DJN May 12, 2022 by The Detroit Jewish News

THE DETROIT

JEWISH NEWS

200 May 12-18, 2022 / 11-17 Iyar 5782

Motor City NFT Drop

A new program at three Broder & Sachse-owned Detroit buildings offers residents a chance to own and collect digital art. See page 12

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contents May 12-18, 2022 / 11-17 Iyar 5782 | VOLUME CLXXI, ISSUE 13

55 PURELY COMMENTARY 4-10

Essays and viewpoints.

OUR COMMUNITY 12

18 20 22

Motor City NFT Drop

A new program at three Detroit buildings offers residents a chance to own and collect digital art.

Synagogue Spotlight

Congregation Beth El stays strong after 60+ years as Windsor’s Reform synagogue.

Chicken Soup & A Smile

Jewish lawyers to honor a pair of judges at its first major event since the pandemic.

Music from Auschwitz

Never Too Old for Something New

Even Small Mitzvahs Matter

32 33

The Zekelman Holocaust Center hosts free concert May 22. Bessie Spector event celebrates 20th anniversary, video-book style.

DailyGiving.org multiplies $1 donations to make a meaningful impact on people’s lives.

A Healing Touch

Rabbi helps Jewish hospital patients in northern Oakland County.

Sending Kids to Camp for 120 Years

Tamarack’s annual event will honor Sue and Alan J. Kaufman and Rachel Grey Ellis on May 25.

FOOD 36

Grieving Grandmother Benefits Group Homes JVS+Kadima receives donation to help people with mental illness.

Chef Aaron Egan’s Steak & Potato Dinner

ARTS & LIFE 53

MAZEL TOV 38

HBO Original Film Tells the story of Boxer at Auschwitz The Survivor explores the fine line of choosing to survive or choosing to live.

Moments

NEXT DOR 39

A Passion for Music

Broadway-Bound

Changing Career Paths

Celebrity News

Barbara Greenberg delivers more than just soup to senior citizens.

Welcome Back!

42 26

Meet Bloomfield Hills High School band director Alan Posner. After working 15 years in TV, Jason Lewis changes course.

BUSINESS 42

Building Teams

Here’s To

A ‘Late Bloomer’

In the forest and trees, businesses build trust, confidence and relationships.

How an idea in the middle of the night led to a top-selling women’s clothing line.

SPORTS 46 47

Hall Doors Open Again

Michigan Jewish Sports Hall of Fame banquet will return in October.

Powering Babson College Baseball Josh Yellen of Bloomfield Hills is leading the charge toward the playoffs.

SPIRIT 49

Torah Portion

On Being a Kiddush Hashem

Synagogue Directory

Sam Primack is on tour in the role of Evan Hansen.

EVENTS 58

Community Calendar

ETC.

The Exchange 60 Obituaries 62 Looking Back 70

Shabbat Lights

Shabbat starts: Friday, May 13, 8:27 p.m. Shabbat ends: Saturday, May 14, 9:36 p.m. * Times according to Yeshiva Beth Yehudah calendar.

ON THE COVER: Cover photos: Olivia Guterson; photo courtesy of Broder & Sachse Cover design: Michelle Sheridan

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MAY 12 • 2022

PURELY COMMENTARY

for openers

My Slow Return to Normal

s verified by an in-depth look at my Google calendar, since Jan. 14, 2021, I have taken one flu shot, two shingles shots, two COVID vaccines and two boosters. That’s seven shots in 16 Alan months — or Muskovitz more “shots” Contributing Writer than I took over the course of my three-year junior high school basketball career. I didn’t even “do” shots in five years of college. But I would prefer my next shot come out of a tequila bottle than a vile. The COVID flavor of the day continues to be the BA.2 variant. However, South Africa is now currently experiencing the spread of the BA.4 and BA.5. It’s beginning to sound like a weird variant of Bingo. Sure makes you yearn for the fall of 2019 BC (Before COVID). It’s only been over the last three or four months that I’ve ever so slightly dipped my toe back into the shallow end of the “normalcy” pool. I’m back having breakfast rendezvous with friends and occasional lunch outings during less busier times in restaurants. As I’m sure

MAY 12 • 2022

you can relate, handling the pandemic is now as much a psychological challenge as it is physical. While I continue to wade in the shallow end of the normalcy pool, it seems like most people around me have taken the dive back into the deep end. There isn’t a day that doesn’t go by that I don’t see someone posting Facebook photos of their recent Caribbean cruise, trips to Florida or Arizona, and attendance at sporting events and concerts. Pandemic aside, I’ve regularly lived vicariously through other folks’ adventures anyway because, well, I’m a homebody at heart. Quarantining over the last couple of years only reinforced my natural desire to stick close to home. I’m as satisfied sitting on my patio listening to the rustling leaves as a gentle wind blows across my face, as I would be watching the wake off the back of a cruise ship. Which reminds me, I need to start having midnight buffets at home. The fact is, while my calendar has been peppered with vaccine shots over the last year-and-a-half, the truth is no other scheduled events pop up on my docket

that would come close to eliciting a “yippee” by most “normal” folks. But the mundane has a strange way of satisfying me. For instance, if you look on my calendar, you’ll see that this past Jan. 11, besides being the birthday of my wonderful mother, of blessed memory, was also the day I documented performing my every two-week nasal mask and filter exchange on my CPAP machine. A breath of fresh air, if you will, during COVID. I have done some light traveling. On Feb. 22, I ventured out to a podiatrist appointment, on March 14 I had an excursion to my urologist’s office for my annual prostate exam, and on March 28 I picked up my taxes from my accountant, which, by the way, left me with a similar sensation as I had when I left my urologist’s office. Yep, I’m all over the map, which is why it’s a good thing on Feb. 1 my wife and I drove to Livonia for an appointment to sign up for … TSA PreCheck! We haven’t flown in in more than two years, but the next time we do, which is not in the foreseeable future, we will breeze right through the gates!

Oh, I’m not through. On April 2 I went to Costco to renew our membership, and on April 4 I had a tele-med appointment with my sleep doctor. But two events that I wait for every year with great excitement were yet to come — West Bloomfield’s Annual Household Hazardous Waste and Shredding Collection events on April 9 and April 23 respectively. I cannot adequately express how rejuvenated and free I feel every year when I’m able to dispense of old batteries, fluorescent light bulbs, unused prescription drugs and years’ worth of old documents and bills. Lest you think I live a pathetic existence, worry not. I’m right where I want to be. Mark Twain said: “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the things you did.” Not me. I’m never disappointed by what I don’t do because I don’t want to do anything in the first place. Except maybe be a motivational speaker. Visit his website at laughwithbigal. com,“Like” Al on Facebook and reach him at amuskovitz@thejewishnews. com.

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MAY 12 • 2022

PURELY COMMENTARY student’s corner

A Poem for a Survivor

n honor of Yom HaShoah, I wrote a poem about a particular Holocaust survivor’s experience escaping a cattle car on the way to the death camps. This year’s Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial theme is Deportation to Extinction, and this poem aims to honor the theme and the overall message Rozie Aronov and meaning that can be taken away from it for all of us as both Jews and human beings. PROMISE TO PAPA Out of nowhere came the cattle cars and our place in them as vermin, All of our futures so unsure, yet death so blatantly determined. Once the sicknesses of man had come and slaughtered us a few, A new madness of kine had come to see

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the butchering through. Pained by the constant wringing of the rags that were their souls, Every minute on the railway, a plunge deeper into holes, But then something unexpected: a hand stretched towards the window frame, Its fingers clawing at barbed wire, painting it bloodily in shame, A sight that had to be remembered, but who possibly could live to tell the story? Perhaps myself, the little boy who could now fly out the window as a lorry; A creature of color and renewal, A hope for life that is not cruel. Lifting a pile of skin and bones, my father hoisted me, So that I could jump out of the train and grow up with this memory. I turned to my Papa with frantic eyes for one last look, one last embrace,

| Editorial DIrector of Editorial: Jackie Headapohl jheadapohl@thejewishnews.com Associate Editor: Rachel Sweet rsweet@thejewishnews.com Associate Editor: David Sachs dsachs@thejewishnews.com Social Media and Digital Producer: Nathan Vicar nvicar@thejewishnews.com Staff Reporter: Danny Schwartz dschwartz@thejewishnews.com Editorial Assistant: Sy Manello smanello@thejewishnews.com Contributing Writers: Nate Bloom, Rochel Burstyn, Suzanne Chessler, Annabel Cohen, Keri Guten Cohen, Shari S. Cohen, Shelli Liebman Dorfman, Louis Finkelman, Stacy Gittleman, Esther Allweiss Ingber, Barbara Lewis, Jennifer Lovy, Rabbi Jason Miller, Alan Muskovitz, Robin

But instead he left me with these words shut beside my soul forever in its case: ‫ אדם בן תהיה‬was the last thing I ever heard my father say, A precept of three simple words I’ve carried with me since then every day. My mother’s body who I left right then, met its end in plumes of smoke, But inside my old, cracking bones sits the gentle, loving way she spoke, And my ‫ סבתא‬and my ‫סבא‬, how I wish they hadn’t met such a fate, But for our encounters in my dreams, at the very least, it’s not too late And for my beloved father, I now write and think only of you, I hope you know, in all these years I’ve kept the vow on which I flew. Rozie Aronov is sophomore at Frankel Jewish Academy and a graduate of Hillel Day School.

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MAY 12 • 2022

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With Their Centennial Gift, Lenore and Stanley Dorfman Strengthen Our Jewish Future Born and raised in Detroit, Lenore and Stanley Dorfman have been active members of the Jewish community for their entire lives. Now retired, Lenore was an elementary school teacher and Stan was an obstetrician/gynecologist. Like many, their deep connection and pride in their Jewish heritage were instilled in them by their parents, and this was something they shared with their own children, Michael (Wendy) Dorfman and Lisa Dorfman Ziff (Karl Krueger) along with their grandchildren, Hayden Dorfman, Shay Ziff z”l, Lindsey Dorfman, Brooke Ziff, and Kendall Dorfman. The Dorfmans have been generous donors to the Federation for many years, as well as supporters of Temple Israel, Friendship Circle, JARC and a variety of other Jewish and secular organizations, including Detroit Institute of Arts, St Joseph Mercy Hospital

Oakland, and Donate Life Coalition of Michigan. Now, with their commitment to the Centennial Fund, Lenore and Stan are creating a legacy of tzedakah to the Jewish community that will extend for many generations to come. The Centennial Fund is the central campaign for maintaining the long-term security of Jewish Detroit. For their commitment, the Dorfmans are establishing a Perpetual Annual Campaign Endowment (PACE). A critical part of our social safetynet, PACE ensures that needs across the community are always met, as well as providing essential funds to support our Jewish way of life. “We feel strongly about the continuity of our local Jewish community,” they say. Thanks to their Centennial commitment, Lenore and Stan will continue making a difference across Jewish Detroit long into the future.

PURELY COMMENTARY opinion

AIPAC Safeguards Israel’s Precious Security by Reaching Out to All Stripes of Politicians

MAY 12 • 2022

Israel off the map and funds terror throughout the Middle East, is trying to acquire a nuclear bomb, threatening Israel’s very existence. International bodies like the U.N. are working to demonize and isolate Israel every day. And there is a growing movement around the world actively seeking to weaken — and ultimately destroy — the Jewish state. This movement has even reached Congress, where

This is why I stand so firmly with AIPAC in its recent move into political fundraising. AIPAC’s sole mission is to support and strengthen the strategic relationship between the U.S. and Israel. That’s it. And this requires broad bipartisan support. Of course, AIPAC’s commitment to bipartisanship raises important moral questions. How can I work with

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) discusses the U.S.-Israel relationship at 2020 AIPAC Policy Conference

a small but loud minority is working to unravel the U.S.-Israel relationship. For decades, the pro-Israel community has been effective in keeping the relationship strong, and Israel’s detractors have been kept at bay. But these enemies are growing in numbers and influence, and it is no longer enough only to speak out against them. They must be defeated in the political arena.

an organization whose PAC contributes to many of those Republican members of Congress who refused to certify the 2020 election results? Didn’t these members’ actions fundamentally threaten our democracy? Doesn’t that make political contributions to those members treif? And do the contributions themselves have the potential to contribute to an erosion

YOUTUBE

n the summer of 1973, supporters of Israel felt invincible. After thousands of years in exile, and more than two decades defending and supporting their newly reestablished state, the Jewish people finally believed they might be safe. Israel, a scrappy, upstart nation, had recently defeated five massive Arab Jacob armies and Herber made a bold statement: We are here to stay. Yet, by the fall things had changed. On Yom Kippur, the most solemn of Jewish holidays, Israelis emerged from synagogue shocked to find their nation under assault. Signs of an impending attack — warnings from foreign officials, intelligence reports — had been disregarded. We all learned the hard way the dangers of our collective complacency. This moment is no different. Today, just as in 1973, many supporters of Israel feel invulnerable. The Jewish state has never been stronger, with its booming economy, diverse and vibrant population, flourishing relations with more and more Arab nations, and a strong, bipartisan US-Israel relationship. And yet, real threats are looming on the horizon. Iran, which has sworn to wipe

of democracy? The answers to these questions are not as clearcut as they might initially appear — or as divisive partisan groups would have us believe. Yes, the refusal to certify the election results on January 6, 2021, is deplorable and posed a genuine threat to our democracy. Preservation of our democracy is a fundamental moral principle, one for which I fight every day. When determining whether an organization’s political donations to members of Congress are treif, I look at two factors: will it help them get reelected and what is the meaning of the donation. Any honest assessment will acknowledge that a PAC’s contributions to individual members of Congress are limited by law to such an extent — $5,000 per candidate per election — that they do not impact election outcome. They are symbolic and are meant to send a message, in this case that a member’s policy positions are in support of the U.S.-Israel relationship. And what does AIPAC hope to accomplish by building relationships with these individuals? Nothing short of pikuah nefesh — the preservation of human life — and building peace. It does this by ensuring that the broadest possible group of Democrats and Republicans support legislation that

safeguards lives and advances prospects for peace. No other group in Washington is doing this crucial work. Put simply, in today’s broken Washington, AIPAC simply cannot do the work of strengthening the US-Israel relationship and saving lives without working with Republican members who are anathema to me. CONSIDER THE FOLLOWING EXAMPLES In March, AIPAC worked with the leadership of both parties to help ensure that important legislation such as the Normalization Bill and the $1 Billion Iron Dome Supplemental was included in the omnibus spending bill that funded Congress. Both these legislative initiatives were initially blocked by individual Republican senators — Ted Cruz and Rand Paul respectively. If AIPAC were to boycott the numerous Republican members who failed to certify the election, they couldn’t have overcome these senators’ ability to block these critical legislative priorities. The omnibus spending bill also included the Nita M. Lowey Middle East Partnership for Peace Act, which requires USAID to establish a fund for promoting economic development for Palestinians as well as reconciliation between Israelis and Palestinians. How many Republicans would have supported economic development for Palestinians without AIPAC’s hechsher? In a bill named for a Democrat no less. How many fewer Republicans would sign onto such legislation if AIPAC decided to boycott large

numbers of their ranks? I am not prepared to see critical lifesaving and peacesupporting legislative efforts benefiting the Jewish state, as well as the Palestinian people, wither on the vine so I don’t have to feel the taint of working with deplorable members of Congress who are going to get reelected anyway. While I will continue to do all in my power to counteract these members’ dangerous domestic agenda, I’m humble enough to recognize that, when it comes to the U.S.Israel relationship, we need their support far more than they need ours. While I may have to hold my nose today, the next time Hamas decides to fire rockets at Israel — and when I see Partnership for Peace initiatives begin to bear fruit — I’ll be grateful that AIPAC made the decisions that were necessary to advance its crucial mission. Some in Israel and here in America may see the Jewish state and the U.S.Israel relationship as a given. But the Yom Kippur War teaches us never to take the perception of security for granted. Israel’s safety cannot be guaranteed if we don’t address obvious threats in Congress before it’s too late. I am indebted to AIPAC for having the foresight and temerity to take up this challenge, and I hope you will join me in continuing to support the organization’s vital work. Rabbi Jacob Herber is the spiritual leader of Herzl-Ner Tamid Conservative Synagogue in Mercer Island, Wash. He serves on AIPAC’s Washington State Council, is a Senior Rabbinic Fellow of the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem and is a member of the Rabbinical Assembly’s Executive Council.

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MAY 12 • 2022

PURELY COMMENTARY essay

An Incredible Journey — and an Incredible Life

s a docent, I recently led a tour at the Holocaust Museum & Cohen Education Center in Naples, Fla. It was an experience I will remember for the remainder of my life. A survivor, Suzanne Cohn, a hidden child of the Holocaust, had requested a tour. It was also Alan Gershel to include her husband, friends and other members of her family. To say I was nervous in the days leading up to the tour would be a huge understatement. What could I possibly tell her about the Holocaust? Her story is a remarkable one which I will briefly share before describing the actual tour experience. She was born in 1938 in a shtetl in Poland. She was relocated by the Nazis with her family to a ghetto in 1942 where they lived for a year. As a child, Suzanne witnessed her grandmother being seized by the Nazis; she was forced to dig her own grave and then murdered. With tears welling in her eyes, Suzanne described how her grandmother looked at her as she was being led away. She clearly had a profound love for her grandmother who predicted a long and fruitful life for Suzanne. During another selection by the Nazis, Suzanne, her family and others ran to a

MAY 12 • 2022

school and hid under a stage in the auditorium. She was 5 years old. She recalls her uncle saying to her parents that her crying would give them away. Her mother tightly held her close to her chest as the soldiers passed over them. They were not discovered. After three nights with no food or water, they fled. Her father dug under a barbed wire fence and pushed her through. They made it to a factory and spent three weeks in a utility closet where food was smuggled in by a former factory worker. They thereafter moved in with a Christian family where they spent three years moving to different homes owned by different members of this family. Her sister, who Suzanne described as a gift and her best friend, was born in that home. Suzanne often hid under the floorboards and on one occasion, which I found to be an interesting metaphor, she hid behind a Christmas tree when soldiers came into the home believing the family was hiding a Jewish family. She adopted some of the religious practices of this family including crossing herself, going to church and saying Christian prayers and seeing, but not understanding at the time, her mother’s tears. She believed she was Christian. She did not know she was Jewish. Her father became a member of the Polish underground.

Alan Gershel and Suzanne Cohn

This family is included in the Righteous Among Nations. At the end of the war, Suzanne and her family went to a Displaced Persons Camp in Germany. She described this experience as “joyous.” They were together again. They no longer had to whisper and for the first time in years, they could live openly and without fear. With respect to the museum tour, I had decided that whenever Suzanne wanted to speak, I would immediately stop and step away into the background. Also, I tried to make the tour as interactive as possible since not only Suzanne, but other members of her family, especially her husband, Norman Cohn, were very familiar with the history of the Holocaust. Throughout the tour, which lasted over two hours, Suzanne would often comment on her life especially when the exhibit was relevant to her expe-

rience. For example, she spoke at length about life in a DP camp. She also spoke eloquently and passionately about the importance of not remaining silent in the face of injustice as we ended the tour at the genocide exhibit. I may have been the docent who ostensibly led the tour, but I was the visitor who was given an extraordinary view into Suzanne’s life. I listened and learned so much from her. She is a proud, strong, resilient woman whose journey and life have been nothing short of miraculous. I have shared her story with my children, and I will do so with my grandchildren when they are older. I will never forget her. Alan Gershel is a docent at both the the Zekelman Holocaust Center in Farmington Hills and the Holocaust Museum & Cohen Education Center in Naples, Fla. He served as a federal prosecutor for the U.S. Department of Justice for 30 years, a law school professor and as the grievance administrator for the Mich. Attorney Grievance Commission.

