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Shared Healing
New edition of "Kaddish Minyan" brings
experiences of mourners to print.
hen Andrea Gordon's
mother died, she found
herself in a situation she
never envisioned — recit-
ing Kaddish (the prayer for the dead).
"Kaddish was what I watched other
people stand up and say in shul," said
Gordon of Southfield. "I, for some rea-
son, always felt I was exempt. I never
understood the depths of what it was to
say it myself."
But on the day after her mother's
funeral, there she was in the chapel at
Adat Shalom Synagogue, the newest
member of the synagogue's "Kaddish
minyan," a daily service named for the
quorum of 10 required to recite the
prayer.
"Everything was brand new to me,
but I knew some of what to expect
from stories I read written by others
who had said Kaddish," she said.
The book was The Kaddish Minyan:
The Impact On Ten Lives, edited by her
rabbi, Herbert Yoskowitz, who corn-
piled personal reflections written by
Adat Shalom members of their experi-
ence reciting the prayer.
So, two years later, when the rabbi
expanded the book into the 2003 edi-
tion of The Kaddish Minyan: From Pain
to Healing; Twenty Personal Stories,
Gordon was eager to add her own chap-
ter.
The updated book, which also con-
tains chapters written by therapists and
Jewish funeral home directors, includes
the words of the Kaddish written in
Hebrew, English and transliteration and
is accompanied by an audio CD of the
prayer. Adat Shalom Rabbi Daniel
Nevins added linear translation and
commentary and the synagogue's can-
tor, Howard Glantz, wrote of the
impact of leading the recitation of the
prayer.
Real Life Stories
Each author of the book's short chapters
takes a very personal approach to what
they want to share. Contributions
included stories of how the Kaddish was
a source of personal healing, of the ben-
efit of saying the prayer in the company
of others and the bond created between
those who say Kaddish together.
"There are people who will always be
special in my heart because they were
with me during the year I said
Kaddish," Gordon said. •
When she was still new to the serv-
ice, she said, "a couple of ladies came
over to show me the ropes and to tell
me how to follow along."
Jewish News columnist George
Cantor penned a chapter. He wrote that
to say Kaddish for his daughter
Courtney for the traditional full 11
months, rather than the required one
month for the loss of a child, was an
unshakable personal obligation to my
daughter's memory. That I never fore-
saw was that it would also restore my
wife and me to life," he wrote.
SHARED HEALING on page 54
Martin and Helen Lattin
Founhzind
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THE
FOUNTAINS
AT FRANKLIN
Retirement Living • Assisted Living • Alzheimer's Care
28301 Franklin Road • Southfield, MI 48034
www. thefountains. corn
Al:#630084627 • NPDJ031904
LIVV4V,Irn
The holidays can be crazy—especially when
"decking the halls" means adding a second story
to your 3,000 square foot ranch. Yet, the
Reichenbachs report smooth operations on the
extensive renovations Gittleman performed at their
Livonia home last winter. The New Year would find
them with a fully remodeled kitchen and dining
room, expansive new great room with cathedral
ceiling, a spacious office, additional space in their
master bedroom and a mouthful of praise for
Gittleman.
"They were wonderful to work with...so
accommodating from start to finish," explained
Nancy Reichenbach, whose husband Tom's work
schedule would only permit meeting with the
architects at 6:30 am—weekly—and they were
happy to oblige. Gittleman's crew was so spirited,
in fact, that daily, during the Christmas season, they
would remove the Reichenbachs' outdcior decorative
lights to work on the home's exterior during the day, then restring them at night.
Though subtle from the outside, a world of change has befallen the Reichenbach home. Nancy no
longer runs her home-based income tax business from her son's old bedroom, and they now have
ample space to accommodate him, his fiancée and their daughter's college friends on visits home.
"I wake up every morning and say, 'I love my house,"' Nancy beamed. And that's Gittleman's job—
to ensure that your dreams don't end when you wake, but that you wake up in your dream home.
Just ask the Reichenbachs.
GC CONSTRUCTION
GITTLEMAN
Andrea Gordon of Southfield and Susie Graham of Test Bloomfield in the chapel at
Adat Shalom.
inc
28580 ORCHARD LAKE RD., SUITE 102
FARMINGTON HILLS, MI 48334
248.538.5400
www.gittleman.net
IN
3/19
2004
53