4irituality
S
T H
E
2004 TRIBUTE TO BILL.. BERMAN
At The Helm
Pachter leads
rabbis' board.
ALAN HITSKY
Associate Editor
S
27375 Bell Road, Southfield ., Mi 48034 248-357-5544 Phone 248-357-0227 Fax
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eventeen years after joining as a
rank amateur fresh out of rabbini-
cal school, Congregation B'nai
Moshe's Rabbi Elliot Pachter has been
elected president of a local organization
that welcomed him and helped hone his
rabbinic skills.
The Michigan Board of Rabbis "has
grown tremendously during the last
decade," Rabbi Pachter said.
"Participation has increased and we have
a positive partnership
with the Jewish
Federation of
Metropolitan Detroit."
The board includes
rabbis of all denomina-
tions. Federation's
Rabbi Judah Isaacs
serves as executive
Pachter
director and Dave
Henig provides staff
support.
According to Rabbi Pachter, "we help
ourselves and help the community"
Rabbi Pachter succeeds Rabbi Paul
Yedwab of Temple Israel. Other officers
elected were Rabbi Arnie Sleutelberg of
Congregation Shir Tikvah, vice presi-
dent; and Rabbi Reuven Spolter of
Young Israel of Oak Park, treasurer.
The 50-rabbi board provides:
• colleague support, a place for rabbis
to discuss common problems and hear
guest speakers for continuing education;
• community support, such as repre-
senting the community at metropolitan
area and interfaith events, co-sponsoring
Federation's Michigan Miracle Missions
to Israel.
•
The board also pushed hard for cre-
ation of the Jewish Hospice and
.
Chaplaincy Network.
Board issues have included establish-
ing a protocol for co-officiating at lifecy-
cle events across Jewish lines and work-
ing with the Jewish funeral homes to
make decisions guiding families about
cemetery rituals and shivah.
"We thought we would find great
tension" on the latter, the rabbi said,
"but instead we found a great working
relationship with the funeral homes. I
was the youngster [age 28] when I first
came" to the Michigan Board of Rabbis
meetings, he said. "Nobody's called me
`youngster' in quite a while." Fl