Metro
Rabbi Remembered
Holocaust Memorial Center founder
memorialized in U.S. House resolution.
T
he U.S. House of
Representatives Monday
approved a resolution
authored by Rep. Gary Peters, D-
Bloomfield Hills, honoring the life
and achievements of Rabbi Charles
H. Rosenzveig, who died on Dec. 11
at age 88.
The House passed the resolution
by a voice vote.
Rabbi Rosenzveig, a Holocaust
survivor, founded the nation's first
freestanding Holocaust museum
in 1984. His Holocaust Memorial
Center was originally housed at the
Jewish Community Center in West
Bloomfield before moving to its cur-
rent home in Farmington Hills on
the Zekelman Family Campus along
Orchard Lake Road. The HMC also
includes the Museum of European
Heritage and the International
Institute of the Righteous.
Rosenzveig was director of the
museum complex.
"Rabbi Rosenzvieg was an extraor-
dinary American who devoted his
life to serving others:' Peters said. "I
was fortunate to have had the oppor-
tunity to meet him, and I was taken
by his wisdom, vision, sincerity and
deep sense of caring for all people.
The Holocaust Memorial Center
he founded has educated millions
of visitors and stands to enlighten
future generations about the horrors
of the Holocaust and nourish a social
consciousness whereby, as Rabbi
Rosenzvieg used to say, the 'righteous
acts of the few become the standard
of the many.'
"I believe it is fitting that Congress
should honor the life and achieve-
ments of such an inspiring person."
The resolution calls the Holocaust
Memorial Center "a monument to
the memory of the victims of the
Holocaust and an educational insti-
tution with a mission to teach the
lesson of tolerance to future genera-
tions, welcoming millions of visi-
tors from around the world wishing
to learn about the horrors of the
Holocaust in order to prevent such a
tragedy from occurring again."
Rosenzveig was born in Ostrovitz,
Poland, and educated at Bialystok
A20
May 7 2009
Here's To • •
Sydney Freedman, an eighth-grader at
West Hills Middle School in Bloomfield
Hills, had an original poem chosen for pub-
lication in the 1009 edition of Anthology
of Poetry by Young Americans. The piece, a
product of her language arts class taught by
Mark Honeyman, was about Passover.
Lindsey Goldsmith
of Bloomfield Hills
has been nominated
for membership in the
University of Michigan
Chapter of the Phi Beta
Kappa Society in recog-
nition of her superior
Goldsmith
academic record in lib-
eral arts and science. She
graduates from the University of Michigan
this month with a major in organizational
studies and a minor in Spanish. She now
has a position with Teach for America in
Phoenix.
Bloomfield Hills resident Julie Fisher,
executive director of Birmingham-
Bloomfield Families in Action, was
named recipient of the 2009 Wally Klein
Leadership Award at the annual Planned
Parenthood of Southeast Michigan
Luncheon on April 20 n Troy. As a high
school teacher in Illinois, Fisher said she
saw many of her young students become
pregnant. In one school, she said there
was more than one 14-year-old ninth-
grade teenager who became pregnant for
the second time. "So when my peers ask
me, 'Why Planned Parenthood? Why is it
our fight?' I'll tell them and I'll tell you,
it's because of those kids:' Fisher said. "I
have witnessed firsthand how important
Planned Parenthood's mission is. I feel
fortunate to be part of such an important
and vital organization." Fisher headed the
luncheon for several years and this year
contracted with the guest speaker, folk
singer and activist Judy Collins.
Money Strategies
Rabbi Rosenzveig
Yeshiva. He studied the laws of
Judaism concerning the importance
of good deeds and social justice
as well as the Talmud, the rabbinic
interpretation of Jewish law.
He escaped death during the
Holocaust. But his mother, father,
brother and sister were killed at
the hands of the Nazis. He fled to
Poland and later the Soviet Union
before immigrating to New York City
in 1947. There, he attended Yeshiva
University; he was ordained a rabbi
in 1951.
Rabbi Rosenzveig served congre-
gants at Mt. Sinai in Port Huron for
many years before leaving the syna-
gogue to devote his energy and spirit
to the Holocaust Memorial Center he
founded in 1984.
Fifty other House members, includ-
ing most of the Michigan delega-
tion, cosponsored Peters' resolution,
formally known as HR 283. Other
Michigan signers were: Sander
Levin, John Dingell, Bart Stupak and
Mark Schauer and Dale Kildee, all
Democrats, and Republicans David
Camp, Vern Ehlers, Pete Hoekstra,
Fred Upton, Thaddeus McCotter,
Candace Miller and Mike Rogers.
Rabbi Rosenzveig was buried in
Jerusalem. He is survived by his
wife, Helen, four children and 10
grandchildren:
❑
Robert S. Taubman, chairman, presi-
dent and chief executive officer of
Taubman Centers
Inc., will talk about
the current economic
crisis and offer
strategies for busi-
nesses to emerge as
stronger, more com-
petitive companies at
the 12th annual JVS
Robert
Strictly Business
Taubman
Luncheon. Presented by Kenwal Steel,
the event will be held Tuesday, May 12,
at the Ritz-Carlton in Dearborn.
For ticket information, visit the Web
site www.jvsdet.org or call (248) 233-
4212.
During the event, JVS will honor
four local employees for their out-
standing vocational accomplishments.
Plum Market will receive the Business
Leadership Award for bringing new
jobs to Oakland County.
BBYO Elects Officers
The Michigan Region B'nai B'rith Youth
Organization (BBYO) Commission
recently elected members and officers
for 2009-2010 at a meeting at the West
Bloomfield Jewish Community Center.
Arthur Siegel of Beverly Hills was
re-elected commission chairperson.
Re-elected vice chairs include Helen
Indianer (West Bloomfield), Andy Kollin
(Farmington Hills), and Franci Silver
and Jodi Tobin, both of West Bloomfield.
Executive Committee members are
Alan Bittker (Franklin), Gail Elkus
(Royal Oak), Sheri Ginis (Farmington
Hills), and Jonathan Koenigsberg (West
Bloomfield). Michelle Soltz (Commerce)
was elected secretary and Michael Weil
(West Bloomfield) was elected treasurer.
Jill Menuck, president of the Young
Adult Division of Jewish Federation of
Metropolitan Detroit, spoke about BBYO's
value to the future of the Jewish commu-
nity. Eric Adelman, director of Michigan
Region BBYO, commented on the impor-
tance of "keeping tradition and making
change" within BBYO and its potential as a
Jewish teen movement.
BBYO Commission Chair Arthur
Siegal spoke about the need to reach
BBYO's 40,000 alumni and communi-
cate the organization's importance in
strengthening the Jewish identities of
their children.
BBYO, an international Jewish youth
organization, provides leadership train-
ing, Jewish education, athletic, social
and community service programming
to Jewish teens of all backgrounds.