$2.00 JUNE 13-19, 2013 / 5-11 TAMMUZ 5773
A JEWISH RENAISSANCE MEDIA PUBLICATION
theJEWISHNEWS.com
» Mideast Culture Jewish brothers help add
Chaldean to the list of language courses available at
Mango Languages firm. See page 14.
» Setting The Pace MSU grads' musical iPhone
app for runners hits the streets. See page 34.
DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
» Father-Son Officemates Close quarters work
well for those sharing an office. See page 37.
Matt Ran and his dad, Gary, enjoy the set-up.
metro
A Time Of
Transition
EMU Hillel to close house and join
MSU Hillel's Campus Alliance.
Keri Guten Cohen I Story Development Editor
Cantor Sam Greenbaum shows Rob Grodin his passage in the Torah as Circle of Friends classmates
gather on the bimah.
"New Americans" celebrate freedom
with a group bar/bat mitzvah.
W
Barbara Lewis I Special to the Jewish News
hen Julie Grodin ascends to the bimah
at Congregation Beth Shalom in Oak
Park on June 15, she'll be marking a
milestone not only for herself but for a dozen or so
friends, all senior adults from the Former Soviet
Union (FSU).
Grodin of Huntington Woods is program director
of Circle of Friends, a social group of New Americans
and synagogue members that has been meeting at
Beth Shalom every week for the past 15 years.
She never had a bat mitzvah. And neither did
any of the foreign-born members of the Circle of
Friends. They will be honored with a group aliyah
as Grodin's husband, Rob, reads the maftir (the con-
cluding) portion of the Torah portion.
Circle of Friends members came of age when
Jewish practice in the FSU was strictly forbidden.
They grew up knowing they were Jews, but know-
ing very little about Jewish religion or traditional
practices.
ewish students attending Eastern Michigan
University in Ypsilanti will notice a difference
next fall in the structure of their Hillel. This
spring, its board voted to disband Hillel at EMU as a
stand-alone operation and to join eight other Michigan
colleges in HCAM (Hillel Campus Alliance of Michigan)
under the leadership of Michigan State University Hillel
director Cindy Hughey and her staff.
The biggest change for students will be that EMU
Hillel's house will no longer be open for activities
or Shabbat meals. Under the HCAM model, none
of the schools has a house. EMU's house, adjacent
to campus, is owned by the Jewish Federation of
Metropolitan Detroit. Its fate is undecided, said
Federation CEO Scott Kaufman.
"When I first heard we were losing the house, I will
admit I was quite angry and frustrated," said junior
Danielle Friedman of Trenton, Hillel at EMU's vice
president. "I was not at all sure how a kosher Hillel
would be able to function, but after meeting with Cindy
and her staff, I was truly eased. They were able to put
into perspective how many more options and opportu-
nities we would be able to have without the house.
CONTINUED ON PAGE 12
CONTINUED ON PAGE 8
Covering and
Connecting
Jewish Detroit
Eve y Week
Danielle Friedman of Trenton, EMU Hillel vice
president, Aron Sandler of Oak Park, EMU Hillel
president, get the table ready for a Shabbat dinner at
the Hillel house.