MONUMENT CENTER
INC.
"Same Location 45 Years"
(7.71
- 111
Obit Aries
Obituaries are updated regularly and archived on JN Online:
www.detroitjewishnews.com
A Bringer Of Joy
• Monuments and Markers
• Bronze Markers
• Memorial Duplicating
• Cemetery Lettering & Cleaning
CEMETERY INSTALLATION
ANYWHERE IN MICHIGAN
Call 248-542-8266
661 E 8 MILE ROAD FERNDALE
1 1/2 blocks East of Woodward
Under the Supervision of the
Council of Orthodox Rabbis
WE NOW HAVE
EATING FOR YOUR
INDOOR DINING
PLEASURE.
FULL LINE OF
COMPLETE HOMEMADE
DINNERS
AND MEAT OR FISH TRAYS
WE CATER TO MEET
ALL YOUR NEEDS
25270 Greenfield • Oak Park
(248) 967-1161
"Embracing Robin"
A memorial in loving remembrance of
ROBIN JODY ADLER-GOLDSMITH
January 8, 1958 September 8, 2001
Sunday, November 25, 2001
at 3:00 p.m.
Jewish Community Center
Maple at Drake Road
ffnai Moshe's Shalom Ralph befriended every visitor.
T
ALAN HITSKY
Associate Editor
housands knew the little redhead with the big
smile.
Say hello to him on Shabbat, and a piece of
hard candy would magically appear in your hand.
Come to the weekday morning prayer minyan to say
Kaddish, and he would be the first to greet
you, to show you the page in the prayer
book or give a helpful, non-judgmental hand
with the tefillin.
Shalom Ralph was Congregation B'nai
Moshe for most Detroiters. It was a congre-
gation he loved for 53 years, that he served as
sexton since 1948, and that he continued to
serve after retirement.
Mr. Ralph, of West Bloomfield, died
Sunday, Nov. 18, in his sleep. He was 91.
As Rabbi Elliot Pachter fondly related last
year, after the congregation honored him by
naming him sexton emeritus. "The very next
day he showed up for work." The new tide
didn't change the old status.
At B'nai Moshe, whether in Detroit, Oak
Park or West Bloomfield, Shalom Ralph was Shalom Ralph.
at the shul seven days a week. He kept sport
coats available for any man who came to
services without one. When Soviet Jewish
immigrants began arriving in Detroit in 1979 in greater num-
bers, he made sure that the synagogue had Russian-language
prayer books available.
One immigrant, astonished by Mr. Ralph's kindness and
knowledge of Judaism, told a congregant, "In Europe, the sex-
ton was a job given to some poor shlemiel (bum)."
That was hardly Shalom Ralph. Born in Poland, Mr. Ralph
immigrated to Palestine after World War I. He moved to
Philadelphia, then to Detroit, and became B'nai Moshe's sex-
ton in 1948.
He was a sweet man, with a twinkle in his eye and a ready
joke, often about himself On Shabbat, he would hand out the
aliyot to the deserving and the underdeserving, and supervise
the reading of the Torah service. Then he would trail the Torah
procession to the aron kodesh, all the while greeting congre-
gants, telling jokes and handing out candy.
He would also take pride in the b'nai mitzvah he tutored.
Congregants would recognize his distinctive tropes (musical
notes), and say that the bar mitzvah had been "Ralphed."
His kindness extended beyond humans. In Oak Park, he
would take bread and rolls left from a simchah dinner and
deliver them to the seagulls in the synagogue parking lot.
Although his health had been up and down the last few
years, he seemed to be doing well in recent weeks. He attended
his grandson's wedding in Florida, and was at
B'nai Moshe Shabbat morning services and
evening minyan last Saturday.
When asked how he was feeling Saturday
night by longtime B'nai Moshe member
Seymour Ungar, Mr. Ralph responded with
his characteristic, "Near perfect!"
Margie Charnes first met Mr. Ralph when
he began tutoring her daughter Ellen 36 years
ago. After they became friends, "he would call
me three or four times a week, and always
after Shabbat — that was his ritual," she said.
Congregant Bernie Klein said Mr. Ralph
became a regular Saturday
, night caller to him
when Mr. Klein became ill several years ago.
Klein spoke to Mr. Ralph at 10:45 p.m.
Saturday, "and he was just as cheerful, kind
and generous as ever."
When Mr. Ralph was honored with Jewish
Apartments & Services "Eight Over 80"
award last year, Charnes said, "he was hon-
ored for his generosity to charity. There isn't a charity in Israel
that doesn't know him.
"There couldn't be a more beloved, pious man," she said.
Last year, B'nai Moshe created a Shalom Ralph historical
alcove in his honor.
Mr. Ralph is survived by his daughters and sons-in-law,
Sandra and Earle Endelman of Bloomfield Hills, and Caren
and Martin Redish of Highland Park, Ill.; and grandchildren
Eric and Alyssa Endelman, Brett Endelman, Jessica Redish and
Elisa Redish. He was husband of the late Eleanor.
Services were held Tuesday at Congregation B'nai Moshe.
Interment at Machpelah Cemetery. Arrangements by Hebrew
Memorial Chapel.
Contributions can be made to Congregation B'nai Moshe,
Yeshiva Beth Yehudah, the Lubavitcher Center, Fleischman
Residence or a charity of one's choice. 0
Lower Level - Room 107-A
Please bring photos and
memories to share.
CELEBRATION
CONNECTION
DIRECTORY
11/23
2001
122
in our
Classified Section
MELVIN ALTER, 74, of Highland
Park, died Nov. 13. He was an attor-
ney and World War II Navy veteran.
He is survived by his son, David
Alter of New York; sister and brother-
in-law, Roberta and Marvin
Lieberman of Illinois; nieces and
nephews, Stacy and Steven Bornstein,
Scott Lieberman, Susan Lieberman.
Interment at Beth Tefilo Emanuel.
Contributions may be directed to a
charity of one's choice. Arrangements
by Ira Kaufman Chapel.
MAX BELL, 85, of Oak Park, died
Nov. 16. He was a manufacturing
shipping clerk.
He is survived by his wife, Sarah
Bell; son and daughter-in-law, Sanford
and Karen Bell of New York; daughter,
Linda Bell of Oak Park; grandchil-
dren, Catherine Bell, Jonathan Bell;
sisters, Gertrude Schneider of Oak
Park, Freda Moore of Calif. Mr. Bell
was the dear brother of the late Ruth
Berg.
Interment at Beth Tefilo Emanuel.
Contributions may be made to the
Parkinson's Foundation. Arrangements
by Ira Kaufman Chapel.