Spirituality
Turning 60, Too
Like Israel, the Jewish Parents Institute celebrates a milestone.
Elizabeth Applebaum
years, but we were all family"
Selma Tenenbaum of Farmington Hills
appreciated the fact that at JPI, "you didn't
just drop off your kids!' Parents were
involved in their children's education and
they became friends, almost family "You
grew up together!'
That changed when moms began
returning to work. There was no longer
time to put on big events, spend hours
sewing holiday costumes or plan daylong
outings. The children grew up and often
moved on themselves — settling out of
town and, on occasion, joining other con-
gregations.
Special to the Jewish News
H
elen and Jack Stein knew they
were meant to be together.
She was 19; he was 22.
Neither wanted to wed.
So they got married.
They weren't going to have children,
either — WWII was just beginning.
So they had a daughter.
And when they considered a congrega-
tion, they didn't want to join an organized
Jewish institution.
So they help start their own.
Like the State of Israel, the Jewish
Parents Institute (JPI) turns 60 this year.
With offices at the Jewish Community
Center of Metropolitan Detroit, the JPI was
founded as a secular group that empha-
sized Jewish history, tradition and cul-
ture, a place without a rabbi that thrived
instead on parents immersed in every
aspect of their children's education.
Today, the JPI remains committed to
its core goals, but it also has incorporated
teaching Hebrew (which would not have
been of interest to those first founders)
and is facing the challenge of keeping
parents closely involved — when those
parents have very little time.
The first meeting to establish the
JPI was in 1947; less than four years
later, the group comprised 55 families.
Interest was so great there was a wait-
ing list.
The Steins of Oak Park say their
interest in the JPI was greatly influ-
enced by the Holocaust. Both had come
from secular homes and weren't inter-
ested in religious practice. But after the
Holocaust, they knew "we had to pass
on Yiddishkeit to our children. It's not
that we wanted the dogma of religion,
but we wanted them to identify as
Jewish!'
A bit of protest came from observant
her husband, Alan, were among those who
families when the JPI was organized;
found themselves on a waiting list when
but most of the challenges were internal,
they tried to join JPI.
as members debated the use of "God"
Joyce came from a secular home and
(ultimately, this is left to individuals), the
her husband was Conservative. She knew
importance — or not — of b'nai mitzvah, no Hebrew and found regular worship ser-
how to observe Yom Kippur and whether
vices meaningless. Although skeptical that
to merge with another secular-Jewish
her husband would find a place at JPI, as
institution. Discussions could be rowdy,
soon as he met the other members, he felt
JPI members say, but everyone's opinion
at home, she says.
was taken into account.
"When my children were little they
Joyce Kaczander of West Bloomfield and would ask my husband so many questions
Above: Bess Siegel and Jack
Stein at a JPI program in 1953.
Left: A JPI club meeting in
January 1965
about Judaism, and he would say, don't
know.' But my children were educated at
the JPI and they were so knowledgeable
about so many things:' she says.
Ilene Weiss of West Bloomfield loved the
sense of family she found at the JPI. Not
long after joining, her husband, Richard,
died; the children he left behind only 7,
10 and 12 years old. Ilene recalls how JPI
parents "put together a program that was
about him [her husband, Richard], about
us. We had known each other for only two
Reformulating JPI
So today the new members are helping
redefine the JPI. They have added adult
education classes and welcomed more
interfaith families. And while they remain
as involved as the founders, JPI parents
rarely hold events on just any day of the
week but mostly on Sunday, to accommo-
date working families.
The JPI now numbers 35 families and
has a new president, Laura Anderson.
Laura grew up in a fairly traditional home
and was active in BBYO, yet she wasn't
sure where to turn when she married a
gentile and had children. "I wanted my
children to learn Jewish traditions:' she
says, "but I also wanted a place where my
husband felt comfortable!'
Thanks to a friend, she learned about
the JPI and knew from the first event she
attended — a Passover seder — that this
was for her. "We liked the smallness and
the fact that it's a tight-knit group:' she
says. She enjoys hearing her daughter
come home singing Jewish songs — some
even in Hebrew.
One of the changes from the early days
— when many members came because
they were uneasy with Hebrew at more
traditional congregations — is that some
JPI parents now want to learn Hebrew and
they want their children to know Hebrew.
What has not changed: parental involve-
ment, the notion that each individual is a
vital part of the group and the fun.
"When I began teaching at JPI in 1979,
I thought I was taking a short-term,
part-time teaching job:' says Education
Director Marilyn Wolfe. "But I've never
seen anything like the excitement and
enthusiasm still found in our classrooms
today." 0
May 15 • 2008 Cl