Insight
Profiles
Mover And Shaker
Visionary philanthropist who sponsored population study
is honored by community leaders.
DIANA LIEBERMAN
Copy Editor/Education Writer
S
ome of the busiest Jewish communal leaders in
metropolitan Detroit set aside a few moments
Nov. 4 to honor the man they said gave their
careers meaning and purpose.
Professionals and lay leaders at the Jewish Federation of
Metropolitan Detroit and its Alliance for Jewish Education,
Jewish Community Center executives, family educators
and rabbis — all assembled at the Max M. Fisher
Federation Building in Bloomfield Township for breakfast
with their friend and mentor, Mandell "Bill" Berman.
Berman, who has dedicated his life to Jewish education and
continuity, is turning 85, and hasn't slowed down an iota.
His skill on the golf course is still the envy of golfing
buddy Robert Aronson. And when Aronson, Federation's
chief executive officer, calls on Berman for help or advice,
all he has to do is throw out the ball and stand aside.
"Nobody else cares about as much, and nobody else will
do as much about it," Aronson said. "He's the guy I call
when I want to sit down and talk — even when I want to
sit down and complain. I come away with more ideas for
what to do in this community than I would get from any-
),
one else.
Berman, a Detroit-born Harvard University graduate,
has concentrated much of his energy on Jewish education.
Although he's known as a philanthropist, he contributes
not only money, but also ideas and inspiration, Aronson
said.
"I can look back at a time when Jewish education and the
Federation didn't get along that well. Jewish education was-
n't the top priority of the Jewish community at all," said
Aronson, in his 13th year with the Federation.
"There was one person, a popular person, a person of
means, who was a voice in the wilderness at that time. He
said, 'Not only is Jewish education important, but I'm
going to do something about it. And I'm going to bring
others with me."'
Friends Of Bill
Peter Alter, Federation vice president and co-chair of
Federation's Alliance, put it well: "As we look around at
Jewish education, Bill Berman's fingerprints are everywhere.
Alliance co-chair Penny Blumenstein said Berman's com-
munity leadership places him above everyone else.
"It's easy to give money," she said, "but bringing others
along is something else — that's the achievement of a
true leader."
Berman, who lives in Franklin and maintains an office
in Southfield for his investment and philanthropy inter-
ests, has been a major factor in the success of the Jewish
Education Service of North America (JESNA), the
)3
trar
11/8
2002
34
Remember
When • •
From the pages of the Jewish News for
this week 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 and 60
years ago.
M
,
7,
The Russian Government Historical
Archives in St. Petersburg now per-
mits foreign researchers to visit. It
has records of the Russian Empire
from the 1800s-1917, including
Jewish family records.
Responding to Hurricane
Andrew, the United Jewish
Foundation of Detroit sends a
$34,000 check to aid the Jewish
community in southern Florida.
4
4VRAlittl
<12,
The first journalism facility in Israel
has been launched at Bar-Ilan
University, sponsored by the
Detroit Friends of Bar-Ilan
University in honor of Jewish News
Editor Philip Slomovitz.
Honorable mention goes to the
Detroit Jewish Welfare Federation
film Welcome Our Brothers at the
Council of Jewish Federations and
Welfare Funds' competition in
Toronto.
Cantor Louis Klein of
Congregation B'nai Moshe is elect-
ed to head the Cantors and
Ministers Association of Detroit.
wns ,
Mandell "Bill" Berman
Synagogue 2000 synagogue enrichment program, the
Drachler Program in Jewish Communal Leadership at
the University of Michigan and the U-M Hillel.
His influence at Federation, where he is a past presi-
dent, is incalculable. Most recently, he was a founding
member of Federation's Jewish Educational Trust. He
also has served as an activist president of the national
Council of Jewish Federations,. which preceded today's
United Jewish Communities.
"Before Bill Berman, nobody really thought how lay
people could work with professionals in a synagogue ...
nobody thought there could be a field of Jewish family
education," said Ronald Wolfson, director of the Whizin
Center for the Jewish Future at the University of Judaism
in Los Angeles and co-founder of Synagogue 2000.
"All the things you mentioned, I was a part of,"
Berman responded. "But nobody does anything by them-
selves."
"All the things you listed were partnered by people in
this room," he said, recognizing, among others, Aronson,
MOVER AND SHAKER on page 35
4as
The 31st General Assembly of Jewish
Federations and Welfare Funds in
Philadelphia has its largest atten-
dance since being founded in 1931.
12.01P, ia.citZlantwv
Prof. Albert Einstein purchases the
200,000th State of Israel Bond sold
in this country.
• • \ AV*,,s , T
1\4• M`K`A N.
Robert Lurie, director of B'nai
B'rith's War Service Department,
speaks at the 85th anniversary ban-
quet of Pisgah Lodge at the Statler
Hotel in Detroit.
The Jewish Welfare Board's Army
and Navy committee selects Samuel
Rubiner to succeed Henry Meyers
as chairman.
— Compiled by Holly Teasdle,
archivist, the Leo M Franklin
Archives, Temple Beth El