Metro

ON HE COVER/SPECIAL REPORT

Rabbi Leiby Burnham teaches a class

Partners In Torah from page 15

The condominium building next door to Yeshiva Beth Yehudah

While the purpose of the project was to
enhance the local Jewish community, "the
only official benefit the Yeshiva will have
will be that the last seven units will be
donated to the Yeshiva for faculty housing,"
said Gary Torgow, Yeshiva president and
Partners mentor. "That will occur when
the balance of the units are sold. Having
this community adjacent to the Yeshiva
property adds great value and opportunity
for the future of the school."
In addition, the city of Southfield col-
lects property taxes from individual condo
owners and the developer.
Recently, an anonymous donor agreed
to fund the cost of a children's playground
in the enclosed courtyard between the
buildings.

16

Aprii 12 • 2007

Partners uses one three-bedroom condo
that includes offices, space for classes and
individual learning, a budding library and
a synagogue, complete with an ark and a
Torah. Daily morning services are run by
Partners Rabbi Asher Eisenberger.
"The idea to build it in the center of the
complex has added a remarkable ame-
nity to the already incredibly reasonably
priced, well-located and attractive com-
munity," Rabbi Mayerfeld said.

How Far Will They Go?

Affiliated in name only with the national
Partners in Torah in New York, the local
program is self-run. Of the 40 American
cities with Partners programs, Rabbi
Cohen said, "We are the largest by far. We

are very much considered the leader, with
other cities' representatives calling us,
looking to model their Partners programs
after ours."
Partners is affiliated with the Yeshiva,
but no funds from the school are used for
Partners programming.
Locally, it is partially funded through
an annual anonymous ongoing grant from
a New York foundation that provides 50
percent of Partners' $375,000 annual oper-
ating expenses with the amount growing
as the Partners budget has grown. The
rest comes from an endowment that was
the catalyst for the naming of the Jean
and (the late) Theodore Weiss Partners in
Torah program.
"It is a wonderful honor to have the
legacy of continuity for Jewish educa-
tion named for them:' said the Weiss' son,
Arthur Weiss of Farmington Hills. "After
getting out of Europe, to have them associ-
ated with the program for adults who may
not have the opportunity to study is so
meaningful."
Dottie Wagner of West Bloomfield, the
Weiss' daughter, added, "In a community
with much educational involvement, this
program aims for the type of adult study
not done elsewhere. Partners has done an
unbelievable job with the expansion of
this program."
Partners is grateful for donations, but all
programs and classes are free.
"Not only is there no charge, we have
a very strict policy not to solicit or even
allow anyone to'solicit participants in the

Partners program:' Rabbi Cohen said. "We
do not ever want someone to say, `First
they get you in the door, then they ask you
for money.' The motivation behind this is
100 percent pure'
Co-associate director Rabbi Pinchas
Zusis spends his time with Russian-speak-
ing students. A native of Kiev, Ukraine, the
rabbi works 1-on-1 with students and also
arranges pairs of learners.
He believes Detroit's Partners has the
only program specifically for Russian-
speaking students, and sees the growth of
the program as a natural. "It is like busi-
ness," Rabbi Zusis said. "One happy client
will bring two new ones."
The rabbi, who has been with Partners
for four months, also holds a Russian-
speaking minyan and a regular oneg
Shabbat program. His teachings also
extend into cyberspace with a weekly
Shabbat e-mail, written in Russian.
Rabbi Burhnam also reaches the
Internet-savvy community, sending out
400 e-mails a week before Shabbat "to a
real cross-section of Detroit Jewry, people
of all ages and religious affiliations," he
said. The e-mails include discussion of the
weekly Torah portion and what he calls "a
random fact" of the week.
He also mails a printed holiday-based
newsletter to 2,500 individuals six times a
year, thanks to donations.

Everybody's Learning

Rabbi Burnham has logged many miles

Partners In Torah on page 18