Walled Lake Schools metro invites you to attend our Community Performances WL Northern HS Performing Arts Center to host MICHIGAN PHILHARMONIC Innovative Judaism "A Phantom, A With and A King" "Open Orthodoxy" rabbi talks of viewing Torah "outside the box." Halloween Pops Concert October 25, 2013, 7:30 p.m., WL Northern HS • Featuring the Michigan Philharmonic with music director and conductor Nan Washburn • Special performances by Walled Lake Schools student choirs Stacy Gittleman Special to the Jewish News W For ticket information, go to wlcstickets.com or call 248-387-9160. WL Western HS Performing Arts presents '44\ "Shrek - */ The Musical" November 14-17 & 21-24, 2013 7:30 p.m., WL Western HS For ticket information, go to wlcstickets.com or call 248-387-9160. WL Northern HS Performing Arts presents .1 '4 \ "David and Lisa" November 14-16, 2013 WL Northern HS For ticket information, go to wlcstickets.com or call 248-387-9160. WL Central HS Performing Arts presents "You Can't Take it With You" f December 5-7, 2013 7:30 p.m., WL Central HS For ticket information, go to wlcstickets.com or call 248-387-9160. WL Central, Northern & Western HS choirs, bands and orchestras present Collage Concerts •December 10, 2013 - WL Western HS band & orchestra •December 11-12, 2013 - WL Northern HS choirs, band & orchestra •December 17 18, 2013 - - WL Central & orchestra HS choirs, band WL Western HS choirs For ticket information, go to wlcstickets.com or call 248-387-9160. WL Northern HS Performing Arts Center to host Holiday Pops with the Phil Presented by the Huron Valley Council for the Arts December 13, 2013 WL Northern HS Featuring the Michigan Philharmonic with music director and conductor Nan Washburn. PHILHARMONIC Ca30/ For ticket information, go to www.huronvalleyarts.org or call 248-889-866o. 1865320 24 October 24 • 2013 Balancing Old And New Within innovation, Lopatin cautioned that Jewish thinkers need to balance new ideas against the old. "Every new idea should be presented, but some may be rejected. Eventually, a few will be so powerful that they will eventually be accepted:' While some in the audience expressed concern about the further splintering of Judaism, Lopatin refuted this by saying Rabbi Asher Lopatin at Akiva with Professor Howard Lupovitch that even in Talmudic times there were different schools of thought, such as the well-recorded disputes between Rabbis Hillel and Shammai. On a question about congregants within one synagogue wanting more than style — or length — of religious services, Lopatin condoned synagogues creating a welcoming environment by providing a variety of minyanim under one roof. Lopatin, citing changes in Judaism that are coming from each end of the observance spectrum, advised the audi- ence that innovations come from both the right-leaning haredi Jews to the left- leaning Reform movement. "The Jewish world from the left to the right is very open to innovation and change. If we are all learning and speak- ing up, eventually we will come up with a tradition that God commanded us:' Amongst the audience, Amy Cutler, 69, of West Bloomfield, came out to hear Lopatin because she likes his views of Judaism as a "living religion:' Cutler, who teaches curriculum design at Oakland University, said, "I like his open-mindedness and his open question- ing type of approach to learning:' ❑ A Family's Detroit Ties •December 19, 2013 - Wo.un, Mus Ovenx hen God gave the Jewish people the Torah at Mount Sinai, did Moses get it right the first time, or will it take genera- tions of Jews asking the right questions to more completely reveal Halachah (Jewish law) for modern times? Rabbi Asher Lopatin posed this per- plexing question in his lecture "The Tradition of Innovation in Halachah" on Oct. 10 at Akiva Hebrew Day School in Southfield. Through texts and com- mentary from historic Jewish scholars, Lopatin enthusiastically discussed the paradox of transmitting Jewish tradition to the next generations while encourag- ing them to think about the Torah "out- side the box:' "We will not be able to access the Torah's light if we just concern ourselves with what was physically in the box:' said Lopatin, referring to the Holy Ark where the Torah scrolls are kept. He contrasted that metaphor with another synagogue symbol, the open, expansive arms of the menorah. "We cannot accept the status quo:' he said. "We must take advantage of find- ing opportunities to teach Torah wher- ever that may happen. We also need to listen to people as they learn; who stand up and say, 'I have a different way of understanding [Torah].:" Lopatin is the president of Yeshivat Chovevei Torah Rabbinical School in Riverdale, N.Y. The yeshivah promotes the idea of "open Orthodoxy:' a plural- istic approach to Modern Orthodoxy that pushes a number of envelopes in Orthodox practice — including the role of women in leadership positions — while maintaining a commitment to tra- ditional modes of rabbinical study and Orthodox ideology. The Cohn-Haddow Center for Judaic Studies at Wayne State University co-sponsored the lecture with Akiva. Lopatin was introduced by Professor Howard N. Lupovitch, the center's new director. Scott Cranis, Akiva executive director, said, "We are happy to have provided a forum for the wider Jewish community to come together and listen to Rabbi Lopatin's fresh way of thinking:' Throughout Jewish history, innova- tive Jewish thinkers such as Moses Maimonides and Rashi were, at first, chastised for their views but then later accepted as some of the greatest Torah scholars. Lopatin said these scholars early on understood the importance of Jews becoming enlightened in secular studies to deepen their understanding of Torah. R abbi Asher Lopatin has a soft spot for Detroit. He was appre- ciative of the audience of 200 who came out to hear him speak. After all, he knew he was compet- ing against the Detroit Tigers, who were playing the Oakland Athletics and would advance to the American League Championship Series that very same night. Most of all, Lopatin's love for Detroit is because Rachel Tessler Lopatin, his wife and life partner in Jewish renewal, was raised in West Rachel Tessler Bloomfield. She is Lopatin the daughter of Warren Tessler and the late Charlotte Tessler. Like her husband, Rachel Lopatin's life is steeped in Jewish education. It started at Hillel Day School in Farmington Hills and involved the Conservative United Synagogue Youth and Camp Ramah in Canada and went on to undergraduate and advanced degrees in Judaic stud- ies at the University of Michigan, Hebrew University in Jerusalem and the Conservative Jewish Theological Seminary in New York City. It seemed natural that as two people planning to devote their lives to Jewish professions, she and Lopatin would meet in Chicago as Wexner (Jewish leadership) fellows, fall in love and "program themselves a life together," said Lopatin, who is mother to four children ages 6-12. Though the Lopatins have lived in many cities, Rachel still feels she owes the formation of her identity to the Jewish community in Detroit. In Chicago, she was program director of Anshe Emet synagogue for six years. She was also instru- mental in founding a Jewish day school and a mikvah. Rachel Lopatin now volunteers as a modern-day matchmaker at www.sawyouatsinai.com and said she is "always happy to work with Jewish Detroiters" looking for their match. ❑ - Stacy Gittleman