Obituaries

Obituaries from page B35

IDA TRUSTMAN, 93, of Sterling Heights,
died Jan. 15, 2009.
She is survived by her daughters and
sons-in-law, Donna and Stephen Cieslak
of Sterling Heights, Renee and Rose LaDue
of Encinitas, Calif.; grandchildren, Randall
and Jacqueline Cieslak, Scott Cieslak,
Jesse LaDue; great-grandchildren, Kayla,
Angelina.
Mrs. Trustman was the beloved wife of
the late Nathan Trustman.
Contributions may be made to
Alzheimer's Association, 20300 Civic
Center Drive, Suite 100, Southfield, MI
48076. Services and interment at Hebrew
Memorial Park. Arrangements by Hebrew
Memorial Chapel.

and Beatie Kahn; many loving friends;
also survived by Susan Williams Crewe,
Margery Ellen Williams; three additional
grandchildren; two great-grandchildren.
Mrs. Williams was the greatly loved wife
of her soul mate for more than 40 years,
the late James David Williams, and of the
late Morris Weiss; loving sister of the late
Dorothy and the late Julian Barit; daughter
of the late Oscar and the late Clara Reiser.
A private memorial service was
held at the Williams/Mankoff home.
Contributions may be made to the
Alzheimer's Association or to a charity of
one's choice. Arrangements by Dorfman
Chapel.

ELAINE 'WILLIAMS WEISS, 88, of West
Bloomfield, died Jan. 13, 2009.
She is survived by her devoted daughter
and son-in-law, Jane Reiser Williams and
Howard Mankoff, loving son and daugh-
ter-in-law, James and Siu Williams; cher-
ished grandsons, J.R. Mankoff and Michael
Williams; niece, Katherine Barit; nephew,
Bill (Liz) Baritompa; dear cousins, Robert

San Francisco/ITA — Rabbi Alan Lew, 65,
known for his efforts to bridge Judaism
and Buddhist teachings, died Jan. 12, 2009,
while jogging.
Rabbi Lew, the retired spiritual leader
of San Francisco's Congregation Beth
Sholom, was the author of One God
Clapping: The Spiritual Path of a Zen
Rabbi.

'Zen Rabbi' Alan Lew

Before joining the Conservative rabbinate
he spent 10 years studying Zen Buddhism
and later pioneered the use of meditation
to enhance Jewish spirituality.
The rabbi also was a social activist who
protested executions at San Quentin peni-
tentiary and argued for the homeless and
poor at City Hall.

Outreach To Catholics

New York/JTA — Rabbi Michael Signer, a
leader in Catholic-Jewish relations, died
Jan. 10, 2009, of pancreatic cancer. Rabbi
Signer was a professor at Notre Dame
University in South Bend, Ind., where he
taught Jewish thought and culture in the
department of theology and was the direc-
tor of the university's interdisciplinary
program on the Holocaust.
He also was active in advancing
Catholic-Jewish understanding. Much of
his research as director of the Holocaust
program focused on Jewish-Christian rela-
tions. He also taught at various Catholic
institutions, participated in a dialogue
of priests and rabbis in Los Angeles and
organized seminars at the Center for

Dialogue and Prayer at Auschwitz and
the Pontifical Academy of Theology in
Krakow. In 2005, he was designated a
"person of reconciliation" by the Polish
Council of Christians and Jews.
The American Jewish Committee, an
organization with which Signer sometimes
worked, released a statement mourning
his passing: "Dr. Signer's scholarship on
Christianity merged with his deep reser-
voir of Jewish knowledge, producing for all
a better understanding of our two tradi-
tions and how we can work together',' said
Rabbi Gary Greenebaum, the group's U.S.
director of interreligious affairs.
Father James Massa, the executive
director of the U.S. Conference of Catholic
Bishops' Secretariat of Ecumenical and
Interreligious Affairs, said Rabbi Signer's
influence on Catholic-Jewish relations was
of great importance.
"As a scholar of ancient Christian texts
and as a teacher for a generation of stu-
dents at Notre Dame, Michael brought a
wealth of erudition and critical insight
to the Catholic Church's dialogue with
Judaism," Massa said.

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