Something Extra

Joyous Chanukah Party

JARC and the Friendship Circle co-hosted their
annual Chanukah party for children with disabilities
and their families on Sunday, Dec. 14. Nearly 70 peo-
ple enjoyed live music, Chanukah songs, a clown,
food and arts and crafts at JARC's Katzman
Administration Building in Farmington Hills. Both
JARC and the Friendship Circle provide support and
assistance to families who have children with disabili-
ties.
Keri Guten Cohen, story development edito

Right: Danny Friedman of West Bloomfield creates a
work of art at JARC's Chanukah party.
Far Right: Rondo the clown entertains Mallory Stoddard
of Oak Park.

12/26
2003

14

Nearly There

Cover Artist

Throughout his teaching career, Dr. Leonard
Kaplan of Farmington Hills has focused on educa-
tion as a catalyst for change.
______"Consider the world we live in," said Kaplan,
professor of education at Wayne State University.
"We need to improve the education of kids, to
have kids who are smarter. But we also have to
have kids who are better, more humane."
For the past two years; friends and colleagues of
Dr. Kaplan have been raising funds to establish an
endowed professorship in his name at Wayne
State University. It will take
$250,000 to begin the pro-
fessorship, which will be the
first for the university's
College of Education.
Now the effort is nearing
completion. A final push
will take place 6-8 p.m. Jan.
24 with an "Over The Top"
fund-raising cocktail party
at the Village Club in
Bloomfield Hills.
Kaplan
"You can't imagine what an
amazing teacher he is," said
Janet Pont, membership director of Congregation
Shaarey Zedek and an organizer of the endow-
ment effort.
"Contributions have come from all over the
place — major contributions and smaller ones,
from his students, from the community, from
people whose lives he's touched."
After the Jan. 24 party, a search committee will
be formed to select a candidate of the professor-
ship, which should begin during the 2005-2006
academic year.
For more information about thy Leonard
Kaplan Endowed Professorship, contact Joanne
Osmer, in the WSU development office, at (313)
577-1664. Her e-mail address is
josmer@wayne.edu
— Diana Lieberman, staff writer

The Jewish News published a review on Dec. 12 of the
new book Passing; When People Can Be Who They Are,
by Brooke Kroeger. At the time, we were unaware of the
book's local connection..
The evocative cover of the nonfiction book, which
deals with people who spend their lives inventing alter-
native identities for themselves,
was the work of Craig
Winkelman of Manhattan, the
son of Sheldon and Rissa
Winkelman of Bingham
Farms.
A graduate of Andover High
School, Winkelman received a
degree in filmmaking from
New York University. He and
his wife founded the design
studio Groundzero Design —
well before the term became
synonymous with disaster.
While the firm's principal activ- Cover designed by
is designing and serving Web metro Detroit native
sites, its work also includes adver _ CraigWinkelman
tising, book covers and graphic design of many types.
Among the company's clients are the American Jewish
Joint Distribution Committee, Johns Hopkins
University Medical School and Random House.
— Diana Lieberman, staff writer

2nd Double Mitzvah

While the Jewish
News often has
the opportunity
to include twins
in our b'nai
mitzvah listings,
the celebration
of 83-year-old
brothers, becom-
ing bar mitzvah

— for the second time — is 'clearly unique.
While Jerry and Rolph Lippman were Gilled to the
Torah 70 years ago in their small, rural hometown out-
side of Berlin, the second service in many way was
much more meaningful.
"When we were 13, Jews didn't make festive occa-
sions," said Jerry Lippman of Delray Beach, Fla. "We
studied Torah and read from, the Torah, but we couldn't
make big arrangements.7
Through the years, the men faced life-altering
tragedies and challenges. Jerry is a survivor of
Buchenwald concentration camp and Rolph, a survivor
of a prisoner of war camp in Berlin, now lives in Santa
Barbara, Calif
"Neither brother is, or has been, very religious in a
traditional way, however their faith in God as it relates
to nature, energy and self-reliance has provided the
strength and persistence to meet life's many challenges,"
said Jerry Lippman's son Glenn of Boca Raton, Fla.
So, prompted by the story of actor Kirk Douglas's
observance of a second bar mitzvah in 1999, the two
men decided they had much reason to do the same.
Surrounded by family and friends from throughout
the United States and from as far away as the
Netherlands, the two participated in a second bar mitz-
vah ceremony in Jerry Lippman's home on Nov. 29.
The service was designed and led by Glenn Lippman,
a leader in the Reform movement and national speaker
on spirituality. He said the service honored his father
and uncle's spiritual journey since their first bar mitz-
vah.
It was created with the help of Glenn Lippman's
friend from Michigan, Rabbi Jonathan Plaut of
Congregation Beth El of Traverse City
"The service included truly all the elements of a bar
mitzvah," Glenn Lippman said.
"We read the English translation of the weekly Torah
portion," Jerry Lippman said. "Our Hebrew isn't as per-
fect as it once was." Many family members also partici-
pated.
"To see my father and my uncle be able to express
Judaism in a spiritual way was wonderful," Glenn
Lippman said. "Most important for both was the
reawakening of their spirituality and their realization
that they are both very Jewish."
— Shelli Liebman Dorfman, staff writer