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MAY 12 • 2022

ON THE COVER

Motor City NFT Drop A new program at three Detroit buildings offers residents a chance to own and collect digital art. ASHLEY ZLATOPOLSKY CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Todd Sachse

MAY 12 • 2022

Rich Brooder

Moody Mattan

Eric “El Cappy” Lowry’s Warm will be at The Scott.

new initiative is giving Detroiters a chance to own a “slice” of collectible art. Broder & Sachse Real Estate, a Detroitbased real estate development company behind residential buildings such as The Hamilton, The Albert and The Scott, is partnering with Ann Arbor-based augmented reality platform BrandXR and three Detroit artists to create NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, for building residents. Rolling out this month, the NFT initiative will see original canvas art pieces by Detroit artists Olivia Guterson (Teach Me How To Listen at The Albert), Chris Turner (Homefront at The Hamilton) and Eric “El Cappy” Lowry (Warm at The Scott) debut within their new homes and be distributed to residents to collect as exclusive NFTs. Rich Broder and Todd Sachse, who both serve as partners at Broder & Sachse and are heavily involved in the Metro Detroit Jewish community, see the initiative as a way to generate excitement among building residents, inspire community and directly benefit Detroit artists involved in creating the artwork. Each piece of art will be displayed in the common spaces of the three real estate properties at the core of the project, where visitors and residents can bring the artwork to life through an app called Electrifly. Electrifly, the work of BrandXR, allows people to play and interact with artwork in augmented reality directly on their smartphones. Plus, residents will get an identical physical “twin” of the artwork in their building, in addition to the unique NFT provided by Broder & Sachse. Both are received free of charge, a complimentary investment for Detroiters in these spaces to take advantage of. Yet the question remains: What exactly are NFTs, how do they work, and why do they matter for Detroiters? Rich Broder and Todd Sachse of Broder & Sachse and Moody Mattan, CEO of BrandXR, explain exactly how the new program will roll out. WHAT ARE NFTS AND HOW DO THEY WORK? Moody Mattan: One of the best use cases for blockchain technology are NFTs, or non-fungible tokens. These are digital collectibles that have guaranteed proof of origination and ownership. In the art world, this is called provenance. This is the difference between the value of a guaranteed original Mona Lisa painting versus the value of a Mona Lisa painting that you can buy at Target. Rich Broder: The NFT space is a community. People are investing time in it, sharing ideas, collaborating, and buying into each other’s art and projects. When we looked at the space, we knew we could contribute to this community and introduce our residents to a new way for them to connect and interact. continued on page 14

Eric Lowry MAY 12 • 2022

ON THE COVER continued from page 13

Todd Sachse: Collins Dictionary named NFT its word of the year for 2021, so we’re already a year behind the trend. We’re hoping our NFT drop will bring our residents together not only in the physical buildings in which they live, but also in Web 3. HOW DID YOU LEARN ABOUT NFTS AND WHAT MADE YOU DECIDE TO PURSUE THEM? Rich Broder: Each of our Detroit properties has a strong art program in place showcasing amazing local artists. The natural progression for our collection is to leverage our physical artwork collection into NFTs. What’s cool about our first NFT project is that we’re minting unique slices of each piece to gift to our residents. The community will be invested. Todd Sachse: My introduction into the world of crypto happened recently on a plane. I was sitting next to David Bleznak, from Coinbase, one of the smartest people in the space. During the two-and-a-half hour flight, David gave me a crypto/NFT 101 tutorial, and I felt like I was back in the1990s learning how to log onto the world wide web. I became fascinated with the blockchain applications of NFTs; and the second we landed, I created a wallet and began thinking of ways to leverage this technology and share it with residents at our properties. WHY ARE YOUNGER PEOPLE RECOGNIZING NFTS AS INVESTMENTS? Rich Broder: We see our NFT drop as a win/win. We’re really hoping these NFTs will present a new way for our residents to support local artists and for these Detroit artists to take their creativity to the next level and reach new fans. We’re introducing our residents to the world of crypto and providing another outlet for art fans to meet and support artists they know and love.

Todd Sachse: It’s like a lottery ticket. If an artist becomes successful down the line, the NFT they own could be quite valuable. Moody Mattan: The younger generation has always been collecting things to buy/sell/trade, whether it be Beanie Babies, sports cards or sneakers. NFTs are the new digital collectible that you can buy/sell/trade digitally very easily, kind of like a stock. Detroiters looking to diversify their investments should pay attention to crypto and NFTs as a new asset class. There is a lot of “new money” being made. CAN YOU TALK ABOUT YOUR PARTNERSHIP WITH DETROIT ARTISTS TO CREATE NFTS? Todd Sachse: We’re so fortunate to partner with three amazing Detroit artists on this initiative. Eric Lowry (El Cappy), our Artist in Residence at The Scott at Brush Park, is a selftaught artist who has been breaking through not only the contemporary art scene, but the fashion industry as well. He has gained popularity from his work idolizing pop culture with his own imaginative edge. Olivia Guterson, is our Artist in Residence at The Albert. She is a multi-disciplinary artist and mother. Primarily through black ink, her compositions are deeply personal investigations of truth influenced by geometric abstraction, remembrance, ancestral patterns and their relation to the natural world. Chris Turner is our Artist in Residence at The Hamilton. He is a graduate of Cass Tech and Detroit Public Schools. Through an early appreciation of art, Chris developed his artistic voice as a skilled tradesman and is best known for his large-scale sculpture work within the design community. Rich Broder: These diverse and talented artists represent Detroit. The artwork we commissioned from continued on page 16

MAY 12 • 2022

Chris Turner

Chris Turner’s Homefront will be at The Hamilton.

MAY 12 • 2022

ON THE COVER continued from page 14

Olivia Guterson’s Teach Me How To Listen will be at The Albert.

Olivia Guterson

each artist will be collectively sliced into over 800-plus unique NFTs, which will be gifted [transferred] to every current and new resident at our Detroit properties. We’re also providing technical support to help our residents create a crypto wallet

MAY 12 • 2022

so they can receive the NFT transfer. The NFT is theirs to keep or trade. Any subsequent sale will trigger a 10% artist royalty. We’re hoping these NFTs will stimulate a whole new culture of collecting art in Detroit and enable our residents to engage with the artist and their practice. YOU’RE ALSO PARTNERING WITH BRANDXR. CAN YOU DESCRIBE THE COLLABORATION? Moody Mattan: Broder Sachse learned about BrandXR through the Augmented Reality Murals they

saw throughout Detroit. BrandXR sponsored the “Electrifly Detroit” Augmented Reality Mural Festival last summer. Art lovers can download the Electrifly Augmented Reality Art App for free and visit the public murals at their own leisure. Rich Broder: We’re big fans of the work BrandXR is doing in the augmented reality space and are thrilled to partner with them on this project. Todd Sachse: When we decided to gift NFTs to our residents, we knew we needed to elevate the initiative

The Hamilton Building

with a cool IRL [in-real-life] experience and reached out to the BrandXR team to help us make it happen. HOW CAN NFTS MUTUALLY BENEFIT DETROIT ARTISTS AND THOSE LOOKING TO LEASE IN DETROIT? Todd Sachse: NFTs can help build a community around a particular artist and, in this case, our properties in Detroit. The artist will have the ability to get their art in front of hundreds of our residents at The Albert, The Hamilton and The Scott, who will be the only owners of these exclusive NFTs. Once ownership is transferred to the resident, it’s up to them to decide whether to HODL [crypto talk for “hold on for dear life”] or sell/trade for a profit.

WHEN WILL THE PROGRAM OFFICIALLY ROLL OUT? Rich Broder: The initiative rolls out in May 2022 and runs through the end of the year or until we run out of NFTs. Every current and new resident will receive an NFT from their building’s collection until the limited edition is fully committed and all NFTs have been transferred.

The Albert Building

IF THE PROGRAM IS SUCCESSFUL, DO YOU ANTICIPATE MORE NFT PROGRAMS IN THE FUTURE? Rich Broder: We’re looking forward to feedback from our residents — we certainly hope so. The Scott Building MAY 12 • 2022

SYNAGOGUE SPOTLIGHT

Congregation Beth El Stays Strong After 60+ Years as Windsor’s Reform Synagogue DANNY SCHWARTZ STAFF WRITER

indsor’s Congregation Beth El (CBE) was first conceived in the winter of 1959 when several families met informally to consider establishing a Reform congregation. After many meetings, the small group resolved to establish CBE and first held religious services in Southwood School in the spring of 1960. A large house on Ouellette Avenue served as the first home for the congregation. As the membership grew, the congregation broke ground for a new building in October 1961. Construction began in May 1962 and the cornerstone was laid that July. An addition was built in 1981 and was officially dedicated in early 1982. CBE represents a modern interpretation of ancient Jewish tradition, designed to meet the needs of the 20th-century Jewish community of Windsor. CBE is affiliated with the Union of Reform Judaism and the Canadian Council of Liberal Congregations.

Temple Beth El Sanctuary

MAY 12 • 2022

CBE looked to Detroit’s Temple Beth El as a model in its early stages as a Reform congregation, said Sarah Shklov, CBE’s office manager/administrator. CBE’s first rabbi was Sherwin Wine, previous rabbi at Detroit’s Temple Beth El who later founded the Birmingham Temple, the first congregation of Humanistic Judaism. Rabbi Jonathan Plaut was with CBE from 1970-1984 and was instrumental in building the congregation. Rabbi Jeffrey Ableser served as CBE’s spiritual leader 1993-2018. Since then, CBE has had one rabbi who left due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which brought uncertainty to the role. “We decided we would wait a year or two and kind of get our finances back in order before we hired another rabbi,” Sarah said. “We’re in that transitional stage right now.” This past year, CBE has had a student rabbi from the Hebrew Union College– Congregation Beth El Jewish Institute of

Exterior of Congregation Beth El

Religion in Cincinnati come once a month. CBE has also applied to have a student who will come every three weeks from Cincinnati this coming year. “And then hopefully somewhere in there, we’ll decide if we can either find a part-time rabbi or employ a full-time rabbi,” Shklov said. Other important figures at the congregation include President Karen Rosen, Cantorial Soloist Tracey Atin and accompanist Michael Ricketts. Congregation Beth El runs a small Sunday morning religious school for the children of congregants. Children start in kindergarten and continue through bar/bat mitzvah and beyond. A positive that’s come out of the pandemic, Shklov said, is the connection CBE has made with Rabbi Debra Dressler from London, Ontario’s Temple Israel. The two congregations have participated in many joint events. “For Pesach, we had a second night seder. We were live, Dressler was on Zoom, and we did it together,” Shklov said. “Several of our members have even been joining them for Torah study on Saturday mornings.” CBE participates in many interfaith and social action events, including holding a blood drive with the local Muslim community and hosting a security session with police for faith groups of all sorts. CBE hopes to do more of these events coming out of the pandemic, according to Shklov.

VOLUNTEER OF THE WEEK Estie Greenberg and Barbara Greenberg

Chicken Soup & A Smile Barbara Greenberg delivers more than just soup to senior citizens. RACHEL SWEET ASSOCIATE EDITOR

arbara Greenberg of White Lake has been nominated to be our Volunteer of the Week for giving her time to the Chicken Soup with Love Program at the Chabad Jewish Center of Commerce/Walled Lake. The program is part of the Chabad Jewish Center’s Smile on Seniors program with the goal to bring cheer and companionship into the lives of seniors. Co-director of the program Estie Greenberg (no relation to Barbara) says over the years Barbara has become like family to the Chabad of Commerce. “Her care and concern for all those she visits goes above and beyond. She is the highlight of the week to so many when she visits them,” Estie said When Barbara retired, she became a dedicated volunteer to the senior community. Before she started volunteering with the center, she used to volunteer with a Jewish hospice for about 12 years. “I became involved with these people. I got to know them, and you have to get

MAY 12 • 2022

to know them in order to make the visits worthwhile for them,” Barbara said. When she stopped volunteering at the hospice, the loss became too much for her and she wanted to find another way to give back. “This opportunity came up where I could deliver soup. So I started doing that and talking to people, and it’s become the highlight of my week,” she said. Almost every week, Barbara delivers Estie’s chicken matzah ball soup to sick, homebound senior citizens or anyone who could use a taste of Shabbat in the Commerce and West Bloomfield area. “The soup provides a physical and emotional nurturing connection with their Jewish community. I am merely the conduit,” Barbara said. Barbara says she’s happy to give back to the community this way. “It’s a way to keep an eye out — not just to deliver soup, but to keep in touch. To see how they’re doing and how the caregivers are doing. I get just

as much out of it, if not more, than I think they do.” Barbara says she has become friends with those she delivers to, such as Arlene Salter, who she befriended several years ago. “She’s amazing — the highlight of my week,” Arlene said. “When I am down, she lifts me up.” Barbara said she is happy to connect with people she delivers to and hear about their lives and their family’s lives. “It’s actually communicating with them and seeing how they are and how their week has gone and wishing them a good Shabbos because I deliver on Fridays. I make that human connection that Chabad likes to do and that’s why I do it,” Barbara said. She plans to continue to volunteer with Chicken Soup with Love for as long as she can. For information about the Chicken Soup with Love program, visit www.jewishcommerce.org/smile-on-seniors.

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OUR COMMUNITY

Hon. Bernard Friedman

Hon. Michelle Friedman Appel

Rachel Loebl Serman

Welcome Back!

Jewish lawyers to honor a pair of judges at its first major event since the pandemic. DAVID SACHS ASSOCIATE EDITOR

he Jewish Bar Association of Michigan (JBAM) is welcoming judges, lawyers, legal professionals and law students as it celebrates its first premiere indoor event since the beginning of the pandemic. On Monday, May 23, at 6 p.m., JBAM will hold its annual awards banquet at the Westin Southfield hotel, 1500 Town Center. Last year on a Zoom event, Attorney General Dana Nessel received JBAM’s Ruth Bader Ginsburg Champion of Justice Award, and Judge Avern Cohn was honored with JBAM’s Lifetime Achievement Award. With the unfortunate passing of Judge Cohn on Feb. 4, JBAM has named its lifetime Avern Cohn achievement award in memory of Judge Cohn, the longtime community leader and stalwart of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan. LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT The recipient of the 2022 Avern Cohn Lifetime Achievement Award will be Judge Bernard Friedman, a senior judge of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan. A native Detroiter, Judge Friedman graduated Detroit College of Law and served in the U.S. Army JAG Corps. He worked in the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office, then entered private practice. He served on the bench of the 48th District Court in Bloomfield Township from 1982-1988.

MAY 12 • 2022

In 1988, he was appointed by President Ronald Reagan to the U.S. District Court. He was the chief judge from 2004-2009 and has been a senior judge since then. In a landmark case in 2014, Judge Friedman ruled that the Michigan’s banning of same-sex marriage was unconstitutional. The case was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court, establishing the constitutional right nationwide. CHAMPION OF JUSTICE Accepting JBAM’s 2022 Ruth Bader Ginsburg Champion of Justice Award will be Judge Michelle Friedman Appel, a judge since 2003 on the 45B District Court serving Oak Park, Huntington Woods, Pleasant Ridge and Royal Oak Township. Judge Appel succeeded her father, Judge Benjamin Friedman, who served 34 years on the court. Sadly, her father passed away on Feb. 4, the same day as Judge Cohn. Judge Appel graduated from University of Michigan and University of Detroit School of Law. For two decades prior to her judgeship, she was in private practice and was an Oakland County commissioner 1999-2002. She serves as chief judge of her court and active in aiding the state court system and educating attorneys. She also is president of the Michigan District Judge’s Association.

Louis Magidson

She has helped establish Veterans Treatment Courts in the county and a Mental Health Treatment Court in her district. DEDICATED VOLUNTEER JBAM’s Volunteer of the Year is its first president, Rachel Loebl Serman. Serman was a founder of the organization in 2014. Serman, a Huntington Woods-based attorney, has worked tirelessly through the years as an officer, board member and committee member in all aspects of JBAM’s efforts to provide social, educational and charitable activities to the members and the community. STUDENT SCHOLARSHIP Every year, the JBAM awards a $1,500 scholarship to a law student who exemplifies the character and values of the late attorney Charles J. Cohen. Cohen stressed the importance of legal education. JBAM chose to honor the life and legacy of Cohen by naming its educational scholarship in his name. This year’s scholarship recipient of the Charles J. Cohen Esq. Scholarship is Louis Magidson, a second-year student at University of Detroit Mercy School of Law. A graduate of Michigan State University, he is the son of attorneys Rochelle Lento and Mark Magidson of Detroit. Louis Magidson focused on international relations and economics at Michigan State University. While an undergraduate, he studied in Brussels, Belgium, learning about the function of the European Union. Since then, he has explored many areas of law while working at several law firms. TICKETS Tickets to JBAM’s banquet are $36 for members and $45 for others. To register,, visit jlive.app/events/2190. For information about the Jewish Bar Association of Michigan, visit jewishbar.org or email Ellie Mosko at ellie@moskolawpc.com.

THE DETROIT

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OUR COMMUNITY

Music from Auschwitz

The Zekelman Holocaust Center hosts free concert May 22. SUZANNE CHESSLER CONTRIBUTING WRITER

concert that sounds out contrasts defines an upcoming program planned by The Zekelman Holocaust Center (HC) in Farmington Hills in partnership with the University of Michigan (U-M) School of Music, Theatre & Dance. The contrasts, presented on the afternoon of May 22, involve the vast differences between the essence of the music and the essence of the narrative. While the 10 short pieces are representative of upbeat popular music composed by non-Jewish Germans during World War II, the narrative consists of published testimonies about daily experiences as expressed by political prisoners (Jewish and non-Jewish) forced to arrange and perform dance band pieces to entertain Nazi captors at Auschwitz I. “Music From Auschwitz: A Concert” will feature a U-M student orchestra conducted by Oriol Sans, music director of the Detroit Symphony Youth Orchestra, who has worked with prestigious instrumentalists in the U.S. and Europe while holding teaching positions at the University of WisconsinMadison and U-M. “Audiences will hear what music at Auschwitz actually sounded like,” said Patricia Hall, an award-winning author, U-M professor of music theory and academic researcher who found the music manuscripts at the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum in Poland. “We didn’t know what that music sounded like down to the specific instrumentation of the ensembles [until it was found in the archives] so I’ve written a short concert introduction, which I think is very necessary for people to understand how the program is structured. “Our vocalists will be playing the parts of the musicians and arrangers. They’ll be

MAY 12 • 2022

sitting at a table together, and it will look like they’re copying music as they recite their lines. Even though it’s explained in the program, I thought it would be helpful for me to explain that context.” Hall’s interest in the music (foxtrots, tangos and waltzes) as well as testimonies by surviving musicians was motivated by the book Music of Another World by Szymon Laks, a conductor of the men’s orchestra at Auschwitz-Birkenau I. “Laks described an odd notation that he resorted to because so many members of his ensemble would suddenly be missing,” Hall said. “Members would be killed by the SS or they would die of illness, and he had to constantly substitute in parts to make up for these missing members.” Hall, who felt emotionally connected to the music because of the tremendous irony, made her first visit to the collections of the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum in 2016 as she became curious about whether there might be any manuscripts there. The first studied piece, “The Most Beautiful Time of Life,” premiered in 2018 at U-M, and it got vast media attention. Hall was interviewed way Patricia Hall beyond radio stations in Ann Arbor, answering questions for National Public Radio and the Canadian Broadcasting Corp., a conversation shared with the British Broadcasting Corp. An Associated Press article about her research appeared in more than 1,100 news outlets in 22 countries. The foxtrot that premiered in 2018 has just been part of a film that debuted on Holocaust Remembrance Day — The Survivor, a Barry Levinson film about Harry

Haft, who took part in boxing matches at Auschwitz (see review on page 54). “In 2019, I decided to go back to the archive and find more pieces so we could do an entire program of this repertoire,” Hall said about the concert to be presented in Ann Arbor days before being performed at the HC. “As soon as we heard about the amazing discovery Oriol Sans of these pieces, we reached out to U-M about hosting a concert,” said Sarah Saltzman, HC director of events and public relations. “To offer this program to an audience that understands its significance is incredibly special.” Hall considers the text a critical component because she believes audiences should know the details of the daily lives of the musicians. The addition of testimony was the suggestion of her U-M colleague, Eugene Rogers, director of choral activities, who said the music needed context as soon as he heard it. “The narrative is from the very beginning in 1940 and early 1941, when they began to get an ensemble of musicians together in Auschwitz I, all the way to the very end, when these musicians were going on death marches in late 1944,” Hall said. “Hearing these popular dance band pieces by themselves — some of them in isolation — seems almost bizarre.”

Details

Registration is required to attend the free program “Music From Auschwitz: A Concert” to be performed at 2 p.m. Sunday, May 22, at The Zekelman Holocaust Center in Farmington Hills. Go to holocaustcenter.org/May or call (248) 556-2511 by Friday, May 20.

Our STORY

T Myrna and Spencer Partrich, Aya and Yossi Cohen, Steve Weil, Tamir Oppenheim

FIDF Event Benefits Program Designed to Level Gender Gap

ore than 250 local and national business and community leaders gathered in late March at the Norton Museum of Art in West Palm Beach, Florida, for a Friends of the IDF (FIDF) VIP briefing and cocktail reception in support of FIDF’s Mamriot program, an initiative dedicated to providing life-changing tech education to teenage girls. The event featured a keynote speech from Yossi Cohen, former Mossad Director and Head of Softbank Investment Advisers in Israel. Harry Gross, a longtime FIDF supporter and National Executive Board member, handed Cohen a special award. FIDF CEO Steve Weil and FIDF National Director, Major General (Res.) Nadav Padan were also in attendance. Cohen served as the lead for one of the agency’s most

daring operations: the seizure of the Iranian Nuclear Archives. The intelligence gained from this mission was the impetus for the United States’ withdrawal from the Iran Nuclear Deal. He also led the negotiations between Israel, the UAE and Bahrain, and played a significant role in the signing of the historic Abraham Accords. Aligning with the IDF’s requirements for cyber and tech units, Mamriot provides young girls from diverse socio-economic backgrounds unique educational opportunities in the cyber and tech space they may not otherwise have been able to receive. The event was made possible thanks to Spencer Partrich, a longtime FIDF supporter and a National Board Member, and the preparations were led by Tamir Oppenheim, Vice President of FIDF’s Central Region, and his team.

wo social meetings with friends brought Merle and Ron Schwartz to focus on Hebrew Free Loan as a place to establish a fund to honor the memory of Merle’s parents. Over drinks and again at a lunch, HFL came up in conversation. Merle and Ron looked into it further, and found an area of need that spoke to them. “My father was the head of OB/GYN at Sinai Hospital,” Merle said. “He trained many doctors in the city, was very pro women’s health, and did a great deal to advance surrogacy, infertility and in-vitro fertilization. My mother also worked at Sinai, and was active in prenatal care and diabetic education. They both would have loved to know that we established the Sandra and Alfred Sherman Family IVF/Fertility/Adoption Loan Fund at Hebrew Free Loan to help grow Jewish families. The cost of testing, treatments and adoption fees can sometimes be a barrier for many Jewish couples. “What a satisfying thing, knowing that we could offer help in a real and substantive way, make a difference in people’s lives, and give them the happiness of family, just as we’ve had,” Merle said. Use your Smartphone and Scan Here to Donate

Use your Smartphone and Scan Here for info or to Apply

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Community donations help Hebrew Free Loan give interest-free loans to local Jews for a variety of personal, health, educational and small business needs.

