Spirituality

First 50 Years

Michigan's Chabad celebrates a milestone anniversary.

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Visitors at a Chabad book exhibit in the 1960s.

A 1967 Chabad Lag b'Omer parade

Ronelle Greer
Special to the Jewish News

W

hen Rabbi Berel Shemtov and
his wife, Batsheva, brought
their family to Oak Park 50
years ago, they couldn't possibly have envi-
sioned the impact the Chabad-Lubavitch
movement would have throughout
Michigan.
They couldn't have imagined that the
school that started with seven students
would someday have an attendance of
more than 200, or that it would be part
of a statewide network of 18 Chabad cen-
ters spanning the state from Oak Park to
Flint, Ann Arbor and Grand Rapids. Rabbi
Shemtov now is Michigan's head Chabad
emissary, overseeing all Chabad operations
in the state.
"Wherever there are Jewish people,
we go;' said Levi Stein, coordinator of a
June 22 celebration, "An Evening of Song,

Golden Celebration

"An Evening of Song, Speech and
Vision" will mark 50 years of Chabad-
Lubavitch in Michigan. The dinner
event is at 6 p.m. Sunday, June 22,
at Rock Financial Showplace, 46100
Grand River, Novi. The event memo-
rializes the Lubavitcher Rebbe Rabbi
Menachem Mendel Schneerson and
commemorates his 14th yahrtzeit
(anniversary of death).

Speech and Vision" that will celebrate
Chabad of Michigan's 50th anniversary.
"But we also go beyond our own com-
munity;' Stein said.
"We respect all
people, and we offer
to help anyone who
is in need!"
Chabad-Lubavitch
is a Chassidic move-
ment founded by
Rabbi Schneur
Zalman of Liadi, Poland, in the 18th centu-
ry. It emphasizes the importance of chabad
— an acronym for chochmoh, binah and
da'at (wisdom, understanding and knowl-
edge) — the concept of studying and
understanding God and God's relationship
with the world. Lubavitch is the name of
the town in the county of Mohilev, White
Russia, which served as the center of the
Chabad Chassidism for four generations.
Chabad members are known for bring-

ing Judaism to the community with an
approach that is innovative and light-
hearted, rather than didactic. Picture
the annual Chanukah
parade, where more
than 100 cars topped
with glowing electric
menorahs make their
way from Oak Park to
-Levi Stein West Bloomfield in cel-
ebration of the Jewish
Festival of Lights.

The program includes a performance
by 7-year-old prodigy Ethan Bortnick
on the piano. (See story in Arts and

words "Survivors of Buchenwald" as
he and fellow survivors were being
deported by British soldiers from
Israel to the detention camps of Atilia.
Lau is a member of the Yad Vashem
Council and has worked closely with
Holocaust remembrance programs
such as the March of the Living, which
he inaugurated with Elie Weisel.
Over the years, his efforts to
strengthen observance in Israel

"Wherever there are
Jewish people, we go."

Entertainment, page B7.)
A keynote address will be given by
Rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau, former chief
Ashkenazi rabbi of Israel. He first
became known to Jews worldwide
at age 8 as the youngest survivor of
Buchenwald. In one famous photo, he
can be seen carrying a flag with the

Who's Involved?
Because Jewish culture revolves around
the family, Chabad centers are founded
and run by husband-wife teams, known as
emissaries, who relocate to places where a
need has been identified.
In some areas, such as Commerce
Township and Novi, the local Chabad
center is the only Jewish resource in the
neighborhood. In communities like Oak

Park and West Bloomfield, with many syn-
agogues and other Jewish facilities, Chabad
centers still play a distinctive role.
More than 500 children attend Camp
Gan Israel, a Chabad overnight camp
founded almost 50 years ago in Kalkaska,
while several local Chabad day camps pro-
vide summer fun for 400 boys and girls.
According to Stein, the most influential
Chabad facility in Metro Detroit is the
Meer Family Friendship Center in West
Bloomfield. This campus is home to the
Ferber-Kaufman LifeTown facility for
children with special needs, the Daniel B.
Sobel Friendship House for Jewish people
struggling with addiction, and the Shul, an
Orthodox synagogue. The Michigan Jewish
Institute, a fully accredited college, soon
will be based there.
Rabbi Yisrael Pinson was inspired
by the strong local Chabad presence in

Chabad on page B2

and to build bridges of communica-
tion and respect between different
Jewish communities have brought
him in touch with many Jewish lead-
ers worldwide, including the late
Lubavitcher Rebbe.
For information or to purchase
tickets, go to www.lubavitchmi.com ,
e-mail info@lubavitchmi.com , or call
Levi Stein, (248) 877-7978. Cost is
$36.

June 12 • 2008

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