To Life!

THE SCENE

YoungLeadership

Lucky rain ushers in new
YAD president and board.

Gayle Gold and Jen Friedman,
both of Huntington Woods

Rachel Zimmerman of

Rachel Zerwekh and Aaron

Doreen Hermelin of Bingham

Huntington Woods with

Schwartz, both of Oak Park

Farms and Brian Satovsky of
Birmingham

Steve and Jennifer Jasgur of
Birmingham

Robin Schwartz
Special to the Jewish News

W

hen a thunderstorm
blew through this
year's annual meeting
for the Young Adult Division of the
Jewish Federation of Metropolitan
Detroit, Federation President Peter
Alter of Bloomfield Hill's saw it as
a good omen. .
"In Jewish tradition, the rain is
a sign of a blessing," Alter said.
A good sign for the group of
20- and 30-somethings — the
community's future leaders. More
than 175 young adults attended
the June 21 meeting, held at the
Bingham Farms home of Doreen
Hermelin for the fourth straight
year. The event featured the

Valerie Yong and Daren
Shavell of Bloomfield Hills

44 July 20 - 2006

installation the 2006-2007 YAD
president, Jennifer Lerner
Friedman of Huntington Woods,
and the new 33-member YAD
board. The Mark Family Young
Leadership Award was presented
to Lorne Gold of Huntington
Woods. A dinner reception was
also held to thank young donors
who contributed $1,000 or more
to Federation's Annual Campaign.
National City bank was the event's
corporate sponsor.
"You are an inspiration because
I know the community is in good
hands when I look around and
see the young people coming up:'
hostess Doreen Hermelin told the
crowd that filled her living room.
"Increase your numbers; I can
push out the walls',' she added.

Outgoing President Gayle
Gold of Huntington Woods gave
an upbeat annual report on a
successful year of fine-tuning pro-
grams and increasing young adult
involvement in the community.,
So far this year YAD has raised
more than $600,000 for the
Annual Campaign. The group is
well on the way to reaching its
goal of $750,000. As Friedman
took the reins, she pledged to con-
tinue the trend.
"As president, I'm committed
to helping fellow young Jews in
Metro Detroit understand their
role in our generational chain and
accept the responsibility that each
of us has',' Friedman said. "We are
the heirs to this great Detroit com-
munal legacy."

Peter Alter of Bloomfield
Nancy and Kevin Blitz of
Hills and Doreen Hermelin West Bloomfield
of Bingham Farms

Lori and Matt Brand of
Farmington Hills

Ron and Rachel Radner of West

Bloomfield with Stephanie Saal and
Brad Shulman, both of Royal Oak

Inspiring young Jews in Metro
Detroit to get involved is one
thing. Finding ways to attract
them to the area is another focus
of Federation in the year ahead.
"We need and want more Jews
in our community,"Alter said."We
have the best Jewish community
in America and we need to get
more young people, including my
children, to come back to it."
New YAD board member Josh
Levine, 27, of Huntington Woods
is someone who did. He moved
to the area from Atlanta last year.
"The Jewish community in Detroit
is like none I've ever seen:' Levine
said. "To be involved and to get
involved is really exciting."
Spotted in crowd during
the 68th YAD annual meeting

Rabbis Lauren and Jon
Berkun of Southfield

were: Debbie and Michael
Berger of West Bloomfield;
Rabbis Lauren and Jonathan
Berkun of Southfield; Cantorial
Soloist Rachel Gottlieb and
Jennifer and Steve Jasgur, all of
Birmingham; Andrew Cohen,
Rebecca and David Salama,
Harriet and Michael Morse,
Lindsey Rosen and Marty
Maddin, all of Huntington
Woods; Craig Eidehnan
of Berkley; Julie Rodgers
and Lori Schram, both of
Farmington Hills; and Aaron
Chernow, Marc Winbaum,
Ilana Kohen and Zach Liss, all
of Bloomfield Hills.

Rebecca and David Salama Natalie Stern of Orchard
of Huntington Woods
Lake and Jennifer Bielfield
of Troy

