CHALLENGING CONVENTION:
SECULAR AND HUMANIST AND JEW
OCTOBER
INSPIRED RESEARCH
Ten Years Of Hope from page 13
23-25
•
Atiogoikimpamsof
Art Van Hosts Gala
To Benefit Center
WHO ARE SECULAR AMERICANS?
CAN YOU BE GOOD WITHOUT A GOD?
CAN YOU SEPARATE 'SYNAGOGUE AND STATE' IN ISRAEL?
WHEN IS CONFORMITY GOOD?
Secular Humanistic Judaism challenges convention in
many directions. We challenge conventional wisdom,
looking for meaning and community in this world, not
beyond. We challenge universalist secular conventions,
insisting on our particular Jewishness. And we challenge
Jewish convention in Israel and North America, asking
questions and celebrating realities that others fear.
RON ARONSON CARYN AVIV
JACQUES BERLINERBLAU
LORI LIPMAN BROWN
ADAM CHALOM GREG EPSTEIN
SIVAN MALKIN MAAS
The International Institute for Secular Humanistic Judaism
Pivnick Center for Humanistic Judaism at The Birmingham Temple
28611 West Twelve Mile Road, Farmington Hills, MI 48334
Registration Information: 847-777-6907
iishj@iishj.org
www.iishj.org
COLLOQUIUM 2009
1536820
14 September 24 • 2009
Special Report
Art Van
Furniture will
celebrate
its 50th
anniversary
with a gala
fundraiser
on Thursday,
Oct. 1 at its
Warren show-
Art Van Elslander
room. The Art
Van showroom
will be transformed into an enter-
tainment venue with vignette
presentations by iL CiRCo (www.
ilcirco.com ), a cirque performance
group.
A strolling dinner will be
catered by Andiamo Restaurant
Group. Additional entertainment
will be presented by the Simone
Vitale band. One attendee will win
the Art Van Golden Ticket for a
$2,500 shopping spree; the ticket
will be placed in a box of Sanders'
chocolate.
Celebrities such as model Cindy
Crawford will be attending. There
Rededicates Cemetery
Dr. Jonathan V. Plaut, rabbi of Temple
Beth Israel in Jackson, rededicated
the congregation's cemetery Sept. 13.
The cemetery celebrated its 150th
anniversary in May. The Temple Beth
Israel Cemetery was formally listed in
the National Register of Historic Places
in June of this year.
Temple Beth Israel's cemetery is
Michigan's oldest Jewish cemetery
in continuous use. It occupies the
original one-acre plot on West Avenue
acquired by Jackson's Jewish com-
munity in 1859. In that year, Rabbi
Leibman Adler of Detroit's Temple
Beth El conducted the first burial,
that of Rosa Hirsch, the 33-year-old
wife of Jackson's first Jewish citizen,
Jacob Hirsch. Adler consecrated the
cemetery at that time. Hirsch, along
with Jacob Levy, arrived in Jackson in
1842.
The Temple Beth Israel Cemetery
contains 274 human burials and plots
containing worn siddurs and other
sacred objects damaged in a 1973 fire
that destroyed the temple sanctuary
and social hall. The cemetery is still
in use by the congregation.
ipapooll
will be a 30-minute, live telecast
on WXYZ-TV (Channel 7). Anchor
Diana Lewis will be mistress of
ceremonies.
Through the generosity of Van TA
Elslander and Art Van Furniture,
100 percent of the ticket sales
and sponsorships will directly
benefit the Hermelin Brain Tumor
Center and the Neuroscience
Institute at the Henry Ford
Health System. Money raised will
help Henry Ford physicians and
researchers develop and execute
treatments for all neurological
diseases such as brain tumors,
stroke, epilepsy, Parkinson's dis-
ease, spine disorders and trauma
to the brain and spinal cord.
The honoree will be Doreen
Hermelin, a longtime supporter
of the Center and widow of David
Hermelin.
The event begins at 6 p.m.,
Thursday, Oct.1 at Art Van
Furniture, 6500 E.14 Mile Road,
Warren. Tickets range from $100
to $1,000 per person. For more
information, call (313) 874-6448
or visit www.henryford.com/giving
to buy tickets online.
Windsor's
New Rabbi
On Aug. 30,
Congegation
Sharrey Zedek of
Windsor introduced
its new rabbi to the
Windsor Jewish
Rabbi Galperin
community at a
barbecue. Rabbi
Shalom Galperin, who has been con-
ducting services since May 22, his
wife and two daughters were officially
welcomed into the community.
Scribe At Work
Rabbi Levi Kagan will hold a Sofer
Show at Keter Torah Synagogue in
West Bloomfield on Sunday, Oct. 25,
at 10:30 a.m. The show is geared for
the whole family, especially children.
Attendees can use the sofer's special
writing utensils to write their Hebrew
names in special fonts. Bring mezzu-
zot to be inspected, time permitting.
Call Rabbi Kagan, (248) 968-7014, for
information.