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Cover Story

KABBALAH from page 19

with Rabbi Dovid Din, a chasidic
rabbi and teacher. The study, she says,
was partly responsible for her return
to an Orthodox synagogue.
Rivka Schochet of West Bloomfield,
an attorney at Miller, Canfield,
Paddock and Stone in Detroit, came
to this area to study Chasidus, an out-
growth of the Kabbalah, with Rabbi
Silberberg, after studying with rabbis
in Minnesota and New York.
She was drawn to studying the
Kabbalah for the same things that led
her to Yiddishkeit (Judaism), and
becoming observant, she says. In the
early 1970s, she studied mysticism as
"an antidote to the nihilism of existen-
tialism." She searched many philoso-
phies including Zen Buddhism before
finding the Jewish angle.
She comes from a Reform home,
and now is a member of Rabbi
Silberberg's Orthodox shul.
Schochet says studying mysticism
opens up a different connection to
reality "You learn how to infuse your
everyday life with holiness," she says.
"It's about inter-relatedness. It's a spir-
itual ecology"

"Jewish
mysticism
is religious
creativity."

— Rachel Elior,
Kabbalah scholar, Hebrew
University, Jerusalem

Jewish Hidden Strengths

Regardless of the differences in opin-

ion over the Kabbalah, there is a
common thread in that mysticism has
opened us to a universal truth and an
awareness of God, says Green. He
believes every person has the poten-
tial for discovering that deep inner
truth and that all religions serve as
guideposts for that inner journey.
But Jewish mysticism teaches that
the value of the spiritual journey has
to be proven through a life of action
and good deeds, says Brandeis'
Green. Each person affects the world.
"If there's suffering in the world, it
registers in the fabric of the divine,"
adds Ginsburg of U-M, a child of
Holocaust survivors. "We have the
ability to effect a larger whole and do
acts of healing. The Kabbalah gives me
a kind of language for realizing this."
But how, in times of great hardship,
have the Jews been able to maintain
and live these ideals? Ginsburg points
to the ability — or perhaps necessity
— thar Jews have had to live in two
worlds at the same time. "Jewish mys-
ticism gives us an awareness of other
worlds," says Ginsburg.
Jews have learned to live where
there is "shatteredness," he says, as in
times of great tragedy like the
Holocaust. "And still we keep hope
for a larger vision and for healing."

"I am not drawn
to quick fixes
[when learning the
Kabbalah] ... but a
slow process of
deepening."

— Professor Elliot Ginsburg,
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor

A Gift With Bite

Orthodontist donates $250, 000 to the West Bloomfield schools.

DIANA LIEBERMAN

Copy Editor

T

he West Bloomfield School District
received an unanticipated tzedakah pack-
age this week.
Dr. Nelson "Nick" Hersh and his wife,
Susan, donated $250,000 to the school district
attended by their three children.
"I value kids, and I value public education," said
Dr. Hersh. "People ask me why I didn't use the
money for my own family. But, if I pay off my
mortgage, five people benefit. If I give to the public
schools, 10,000 people will benefit."
The family also consists of daughters Michelle, 16;
Jessica, 13; and Rebecca, 9.
Except for $5,000 set aside toward the new fine arts
wing at the district's Abbott Middle School, the dona-
tion may be used for any educational purpose.
"I felt the district knows best where it is needed,"
said Dr. Hersh, a West Bloomfield resident whose
practice is in Commerce Township.
Dr. Seymour Gretchko, the district's superintendent
of schools, said he sees the contribution as a vote of

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2001

20

confidence, "not only for the West Bloomfield public
schools, but for public schools in general.
"Obviously, we are very appreciative," Dr.
Gretchko said.
Dr. Hersh, a graduate of the University of
Michigan School of Dentistry, received a master's

degree from the St. Louis University School of
Orthodontia. In addition to his private practice, he
has also served on the staff at Sinai Hospital of
Detroit and has been an instructor at the University
of Detroit dental school.
A native of Detroit, his relationship with Dr.
Gretchko goes back to childhood, when the West
Bloomfield superintendent used to drive him to
Sunday school at Temple Emanu-El. However, the
contribution was entirely unsolicited.
"You teach your kids by example," Dr. Hersh said.
"My mom [Elaine Hersh of West Bloomfield] was a
teacher for 30 years. All I'm doing is giving back to
the community."
Said Dr. Gretchko: "We may be heading for some
trying times as the economy dips. These sorts of dona-
tions will be needed to maintain the high quality of the
education we offer in the West Bloomfield schools." Ei

Clockwise from left, Jessica, 13, Michelle, 16, Susan,
Rebecca, 9 and Dr Nelson Hersh.

