For Openers
A Miracle From 'Miracles'
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SUSAN TAWIL
Special to the Jewish News
ir.
eah Lange went to the Jewish Book Fair at the Oak
Park Jewish Community Center on Nov. 5, heard
author Yitta Halberstam's talk and bought her book,
Small Miracles for Vrromen, little realiz-
ing that she was about to experience a
`small miracle" of her own.
The book by Halberstam and co-
1 i"CiCieS
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author Judith Leventhal (Adam's
or Women
Media Corporation, $9.95) is the
fourth
installment in the best-selling-,
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Small Miracles series. They are collec-
tions of Chicken Soup for the Soul-type
true stories of "extraordinary coinci-
dence.
Reading through the stories of
amazing, seemingly chance events that
Jaath tewnthal
trigger reunions, rescues and other
awesome happenings, Lange came
upon a story that sounded eerily familiar. Checking the author
attribution at the end of the tale, she discovered the name Molly
Gordy — her childhood "best, best" friend, who'd been "long-
lost" to her for 30 years.
"I was just incredulous," says Lange of Oak Park. "At first, I
wasn't sure it was her. I used to call her by her real name,
Margaret."
Immediately contacting Halberstam, through the latest "small
miracle" of e-mail, the friends were put back in touch within
hours. "Wonder of wonders, miracle of miracles? I have found
my dearest childhood friend!" says Lange.
Though Lange and Gordy both grew up in Milwaukee, Wis.,
Gordy now lives in New York. "Our lives went in totally differ-
ent directions," says Lange. "She went to Europe and then to
New York to make it big as a writer (Gordy now teaches jour-
nalism at Columbia University), and I went to Israel and
became a ba'alat teshuvah (returnee to Orthodox Judaism).
"She was totally freaked out when I called," says Lange. "We
had a wonderful chat about the last 30 years. I hope to get to
New York to see her again."
Lange is grateful to Halberstam for her part in the unexpect-
ed reunion. Halberstam is thrilled to be the unsuspecting agent
for reuniting the friends: "Now we can say with pride, "Small
Miracles not only recounts reunion stories, it creates them!" ❑
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TA ME- OUT'
JARC
Merle and Shirley Harris
Children and
Family Division
Services for children with special
needs and their families.
— Martha Jo Fleischmann
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Quotables
"Don't think it'll be a little room in a corner, with a
computer. It'll be integral to the JCC's $32-million
development."
— Sharon Hart, ORT fund-raising coordinator for the
Michigan ORT Resource Center planned for the Center
for Exploration and Discovery at the Jewish
Community Center in West Bloomfield, at a parlor
meeting in the Bloomfield Hills home of Judy and
Irwin Elson.
"Sandy Koufax had the next day to pitch, and they
had how many other members of the pitching staff?"
— Ken Fielder, defending the decision of his son,
Miami Dolphins quarterback Jay Fielder, to play on
Jewish holidays.
"She needs to be portrayed. There is no other
woman in the 20th century who has been so reviled
and so admired simultaneously."
— Actress Jodie Foster, who plans to produce and star
in a movie about the life of German filmmaker Leni
Riefenstahl; the Nazis used her documentaries as propa-
ganda tools.
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n Hebrew scriptures, only two women have'books
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✓ Outreach, support,
information, referral and
advocacy for families
✓ Educational and social
programs for families
✓ In-home respite care with a
trained JARC staff person
✓ Case management with a
person-centered focus
✓ Funding for aides so children
with special needs can
participate in recreational
activities with their non-
disabled peeii
✓ Comprehensive supports to
help children with special
needs successfully attend
religious schools
Thanks to The Jewish Fund
and Jewish Federation of
Metropolitan Detroit for their
support of the Harris Division.
Call JARC at
248-352.5272
Jac
28366 Franklin Road
Southfield, MI 48034
jarc@jarc.org
wwwjarc.org
11124
2000
5