Cover Story
MARCH
from page 12
iY
JOSEPH ABRIN, 16,
Oak Park, Adat Shalom Synagogue
SARI ADELSON, 16,
Farmington Hill; Congregation Shaarey Zedek
AUBREY BENESON, 16,
Southfield, Young Israel of Southfield
CARAT BERNSTEIN, 16,
Oak Park, Congregation Beth Ahm
Top Row: MOTL
correspondents Aubrey
Beneson, Yaara
Ragowsky, Elyse Sklar.
Bottom row: Erin
Kaufman, Joseph
Abrin. All will write
about the march for
the Jewish News.
SONYA BRYSTOWSKI, 17,
Oak Park, Shaarey Shomayim
ETHAN COHEN, 16,
Southfield, Young Israel of Southfield
CARA DEUTCHMAN, 17,
Franklin, Temple Beth El
NATALIE FINKELBERG, 17,
Huntington Woods, Temple Emanu-El
MICHAL FREIER, 16,
Farmington Hills, Shomrey Emunah
ARIELLA GOLDFEIN, 17,
Southfield, Young Israel of Southfield
(North American Federation of Temple Youth) kids,
said to me, 'Why don't you play some NFTY songs?'
"I started playing some songs and they're jumping up
and down, and they're doing their shtick. Then, in per-
haps a moment of inspiration, I turned to one of the
lead kids of the Orthodox group and said, 'Now it's
your turn.'
"Suddenly, all of the Orthodox boys jump on each
other's shoulders and start dancing and doing their
shtick, and all of our boys came in, and then all the girls
started doing the same thing on the other side of the
room. Then our kids did another song, then their kids,
and we're going back and forth like that for hours.
"That was the end of any division between the
groups," he said. "After that night, it was just one
group."
From that time forward, every other year when
Federation subsidizes the trip, breaking down religious
barriers is an integral part of the pre-trip study sessions.
Barriers Broken
After months of weekly meetings this year, covering
European Jewish history, anti-Semitism and Israel, trip
planners sponsored the Kornwise weekend at Camp
Maas in Ortonville in March, where study sessions on
the three streams of Judaism were held (related story:
page 86).
Erin Kaufman sat in on an Orthodox service during
that weekend and spent a lot of time with the
Orthodox teens.
"The Orthodox were really nice in explaining how
they do things and, in turn, they asked questions of us.
They wanted to know what we did and how we cele-
brated," she said. "They were asking as much about me
as I was of them."
The trip itself will offer lessons about the different
streams.
"It seems to me that Orthodox Judaism is almost a
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different religion than Reform," said Yaara Ragowsky,
18, of Farmington Hills. Her family is affiliated with
the Sara Tugman Bais Chabad Torah Center in West
Bloomfield, but she says she isn't that religious.
"I want to learn more about the specifics — the daily
tasks they have to perform that we don't have to," she
said. "I want to learn more about why they do those
certain things, the explanation for things, like not being
allowed to carry anything on Shabbat. Also, I want to
learn more about their day-to-day life as teenagers."
Temple Israel's Elyse Sklar, 16, of Farmington Hills
wants to learn more about her Orthodox counterparts
— "what Shabbos means to them, and their take on
the less traditional streams of Judaism.
"Do they think religion has ever stopped them from
enjoying other things in life, secular things, that may be
not permitted in their practice of Judaism?" asked Sklar.
Joseph "Joey" Abrin, 16, of Oak Park said he won-
ders about Orthodox approval of others in general. He's
affiliated with Adat Shalom, a Conservative synagogue
in Farmington Hills.
"Why can't some accept the fact that, if you're not
Orthodox, you're still a real Jew?" asked Abrin. "You
just don't believe in certain things they believe in."
The Orthodox have questions, too.
Aubrey "Avi" Beneson, 16, of Southfield hopes to
learn the philosophy behind the different streams and
how each sets up the prayer book.
"I have friends and family who are not Orthodox, so
being with them and interacting with them is nothing
new for me," said Beneson, affiliated with Young Israel
of Southfield. "I feel that while on the trip, I will try
and answer any questions I can about the Orthodox."
Rabbi Elimelech Goldberg of Young Israel of
Southfield said he's not the least bit concerned about
Orthodox kids getting along with the other streams,
especially after the pre-trip meetings.
"The purpose is to make each other realize that we
MARCH on page 16
SUSAN GOLDIS, 15,
Bloomfield Hills, Congregation Beth Ahm
YOSEF HOCHHEISER, 18,
Oak Park, Mogen Abraham
LISA KANTOR, 17,
Bloomfield Hills, Temple Beth El
ERIN KAUFMAN, 18,
Farmington Hills, Temple Kol Ami
AUDREY KLEIMAN, 17
Southfield, Young Israel of Southfield
RACHEL KOHN, 16
West Bloomfield, Bais Chabad of WB.
GHANA LEAF, 18,
Oak Park, Bais Chabad of Oak Park
RACHEL LEEMIS, 18,
Bloomfield Hills, Adat Shalom Synagogue
HELENE LEFKOWITZ, 16,
Southfield, Young Israel of Southfield
RHONDA LEFKOWITZ, 16,
Southfield, Young Israel of Southfield
SARA LEVIN, 17,
Farmington Hips, Adat Shalom Synagogue
DEBRA MILLER, 16,
Southfield, Young Israel of Oak Park
YONATAN MYERS, 16,
Farmington Hills, Unaffiliated
BINA RABINOWITZ, 17,
Southfield, Young Israel of Oak Park
YAARA RAGOWSKY, 18,
Farmington Hills, Bais Chabad of WB.
TALYA SCHOSTAK, 16,
Southfield Young Israel of Oak Park