Specializing in
Alzh.eimer's and the
Physically Frail
Warsaw Ghetto Commemoration
For four weeks in the spring of 1943, in the Jewish quarter of Warsaw, an
underground rebel group put up a fierce fight against Nazi SS troopers,
tanks, artillery, machine guns, flame throwers and dogs before finally being
overwhelmed by the massive German force.
Every year since 1944, the Workmen's Circle has held a formal commem-
oration of the heroic Warsaw Ghetto Uprising.
"We've never missed a year," says Selma Goode of Detroit, who has orga-
nized the services for the past two decades.
For many years, a branch made up solely of Holocaust survivors orga-
nized the observance. Now, the commemoration looks as much to the
future as to the past, involving the young people of the Workmen's Circle.
"Most of the fighters were young," says Maureen Davidson Petrucci,
adult leader of the Teen Group. "The young people feel a real affinity, a sol-
idarity with those who fought to the bitter end."
And what can young people learn from the uprising?
"They learn that sometimes you've got to stand up for, maybe even die
for what's right," says Goode. "But our people and our culture will survive."
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George Dila
Michigan District of the Workmen's
Circle is optimistic about the future,
the organization faces some serious
challenges.
One of the most pressing is attract-
ing new people. Currently, there are
just over 250 members.
"Reaching the unaffiliated Jewish
population is our biggest challenge,"
says Karen Rosenstein of Troy,
Workmen's Circle Michigan District
director.
"We're not good marketers of our-
selves," says Selma Goode.
Many families who have rejected
the traditional synagogue experience,
or who feel rejected by traditional
Judaism, have found a cultural, ethical
home with the Workman's Circle that
is supportive and inspiring, Rosenstein
says. "Our challenge is to communi-
cate the value of that experience to
others who could benefit."
A hundred years ago, immigrant
workers joined the Workmen's Circle
out of necessity — for support, for
education, for a fighting chance to
make things better. In later years, they
came to the group with a burning
desire to make things right. They
fought for workers, for minorities, for
freedom and for the State of Israel.
Today, families join the Workmen's
Circle for fulfillment, as a way to dis-
cover and express and enjoy their
Jewishness.
And although the politics may not
be as extreme as in the early days,
woven into the fabric of the
Workmen's Circle philosophy is an
abiding commitment to creating a
The Future
a more beau-
shenere un bessere velt
Although the current leadership of the
tiful and better world. El
of "a kumzitz — the Shmooze Cafe,"
adult discussion sessions held regularly
in members' homes. They want their
teens to find a home in the Teen
Group. They bring the extended fami-
ly to the secular celebrations of the
holidays, like the annual Circle Seder
for Passover, and the observances of
Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.
Steve and Linda Gold of
Huntington Woods joined the
Workmen's Circle eight years ago,
when daughter Sara was 10 and son
Daniel was 7.
We're very secular, non-religious,
non-theological," says Steve Gold.
'And we're very comfortable with our
cultural Judaism."
The Workmen's Circle gave the
Gold family the connection to Jewish
culture they needed. Daniel and Sara
went through the shule, reaching their
bar mitzvah and bat mitzvah. Sara was
very active in the Teen Group, and
although she is now away at college,
she re-connects with those friends
when she is home.
Huntington Woods' Ellen Bates-
Brackett and her family have been
members for 18 years.
"The Workmen's Circle has been a
place to find and express my
Jewishness," she says. "And along with
being Jewish comes a responsibility to
make the world a better place. It
comes with the territory. I think we,
as Jews, have a mandate to do good.
This is central to the Workmen's
Circle."
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