Insight
Remember
When • •
Building Community
Ann Arbor Orthodox Minyan celebrates double-chili anniversary.
SHELLI LIEBMAN DORFMAN
Staff Writer
ithout an Orthodox presence on campus, I
wouldn't be at the University of Michigan," says
Bryan Schon of Oak Park, a regular participant
of the Ann Arbor Orthodox Minyan (AAOM).
Begun in 1965 in the home of U-M Hebrew Professor
Joseph Reif and his wife Sorah, the minyan is celebrating
its 36th anniversary, having grown into a program that has
provided Orthodox services and gatherings for some 500
students through the years.
An Oct. 26-28 reunion will be held at the Mandell L.
Berman Center in Ann Arbor, which houses U-M Hillel,
whose own Orthodox minyan holds combined services
with the AAOM.
"It's a chance for old-timers to see how their little minyan
has grown and matured," says Nehama Glogower, reunion
chairperson. "And it's also a chance for the young freshmen,
just starting out, to see that they are part of a grand tradition."
The weekend will include Friday night and Saturday serv-
ices and meals; an oneg Shabbat; a performance by Hillel's a
cappella choir, Kol Hakavod; and a Sunday brunch.
Minyan Beginnings
The minyan moved into the Hillel build-
ing in 1966, joining members of Hillel's
Orthodox minyan led by Hillel rabbis.
"Hillel rabbis have often played leader-
ship roles in the minyan even when they
have not been Orthodox rabbis,"
Glogower says.
After 20 years of meeting informally,
Rabbi Glogower
the AAOM took its name in 1988.
Dr. Zvi Gitelman, U-M political sci-
ence professor and director of U-M's Jean
and Samuel Frankel Center for Judaic
Studies in Ann Arbor, and his wife
Marlene Gitelman, retired Hebrew Day
School of Ann Arbor principal, also were
among the early members and still play a
critical role in running the minyan.
"The minyan formally has two compo-
Dr. Gitelman
nents," Zvi Gitelman says of the nearly
50 students of the Hillel minyan and the
30 families from the AAOM.
"The Hillel Orthodox Minyan is the official student
group; the AAOM is everyone else. Anyone who attends
our services will not be able to distinguish between the two
— and we love it that way," he says.
An important goal of the minyan is for students to be
able to share Shabbat or holiday meals with families, says
Glogower, whose husband, Rabbi Rod Glogower, has
From the pages of the Jewish News for
this week 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50
years ago.
1991
The Berkley High School football
squad boasted of three Jewish play-
ers: Ryan Fried, Jamie Wittenberg
and Matt Brennan.
Israel's president Chaim Herzog
paid a visit to Czechoslovakia, the
first Israeli head of state to do so.
1981
Congregation Beth Shalom planned
a special dinner and service to
honor Rabbi David Nelson on his
10th anniversary at the synagogue.
Detroiter Michael Zacks was
named executive director of the
Fresh Air Society.
Pioneer Women officially
changed its name to Na'amat, the
Women's Labor Zionist
Organization.
University of Michigan alumni Jill Herman and Ami
Goldfein, both of New York, celebrate Purim 2000 at
the Ann Arbor Orthodox Minyan.
directed the minyan since 1988.
Schon, a U-M senior, says, "Often Rabbi Glogower will
come over to me on Saturday after services and say, Are you
covered? Do you have a place to go for a Shabbat meal?'"
Although Schon is signed up to eat kosher meals at U-M
Hillel, on occasion he has accepted the rabbi's offer. "It's
nice to eat in someone's home on Shabbat," he says.
Dr. Avi Soclof also felt welcomed by members of the min-
yan when he began to attend services there in 1988, after
moving to Ann Arbor from New York to begin a two-year
fellowship in the allergy division at U-M Health System.
"I really felt a sense of belonging," says Dr. Soclof, imme-
diate past president of the minyan.
"Our children were growing up in a pluralistic environ-
ment," he says of Adam, 16; Arielle, 13; and Mikey, 10,
with wife Mindy. "I felt secure they would look upon the
observant students in our minyan as role models of how to
maintain one's religious beliefs in addition to pursuing
careers of higher education."
Dr. Susan Blitz, AAOM president, and U-M Hillel
Orthodox Minyan student co-leaders Dena Stein of
Pittsburgh and Nathan Gonik of Southfield work closely
with Rabbi Glogower in planning programs and maintain-
ing daily operations.
"The two groups depend on each other, grow together and
celebrate together," says Michael Brooks, U-M Hillel executive
director. "No doubt the students enrich the families in town, but
the families are also wonderful role models for the students —
and in many cases, they establish lifelong friendships."
COMMUNITY on page 28
1971
The first astronomical observatory
in Israel was opened in a town
south of Tel Aviv.
Eve Silberman of Huntington
Woods, an English major at Wayne
State University, won an honorable
mention for a short story submitted
in a contest to Seventeen magazine.
1951
The Bank Leumi le-Israel opened
an office in Los Angeles.
Rabbi Hayim Donin of
Congregation B'nai David was
reelected regional vice president of
Yeshiva University Rabbinic
Alumni to represent Michigan.
Detroiter Mark Shook, an Eagle
Scout, was selected to represent the
Detroit area scouts at the Israel
Jamboree to be held in Jerusalem.
1951
For the first time since the State of
Israel was established, an American
donor was allowed to send a wash-
ing machine to a relative in Israel
without obtaining an import license.
Detroiter Wayne T. Bensman was
awarded a doctor of optometry
degree from the Chicago College of
Optometry.
—Compiled by Sy Manello,
editorial assistant
10/19
2001
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