jews d in the Best Of The Best Reunion of Oak Park school recalls its rich diversity. Hillel Day School Hires New Rabbi R EVE SILBERMAN SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS S hortly after the Paul Best Elementary School opened in the fall of 1954, a dispute broke out over placing a Christmas tree in the lobby. Some Jewish parents (many had moved to Oak Park to avoid anti- Semitism) expressed discomfort and brought up church-versus-state issues. But working together, the parents reached a compromise: The tree would have a home at Paul Best, but its deco- rations would be essentially secular, including artwork by Best students. A willingness to seek compromise and, even more important, the promo- tion of tolerance, characterized the for- mer school, which closed in 1976. On Saturday, Aug. 18, Best grads will gather to share their memories. (Details below.) Mary Baroff of West Bloomfield, whose two sons both attended Best, hopes to attend. “Who hears of elementary schools having reunions?” she marvels. “But that was a very special school.” Not only were its academics and art programs outstanding, she recalls, but the school emphasized “diversity” at a time where the word didn’t roll of everyone’s tongue. Baroff remembers that first- and second-graders regularly put on a play called The Churckendoose, about a bewildered barnyard animal who doesn’t look like any other creature in the barn. At first suspicious, the other animals accept the Churckendoose. “That play taught tolerance,” Baroff says. During its first decade, at least, the Best enrollment was about 40 per- cent Jewish. While some kids went to Hebrew school and others to catechism sessions at nearby Our Lady of Fatima, most Best grads say religion rarely came into the conversation. While all the reunion guests will join into the school song with its unforget- 20 August 16 • 2018 jn table first lines: “Best School is the best school/in the good ol’ U.S.A.,” the reunion may be especially sweet for its Jewish students. After they left Best, some recall their shock and hurt when they encountered the occa- sional anti-Semitic comment at their middle and high schools. The concept of tolerance was broad. In 1958, in a highly unusual act for the era, Best kids did a school exchange with the all-black Grant Elementary School. Later, Best became the first elementary school in the Ferndale School district to hire black teachers. It also “mainstreamed” two children with developmental issues at a time when most schools refused to accept such kids. Before his death a few years ago, former principal Larry Sophiea recalled that teachers and principals at other schools were jealous of the Best name. Paul L. Best, a former Ferndale princi- pal and administrator, was crucial in putting the funding together to build the new school (now Ferndale Upper Elementary School) serving a big crop of baby boomers. Best grad Sally Kotler, now known as Shira Chai, regrets she can’t make the reunion — she lives on a kibbutz near the Sea of Galilee — but hopes to con- nect to her Best friends by Skype during the event. Chai says she still occasional- ly hums a song played frequently in her second-grade classroom: “I’m proud to be me/but I also see/you’re just as proud to be you.”• The Best school reunion will be from noon-4 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 18, at Farina’s Banquet Hall in Berkley. Students, parents and teachers from 1954-1976 are welcome. No charge; food will be served. Building tour at 10:45 a.m. Contact Jonathan Nachman at (248) 390-3768. A meet- and-greet will be held from 6-9 p.m. Friday, Aug. 17, at CG’s Upper Deck in Waterford. Contact Eve Silberman, (734) 663-8756 or evesilberman2@gmail.com. reside in Oak Park, are parents to Yair, abbi David Fain has joined the 3, and Natan, 1. leadership team of Hillel Day Inspired to pursue the rab- School in Farmington binate, Fain received ordination Hills. As rav bet hasefer, or at Yeshivat Chovevei Torah school rabbi, Fain will lead in New York in 2018. While in the school’s Jewish life, from New York, he was the youth daily minyan to learning to director at Hebrew Institute of the spiritual growth of stu- Riverdale. dents and families. Fain also ran JSpace, an edu- “His passion for engag- cational program in New York ing children in their Jewish education in both authentic Rabbi David Fain for unaffiliated families that included Hebrew language and and exciting ways will be prayer studies, with parents a tremendous asset to our and children learning side by side, school,” said Steve Freedman, Hillel having “formative experiences that head of school. Fain assumes the position following were, in many instances, life-chang- the departure last school year of Rabbi ing,” he said. “At Hillel, we are committed to Jonathan Berger. Halachah in all its dynamism, com- Fain attended public schools in mitted to Jewish growth that works for Hamden, Conn., and graduated from each family, and we realize the critical the University of Connecticut before setting his sights on Jewish education. importance of the journey happening at both school and at home,” he said. He spent three years working at vari- “I am passionate about opportuni- ous day schools as part of the Pardes ties to learn Torah with children and Educators’ Program in Jerusalem, adults, and to see how powerful the where, in conjunction with Hebrew connections are when intergenera- College in Boston, he received his tional learning around prayer and the master’s degree. It was while work- holidays ensues. I look forward to sup- ing at Bernard Zell Anshe Emet Day porting our families’ Jewish growth in School in Chicago that he met his ways that are meaningful to them.” • wife, Shoshana. The couple, who now New Head Of JHSM T he Jewish Historical Society of Michigan has hired Catherine “Katie” Cangany as execu- tive director. Cangany joins Katie Cangany JHSM from the University of Notre Dame, where she was an associate professor in the his- tory department. She holds a Ph.D. from the University of Michigan and a B.A. from Indiana University in Bloomington. Married with a daughter, she resides in Oakland County. She is the author of Frontier Seaport: Detroit’s Transformation into an Atlantic Entrepôt (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2014), which charts colonial Detroit’s transformation into an Atlantic port city. She has also published significant research on colonial Detroit in peer-reviewed journals. With family ties to Apple Island on Orchard Lake, Cangany has been an active member of the Greater West Bloomfield Historical Society for more than a decade. “Katie’s strengths as a respected scholar, passionate historian, proven fundraiser and dedicated nonprofit volunteer combine to make her the ideal candidate as our new execu- tive director,” said JHSM Board of Directors President Risha B. Ring. Cangany, who assumed her new role this month, said she is looking forward to returning to her Oakland County roots in a role that highlights her love of public history. “As JHSM heads into its 60th year in 2019, I am excited to explore ways to expand and improve outstanding programming, engage a wider membership, and share our state’s proud Jewish history,” she said. Cangany replaces Wendy Rose Bice, who provided more than nine years of service to JHSM. Under Bice’s leadership, the organization’s mem- bership doubled, with an increased web and social media presence, and robust programming, including a variety of bus tours, youth education curriculum and professional presen- tations.• Meet Katie Cangany at a reception from 4-6 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 16, in Rooms 202-203 of the Jewish Community Center of Metropolitan Detroit in West Bloomfield. No RSVP required.