Guest Rabbi
Focuses On Death
I
n the absence of a full-time rabbi, when
Congregation T'Chiyah is able to host visit-
ing clergy, they make the most of the oppor-
tunity.
Houston-based Rabbi Sue E. Levy will spend
time with the Royal Oak congregation, leading
Shabbat services at 7:45 p.m. Friday, Dec. 5, and
10 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 6. On Friday evening, she
will speak about Judaism and Islam. On Saturday
morning, she will talk about the Jewish practice
regarding death and mourning.
The rabbi brings both personal understanding
as a mourner for her late husband and experience
as a teacher of death and dying at Temple
University in Philadelphia and on Jewish mourn-
ing customs in numerous other locations.
A former hospital administrator, Rabbi Levy is
also trained as a cantor and has served as director
of rabbinic placement for the Reconstructionist
movement. She is the facilitator of the Jewish
Recovery Network, a support group of Jewish
Family Services of Houston, for those in recovery
from addiction.
— Shelli Liebman Dorfman
Hebrew-Letter Quilt
Earns Blue Ribbon
W
hen Shany and Shlomie Baitz of New
York City sent out invitations for their
wedding, they never dreamed the illus-
tration on it of a bride and groom made from the
Hebrew initials of their names would wind up on
an award-winning quilt.
Shany's mother, attorney Rivka Schochet of
West Bloomfield, received the gift for the newly-
weds from her secretary Sharon Miner of Mount
Clemens, who made it. The quilt won a blue rib-
bon at the Michigan State Fair.
— Sharon Luckerman
Sharon Miner's blue-ribbon quilt with Hebrew letters.
Super Sunday Moves
Into December
D
ecember has been declared Mitzah Month
by the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan
Detroit, which will kick off 2004 with its
Super Sunday phon-a-thon from 10 a.m.-3 p.m.
Dec. 7.
Hundreds of volunteers will be making calls from
the Max M. Fisher Federation Building in Bloomfield
Hills as well as from the Jewish Community Center in
Oak Park. Super Sunday will be extended through
Tuesday, Dec. 9.
The event benefits Federation's Annual Campaign
that supports 18 local agencies, ranging from Jewish
Family Services, JVS, Jewish Apartment Services,
Jewish Community Center, Jewish day schools, Hillel
and Jewish summer camp. Overseas, the money goes
wherever Jews are in need.
This year, every new gift to Federation's 2004
Annual Campaign will be matched dollar-for-dollar
through the generosity of the Jane and Larry Sherman
Family Challenge Fund in honor of Max M. Fisher's
95th Birthday.
Volunteers are needed and are asked to sign up for
one of two shifts: from 10 a.m.-noon or from noon-3
p.m. Child care and activities will be available for chil-
dren at the JCC in Oak Park.
To volunteer, call Carol Kaczander at (248) 203-
1466, Heidi Hes (Women's Campaign & Education
Department) at (248) 203-1459 or Jonathan
Goldstein (Federation's Young Adult Division) at
(248) 203-1471. Newcomers are welcome. Coffee,
bagels, pizza and snacks are provided, with dietary
laws observed.
— Keri Guten Cohen
Mark Hauser
Joins UJC Board
M
ark R. Hauser, immediate past president of
the United Jewish Foundation of
Metropolitan Detroit and a longtime com-
munity leader, was elected a vice chair and at-large
trustee of the United Jewish
Communities board at the organi-
zation's 2003 General Assembly
held in Jerusalem.
As one of eight vice chairs,
Hauser will serve as a member of
the executive committee as well as a
key member of the Officers Team,
which serves as a sounding board
and brainstorming group with the
chief volunteer officers and the
Hauser
CEO. They deal with high-level issues
relating to corporate organization, policy and Jewish
community concerns related to the UJC's agenda.
Hauser is a real estate attorney with Maddin,
Hauser, Wartell, Roth and Heller P.C. An ardent sup-
porter of Israel, Hauser has led hundreds of Detroiters
on missions to Israel, in addition to his other leader-
ship roles.
— Keri Guten Cohen
Jewish Fund Update
D
avid Page, chair of the Jewish Fund, called
the 2003 payout of $3.9 million in grants
"one of our largest grant years ever,„ b during
the Jewish Fund annual report on Nov. 24.
The Jewish Fund was created
with the proceeds of the sale of
Sinai Hospital to the Detroit
Medical Center in 1996. It
awards grants that are primari-
ly seed money for new pro-
grams to help vulnerable indi-
viduals, mainly the elderly and
those with special needs.
"We have fared well, despite
the faltering economy, and
remain in a very strong posi-
tion,” he said, noting Jewish
David Page
Fund net assets of $54 million.
"Since our creation in early
1997, we have paid out over $12 million in obliga-
tions that we took over to the DMC, we paid $8.5
million for an outstanding Medicare settlement obli-
gation of Sinai Hospital that we assumed as part of
the transaction, and we paid approximately 5 per-
cent of our net assets in grants each and every year."
The Jewish Fund total grant amount in its six-year
history is $22 million.
— Harry Kirsbaum
Israel insigit
TIM ISSUE
The security barrier Israel is build-
ing- to separate itself from West
Bank towns and villages is being
called an "apartheid wall" or "Berlin
wall by Palestinian activists. They
claim the barrier is disruptive and
oppressive to their lives. Its recent
results, though, bring a different
definition to mind for most Israelis.
REHIND THE ISSUE
As the past six weeks have seen a
marked reduction in the number of
terror attacks in Israel, most Israelis
are calling the security barrier
"effective." Avi Dichter, Israel's
security services chief, was quoted
this week as saying that the 60
miles of completed fence has "paid
for itself — with interest."
— Allan Gale, Jewish. Communi t y
Council ofMetropolitan Detroit
11/28
2003
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