I
Spirituality
Cultural Weekend
Tri-City communities enjoy music,
learning, togetherness.
Rabbi Edut of Temple Beth El in Midland in the sukkah with
weekend participants
Midland
T
he Jewish community in
Michigan's Tri-City area (Bay
City, Saginaw and Midland)
enjoyed a weekend of music pre-
sented by the nationally known group
Gemini, featuring twin brothers
Sandor and Laszlo Slomovits of Ann
Arbor.
This Jewish cultural weekend held
Oct. 17-19, during Sukkot, began with
Kabbalat Shabbat services at Midland's
Temple Beth El, where Rabbi Dorit Edut
led the services.
Gemini led the congregation in lively
singing with some original new melo-
dies for traditional prayers.
Saturday was a time for the chil-
dren to learn some new songs and
make their own simple instruments at
Saginaw's Congregation Beth El.
Later that evening at Bay City's
Temple Israel, the adults enjoyed
a concert of original pieces set to
words from Jewish liturgy and texts,
interspersed with teachings about the
origins of these pieces as well as hear-
ing stories of the Slomovits brothers'
childhood experiences in Hungary,
Israel and the U.S.
The grand finale was a Sunday
morning family concert, where
the children performed with their
new instruments and everyone was
involved with the engaging songs and
actions Gemini so joyfully brings to
their audiences.
This event was made possible by the
generosity of the Ravitz Foundation,
whose grants enable such programming
for small Michigan Jewish communi-
ties.
❑
Children from
Temple Beth
El in Midland,
Congregation Beth
El in Saginaw and
Temple Israel in
Bay City perform
with Gemini, the
Slomovits broth-
ers from Ann
Arbor.
Yeshiva U. Faculty
Visits Young Israels
T
wo members of New York's
Yeshiva University faculty
will join the Detroit Jewish
community for a Shabbaton Nov. 7-9.
Dr. David Srolovitz
is dean of the
Yeshiva College and a
former Detroiter. Dr.
Michelle Levine is an
assistant professor of
Bible at Stern College
for Women and has
been a member of
David
the Jewish Studies
Srolovitz
Department since
2001.
On Friday, Nov. 7, there will be
a community dinner with both
visitors at 6 p.m. at Young Israel of
Southfield, 277095 Lahser Road.
Cost is $27 per person, $54 per cou-
ple, $15 per child younger than 10.
For reservations,
call Susan Weiss,
(2487) 356-5329.
On Saturday,
Nov. 8, Srolovitz
will speak, follow-
ing services, on
oc,
"Free Will, God's
Michelle
Hand and Quantum
Levine
Mechanics." After
minchah, 4:50
p.m., and seudah shlishit, Levine
will speak on "Ramban's Insight
into the Inner World of Biblical
Personalities:'
On Sunday, Nov. 9, at Young Israel
of Oak Park, 151450 W. 10 Mile, there
will be a brunch. For reservations,
contact Miriam Milian, (212) 960-
0869 or millan@yu.edu .-
Yiddishlands Revisited
Dr. David G.
.111
I Roskies, the Sol and
Evelyn Henkind
Professor of Yiddish
Literature and
professor of Jewish
Literature at the
Jewish Theological
Seminary in New
Dr. Roskies
York, will discuss
his newest book,
Yiddishlands — A
Memoir (Wayne State University
Press 2008) at 7 p.m. Wednesday,
Nov. 5.
The event, the annual lecture on
Yiddish language and culture spon-
sored by the Jewish Studies Program
at Michigan State University and
Wayne State University Press, will
take place in MSU's Union Green
Room in East Lansing. The commu-
nity is invited.
Roskies will lead the audience
through "Yiddishlands" old and new
by revisiting his personal and profes-
sional experiences and retelling his
remarkable family saga in a series
of lively, irreverent and interwoven
stories.
Books will be available for pur-
chase for $24 (a 20 percent discount).
Further information is available from
MSU's Jewish Studies Program, (517)
432-3493.
❑
Author At Beth El
Author Todd Hasak-Lowy will speak
at Temple Beth El in Bloomfield
Township 7 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 18.
He will talk about and read from
his debut novel, Captives, which tells
the story of Hollywood screenwriter
Daniel Bloom, who, as his son's bar
mitzvah approaches, struggles with
his rage against the world his son will
inherit.
Hasak-Lowy grew up in the
Detroit area, attending local public
schools as well as Temple Beth El
religious school.
He received his Ph.D. in
Comparative Literature from the
University of California-Berkely and
is an assistant professor of Hebrew
language and literature at the
University of Florida in Gainesville.
There is no charge for this pro-
gram.
Copies of Captives will be avail-
able for purchase and signing. For
information, call Eileen Polk, (248)
865-0627.
October 30 • 2008
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