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MAY 12 • 2022

OUR COMMUNITY

Never Too

for Old Something New Bessie Spector event celebrates 20th anniversary, video-book style. SHELLI LIEBMAN DORFMAN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Honorees are members of the Detroit Jewish community who are 95 years or older. To submit the name of an honoree or for information, contact Leslie Katz at lkatz@jslmi.org or (248) 5925062, or access the website at: www.jslmi.org/oab. Deadline for submission of honoree names is Wednesday, May 25.

COURTESY LEONARD N. SIMONS JEWISH COMMUNITY ARCHIVES

Archived photo included in the Heirloom video

n non-pandemic times, those honored at the annual Bessie Spector z”l Oldest Jewish Americans Brunch were surrounded by up to 450 peers and generations of family members and guests in ballooned-filled halls at galas with live speeches and musical entertainment. Since 2020, the event that welcomes those 95 years or older has continually upped its distanced planning from mailed recognition letters and online festivities to this year’s unique blending of both. In lieu of an in-person gathering, the 200 honorees of the 2022 celebration will receive gift bags highlighted by an Heirloom (sendheirloom.com) video-book that looks like a small, hardcover picturebook, but instead of photos, contains a video presentation created for the occasion. Recipients just have to open the book and watch and listen to the program, personalized to the theme of 2022: 20th Century Folks. No on-and-off switch, no WIFI, no smartphone, no computer necessary. And that was a big part of the attraction for the planning committee: for honorees to be able to view the video, tech-free, without devices. Another appeal was the fact that Heirloom not only has local roots, but its inspiration came from a resident at Jewish Senior Life (JSL), one of the event’s part-

nering agencies. Created by siblings Ashley Bloom Kenny and Zack Bloom, who grew up in West Bloomfield, the idea for the business was sparked by their relationship with their grandmother, Fran Penskar, who has lived in the Meer Apartments in West Bloomfield for nearly 20 years. “When the pandemic hit, we saw how isolated my Grandma Fran was, unable to receive visitors,” said Kenny, a documentary film producer who lives in Washington, D.C., and has produced documentaries including those for National Geographic and The Atlantic. “Without a computer, WIFI or smartphone, she didn’t have the means to receive life-affirming videos of my two little boys; Liam had started reading and Jack had just started walking. We knew we had to find a way to share these special moments and so we created Heirloom, a vehicle for sending unique, custom videos in a (rechargeable) video-playing book, by mail.” Kenny and her brother, who works in the tech and start-up industry in Austin, Texas, launched Heirloom in February 2021. At 94, Penskar, not quite old enough to be an honoree of the event that is marking its 20th anniversary, is an active senior. “They call her the ‘mayor of Meer’ because she likes to help run the place, opening the doors for the beauty shop, organizing movie nights and running the library,” Kenny said. “Heirloom video-books quickly became a game-changer for my grandma. We noticed a rise in her spirits, now able to experience the joy we all get from sending around and receiving videos of our loved ones. She shares her video-books with everyone. It’s her form of a ‘brag book’ and she says she watches them every day.” A LOOK BACK AND A THANK YOU For personal use, Heirloom provides custom video-playing books for occasions like birthdays, weddings and surprise announcements, with videos uploaded to the company’s website. For honorees, the video, created by Brett Panter of Eventive Studios in West Bloomfield, includes an introduction by Jo Strausz Rosen, JSL executive director of development, along with photos from the archives at Jewish Federation and Temple Beth El, including extraordinary moments of the time, well-known Detroiters, business scenes, Jewish landmarks and gathcontinued on page 28

MAY 12 • 2022

Metro-Detroit Winners

Mazel Tov from THE DETROIT

JEWISH NEWS COMMUNITY/ LOCAL NEWS REPORTING 1st Place 9-11:20 Years Later – Jackie Headapohl 2nd Place Journalist Detained, Fenster Faces Charges, Home Free - Stacey Gittleman 4th Place Heroes at Your Doorstep - Jackie Headapohl COVER DESIGN 3rd Place Freedom Finally – Michelle Sheridan FEATURE PAGE DESIGN 1st Place A Return to Glory - Michelle Sheridan 2nd Place Freedom Finally - Michelle Sheridan 4th Place Preserving the Legacy of Albert Kahn - Michelle Sheridan

FEATURE REPORTING 1st Place Memorial of Tears - Shari Cohen 4th Place Sophie’s Sorrows - Alan Muskovitz GENERAL COLUMN WRITING 2nd Place Here’s To Memories, Vaccination Day Diary, Laughing Through Tears - Alan Muskovitz GENERAL NEWS REPORTING 1st Place Sheltering In One Place - Shelli Liebman Dorfman 2nd Place Air Force Over-Head - Barbara Lewis HEALTH REPORTING 3rd Place Vaccine Video - Suzanne Chessler

MAY 12 • 2022

CELEBRATING FROM NEAR AND FAR For Joyce Berlin Weingarten of West Bloomfield, co-chair of the event with Julie Zussman of Huntington Woods, finding a way to keep it going, even in distance-mode, was paramount. “I attended this celebration with my grandmother, Fannie Whiteman

MAY 12 • 2022

COURTESY OF HEIRLOOM

erings of individuals, many of whom, no doubt will be recognized by the honorees. The video-book also includes greetings from Michigan Supreme Court Justice Richard Bernstein and Matt Lester, president of Jewish Federation, one of the event’s partnering agencies, whose message speaks to Federation’s pride in supporting and working closely with local agencies to serve and support our older adults and how our community “truly treasures our seniors,” and the inspiration they bring. Members of the family of Bessie Spector can be seen and heard reciting the Shehechiyanu, with the Blessing for the Elders given by Congregation Shaarey Zedek (CSZ) Rabbi Aaron Starr. The 1931 jazz tune, “As Time Goes By,” is performed by CSZ Hazzan David Propis, including the addition of some of his own clever lyrics, and group-Zoom rendition of the “The StarSpangled Banner” and “Hatikvah” is sung by 11 community cantorial soloists and cantors. “My brother and I feel honored to be playing a small role in delivering such a meaningful video to all of this year’s honorees,” Kenny said. “Heirloom’s mission is to make it possible for everyone to send meaningful videos to the people they love. During a time when gathering to celebrate isn’t possible, we are thrilled to be able to help make a virtual ceremony possible for so many worthy Jewish seniors in our hometown of Metro Detroit.” Honorees will receive the video by Friday, May 27, during Older Americans Month, with the hope that they will view it simultaneously that day at noon, for the first time of many. After that, the video will be available on the JSL website (www.jslmi.org/oab) and then saved to YouTube. Gift bags, which will be hand-delivered locally and mailed to out-of-town honorees, also include a certificate of recognition signed by Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist II, along with a notepad and a chocolate treat.

z”l, who was part of a small group of original attendees at Fleischman Residence,” Weingarten said. “I later attended with my husband’s grandmother, Belle Rosender z”l. In more recent years, I attended with my father, Louis Berlin z”l, who loved celebrating and being a part of this community. With all the difficulties of the past two years, the committee was committed to honoring and recognizing our oldest Jewish Americans at their homes with a very special gift. We want to continue to let our greatest generation know that they are our community’s treasures.” Zussman, too, has attended past brunches with her family. “My first participation was being a ‘table captain’ in 2016,” she said. “This was the first year my father-in-law, Milt Zussman, was eligible as a 95-yearold. We enjoyed three years of beautiful brunches at Shaarey Zedek, where he always arrived before his family — driving himself! The past two years have been a change, but the right thing to do. The personal delivery of the gift bags has been warmly received from both honorees and their families.” This year she says, Milt, who is 100 — and one of 34 centenarians being honored this year — will be a long-distance honoree, from his home in Longboat Key, Fla. “I hope this is the last year of not celebrating in person,” Zussman added. “We are running out of amazing ideas to honor this generation in the way they need to be honored. “They love the camaraderie of seeing friends and the fellowship of their community. When I spoke to one of our centenarian honorees this year telling her we wanted to protect them and would again be celebrating virtually, she said, ‘Julie, we have been vaccinated and boosted to be able to celebrate together. We are ready!’” The celebration is sponsored by the family of Bessie Spector and community supporters and held in partnership with Jewish Senior Life, Jewish Community Center, Jewish Federation, Jewish Family Service and JVS + Kadima. “The Jewish community has been recognizing our greatest generation for 20 years,” said Leslie Katz, director of FRIENDS and Jewish Enrichment at Jewish Senior Life. “Our honorees look forward to each year’s festivities. Whether we’re celebrating together in person, or safely at home, they remain the inspiring pillars we look up to and honor.”

Heirloom video book gifted to this year’s honorees COURTESY OF JEWISH SENIOR LIFE

continued from page 26

This year’s oldest honoree, Rachel Fox, 107 years old, at the last in-person event in 2019. COURTESY LEONARD N. SIMONS JEWISH COMMUNITY ARCHIVES

OUR COMMUNITY

Archived photos included in the Heirloom video

TRUSTEE

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WE INVITE YOU TO JOIN US FOR OUR ANNUAL SEND A KID TO TAMARACK EVENT HONORING SUE AND ALAN J. KAUFMAN AND RACHEL GREY ELLIS, WEDNESDAY, MAY 25, 6:30 PM. VISIT TAMARACKCAMPS.COM/GIVING/SEND-A-KID-TO-TAMARACK/SK2T-EVENT/ TO MAKE YOUR GIFT AND REGISTER ONLINE.

MAY 12 • 2022

OUR COMMUNITY

Even Small Mitzvahs Matter DailyGiving.org multiplies $1 donations to make a meaningful impact on people’s lives. JACKIE HEADAPOHL DIRECTOR OF EDITORIAL

ust as drips of water over millennia can carve out caves and canyons, one small mitzvah multiplied several times over can move mountains as well. That’s the belief of Dr. Jonathan Donath, a chiropractor in White Plains, New York, who got an epiphany in 2018 while

MAY 12 • 2022

dropping a dollar bill into the tzedakah box at his shul. “No matter how much money I give to charity, I still get a mitzvah every time I drop a dollar in,” he thought. “How can I guarantee that I do this mitzvah every day for a buck?” He looked for an organization that was doing this and couldn’t find one. So, he and a couple of his friends had a website built and created a nonprofit: dailygiving.org.

“We decided we wanted to give to a diversified portfolio of different organizations that were making a meaningful impact in people’s lives. We would pool donations and give as a community, making a meaningful impact by giving together.” Donath was a big fan of famed author and speaker Rabbi Paysach Krohn and often listened to him on TorahAnytime.com. He reached out to Rabbi Krohn and asked for his help. “I wanted to get this famous rabbi to talk about Daily Giving the way he spoke about TorahAnytime. My heart was beating so fast when

I called … He was amazing, and he loved the idea.” With Rabbi Krohn’s help, Donath assembled a group of well-respected rabbis to form a rabbinical council to vet and approve the charities that would receive support from Daily Giving. DailyGiving.org went live on Jan. 1, 2019. To date, more than 9,000 people from 34 countries give a dollar a day, and the nonprofit distributes almost $3.5 million a year. The organization has already given out over $4.4 million to more than 57 Jewish organizations so far, such as Camp HASC (Hebrew Academy for Special Children) Chai Lifeline, United Hatzalah, Kids Kicking Cancer, Magen David Adom and Yad Eliezer, as well as lesser-known nonprofits such as Yad Sarah, which enables disabled and terminally ill people to live at home or on their own with dignity, to Meir Panim, which helps to eliminate poverty across Israel. “Let’s face it, Jews range from Reform to UltraOrthodox and there’s not a lot we all agree on, but what could make God happier than if we give charity together to our less fortunate brothers and sisters?” he said. “There’s so much need in the world. Individually, we can’t give to everyone. But collectively, we can have a massive impact!” Every single penny collected by Daily Giving goes to charity. For any salaries paid,

Donath fundraises separately. To ensure that all goes to charity, a slight surcharge is added to pay credit card processing fees. People can sign up for a monthly donation of $31.20 or an annual donation of $376. MAKING A DIFFERENCE DAILY Each day, donors receive an email telling them where their money went that day with a brief description of the nonprofit receiving the funds. “We find that many people use Daily Giving as a ‘charity navigator’ because they know the organization was well-vetted. This means the nonprofits we choose are also gaining exposure and additional donations,” Donath said. Donath has heard from families who give a dollar for each family member and

Dr. Jonathan Donath

say it’s an unbelievable way to teach their children about how important it is to give tzedakah and expose their children to giving at an early age. Some donors have signed up for someone who has died to uplift their neshama. Others have started giving as a gift for a bar/bat mitzvah

or graduation. Some have given in the name of someone who’s sick in the hospital or even unconscious so they can continue doing mitzvot. Donath recalls one email he received from a donor named Dalia, who signed up for Daily Giving on behalf or her father, who is in a rehabilitation hospital with limited use of his body. “Charity is very important to him and before he got sick, he used to collect a lot of money for different charities. I video call him, but as he cannot speak, I do all the talking,” she wrote. “I am always looking for something to say that will interest and stimulate him. Daily Giving has given me something to talk about with him as well as hopefully make him feel that even though there are so many things he cannot do, he can still give charity.”

Lema’an Achai, an Israeli ani-poverty nonprofit, uses Daily Giving’s donation to further the work of Smart Chesed, which gives a hand up to those in crisis. “Daily Giving’s program allows us to be a part of a wonderful initiative of ‘compounded tzedakah,’ where many people constantly giving (even) small amounts adds up to significant sums. As the Rambam recommends: many acts of giving have more impact than giving a one-time one large gift,” they wrote. Donath adds that it’s an easy way to ensure you fulfill the daily mitzvah of tzedakah. He said his ultimate goal is to donate $100,000 a day. “I’m confident we can get there,” he said. You can sign up to give $1 a day at https://dailygiving.org.

MAY 12 • 2022

Rabbi Caytak with Ascension Providence Rochester chaplains Amity LoVette and Cynthia Redmond

A Healing Touch

Rabbi helps Jewish hospital patients in northern Oakland County. JN STAFF

abbi Menachem Caytak, co-founder of Chabad Jewish Center of Troy with his wife, Chana Caytak, has made it a priority to service Jews in need throughout northern Oakland County as well as Macomb County, especially those in the hospital, who can’t practice and join in Jewish traditions by themselves. A few months ago, Rabbi Caytak began servicing Jewish patients in Beaumont Troy and now is getting ready to service the Jewish patients at Ascension Providence Rochester. Rabbi Caytak is a volunteer rabbi on call at Beaumont and will soon be a volunteer rabbi on call with Ascension Providence Rochester. This means he can visit at least once a week with Jewish patients, who can also request to see him at any time. He provides Shabbos candles, an opportunity to do a mitzvah before Shabbos, challah, Jewish prayers and counseling. Before Passover, he distributed matzah to the Jewish patients

MAY 12 • 2022

in both hospitals. “These are Jews who are not necessarily involved with our organization, or for that matter, any Jewish organization,” Rabbi Caytak said. “The Lubavitcher Rebbe’s inspiration is what inspires us to service Jews,” he continued, “no matter their background or affiliation. For us, a Jew is a Jew no matter what. We have a saying: ‘Labels are for shirts.’ There is no such thing as labeling a Jew. Even a completely not practicing Jew is the same Jewish as the most religious rabbi.” For many of the patients, seeing a familiar face, a Jewish rabbi offering families customs and traditions, is very meaningful. “It means so much for them to be able to do a mitzvah, a Jewish tradition or even just a prayer during a time when they are most vulnerable and in need of support,” he said. “Once, a patient told me, ‘Rabbi, I usually wouldn’t do this Jewish mitzvah, but now I really want to do it for my health.’”

PHOTO CREDIT

OUR COMMUNITY

Rabbi Caytak tells a story of a man he met in a surgical waiting room. While his wife was in surgery, they put on tefillin together and the man was moved to tears. “He could not stop thanking me for giving him this incredible opportunity when he needed it most.” Rabbi Caytak said the chaplains at both hospitals are incredibly welcoming and helpful, and he has become good friends with many of them. During the height of the pandemic, there were Jews in COVID rooms at Beaumont Troy. He was unable to wear the regular protective gear to seal his face because the N95 mask doesn’t completely seal with a beard. “The hospital specifically arranged a CAPR, a helmet that seals behind the beard, to accommodate!” he said.

Rabbi Caytak wearing the CAPR at Beaumont Troy to accommodate his beard.

Chabad Jewish Center of Troy continues to look for ways to service Jews. “We are starting a program now to provide Jewish holiday programming for local senior living and nursing homes,” Rabbi Caytak said. “The Lubavitcher Rebbe’s vision to touch every Jew with the warmth and light of Judaism is becoming a reality in northern Oakland and Macomb County.”

JWV Helps with Flag Disposal

Displaying an American flag outside obviously subjects it to a variety of weather conditions often leaving “Old Glory” worn and tattered — even among the best of flags. What some folks may not know is that there’s a respectful and appropriate way to dispose of an aging flag, and the Jewish War Veterans Department of Michigan (JWV) can conveniently make that happen for you. The JWV has been granted permission by several Metro Detroit-area temples and synagogues to place U.S. Flag Disposal Boxes in their lobbies. A JWV member who is affiliated with the temple or synagogue empties the box periodically. As of this writing, boxes are currently located at Temples Shir Shalom, Beth El, Kol-Ami, Birmingham and Shir Tikvah, as well as Congregations Shaarey Zedek and Adat Shalom. Flags that are collected will be disposed of in a manner prescribed by the U.S. Flag Code, in a flag retirement ceremony held at Great Lakes National Cemetery (GLNC) on Flag Day, June 14. The JWV asks that you drop your flag(s) off no later than Sunday, June 12, so that final collections can be included among the flags being delivered to the GLNC. We are fast approaching the Memorial and July 4th holidays. Perhaps you’re about to raise a new flag at your home or business. The JWV encourages you to honor the flag you may be replacing with the dignity and grace it deserves.

Sending Kids to Camp for 120 Years Tamarack’s annual event will honor Sue and Alan J. Kaufman and Rachel Grey Ellis on May 25. TAMARACK STAFF

t the heart of Tamarack Camps’ mission is the belief that every child should have the opportunity to experience Jewish summer camp, regardless of financial ability. The agency’s annual event, Send a Kid to Tamarack, raises funds for financial scholarship assistance and helps subsidize all camper fees in an effort to keep programs affordable and accessible for all families in our community. Tamarack Camps is thrilled to honor community leaders, Sue and Alan J. Kaufman, and distinguished camp alumna, Rachel Grey Ellis, at this year’s event at 6:30 p.m. on May 25 at Temple Israel in West Bloomfield. Sue and Alan Kaufman have generously invested in the lives of many individuals and families in our community. The Kaufmans have made an indelible impact on Tamarack Camps by supporting camper scholarships, in building the Sue and Alan J. Kaufman and Family Staff Lodge and by serving as lay leaders in a variety of roles. Sue and Alan’s support and Rachel Grey Ellis

Alan J. and Sue Kaufman

engagement extend far beyond Tamarack. Since 2012, their partnership with the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit and Tamarack Camps has powered the Sue & Alan Kaufman & Family Teen Mission to Israel, a testament of their commitment to fostering meaningful connections between Metro Detroit and Israel. Among his stewardship of numerous Michigan organizations, Alan is the immediate past president of the United Jewish Foundation of Metropolitan Detroit and a board member of Adat Shalom Synagogue, Jewish Community Center, Detroit Zoological Society and Business Leaders for Michigan. Sue is the immediate past president and previous campaign chair of Federation’s Women’s Philanthropy, and she is a board member of Hebrew Free Loan. Distinguished alumna, Rachel Grey Ellis, developed a love for camp at a young age when her parents, Ruth (z”l) and Jim Grey, initiated the first Family Camp program. Rachel

was a teen service staff member, counselor and tripper — and in each of these roles, Rachel positively impacted those around her. Rachel served on the Tamarack Board of Directors for over a decade and has helped strengthen alumni outreach efforts. She has shaped the Jewish identities of thousands of teens through her professional work at BBYO, and she continues to lead in our community as the recently appointed executive director at Temple Beth El in Bloomfield Township. “We have the pleasure of honoring Sue and Alan J. Kaufman and Rachel Grey Ellis — positive forces in Jewish Detroit and integral links of our Tamarack circle,” said Lee Trepeck, CEO, Tamarack Camps. “They exemplify the theme of this year’s event, l’dor v’dor (from generation to generation), which also highlights the 120th anniversary of our agency’s founding by the Fresh Air Society. In partnership with this community, we renew our commitment to providing a nurturing place for future leaders to learn, explore and grow Jewishly for the next 120 years — and beyond!” The event includes a strolling outdoor reception with entertainment followed by a seated indoor program. Join Tamarack Camps in celebrating their honorees, while supporting the lives of countless children and teens for generations to come. For tickets or donation information, visit https://tamarackcamps. com/giving/send-a-kid-to-tamarack/sk2t-event/ or contact Tamarack Camps at (248) 9529105 or sk2t@tamarackcamps. com.

