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A Spiritual Recharge

Hillel and Adam Shalom team up to engage
young adults in Havdalah.

L

iat Rothfeld of Southfield held up
a luminous Havdalah candle as a
small group of 20-somethings
around her sang and helped usher out
Shabbat.
.
Then, they kicked things up a notch,
breaking out karaoke equipment and belt-
ing out some popular songs. The evening of
spirituality, music and socializing was all
part of Havdalah Replugged at Adat
Shalom Synagogue in Farmington Hills.
The program, which takes place about once
every-three months, was co-sponsored by
Hillel of Metro Detroit. •
"Replugged is like this sense of electri-
cally plugged in," said Adat Shalom Rabbi
Rachel Shere. "The underlying meaning is
that we're•trying to reconnect young adults
to the community and recharge their spiri-

18

January 19 = 2006

tual batteries!'
About 40 people
took part in the
event, which included
drinks, snacks and
mingling.
Jeff.Klein of
Waterford chairs
young adult pro-
Robin Schwartz
grams at Adat
Columnist
Shalom. The group
hopes to have four or
five Havdalah Replugged events this year.
Liat Rothfield said, "I think it's a good
way for Jewish young people to meet other
Jewish people, especially when everyone's
so busy with work and school!' Rothfeld
recently moved to Southfield from the
Lansing area.

O

Rachel Rubinlicht of West Bloomfield
said, "I grew up around here and I go to
Adat Shalom. But it's not always easy to
meet other people my age."
Added Eric Sweet of West Bloomfield, "I
think Hillel is a really good way to meet
people. It worked for me."
The Jan. 7 party included a number of
Hillel members from Oakland University,
Oakland Community College and other
area schools.,
Spotted in the crowd were: Jason
Trompeter of Royal Oak, Beth Alter of
Southfield, Ben Saks of Oak Park,
Stephanie August of Walled Lake,
Miriam Schloss of West Bloomfield and
Doron Berris of Farmington Hills. For
hundreds of young Jewish families, 2006
came in with a run, jump and splash.

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