A Giant Of Spirit

I

to Israel were opportunities to expose
n the early hours of Shabbat
his
students to great thinkers, holy per-
morning, Saturday, Feb. 2,
sonalities and uplifting encounters. His
Detroit suffered the tragic loss
bus trips to Boro Park with Russian
of a true giant. Rabbi Avrohom
Abba Freedman, teacher, principal and immigrants each yom toy (holiday) pro-
vided the uninitiated with a taste of
spiritual guide to hundreds of follow-
great Jewish living and spirituality.
ers, passed on to the next world, leav-
His Monday night Torah class, a 50-
ing our Detroit Jewish community
year
Detroit tradition, served to inspire
shocked, saddened and terribly lonely.
generations
of Detroiters, a gathering that
Rabbi Freedman, who at the urging of
became the catalyst for entire families
his rabbinic role model and guide, Reb
committing to a tradi-
Shraga Feivel Mendlowitz, moved to
tional Torah way of life.
Detroit more than 50 years ago to lay
Upon Rabbi
the foundations for a vibrant and grow-
Freedman's
arrival in
ing Orthodox community and, in the
Detroit
in
1944,
day
process, became Detroit's guiding light
school
attendance
was
for outreach and spiritual awakening.
nearly non-existent.
Each waking hour, every moment of
With tenacity and sin-
his day, was a celebration of his love
Rabbi
gle-mindedness, he and
for the Jewish people. He was indefati- Freedman
his rabbinic colleagues
gable, always in motion, ready for the
went door-to-door canvassing for stu-
next challenge, stubbornly encourag-
dents, promising free tuition, hot lunch-
ing everyone around him to do more.
es, pick-up and delivery service, and
Each day for him was a new adven-
nearly anything required to motivate
ture in Jewish service: classes to teach,
parents
to enroll their children.
Russian Jews to inspire, books to dis-
Each child who attended Yeshiva
tribute to anyone who he felt needed
Beth Yehudah became a lifelong
to read them. He exhibited an insa-
responsibility. Their welfare, their
tiable appetite for spiritual nourish-
growth
and their future successes
ment and an obvious and lifelong aver-
became
inexorably tied to the yeshiva
sion to luxury and physical comfort.
and
to
Rabbi
Freedman.
His frequent trips to New York and
His obsessive dedication to the
Gary Tor ow is an Oak Park resident
memory and example of his rebbe,
and president of the Southfield-based
Rabbi Mendlowitz, was legendary. He
Yeshiva Beth Yehudah.
felt it his responsibility to remind the

des that put the blame on Israel and
Prime Minister Ehud Barak. A low-level
White House aide by the name of
Robert Malley became a sudden media
star when he published a series of articles
(co-authored by one of Arafat's lieu-
tenants) that acquitted the Palestinians
and held Israel responsible for killing the
"peace process." Malley did not have any
tangible evidence to make his case, but
found a pliant audience that eagerly
accepted his analysis because it allowed
them to keep their prejudices and famil-
iar conceptions intact. However, as the
stress becomes unbearable, the conven-
tional wisdom resulting from cognitive
dissonance eventually crumbles, particu-
larly in the wake of a catastrophic event.
The events of Sept. 11 forced America
to rethink its entire security policies.
While it is still too early to be sure, the
capture of the Karine A, and Arafat's
clear involvement in this massive effort
to smuggle illegal weapons and explo-
sives, may also be a breaking point. The
images of the deadly missiles displayed
on the dock finally began to sink in, and
as a result, Arafat is stuck in Ramallah,
without visitors or support. ❑

world of Rabbi Mendlowitz'
greatness and, through that
effort, caused two books, one
in English and one in
Hebrew, to be published
chronicling the life of his
great teacher.
His incurable optimism
about the future of the Jewish
people, and his eloquent
reminders of the great world
left behind, were a part of near-
ly every public address he gave.

ideas and suggestions.
His trips to Russia were
used to reinforce his preoccu-
pation with educating and
inspiring the hundreds of
thousands of new immi-
grants here and in Israel. His
final instructions to his wife
were to give a $1,000 dona-
tion to Shuvu, an interna-
G ARY
tional Jewish outreach organ-
TO R GOW
ization for Russian Jews.
Com munity
The Freedman family bar
Vi ews
Every Jew was an opportuni-
mitzvahs and weddings were
ty for Rabbi Freedman to tackle. Their
occasions for outreach. No simchah
station in life, level of success or popular-
was complete without new "family
ity was irrelevant. A soul was a soul, each
members" adopted by Rabbi
needed to be warmed and embraced.
Freedman. His attention lavished not
Each required attention and no effort
on the true relatives, but rather on the
could be spared to help redefine their
students and disciples who could be
Jewish participation and activity.
inspired by the occasion.
He and his life partner and beloved
Rabbi Freedman's life will be
wife, Temma (she should be comforted
remembered for its selfless determina-
tion to strengthen Yiddishkeit the
among the mourners of Israel and
Jerusalem), raised a family steeped in
world over. Detroit was immeasurably
Torah values and service. All five sons
enriched by his presence and remark-
are talented rabbis, and the three daugh- able efforts to uplift and inspire.
ters are wives of rabbinic scholars and
In the days, months and years to
Jewish activists. Each child is imbued
come, as Jewish life in Detroit con-
with a passion and dedication to the
tinues to grow and prosper, Rabbi
values expounded by their parents.
Freedman's imprimatur and the foun-
His deep reverence for rabbinic schol-
dations he laid will forever be felt in
ars led him to amass a Rolodex of phone the dynamism of the Orthodox com-
numbers and addresses worldwide. No
munity. ❑
great Jewish thinker alive could escape
his reach, and each needed to hear of his
Related obituary: page 108

•

FAMILY

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