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Rabbi Dov Lichtig, back row, far right, and Berkley High School students involved
in the Jewish Student Union of NCSY
Sharing Judaism
Berkley Jewish Student Union
brings diverse students together.
Stacy Gittleman | Contributing Writer
O
n a recent Tuesday afternoon
at Berkley High School, a
group of about 20 students
met in the classroom of English teacher
Chelsea Lupenec during their lunch
break and chowed on kosher pizza
brought in by Rabbi Dovid Lichtig,
Detroit director of National Conference of
Synagogue Youth (NCSY), a New York-
based Orthodox youth organization.
Through Lichting and NCSY’s Jewish
Student Union (JSU) program, high
schoolers across Metro Detroit are learn-
ing about Judaism’s holidays and tradi-
tions over their lunch breaks. And you
don’t have to be Jewish to participate.
Students ate while they listened as
Lichtig give a brief explanation about a
Torah scroll with the help of Lupenec,
who found some images of a Torah on
Google to show on the room’s Smart
Board. Lichtig polled the class with
questions, asking if anyone knew what
stories are contained in the Torah
or if they knew about the Dead Sea
Scrolls or could list some of the 10
Commandments.
Slowly, students offered answers. One
was Katie Zeile, 15, a sophomore who
came to a few JSU meetings at the sug-
gestion of other non-Jewish friends. As a
Christian, she enjoys learning about the
similarities and differences of the two
faiths.
“At first I was a bit hesitant about
coming, but I soon realized it was not
a religious club but instead a place to
learn about Jewish customs and cul-
ture,” Zeile said. “[Christians and Jews]
have some common beliefs, such as
reading the Old Testament and the Ten
Commandments.”
The JSU is a national organization
that strives to connect public high school
students to their Jewish heritage. Local
chapters also exist at North Farmington
where there’s a will,
There’s a way forward.
“I like the people at JVS. They are friendly,” says Ben who
works on the JVS janitorial crew. “I’ve come a long way.
I’m better with people and with respect. I get along with
everybody. I don’t want to work anywhere else.”
For Ben’s mom, Susan, JVS has provided more than just a
job for her son. We have provided relief. “Ben is very shy
and doesn’t make friends easily,” she explains. “I didn’t
want him sitting home and doing nothing. I wanted him
to be able to be successful and to have a life.”
“JVS has brought him out of his shell where he’s not
alone all the time. He feels good about going to work
and he loves JVS. It makes me feel better that he has a
job he likes and that he’s happy.”
For 75 years, JVS has helped people of all abilities
ʳQGWKHLUVNLOOVVWUHQJWKVDQGThe Way Forward to rich
and rewarding lives with a place and purpose in our
community.
HELP OTHERS FIND THEIR WAY FORWARD AT
WWW.JVSDET.ORG/DONATE | 248.233.4374
2145520
26 December 22 • 2016
High School and Bloomfield Hills High
School.
“Jewish and non-Jewish kids alike
show great enthusiasm for this club,”
Lichtig said. “For the non-Jewish stu-
dents, the group is an opportunity to
learn about Judaism in a non-religious
way. For the Jewish kids, it is a chance
for them to get back into Jewish learning
in the years after they become a bar or
bat mitzvah, when high school schedules
make it difficult to find time to further
their Jewish involvement.”
After he enjoyed his pizza, freshman
Dugan “DJ” Schneider, 14, made a Torah
out of fruit leather and pretzel stick rods.
He spends his Sundays as a madrich
(helper) at Temple Emanu-El in Oak
Park and became a bar mitzvah through
Aish HaTorah, also in Oak Park.
“I come to JSU because I want to
learn more about my Jewish heritage,”
Schneider said. “It is interesting to learn
how Jewish history is tied into my Jewish
ancestry.”
The JSU has grown in popular-
ity, in part, because of junior Natalie
Rosenblatt, 16, who grew up at Temple
Israel and Temple Shir Shalom, both in
West Bloomfield, and last summer par-
ticipated on Federation’s Teen Mission
to Israel. She said she wanted to become
more involved with the group because of
her own strong connection to Judaism
and her desire to educate students of all
backgrounds about her Jewish culture.
Most of the meetings focus on the
“lesser-known” Jewish holidays because
most people only know about Chanukah.
“Outside of Chanukah, most people
do not know much about Judaism,”
Rosenblatt said. “This club is a great way
to learn about it in a chill atmosphere.
Plus, most of our activities involve
around making or eating food, and
everyone loves food.”
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