AIE

metro >> Mentsh of the Month

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Designated
Baby Holder

Volunteer gives up sleep to help out
in hospital nursery.

Stacy Gittleman
Contributing Writer

E

va Feuerstein of Oak Park has
never been one to need a lot of
sleep. That's a good thing for
the new moms and babies at the Danialle
& Peter Karmanos, Jr. Birth Center at
Beaumont, Royal Oak.
Tuesdays are long days for Feuerstein.
After working all day as an administra-
tive assistant for the National Council of
Synagogue Youth, she heads home for
dinner with her husband and five daugh-
ters. Then she attends Partners in Torah
class at Beis Yehudah in Southfield. Just
Eva Feuerstein in the Beaumont nursery
as her energy starts to dwindle, she finds
her second wind knowing she will spend
the next several hours caring for Metro
"I am not the squeamish type, and I
Detroit's newest residents at the hospital's
always felt comfortable in a hospital;
nursery.
Feuerstein said.
There has been a national trend in
She had ambitions to become a nurse.
American hospitals in recent years to
Instead, she earned a degree in education
shift away from newborn nursery care
at Wayne State University and was the first
in favor of rooming in with the mother.
in her family to graduate college.
However, for mothers who experienced an
In the year of volunteering at the nurs-
exhausting labor or are in recovery from a
ery, Feuerstein has seen many babies
Cesarean section birth, the nursery gives
come and go. Though she knows that
them the opportunity for some much-
they will never remember her, she is
needed rest.
happy to give these newborns love and to
"For Orthodox or Catholic women who
lighten the workload of the nurses on the
have many children at home, two nights at maternity floor. She processes lab work,
the hospital with someone helping them
changes diapers and spends hours rock-
with their new baby may be just the rest
ing and cuddling fussy babies. Recently,
they need before returning to the 24-hour
she became certified to conduct hearing
job of being a mother:' Feuerstein said.
screenings on the newborns.
Feuerstein speaks from experience. She
Her eldest daughter, Sorala, has accom-
delivered all of her daughters, who are
panied her at times in the nursery to vol-
now between ages 12 and 21, at Beaumont unteer. Following in her mother's original
Royal Oak. Now, as a volunteer who has
ambitions, Sorala is a nursing student at
been on both sides of a hospital bed,
Wayne State University.
Feuerstein said the experience has been
Feuerstein has always taught her daugh-
a "real eye-opener" into the workload of
ters that life is not about getting but how
healthcare workers.
much you can give back
She often sees familiar faces in the hos-
"I teach them that I want them all to be
pital, such as neighbors in the tightly knit
graduates of the U of M — the University
Orthodox community of Oak Park
of Mentshes," Feuerstein said. "It is impor-
"Because I come at night, I don't see the
tant to teach your kids that as Jews, we
moms much because they are resting. But
should always be looking for ways to help
there are times when I have been there
people with random acts of kindness:'
when someone I know has given birth,
After her shift ends at 2 a.m., Feuerstein
and I will go in and wish them a mazel
arrives home just in time to get a few
tov and then head back to the nursery and hours of shut-eye.
take care of the babies:'
"Each time I work in the nursery, it
Feuerstein, a native of Detroit, grew
renews my faith in miracles," Feuerstein
up in a family of six siblings. Her parents
said. "Every time I hold a baby, I think,
`This is the hand of HaShem:"
were Holocaust survivors. As a teenager,
she spent hours volunteering in the emer-
Now that is worth losing a few hours
gency department at the former Sinai
of sleep.
Hospital, now the Sinai-Grace Hospital.

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34

May 21 • 2015

4

Members of the MCUSY chapter celebrating with a "selfie" after winning chapter
of the year in the Central Region of United Synagogue. In front, showing off her
tongue: Outgoing MCUSY chapter president Randi Traison of West Bloomfield.

Chapter Of The Year

Motor City USY wins honor
for second year running.

Stacy Gittleman
I Contributing Writer

ecently recognized by the
Central Region of United
Synagogue Youth for member-
ship growth and inter-generational reli-
gious programming such as "McKabbalat
Shabbat," members of Detroit's chapter
of United Synagogue Youth recently
arrived home from their regional spring
convention in Cleveland bleary-eyed yet
happy to have clinched the "Chapter of
the Year" award for the second year run-
ning.
Motor City USY, affectionately known
as "MCUSY," is witnessing a resurgence
in membership growth and dynamic
programming designed to engage and
energize the youngest members of Metro
Detroit's Conservative Jewish movement.
The chapter has attracted about 65
official members in grades 6-12, and a
little over 100 individuals have attended
at least one USY or Kadima program in
the past year, according to adviser David
Lerner. Highlights of
the year included a
Purim limousine scav-
enger hunt, monthly
volunteering at bingo
games with adults
with developmental
111 disabilities in coopera-
David Lerner
tion with JARC, and
an "Iron Chef" kosher
cooking contest for students in the mid-
dle school grades.
The Conservative movement in
Detroit has invested much in its youth
engagement and informal education in
the last several years with its Ramah
Fellowship and by hiring a full-time
USY adviser. For the past two years, this
post was filled by David Lerner. Lerner
is stepping down from his post, and this
summer will begin his rabbinical studies
at Jewish Theological Seminary in New
York City.
"I have been so inspired working with

R

the teens and witnessing their passion
and ability to form a community around
Jewish life and values:' Lerner, 32, said.
"I have merely served as the facilitator
and supporter to all their passion and
great ideas. They have worked hard
through their frustrations to create so
many positive outcomes over the past
two years:"
Lerner hopes the organization will
choose a new adviser who has an estab-
lished relationship with the organization
and can continue its upward direction.
In the last two years, Lerner said he
focused on growing and strengthening
programming and outreach at the high
school level. In coming years, he said the
focus should be on growing the organi-
zation's Kadima group for grades 6-8 and
Junior Kadima for grades 3-5.
Local area Conservative rabbis also
place a high value on the way USY
blends social and religious aspects to get
teens enthused about Judaism.
Rabbi Aaron Bergman at Adat Shalom
Synagogue in Farmington Hills attributes
the chapter's recent success to collabora-
tion across all of Detroit's Conservative
synagogues and professional staff who
are connected and invested in the teens.
Rabbi Aaron Starr of Congregation
Shaarey Zedek in Southfield — where
Lerner also worked as director of
youth and young adult programming
— echoed this sentiment of working
together to create meaningful experi-
ences of Jewish learning and fostering
friendships for teens.
"As Conservative Jews, we are com-
mitted to developing passionate, educat-
ed young adults devoted to finding spiri-
tuality within Jewish ritual, meaning
within Jewish life, and a commitment to
repairing our broken world," Starr said.
"Most of all, the teens who are part of
MCUSY are exceptional leaders and, in
them, I see a bright future for the Jewish
people:'
For more information on USY in
Detroit, go to http://mcusy.weebly .
com.

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