Disco With A Dalet
Parents learn Hebrew
while waiting for their kids in dance class
SHELLI LIEBMAN DORFMAN
Staff Writer
thing Kaplan is more than willing to help establish.
"We have always been about families," said Joe
Cornell owner Steve Jasgur.
W
Combined Studies
hen Michael Brodsky was part of the Sixth
Grade Joe Cornell Experience dance class
three years ago, his mom, Susan, spent a lot
of evenings sitting in her car in the parking lot waiting
for him to finish.
But this past October, when Michael's 11-year-old
sister, Olivia, started the class, hosted by Congregation
B'nai Moshe, Susan Brodsky decided to take advan-
tage of an innovative new offering for the dancers' par-
ents: a crash course in Hebrew reading.
"My girlfriend, whose daughter is in
the Joe Cornell class with mine, asked me
to join her, so we signed up together, "
said Brodsky of West Bloomfield.
When she started, Brodsky was a
beginning Hebrew reader like most oth-
ers in the Hebrew course, which is co-
sponsored by B'nai Moshe's Kolel Moshe
Lifelong Jewish Learning Institute and
the National Jewish Outreach Program
(NJOP) in New York. The course uses
study texts and teacher guides provided
free to congregations by NJOP's Read
Hebrew America.
"Taking my daughter to Joe Cornell
(12 years ago) was not one of my favorite
activities," remembers Nancy Kaplan,
Kolel Moshe coordinator, who created
and organizes the Hebrew course. "I
always feltthat it would be appreciated
by many parents to find ways to infuse
the pre-bar and bat mitzvah pipeline
experience with more Jewish, religious
and spiritually meaning stuff"
Making The Call
Kaplan remembers the receptive response
she received when she first contacted the Joe Cornell
office. "Not only did they agree it was a great idea,
they said they would be happy to facilitate it by giving
me mailing labels for the parents of the kids who
signed up for the classes that were going to be taking
place at B'nai Moshe," she said.
On the first night of Hebrew class when parents
were asked to accompany their children, Dr. Mark S.
Roth was invited to speak about the Hebrew course he
would be teaching — during each of the two Joe
Cornell classes offered at the synagogue.
Gayle Docks of Joe Cornell in Southfield said the
staff at Joe Cornell hope to be involved not only with
future B'nai Moshe NJOP programs but also with
similar classes at other congregations as well, some-
NJOP coursework has been offered at B'nai Moshe
for several years. Joe Cornell classes have been held
there for the last three years, but this is the first time
they were specifically scheduled to coincide. There are
5-8 students in each NJOP class that coincides with a
Joe Cornell class.
'And we love that," said Rabbi Yitzchak Rosenbaum,
program director of the New York-based NJOP.
Devin Mad g y, 11, of Farmington
Hills, in Elvis garb, dances while
clutching an extra wig.
He sees the parent who studies as a
wonderful role model for children who
may not exactly relish going to Hebrew
school. "All of a sudden, those kids can
realize that their parents are involved in Jewish stud-
ies, too, and maybe they'll take their own Jewish
studies more seriously," he said.
Rabbi Rosenbaum finds another plus to parents
learning to read Hebrew; they suddenly are interested
in going to synagogue services — and taking their
kids along — because now they can participate.
"We might even steal the idea that is working
so well at B'nai Moshe," Rabbi Rosenbaum said.
While not connected with Joe
Cornell
classes, Read Hebrew America
wurniggiumi
courses
are also offered at other Detroit-
,
o area congregations, including Keter
;Torah, B'nai David, Young Israel of
Southfield and Ann Arbor Chabad
`2. House. At Machon ETorah, study
!,7 materials are provided in Russian;
Spanish texts are available to those who
request them.
Sites of Read Hebrew America classes
are available by calling NJOP at (800)
444-3273 or by accessing its Web site:
www.njop.org
There is no charge to enroll in the
classes; host synagogues are supplied
with materials at no cost.
What Are They Learning?
.•Shaina .Ketnde4 17, ofWest Bloomfield
Right: Hebrew teacher Mark Roth
Below: Ashley Cauldron, 20, of 'west
Bloomfield teaches the dance class a few moves.
The B'nai Moshe Hebrew course that
coincides with the Joe Cornell program
is NJOP's Level One Hebrew Reading
Crash Course.
"It is set for those who do not recog-
nize Hebrew characters or with a very
basic knowledge of Hebrew letters," said
Susanne Goldstone, NJOP regional pro-
gram coordinator.
And that's where Susan Brodsky was when she
came to Dr. Roth's class — familiar with the letters
from attendance in Sunday school until fifth grade.
Learning to read Hebrew has been on Brodsky's
mind since last summer when her father-in-law passed
away, and she tried to follow the Kaddish service dur-
ing the shivah period.
The NJOP classes at B'nai Moshe helped Brodsky
get far quickly. The program is geared toward teaching
students to read individual letters and then to read
words and sentences that include only the letters that
were learned up until that point. So students are able
to read pages of Hebrew in just a very few weeks.
Disco on page 58
12/17
2004
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