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Scout's Honor

Matt Rubinstein has often found it a quiet
path to Scouting's Eagle ranking.

LISA BRONSTEIN

No Understanding

Special to the Jewish News

Rubinstein continued in Scouting
because "I love the adventure experi-
ences, plus it looks good on my college
applications to have achieved the final
rank."
Most of his friends from school "don't
really understand what it's all about," he
says. "They think it's strange." In 1997,
Rubinstein fulfilled the requirements for
Scouting's Jewish religious award, the
Ner Tamid. The same year, he earned his
Life rank by obtaining more than the
required 15 merit badges.
. There are more than 100 topics of
interest in which to earn a merit badge.
Some are mandatory, such as citizenship,
personal fitness, personal management
(three months of self-budgeting) and
environmental sciences. Others are elec-
tive based on the scout's personal inter-
ests, and can include such diverse pur-
suits as scuba diving, sailing, astronomy,
rock climbing or cinematography — one
of Rubinstein's favorites.
A merit badge can take anywhere
from a week to three months to earn.
Scouts work with a field study counselor
— either a parent or professional certi-
fied by the area Scout council — to earn
the badge. In order to earn the Eagle
rank, a scout must earn 21 merit badges.

IV

hile other third-graders
were busy at soccer or
baseball practice, Matthew
Rubinstein was earning
merit badges in the Cub Scouts.
Nine years later, he has reached the
pinnacle of Boy Scouting by earning the
Eagle rank.
Rubinstein, 18, of Commerce
Township, was inspired to join the Cub
Scouts by his father, Dr. Richard
Rubinstein, who had gone through the
Scouts himself and earned the Eagle
award.
Now a senior at Detroit Country Day
School in Beverly Hills, Matt Rubinstein
participated in an elemnetary school
Cub Scout pack. "At the time; almost
half of the class became Cub Scouts,"
Rubinstein says. "Now in high school,
participation-has dropped to maybe only
5 percent."
As he grew older, Rubinstein partici-
pated in the interim program, Webelos
("We'll Be Loyal Scouts"). He earned
Cub Scouting's highest award, the Arrow
of Light, by obtaining the reqUisite num-
ber of merit badges.
He continued in Boy Scouts, even
though many of his friends became dis-
interested in scouting.
As a Boy Scout, Rubinstein had to
perform community-service projects in
order to advance in rank. But, instead of
combining a project for Boy Scouts with
the community-service project necessary
for his bar mitzvah at Congregation
Shaarey Zedek B'nai Israel in West
Bloomfield, he chose to organize the syn-
agogue's archives, which would not earn
him any scouting points.
"I wanted Judaism and Boy Scouts to
be separate areas of my life," he says.

4IN

10/26
2001

44

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Court Of Honor

Currently, Rubinstein has 33. He will
receive his Eagle award at a court of
honor today.
An important part of achieving Eagle
rank is performing a 150-hour commu-
nity-service project. Rubinstein created a
project to benefit HAVEN, Oakland
County's domestic violence shelter. With
the help of other scouts and corporate
donors, Rubinstein collected toiletries,
paper goods, dinnerware and other sup-
plies, and then delivered six-months'
worth of supplies-to the shelter.

Scouting ends at age 18, and while
Rubinstein is sad this chapter of his life
is over, he plans to keep active in adven-
ture programs that he will create for
himself. He hopes to attend the
University of Toronto next year to study
either engineering or film.
While not interested in becoming an
adult Scout leader, he is glad that he can
serve as a role model for his younger
brother Ari, 13, 'who is involved in
Scouting.
"Scouting is a good program,"
Rubinstein says. But it took "a lot of
commitment" for him to earn his Eagle
award. "It's not just about learning to tie
different knots, but more about learning
about life in general."

❑

Matt Rubinstein

