Detroit in Farmington Hills, and his wife,
Rabbi Amy Bolton, a chaplain and community
educator with the Southfield-based Jewish Hos-
pice and Chaplaincy Network
• Rabbi Lee Buckman, head of school for the
new Jewish Academy of Metropolitan Detroit
in West Bloomfield
• Rabbi Marla Hornsten of Temple Israel in
West Bloomfield
• Rabbi Hal Greenwald, Jewish education
director, at the Jewish Community Center of
Metropolitan Detroit
• Rabbi Charles Popky and Cantor David
Montefiore of Congregation Beth Ahm in West
Bloomfield
• Rabbi Jay Strear of Adat Shalom Syna-
gogue in Farmington Hills
• Rabbi Yigal Tsaidi, educational director at
Yeshivat Akiva in Southfield
May God be in their hearts, and bless them
with goodness, as they uplift our lives, touch
our souls and nourish us with the amazing
energy of Torah. ❑

Dry Bones

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