DJN August 5, 2021

THE DETROIT

JEWISH NEWS 200 Aug. 5-11, 2021 / 27 Av-3 Elul 5781

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Thank you,

Danny...

you gave us the best!

DANNY RASKIN 1919-2021 See pages 14-24

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contents Aug. 5-11, 2021 / 27 Av-3 Elul 5781 | VOLUME CLIX, ISSUE 26

MAZEL TOV! 38

Moments

SPIRIT Carl Levin (1934–2021)

39

Torah portion

40

Why Preparation Is Essential for a Spiritual Experience

42

Synagogue Directory

ARTS&LIFE 44

46

48

49

Top of the Charts!

Decades-old Ann Arbor jazz band reunites to find fame and success.

Art in the Garden

Ellen Stone opens home and garden for event to benefit Mint Artists Guild.

Funkadelic!

Don Was celebrates music of legendary George Clinton in Concert of Colors program.

Celebrity News

EVENTS 50

Community Calendar

ERETZ 51

ETC.

See next week’s Jewish News for a special tribute to this great statesman.

26

PURELY COMMENTARY

32

Food Fest Returns

OUR COMMUNITY

32

Green Shabbat

4-12 Essays and viewpoints.

14

Thank you, Danny ... you gave us the best!

The life and legacy of Danny Raskin.

25

Closer to Normal

26

‘A Big Heart and a Kind Soul’

28

Funerals and shivahs edge back to usual practices without COVID restrictions.

Sen. Carl Levin led a life dedicated to public service.

Lasting Gifts

Loving patriarch, 85, carves yads for great-grandsons’ future bar mitzvahs.

U.S. Says Iran Nuclear Talks Cannot Continue ‘Indefinitely’

Hazon festival has new format and location.

Several synagogues and organizations will join Hazon event.

NOSH 34

Here’s the Beef

SPORTS

The Exchange 51 Obituaries 53 Looking Back 62 Shabbat Lights

Shabbat starts: Friday, Aug. 6, 8:28 p.m.

Shabbat ends: Saturday, Aug. 7, 9:32 p.m.

* Times according to Yeshiva Beth Yehudah calendar.

ON THE COVER: Cover photo/credit: Danny Raskin. Photo by Angie Baan Cover design: Kelly Kosek

36

Rock Solid

Home climbing gym keeps Nate Emery reaching for the stars.

thejewishnews.com

38

Helping Others Play

Facebook @DetroitJewishNews Twitter @JewishNewsDet Instagram @detroitjewishnews

Local students hold a collection drive of sports equipment.

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AUGUST 5 • 2021

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3

PURELY COMMENTARY for openers

Unlock Your Speech

I

n the morning, as part of your mad dash to work/ class/exercise, you grab your essential equipment before running out the door. A major element in what you take: keys. These are needed for the car, your office, your locker at the gym, your Sy Manello bicycle padlock, Editorial etc.

Assistant However, the word key is often a key element in expressions we use daily.

Your key to success may often be defined by how up to date you remain in your field of expertise. Are you a

key figure in your company’s operation? If so, you may be asked to be the keynote speaker at a training session.

Do not expect to be recognized for your contributions if you are always low-key. Sometimes it pays to speak up; you hold the key to your progress.

It is not uncommon these days to discover latch-key children; working parents are quite common. Do not leave sugar treats for after school, however, or the kids may get too keyed up. (All children are special and hold the keys to our hearts.)

To be an integral part of a choir you must not sing off key. Listen carefully to each

piano key.

A church key (bottle opener) is not going to get you into a place of worship. Use one too often and you may find that police will lock you up and throw away the key.

Depending on your age, you may recall vividly such things as skate keys (used on roller skates) and a can key (used to open sardine cans). The latter often broke and left one with a partially opened tin; ugh!

Pennsylvania is known as the Keystone State. Just as a keystone is the central support in an arch, this state

was central to the original colonies. (Let that be your lesson for the day.)

Do you read the credits at the end of a film? Then perhaps you have seen the term key grip. This person directs the crews of offcamera workers.

