Zuckerman Joins
Federation Sta fF

Ettie Handelman passes the family history book to the younger generation. Representing four
generations of the Caplan family, from left: Bertha Feinstein, 90, of Southfield; Mandy Kent,
18, of Farmington Hills; Rainy Legault, 7, of White Lake; Handelman, 80, of Farmington -
Hills, and Reka Goldstein, 92, of Southfield.

Families Unite!

Scores of relatives from across the globe hold reunion in Novi.

But the prized memento for all,
whether attending or not, was a 67-
page family history and directory
"I was sitting with this book after
the reunion," Stephens says, "with the
in of
great-great-grand-
front photo
my
parents n front of me, and it got me

SHARON LUCKERMAN

Staff Writer

-ittle did 12-year old Samuel
Caplan imagine when he left
Odessa, Russia, a century
ago to become a cap maker
in England, that five generations later
nearly 130 offspring from all over the
world would gather to celebrate his
family legacy.
- Four generations of the Caplan
family from England, Australia,
France and the United States met
June 22-24 at the Novi Wyndham
Hotel.
Caplan's granddaughter, Ettie
Handelman of Farmington Hills, is
the self-proclaimed "spark that started
this reunion." She says the 35 Detroit
families remain close, but the younger
cousins from all over the world need-
ed to meet each other. And though
this was her fifth family reunion --
and the largest -- she also met several
young cousins for the first time.
Family resemblances made an
impression on Maureen Stephens, 60,
who came from-Surrey, England, with
her husband Jim and grand-daughter
Rochelle, 13. "A cousin looked just like
my aunt, or like my mother," she says.

7/6
2001

36

Oldest family member Reka
Goldstein, 92, greets one of the
youngest, Madison Meeron, 2,
o Macomb Township, at the
amily reunion.

Handelman's recipe for success
included three elements: a family
newsletter she sent three times this
year; a strong matriarchal planning
committee composed of Sylvia
Elkowitz of West Bloomfield, Elaine
Gluckman of Farmington Hills and
Sandra Brenner of Southfield; and e-
mail.

thinking how this reunion would have
blown their minds."
A more immediate effect is the
enthusiasm of the under-40 crowd.
"It's amazing," Handelman says.
"Cousins in New York who never met
each other are already planning to
meet when they return home."
At the end of the reunion, rela-
tives didn't want to wait another 10,
or even five years. They decided to
meet again in three years and cousins
from Philadelphia already have
reserved the hotel. ❑

Julie Zuckerman of Birmingham joined
the staff of the Jewish Federation of
Metropolitan Detroit in June. She is
working in the Israel and Overseas
Department and
also has an assign-
ment with
Federation's Annual
Campaign.
She has partici-
pated in Project
Otzma, a 10-
month leadership
development pro-
gram in Israel
designed to
Julie Zuckerman
strengthen the ties
between Jewish
communities in Israel and in North -
America.
Zuckerman worked as the Steinhardt
Jewish Campus Service Corps Fellow at
the University of Massachusetts Amherst
Hillel House. At the University of
Michigan, she enrolled in Project STaR,
a two-year program for future Jewish
communal workers. Zuckerman did
internships at Jewish Home and Aging
Services' Fleischman
Residence/Blumberg Plaza, JDC-Israel's
International Relations Division and
Federation.
Zuckerman recently graduated from
U-M with a master's of social work
degree and certificate in Jewish
Communal Service and Judaic Studies
from Project STaR.

Adoptions Options
Seminar Slated

Alliance for Adoption, a division of
Jewish Family Service, hosts monthly
"Options for Adoption" Educational
meetings, the third Thursday of each
month.
The next meeting is set for Thursday,
July 19, 7-8:30 p.m. at the JFS Center
for Families in West Bloomfield, 6960
Orchard Lake Road, #202.
Adoption Director Diane St. Peter
will present information and answer
questions of singles/couples wishing to
explore domestic and/or international
adoption.
Alliance for Adoption is a division of
Jewish Family Service of Metropolitan
Detroit. All adoption services are non-
sectarian.
Call Diane Sr. Peter, (248) 559-0017
for registration. There is no fee for this
workshop.

