Metro Life Is A Celebration. Revered Rabbi Is Remembered Celebrate Our 15th Anniversary With Us Take 15% Off any purchase* More than 500 attend yahrtzeit memorial service for Rabbi Bakst. SUSAN TAWIL Special to the Jewish News R abbi Aryeh Leib Bakst died one year ago, and his follow- ing was so great that more than 500 people attended his yahrtzeit [anniversary of death] memorial serv- ice Dec. 29. "Everyone felt the Rosh Yeshivah was their best friend," said Rabbi Moshe Carlebach of Jerusalem, who spoke at the service. In Detroit, the term "Rosh Yeshivah" Good through 1128/05 Tradition!Tradition! For An Appointment Gall Alicia R. Nelson 248.557.0109 Rabbi Bakst was considered by many to be one of the Gedolai haDor, great Torah sages of our generation. His depth of under- standing, diligence in learning and originality of thought were leg- endary. A student of the famous Mir Yeshiva in Poland, he escaped with his classmates to Shanghai, China, during World War II. There, in distinctly foreign surroundings, the yeshivah was re-established, and the students continued their Torah study until the war's end. www. a Ilthingsjewish. com *Ketubahs, Tefillin and Kosher Scrolls excluded. 916920 THE BIRMINGHAM TEMPLE JOIN RABBI SHERWIN WINE FOR THE BIRMINGHAM TEMPLE FORUM ALL BEGIN AT Jan 10 Jan 17 The Judaism of The Judaism of the Prophets the Torah Rabbi Wine Rabbi Wine Visit us on the web www.birminghamtemple.org Call for further details 8:00 PM Jan 24 Jan 31 The Rise of Messianic Judaism The Judaism of the Rabbis Rabbi Wine Rabbi Wine Rabbi Wine Discussing "BEFORE AND AFTER THE DEAD SEA SCROLLS" 248-477-1410 28611 W. 12 Mile Rd. Farmington Hills, MI 48334 1/ 7 A preparation for the seminar on the Dead Sea Scrolls with Professor Roitman January 28-30 MEMBERS: FREE • NON-MEMBERS: $8 923950 2005 16 Rabbi Moshe Carlebach ofJerusalem speaks of Rabbi Bakst to a full house. (head of Yeshivah) referred only to Rabbi Bakst, beloved leader of Detroit's Orthodox community and a brilliant Torah scholar. Marking the first year of his passing, the gathering was held at Oak Park's Yeshiva Gedolah Ateres Mordechai of Greater Detroit, the yeshivah high school and post-high school rabbinical college Rabbi Bakst headed for some 60 years until his death at age 89. Community members recited tehillim (psalms) on behalf of his departed soul and listened to inspiring words of Torah reflecting his life. Rabbi Bakst, with his new wife, Esther (Rogow), then immigrated to Quebec, Canada. In 1947, they were recruited by the late Rabbi Avrohom Abba Freedman to teach in the fledg- ling Yeshiva Beth Yehudah in Detroit. Rabbi Bakst later headed the Yeshiva Gedolah Ateres Mordechai high school and the Yeshiva Gedolah Rabbinical College. One of the speakers at the memorial service, Rabbi Carlebach is the son of Rabbi Naftali Carlebach, who learned in the Mir Yeshiva with Rabbi Bakst. He characterized Rabbi Bakst as "a