Staff Notebook

Regionally Speaking

c

ore urban areas that attract young people are
one of the keys to keeping Michigan vibrant,
said Gov. Jennifer Granholm, keynoting the
annual meeting of Detroit Jewry's public affairs voice.
For example, Detroit and its suburbs are one
region — "and we ought to think of it as one
region," she said to the 400 people gathered May 21
at Temple Emanu-El in Oak Park for the Jewish
Community Council of Metropolitan Detroit event.
"If we don't have a great city of Detroit," she said,
"we don't have a great region."
Residential lofts and cyber cafes are integral to a
hip big city, she said. "So we're going to work on
this issue of developing cool cities and therefore cool
regions and a cool state — and I'm not talking
about the weather here."
Michigan's first woman chief executive, she is
hopeful Detroit will one day compete with Chicago
for attracting twenty- and thirty-somethings. "There's
no reason why we can't. We've
got all the same geographic ele-
ments. But it requires that people
to think outside the box. It
requires some courage."
The first-year governor ran on
a slate of "One Michigan."
"The notion was that we are
all in this together," she said.
"We are not city versus suburb
or east of the state versus west of
Granholm
the state, or north versus south.
Or black versus white. We are
one group of people."
Getting along is a hallmark of her administration.
"We are very much in the mode of tearing down
the walls that have gone up to prevent government
entities from talking to one another, then working
in partnerships that go outside the government —
with the business community, with the nonprofit
community, with the faith community.
She added: "We have got to not just tolerate our
differences, but celebrate our differences to build
bridges."
David Techner, winner of the JCCouncil "Activist
of the Year" award, said he felt like a friend in
Granhoim's presence.
"That this governor of ours has an incredible
charisma and warmth and sense of humor in her
ability to think on her feet, and beyond her feet, and
be able to change gears, only bodes well in how she
represents all of us," he said.

— Robert A. Sklar

Tribute To Courage

R

abbi Herbert Yoskowitz looked to Abraham
Lincoln to set the tone for the Jewish War
Veterans of the United States of America-
Michigan Division exhibit dedication Monday at
the Jewish Community Center in West Bloomfield.
Quoting the U.S. president during the Civil War,
the rabbi said: "We have come to honor those who
gave their lives that our nation might live. The
world can never forget what they did."

Rabbi Yoskowitz, of Adat Shalom Synagogue in
Farmington Hills, gave the invocation at the
Memorial Day dedication for "We Were There," a
new permanent exhibit that honors Michigan's
Jewish war heroes from the Civil War to the
Vietnam War — fallen and survivors alike.
About 250 people attended the program, led by
Robert Slatkin, chairman of the JWV-Michigan
exhibit committee, and Robert Feldman, JWV-
Michigan commander.
A JWV chaplain, Rabbi Yoskowitz paid homage to
"the veterans of this great state who have served,
some of whom have given their lives in the time of
their service."
"We thank you God for their lives," he said. "We
remember them with fondness."
He concluded: "We pray that the deeds of our
fallen heroes will be an inspiration. Grant that their
supreme sacrifice shall not, as President Lincoln said,
have been in vain."

— Robert A. Sklar

Techner

Yoskowitz

Bloomberg

Detroit Bound

T

he Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta's
campaign director is headed to Detroit for a
similar position in the secular world.
Dan Ginis will become vice president for develop-
ment and major giving for the Detroit Symphony
Orchestra.
In a statement, Atlanta Federation Executive
Director Steve Rakitt said Ginis' "keen intellect,
gentle manner, focused professionalism and sense of
humor have made him a valued member of the sen-
ior management team and our community."

— Robert A. Sklar

Hillel's Loss Is ADL's Gain

s

ince January 1997, Marianne Bloomberg has
held the position of development director at
Hillel Day School of Metropolitan Detroit.
But her work on behalf of the Farmington Hills
Solomon Schechter school has extended well beyond
the development sphere into communications,
events planning and any other responsibilities that
came her way.
Now Bloomberg will give that same 200 percent
effort to a new job, as development director of the
Anti-Defamation League, Michigan Region. In this
newly created position, she will do fund-raising and
other tasks for the ADL, a New York-based civil
rights organization that combats anti-Semitism,
racism and prejudice.

Bloomberg's final day at Hillel will be June 5.
"I love Hillel Day School; I will always love Hillel
Day School," Bloomberg said. "I encourage every-
one to send their children here."
A Hillel graduate herself, who went on to
Southfield-Lathrup High School and Michigan State
University, Bloomberg will send her daughter
Allison, 4, to the school for kindergarten next year.
The family also includes son William, who will soon
celebrate his first birthday, and husband, Robert,
who works at Daimler-Chrysler.

— Diana Lieberman

B'nai Mitzvah Reunion

le

ric Gleisner of West Bloomfield was the first
13-year-old to observe his bar mitzvah at the
Birmingham Temple, in November 1964.
On May 30, Gleisner will be among about 60
men and women at the Humanist congregation's
first-ever Bar and Bat Mitzvah Reunion, held during
the Friday evening Shabbat
service.
The event, part of the
Birmingham Temple's 40th
anniversary celebration, was
coordinated by Bill Trapp of
Farmington Hills and a com-
mittee of 10 Temple volun-
teers.
"We went through all the
Humanists [Temple bulletins]
Wine
since the very beginning, put
all the names on a data base
and tracked them through the Internet," Trapp said.
"We started in October with about 700 names, and
ended up talking to a lot of parents and people
who'd moved out of town. Even if they couldn't
come to the reunion, they were very enthusiastic."
When Gleisner celebrated his 1964 bar mitzvah,
the Birmingham Temple held its services in
Birmingham, at the Masonic Temple on Woodward
Avenue. The synagogue is now located in
Farmington Hills.
In conjunction with the anniversary, the
Birmingham Temple is also planning a June 20
reunion of couples married by Rabbi Sherwin Wine
through the Temple, along with the first couple the
75-year-old Rabbi Wine ever married, Margot and
Herb Gardner of Huntington Woods, who wed in
1954.
"I also married their son, Glenn, to Leslie
Landau," said Rabbi Wine. "It fills me with a great
deal of pleasure to see these people again. I feel I've
touched people's lives in a very significant way."
Rabbi Wine will retire from the Temple after con-
ducting his final service on June 27.

— Diana Lieberman

Correction

Cillia Kleiman chaired the dedication of the
gym at Yeshivat Akiva in Southfield that hon-
ored benefactors Gloria and Edward Meer
("Ready For Play," May 16, page 92).

5/30

2003

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