Levin Center Announces New Name The Levin Center at Wayne Law will now be known as the Carl Levin Center for Oversight and Democracy, the Center announced April 28. “We have been talking internally about the need to include in our name elements that describe our mission and work,” said Jim Townsend, the Center’s director, in a letter. “It has been nine months since the passing of our founder and namesake, Sen. Carl Levin. It seemed like a good time to announce our new name, which we hope speaks to his legacy and the impact and aspirations of the Center’s work.” Eugene Driker, the chair of the Center’s Advisory Board, said in a letter, “Naming an organization can be challenging and complicated, so the Center engaged many people in our decision-making process, including the Levin family, the Levin Center Advisory Board, its Faculty Advisory Committee and others. “We want to thank everyone who helped us. Their perspectives on the meaning of Sen. Levin’s work, the example he set and the goals of the Center were invaluable to us,” he added. The Levin Center’s revised name and new promotional video aim to communicate the link between legislative oversight and the civic values and norms that uphold our democracy. “By championing the values and techniques of bipartisan legislative fact-finding, the Levin Center for Oversight and Democracy is building a pathway of trust and civic respect among lawmakers in Washington and across the United States,” Townsend said. “We are working every day to enable lawmakers and the public to separate fact from fiction and strengthen institutions at the core of our democracy.” The Levin Center remains part of its host institution, Wayne State University Law School. MAY 12 • 2022

MONNI MUST NATURALLY PHOTOGRAPHY

OUR COMMUNITY

Mary Must

Grieving Grandmother Benefits Group Homes JVS+Kadima receives donation to help people with mental illness. BARBARA LEWIS CONTRIBUTING WRITER Miya Must

rom tragedy and grief has come a generous gift that will help those in the community who are struggling with mental illness. Mary Must, 102, has donated $100,000 to JVS+Kadima, which runs 20 residential houses and apartments for adults with severe and long-term mental illness. The gift continues Must’s munificence to the organization. In 2008, she bought a home in Southfield, to be administered by JVS+Kadima, in memory of her granddaughter, Miya Jo Must, who died by suicide in 2007 at the age of 28. Must also included JVS+Kadima in her will, planning

Hadassah Advocates for Infertility Treatments Hadassah sent a letter to members of Congress outlining the disproportionate impact infertility has on the Jewish community and urging Congress to recognize that infertility is a disease that needs further research to improve treatments and out-

MAY 12 • 2022

to leave $100,000 to the organization. She recently decided to make that gift now, in her and her late husband’s names, while she is still living. The new Mary and Mike (z”l) Must Home Improvement Fund will enhance life for JVS+Kadima’s residents. She said this would let her see the benefits her gift made possible. After her death, she asked, “How would I know then?” Mary Must was born in Detroit. She and Mike married when he was 23 and she was 18. They worked side-by-side in the family business, Dairy Fresh Foods Inc., a regional wholesale distributor that grew from a small cheese-making business started comes and that individuals and families need access to infertility-related services. “For too long, infertility and the struggle toward parenthood have been topics of quiet suffering, particularly in the Jewish community,” said Rhoda Smolow, Hadassah National President. “That’s why Hadassah is leading the call for change. By asking policymakers to expand access

by Mike’s father. She oversaw the back-office activities for decades, said grandson Jay Must, of Bloomfield Township. “My grandmother worked and still meaningfully contributed into her 98th year,” he said. “I know because I was one of three people who shared her workload when she was off!” The Musts lived in Detroit, Oak Park and Southfield. Mary moved to a condo in Bloomfield Township after Mike died in 1997. They had three children, Alan Must, the late Madelon Seligman and Joel Must. Mary has eight surviving grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren ages 3 months to 22.

The Musts were longtime members and lay leaders of now-defunct Congregation B’nai David, where Mike was a past president. For many years, Mary cared for the underfunded B’nai David Cemetery on Van Dyke in Detroit. She stopped only when the groundskeeper left. The Musts supported many Jewish causes locally and in Israel.

to infertility care and reduce the financial burden of treatments, we are empowering all of the patients, families and communities infertility affects. We are grateful for the strong support of our partners across the Jewish community.” One in eight couples in the United States reports having trouble getting pregnant or sustaining a pregnancy and nearly

12% of women have received infertility services in their lifetime. The letter asks members of Congress to support a bipartisan, Hadassah-backed resolution sponsored by Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) and Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-TX). Members of Congress on both sides of the aisle have co-sponsored this resolution with

MIYA’S LEGACY Miya Must attended CranbrookKingswood School and graduated from Bloomfield Hills Andover High School. She struggled with mental health problems from an early age, said her younger sister, Kacee

Must, of Huntington Woods. Though her illness made it difficult for her to cope with the normal struggles of young adulthood, she found communities that accepted her loving, outgoing nature. Miya attended Western State Colorado University in Gunnison, Colorado, where she eventually settled and ran a yoga studio, The Yoga Room. She relished the small-town life, the mountains, skiing and other forms of recreation. She was sensitive to those who felt isolated or perceived themselves as outliers, and she touched many lives during a short period of time, her family said. Even as she struggled with her own demons, she tried to help others, bringing together the area’s other fitness business owners to accomplish various goals. She loved animals and volunteered with the Gunnison Valley Animal Welfare League. After her death, a gift from her family in her memory helped that organization build a new shelter. Miya’s mother, Monni Must, a portrait photographer in Sylvan Lake, said her suicide was such a shock because the family thought she was able to recognize when she was heading in the wrong direction and seek help. “She was the most together/untogether woman I’ve ever known,” said Monni, who is married to Mary’s son Joel. Congresswoman Wasserman Schultz and Congressman Crenshaw, including Michigan lawmaker, Rep. Elissa Slotkin [D-MI-8]. Hadassah also supports infertility treatments and research through the work of the Hadassah Medical Organization in Israel. In a country that is the

Kadima’s Miya Must Home has many of Miya’s personal belongings, including a kitchen table, chairs and pieces of her artwork. One of the residents is a man who knew Miya as a girl. “She would be so grateful and proud that she has helped and protected him,” said Monni Must, who has befriended the man. “His family feels grateful and relieved that their son and brother is in a place where he is safe,” she added. Mary Must adored her granddaughter and got involved with Kadima as a way of generating some good from a horrific event, said Monni, who also helps the organization by taking photos of the residents and staff. “JVS+Kadima is immensely grateful for Ms. Must’s continued generosity and the support of generations of the Must family,” said Paul Blatt, president and CEO of JVS+Kadima. “With this gift, Ms. Must has allowed JVS+Kadima to invest in improving our homes in a meaningful way. In particular, we have immediate plans to renovate a bathroom, address kitchen ventilation and fix a concrete driveway — and that’s just the start!” JVS Human Services and Kadima Mental Health Services officially joined together in January 2022. A new name for the joint organization will be announced soon. Information about the mental health programs, including residential care, is available at www. kadimacenter.org.

worldwide leader in in-vitro fertilization (IVF), with the most IVF cycles per capita of any other, the Jerusalem medical center’s fertility clinics stand out. They are renowned for their services and techniques and have made Hadassah a leader in fertility treatment and research since the 1960s.

(313) 963-6255 | www.dumoart.com 409 East Jefferson Avenue, Detroit, MI 48226

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FOOD

FROM THE HOME KITCHEN OF CHEF AARON

Here’s to Steak and Potatoes

veryone loves a steak dinner, and it’s easy to make an elegant one in the quiet of your own kitchen. The trick is high heat for cooking the steak and having whatever ventilation Chef Aaron solution your Egan house contains active and kicking before you start cooking — the proper

method will create a fair amount of smoke, but if you’re careful, you’ll get restaurant-quality steaks. Get hold of a good meat thermometer and learn how fast your stove and pans cook a steak. Never rely solely on times, but rather use reliable metrics like temperatures. 125 Fahrenheit is rare, 165 is well done, and the degrees of doneness go every 10 degrees of temperature in between. Also, roasting vegetables

STEAK WITH NEW POTATOES, ROASTED VEGETABLES AND MUSHROOM DEMIGLACE Yield: 4 full plated servings of food

They will take about 30-45 minutes to cook, so go ahead and do this first. 2. Clean the asparagus, and trim and quarter the radishes. 3. Spread the asparagus, the quartered radishes and the peppers on a sheet tray covered with baking parchment or foil. Drizzle the vegetables with the oil and shift them around to coat evenly. Season well with salt and pepper, and roast for 10-15 minutes, checking frequently and shaking the pan to allow for more even browning. 4. Pat the steaks dry, season them liberally with salt and pepper, and cook them to your desired degree of doneness — use a good thermometer to check that they’re where you want them. This shouldn’t take more than 10-15 minutes unless you got giant steaks that you want well done. Since there will be carry-over

Ingredients 4 steaks of your choice about 1 lb. salt-roasted new potatoes (recipe below) 1 bunch asparagus, trimmed 4 radishes, trimmed and quartered 4 small sweet peppers (shishito, sweet wax peppers, sweet minibell peppers, etc.) Olive oil Salt and pepper 1 cup Mushroom Demi-Glace (recipe below) Directions 1. Preheat an oven to 425°F. Heat a grill, grill pan, sauté pan or cast-iron skillet, and get ready to cook steaks in your preferred manner. Prepare the salt-roasted potatoes, as in the recipe that follows.

MAY 12 • 2022

like this concentrates their flavors and allows you to keep all the nutrients inside the food, rather than losing them to cooking water or poaching cooking, you’ll want to pull the steaks about 5 degrees from where you want them to be when they’re done. If you want medium-rare, 135 Fahrenheit, you pull the steak off the grill at about 130 or so, to account for carry-over. 5. When the steaks are done, pull them from the heat and let them rest on a plate or cutting board, for at least 5 minutes. Tent a piece of foil over them gently (we want to keep in heat, but not seal in steam so well we get condensation and lose our crust.) 6. When the vegetables are soft and lightly browned, remove them from the oven and set aside for plate-up. Similarly, take the potatoes out once they’re browned and cooked through (tender when poked with a paring knife.) 7. Plate up how you like it; I’d probably make a nice compact arrangement in the center of the plate with

liquids. Radishes, when roasted, provide a pungency and funk that works well with the strong umami flavors of the mushrooms and steak. the demi-glace flooding the front and on top of the steak. SALT-ROASTED NEW POTATOES This preparation of potatoes is wildly simple, and creates a surprisingly flavorful result. You can smash the potatoes flat, let them cool and deep-fry them for a crispy presentation, or leave them whole and serve them with lots of flavorful olive oil, flaky sea salt and black pepper, and maybe some fresh herbs. Yield: 6-8 servings Ingredients 2 lbs. fingerling potatoes Kosher salt Directions 1. Preheat an oven to 425°F. 2. Pour a layer of salt on the bottom of a sheet pan or high-sided baking dish. You want at least an inch of salt on the pan. Spread the fingerling potatoes over the

top of the salt evenly in one layer. 3. Place in the oven and roast for 25-35 minutes. Check for doneness after about 25-30 minutes. It may take up to 45 minutes for larger fingerling potatoes to roast. 4. Once the potatoes are tender, remove them from the oven and allow the pan to cool. With tongs or a slotted spoon, remove the potatoes from the salt. Jostle the potatoes gently in a towel to remove excess salt and serve hot with butter or oil drizzled over them lightly. MUSHROOM DEMI-GLACE Demi-Glace is a classic French sauce created with a mixture of beef stock and brown (Espagnole) sauce, reduced to a thick consistency; it’s differentiated from “Glace” by including the brown sauce, which is a shortcut to the texture that we want out of the sauce. Glace would involve even more reducing of pure beef stock down to a syrupy substance … which makes a phenomenal sauce, in and of itself, if you can spend the time on it. This is a more simple approach, using a corn starch thickener to create good texture from a flavorful mushroom base, which will reduce from its starting quantity down to a (hopefully) intensely mushroomy, savory sauce, which will be tremendously good over steak, chicken or even pasta. Yield: 1 quart Ingredients 1 lb. white button mushrooms ½ lb. shiitake mushrooms ½ lb. oyster mushrooms 1 yellow onion, peeled and quartered

FREE Y E D LIVER

2 cloves garlic, chopped roughly 1 bay leaf 2 sprigs thyme 5 stems parsley 2 whole cloves 1 t black peppercorns 3 quarts water 2 T cornstarch 3 T water Directions 1. Wash the mushrooms, if necessary, or otherwise remove all dirt, trimming if necessary. Chop them roughly. 2. Place a large stock pot over medium-high heat and add the quartered onions. Cook until they brown well on each side, flipping them as needed. Add the mushrooms and garlic, and cook until the mushrooms release their liquid and it cooks off. 3. Pour in the water and add the herbs and spices. Bring the pot to a boil, then reduce to a simmer, and cook for 45 minutes. 4. Strain the liquid through a fine mesh strainer into another pot; squeeze out as much liquid as you can, using the back of a ladle or your hand once things have cooled off enough to touch them. 5. Bring the liquid to a simmer once again and simmer until it reduces to 1 quart in volume. Add a little salt to taste and prepare a slurry with the cornstarch and water. Whisk about half of the slurry into the simmering mushroom stock and continue stirring until the sauce thickens slightly. Add more slurry if necessary to get an appropriate texture (thick enough to coat the back of a spoon and hold a stripe when wiped away, but not gooey.)

IMMUNIZ AND S ATIONS SHOTS AHINGLES VAILABL E

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MAZEL TOV!

Shane Ryder Goldman, son of Jordyn and Michael Goldman, will be called to the Torah as a bar mitzvah at Temple Israel in West Bloomfield on Saturday, May 14, 2022. Shane will be joined in celebration by his sister Mia and his brother Luke. Shane is the loving grandchild of Wendy and Henry Abrams, Brigitte and Bruce Goldman, and Dr. Robert Beitman. Shane is a student at Berkshire Middle School in Beverly Hills. Among many mitzvah projects, his most meaningful was working with the NOAH project, making sandwiches for the homeless in Detroit. Laila Rose Goodstein (Yacheved Rachl), daughter of Sari Zalesin Goodstein, and Jeffrey and Brooke Goodstein, will be called to the Torah, as a bat mitzvah during Havdalah services Saturday, May 14, 2022, at Congregation Beth Ahm in West Bloomfield. Laila is a student at Norup International School in Oak Park. Her mitzvah project has been volunteering at Yad Ezra in Berkley in memory of her “Papa,” Dr. Harvey Zalesin.

MAY 12 • 2022

Ryan Brody Kay, son of Robyn and Steve Kay, will be called to the Torah as a bar mitzvah at Temple Israel in West Bloomfield on Friday, May 13, 2022. He will be joined in celebration by his brother Ian. Ryan is the loving grandchild of E.J. and Stewart Saks, the late Sharon Kay, the late Bobbi Kay and the late Ronnie Kay. Ryan is a student at Birmingham Covington School in Bloomfield Hills. His most meaningful mitzvah project was donating his time to support Forgotten Harvest’s Food Pantry and Farm. Ian Nathan Kay, son of Robyn and Steven Kay, will lead the congregation in prayer as he becomes a bar mitzvah at Temple Israel in West Bloomfield on Friday, May 13, 2022. He will be joined in celebration by his brother Ryan. Ian is the loving grandchild of E.J. and Stewart Saks, the late Sharon Kay, the late Bobbi Kay and the late Ronnie Kay. Ian attends Birmingham Covington School in Bloomfield Hills. His most meaningful mitzvah project was volunteering with Forgotten Harvest’s Food Pantry and Farm.

Lily Sophia Novetsky (Tziporah Faiga), daughter of Dr. Melissa and Eric Novetsky, will be called to the Torah as she becomes a bat mitzvah on Saturday, May 14, 2022, at Adat Shalom Synagogue in Farmington Hills. She will be joined in celebration by her sister Emma and proud grandparents Joan and Dr. Fred Fischer, and Laurie and Howard Novetsky. She is named after her late maternal great-grandmother Lilly Fischer, a Holocaust survivor. Lily attends West Hills Middle School in Bloomfield Hills. For her mitzvah project, she raised money for Share Ukraine, providing funds for first aid kits and the Just People Food Pantry in Ukraine. Branson Michael Paige (Asher Ben Matan) will become a bar mitzvah at Temple Beth El in Bloomfield Township on Saturday, May 14, 2022. He is the son of Mike Paige and Morgan Goodman, brother of Alexis, Jourdan,

Jack, Kevin, Kayla, Crystal and Ava and the grandson of Stella and Buddy Barnes Jr., and Bernita Cheeseman. Branson is a seventh-grader at Bloomfield Hills Middle School. For his mitzvah project, he served as a teen volunteer at the Friendship Circle in West Bloomfield as a friend to children with special needs. Jillian Rose Schiffer, daughter of Deborah and Eric Schiffer, will be called to the Torah as a bat mitzvah at Temple Israel in West Bloomfield on Saturday, May 14, 2022. She will be joined in celebration by her sisters Sarah, Em and Zoe. Jillian is the loving grandchild of Sheila and Dan Schiffer, Dolores Westerman and the late Michael Westerman. Jillian is a student at Hillel Day School of Metropolitan Detroit in Farmington Hills. Jillian’s most meaningful mitzvah project was helping to distribute food with Temple Israel’s Free Fresh Food Pantry.

HOW TO SUBMIT ANNOUNCEMENTS Mazel Tov! announcements are welcomed for members of the Jewish community. Anniversaries, engagements and weddings with a photo (preferably color) can appear at a cost of $18 each. Births are $10. There is no charge for bar/bat mitzvahs or for special birthdays starting at the 90th. For information, contact Editorial Assistant Sy Manello at smanello@thejewishnews.com or (248) 351-5147 for information or for a mailed or emailed copy of guidelines.

NEXT DOR

VOICE OF THE NEW JEWISH GENERATION

Alan Posner

DETAILS

A Passion for Music Meet Bloomfield Hills High School band director Alan Posner.

ASHLEY ZLATOPOLSKY CONTRIBUTING WRITER

ince fourth grade, Alan Posner has played the saxophone. The band director at Bloomfield Hills High School, who has been teaching for 13 years, was inspired by his own band director growing up, who encouraged him to pick up the art of teaching music. Posner, 35, of Berkley, says music was a no-brainer when it came to his career. “I really just love playing,” he explains. “Both playing and teaching was something that came really naturally to me, and sharing my love and passion for music was important to me.” As a lifelong member of

Temple Beth El, Posner shares a passion for Jewish music that was instilled in him at an early age through Jewish culture and traditions. In addition to his day job at Bloomfield Hills High School, Posner was a founding member of the Kidz Klez Band of Michigan, directed by the late Cantor Stephen Dubov. He’s also music director of Michigan-based klezmer band Klezundheit (Bless You!), which will be playing at the local Klezmer Folk-Fest on May 22 at the Society for Humanistic Judaism in Farmington. Klezmer bands play traditional instrumental music of Ashkenazi Jews, a sound Posner enjoys.

