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Town Hall Kickoff

Frankel Jewish Academy marks
start of 10th anniversary year.

t egent tree
have ound
lasting friendships, good service and
n* •yed cultural events that I

Id have experienced in m
own home" -Rose Benne

248.683.1010

Visitors welcome!
Call or stop by today.

REGENT Ill STREE

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OF WEST BLOOMFIELD

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American

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4460 Orchard Lake Rd. West Bloomfield, MI 48323

Located next to Comerica Bank
Created to care for our family, devoted to serving yours.

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58

September 24 2009

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FJA junior Max Kepes of Bloomfield Hills at a school Town Hall session.

T

own Hall is a Frankel Jewish
Academy tradition — the
time of the week to regroup
as a school, take note of team wins,
celebrate achievements in scholar-
ship and sometimes recall calamity.
On Sept. 11, the FJA community
kicked off its 10th anniversary year
and recalled the events of 9-11.
Rabbi Eric Grossman, FJA head
of school, remarked on a truth of
Jewish life: "It is a cycle; we eat, fast
and eat again. We're happy, we're sad,
and then we are happy again."
The West Bloomfield high school's
first Town Hall of the year was just
such a moment — singing the Star
Spangled Banner and Hatikvah sepa-
rated by a minute of silence in mem-
ory of the 2001 terrorist attacks.
Following the anthems, the
Academy's first head of Judaic stud-
ies, Rabbi Aaron Bergman, now
rabbi at Adat Shalom Synagogue in
Farmington Hills, gave a d'var Torah
recalling the changes the school has
seen since its founding 10 years ago:
from being called "the Jewish high
school" to JAMD to the Frankel Jewish
Academy; from a handful of class-

rooms in the basement of the Jewish
Community Center in West Bloomfield
to its current facility on the second
floor of the JCC; from a school of a few
dozen to a few hundred.
Town Hall then was turned over
to Student Government members,
who described upcoming student
plans for FJA's 10th anniversary
celebration: the making of a time
capsule, writing posts on jagwire.org
to chronicle the adventures of FJA's
Jaguar mascot and other events.
Applause rang out for the boys
soccer team's first league win and
wins by boys' tennis and girls'
volleyball teams as well. Senior
Justin Moss was singled out for
special acknowledgment for having
raised $600 of the student body's
total $1,500 fundraising efforts
for Friendship Circle's Sept. 13
Walk4Friendship in West Bloomfield.
Cake and music by FJA's rock band
completed a morning that held fast
to the spirit of Jewish life.
Frankel Jewish Academy is plan-
ning events and celebrations for
students, parents, alumni and the
community throughout the year. I 1