Young Learners, Fast Friends
S
imcha Tzippy Cohen, 28, of Southfield, daughter
of Rabbi Avraham Cohen, and Elyse Thakur,
29, of Royal Oak, my daughter, have studied
together intermittently through Partners in Torah since
age 14, having met at a Congregation Machon L'Torah
Shabbaton in Southfield.
Even after high school, when Elyse moved to Boston
and later Washington, D.C., to study, and Simcha Tzippy
moved to Israel to study and later to live, they stayed in
touch.
Over the years, they have helped each other along life's
journeys. They've also spent some Shabbats and holidays
together. Both are now married. Simcha Tzippy and her
husband, Yehudah Cohen, have five children; he studies
at the Yeshiva's Bais Yehudah Kollel. Elyse and her hus-
band, Dr. Siddarth Thakur, a resident in physiatry,
are members of Temple Israel in West Bloomfield.
Through Partners, the close friends have tackled an
array of subjects, from the Torah portion to Shabbat
rituals to life decisions.
"Simcha Tzippy's ability to connect important,
deep and complex Jewish ideas and relate them
to our everyday life is amazing:' Elyse said. "She
reminds me about how important it is to bring
Judaism home not only on holidays and Shabbat, but
every day — with prayer and relationships, and in
our actions and behaviors:'
"Elyse always has questions, which I love," said
Simcha Tzippy. "It's much more interesting that
way." ❑
Elyse Thakur and Simcha Tzippy Cohen remain close
friends thanks to Partners
"Everyone in the room is accepted; we
don't want negative vibes. Every Jew is
a Jew — and is respected."
Alb
Rabbi Bennett
Rabbi
Burnham
Rabbi
Schechter
"Having worked in several Jewish com-
munities, I appreciate just how unique
Partners in Torah is here said Jeffrey
Lasday, executive director of the Jewish
Federation of Metropolitan Detroit's
Alliance for Jewish Education. "We are
very fortunate in Detroit to have an orga-
nization that is able to bridge the chasm
Jeffrey
between Orthodox and liberal and secular
Lasday
Jews."
Partners in Torah stems conceptually from the flames
derived from vigorous conversing. The Hebrew word for fire
is aish. God came down Mount Sinai "in fire the midrash
relates. The midrash teaches that Torah is fire: that if you
come too near, you get burned; that if you stay too far
away, you get cold. The Partners goal is to enlighten and
inspire, applying the "embers" of conversation. As Pirkei
Avot/Ethics of Our Fathers relates, discussion leads to fuller
understanding; individually, we don't know all the answers.
Shaping Common Ground
The Partners setting on Tuesday nights is a microcosm
of Jewish Detroit, which numbers about 65,000 Jews. But
Lasday is right: In a time of divide among the streams of
Judaism, Partners in Torah as well as other Orthodox-rooted
outreach programs — Aish HaTorah, Chabad and Ohr
Somayach come to mind — use a love of Jewish text and text
study "to create a united Jewish community of learners:'
My Partners mentor, Stuart Snider, is board secretary
of the Yeshiva. He's former local president of Hebrew Free
Loan. With me, his pay is my thirst to learn.
A lawyer by day, Stuart is a thoughtful teacher who shares
my passions for precisely reciting Hebrew as well as combing
the wisdom of our sages and protecting our people's eternal
bond with Israel. The study hall buzz infuses each of us with
a zest that carries over into the learning each of us, in very
different ways, do throughout the week.
Empowered on page 10
Rabbi Nevins
- Rabbi Avraham Cohen
Spreading Kindness Every Day
W
hen Partners Detroit's Rabbi Tzvi
Muller started teaching at the Jewish
Community Center in West Bloomfield
a few years back, he drew 15 participants. Soon,
his Torah-driven study sessions attracted many
more, and in the summer, hundreds.
"So I met with Gary Torgow, president of the
Yeshiva': JCC executive director Mark Lit said, "and
suggested the rabbi have an office at the JCC and
really develop programming for us:'
Torgow agreed.
"We then launched the
Kindness Project — 'Love
It. Learn It. Live It: — as a
JCC and Jewish community
resource Lit said.
Today, the more than 100
kindness initiatives, invok-
ing Torah, help nurture kindness
Mark Lit
in daily life. Initiatives include
Kindness Stars (recognizing, celebrating and inspir-
ing teens who do extraordinary deeds) and Kind-a-
thon (a kindness-a-day marathon for kids). There's
also a kindness leadership curriculum.
On a June 3-12 kindness mission to Israel, 19
mission-goers volunteered with organizations and
groups serving people in need. The corps picked
vegetables to feed the hungry, played sports with kids
from lower-income families, ran a carnival for immi-
grant children, visited lonely soldiers, painted a day
school's sports field and assisted an organization that
loans medical equipment.
Federation's Alliance for Jewish Education is a
Kindness Project co-sponsor of JCC-offered learn-
ing at the Max M. Fisher Federation Building in
The Kindness Mural hangs at the Oak Park JCC.
Local artist Daniel Cascardo created it with help
from dozens of volunteers. Mural donors were
Carol and Ron Fogel, Nancy and Jon Levin, and
Debbie and Jerry Glassman.
Bloomfield Township.
Says Muller: "We present Jewish teachings on how
to treat each other with kindness in
virtually the entire scope of human
interaction. We're working with the
JCC specifically to bring kindness, a
piece of Jewish values, to every JCC
program. We want a study piece or
a social action opportunity or some-
thing else to energize the idea of
-,
kindness?'
Rabbi Muller
❑
July 11 • 2013
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