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Healing

Ritual

Akiva daily prayers for a full recovery
will mention all ailing who request it.

Plastic surgeon now also a mohel.

y

eshivat Akiva has initi-
ated a community chessed
(kindness) program, Refuah
Shleimah. The Jewish community may
contact the Southfield day school's office
with names of people who are ill and
wish to be mentioned in prayers for a
refuah shleimah — a complete recovery.
During morning and afternoon
prayers, Akiva's high school and middle
school students will include the names
during the appropriate section of the
Shemonah Esreh. The students also will
recite Tehillim (Psalms) at the conclusion
of the morning prayers in the merit of
these people.
Rabbi Mordechai Katz in the Upper
School Judaic Studies Department will
spearhead this project.
Thanks to Katz's enthusiasm and com-
mitment — and the concerted effort of
Akiva's Student Council — the major
components of Refuah Shleimah are
already in place.

In announcing the project to the stu-
dents, he said, "We Jews do not live in a
vacuum. As our sages have taught, the
world rests on three pillars: Torah, prayer
and acts of kindness. With this project,
the school will provide an additional
opportunity to perform acts of chessed
that will benefit the Jewish community
at large."
Contact Rabbi Katz at Refuah@aki-
vakl2.org or through the school office
(248) 386-1625, ext. 406. Provide the
names and contact information as well
as the names of the people for whom
prayers will be recited. It is customary,
when praying for the sick, to specify an
individual's Hebrew name as well as the
Hebrew name of his/her mother.
Akiva President Dr. Howard Korman
said, "We know this project will be an
inspiration for our students, and we hope
it will contribute to the recovery of those
who are ill while providing comfort to
their loved ones."

W

hat motivates a successful plas-
tic surgeon to become a ritual
circumciser?
The work is complementary, says Dr.
Michael Gellis, board-certified plastic sur-
geon for the past 32 years with a practice in
Bloomfield Hills.
Combining religious calling with secular
life comes naturally to Gellis: As a teen, he
served as president, Great Lakes Region, of
B'nai B'rith Youth Organization.
While at the University of Michigan, Gellis
was active in Hillel and performed canto-
nal duties ("I love to sing!") for the High
Holidays. He still continues to lead many
Shabbat services at Adat Shalom Synagogue
in Farmington Hills, where he has been a
member for 11 years as well as participating
in its Shivah Minyan program.
During a term as international chairman
of the Center for Jewish Identity, Gellis wrote
a book, A Practical Guide of Jewish Practices
from Dying through Shivah, published by
B'nai B'rith International.
Dr. Gellis looks on the obligations and
duties of a mohel as an extension of his

surgical skills (one of his specialties is per-
forming life-changing reconstructive proce-
dures on infants and young children). More
important,"I have always enjoyed Jewish life
experiences and what could be better than to
assist in bringing a baby into the fold of the
Jewish people?"
Gellis embarked on an ambitious course
in the ritual and medical aspects of circum-
cision, studying with Rabbi Gary Atkins of
Hartford, Conn. "Technically, I trained on
the Mogen clamp, a superior type of cir-
cumcision device, with Dr. Neil Pollock of
Vancouver, British Columbia',' he recalls.
Brit milah is required to be performed on
the eighth day of a boy's life; however, medi-
cal issues can delay the ritual, such as low
birth weight, physical deformities.
Gellis is the former chief of plastic sur-
gery at Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak.
He is founder of the American Medical
Information Association, a not-for-profit
organization created to provide patients
with the critical information when selecting
physicians. He is senior editor of the Plastic
Surgery section. D.

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