Business & Professional
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Swimming, Squash And Spirituality
To DAC's first Jewish president, forming a minyan is a sign of club's diversity.
Shelli Liebman Dorfman
Senior Writer
N
ot so many years ago, a monthly
posting of the time and date of
the morning minyan would have
turned the heads of those passing through
the lobby of the Detroit Athletic Club (DAC).
But now, says Ken Katz, the man who initi-
ated the minyan and the signage,"Both are
non-issues:'
In fact, to Katz, the concept that he is in
the midst of a one-year term as the DAC's
first Jewish president is just a positive sign of
the times.
"In the very early years, the club was not
open to Jews, as is the history of most pri-
vate dubs in America': Katz said. "But being
a Jewish member at the DAC is not at all
unusual for today."
Along with the minyan, which is held the
first Friday of each month, Katz instituted a
Torah study, which takes place during each
service. It is led by fellow member Rabbi
Joseph P. Klein of Temple Emanu-El in Oak
Park, where Katz belongs.
"I started the Torah study and minyan
together in September 2007',' Katz said. "I
thought it would be nice if once a month we
had a service and a place for people saying
Kaddish to be able to go."
The group, ranging from five to 16 men
and women at each service, gets together in a
private suite in the downtown Detroit-based
club.
"We meet at 7:30 and go through the ser-
vice, which was developed by Rabbi Klein;
and then we discuss the week's Torah por-
tion': Katz said. "Then we have breakfast."
Klein said, "I have a printed siddur [prayer
book] that we use for Shacharit [the morn-
ing prayer service]. Before Aleinu and
Kaddish, I lead a discussion of the week's
Torah portion."
A member of the DAC for more than
10 years, Klein said, "The DAC has indeed
changed dramatically, though I don't know
when it started. My experience is that it is
a warm, welcoming and inclusive club. My
experience at the DAC, and their welcome of
me as both a Jew and a rabbi, has been no
different than my welcome at our JCC."
A Downtown Service
Word of the minyan and Torah study was
initially shared by members telling other
members about it. As soon as the rabbi and
Katz first discuss initiating them, Klein said,
"He reached out to those Jewish members he
knew, asking them to pass on the informa-
tion and invite others."
Now an e-mail notice goes out to 50 mem-
bers before each monthly service. When DAC
member and minyan participant, Frank
Mamat receives his e-mail, he often for-
wards it back to other recipients as a double
reminder.
"I want the minyan to succeed," he said.
"The list includes names of members who
Ken and I and a few others think might
come; and I think if those who haven't been
there before get more than one e-mail, they
might come and try it. And then I think
they'd come back."
Active in the club since joining in 1987
and a current member of the Arts and
Endowment committee, Mamat said, "A few
months after the minyan was started, I got
an invitation from another member and was
pleasantly surprised to find out about it."
Mamat, who lives in West Bloomfield said,
"Now the minyan is usually the only reason
I go to the club that early on a Friday morn-
ing:'
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