Yesh1v
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•

Obituaries

Sch
School for Boys • Beth Jacob School for Girls
Early Childhood Development Center

15751 W. Lincoln Drive • Southfield, MI 48076 • (248) 557-6750

Obituaries are updated and archived on JNonline.us.

During the coming week. the students of Yeshiva Beth Yehudah will study in memory of
the following departed friends. In orldition, Kaddish will be said during the dailv tninyan.

6 DE=

Jove 28, 2009

Lester Norman
Freed
Louis Freedman
Leon Friedman
Ben Hersh
Julius Heymanson
Harry Sheawitz
Sophie Cohen
Sarah Finkelstein
Perie Crantz Gassel
Goldie Kieinberg
Bronia Nothman
Ethel Raifman
Sarah Schmier
Pearl Shoskes
Mary Simon
Gussie Slootsky

7 Dina
June 34 2009
Dovid Ben Shimul
Hakohen
Adolph Dinetz

Mrs. Duberstein
Martin Foster
Kari Hess
Ham/ Pet
Sam Puckovitsky
Philip Schlussel
Isidor Strom
Morris Tatelbaum
Lena Brenner
Pearl Daniels
Ida Kaplan
Anna Pollak
Ptryfiss Singer-attis
Ete Fischer
Solomon
Rosiland Weisberg

8 ]Ii=
.kose 23, 2009
Joseph David
Finley
Joseph Kaplan
Joseph Miller
Phillip Miller
Jacob Natow

Dave G
New manlsaac
Rosner
Mort Sandles
Lee E. Segal
Ira I. Sonnenblick
Louise Bloch
Dollie Greenblatt
Mae Klee
Sarah Levin
Augusta
Memielstein
Clara Ordin
Jennie \Nal kon

9 Iknoz
.1* 1, 2809
Louis Berkower
Mendel Gordon
Charles Klavons
Harry Pollack
Morris S. Wayne
Philip Yaker
Eugene M. Zack
Mary Berman

Anna Godfrey
Ethel Goldberg
Miriam Haas
Fay Goldman Levy
Lillian Doris
Viedrah

10 113nur
Jrly 2, 2009
Maurice Bordelove
Benjamin Chemoff
Hyman David
Dorman
Bernard Glazer
Edward Levitt
Jack Rosenberg
Anna Berent
My Bumstine
Fannie Gross
Bertha Harbor
Hannah Karim!
Bertha Kashtan
Sylvia H Samuels
Fannie Slosberg
Rose Stoler

11

EWER

.may 3, 2049
Albert Armon
Samuel Aronoff
Sol Nathan Bloch
Norman Jacob
Block
Samuel Goren
Sandor Grunwald
Nathan Korman
Sam Morris Nelson
Lester Rosenthal
Max Rtrzumna
Dave Stein
Nathan
Zabludovsky
Sarah Greenbaum
Jennie Levin
Marcia Masserman
Sophia Saulson
Margaret Selik
Miriam Werzberger
Rachel Wrotslays4

12 Emu
July 4, 2009

Louis Fox
Said Levine
Hyman
Mandelbaum
Jonas Morgenrotti
Nochum
Rosenberg
Joe Rott
Harry Schumann
Jack Silverman
Chaim Strauss
Florence Eglar
Anna Ginsberg
Reba Glass
Mrs. Sarah
Kozolchyk
Marion Laven
Sandra Frances
Medler
Sylvia Schneider
Celia Terebelo

Send a tribute in memory of a loved one -- www.DetroitYeshiva.org/JNtributes

HOSPICE HEROES

THE

I

Dr. Gela Pala, the medical director
for Beaumont Hospice, credits Jewish
Hospice & Chaplaincy Network for
enriching the quality of life for the
many Jewish patients enrolled in
Beaumont Hospice, and for teaching
her hospice staff about the spiritual
component to end-of-life care.

