PRICE

MAPLE PHARMACY

PHARMACY

10 OFF

5829 Maple Rd. Ste. 129 • West Bloomfield, MI 48322

purchase of OTC
Medications & Vitamins

(Btw. Orchard Lake & Farmington Rd.)

248.757.2503

with any new or transferred prescriptions.

$2.00 MARCH 5-11, 2015 / 14-20 ADAR 5775

theJEWISHNEWS.com

A JEWISH RENAISSANCE MEDIA PUBLICATION

» Divorce Support Bar mitzvah project helps kids of
divorce express their feelings. See page 14.

» Netanyahu In D.C. The rift between the Israeli
prime minister and President Obama comes to a head.
See pages 22, 24-26.

DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

metro

» Fressing With Fishman Ryan Fishman
premieres his new monthly column on eating out and
more. See page 45.

Benjamin Netanyahu addresses AIPAC the day

before his speech to a joint session of Congress.

» cover story

Media
Savvy

Personable rabbi goes
beyond typical outreach.

Shelli Liebman Dorfman

Contributing Writer

R

abbi Herschel Finman was
almost a Buddhist.
It was at the top of his list as
he seriously investigated other religions
and philoso-
phies while
surrounded
by siblings
making highly
unusual choic-
es in a family
of traditional
Jews.
"By the end
of the 1970s,"
Finman said,
Rabbi Herschel Finman
"I would have
three broth-
ers, one a Buddhist, one a macrobiotic
hermit, one a hippie rabbi; and three
sisters, one a junkie, now clean and work-
ing as nutritional expert; one a member
of a nefarious Christian cult, now, thank
God, married to dentist and working as
a colonics expert; and one a punk rocker,

Barbara Lewis I Contributing Writer

F

first comes love, then comes marriage,
Then comes baby in a baby carriage.
For centuries, that's been the normal progression,
but the times they are a-changing.
Many couples are postponing parenthood or choosing to
forego it altogether. They've even coined a new term for their
condition: childfree as opposed to childless, which implies their
life is missing something.
Michael Hildebrandt, 35, and Jessica Camp, 33, of Fenton are
among them. They've never wanted to be parents and are very
happy with their childfree life.
Having children "was never on my agenda: said
Hildebrandt, a nurse at the University of Michigan Health
System in Ann Arbor. "It's just not something I want to do.
It doesn't fit into the lifestyle I want to live. I could never see
myself with kids."
His wife agrees, though her medical history contributed to

CONTINUED ON PAGE 8

1942 - 2015

Covering and
Connecting
Jewish Detroit
Eve y Week

8

1

98805

her decision. She's an only child; her late mother had numerous
miscarriages before she was born and suffered clinical depres-
sion. Camp has health concerns of her own that would likely
have made it difficult to conceive and carry a child, and she
didn't want to repeat her mother's experience.
"I knew I probably wouldn't be able to have kids:' said Camp,
an associate professor of social work at University of Michigan-
Flint.
Discussing one's intention to be childfree is a delicate subject
when dating.
"I would always bring it up early in a relationship," Camp
said. "It's a tough topic of conversation. Some guys I dated just
expected I would have kids and stay home:'
For some, the decision to be childfree includes concerns
about overpopulation.
"I feel there are enough people in the world and too many
of them are having kids that shouldn't," said Miles Steam, 39, a
ceramics artist who lives and works in Berkley.
"I didn't feel it would be responsible bringing a life into this
world, not knowing for sure if they would end up happy:'
Steam feels many people have children to accomplish what
they themselves cannot.
"I really don't feel ifs fair to have kids reach for the stars
when most people are too scared to do it themselves:' he said.
"Unless you can accomplish something, you get lost to time:'
He and his wife, he says, "are living our dreams, not trying to
rear a child to live theirs:"

CONTINUED ON PAGE 12

93363 5