A LIFE OF MUSIC Raised in West Bloomfield, Posner is no stranger to music education at Bloomfield Hills schools. He attended its band program and later received an undergraduate degree in instrumental music education from the University of Michigan, followed by a master’s degree in instrumental conducting from Oakland University. Before his role at Bloomfield Hills High School, Posner spent three years at Suttons Bay, Mich., just north of Traverse City, where he participated in the small congregation at Temple Beth El playing music. After moving back to Metro Detroit, Posner taught at Berkley schools for four years before accepting the band director job in Bloomfield Hills. Now in his seventh year of teaching at Bloomfield Hills High School, Posner has become a jack-of-all-trades when it comes to music education. Although his primary instrument is saxophone, Posner can play all wind instruments to what he calls “varying levels of success.” Throughout the school year,

The Klezmer Folk-Fest takes place at 3 p.m. May 22 at the Society for Humanistic Judaism in Farmington. A donation of $20-$30 is suggested. For more information, contact Melanie at mdg0906@gmail.com or (248) 417-6573. he teaches some 170 students at Bloomfield Hills High School who are enrolled in the band program, who range from freshman to senior. “I teach three different concert bands here,” Posner says. “I also teach jazz band outside of the school day.” In addition, he teaches an introductory guitar and ukulele class, plus a music technology class that works with music on computers. OVERCOMING THE CHALLENGES With teaching such a wide variety of classes, Posner says the biggest challenge is simply managing time. “There’s only so much time in a day,” he says, “and I’m trying to make sure I’m doing the best for all of my students.” Navigating the pandemic has continued on page 41 MAY 12 • 2022

NEXT DOR

VOICE OF THE NEW JEWISH GENERATION

Changing Career Paths After working 15 years in TV, Jason Lewis changes course. RACHEL SWEET ASSOCIATE EDITOR

MAY 12 • 2022

LEFT: Jason reporting at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Fla., after Michigan played Georgia in the college football playoff semifinals. ABOVE: Jason feeding his wife, Mandy, a brownie during their baby announcement photo shoot. BOTTOM LEFT: Jason and Mandy on their wedding day.

roles in my two years in New York, ason Lewis, 33, is the new comincluding hosting the Edge, anchoring munications specialist at Walled Lake Consolidated School District. on the weekends, and I was the face of the station’s New York Yankees pregame He’s the former sports director for show.” ABC 12 News in Flint. Jason decided Jason won a small-market Emmy while to change career paths after 15 years in working as the sports director at KTXS the television industry. “I wanted to put in Abilene, Texas. family first. We’re expectWhile working in the ing our first child,” Jason mid-Michigan area, Jason explained. says he’s loved getting to Jason married his wife, know the athletes throughMandy, in August 2019. out the community, “I realWhile he says he’s loved ly got to connect with them his time running the sports on a different level. It’s fun department in Flint for getting to interact with five years, he is ready for a them and do a lot more career change. than just game wraps and “Sports was something highlights. I got the chance that I’ve been extremely to really tell their stories passionate about. We got Jason’s headshot for his and their journeys to that to cover a lot of big events. new job at Walled Lake Consolidated School District We traveled to Miami point, which is awesome.” where he works as the Originally from the for the Orange Bowl for communications specialist. northern New Jersey area, Michigan. We even travJason says he was raised in eled for March Madness a highly populated Jewish area. “In sevevery year, which is a lot of fun.” enth grade, I remember going to two or Earlier in his career, Jason helped three bar and bat mitzvahs every single launch a local sports show in Albany, weekend.” He grew up in a Conservative N.Y., Upstate Sports Edge. “I filled many

Members of Klezundheit

continued from page 39 TOP: Jason on the sidelines coaching the 14U team for Grand Blanc Youth Lacrosse, where he’s also the director of Youth Development. ABOVE: Jason talking to one of his players on a snowy day while coaching the Flint Tropics Lacrosse fall ball team.

synagogue and had his own bar mitzvah. As he got older, Jason joined a Jewish-based fraternity in college: AEPi. Jason says while he doesn’t actively practice the Jewish faith, he keeps it close to his heart. “It was important when Mandy and I were getting married to have a rabbi as the officiant because I wanted to bring some of that in,” he said. “But with my wife not being Jewish, we wanted to also bring in little elements of her Catholic faith. We were able to find the perfect balance and mix of both, where both sides of the family got to learn more about her faith and more about Jewish traditions.” Rabbi Tamara Kolton married the couple. “Getting to introduce my wife to the Jewish religion means so much to me,” he said. With a baby on the way,

Jason says they decided to teach their child about both religions, “so the little one will get full Jewish culture.” Jason said he’s excited to be able to do some of the same things he did throughout his career in this new chapter of his life. “I still get to be creative and incorporate storytelling. My focus is video so it’s literally the same thing,” he said. “I get to tell stories about the students, teachers, the superintendent, the education system and highlight what they’re doing, but in essence, it’s an opportunity to do the same thing just in a different venue.” Jason said he’s excited to get to know and work with his new team and become more involved with the community. He would eventually like to coach lacrosse in the Walled Lake community.

also been difficult, he explains, which has impacted many music programs nationwide. In addition to the challenges that mask-wearing poses for playing certain musical instruments, like wind instruments, teaching remotely and holding virtual band classes wasn’t always easy. Often, teaching throughout COVID-19 required figuring things out with little notice or on a whim. Yet Posner confirms that overcoming the challenges was well worth the reward. “Seeing the students’ growth is really rewarding for me,” he says. “Getting to see them mature from a freshman to a senior and hopefully go beyond that and perform in their college ensemble is tremendously rewarding.” Posner’s effort and dedication haven’t gone unnoticed. In 2020, he was named a quarterfinalist for the Grammy Teacher of the Year, which honored some 100 or so music educators across the country. Grammy Music Educator Awards are a high honor offered by the

Grammy Foundation that help recognize educators who have made a significant and lasting contribution to the field of music education. “That was a nice honor,” Posner says. While music plays an undeniably major role in his life and his hobbies, Posner is also passionate about sports. He plays hockey in his spare time and enjoys watching sports with friends and family. Posner also loves to travel and is looking forward to his family’s summer trip to South Haven, where he’ll spend time with his wife, Michelle, and two children, Asher, 5, and Owen, 3. Michelle, who plays flute, performs with Alan at Temple Beth El’s Music Shabbat. With music as such an integral part of his personal and family life, Posner says music (and teaching music) is a natural fit that he plans to pursue long-term. “I just love teaching,” he says. “I want to keep my students performing at a high level and challenging them to be their best and play their best.” MAY 12 • 2022

business SPOTlight

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Building Teams

In the forest and trees, businesses build trust, confidence and relationships. ASHLEY ZLATOPOLSKY CONTRIBUTING WRITER

s COVID-19 health restrictions ease, more and more businesses are turning to team-building events to help improve employee communication, motivation and confidence. After two years of pandemic living and working, businesses that are slowly bringing employees back to an office or an onsite work environment encounter various challenges that team-building events may help solve. Many employees, especially those hired during the pandemic, may not have had a chance to meet in-person until recently. “COVID-19 fundamentally reset how, where and even when employees operate,” explains Ann Arbor-based entrepreneur Ethan Linkner, co-founder and managing director of Mudita Venture Partners. “Developing relationships through team-building is an easy way to build trust, regardless of location or a face-to-face interaction.” At TreeRunner Adventure Parks in West Bloomfield and Rochester, the goal is just that: to set the stage for employees to reconnect, grow their relationships and, most importantly, develop trust as Linkner says. Multiple times a week, both locations host team-building events at their forested adventure parks to integrate people back into the workforce and build cohesion.

Companies are turning to team building as people return to the office after the pandemic.

BUILDING TRUST AND CONFIDENCE IN NATURE Jeremy Fishman, president of TreeRunner Adventure Parks, is no stranger to building teams. He was the director for the 2019 JCC Maccabi Games & ArtFest at the JCC of Metro Detroit. The Congregation Shaarey Zedek continued on page 44

MAY 12 • 2022

here’s to Jonah Cohen of Farmington Hills recently won top honors in the Music Teachers National Association (MTNA) Senior Composition Competition finals. He is a composer, pianist and cellist. His compositions tend to revolve around his fascinations with space, time, motion and stagnation, and how they are relevant in the here and now. Jonah has received recognition from the National Young Arts Foundation, National Young Composers Challenge, Foundation for Modern Music and many others. In 2022, performances of his music will be featured by the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra,

Akropolis Reed Quintet and others. Neil Weissman, managing director-investments of Wells Fargo Advisors in Ann Arbor, has been recognized on the 2022 Best-In-State Wealth Advisors list by Forbes. This accolade represents a list of professionals that come to work with one goal on their minds — helping their clients succeed. Neil has more than 13 years of experience in the financial services industry. Robert Schefman is a finalist in the sixth triennial Outwin Boochever Completion for 2022. The exhibition opened to the

public at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C., on April 30. He is a featured artist locally at the David Klein Gallery. Sen. Jeremy Moss (D-Southfield) was recently awarded a 2022 Legislator of the Year Award from the Michigan Townships Association (MTA) for his support of township government. Moss is serving his first term representing the 11th State Senate District in southern Oakland County. He was the youngest-ever elected official in Southfield city history.

The Ritchie Boys, America’s Secret Intelligence Unit in World War II, will receive the 2022 Elie Wiesel Award at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum’s National Tribute Dinner. A local man, Guy Stern, was one of that group. The Ritchie Boys, included many Jewish refugees from Nazism and was instrumental to the Allied victory. Alan Reinstein submitted a paper, “Belding Party Store Lottery Fraud: Detecting Lottery Fraud,” which earned the Best Paper Award at the 2022 Western Region Meeting of the American Accounting Association, held recently in Long Beach, Calif.

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member says team-building events have been a core offering of their business since 2014, but that the need significantly ramped up during COVID-19. TreeRunner Adventure Parks, which operates four aerial adventure parks (three in Michigan and one in North Carolina), offers a safe and socially distanced outdoor activity that lends itself well to the pandemic and current times. “We’ve built it up and grown it more since COVID-19,” Fishman explains, “because we saw the inherent benefit to a lot of office spaces and overall work dynamics.” So, how exactly do team-building events in a forested aerial adventure park setting work? There are two ways to go about it, Fishman says. The first offering is a traditional team-building event where employees do fun and challenging ground activities that Fishman says help boost confidence and create new bonds. After the one-hour ground activity, employees have a chance to climb in the trees and connect with nature — a respite from the challenges of working in an office and other daily work stressors. A second offering is known as team development, where one of TreeRunner Adventure Parks’ staff members works one-on-one with a group of employees on various exercises specific to the goals of that group, like improving trust. One way

Companies can improve trust and communication with team-building events.

MAY 12 • 2022

Jeremy Fishman

to improve trust, Fishman describes, is to do blindfolded ground exercises that rely on the guidance of others. “One staff member will be blindfolded going through an obstacle with another person helping them through it audibly,” he explains. TEAM-BUILDING CAN WORK FOR ALL BUSINESSES All types of businesses and industries can benefit from team-building events, Fishman says. So far, TreeRunner Adventure Parks has seen a wide range of customers, from engineers to medical offices to Chrysler. The parks “really blow people away,” he explains. “They’re amazed at how wide-open and how large

they are. You’re really in with nature.” One team-building event in particular stands out to Fishman as a success story. Fifteen engineers from an engineering company who had previously only worked remotely and never met in person visited this past fall. “You could see an incredible and very quick shift in their team,” he says. “We had them play a name game right off the start, to really recognize one another and break down a barrier that they had in the relationship since working together.” After booking a team-building event with TreeRunner Adventure Parks, businesses have a chance to create specific programming for the goals of the experience. They can choose to focus on communication, problem-solving or other goals as the core of their event. “Once we have that information, we can create a plan of action that our staff will work on with you to enact the changes that you’re hoping to see,” Fishman describes. Even after COVID-19, Fishman says TreeRunner Adventure Parks has no plans to discontinue team-building events, and that there will always be a need. “We foresee team-building becoming more of a core part of our year-round business,” he explains, noting that events peak in warmer, summer months. “We can do this in the winter at the office space and try to elicit similar responses, even if it’s snowing outside.”

Employees love the out-in-nature setting at TreeRunner.

PHOTO CREDIT

A ‘Late Bloomer’ How an idea in the middle of the night led to a top-selling women’s clothing line. ASHLEY ZLATOPOLSKY CONTRIBUTING WRITER

ABOVE: A tank dress from skinnytees.

t age 57, Linda Schlesinger-Wagner found herself divorced and caught up in the 2006 housing market collapse. “I was in the midst of a crisis, and my payment almost doubled,” the now 74-year-old recalls. Instead of giving up, Schlesinger-Wagner pivoted. The Jewish entrepreneur sold a longstanding children’s knitwear business that she’d had for years to pursue an idea that came to her in the middle of the night, on an evening when she couldn’t sleep, for skinnytees — a women’s clothing company selling essentials like camisoles, that were both comfortable and stylish. “I wasn’t a 25-year-old woman,” explains SchlesingerWagner, who had already worked in the apparel industry for more than three decades at the time. “I didn’t want to lean up or bend over and see skin.” Rather than creating traditional women’s tops, she turned to longer, more flexible pieces that would work for women of all ages, especially busy women on the go. They were one-sizefits-most silhouettes, made out of smoothwear, and entirely seamless. BUILDING A DREAM However, Schlesinger-Wagner didn’t have the finances to bring the idea to life, so she borrowed $1,000 from a close friend and purchased one dozen tops in 10 colors from a contractor to make skinnytees a reality. After the tops arrived, Schlesinger-Wagner took them to Impulse Clothing Boutique, a clothing shop in Brighton, Michigan, where she says she continued on page 47 MAY 12 • 2022

ROB LANDAW

Hall Doors Open Again Michigan Jewish Sports Hall of Fame banquet will return in October. STEVE STEIN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

ne of the most anticipated annual events on the area’s sports calendar is returning after a two-year

absence. The Michigan Jewish Sports Hall of Fame banquet, last held in 2019 before it was canceled in 2020 and 2021 by the COVID-19 pandemic, will be held Oct. 24 at a site that will be announced soon. Don Rudick, executive director of the Michigan Jewish Sports Foundation, which oversees the Hall of Fame, said this year’s Hall of Fame inductees won’t be separated into classes of 2020, 2021 and 2022. They will all be 2022 honorees. So will the Pillars of Excellence recipients, Dr. Steve and Evelyn Rosen Stars of Tomorrow scholarship winners and Jewish News High School Athletes of the Year, who also are honored at the banquet. The banquet will look much like it has in previous years. “We want to re-start a tradition. The banquet is so well organized. Why change something that’s working?” Rudick said. Applications for the Hall of Fame, Pillars of Excellence, Stars of Tomorrow scholarships and Athletes of the Year are on the foundation’s website, michiganjewishsports. org. The applications can be filled out online, which is something new. There’s no need to fill out another application if one was turned in the past two years. “But you can if you want,” Rudick said. The 2020 banquet was a goner because of the virus, but there was hope the 2021 ban-

MAY 12 • 2022

Umpire Rob Landaw makes a call during a softball game at Keith Sports Park in West Bloomfield.

quet could be held. “Then there was a virus surge in the spring,” Rudick said. “That put the kibosh on the banquet. There were just too many risks to hold it.” The first Michigan Jewish Sports Hall of Fame class was the 1985 group of Hank Greenberg, William Davidson, Benny Friedman and Harry Newman. Larry Stark was inducted in 1986. He was a tennis standout at Berkley High School and Michigan State University and a nationally ranked tennis and squash player. Now the boys tennis coach at Frankel Jewish Academy, he’s taken the Jaguars to the Division 4 state tournament five times in his seven years in charge of the team. Stark is glad to see the Hall of Fame banquet return. He’s been to many of them. “The banquet is a great event,” he said. “A lot of very interesting people are there, and it raises money for the foundation.” Rob Landaw was a Pillars of Excellence award recipient in 2016. That was the same year Rudick received the award, in part for his extensive involvement with the JCC Maccabi Games. The award, first presented in 2012, goes to folks who have contributed to sports in a variety of ways including coaches, officials, administrators and media members. Landaw has been a softball umpire in the area for more than 40 years. He’s been the umpire-in-chief for the Inter-Congregational Men’s Club Summer Softball League for many years.

He’s also glad the Hall of Fame banquet is back. “I was in seventh heaven to be honored at such a wonderful event,” he said. “I’m sure there are a lot of well-deserving people out there have honors coming their way this year and in future years.” Stars of Tomorrow scholarships are awarded to high school seniors who have excelled athletically and academically. The scholarships were funded originally by a donation made in honor of Dr. Steve Rosen, a Michigan Jewish Sports Hall of Fame member who died in 2016. He was a track star at Mount Clemens High School and the University of Michigan. The foundation’s 31st annual Hank Greenberg Memorial Golf and Tennis Invitational will be held June 6 at Franklin Hills Country Club in Farmington Hills, returning to its usual date after being canceled in 2020 and held in the fall in 2021. Honorees include Baseball Hall of Fame catcher Ted Simmons, a Southfield High School graduate, who will receive the Hank Greenberg Memorial Lifetime Achievement Award. Openings remain for individual golfers and foursomes. The deadline is May 20. Go to the foundation’s website or Facebook page or call Rudick at (248) 390-5981 for more information. The invitational benefits the Karmanos Cancer Institute at the Lawrence and Idell Weisberg Cancer Treatment Center in Farmington Hills. Please send sports news to stevestein502004@yahoo. com. Coach Larry Stark (center) and his Frankel Jewish Academy boys tennis team celebrate qualifying for the state tournament last fall.

RICK DORN

SPORTS

Powering Babson College Baseball

Josh Yellen

Annie Schlesinger, David Schlesinger and Linda Schlesinger-Wagner continued from page 45

Josh Yellen of Bloomfield Hills is leading the charge toward the playoffs. RICK LOWENSTEIN SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS

s Babson College (Wellesley, Massachusetts) baseball barrels toward the NEWMAC Conference and NCAA Division III playoffs, senior first baseman Josh Yellen of Bloomfield Hills, a former standout at Cranbrook School, has started all 32 games and leads the team in batting average (.346), hits (44), runs batted in (27), multi-hit games (11) and multi-RBI games (8). He also is among the team leaders in on-base percentage (.445) and slugging (.433) and batted .500 (7-for-14) with a double and two RBI while extending his hitting streak to nine games as the Beavers won two of three games against league rival MIT to maintain their spot atop the NEWMAC at 11-2. A transfer student from the College of Charleston, Josh was attracted to Babson for its 25-year run as the No. 1 school for entrepreneurship as ranked by U.S. News and World Reports and the baseball program earning its first trip to the Division III College World Series in 2019. With one year of college eligibility remaining, he will graduate

this May with a major in finance and is still undecided on whether he will pursue an MBA at Babson and continue to play baseball. Josh is the son of Mike and Becky Yellen. Founded in 1919 by Roger Babson, Babson College boasts an undergraduate enrollment of 2,350 students and nearly 1,000 graduate students representing more than 80 countries. Ranked No. 1 for Entrepreneurship by U.S. News & World Report for nearly three decades, Babson has emerged as the global leader in entrepreneurship education.

didn’t know anyone. “I didn’t want anyone I know to buy them and do a mercy order,” she recalls. Luckily, the shop made the purchase and became one of Schlesinger-Wagner’s top customers to this day. “She really helped me build my business,” SchlesingerWagner says of that buyer. As Schlesinger-Wagner continued to brainstorm late at night, taking notes when most people would be sleeping, she solidified her vision for the brand that would go on to become a top-selling women’s clothing line, now found at Macy’s, QVC and more. In 2009, skinnytees officially launched. She bought the skinnytees website domain for a mere 99 cents, thanks to a bit of luck and encouragement from her son, David Schlesinger, who helps with marketing and brand development. Yet Schlesinger-Wagner didn’t stop with simply selling skinnytees products. She enrolled herself in film school to learn how to present her brand on TV, found contractors worldwide to partner with, and took various business programs to become a savvier and more well-rounded entrepreneur. A FAMILY BUSINESS Now, skinnytees is a family business. David Schlesinger

serves as head of digital brand development, while SchlesingerWagner’s daughter, Annie Schlesinger, is head of marketing, creative content and project management. “It’s a team effort,” SchlesingerWagner says. Together, the family continues to expand the brand and bring it to new frontiers. Their goal is to sell skinnytees products in Dubai. Yet despite her success, Schlesinger-Wagner would never forget the challenges she overcame as a single woman navigating a divorce. skinnytees regularly holds fundraising events that raise money for women with breast cancer, among other crucial needs. “I would always remember others and do lots of small things for big people,” SchlesingerWagner says. “That’s what we do, and we do it all the time.” Schlesinger-Wagner also happily remarried and now resides with her husband, Paul Wagner. Together, they have 10 grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. While the older grandchildren haven’t expressed interest in the family business just yet, Schlesinger-Wagner is confident in its future and looks forward to continuing the brand. “There’s a lot of business out there,” she says, “and a whole world out there.”