"It is a top model for ethnic, patient-
centered care that should be replicated
by all communities," Dr. Pala says.
"The whole Southeast Michigan
community, Jewish and non-Jewish, is
benefiting from their work."

.

The

JEWISHOSPIC E

'

Dr. Gela Pala
is one of the Hospice Heroes
who keeps the promise so that
No Jew Is Ever Alone

CHAPLAINCY NETWORK -
6555 W. Maple Rd. • VVest Bloomfield, MI 48322
248.592.2687 • www.jewishhospice.org

1E.12 - 20

_
Shiva dinners, Fish trays,
Deli trays Delivered
248-855 9463
Jewishcatering.corn

• ler•I

C30

June 25 • 2009

Obituaries

The Sweet Voice Of The
Downtown Synagogue

Esther Aliweiss Inqber

Special to the Jewish News

T

he song "My Way" recorded
by Neil Barris was the
first sound mourners
heard at the cantorial
soloist's funeral June
17 at Hebrew Memorial
Chapel in Oak Park.
Although he was not yet
an ordained cantor, he
filled that role to great
acclaim at Isaac Agree
Downtown Synagogue
in Detroit. To his con-
gregants, he was indeed
Neil Barris
"Cantor Barris!"
Neil David Barris, 44,
of Walled Lake, died June 15, 2009.
Mr. Barris, who had been in good
health, contracted the H1N1 virus,
commonly known as swine flu, and
died after a brief illness. He was
one of only a handful of people in
Michigan to succumb so far to the
global outbreak.
"Neil was blessed with a glori-
ous voice — he was truly the
sweet singer of the Downtown
Synagogue," said Dr. Martin
Herman, synagogue officer and
ritual director.
Herman, a professor emeritus
of humanities at Wayne State
University in Detroit, described Mr.
Barris' voice as "lovely and power-
ful." While attending Wayne State,
Neil was the president and a soloist
in its award-winning Men's Glee
Club, which won first prize in an
international competition in Wales.
"He was a very accomplished sing-
er," said Herman.
Neil showed up one Shabbat at
the shul and Herman, recognizing
his talent, immediately put him to
work chanting Ivlusaf, the conclud-
ing service that morning.
The aspiring cantor did not
attend a Conservative seminary
although he had apprenticed
toward gaining ordination under
former Downtown Synagogue
Cantor Usher Adler, who died
two years ago, and longtime local

Cantor Sholom Kalib, who has
since left the area.
Many remember Cantorial
Soloist Barris as the leader of
the Downtown Synagogue's High
Holiday services the past three
years. The free ser-
vices, open to the
community, attracted
500-600 worshipers
each year at venues in
Southfield.
In addition to his
synagogue duties, he
officiated at funer-
als, led home-based
shivah services and
helped conduct the
shul's annual second-
night seder. The cantor worked
fulltime as a sales associate at
Michael Rosenfeld's Rose Jewelry &
Exchange in Redford.

Talented Daughter
Those who knew Neil say music
meant everything to him, but still
placed second to Olivia Barris, the
14-year-old daughter he was rais-
ing with his mother, Marge Parr.
He had sole custody of Olivia after
his divorce, and with help from his
mother and sister Amy Rosender
he's raised Olivia —"a normal
teen," according to Grandma.
"Olivia was his whole life — the
sun rose and set with her," she said.
Olivia, soon to enter Walled Lake
Western High School, apparently
inherited her father's singing abil-
ity and shows talent in the dramat-
ic arts. Contributions to a school
fund in Olivia's name (see below)
will be used to send her to college,
perhaps to pursue studies in music.
As a child, Neil announced his
ambition to become a cantor upon
starting Hebrew school. Always
good at singing, he taught him-
self to play piano at age 3 and is
also self-taught on guitar. He was
a bar mitzvah at Congregation
Beth Shalom in Oak Park and a
1982 graduate of Oak Park High,
where he sang in the school choir
and won a music scholarship to