This Week

Left: Sons Zachary
and Robert cut
the challah at
the Purim
Party Plus.

Far left:
Alan Yost
and his wife,
Beverly, at the
March 10 event.

FROM BIRDS' NESTS
TO BUDGETS,
ALAN YOST
IS THE MAN TO SEE
AT ADAT SHALOM.

DIANA LIEBERMAN
Staff Writer

I

n 1981, Alan Yost showed up for his first execu-
tive committee meeting as administrator- of Adat
Shalom Synagogue. He found a room with six
straight-backed chairs and two armchairs.
Because Yost was the first to arrive, he took one of the
armchairs.
Committee member Irwin Alterman made him switch
seats, Yost remembers. "He told me, 'You haven't been
here long enough to deserve an armchair.'"
In 1988, Alterman retired as synagogue president.
The Bloomfield Township resident gave Yost a wooden
sculpture of an armchair. On the pedestal are the
words, "Yost: You Earned One, Irwin."

Two-Decade Tribute

On March 10, the Adat Shalom community honored Yost
for 20 years as synagogue administrator, the longest cur-
rent tenure of anyone in that position in the Detroit area.
The dinner, which included speeches, roasts, gifts and lots
of hugs and kisses, took place during the synagogue's
annual Purim Party Plus.
Yost received a signed photo of Raquel Welch from
Sam Holcman of West Bloomfield, while Adat Shalom
Rabbi Daniel Nevins gave him an oversized chocolate
bar to make up for the large amount of chocolate the
rabbi admitted to pilfering from the director's office.
Beverly Liss of West Bloomfield, who became Adat
Shalom's president last June, gave Yost and his wife,

Beverly, their official gift — a cruise to Costa Rica.
Yost has great skills as a team player, Liss says. "He
has wonderful ideas and a wonderful ability to see how
Adat Shalom can play a role in the valuable things that
are going on in the community."
Alterman, who was on the 1980-81 search committee
seeking a synagogue administrator, says Yost won the
position with his "moxie, strong work ethic and eager-
ness to learn the many skills associated with the job.
"In those days, the synagogue had serious financial
problems and was greatly understaffed," Alterman said.
"He met the challenge of doing everything that needed
to be done."

The Buck Stops Here

As administrator at Adat Shalom, a 1,250-family
Conservative synagogue, Yost's job description has sig-
nificant budgetary, hiring, planning, development,
public relations and communications components. He
negotiates and supervises contracts with service
providers, ensures that facilities and grounds are in
good shape, and is often the first official synagogue
representative new members meet.
Frequently he takes on tasks that fall outside the offi-
cial job description.
"Shortly after I started, there were birds making nests in
one of the atriums," he recalls. "I put rocks where the birds
were used to nesting, and they were gone in two days."
At Temple Israel, David Tisdale became business manag
er three years ago. However, he'd already served a total of
16 years on the temple board, ending as president, so he

Above: Alan Yost talks
about his job.

Top.- When he began work-
ing at Adat Shalom, this
photo of Alan Yost as a
1968 Southfield High
School graduate appeared
in the Jewish News.