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MAY 12 • 2022

y grandfather, Harry the Kaddish, may be said only Starr of blessed in the midst of 10 Jewish adults. memory, was a shul Are we cynical about our guy: He attended minyan every faith or lax in our observance? day, even volunteering to make Are we lacking in our learning breakfast most mornings for the or lazy about our efforts in carattendees. Especially as ing for others? If so, then he aged, going to the indeed we are in some ways synagogue gave shape desecrating God’s name to his day, rhythm to because we Jews are God’s his week and purpose representatives on Earth. to his years. However, if we celebrate My father, Jim Starr, our Judaism and honor our Rabbi Aaron Starr has carried on his fellow Jews, we are sanctifyfather’s legacy; he, too, ing God’s name in the midst Parshat is a shul guy. Among of our own. If we immerse Emor: my warmest memoourselves in continuing eduLeviticus ries of my father are cation, in uplifting prayer 21:1-24:23; ones in the synagogue and in the performance Ezekiel and at our home, celof acts of lovingkindness, 44:15-31. ebrating Jewish life. then we are adding to the Today, thank God, I sit holiness of God, and we are next to my father for weekday filling our lives with meaning minyan; and, on Shabbat and and with purpose. holidays, my children sit weekly Worship rates and affiliation with their grandparents: both with religious institutions are my father, Jim, and my mother, on the decline in America. Margie. There is no doubt in my mind Indeed, participating in that a causal connection exists Jewish life in general and synabetween the decline of faith gogue life are gifts that we give communities and the increasto our children and grandchiling toxicity in our country. But dren that provide stability and we Jews do not need to be like meaning in an ever-changing everyone else. Our job is not world. only to avoid profaning God’s In our Torah portion this name as the chosen people, but week, we read again of the to sanctify God in this world Jewish calendar: the cycle of the among non-Jews and among seasons that helps to give form our fellow Jews alike. to the unyielding march of time. Participating in Jewish life in Additionally, we read of God general and synagogue life in speaking to the People Israel, particular are gifts that we give “You shall not profane My holy to ourselves, our children and name, that I may be sanctified our grandchildren. In so doing, in the midst of the Israelite we give shape to our days, People” (Leviticus 22:32). For rhythm to our week and, in our rabbis of old, this mitzvah so many ways, purpose to our gives justification for selective years. martyrdom, and it helps to Rabbi Aaron Starr is spiritual leader establish the notion of minyan: of Congregation Shaarey Zedek in Southfield. that certain prayers, including

SPIRIT

A WORD OF TORAH

The Mitzvah

of Kiddush Hashem T

his week’s Torah portion, Emor, formulates this calling as a specific mitzvah: “…do not desecrate My holy name. And I shall be sanctified in the midst of the children of Israel. I am Hashem who sanctifies you.” (Vayikra 22:33) This is known as the mitzvah of kiddush Hashem — sanctifying God’s name. How do we go about Chief Rabbi it? We live in a world of Warren confusion and spiritual Goldstein darkness. The light of truth is hidden, God’s presence concealed. In this murky existence, how do we promote God’s name and God’s Torah in the world? One way is by what we say. Proclaiming God’s greatness in a public forum — through communal prayer, for example. Indeed, our prayer services are structured in such a way as to facilitate this. We have the Kedushah, the special prayer recited loudly and responsively in the repetition of the Amidah, evoking the exalted dialogue of the angels and their praise of the Creator of the universe. We also have Kaddish, a highly

MAY 12 • 2022

impassioned declaration of God’s greatness, recited at various high points in the service. Kaddish is recited by the one who leads the service, but also by mourners. It’s an extraordinary thing. People who have lost loved ones, and whose worlds have become empty as a result of their bereavement, fill the world with — and find solace in — a declaration of God’s greatness. Crucially, both the Kedushah and Kaddish are only recited in public, in the presence of a minyan, a quorum of 10 men. It’s important to note that our responsibility to declare the presence of God in the world begins with our families. Every Friday night when we say Kiddush, we proclaim loudly and publicly that God created the world and that He took us out of Egypt, and He gave us His Torah as a guide to life. Similarly, each of the festivals is a testimony to God’s miracles throughout history: Pesach is about the miracles of the Exodus; Shavuot is about the miraculous revelation at Mount Sinai; and Sukkot is about the miracles that sustained us in the desert. We also spread a positive message

about Hashem and His Torah through our words of teaching Torah. The Rambam explains the mitzvah of learning Torah extends to teaching Torah. As the Mishnah in Pirkei Avot says, there is an obligation to “establish many students.” The Tiferet Yisrael, in his commentary on that Mishnah, says this applies not only to “professional” teachers and rabbis, but to every Jew. We are all called on to spread the light of Torah to as many people as possible. The verse in Proverbs says: “For the mitzvah is a lamp and the Torah is light.” The Gemara in Sotah says this world can be compared to a dark forest. As we walk through it, we are confronted with obstacles and confusion, our every step fraught with danger and uncertainty. But, it is the light of Torah that illuminates the path. And we have a responsibility to spread that light. MORE THAN JUST WORDS The mitzvah of kiddush Hashem goes beyond what we say. Even more important is what we do, how we behave. We don’t just believe in God, or preach God, we live His values and continued on page 50

SPIRIT

A WORD OF TORAH

continued from page 49

principles. The Gemara (Yoma 86a) puts it succinctly: “Make the name of Heaven beloved through you.” In other words, we are called on to bring the people we encounter to an appreciation of and, ultimately, a closeness to God, through our living example. The Gemara goes on to explain what this means — a person who is associated with Torah living, displays unimpeachable integrity in his dealings with others and speaks gently to everyone at all times. Says the Gemara, when we behave in ways that inspire others, we fulfil the verse: “Through you, I will be glorified.” The Gemara adds a remarkable caveat regarding a person who is learned in Torah but does not behave with integrity and does not speak gently to people: Such a person brings God’s reputation into disrepute. From this Gemara, it emerges that the most powerful way to promote the name of God in the world is through the example of our own behavior. This idea — that we are charged with carrying the name of Hashem in the world through the way we live our lives — places a solemn responsibility on all of us. And it makes us partners with our Creator in a very real sense. Any partnership is defined by two parties working together to serve a common interest, a common set of objectives. God wants to spread truth and light in the world and calls on us to be His partners in this endeavor. We carry out this sacred charge by being living examples of the goodness and the decency and the uprightness and the inspiration that accompanies a Torah life, thereby ensuring people have a favorable impression of God and His Torah. Abraham is our standard bearer in this regard. He spread the light of Godliness in a world of pagan idolatry and influenced countless people. He did so through his kindness and his resolute uprightness, demonstrated through so many examples in his life. He went out to battle to save his nephew Lot and

transforms us into people who look to promote truth and values and goodness in the world, who embrace responsibility for spreading light and the love of God in the world. And, by cultivating a consciousness for how we are perceived by others, we learn to moderate our behavior and ensure our conduct always meets the highest ethical standards. It transforms us into people who are conscious and aware of how we are perceived by others. This involves empathy to understand how others perceive us and to realize that every action we perform is being judged, and not only are we being judged, but Hashem and His Torah are being judged. Of course, living with an awareness of what our priorities are in life, and being prepared to sacrifice for our highest values, also changes us in profound ways. The ultimate vision of kiddush Hashem finds its expression in the attainment of the Divine promise for the climax of history, of a world incandescent with God’s light, saturated with the knowledge of His presence, which will one day be fulfilled with the coming of the Mashiach. As the prophet Isaiah says: “The Earth will be filled with the knowledge of Hashem like the waters that cover it.” This Final Redemption for the world is described by the Rambam as a time with “no famine, no wars, no jealousy and competition,” a time in which “goodness will be abundant and all of the delicacies will be available as the dust, and the only occupation in the world will be to know Hashem.” In other words — a world in a constant state of kiddush Hashem. Ultimately, kiddush Hashem is about bringing the world closer to this vision of a world filled with God’s light and love and values, saturated with the closeness of His presence.

“KIDDUSH HASHEM IS ABOUT BRINGING THE WORLD CLOSER TO THIS VISION OF A WORLD FILLED WITH GOD’S LIGHT AND LOVE AND VALUES.”

MAY 12 • 2022

others who had been captured in war but refused to take any of the spoils of the war. He kept his tent open on all sides, welcoming wayfarers no matter who they were and where they came from. He was a pillar of light and compassion. He was unerringly straight and ethical in his business dealings. And as his children, we are called on to live in the same way. So far, we have looked at public declarations and living by example as the means to fulfil the mitzvah of kiddush Hashem. There is a third way we can bring about kiddush Hashem in the world, and that is through self-sacrifice. The Rambam, based on the Talmud, says the mitzvah of kiddush Hashem is fulfilled when a person is placed in a situation where they have to give up their life for the sake of God. We know there is the sacrosanct Torah principle of pikuach nefesh, which means in order to save a life, virtually all of the commandments are set aside. But there are exceptions. If one of the three “cardinal” sins — idolatry, murder and sexual immorality — is involved, then a person must give up their life rather than transgress them. And, actually, during a period in which the Jewish people and the Jewish way of life is under systemized attack, it is a great mitzvah to give one’s life for the cause, even under other circumstances. In fact, this is the ultimate expression of kiddush Hashem; a brave declaration of total dedication, love and trust, a visceral demonstration that there is nothing more important than living in accordance with God’s values and with our ultimate purpose in life. TRANSFORMATIONAL MITZVAH In every respect, the mitzvah of kiddush Hashem is deeply transformational. It

Chief Rabbi Warren Goldstein, who has a PhD. in Human Rights Law, is the chief rabbi of South Africa. This essay first appeared on aish.com.

SPIRIT

Synagogue Directory CONSERVATIVE Adat Shalom Synagogue Farmington Hills (248) 851-5100 adatshalom.org

Temple B’nai Shalom Benton Harbor (269) 925-8021 tbnaishalom.org

Ahavas Israel Grand Rapids (616) 949-2840 ahavasisraelgr.org

INDEPENDENT Grosse Pointe Jewish Council Grosse Pointe Woods (313) 882-6700 thegpjc.com

Congregation Beth Ahm West Bloomfield (248) 851-6880 cbahm.org Congregation Beth Israel Flint (810) 732-6310 cbiflint.org Congregation Beth Shalom Oak Park (248) 547-7970 congbethshalom.org Beth Tephilath Moses Mt. Clemens (586) 996-3138 bethtephilathmoses.com B’nai Israel Synagogue West Bloomfield (248) 432-2729 bnaiisraelwb.org Congregation B’nai Moshe West Bloomfield (248) 788-0600 bnaimoshe.org Isaac Agree Downtown Synagogue Detroit (313) 962-4047 downtownsynagogue.org Congregation of Moses Kalamazoo congregationofmoses.org Congregation Shaarey Zedek Southfield (248) 357-5544 shaareyzedek.org

Kehillat Hatzhav Hagadol Mackinac Island (906) 202-9959 mackinacsynagogue.org ORTHODOX Agudas Israel Mogen Abraham Southfield (248) 552-5711 aymadetroit.org Ahavas Olam Southfield (248) 569-1821 Ahavasolam.com

Balfour Shul – K’Hal Rina U’Tefila Oak Park (732) 693-8457 Beth Tefilo Emanuel Tikvah Southfield (248) 559-5022 Birmingham-Bloomfield Shul Birmingham (248) 996-5818 bbchai.org B’nai Israel-Beth Yehudah Oak Park (248) 967-3969 bi-by.org B’nai Zion Oak Park (248) 968-2414 Chabad House-Lubavitch of Eastern Michigan Flint (810) 230-0770 chabad.org

Ahavas Yisroel Oak Park (248) 298-2896 Learntorah.info

Chabad Jewish Center of Commerce-Walled Lake Commerce Township (248) 363-3644 jewishcommerce.org

Aish Hatorah in the Woods Oak Park (248) 327-3579 Aishdetroit.com

Chabad Jewish Center of Novi-Northville (248) 790-6075 novijewishcenter.com

Bais Chabad of Farmington Hills (248) 855-2910 chabad.org

Chabad Jewish Center of Troy Troy/Rochester Hills (248) 873-5851 jewishtroy.com

Bais Chabad of North Oak Park (248) 872-8878 chabad.org

Chabad-Lubavitch of Bingham Farms Bloomfield Hills (248) 688-6796 chabadbinghamfarms.com

Bais Haknesses Hagrah Oak Park (248) 542-8737

Chabad of Western Michigan Grand Rapids (616) 957-0770 chabadwestmichigan.com

Dovid Ben Nuchim-Aish Kodesh Oak Park (313) 320-9400 dbndetroit.org Etz Chayim of Toledo Toledo, OH (419) 473-2401 Etzchayimtoledo.org First Hebrew Congregation South Haven (269) 637-1603 firsthebrewcongregation.org Kehillat Etz Chayim Huntington Woods etzchayim-detroit.org Kollel Institute of Greater Detroit Oak Park (248) 968-1891 kollel@kolleldetroit.org Mishkan Israel, Nusach H’ari, Lubavitch Center Oak Park (248) 542-4844 theyeshiva.org Ohel Moed Shomrey Emunah West Bloomfield (248) 737-2626 ohelmoed.org Or Chadash Oak Park (248) 819-1721 or-chadash.org Sara & Morris Tugman Bais Chabad Torah Center of West Bloomfield (248) 855-6170 baischabad.com Shaar Hashomayim Windsor (519) 256-3123 Shaarey Zedek Windsor (519) 252-1594 shaareyzedekwindsor.com continued on page 52 MAY 12 • 2022

continued from page 51

Shomer Israel Oak Park (248) 542-4014 godaven.com

Congregation Shaarey Zedek East Lansing (517) 351-3570 shaareyzedek.com

Temple Israel West Bloomfield (248) 661-5700 temple-israel.org

MINYANS Fleischman Residence West Bloomfield (248) 661-2999

Shomrey Emunah Southfield (248) 559-1533 congregation-shomreyemunah-105705.square.site

Temple Benjamin Mt. Pleasant (989) 773-5086 templebenjamin.com

Temple Jacob Hancock templejacobhancock.org

Yeshivat Akivah Southfield (248) 386-1625 farberhds.org

The Shul-Chabad Lubavitch West Bloomfield (248) 788-4000 theshul.net Yagdil Torah Southfield (248) 559-5905 Young Israel of Oak Park (248) 967-3655 yiop.org

Temple Beth El Battle Creek (269) 963-4921

Temple Kol Ami West Bloomfield (248) 661-0040 tkolami.org

Temple Beth El Bloomfield Township (248) 851-1100 tbeonline.org

Temple Shir Shalom West Bloomfield (248) 737-8700 shirshalom.org

Temple Beth El Flint (810) 720-9494 tbeflint@gmail.com

REFORM/RENEWAL Congregation Shir Tikvah Troy (248) 649-4418 shirtikvah.org

Young Israel of Southfield (248) 358-0154 yisouthfield.org

Temple Beth El Midland (989) 496-3720 tbe_midland@yahoo.com

RECONSTRUCTIONIST Congregation Kehillat Israel Lansing (517) 882-0049 kehillatisrael.net

Temple Beth Israel Bay City (989) 893-7811 tbi-mich.org

SECULAR/HUMANISTIC Congregation for Humanistic Judaism of Metro Detroit Farmington Hills (248) 477-1410 chj-detroit.org

Temple Beth Israel Jackson (517) 784-3862 tbijackson.org

Sholem Aleichem Institute West Bloomfield (248) 865-0117 secularsaimichigan.org

Congregation T’chiyah Ferndale (248) 823-7115 tchiyah.org Reconstructionist Congregation of Detroit (313) 567-0306 reconstructingjudiasm.org REFORM Congregation Beth El Windsor (519) 969-2422 bethelwindsor.ca Congregation Beth Shalom Traverse City 231-946-1913 beth-shalom-tc.org Congregation B’nai Israel Muskegon (231) 722-2702 cbimkg@gmail.com

MAY 12 • 2022

Temple Beth Sholom Marquette tbsmqt.org Temple B’nai Israel Kalamazoo (269) 342-9170 Templebnaiisrael.com Temple B’nai Israel Petoskey (231) 489-8269 templebnaiisraelofpetoskey. org Temple Emanuel Grand Rapids (616) 459-5976 grtemple.org Temple Emanu-El Oak Park (248) 967-4020 emanuel-mich.org

ANN ARBOR

CONSERVATIVE Beth Israel Congregation (734) 665-9897 @BethIsraelCongregation ORTHODOX Ann Arbor Chabad House (734) 995-3276 jewmich.com Ann Arbor Orthodox Minyan annarborminyan.org RECONSTRUCTIONIST Ann Arbor Reconstructionist Congregation (734) 445-1910 aarecon.org REFORM Temple Beth Emeth (734) 665-4744 templebethemeth.org RENEWAL Pardes Hanah pardeshanah.org

SEPHARDIC Keter Torah Synagogue West Bloomfield (248) 681-3665 rabbisasson.wixsite.com/ keter

SECULAR HUMANISTIC Jewish Cultural Society (734) 975-9872 jewishculturalsociety.org

Ohr Hatorah Oak Park (248) 294-0613 Ohrhatorah.us

Please email factual corrections or additional synagogues to list to: smanello@thejewishnews.com.

TRADITIONAL Woodward Avenue Shul Royal Oak (248) 414-7485 thewas.net

ARTS&LIFE FILM REVIEW

HBO Original Film Tells the story of

A Boxer at Auschwitz

The Survivor explores the fine line of choosing to survive or choosing to live. ASHLEY ZLATOPOLSKY CONTRIBUTING WRITER

ased on a true story, The Survivor follows the journey of professional boxer Harry Haft (Ben Foster). Haft, born in Poland in 1925, was a Holocaust survivor who lived through Auschwitz by winning boxing matches against fellow inmates. The 2021 film, directed by Barry Levinson, travels through Haft’s life, jumping continents and generations to tell the story of how one true love can inspire a man to survive anything. The Survivor opens on a tranquil beach in Tybee Island, Georgia, in 1963, where Haft walks the sands alone. Yet as the camera travels downward, we see a shadow of a woman walking next to Haft, its movement cast on the sand. Haft, while alone in the physical sense, walks sideby-side with his long-lost love, Leah (Dar Zuzovsky), who was hauled away by Nazis in war-torn Poland two decades ago, never to be seen again. Haft, however, never stops looking for Leah, driven by a feeling deep inside that somewhere, somehow, she survived the second World War. Engulfed in memories of Leah, Haft, despite now having made a new life in the United States where he boxed as a renowned light heavyweight, continues to be haunted by the events of the Holocaust. One of the earliest scenes of the film shows Haft in the ring in Coney Island, New York, in 1949, where announcers call him the “Pride of Poland and Survivor of Auschwitz.” These words hold little meaning to Haft, whose mind is filled with memories of Leah, which play out in the film in black-and-white (while scenes after the war play out in color). There is a sense that these lost memories have also lost their color, a world that no longer

PHOTOGRAPH BY JESSICA KOURKOUNIS/HBO

continued on page 54 Ben Foster and Peter Sarsgaard

MAY 12 • 2022

FILM REVIEW

John Leguizamo, Ben Foster, Paul Bates, Danny DeVito

continued from page 53

exists for Haft, but one that continues to overshadow his present existence. Throughout the film, we see increasing flashbacks to Auschwitz and later the Polish work camp, Jaworzno, where we learn how Haft was forced to box as a means to survive. It was a form of entertainment for the Nazi prison guards, who placed bets on Jewish inmates that resulted in bloody and deadly boxing matches. Haft, a favorite amongst the guards for his brute physical strength, fights his way to survival with only one mission in mind: to once again see his love, Leah. The boxing matches, while full of unspeakable horrors, give Haft the strength to seek out freedom. After the camps are dissolved following the advance of the Soviet Army, Haft, while on a death march to Germany, manages to escape in April 1945. He fights his way through Germany and later a displaced persons camp, finally arriving in New York in 1948 where he returns to the boxing ring with legends such as Rocky Marciano (Anthony Molinari). While establishing a name for himself in the American boxing world, Haft continues to search for Leah, eventually crossing paths with Miriam Wofsoniker (Vicky Krieps), an employee of the Displaced Persons Service who helps immigrants reunite with missing friends and family torn apart by war. Like Haft, she has also experienced lost love, her fiancé killed in the war. At first, Haft is reluctant to open up, but eventually forms a bond with Wofsoniker, whose calming personality offsets his often aggressive fighting spirit.

MAY 12 • 2022

PHOTOGRAPH BY LEO PINTER/HBO

PHOTOGRAPH BY JESSICA KOURKOUNIS/HBO

ARTS&LIFE

Ben Foster, Billy Magnussen

Yet life takes a different path for the boxer. Haft, after a hard loss to Marciano, retires from the sport. Haft and Wofsoniker eventually marry, yet Haft continues to live in the past, Leah on his mind. He’s haunted by nightmares that seem to grow worse with age. By the time his son, Alan (Kingston Vernes) is old enough to understand, their relationship is already at stake, a tension forming. Wofsoniker tells her son, his father “will tell you when he’s ready,” but Alan has questions that only Haft can truly answer. Haft, now living in 1960s Florida, is faced with the ultimate test: to continue simply surviving or to wake up and make a choice to live. It’s a poignant and often heart-wrenching truth about surviving the Holocaust and the atrocities of World War II, with the horrors of that time period living with many for the rest of their lives. As Haft says goodbye to his past and puts memories of Leah to rest, he chooses to finally live. ★★★✩✩

THEATER

Sam Primack stars as Evan Hansen in Dear Evan Hansen at the Wharton Center in East Lansing, May 17-22.

Broadway-Bound Sam Primack is on tour in the role of Evan Hansen. JULIE SMITH YOLLES CONTRIBUTING WRITER

ot too many high schoolers’ moms have kvelling rights to their sons starring on Broadway in the title role of Evan Hansen from Dear Evan Hansen. In fact, the elite group is exclusive to a population of two, both discovered at the National High School Musical Theatre Awards, or Jimmy Awards. And both Jewish. First, there was Andrew Barth Feldman. Next, there is Sam Primack, who, at 18, started on Broadway in June 2019 as the understudy for all three male teen characters — Evan Hansen, Connor Murphy and Jared Kleinman. He then starred on the Dear Evan Hansen national tour as

the Evan Hansen alternate, performing the role during Saturday matinees and Sunday evenings. One week before he was set to perform at the Fisher Theatre,in front of a local fan base in March 2020, all tours were canceled, and Broadway shut down. “The week of March 8, Sam had taken a scheduled time off from the tour to go on our family vacation to Costa Rica. While we were there, that’s when COVID became a reality,” said Allyson Ochs Primack, who grew up in Farmington Hills and now lives in Scottsdale, Ariz., along with her parents, Carole and Larry Ochs. “By the last day of our trip, we found out that the tour was

suspended for several weeks. We were all devastated.” Sam came directly home to Arizona from Costa Rica to wait for news. By August 2020, when it was clear that the Dear Evan Hansen tour would not be resuming any time soon due to COVID, he enrolled at Arizona State University and completed his first year of college in May 2021. Primack started back on tour in December of 2021. This was not the first time that Dear Evan Hansen interrupted Primack’s schooling. In March 2019, with one semester left until high school graduation, Primack moved to New York and started his amazing

theatrical journey. He was able to come back to Scottsdale for two days in May 2019 and graduate with his classmates at Chaparral High School. And on June 19, 2019, he opened on Broadway. “Getting noticed and discovered at the Jimmy Awards is a huge stepping-stone to so many students who become Broadway stars. I was lucky, and I am grateful that I got that experience. It truly changed my life in ways that I never expected,” Primack says. BACK IN MICHIGAN Primack will finally be coming to Michigan with Dear Evan Hansen at the Wharton Center in East Lansing, May 17-22. continued on page 56 MAY 12 • 2022

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Primack’s mom will fly in from Arizona to see him perform in the May 21 matinee and May 22 evening shows. She plans to attend with many Detroit-area friends, including her Michigan State University sorority sisters from Sigma Delta Tau. “It’s going to be amazing discovering Detroit again with newer, older eyes,” says Primack, who last came through Michigan when he was 12, playing the role of Pugsley on the national tour of The Addams Family. At that time, his mom accompanied him on tour for six months and even wrote a blog about it — www.momontour. com. “Having him perform in Michigan is more exciting for me than if he were performing in Arizona because the people who I grew up with will see my child living his dream and that’s what’s so special,” says Ochs Primack, defense attorney at the Maricopa County Legal Defender’s Office. “I’ve grown up a lot since then,” says Sam, who’ll celebrate his 21st birthday while in East Lansing. “I’m excited to come back to Michigan this time and see where my mom grew up and how her

upbringing impacted me. It’s such a small world, the Michigan family and Jewish community.” While on tour, Primack has a strict regimen of eating healthy, working out at the gym and staying mentally focused through meditation. His hour-long preshow routine incudes stretching and vocal warm-ups. “The part of Evan is known for being extremely vocally and physically demanding and requires a great amount of energy and effort. There really hasn’t been a part like this one before that’s created for young men,” Primack says. “I love doing it. It’s such a challenge every time.” For Primack, the challenge will continue long after he finishes the tour next month on June 6. Following a welldeserved vacation, he’ll move back to New York City and apartment hunt for his pinnacle career moment: starring as Evan Hansen full-time on Broadway, starting Sept. 22. “It’s crazy,” Primack says. “I still have to pinch myself because it sometimes doesn’t feel real. But, at the end of the day, I am so grateful that I have this life.”

