Obituaries
Obituaries from page C39
Jewish Maverick
On Campus
MARCIA WEISBERG, 87, of Bloomfield
Hills, died July 6, 2009.
She was a member of the City of Hope
and B'nai B'rith.
Mrs. Weisberg is survived by her
sons and daughters-in-law, Bruce and
Mary Ann Weisberg of Bloomfield Hills,
Alan and Madeline Weisberg of Oregon;
grandchildren, Keith Weisberg, Jason
Weisberg, Stephen and Ericka Weisberg;
brother and sister-in-law, Arnold Garber
and Michele Kargol of Oak Park; broth-
ers-in-law and sister-in-law, Elliott
Perlman, Estelle and Irving Gladstone.
She was the beloved wife of the late
Irving M. Weisberg; the loving sister of
the late Bernice Garber, the late Annette
Perlman; dear sister-in-law of the late
Sylvia and the late Isadore Epstein.
Contributions may be made to
American Cancer Society, 20450 Civic
Center Drive, Southfield, MI 48076,
www.cancer.org ; Angela Hospice, 14100
Newburgh Road, Livonia, MI 48154,
www.angelahospice.org ; or to a charity of
one's choice. Interment at White Chapel
Cemetery. Arrangements by Ira Kaufman
Chapel.
New York JTA — Gary
Tobin was a professor
who argued for inclu-
sion of Jewish converts
and who assailed the
anti-Israel views of fellow
Gary Tobin
academics. He died July
6, 2009, at 59 after a long illness.
Trained as city and regional planner at
the University of California, Berkeley, Tobin
first turned his attention to Jewish commu-
nal issues while a professor at Washington
University in St. Louis. He moved to
Brandeis University in Massachusetts,
where he became a tenured professor and
director of the Cohen Center for Modern
Jewish Studies before departing to start his
own think tank, the Institute for Jewish &
Community Research, in San Francisco.
Lacking a background in sociology, Tobin
often came at problems from a different
perspective than many of the researchers
who dominate the study of American Jewry
While most communal professionals
were bemoaning the loss of Jews to inter-
marriage and assimilation, Tobin assailed
Is The Ira Kaufman Chapel considering a rit-Av location in the future?
My six- and eight-year old children are very close to their
grandfather who's dying and in Hospice care. I want to bring them
to the Chapel, but not the cemetery. is this the right decision?
the community for its insularity and
hostility toward converts and the gentile
spouses of Jews. While Jewish organizations
were complaining that wealthy Jews were
directing their philanthropy to non-Jewish
causes, Tobin told them to quit kvetching
and give them a good reason not to.
And while many Jewish institutions were
content to ignore Jews of non-European
origin, Tobin actively sought them out.
Through its initiative B'Chol Lashon (In
Every Tongue), his institute reached out to
Jews of color and helped educate the main-
stream community about Jewish diversity.
"To the black Jewish community he was
a friend, a colleague and just one that cared
a great deal about seeing the broader com-
munity be more inclusive of Jews of color,
particular African Americans," said Capers
Funnye, a black Chicago rabbi and the asso-
ciate director of B'chol Lashon.
Tobin showed up 12 years ago at Funnye's
synagogue in Chicago and the two had been
friends ever since. Funnye, a cousin of first
lady Michelle Obama, said he had a closer
relationship with Tobin than with any main-
stream Jewish organizational leader.
"This loss, for me, it is indeed like losing
a brother, a member of my family," he said.
While Tobin staked out liberal posi-
tions on issues of Jewish community and
identity, he had no qualms about making
common cause with conservative groups
in defense of communal interests. In 2004,
he was named to the Forward Fifty list of
the country's most influential Jews, which
noted both his "maverick liberal" attitudes
on conversion and racial diversity as well as
his partnership with the neoconservative
Foundation for the Defense of Democracies,
a post-9-11 creation intended to fight the
spread of radical Islam.
It was there that Tobin produced studies
on U.S. attitudes toward Israel and anti-
Israel sentiment on campus and conducted
public opinion polls relating to national
security and the Middle East. In 2005, he
co-authored The Uncivil University, which
charged colleges violated the public trust by
permitting a climate of rampant anti-Israel
and anti-Semitic sentiment to take root.
Tobin also was a fierce critic of the
National Jewish Population Survey, claim-
ing it vastly undercounted American Jews.
He estimated the population at 6.7 million,
more than 1 million more.
armed ea , considering carefully .t ie central location to
the cemeteries and the population we serve, The location and
building still fit our nees s perf tly today. Our extensive par in
area and four points of entry and exitm e us easily accessible
omal directions.
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asked this question. member, what :children see is= often
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s frighteni g that what they -imagine. I find it best to 4iscus.s the
entire process from death to burial prior to the funeral. Knowm *-
what to expect usually allows them to participate throughout.
My mother has organized a pre-arranged funeral with a graveside
service. If our family wants to change that for any reason, such as
the weather, can we alter the arrangements?
Yes, we meet and review all of the arrangements. When a graveside
service has been predetermined, there is an understanding that
severe weather could alter the plans.
THE iRA KAUFMAN CHAPEL
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18325 WEST NINE MILE ROAD, SOUTHFIELD. MI 48075
C40
July 16 • 2009
Obituaries
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