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COME WONDER AROUND
General muesum admission to the Detroit
Institute of Arts is free for residents of
Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties.
SUNDAY MUSIC BAR
Enjoy cocktails and lunch as pianist Mick Dobnay performs
contemporary jazz and classical standards in the relaxing
atmosphere of Kresge Court. Kresge Court, 1-4 p.m.
Shaarey Zedek's first adult bat mitzvah class in 1984
FINAL DAYS!
Egalitarian Champion
Make AJoyful Noise: Renaissance Art and Music in Florence
and
Shaarey Zedek "Woman of Valor"
Marjorie Saulson recalls her
leadership path.
Photographs from the Detroit Walk-in Portrait Studio
by Corine Vermeulen
Through May 17 Free with general museum admission
Karen Couf-Cohen
Special to the Jewish News
DETROIT INSTITUTE OF ARTS
5200 WOODWARD AVE.
313.833.7900 DIA.OR
1998100
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Our impact begins with challenges
that ignite the mind.
Learn more about this IMPACT .
Lower School Open House: Tuesday, April 28 at 9am
Personal Interviews & Tours daily by appointment
THE ROEPER SCHOOL
IMPACT YOU R WORLD
WWW.ROEPER.ORG
.0 248.203.7317
THE ROEPER SCHOOL IS AN EQUAL-OPPORTUNITY INSTITUTION
W
hen Bertha Corn's only
son died, she had a burn-
ing question: "When it
is my time, who will say Kaddish for
me?" She knew her five daughters
could not. Hearing this, her young
granddaughter thought, "Why not her
daughters? Why don't they count?"
This simple question set
in motion a lifelong explo-
ration of feminism by that
granddaughter — Marjorie
Shuman Saulson. Born into a
strong matriarchal family of
suffragettes from Hartford,
Ct., feminism was woven into
Saulson's DNA.
Marjori e
As a fourth-generation
Saulso n
Congregation Shaarey Zedek
member, Saulson's resilient
determination in defining a modern
role for women on the bimah earned
CSZ's women egalitarian status. The
shift began with the first Sisterhood
Shabbat and the first adult bat mitzvah
class and grew to include an equal
role for women at daily minyan, High
Holiday services and Shabbat.
Saulson's community philanthropic
involvement, hefty volunteerism and
inspired egalitarian leadership will be
honored by the CSZ Sisterhood with
the Woman of Valor Award at the Lois
Linden Nelson Woman's World on
Wednesday, May 6.
"My being selected for this honor
is an incredibly gratifying validation
of what the women of Congregation
Shaarey Zedek have worked so hard to
achieve:' Saulson said.
She began her leadership as an exec-
utive committee member and cultural
committee chair of United Synagogue
Youth (USY), followed by the presi-
dency of Shaarey Zedek Young People's
League in 1962.
Saulson became Sisterhood presi-
dent in 1979 and, under her leader-
ship, priorities shifted.
"I was determined to make sure
women were not marginalized,"
said Saulson, who has two children,
Melinda and Eli, with hus-
band, Saul.
Standard practice on the
High Holidays was for the
Men's Club president to have a
responsive reading as well as
pulpit honors for board mem-
bers. Saulson asked why not
Sisterhood president? Rabbi
Irwin Groner acquiesced and
granted her request.
Encouraged, Saulson initi-
ated a series of discussion programs
addressing the role of women in
Judaism with the support of an enthu-
siastic group of Sisterhood members.
Participants ranged from a promi-
nent Orthodox feminist, a panel of
women from conservative to feminist,
to Rabbi Joel Roth, then chair of the
Committee on Law and Standards of
the Conservative movement.
Roth's program offered the pros and
cons on two halachic issues: women
being counted in the minyan and
being given aliyot. His presentation
was attended by men and women,
including a delegation from Hillel Day
School, which was discussing whether
or not to change the school's practice
from non-egalitarian to egalitarian. (It
did so the following school year.)
Jewish Detroit in 1979 saw wide-
Egalitarian Champion on page 26
24 April 23 • 2015