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continued from page 36

HAPPY
HEALTHY
NEW YEAR

DIFFERENT PATHS

Fred recalled working part-time in the
Temple Israel religious school after
high school.
He chose to stay with his parents’
Reform Judaism. “It is the successor
to the ever-evolving Judaism from the
rabbis,” he said. When he and his wife,
Kathleen Alessandro, were shul shop-
ping in the 1990s, they chose Temple
Emanu-El.
“All three of our children became
bat/bar mitzvah at temple and
graduated from the high school pro-
gram,” he said. The immediate fam-
ily includes Sarah Frank and Clint
Spaulding of Brooklyn, N.Y.; Josh
and Mallory Frank and son, Levi, of
Clarkston; and Rachel Frank of Royal
Oak.
Fred’s participation in Synagogue
2000, a Reform movement initia-
tive, spurred his interest in becom-
ing more involved. Ticking off his
temple accomplishments, Fred said
he was “on the board, treasurer, reli-
gious committee chair, religious vice
president, involved parent, involved
in Federation’s education partnership
with synagogues called CSI Squared
and chaired the synagogue’s curricu-
lum committee.
“My Jewish journey took a U-turn,”
he said, when leadership asked him
to take the executive director posi-
tion. Martin Leibowitz is the temple’s
president.
Unlike Fred, Arlene began feeling
like more of a secular Jew during col-
lege and afterward. She found the
right progressive community for her-
self, husband, Dr. Robert Egan, and
their son, Aaron Egan, at Workmen’s
Circle/Arbeter Ring. She’s served as
chair since 1997 and previously was
vice chair. Also active in the national
organization, WC/AR gave her an
achievement award.
Among other involvements,
Arlene was chair for 13 years of
Detroit Women’s Forum while it was
a program of the American Jewish
Committee and continues on its
board. She’s been a board member of
National Council of Jewish Women
for several years, and was a trainer/
presenter for NCJW’s Teen Dating
Abuse education program.
Arlene received the Harriet Tubman
Feminist of the Year Award from
Detroit Chapter of NOW; Diversity
Champion Award from Birmingham-
Bloomfield Task Force on Race
Relations and Ethnic Diversity; and
the Rainbow Recognition Award from
the Multicultural/Multiracial (MCMR)

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38

September 14 • 2017

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Community Council of Farmington/
Farmington Hills.
For his part, Fred serves on the
board of JCRC/AJC, was community
relations associate and board mem-
ber at Jewish Community Relations
Council, and past president of the
local American Jewish Committee. He
graduated from the two-year Melton
program for adult Jewish learning.

SERVING THEIR SHULS

The position of director differs at
various synagogues, so Fred said he
wasn’t surprised when his secular
Jewish sister was hired at IADS.
“Some people may associate
some religiosity with the position or
spiritual fulfillment and to others that
aspect is less important,” he said.
Fred’s duties include “facility man-
ager, HR department, program plan-
ner, troubleshooter and more. Today, I
was in the basement dealing with the
A/C compressor not cooling off the
sanctuary.”
Among the temple’s activities,
he noted that this is the third year
of a joint religious program with
Congregation Beth Shalom, the
Conservative synagogue in Oak Park.
Something Arlene likes about her
job is that she works just over a mile
from her Detroit home. Her duties
are primarily administrative. Jodee
Fishman Raines is synagogue presi-
dent.
“I enjoy interacting with a wide
variety of people who belong to
the synagogue, who support the
synagogue and who walk by the syna-
gogue and didn’t know it was here,”
Arlene said.
IADs is open to partnerships with
neighbors to affirm its commitment
to the city. “We’re doing program-
ming with the Bethel Community
Transformation Center, where our
Rabbi Ariana Silverman is on the
board, and bringing the IADS High
Holiday services to the home of the
former Temple Beth El” on Woodward
at Gladstone in Detroit, Arlene said.
“It’s a return to one of the signifi-
cant spaces in the life of our Jewish
community,” she said.
Arlene never hesitates to call on
Fred for guidance.
“I have a sheet on my wall that
has my brother’s picture and says
‘WWFD?’ for ‘What Would Fred Do?’
When I’m trying to figure something
out, I’ll call or email him because he
has experience. I have found his help
invaluable.” •