DETAILS

Dear Evan Hansen will be performed at the Cobb Great Hall in the Wharton Center in East Lansing, Mich., Tuesday, May 17 – Sunday, May 22. Shows are TuesdayThursday at 7:30 p.m.; Friday at 8 p.m.; Saturday at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m.; and Sunday at 1 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. For tickets, go to whartoncenter.com or call (517) 432-2000 or 1-800-WHARTON.

ARTS&LIFE CELEBRITY NEWS

resists this advice until the casino fires her. They want someone “fresher.” The firing prompts Vance to “let go” in her final casino appearance and use the personalized material that Ava wrote for her. A video of that set goes viral, and Vance is a hot comic once again. As the first season concludes, Ava and Vance’s very prickly relationship has morphed into mutual respect for each other. But “out there” is an email that could destroy their relationship. I won’t spoil what it is in it for those who haven’t seen the first season yet. The email will come up (again) in the second season. Jean Smart, as Vance, won an Emmy (lead actress, comedy) and Einbinder, the daughter of former SNL star Laraine Newman, was Emmy-nominated (supporting actress, comedy). The second season trailer reveals this: Vance decides to do a national tour of comedy clubs and will be accompanied by Ava. But before touring, Vance insists on hiring a really good tour manager. She hires Alice, who is played by Laurie Metcalf (Roseanne, The Connors). As the trailer concludes, we hear Vance questioning whether doing a tour is the right thing. I liked Einbinder in Hacks, and I liked her even more when I saw her on a YouTube video titled Recipe for Change: Standing Up to Antisemitism. She was one of (about) 30 Jews who gathered around dinner tables in New York and Los Angeles to eat and talk. Dinner guests first discussed Jewish culture and

Recipe for Change: Standing Up to Antisemitism

identity, and then talked about antisemitism and how to deal with it. The guests included prominent actors, rabbis and chefs. The program was quite good and is certainly novel. It’s received 900K views since it was posted last month. Here’s a list of the most famous showbiz celeb guests: Bryan Greenberg, Rachel Bloom, Idina Menzel, Josh Peck, Rachel Dratch, Michael Ian Black, Michael Zegen and Ilana Glazer. The six-part Hulu series, Under the Banner of Heaven, began streaming on April 28 with a two-episode premiere. It’s based on a true story. In 1984, a young Mormon mother and her infant daughter, who lived near Salt Lake City, were found stabbed to death. I won’t spoil it for you — suffice it to say that the murders involved a tiny sect that had split off from the mainstream Church of Latter Day Saints (the Mormons). The series, which has got good reviews, is based on a true-crime book of the same name by Jon Krakauer, 68. He’s the secular son of a Jewish father and a Unitarian mother. Andrew Garfield, 38, co-stars as a devout

Mormon police detective who co-heads the murder investigation. Wyatt Russell, 35, has a big role as Dan Rafferty, a member of the sect. Garfield clearly likes to take film roles in which he plays very religious persons in unusual circumstances. In 2016, he starred in Hacksaw Ridge and Silence. In Hacksaw he played Desmond Doss, a (real) religious pacifist who became a U.S. army WWII medic and won the Medal of Honor. In Silence, he played a 16th century Catholic priest who was tortured by anti-missionary Japanese officials. In 2021, he played disgraced TV evangelist Jim Bakker in The Eyes of Tammy Bakker. Garfield is certainly overdue for an “exotic” Jewish clergyperson role. I was thinking about a thriller about a Los Angeles rabbi who is also a “mohel to the stars.” While about to preside over a bris, he overhears two big Hollywood machers talking about illegal activities that might involve some of his shul’s biggest givers and most devout congregants. (I’ve have heard about L.A. rabbis/mohels who’ve been nicknamed “Mohel to the Stars”).

GAGE SKIDMORE

Hannah Einbinder

JTA

HACKS COMES BACK, NOSH WITH A PURPOSE, GARFIELD GETS RELIGIOUS, AGAIN The acclaimed HBO Max comedy series Hacks premieres its second, 10-episode season on May 12. Two episodes will be shown on the 12th, and two episodes will be shown each following week. Hacks is well-written, well-acted, funny and touching. Here’s a brief first season recap to encourage everyone to check it out. Jean Smart co-stars as Deborah Vance, an aged stand-up comedy legend with a biting sense of humor. In her heyday, she frequently appeared on TV and toured the country, playing nightclubs. In more recent years, she did a nightly show at a major Las Vegas casino. Her casino show was pretty much the same night after night, year-after-year. Vance hires Ava (Hannah Einbinder, 26), an unemployed comedy writer, to write jokes for her. Ava constantly urges Vance to update her act. This updating, Ava says, should include personal anecdotes about the difficulties that female comics dealt with when Vance was younger and often still deal with. Vance

YOUTUBE SCREENSHOT

NATE BLOOM COLUMNIST

Andrew Garfield MAY 12 • 2022

Oak (108 S. Main St., Suite B). The Well offers Shabbat made simple: a one-hour soul session for young adults, filled with song and ritual as we welcome Shabbat and unwind at the end of the week.

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PEOPLE | PLACES | EVENTS

COMEDY THRILLER NOW-MAY 21 COMEDY THRILLER NOW-MAY 21 The longest running comedy-thriller play in Broadway history is headed to the Farmington Players stage, 32332 W. 12 Mile Road, Farmington Hills: DEATHTRAP, written by Ira Levin. Tickets are available now at farmingtonplayers. org or at the box office: 248-553-2955. SOULFUL SONGS 8 PM, MAY 12 May Erlewine at The Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor. One of the Midwest’s most prolific and passionate songwriters, Erlewine has a gift for writing songs of substance that feel both fresh and soulfully familiar. Her ability to emotionally engage with an audience has earned her a dedicat-

MAY 12 • 2022

A scene from DEATHTRAP

ed following far beyond her Michigan roots. Cost: $20, $50 gold circle. Info: theark.org/events. COWORKING WITH THE WELL 10 AM-6 PM, MAY 13 At Bamboo Royal Oak. An awesome space to co-work with other young adults in the Jewish community. For this first installment, we’ll be offering two shifts: 10 am-2 pm, $5 per person, which will cover lunch; 2-6 pm, no charge to sign up, snacks provided but no catered meal. At the end of the day, walk just one block down the road and join us at Enter, Pray, Leave, 108 S. Main St., Suite B. ENTER, PRAY, LEAVE 6-7 PM, MAY 13 At BOLD Flow Yoga Royal

TOT SHABBAT 10-11 AM, MAY 14 At Drake Sports Park in West Bloomfield. The Well’s Tot Shabbat is back in-person and outside for the summer. Join us Shabbat singing, dancing and fun led by Rabbi Jeff and Keith. Plan to be under the picnic pavilion or nearby on the grass; bring your own blanket to sit on. Snack bags will be provided for each family. Advance registration is appreciated so we can plan for an accurate number of families. Contact Marisa Meyerson at marisa@meetyouatthewell.org. PLAY OPENS 7 PM, MAY 14 The stage adaptation of Old Heart, Peter Ferry’s award-winning novel, will premiere at the historic Redford Theatre, 17360 Lahser Road, Detroit. Second performance Sunday, May 15, at 4 pm. Ticket prices: VIP Package: $75, and general tickets: $25-$50. More information: redfordtheatre.com. CONCERT SET 1 PM, MAY 15 Pro Musica of Detroit, in partnership with the Detroit Institute of Arts, presents “A Tribute to William Bolcom” in the DIA’s Detroit Film Theatre auditorium. Highlighting the music and song of Pulitzer Prizewinning composer William Bolcom, the concert will be performed by an ensemble

William Bolcom

that includes several of the composer’s most trusted collaborators. Seating is limited and by general admission. Individual tickets are $15 each, available through the DIA ticket office or through the DIA website JPLAY SPORTS 10 AM, MAY 15-JUNE 19 JFamily, Hillel Day School and Come Play Detroit head outdoors this spring for a four-part sports clinic where kids will learn essential first skills under the guidance of professional coaches, build friendships and have fun. May-June session will focus on baseball and soccer skills at Francis Scott Key Elementary School, 23400 Jerome, Oak Park. $100 for the series. Info: jlive.app/ events/2039. NOA TISHBY 6-9 PM, MAY 16 Noa Tishby, producer, actor, writer and newly appointed Special Envoy for Combating Antisemitism and the Delegitimization of Israel, speaks around the world on Zionism and BDS. Come engage with this compelling author at Temple Israel as she discusses all we need to know on how to be a champion for our homeland. 6 pm Pre -Glow ($180/ person), includes heavy apps, wine, a photo with

for all moms with babies 0-6 months old. Offered at no cost thanks to the Adam and Hannah Kessler Family Fund. Register: jlive.app/ events/2022.

NOA TISHBY 6-9 PM, MAY 16 Ms. Tishby and a signed copy of her book. 7:30 pm: main speaking event (Free for Temple Israel members / $18 suggested donation for non-members). Special introduction by Daniel Aschheim, Deputy Consul General to the Midwest, followed by a discussion with Noa Tishby on her book, Israel: A Guide to the Most Misunderstood Country on Earth. Register at www.temple-israel.org/event/ Tishby. CHADD MEETING 7:30-8:30 PM, MAY 16 Fran Parker, coordinator, Eastern Oakland County CHADD, and Arthur Robin, professional adviser, Eastern Oakland County CHADD, will conduct an informal discussion and offer support by Zoom. Info: 248-988-6716. HADASSAH WATCH PARTY 7:30 P.M. MAY 17 Join Hadassah Greater Detroit’s Advocacy Committee as they host a Zoom watch party of The Road Beyond Roe: Advocating for Reproductive Rights. Recently, Congress failed to pass the Women’s Health Protection Act — further jeopardizing reproductive health access across

the country. Tune in to hear writer and activist Letty Cottin Pogrebin interviewed by Esther Kustanowitz, as well as remarks by members of Congress, high-risk pregnancy specialist Dr. Chavi Eve Karkowsky, Hadassah National President Rhoda Smolow and other Hadassah leaders. Questions? Contact us at greaterdetroit@hadassah.org or 248-683-5030. Register by May 15 at www. hadassahmidwest.org/ GDRoe. WHAT’S IN A NAME? 7:45-9 PM MAY 17 Join Temple Israel’s Rabbi Jen Kaluzny and come learn about why our names hold so much meaning. Get your kids ready for camp and take a few minutes for yourself, too. Order your personalized camp swag from Perfect Trading, hang out with your friends and enjoy some great snacks and wine. Register at www. temple-israel.org. FOR NEW MOMS NOON-1 PM, MAY 18 Meet and connect online with other moms to celebrate successes and help each other through the challenging days of babyhood. This program is intended

BRAIN HEALTH 1-2:30 PM, MAY 18 A Jewish Family Service presentation. Lynn Breuer, LMSW, CDP, will help normalize our experiences and talk about the critical role our brain plays in processing our emotions as well as recovering from trauma and emotional distress. She will share strategies and explain how we can grow, heal and build resiliency as we move forward with intention. Register in advance for this Zoom event; after registering, you will receive a link via email to join the meeting. Info:MindU@jfsdetroit.org or 248-788-MIND. LAG B’OMER CREATIVE COUNTING 7-9 PM, MAY 18 Lag b’Omer Mosaic Making at Creative Arts Studio, Royal Oak. Join The Well and using art as our medium, we will explore the themes of harmony, humility, resilience, beauty, strength, loving kindness and wisdom, as we learn about how counting the Omer invites us to meaningfully grow and celebrate together. Participants will receive their own mosaic picture frame and enjoy snacks and drinks throughout the evening. Subsidized tickets are available for $20 per person. This includes your mosaic picture frame project and all supplies (valued at $35) and snacks and drinks throughout the night. You will be required to show proof of COVID-19 vaccine upon arrival. Register at https://jlive. app/events/2251.

WOMEN’S EVENT 6-9 PM, MAY 19 Sky Foundation Inc. will host its Annual Women’s Event at Bloomfield Hills Country Club with complimentary valet service. Cocktail hour, seated dinner, raffle baskets, photographer, and 52- card raffle. Individual tickets are $100; pancreatic cancer survivors are invited for free. For information, visit SkyFoundationInc.org/ WomensEvent2022 or call 248-385-5143. BOOK TALK 7-9 pm, MAY 19 JFamily Detroit and Aish Detroit will sponsor a Parents Night Out, featuring local author and founder of FAAB Consulting, Franki Bagdade. Shmooze and nosh then explore three of the most popular topics in Franki’s book I Love My Kids But I Don’t Always Like Them through the lens of parenting children who struggle with excessive worries, difficulty focusing and sitting still. Free copies of the book will be given to the first 15 people who register. Drinks and snacks will be served. Cost: $10. Info: jlive.app/ events/2097. FIRE! 7 PM, MAY 19 ChabaD presents FIRE, a premiere event for Lag b’Omer featuring upscale food and beverage in an outdoor setting and a festive ambience. Our archery workshop will be making a comeback, our grill will feature premium meats and vegan fare, and participants will enjoy an Israeli style bonfire with a traditional s’mores bar and live music. This event is co-sponsored by Hillel of Metro Detroit. Tickets at www.chabadinthed.org/events/fire. continued on page 60 MAY 12 • 2022

continued from page 59

A DARK DREAM 7-9 PM, MAY 19 Battle of Homestead Foundation hosts a Zoom program on “Death of a Jewish Radical in Erie, 1922: Echoes from a Century Ago.” On April 5, 1922, an Erie, Pa., postman discovered the

lifeless body of Polishborn Herman Martius at his dry goods store on West 18th Street. Martius’ head had been bashed in, purportedly by an axe. A century later, the murder of Herman Martius remains unsolved. But many of the dangerous

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thejewishnews.com/newsletter MAY 12 • 2022

An Unassuming Powerhouse RONELLE GRIER CONTRIBUTING WRITER

hen asked about himself, Paul Borman would say he was “just a guy who sold bananas.” To everyone else, he was an inspiring community leader, a staunch Israel supporter, a generous philanthropist, an innovative entrepreneur, and a devoted son, brother, husband, father, grandfather and great-grandfather. Paul Borman, former CEO of Farmer Jack supermarkets, died May 3, 2022, surrounded by the family he held so dear. He was 89. Paul was born in Detroit in 1932 to Molly and Abraham Borman, who exemplified the importance of Jewish tradition and devotion to family. When Abraham and his brother, Tom, emigrated from Russia, they opened a neighborhood fruit stand, which later became one of Detroit’s largest grocery chains, due in large part to Paul’s exemplary work ethic and exceptional business acumen. After graduating from Highland Park High School, Paul attended Michigan State University in 1953, earning a degree in food marketing. He served as a cook in the Army before meeting the love of his life, Marlene Jaffa. Their 67-year marriage was a true partnership in every sense of the word, encompassing romance, shared values and mutual respect. Together they raised three sons and created a home where Jewish traditions were honored and family was central. Despite leaving for the office before the children were awake in the morning, he always arrived home in time

MAY 12 • 2022

Paul Borman

for dinner. While he enjoyed special relationships with each of his sons, he had uncompromising standards and high expectations. In 1962, Paul became president of Borman Foods, making his one of the youngest CEOs of a public company in the country. He led the transition from the former Food Fair stores to the popular and successful Farmer Jack supermarket chain. By the early 1980s, the company had more than 100 stores, 7,500 employees and more than $1 billion in revenue. He used innovative marketing techniques that distinguished Farmer Jack stores from the competition. He was the largest importer of Israeli grocery products, carrying items that were not sold elsewhere. He lent further support to Israel by helping food manufacturers prepare and package their products for the U.S. market and encouraging Jewish grocers across the country to stock their stores with Israeli products. He and Marlene made countless trips to Israel, serv-

ing as guides to former Detroit Free Press publisher David Lawrence and Vice President George Bush. For all his accomplishments, his family was his most important legacy. He took great delight in watching his family grow, embracing his sons’ wives and their families as his own. His granddaughter Molly described him as a “warm, kind, silly and humble” Zaydie who loved spending time with his grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Paul was devoted to the city of Detroit, keeping the Detroit Farmer Jack stores open during the 1967 riots and later adding new stores to provide jobs and fresh food to the local communities. He believed in keeping prices uniform in every store, from city to suburbs. He further demonstrated his commitment to Detroit as a founding member of New Detroit and a board member of several organizations including the United Foundation, the Detroit Symphony, the Detroit Economic Growth Corporation and the University of Detroit. When the iconic Thanksgiving parade was in jeopardy, Paul was part of a small group of Detroit CEOs who ensured the event would continue by establishing the Michigan Thanksgiving Parade Foundation. For many years, he was part of the parade’s “clown corps,” a tradition carried on by his sons and grandchildren. He and Marlene were involved in numerous philanthropic efforts throughout

their lives, in metro Detroit and beyond, including founding the Jewish studies program at Michigan State University and overseeing worldwide fundraising for the Hermelin Campus for World ORT in Israel. Despite receiving countless awards and accolades, Paul preferred to stay out of the limelight, a “humble grocer” who touched the lives of thousands in his own quiet way. Paul Borman is survived by his loving wife of 67 years, Marlene; sons and daughters-in-law, Stuart (Hilary) Borman, Gilbert Borman and Eric (Julie) Borman; grandchildren, Molly and Larry Borman Heymont, Hannah and Marc Crane, Harry Borman, Samuel Borman, Jonathan and Whitney Borman, Alex Borman; great-grandchildren, Henry Heymont, Claire Crane and Stella Crane; and brother and sister-in-law, Leonard (Bobbie) Borman. He was also the brother of the late Nettie (the late Morey) Firestone. Interment was at Clover Hill Park Cemetery. Contributions may be made to Weizmann Institute, 6735 Telegraph Road, Suite 365, Bloomfield Hills, MI 48301, weizmannusa.org; ORT America Michigan Region, 6735 Telegraph Road, Suite 350, Bloomfield Township, MI 48301, ortamerica.org; Hebrew Free Loan, 6735 Telegraph Road, Suite 300, Bloomfield Hills, MI 48301, hfldetroit.org; or The Parade Company, 9500 Mt. Elliott, Studio A, Detroit, MI 48211, theparade.org. Arrangements by Ira Kaufman Chapel.

