The Quiet Givers

Sinai Hospital staff fund still is giving back to medical community.

HARRY KIRS BAUM

StalfWriter

I

n the mid-1950s, physicians at
Sinai Hospital of Detroit devoted
a portion of their fees to the Sinai
Medical Hospital Staff Education
Corp., a fund that quietly gave back to
the Sinai community.
After several reincarnations, the pro-
ceeds of that fund are still quietly giving
back to the general medical community
through scholarships and grants.
"When Sinai was established
[in1953], the physicians decided they
were going to direct a portion of their
fees to a fund for further education of
medical residents at Sinai as well as spe-
cial projects like the medical library,"
said Southfield attorney Robert Karbel,
current manager of the $3.7 million
fund. "It was not a part of Sinai

Israeli Expert
Talks Ecology

The Michigan Coalition on the
Environment and Jewish Life (MI-
COEJL) will host Dr. Eilon Schwartz,
executive director of the Heschel
Center for Environmental Learning
and Leadership in Israel, for presenta-
tions in West Bloomfield and Ann
Arbor.
Dr. Schwartz will be featured guest as
MI-COEJL and Temple Kol Ami host
a Tu b'Shevat seder at 5:30 p.m. Friday,
Feb. 6, at the temple. Participants will
sing, learn, pray and taste the fruits of
the season. Dr. Schwartz will speak
about how the Heschel Center is
addressing Israel's environmental chal-
lenges. The event is open to the com-
munity. Light refreshments and tradi-
tional Tu b'Shevat foods will be served.
Dr. Schwartz will give a presentation
on environmental issues in Israel at
7:30 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 8, at the Jewish
Community Center of Washtenaw
County. He will share successes and
challenges in addressing Israel's current
environmental crisis. The event is open
to the public. The JCC is at 2935
Birch Hollow Drive, Ann Arbor.
Contact MI-COEJL at (248) 642-
5393, ext. 7., mi-coejl@jfmd.org or
www.coejl.org

1/30
2004

58

Hospital. It was an independ-
ent organization established by
funds that were not part of
Sinai and run by the Sinai
executive staff committee for a
number of years."
By June 1985, the original
fund had grown to $2.7 mil-
lion, Karbel said. When the
Karbel
Detroit Medical Center closed
Sinai Hospital on West Outer Drive in
1999, the doctors decided to turn the
corporation into a private foundation.
The Sinai Medical Staff Foundation is
based in Southfield. The eight-member
board meets quarterly to discuss applica-
tions from various nonprofits.
"Our major purpose is to promote
education and research within the
southeastern Michigan medical commu-
nity," said Dr. Robert Michaels of
Southfield, the board president.
Since January 2002, $480,000 has

been given equally
to second- and
third-year medical
school residents in
the immediate area
who attend the
University of
Michigan Medical
School, the Wayne
Michaels
State Medical. School,
the Michigan State School of Human
Medicine and the MSU School of
Osteopathic Medicine, Karbel said.
"Like any other private foundation, we
are required to give an amount equal to
5 percent of the average asset of the cor-
poration, or we can suffer a tax penalty."
Money has gone to cancer research,
pain management and to deaf and hear-
ing impaired services. Nearly $28,000
has gone to buy audio-visual equipment
for Sinai-Grace Hospital's Department
of Medicine, and $46,000 has gone to

the Rehabilitation Institute of
Michigan.
"We don't advertise or send
out an annual report or any-
thinob " he added. "We feel our
money is better spent on pro-
grams. We would like to put
the money where it would do
some good now"
The foundation is not connect-
ed with current Sinai hospitals — Sinai-
Grace in Detroit and Huron Valley-
Sinai in Commerce Township — other
than a number of board members who
still have privileges there, Karbel said.
Board member Dr. Samuel
Indenbaum of Franklin said the group is
"proud of the continuation of this as a
feeder, so to speak, for the needs of the
medical community and the education
and research that we want to provide
through our association with Sinai." ❑

Program's Focus:
Nurturing Kids

member. He is a past chairman of the
National Professional Advisory Board
for the parents' support group Children
with Attention Deficit Disorder.

dent of the
Federation Young
Adult Division.
Currently, Slatkin
is chair of the JCC
Renovation
Committee, super-
vising $25 million
of improvements on
both the West
Bloomfield and Oak
Park campuses.

Jewish Federation's Alliance for Jewish
Education invites the community to a
Family Circle seminar with Sam
Goldstein, a psychologist and expert in
child development.
Dr. Goldstein's topic will be
"Nurturing Resilience in Our Children:
Helping Them Turn Life's Lemons into
Lemonade." The program will be held
on Sunday, March 14, 1:30-3:30 p.m.
at the Eugene and Marcia Applebaum
Center for Jewish Living at
Congregation Shaarey Zedek West
Bloomfield, B'nai Israel Center. Coffee
and dessert will be served.
The cost of the
program is $5 per
person. Pre-registra-
tion is required by
Feb. 20 and is avail-
able online at
vvvvw.thisifedera-
tion.orgialliance
For information or
to register, contact
Haviva Jacobs,
Goldstein
(248) 642-4260.
Goldstein is a clinical instructor in the
department of psychiatry and adjunct
professor of educational psychology at
the University of Utah, as well as a staff

Slatkin Receives
Achievement Award

For his dedication and years of serv-
ice on behalf of the Jewish community
in metro Detroit, in Israel and overseas,
Robert Slatkin has been named the
2003 recipient of the United Jewish
Communities' Endowment
Achievement Award.
Recognizing his leadership in the
management and growth of Detroit
Jewry's endowment funds, the com-
bined boards of the Jewish Federation
and United Jewish Foundation of
Metropolitan Detroit presented the
award to Slatkin at the Jan. 29 meet-
ing.
A real estate developer and president
of Slatkin Corp, Slatkin served as presi-
dent of the United Jewish Foundation
from 1997-99. He is a past chairman
of the annual campaign, past president
of the Jewish Community Center, past
co-chair of the Federation's Real Estate
& Property Management Committee,
past chairman of Federation's
Receivable Committee, and past presi-

,

Slatkin

Learn About Rabbi

Rabbi Joseph Klein of Temple Emanu-
El will teach a five-part class on
successive Thursdays, Feb. 5-March 4
at 7:30 p.m. on Rabbi Lawrence
Kushner's book, Eyes Remade for

Wonder.

The class is being presented in antic-
ipation of Rabbi Lawrence Kushner
coming to Temple Emanu-El the week-
end of March 19-21 as its scholar in
residence. Registration is $40 for mem-
bers and $55 for non-members. The
cost of the book, $19, is included in
the registration fee.
Contact Temple Emanu-El, (248)
967-4020, to register.