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