52 June 13 • 2019
jn
soul
of blessed memory
A mosaic commemorating the late
community leader Albert M. Colman
was dedicated the weekend of May
10-11 at Temple Kol Ami in West
Bloomfield.
Colman, a longtime attorney, was
president of Jewish Family Service in
the late 1970s, served on the Jewish
Federation of Metropolitan Detroit
board and was involved in Jewish
Community Center summer pro-
gramming, and with the Jewish War
Veterans.
Originally from Canada, he became
a U.S. citizen and served in World War
II. His
most memorable “war story”
was finding two cousins who survived
the Lodz Ghetto and the death camps
and facilitating their entry to the U.S.,
where they made new lives for them-
selves.
He died in October 2017 at age 94.
His daughter, Rabbi Gila Ruskin of
Philadelphia, created the mosaic titled
“Tzedek, Tzedek, Tirdof” (Justice,
Justice, you shall pursue) in memory of
her father.
“Over the course of a year, whenever
I’
d come to visit my mother, Harriet,
I would spend hours at Kol Ami with
Sisterhood members and family mem-
bers, gluing tiles and commemorative
objects to the art piece,” Ruskin said.
The top part contains jewelry –
family pieces and those donated by
Sisterhood members. The memorial
plaque shows the mosaic illustrates
that true justice (tzedek) is the product
of law and mercy.
Family members were able to gath-
er in town for the dedication. Rabbis
Norman Roman and Brent Gutmann
accepted the gift on behalf of Kol Ami.
The mosaic and plaque are installed in
the chapel used by Kol Ami and B’
nai
Israel Synagogue. ■
Jon Colman and Harriet Colman, left, and Rabbi Gila Colman Ruskin and Diane Pomish, right
Kol Ami Mosaic Honors Colman