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Health

The Name Lives On

Sinai Hospital is no more, but the Sinai Guild's important work continues.

ELIZABETH APPLEBAUM
St4fic Writer

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fight years ago, when Sinai
closed its doors in Detroit,
members of the hospital's aux-
iliary board wondered whether it was
worthwhile to continue their work.
An auxiliary group for an institution
that would no longer exist?
But "history carries a heavy weight,"
says Sandra Jaffa, executive director of
the Sinai Guild. "Sinai meant a lot to
many people in this community."
So they decided to keep going. And
plenty of benefactors are glad they did.
Each year, the Guild funds numer-
ous medical programs in Metro
Detroit, from those that help seniors
with costly drug prescriptions to pur-
chasing high-tech medical equipment
for surgery on infants to supporting
the early detection and treatment of
breast cancer.
The Guild began as the Sinai
Women's Auxiliary in 1952, a group of
women volunteers who helped within
the hospital and later began fund-rais-
ing on their own. They ran the gift
shop and sold baby bracelets to help
support projects at the hospital. Later,
male volunteers joined the Guild.
By 1995, as the future of Sinai was
in doubt, the auxiliary became its own
independent, nonprofit group. In
1997, when the Detroit Medical

Center took over the hospital, DMC
encouraged the Guild to continue its
charitable work.
Jaffa has been with the organization
for more than four years. A psy-
chotherapist in private practice for
more than 18 years, she then started
and supervised the Jewish Family
Service Windows program for abusive
families. She also was Women's
Department director at the Jewish
Federation of Metropolitan Detroit for
six years.
"What caught my attention was the
idea of keeping the name of Sinai
Hospital alive and doing good deeds
in Sinai's name," says Jaffa, whose chil-
dren were delivered there. "Sinai repre-
sents many things to this community"
The very reason for Sinai's existence
holds meaning as well, Jaffa says. "So
many people in this community
founded and worked to create this
hospital, which was established
because of the prejudice against Jewish
doctors."
Rusty Rosman's grandfather, Isaac
Rosenthal, was president of the
Hebrew Hospital Association long
before Sinai ever came into existence.
He hoped to see a Jewish hospital in
Detroit where the former Northend
Clinic once stood. Soon after World
War II, a group in favor of a new enti-
ty, to be called Sinai Hospital,
approached Rosenfeld and asked for

his support — and money. He agreed,
as long as the hospital would have a
kosher kitchen.
Today, Rusty Rosman of Commerce
Township is president of the Sinai
Guild. She started as a candy striper
volunteer at Sinai, delivered her chil-
dren at the hospital, then joined up
with the Guild at a friend's suggestion.
Rosman was involved from the start
of the Guild's new status after the clo-
sure of Sinai. She helped select some
of the group's first beneficiaries by ask-
ing members what medical concerns
their own families might have (breast
cancer and children's issues came up)
and then visiting local hospitals.
Known for her punctual start to
meetings, she's also the woman behind
the group's stay-at-home fund-raisers.
"That means you write a check,"
Rosman says, but are spared the insuf-
ferable experience of attending yet
another fund-raiser.
The Guild now has 67 board mem-
bers and a 15-person executive board.
Its goal is raising money, then deciding
which of the many grant proposals
they receive should be funded. The
process begins in July.
Before even attending a single grant
meeting, committee members study
each proposal, then hear presentations
from groups that request funding.
Jaffa describes board members as
"intelligent, active and committed"

2004 Sinai Guild Grant Recipients

• Huron Valley-Sinai
Hospital, which is receiving a
state-of-the-art machine capable
of recommending cancer treat-
ment based on DNA readings.
• The Barbara Ann Karmanos
Cancer Center, to which Guild
members and the community
donated more than 500 blood
specimens for a research study to
more easily and quickly detect
ovarian cancer. "What more
could you want from volun-
teers?" Jaffa asks. "They literally
contribute not just their time
and money, but their blood."
• Kids Kicking Cancer
(KKC), a Michigan-based pro-
gram started by Young Israel of

9/ 8
2005

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Southfield Rabbi Emeritus
Elimelech Goldberg that aids
children of all races and reli-
gions battling the disease. The
Guild contributed $35,000 to
purchase a handicap-accessible
van to help transport children
and their families to KKC pro-
grams.
• Children's Hospital of
Michigan's robotics program for
microsurgery on infants and
young children. "This means
that surgery can be done with-
out huge incisions," Jaffa
explains. Little ones are more
likely to recuperate more quick-
ly from surgery where robotics
are used. For many, this is a

Guild grant close to the
heart. "It touches all of us
to see there are babies who
need surgery," Jaffa says.
• Jewish Apartments and
Services for Seniors' Adult
Prescription Drugs pro-
gram helps more than 150
senior citizens who other-
wise would not be able to
pay for prescription drugs.
• Various synagogues
and temples in the area
received defibrillators
thanks to a joint program
between the Guild and the
Jewish Fund, which was
created from the sale of
Sinai.

men and women from a variety of reli-
gious backgrounds and affiliations.
During their tenure on the board,
members also become educated about
medical issues to help prepare them to
make decisions about where Guild
funds should be directed.
In 2004, for example, the Sinai
Guild allotted $200,000 in grants, one
way the Guild allocates funds. Among
those that have benefitted from the
Guild's work:
"Instead of just handing out a check
to Children's Hospital, Guild members
actually visit the facility where they
have a chance to inspect and 'try out' a
bit of the robotic equipment," Jaffa
says.
When Jaffa meets up with those
who think the Sinai Guild ended with
the hospital, she simply tells them
Guild members were not about to give
up. 'And that's why we still exist
today."

❑

The Sinai Guild's 2005 Women in
Philanthropy Breast Cancer Benefit
will be held Oct. 20 at Congrega-
tion Shaarey Zedek. Ted Kennedy
Jr. will be the keynote speaker. For
more information about the event
or the Sinai Guild, call Sandra
Jaffa, (248) 538-6501.

Staff photo by Brett Mountain

Sinai Guild's Sandra Jaffa, executive director, and Rusty
Rosman, president, visit a projectfiinded by the o?ganization.

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