••° FOR THE AGES • :T4• -•LIrTr*n ' 0 '1/40110 am • 1•1 1111 1 ; 4 L raUCS LK 1.1L IRV - Max M. Fisher, 1908-2005 ILL 11. ■ 1 r1.1r I "rail 1:■■ • 9.1111111 • e W.14 • M1,11 . . The Jean & Samuel Frankel Center for Judaic Studies Presents The Fifteenth Annual David W. Belin Lecture Pre-Planning in American Jewish Affairs "Constructing Jewish Life in the Age of Reproductive Technologies" • The behind-the-scenes details for a major funeral. .•• by ALAN HITSKY Susan Kahn Associate Editor Associate Director, Center for Middle Eastern Studies Harvard University By examining the ways in which orthodox American Jews understand and negotiate high-tech infertility treatments, Professor Kahn will illuminate a new seam in contemporary Jewish life. Professor Kahn's lecture will describe the ways in which orthodox Jews who seek infertility treatment use' folk remedies, prayers, and high tech-assisted conception in conjunction; how orthodox Jews use the internet to establish elaborate support, information, and educational networks concerning infertility treatment; how they have innovated a hybrid language for describing and explaining infertility treatments that blends Hebrew prayers, Yiddish aphorisms, English slang, gematria (numerology), and biomedical terminology; and how they have created frameworks for unique professional collaborations between rabbis, doctors, and clinic personnel in order to ensure that their fertility treatments are conducted with strict attention to halakhic concerns. Professor Kahn will suggest an analytic framework for understanding these activities in order to gain insight into this unprecedented moment in the O fr history of Jewish conception. Wednesday, March 16, 4:00 p.m. The Michigan Room, Michigan League 911 N. University, Ann Arbor, Michigan Public welcome. Reception follows lecture. wvvvvisa.umich.edu/judaic The University of Michigan, 3032 Frieze Building, 105 S. State, Ann Arbor, MI, (734) 763-9047 946800 1.• • CT r MEN MM. 111•1111010111f, Bring in This ve 42" Round GlassS T e ot • I icoupon and Recei -- 5 Pc Dining -- a l " Table and 4 Chairs Group Price! hillside $ : !FURNITURE I 248-334-4745 Group price cannot be combined other offers„ er while supplies lase% www.hillsidefurniture.com , 4nfolphillsidefumiture.corn 2300 Telegraph Road • Bloomfield Hills, MI 48302 Hours: Mon- Fri: 11 am - 8pm • Sat: 10am-5:30pm • Sun: Noon -5prn:i um= MIME MIME rrr • Cellular Phones • Satellite TV b • Send Global International Calling viiPELE.,5 West Bloomfield • (248) 681-7200 Bloomfield Hills • (248) 335-3345 4276 Orchard Lake Rd. @ Lone Pine 43 I 83 Woodward Ave @ Square Lake nly minutes after a lengthy March 3 meeting to pre-plan an impor- tant community event, David Techner received a telephone call that would launch one of the busiest weekends of his career. Beaumont hospice nurse Bonnie Topper called Techner at Ira Kaufman Chapel in Southfield to say that Max Fisher had just died at his Franklin home. Techner had just completed a 2 1/2-hour meeting with family representatives Phillip Fisher and Mary Fisher to plan funeral arrangements for their father. Techner is funeral director at Kaufman and a friend of Phillip Fisher for 40 years. They knew when the meeting began Thursday morning "that death was near, but not that it would be a matter of hours." Techner and several members of Kaufman's staff went to the Fisher home in Franklin to remove the body. But the family asked if they could do it. Rabbi Harold Loss of Temple Israel in West Bloomfield said prayers with family members and, using a rubber "bed" used by the Chapel, they car- ried Mr. Fisher's body down a circular stair- case to a waiting hearse. "With the family participating, it made it quite simple," Techner said, "and dignified." Kaufman Chapel's role included coordi- nating the location, security and eulogizers at Fisher's March 6 funeral at Congregation Shaarey Zedek in Southfield. Because the family had discussed their wishes with Techner, "I didn't have to both- er them anymore," he said. Over the next three days, Techner was in near-constant communication with Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard to discuss police and building security for the funeral. The sheriff "was nothing short of sensational," Techner said, adding that it was critical to the Fisher family that people coming to the funeral feel secure. Techner arranged for 11 limousines and five smaller cars to be used by the family from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday. "There were a lot of family members, a lot of people from out of town," Techner said. "There were even a few 'just-in-case' vehicles — in case someone needed to go to the airport or wherever. "We knew the location, the telephone number and who was riding in each vehicle at all times — just in case." Techner received 22 requests from rab- bis, Jewish Federation employees, digni- taries and community members, asking to participate in the mitzvah of taharah for Mr. Fisher, the religious ritual of washing and dressing the body before the funeral. But the family did not want to ask the three or four religiously observant people who nor- mally do the taharah at Kaufman to step aside for others. On Friday, many of the Fisher grandchil- dren and great-grand- children met at Kaufman Chapel to dis- cuss Jewish burial cus- Techner toms. "It was a wonder- ful meeting," Techner said. "We discussed what you do, how and why," adding that the youngest children asked most of the questions. Techner gave special praise to Rabbi Boruch Levin of Hebrew Memorial Chapel in Oak Park. "As soon as he heard that Mr. Fisher had died, he called to offer help in any way they could. He's done this before — he's always there for us." At Sunday's funeral, Techner had 10 Kaufman Chapel staff at Congregation Shaarey Zedek and two on duty at the chapel. Several funeral directors from other facilities were also on hand. Following the 90-minute funeral at Shaarey Zedek, Fisher was buried at the synagogue's Clover Hill Park Cemetery in Birmingham. Fisher had a small plot at Clover Hill, but 8-10 years ago, he decided he wanted a family plot. The Fishers now have one of the largest plots at the cemetery. On Monday, the day after the funeral, burial and family reception at the Ritz- Carlton in Dearborn, Techner said, "I feel great. It's like we really did it. We're 'under- takers,' but until you 'undertake' something, you don't know if you'll pass the test. "It was an honor [to handle the arrange- ments for Mr. Fisher]. We came away from a weekend of planning without any glitches." Well, he admitted, there was one glitch. Arriving 2 1/2 hours before the funeral Sunday morning, he parked in Shaarey