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theJEWISHNEWS.com

» Opening Doors Jewish Disabilities Month
shines a light on local programs. See page 10.

» Kids Helping Kids Joe Cornell graduation is
a fundraiser for kids with special needs. See page 13.

DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

metro

» How We've Changed

Historians report

culture over the past 25 years. See page 43.

on Jewish

Steve Jasgur with winners Jack Walt, Hannah
Charlip, Sydney Gordon and Makenzie Martin

>> cover story

Justice

ForAll

T

his is not your traditional
law firm, and Ari Kresch,
founder of 1-800-LAW-
FIRM, couldn't be happier.
Kresch has been practicing law
for 35 years. A native of Oak Park,
he attended Yeshiva Beth Yehudah
before going to the University of
Detroit and the Detroit College of
Law, where he earned his degree
in 1978.
"From my first semester in law
school, I fell in love with the law.
I felt so empowered to be able to
provide people access to the law:'
During his career, however, he

O

Firm aims to make legal
services accessible and
affordable for everyone.

Jackie Headapohl I Managing Editor

discovered that the way traditional
law firms are structured puts legal
help out of the reach of many con-
sumers.
Kresch thinks it's high time that
the "traditional" law firm goes the
way of the dinosaur. He's out to
create something new and fresh;
providing access to the law that is
affordable and unintimidating.
"Statistics show that 78 percent
of the population doesn't hire a
lawyer when they could benefit
from one because they are intimi-
dated by the prospect and the
expense says Kresch. "They just

Ari Kresch at the new

1-800-LAW-FIRM
headquarters in Southfield

don't do it — and they lose out on
the upside of legal representation:'
Kresch, who has been running
1-800-LAW-FIRM for the past
15 years, is out to make the law
easy to access and afford, and
he's bringing that vision to life at
the new Southfield headquarters
building he opened last summer at
the corner of Lahser and 1-696.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 8

Fed-Up Man of Faith

Shmuley Boteach to speak on book about
challenging God in the face of tragedy.

Robin Schwartz I J N Contributing Writer

Rabbi Shmuley Boteach

Covering and
Connecting
Jewish Detroit
Eve y Week

O

1

S

T

he headlines are filled with heartbreaking trag-
edies, like the December shooting massacre in
Newtown, Conn., which claimed the lives of 20
elementary children and six teachers. Most of the victims
were first-graders, some of the youngest, most innocent
and most vulnerable among us. They died in a hail of
gunfire when Adam Lanza, 20, burst into Sandy Hook
Elementary School and started firing. Police say he also
shot and killed his mother and later took his own life.
"When President Obama spoke about the tragedy, he
told the nation, 'God has called these children home:
What the heck does that mean?" says best-selling author
and renowned Rabbi Shmuley Boteach. The New Jersey-
based Orthodox rabbi is a husband and father of nine
children. He's a regular contributor to the Jerusalem
Post, the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, the
Huffington Post website and blog, and other publications.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 9