OBITUARIES

OF BLESSED MEMORY

LILLIAN BINDER (nee Gluck), 95, of Highland Park, Ill., died April 30, 2022. She was an original. She was married at 18 to neighbor Irving Rosenberg, who, seven years older, had returned from service in WWII and won her heart at a dance; Lillian was the belle of every ball. She was heartbroken when she became a widow at age 50 and resolved to live life to the fullest; she did so for the next 45 years. Lillian lit up every room, became not only a wife and mother, but a watercolor artist, one of the first Weight Watchers lecturers in the Michigan area and a sought-after fashion coordinator. She befriended all she met as she traveled around the world, from Japan to her parents’ native Hungary (she was fluent in Hungarian), and closer to home at her favorite Once Upon a Bagel, attending sports events for her grandchildren and greatgrandchildren and the numerous JUF events she loved. Lillian was devoted to her brother Emil, who contracted polio before the vaccine was available, and whose sparkle and resilience inspired her each day. She led her life with love, vigor and beauty, always toasting to Happy Times, including her 95th Zoom birthday with all her children, grandchildren and greatgrandchildren toasting their beloved Gigi (Glamorous

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continued on page 64 MAY 12 • 2022

A Life of Love and Creativity

he Detroit Jewish News family mourns the loss of its gifted graphic designer Pamela Ann Mahn. Pam, 67, of Shelby Township, passed away on May 2, 2022, surrounded by her adoring family. She was a key member of the JN’s award-winning design team until 2014 when she was diagnosed with lung cancer. Pam was a joy to work with, and her creative skills and vibrant sense of humor will always be remembered. While working at the JN, Pam developed a respect and affinity for the Jewish community and continued to receive and read the Jewish News long after working there. Pam’s heart outpoured love. “Mom had no greater love than that for her children and grandchildren,” said daughter Lindsay Francuck. “Such love was apparent in her every move and her every word. We hold no doubt that she lived longer just to watch Jameson and Lucia grow. They were truly her greatest blessing.” Pam had a deep affection for her siblings, shown with a delicate balance of humor, love and wit. To have witnessed the “sibs” in action was a treat. Mom was the “baby” of the siblings, and she always relished that place in her family. Pam loved animals, plants, flowers, chocolates and a good steak prepared by her son-in-law, Scott. Resting on a lake or on the boat with the wind in her face, she felt the most peace. Mackinac

MAY 12 • 2022

Pamela Ann Mahn

Island was her favorite place and one that she frequently visited. She most admired “May Day” (May 1) in which each family member would call her to wish her a “Happy May Day!” She has entrusted her granddaughter Lucia to carry on the tradition of May Day. “It is only fitting that Mom stayed with us all this May Day and departed on the next day,” said Lindsay. Pam was extremely talented and creative. She had an eye for detail and perfection. Sewing was one of her many passions and with each item made, she inserted a tag “made by Grandma with love.” Her career in the graphic arts industry allowed her to tap into her creative side as well as bring joy and laughter to all she worked with. With every job, she formed lasting friendships. If you worked with Pam, you loved every ounce of it. Pam’s last place of employment, the Jewish News, enriched her life greatly. She thoroughly enjoyed working there and

the friendships that were forged. The sharing of faiths was something she held dear to her heart. Every Friday, Pam would greet her Jewish coworkers with a heartfelt “Shabbat Shalom.” The “gift of time” was always apparent in Pam’s nearly eight-year journey with lung cancer. Her faith allowed such a privilege of more time, as did her oncologist, Dr. Gregory Kalemkerian at the University of Michigan, who guided her every step of that journey. Her last few weeks were consumed by an outpouring of emotion to friends, family and all who knew her. Pamela Ann Mahn was the beloved mother of Daniel Succarde and Lindsay (Scott) Francuck; treasured grandmother of Jameson and Lucia; cherished sister of Judy, Rosie, Joe and the late Jim; daughter of the late Joseph Mahn and the late Rosemary Carrier. Pam will be dearly missed by a host of nieces and nephews, cousins and friends. Services were held at Resurrection Cemetery in Clinton Township. Contributions may be made to the Lung Cancer Research Fund (Kalemkerian) at the University of Michigan. Checks may be made to “University of Michigan” and sent to the Michigan Medicine Office of Development, 777 E. Eisenhower Pkwy., Suite 650, Ann Arbor, MI 48108; by phone at (734) 764-6777; or online at the link: tinyurl.com/bddh5k25.

OBITUARIES

OF BLESSED MEMORY continued from page 63

Grandma). Mrs. Binder was the beloved wife of the late Fred Marrich, the late Herman Binder and her first love, Irving Rosenberg. She was the loving mother of Dr. David (Ann) Rosenberg, Sherry Rose, Carolyn (Dr. Steven Nasatir) Rosenberg; loving stepmother of Nancy “ Chani” (the late Howard “Tzvi”) Sherizen, and Larry (Debbie) Marrich; proud grandmother of Dr. Barry (Dr. Sharon) Rosenberg, Stevan (Heather) Rosenberg, Dr. Kevin (Michelle) Rosenberg, Rochelle-Leigh (Daniel BenZadok) Rosenberg, Lonnie (Risa) Nasatir, Scott (Emily) Nasatir, Randy Nasatir, Brandon Nasatir, Eli Nasatir, Kalman Sherizen, Leah and Natan Berry, Moshe and Batya Sherizen, Naomi and Shlomo Radner, Aryeh and Deniella Sherizen, Benyamin and Devorah Sherizen, and the late Shalom Nasatir; cherished great-grandmother of Rachel, Drew, Lauren, Alexa, Brooke, Carly, Hannah, Nathan, Joseph, Abner, Julia, Naomi, Leo, Levi, Leo, Azriel, Shevy, Rochel, Chananya, Kayla, Abi Michal, Tzvi, Dassi, Eliana, Shira, Yaakov, Daniel, Ruthie, Adina and Tehilla. dear sister of the late Emil Gluck. A service was held at Chicago Jewish Funerals in Skokie, Ill. Interment was at Westlawn. Contributions may be made to the Jewish Federation Lillian Binder Memorial Fund, 30 S. Wells St., Chicago, IL 60606, donatenow.juf.org/Binder. Arrangements by Chicago Jewish Funerals-Skokie Chapel, 847-229-8822, cjfinfo. com.

JEAN PAULA BLOSTEIN, 93, of Royal Oak, died May 1, 2022. She is survived by her sons and daughter-in-law, Dr. Paul Blostein, Joel Blostein and Barbara Oppewall; grandchildren, Susan Watson Mould and Antonio Mould, Benjamin Blostein and Freida Blostein; greatgranddaughter, Simone Mould. Mrs. Blostein was the beloved wife of the late George Blostein; and the loving sister of the late Miriam and the late Thayer Warshaw, the late Philip and the late Celia Assiran. Interment was at

Beth El Memorial Park. Contributions may be made to the Alzheimer’s Association-Greater Michigan Chapter, 25200 Telegraph Road, Suite 100, Southfield, MI 48033, alz. org/gmc; or to a charity of one’s choice. Arrangements Ira Kaufman Chapel. SAM BOOCKER, 95, of Southfield, died May 3, 2022. He was a former member of Congregation B’nai Moshe, Congregation Beth Achim and Adat Shalom Synagogue. Mr. Boocker is survived by his wife of 40 years, Joan Boocker; children,

Carol and Jerry Doctrow of Baltimore, Md., Larry Boocker and Marilyn Dow of Royal Oak, Andrea Boocker and Ross Benchik of Southfield, Nancy Boocker of Tacoma Park, Md., Colin Boocker of Haslett, Mich.; grandchildren, Brian and Amber Doctrow, Neil Benchik; great-grandson, Elliott Doctrow; brothersin-law and sisters-inlaw, Malcom and Susan McLetchie, Elliot and Beverly Rappaport; many loving nieces, nephews, other relatives, friends and students. He was the beloved husband of the late Bernice Boocker. Contributions may be

made to Karmanos Cancer Institute, 4100 John R, Detroit, MI 48201; American Heart Association, 27777 Franklin Road, Suite 1150, Southfield, MI 48034; Glaucoma Foundation, 80 Maiden Lane, Suite 700, New York, NY 10038; or Yad Ezra, 2850 W. 11 Mile Road, Berkley, MI 48072. A graveside service was held at Adat Shalom Memorial Park Cemetery in Livonia. Arrangements by Hebrew Memorial Chapel. JO MARGERY GILBERT, 83, of Farmington Hills, died May 2, 2022. She is survived by her son, continued on page 67

The Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit Honors the Memory of

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MAY 12 • 2022

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A Spirit of Adventure

arry Kadans, 83, of West loved his afternoon routine of Bloomfield, passed away swimming and working out at the on May 2, 2022. JCC. Over the years, it allowed He was born in Washington, him to develop friendships with D.C., and moved to Detroit when people from various backgrounds he was 13 years old. Following his and walks of life. graduation from Wilbur Wright Barry had a special way of High School, Barry opened a connecting with people; often it used car lot, Bargain would start by simply Lot, on Livernois in asking a person about the 1960s. He was also the origin of their an active builder in name. As the conMichigan from 1965 versation progressed, until his death. barriers fell and Barry Barry was always an made a friend to the adventurous kid and end. He used this was so excited and approach with his proud to join the Navy doctors, nurses, recepin 1957. He loved tionists and radiation Barry Kadans telling stories about technicians, leaving his time in the Navy, the jobs he behind smiles and laughs for the had, including firefighter, security care providers. guard and personal driver to the Barry passed away after a yearbase commander. He loved every long battle with glioblastoma. He minute of the Navy and expressed never complained though he had a desire to join up today. much he could complain about. His true passion in life was He was positive throughout his flying. Barry got his pilot’s license life and it continued over the past in 1963 after seeing an ad in year. His caregivers remarked the Detroit News for skydiving at how they had never helped a perRomeo Airport. It was too windy son as ill as Barry and not hear for skydiving; instead, he was any complaints. offered a flight lesson. And so He was the cherished father began his lifelong love affair with of Alison Kadans, Jeffrey and aviation. He purchased his first Jennifer Kadans, and Mark plane in 1971; and with his bold Kadans; adored grandpa of Sarah and courageous spirit, his pilot’s and Jacob Kadans; loving comlicense and his airplane, Barry’s panion and best friend of Julie world opened even more, giving Shull; beloved “stepdad” to Julie’s him the opportunity to meet children, Jeffrey and Lynne Shull; many wonderful people, includdevoted son of the late Joseph ing some of his aviation heroes. and the late Rose Kadans. He was In 2018, Barry was awarded predeceased by his cousin and the Wright Brothers’ Master Pilot dear friend, Ronald Rossen. Award in recognition of his dediInterment was at Hebrew cated service, technical expertise, Memorial Park. Contributions professionalism and many outmay be to Jewish Hospice & standing contributions to further- Chaplaincy Network, 6555 ing the cause of aviation safety. A W. Maple, West Bloomfield, pilot must have flown 50 years or MI 48322, jewishhospice.org; more to be eligible for this award. or to a charity of one’s choice. Barry loved last-minute travel Arrangements by Ira Kaufman plans and spontaneity, but he also Chapel.

OBITUARIES

OF BLESSED MEMORY continued from page 64

Steven Gilbert; daughters and sons-in-law, Ruth and Steven Chaness, and Margo and Karl Zakalik; son-in-law, Jim Cahill; grandchildren, Sam Gilbert, Jessi and Alan Vance, James Cahill, Jake Cahill, David Chaness, Samantha Chaness, Brad Gurwin, Jack Gurwin and Naomi Zakalik; sisters-in-law, Laura Tilds and Anita Lieberman; many loving nieces, nephew, cousins, friends; her loving pet, P-Nut. Mrs. Gilbert was the beloved wife for 55 years of the late Dr. Daniel Gilbert; the cherished mother of the late Hope Ann Gilbert and the late Julie Cahill; the loving sister of the late Barry Tilds; the dear sister-in-law

of the late Joseph and the late Shyrle Gilbert, and the late Allan Gilbert; and the devoted daughter of the late Paul and the late Clare Tilds. Interment was at Clover Hill Park Cemetery. Contributions may be made to Jewish Hospice & Chaplaincy Network, Carole Jo Lasser Music Fund, 6555 W. Maple, West Bloomfield, MI 48322, jewishhospice. org; or to a charity of one’s choice. Arrangements by Ira Kaufman Chapel. JANIECE HOMER, 92, of West Bloomfield, died May 1, 2022. She is survived by her beloved

husband, Leonard Homer; son and daughter-in-law, Robert and Lisa Gordon; stepchildren, Dr. Kevin (Ela) Homer, Dr. Scott Homer and Dr. Brian Homer; grandchildren, Daniel Homer, Michael Homer, Madison Homer, Shezaf Nof, Mikayla Homer, Zach Homer and Olivia Homer; sisters, Harriett Lusky, Faith Otis; many loving nieces, nephews, other family members and friends. She is also survived by her caregiver puppy, Patches. Mrs. Homer was the sister-in-law of the late Seymour Lusky; sister of the late Donald Greenbaum; daughter of the late Joe and the late Bella Greenbaum.

Interment took place at Hebrew Memorial Park Cemetery in Clinton Township. Contributions may be made to the Alzheimer’s Association, the Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute or Adat Shalom Synagogue. Arrangements by Dorfman Chapel. SALLY LEVINE, 91, of Farmington Hills, died April 30, 2022. She is survived by her son and daughter-in-law, Jay and Becky Levine; daughter, Nancy Levine; grandchildren, Rikki Levine, and Kelsi and Zachary Yarost; brother, Larry Lebowitz; many loving continued on page 68

Serving each family. Consoling each heart. For 105 years.

MAY 12 • 2022

OBITUARIES

OF BLESSED MEMORY continued from page 67

nieces and nephews. Mrs. Levine was the beloved wife for 62 years of the late Hyman “Hy” Levine; the cherished mother of the late Susan Michelle Levine; the dear sister-in-law of the late Linda Lebowitz, and the late Louis and the late Sandra Levine. Interment was at Oakview Cemetery. Contributions may be made to the Alzheimer’s AssociationGreater Michigan Chapter, 25200 Telegraph Road, Suite 100, Southfield, MI 48033, alz.org/gmc; or Parkinson’s Foundation of Michigan, 30400 Telegraph Road, Suite 150, Bingham Farms, MI 48025, parkinsonsmi. org. Arrangements by Ira Kaufman Chapel.

MAY 12 • 2022

ELLEN ZIFF, 93, of Novi, died May 4, 2022. She is survived by her sons and daughtersin-law, Dr. Jeffrey (Gaye Averbuch) Soffa, Lawrence and Lydia Soffa, Fredric Weiss, Leonard and Deborah Weiss; daughters and sons-in-law, Helayne and Terry Marchand, Karen (Steve Beck) Pad, Mimi McCullough, Tammy and Ken Golder; loving grandchildren, Dr. Jason (Stacey) Soffa, Ryan (Jennifer) Soffa, Justin (Marissa) Soffa, Jordan (Mayumi) Soffa, Alison Soffa, Brianah Soffa, Sabrinah (Brandon) Hunt, Bryan (Ashley) Marchand,

Alyson Marchand, Nora Weiss, Audrey Weiss, Erin Pad, Joshua (Michelle) Pad, Morgan Pad, Tracy Weiss, Lowell (Colleen) Weiss, Anne (Michael Nordloh) McCullough, Todd McCullough, David Golder and Meryl Golder; 15 great-grandchildren, many nieces, nephews other family members and friends. Mrs. Ziff was the beloved wife of the late Larry Ziff; mother of the late Judy Weiss; sister of the late Evelyn Miller, the late Louise Weisman and the late Harmon Harris. Interment took place at Clover Hill Park Cemetery in Birmingham. Contributions may be made to Juvenile Diabetes

Research Foundation or Food Gatherers. Arrangements by Dorfman Chapel.

OBITUARY CHARGES The processing fee for obituaries is: $125 for up to 100 words; $1 per word thereafter. A photo counts as 15 words. There is no charge for a Holocaust survivor icon. The JN reserves the right to edit wording to conform to its style considerations. For information, have your funeral director call the JN or you may call Sy Manello, editorial assistant, at (248) 351-5147 or email him at smanello@ thejewishnews.com.

Sen. Orrin Hatch, Friend of Jews, Israel

rrin Hatch died April 30, 2022, at the age of 88 from complications of a stroke. The longest-serving Republican in the history of the Senate was a devout Mormon from Utah. But he used his Mormon faith to style himself as a lifelong friend of Jews and Israel — and the most visible way he showed his adoration was through the mezuzah he wore around his neck. “It is difficult for me to express the profound reverence I have for the Jewish people,” Hatch said in a May 14, 2018, speech on the floor of the Senate. “As a symbol of my respect, I wear a mezuzah around my neck. I have done so every day for the past almost four decades — actually, more than four decades.” A mezuzah is a small box that contains a small scroll with Torah verses — and is normally put on the doorposts of Jewish homes. But some Jews have been known to turn them into necklaces. “The mezuzah reminds me of the affinity that I, as a member of the Mormon faith, hold for the Jewish people and their history,” Hatch continued in his speech. He drew a link between Israel and the state of Utah, which was settled by Mormons in the 19th century following the murder of their prophet Joseph Smith, who had the goal of founding a state in which to practice the faith — and polygamy — freely. “Both Israel and Utah were founded by religious minorities seeking refuge from persecution,” Hatch said. Hatch’s professed love of the Jewish people didn’t end with his mezuzah. An accomplished songwriter, he also once wrote and performed a Chanukah song

express our heartfelt condolences to the family of

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WORLD ORT & ORT AMERICA

Sen. Orrin Hatch in his office on Dec. 11, 2018, as he prepared to depart the U.S. Senate.

at the request of Jewish journalist Jeffrey Goldberg. The song, “Eight Days of Hanukkah,” was later recorded for Tablet magazine and contained the lyrics: “A small band of people led the way / Through the darkest night they pray / Seeking religious freedom, they / Did more than just survive.” When Hatch retired from the Senate in 2019, after being first elected in 1976, he had served seven terms and played a large role in crafting legislation and securing Supreme Court justices that collectively pushed forward a heavily conservative identity. For the last four years of his career, as president pro tempore of the Senate, Hatch was third in the line of presidential succession. He traveled many times to Israel, where he delighted in taking part in Shabbat dinners and referred to the Israel-U.S. bond as “unbreakable.” Hatch’s passing was mourned by the pro-Israel lobbying group AIPAC, which tweeted that he “had a genuine affection for the Jewish state.” Nathan Diament, the executive director of the Orthodox Union Advocacy Center, told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that Hatch was also key to passing religious freedom laws that benefited the Orthodox community.

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MAY 12 • 2022

Looking Back

From the William Davidson Digital Archive of Jewish Detroit History accessible at www.djnfoundation.org

The Windsor-Detroit Jewish Connection

his week and next, intrepid JN reporter Danny Schwartz is featuring Congregation Beth El and Congregation Shaar Hashomayim, both of Windsor, in his weekly “Synagogue Spotlight.” As most of us know, many Michiganders and Detroiters currently have Canadian relatives or, at the least, Canadian ancestors. This is certainly the case for Jewish Michiganders (or Michiganians, depending upon your personal taste in state monikers). Mike Smith Inspired, I decided to explore Alene and Graham Landau the nature of Windsor-Detroit Archivist Chair Jewish relationships in the William Davidson Digital Archive of Jewish Detroit History. In short, the pages of the Detroit Jewish Chronicle and JN provide indisputable proof of close communal ties between Jewish Detroiters and Windsorites. By the way, Congregation Beth El and Congregation Shaar Hashomayim, Windsor, are mentioned on more than 2,000 pages in the Archive. Jewish communities in both Windsor and Detroit have long histories. The first Jew to settle in Sandwich was Moses David in 1790 (Sandwich was one of several villages incorporated into the city of Windsor in 1935). Chapman Abraham, a fur trader from Montreal, was the first recorded Jew in Detroit in 1762. This was one year after the first Jew in Michigan, Ezekiel Solomon, another fur trader, arrived at Fort Michilimackinac, now Mackinaw City, Michigan. Beginning in 1916, “Windsor” is mentioned on 14,100 pages of the Archive. Whew! Of course, many citations relate to Windsor Street in Metro Detroit (there is a Detroit Street in Windsor), stores and restaurants in Windsor (the JN’s Danny Raskin loved the Tunnel BBQ) and Windsor shoes (I must admit — fashion-horse that I am — that I did not realize England’s Duke

MAY 12 • 2022

of Windsor inspired such stylish shoes). Beyond those types of references, however, the Davidson Archive holds a lot of stories about Windsor’s Jewish community. The first mention of Windsor was in the April 21, 1916, Chronicle, the newspaper’s eighth issue. It was an announcement for the “decided success” of a “Maccabean play” presented at a benefit for Jewish War Sufferers. From that time forward, the Society Pages of the Chronicle and JN hold thousands of items regarding synagogue and societal news from Windsor. Over the years, the Archive also published thousands of advertisements for Windsor businesses and products. Sometimes, the ads provided evidence of cross-river business partnerships. For example, see the 1917 ads for Royal Salad Dressing from Horton-Cato Mfg. Co. based in Windsor and Detroit. Many of us have shopped in Windsor stores such as the famous Freed’s, featured in the Dec. 1, 2005, JN. Hundreds of marriages between Detroiters and Windsorites have been announced in the Chronicle and JN. For a more in-depth look at love across the Detroit River, see “Cross-Border Bliss” by Ronelle Grier. It states that: “Wedding a Windsorite can be ‘the best of both worlds’ (Aug. 1, 2003).” An earlier article, “Tunnel of Love,” discusses how “Windsorites like Allen Feur look for people to date across the border and elsewhere (July 10, 1987).” The JN also holds stories about other cross-border events. Jewish Detroiters have attended “Windsor Reunions” (June 28, 2018). The Jewish Historical Society of Michigan has sponsored tours of Jewish sites in Windsor (Aug. 1, 2013). Jewish Detroit has a historic, intimate relationship with Windsor. It’s been a love affair since the 18th century. Want to learn more? Go to the DJN Foundation archives, available for free at www.djnfoundation.org.

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Articles inside

Looking Back

Community Calendar

Celebrity News

Broadway-Bound

HBO Original Film Tells the story of Boxer at Auschwitz

Torah Portion

Hall Doors Open Again

A ‘Late Bloomer’

Powering Babson College Baseball

Changing Career Paths

Here’s To

Building Teams

A Passion for Music

Chicken Soup & A Smile

Moments

Synagogue Spotlight

Sending Kids to Camp for 120 Years

Grieving Grandmother Benefits Group Homes

A Healing Touch

Chef Aaron Egan’s Steak Potato Dinner

Welcome Back