Arts & Entertainment

Faith, Hope & Charity

With a new book and an interfaith community fundraising event,
Mitch Albom affirms the spirit of tikkun olam.

Suzanne Chessler

Special to the Jewish News

M

itch Albom believed he had
completed his religious educa-
tion long ago. The best-selling
author and media personality had moved
on from studies at his family's New Jersey
synagogue and experiences at Brandeis
University in Massachusetts.
Rabbi Albert Lewis, the religious leader
Albom knew from his growing-up years
and saw during family visits, wasn't con-
vinced and changed the writer's outlook.
The return to Jewish learning happened
over eight years, starting when Lewis
requested that Albom deliver a eulogy at
the religious leader's not-so-imminent
funeral. Wanting to get the final message
right, Albom met many times with Lewis
and eventually turned their conversations
into a book, Have a Little Faith (Hyperion;
$23.99; to be released Sept. 29).
While Judaism is at the heart of this
true story, there is an equal part devoted
to Christianity as practiced by Henry
Covington, who ministers at a Detroit
church for the homeless.
Ultimately, the idea of the book has to
do with faith in a higher power regard-
less of the different ways in which faith is
practiced.
Albom, who earned international
acclaim through his nonfiction Tuesdays
With Morrie, introduces his latest work
locally with a grand celebration that bene-
fits charities of different faiths. Starting at
7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 30, at the Fox
Theatre, Albom hosts
Grammy-winning singer
Anita Baker, humorist
Dave Barry and Detroit
Pistons president Joe
Dumars. Rabbi Harold
Loss of Temple Israel
in West Bloomfield and
Covington will also par-
Rabbi Loss
ticipate.
Each ticket holder gets an autographed
copy of the book with the price of admis-
sion. Albom hopes synagogue groups of 20
or more will take advantage of a reduced
group admission.
The money raised will be divided
among three groups. One beneficiary is
the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan

"I sometimes wonder how
I ended up in Detroit; but
whenever I get involved with
the homeless or the charities
that I run, I always say this
is the reason."

The book-

launch

event is "a
big charity

fundraiser

for the

homeless

in town, an

interfaith

effort," says

Albom.

— Mitch Albom

Detroit's Jewish Assistance Project, which
coordinates the services of Federation's
partners to provide emergency funds,
food, housing, employment and health
care. The other recipients are I Am My
Brother's Keeper Ministries, a multifaceted
community outreach program for Detroit's
homeless, and S.A.Y. Detroit, an Albom
initiative to assist the homeless.
Albom, 51, who is working on two
comic sports films, with Adam Sandler
and Kevin Smith, spoke to the Detroit
Jewish News about the book and his per-
sonal religious outlook:

ideas about humanity but also the idea
that you're part of a world that might even
have a bigger plan than the moment that
you're in it.

JN: What differentiates your book
from other books about faith?
MA: I think there are many books writ-
ten about faith that are mine is right/yours
is wrong. This one ends with a message of
hope that people can find a way to make
faith something that pulls them together
instead of splitting them apart.

JN: What brought you to compare
your experiences with the minister
with your experiences with the rabbi?
MA: What attracted me was that these
two people are so different on a surface
level. One's black; one's white. One's
Christian; one's Jewish. One's in the inner
city of Detroit; the other's in the suburbs
of New Jersey. One spent the early part of
his life incarcerated as a thief; the other
was always hailed as a pillar of the com-
munity. What I found from moving back
and forth between their worlds is that they
were very similar because of faith. Even
though the faith wasn't the same in terms
of religion, it was the same in terms of
believing in something bigger than them
and believing in their fellow man.

JN: How would you compare your
message in this book to your message
in Tuesdays with Morrie?
MA: They're similar in that I learn
wisdom, although from two very different
teachers. Morrie's lessons were about how
to live a meaningful life so that you don't
have regrets facing death. Have a Little
Faith is about how to have a meaningful
life and also have it resonate with some-
thing larger than yourself. Morrie wasn't
particularly religious and didn't spend a
lot of time talking about faith or religion.
We talked a lot about humanity. The new
book adds a whole dimension on similar

JN: You title your book with the word
"faith;' end it with the word "hope"
and put a lot of charity in the middle.
Did you think about the three biblical
imperatives — faith, hope and charity
— as you wrote the book?
MA: Maybe I did even more than I real-
ized. Especially in the Detroit part, I think
charity and helping people who have been
hit hard is an imperative in our lives. I've
learned that by living in Detroit more than
I ever learned it growing up in New Jersey.
I sometimes wonder how I ended up in
Detroit; but whenever I get involved with
the homeless or the charities that I run, I

always say this is the reason. There's a need
here, and I've been blessed to have the abil-
ity to help draw some attention to it.

JN: Since your parents wanted you to
remain involved in religion, how have
they reacted to Have a Little Faith?
MA: My mom said it's the best of all
the books. If I had to guess why, I would
say that it's because this book talks about
my parents' lives, too. It goes back to
how I was raised and the community we
belonged to. They tried to give me a lot
of religion and then watched me wander
away from it. Now, they see me come full
circle back to where I grew up.

JN: Do you have any advice for people
entering an inter-religious marriage
such as your own, mentioned in the
book?
MA: Talk about it beforehand. Do not
assume it will take care of itself. If there
are to be children in the marriage, they are
the most important to be discussed ahead
of time. My wife and I did that. We haven't
been blessed with our own children,
but we were prepared if that happened.
I remember Rabbi Lewis said the same
thing. Getting married late in life, I had
my identity and my faith, and the same for
my wife. We forged an understanding with
one another about respect, involvement
and living with each other's faith under
the same roof. We were adults making that
choice, but a child has a different scenario.
I think it's confusing for kids to have a

FAITH on page 101

September 17 2009

99