A Searching Soul
From suburban Detroit atheist to
Chasidic matriarch.
"I want readers to learn that a hope-
fully intelligent, real person with plenty
of questions and ups and downs can
iriam Driker Karp often
find a lot of resonance and meaning by
celebrates Jewish holidays
connecting to the sources of Judaism.
deviating from the custom
There's a lot of richness and beauty
of serving wine. She serves grape juice
there:"
instead and thinks of the adjusted prac-
Karp, the mother of 10 and grand-
tice as assuming a much higher Jewish
mother of 12, traveled many paths
purpose.
before settling into Orthodoxy.
It all has to do with
Raised in a household that followed
her guests.
a Humanistic outlook, she was intro-
Her husband,
duced to observance through friends.
Yankel, spiritual
The author, who studied art at the
leader in a recovery
University of Michigan, pursued reli-
program for Jewish
gious interests through the Machon
addicts, brings home
Chana Women's Institute in Brooklyn.
clients for celebra-
Her choice of husband was made
tions that are planned with the encouragement of a match-
Miriam Karp
to help them move
maker, and her children have continued
forward.
to practice Orthodoxy into adulthood.
"People in recovery need spirituality
"I feel like a modern woman," says
for survival," says Karp, on the phone
Karp, who teaches religious preschool,
from her Cincinnati home. "Holiday
paints images of scenes and people,
meals become a beautiful
enjoys a computer and only
atmosphere of sharing, and
listens to television when
we have focused on helping
visiting her dad, Jack Driker
them go out from the slav-
of West Bloomfield.
ery of addiction.
"In a lot of ways, I'm a
"Through getting
feminist. I feel the impulse
involved with Jewish recov-
by raising questions. The
ery, people are experiencing
women in the Chabad com-
healing in terms of their
munity have a solid base
recovery from [substance
and platform to be them-
abuse] and in terms of their
selves.
relationship with Judaism:"
"The world of Chabad is
Karp, 56, who grew up in Memories of Belle
focused on men and women
Huntington Woods, did not Isle, Dexte r-Davison developing intellectually
always have the religious
and North land
and being very involved in
orientation that she now
the outside world. There is
savors. She tells about her move from
a global outlook, and that's why I find
hippie to Chasid in the self-published
this way of life dynamic:'
Painting Zaidy's Dream: Memoir of a
Karp says that she raised her daugh-
Searching Soul (Poppy Seed Press),
ters to be well educated and hopes
they'll all marry, raise families and have
available on Amazon and her website,
rich, multidimensional lives. The older
www.paintingzaidysdream.com .
Although the recovery program does
ones have dated and made their own
not make its way onto the pages of her
decisions about marriage.
memoir, she reveals many of the related
Karp, who has written for Jewish
values behind her motivation and life
publications, says she has resisted
choices.
home TV because she questions the
morality of much programming. With
"I want the book to make the Chasid
world more accessible to people who
a computer, she feels it is easier to pick
aren't familiar with it:' says Karp, whose and choose what is accessed, and she
memoir started as a master's degree
has used Facebook to connect with
project in creative Jewish expression at
old friends outside the Chasidic com-
munity.
Antioch University Midwest.
"I'd like to think I could have found a
"Writing this book has been another
publisher certainly in the Jewish press,
way of spiritual searching," says Karp,
but I wanted the memoir to be a little
who details Michigan experiences. "I
bit out of the box and more appealing
hope it empowers people to see them-
to people who might not want a typical
selves by sharing their inner selves with
Orthodox book.
the people in their lives:'
Suzanne Chessler
Contributing
Writer
I
M
Detroit, 1967. In the gleaming lobby of 1300 Lafayette East , the
Supremes are fighting, a young Jewish housewife is pining for
something new, and Reena Walker - an aspiring Motown singer - is locked
out of her apartment in a peignoir set paid for by a married man. Can two women,
one white and one black, forge a friendship atop this powder keg of a city?
CO•PRODUCED WITH PLOWSHARES THEATRE COMPANY
JET is a professional, Actors Equity
Association theatre that performs in the
Aaron DeRoyTheatre in the JCC • on the corner
of Maple & Drake Roads in West Bloomfield
•••
"Much-heralded Star Deli
slow-cooks its own
*tender temptations"
— Danny Raskin, 2012
Order your
Holiday Trays &
Specialties today!
COMPARE OUR LOW PRICES WITH ANY DELICATESSEN IN TOWN!
MEAT TRAY
$9.99 W..
DAIRY TRAY
SALAD TRAY
$20.99 ;Ms.,,
$10.99 person
SALAD TRAY W/ LOX & CREAM CHEESE
OFF
Potato Latkes * Handcut Lox
Our Regular Tuna & Fat-Free Tuna Can't Be Beat!
Vegetarian Chopped Liver
Homemade Potato Salad & Coleslaw
HOURS: MON-SAT 7-9:30 • SUN 7-8
24555 W. 12 MILE ROAD
Just west of Telegraph Road • Southfield
248-352-7377
$14.49
On Star's beautiful already I
low-priced meat or dairy trays
Expires 3/5/14. One Per Order. Not Good Holidays. I
I
10 Person Minimum. With this coupon.
www.stardeli.net
DELIVERY AVAILABLE
1893140
❑
JN
January 30 • 2014
59