GIFT GUIDE

Synagogue
Shopping

Oft-forgotten specialty stores operate
at many houses of worship.

by SheIli Liebman Dorfman I photography by Angie Baan

Genie Wolfson and Amy Paberzs,
both of Ann Arbor, display books,
gift items and Judaica at the Temple
Beth Emeth Sisterhood gift shop.

Beth El Sisterhood President Jill
Gurwin of Bloomfield Hills and
volunteer Dolly Lax of Livonia
show gift shop Judaica.

hile most think of the synagogue
as a place for religious services,
Hebrew school or committee
meetings, it also can be part of a
holiday gift-shopping spree.
Many area congregation sisterhoods have
showcases, display areas or entire stores stocked
with competitively priced gift items, with profits
donated to worthwhile causes.
Most of the volunteer-staffed gift shops focus
on year-round Judaic items, like silver candle-
sticks, hand-painted Ketubot, cleverly designed
suede and crocheted kippot and holiday items,
such as clay menorot, glass dreidels and ceramic
seder plates, but many now carry non-religious
items as well.
"We recently revamped and expanded our
gift shop at Temple Beth El," said Jill Gurwin of
Bloomfield Hills, the synagogue's sisterhood
president.
"We are still carrying all the Judaica, but we
are also carrying gift-giving items. We want to
be a place where someone can come to buy a
gift to take to someone's house when they're
invited for dinner or for someone who is not
feeling well or for a teacher."
The gift shop's items include jewelry, purses,
picture frames, ceramic teapots and hand-paint-
ed T-shirts for babies as well as stationery, invi-
tations and personalized napkins sold through
member Patti Phillips of Patti's Parties in West
Bloomfield. She makes a donation to the sister-
hood from each sale.
"We also have a lot of little, non-Judaic gift
items that kids can buy to exchange with their
friends for Chanukah," said Renee Jablonski of
Beverly Hills, one of eight volunteers who rotate
as Beth El gift shop staff. "We have animal-
themed notepads, CD holders and white watch-
es that come with a pallet of paint so the kids
can paint them themselves. We also have our
own Beanie Baby-type stuffed animals, who
wear Temple Beth El T-shirts."
Many gift shops, like Temple Beth Emeth in
Ann Arbor, also carry a variety of reading mate-
rial. "We have a lot of books for children," said
Amy Paberzs, who co-chairs the gift shop with
Genie Wolfson, both of Ann Arbor. "We carry
books like Shalom, Salaam, Peace by Howard
Bogot, with very colorful illustrations of rain-

liAt

bows and doves and children by Norman
Gorbaty, and a creative drawing book that
allows kids to draw their own holiday pictures."

A menorah for the dancing ballerina from the Beth El store

Unique and fun mezuzot

A variety of honey dishes

Shopping For The Unique

Beth Emeth's gift shop also carries a variety of
Miriam's tambourines. "We have designs includ-
ing one for a bat mitzvah, one for healing and
celebration types," Paberzs said.
She said gift shop volunteers are careful not
to take business away from other stores. "We
just want to complement them," she said.
"When there's something we don't have, we
refer shoppers to Judaic stores — and also to
the gift shop at Beth Israel, the other synagogue
in town."
Beth Emeth carries creations by area artists.
"This year, we have a lot of very unique meno-
rahs made by local artisans," Paberzs said. "We
have mezuzahs made by a local ceramist, too."
In addition, the store, like many others,
stocks Israeli-made items.
At Temple Israel, "many of the mezuzot we
carry come from Israel, including one sterling
mezuzah from the Israeli Supreme Court," said
Nancy Jonas of Farmington Hills, who co-chairs
the synagogue's gift shop with Donna Phillips of
Southfield and Illene Rochlen and Rise Siegel,
both of Farmington Hills.
"Among the unusual items we carry are
Miriam's cups in glass, pewter, metal and com-
bination fused and glass, and a large variety of
yads in merino glass, pewter, sterling and
wood," she said.
Collectors shop for dreidels and mezuzot all
year-round.
In addition, a gift registry is available at
Temple Israel. "Brides come in and register for
Judaic and non Judaic items and receive a love-
ly gift from us," Phillips said.
Some gift shops — including those at Adat
Shalom Synagogue and Congregations Beth
Shalom and B'nai Moshe — sell their own sis-
terhood cookbooks.
At Temple Shir Shalom, teaming up with
Alljudaica.com, allows for online shopping of
items, from canvas sukkot to the new Shabbat
permissible KosherLamp, software, calendars
and wedding gifts, with a portion of proceeds
given to the synagogue.

(continued on page 16)

GIFT
GUIDE

11/12
2004

13