The Scene

New A 2 Fraternity

The fledgling YAD organization in Ann Arbor is meeting a variety of needs.

JOANNA BRODER

Special to the Jewish News

Ann Arbor
n October 2001, Lauren Katz,
now 33, was looking to meet a
Jewish man. She'd arrived in
Ann Arbor the year before for
her Ph.D. program and gotten active
in the then fledgling Young Adult
Division of the Jewish Federation of
Washtenaw County.
One weekend, Katz was scheduled
to hand out nametags and greet people
at YAD's second annual wine tasting
party, but she was in no mood to go.
Katz remembers, "I was dating some-
one at the time and had a lot going on
that week."
But, she went and, while greeting
wine tasters at the door, she noticed
31-year-old Joel Rubenstein, a physi-
cian. Their eyes met, and 13 months
later they were married.
"That is one of our biggest success-
es," said Irwin Weingarten, YAD's first
chair. "In a Jewish community, you
should be able to meet Jews of the
opposite sex, and that's starting to
happen."
Though the Jewish Federation of
Washtenaw County has been in exis-
tence since 1986, the Young Adult
Division for ages 25-40 was formally
organized three years ago. Today, 400
people are on the e-mail list for YAD
and its events. Often free, the events
range from social activities with catchy
titles like "Haman and Heiniken" to
sponsorship of the first night of the
Ann Arbor Jewish Book Fair.
Weingarten has watched YAD grow.
Two years ago, YAD did not even fill a
table at the Federation's annual dinner,
but last year there were so many YAD
attendees that "people [on the federa-
tion board] realized that there were
younger adults who had come togeth-
er and cared," Weingarten said.
Weingarten grew up in Southfield
and Birmingham and moved to Ann
Arbor in 1987. For 10 years, "I didn't
even know there was a JCC or a
Jewish day school," Weingarten said.
"A lot of us choose to live in Ann
Arbor for one reason or another, but
you get a little nostalgia for what you

I

Members of the Ann Arbor Young Adult Division packed Zingerman's Roadhouse for an October dinner.

had growing up," he said about his
Jewish neighborhood in Southfield.
So, Weingarten took his concerns to
Jeff Levin, the executive director of
Federation.
Levin agreed that Ann Arbor needed
formal programming for young adults.
He had experience working with
Detroit's YAD and made an Ann
Arbor YAD a priority. The first official
event — a wine tasting at the Matthai
Botanical Garden in the fall of 2000
— attracted 100 people.
"I wanted Young Adult Division
events to be at a place that was a priori
hip and relevant to young people,"
Levin said. "I did not want their first
connection with Federation to be, 'We
want you to give money.'"
At a recent YAD event at the new
Zingerman's Roadhouse restaurant,
Candace Gross, 29, came alone, even
though she has a serious boyfriend.
"It's not limited to singles; it's not lim-
ited to married couples either," Gross
said. "It's open to everyone who is
young and Jewish."

months, also attended the Roadhouse
event to meet more young Jews. The
family tries to do events that are more
family-friendly, such as a recent paint-
your-own-pottery day.
"It's always a little weird for us,"
Shavit said. "We're always asking,
`Will there be other families?'"
"It's hard," admits Brian Bernhardt,

chair of the YAD Steering Committee.
"You do too many events with families
and then single people say, 'We want
to meet men' or 'We want to meet
women.' You're always trying to make
sure that you do things that appeal to
the broadest cross section."

YAD on page 92

Family Needs

Jordan Shavit, 33, his wife Erika
Levin, 34, and their son Eli, 19

Candace Gross of Ann Arbor and Joel Ring of Flint enjoy YAD events.

11/28
2003

91