Israel Advocates

Dedicated

Detroit, New York families unveil new Spitzer Youth Center.

Idele Ross

Special to the Jewish News

Jerusalem
erusalem's Congregation Kol
Haneshama, Israel's largest syna-
gogue for Progressive Judaism, saw
a 7-year project and dream realized at
the Oct. 20 dedication of the Spitzer
Youth Center.
The multipurpose hall connected to
the main synagogue building was made
possible by businessman Morris Spitzer
of Riverside, N.Y., the father of Detroit
neurologist Dr. A. Robert Spitzer and
Jerusalem businessman Jeffrey Spitzer, a
member of the synagogue. Their mother,
Dr. Hedwig Rosental Spitzer, was the first
woman to graduate from Jerusalem's
Hadassah Medical School in the early
1950s and she moved from New York to
join her son in Detroit.
Kol Haneshama founder and Rabbi
Levy Weiman-Kelman affixed the

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mezuzah to the new facility with a prayer
that the center be filled with the children
and grandchildren of the congregation
members. "In 50 years, we can assume
there will be a different rabbi," he joked.
"But in an impermanent world, one
hopes for the permanence of the congre-
gation in Jerusalem and the Progressive
Judaism movement in Israel."
Spitzer, who dedicated the center to
the people of Jerusalem to foster plural-
ism and modern Jewish culture, said he
decided to help build the center after an
appeal from his son, Jeffrey, whose fami-
ly is active in the congregation. "This is
not our family's first project:' he noted.
"In Karmiel, the Hakerem Conservative
Congregation meets in the Spitzer
Community Center. "Jeffrey said that the
center, built in the memory of his grand-
parents, Yosef and Chaya, who perished
in Auschwitz, is an opportunity to turn
tragedy into achievement. "This is place
in which we can take pride as Jews and a

place for simchas for years to come he
said.
The spacious new facility will be used
initially as the meeting place for the con-
gregation's many youth activities that
have up to now taken place in whatever
corner of the synagogue that became
available. -
Building Committee Chairman
Michael Hoffman told the gathering the
center is the fulfillment of a longstanding
dream to have a meeting place for
younger children as well as for teens —
"a place he said, "that isn't an airless
bomb shelter."
Nine-year-old Yael Spitzer looked
proudly at the plaque at the entrance to
the center that bears her family name. "It
is very nice," she said. "It can be used for
a lot of things like parties. People can
even get married here." 0

Former Detroiter Idele Ross is
senior editor of Israel Radio's English
News Service.

Consul Visits

Morris Spitzer, right, with son Jeffrey Spitzer,

left, and Rabbi Levy Weiman-Kelman

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9 IN

November 17.2005

Advocates for Israel, a Metro
Detroit media response train-
ing series, continues Tuesday,
Nov. 29, at the Max M. Fisher
Federation Building in
Bloomfield Township.
The 7:45 a.m. breakfast
briefing will feature Sharona
Shapiro, Michigan area direc-
tor of the American Jewish
Committee, who will lead a
workshop titled "How to write
the right stuff." Shapiro has
been affiliated with the
American Jewish Committee
since 1987 and holds degrees
in Judaic studies and educa-
tion and certificates in sociol-
ogy and English.
There is no charge for the
breakfast series. The next two
programs are scheduled for
Dec. 12 and Jan. 26. For infor-
mation or to reserve a seat,
call (248) 646-7686.
This series is cosponsored
by the American Jewish
Committee, Anti-Defamation
League and the Jewish
Community Council of
Metropolitan Detroit.

Baruch Binah, the newly
appointed Israeli consul gener-
al to the Midwest, will brief
the community on "After Gaza
... What Next:' on Tuesday, Nov.
29, at 7:30
p.m. at the
Jewish
Community
Center in West
Bloomfield,
presented by
Binah
the Jewish
Community
Council and the Jewish
Community Center.
Binah is responsible for rep-
resenting Israel's policies and
interpreting her actions to
communities throughout the
Midwest. He serves as a liaison
for Israel to the media, legisla-
ture and clergy.
The program is open to the
public and there is no charge.
Reservations are suggested.
For information, contact the
Jewish Community Council,
(248) 642-5393, ext. 0, or
gale@jfmd.org .

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