I shall now stop keying in information and let you go with the reminder that you, too, can unlock — expand — your daily conversation.

guest column

Masked Windsorites Look Across the River with Envy

D

espite Canada’s recent announcement that fully vaccinated U.S. citizens and permanent residents will be able to enter for non-essential travel starting Aug. 9, the Department of Homeland Security has Dan Brotman regrettably decided to not reciprocate and renewed its ban on non-essential travel for most foreign nationals — including Jewish Windsorites — at the U.S.-Canada land border until at least Aug. 21.

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As a U.S. citizen who lives in Windsor and works on both sides of the border, I am permitted to travel relatively freely between the two countries, which I do several times a week.

This puts me in a somewhat unique position, as I am one of a handful of members of the Windsor Jewish community who has experienced first-hand how two different countries have adapted to living with this rollercoaster of a pandemic.

These days, driving between Windsor and Detroit is what I imagine crossing East to West Berlin might have felt like in the 1980s. Although the situation

in Ontario has improved due to Canada’s accelerated vaccination campaign and subsequent loosening of restrictions, it has not been this way for the majority of the nine months I have lived here.

Up until earlier this month, even fully vaccinated Canadians were required to enter quarantine for 14 days upon returning to the country, and non-essential travel was banned between certain Canadian provinces. For a good part of this year, Canada trailed behind the U.S. in vaccinating its population due to lack of supply. Canadians were waiting four months between

doses and encouraged to mix vaccines, whereas our American neighbors were waiting the standard three to four weeks between two doses of the same vaccine.

For many months, we looked across the river with envy as our neighbors in Detroit were awash in vaccines, and our mayor even attempted to lobby the federal government to allow Michigan to share some of its surplus vaccines with Windsor.

Finally, the flood of vaccines arrived, and similar to the U.S., now most Canadians who want to get vaccinated have already had the opportunity to do so, continued on page 6

AUGUST 5 • 2021

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Since this is a DRIVE-THRU event and there are limited spots, registration is required.

To sign up to attend the Festival and/or to volunteer, go to Hazon.org/mjff.

Questions? Contact marla.schloss@hazon.org

Ben N. Teitel Trust

The Detroit Jewish News Elwin & Company Jewish Community Center of Metropolitan Detroit Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit Jewish War Veterans Department of Michigan NEXTGen Detroit Tamarack Camps Temple Beth El Temple Israel Busch’s Fresh Food Market Congregation Shir Tikvah

Isaac Agree Downtown Synagogue Jewish Family Service of Metro Detroit Jewish Senior Life JVS Human Services Temple Kol Ami Adat Shalom Synagogue Bais Chabad Torah Center West Bloomfield BBYO Michigan Region B’nai Israel Synagogue Chabad of Greater Downtown Detroit Congregation Beth Ahm

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AUGUST 5 • 2021

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PURELY COMMENTARY continued from page 4

and now only wait 28 days between receiving two doses of the same vaccine.

I experience the stark difference between our two realities as soon as I pull up to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, where the guards are generally maskless; Canadian guards and travelers are required to wear masks at border control. Despite the Delta variant, I notice that most Detroit residents continue to be maskless, including employees at grocery stores and restaurants. Shops and restaurants are buzzing, although Downtown is still relatively quiet, and people are living not too differently from their pre-pandemic lives.

Just a short drive away in Windsor, it is still not uncommon to see residents wearing N-95 masks when in their car alone or walking outside on an empty street.

Despite Ontario now being Publisher The Detroit Jewish News Foundation

| Board of Directors: Chair: Gary Torgow Vice President: David Kramer Secretary: Robin Axelrod Treasurer: Max Berlin Board members: Larry Jackier, Jeffrey Schlussel, Mark Zausmer

Senior Advisor to the Board: Mark Davidoff Alene and Graham Landau Archivist Chair: Mike Smith Founding President & Publisher Emeritus: Arthur Horwitz Founding Publisher Philip Slomovitz, of blessed memory

significantly more vaccinated than Michigan, the Detroit Jewish community appears to have come back to life in a way that we have not. Handshakes and hugs have returned, meetings are in-person again, and on almost a weekly basis invitations are being sent out to a wide swath of in-person social and cultural events. Jewish organizations throughout the city are starting to publicize international trips for young adults this fall and winter, and Detroiters are getting on planes for their summer vacations.

MORE RESTRICTIONS Throughout Ontario, masks are required in just about every indoor situation, with a maximum of 25 people permitted in a room, regardless of their vaccination status. Asking for someone’s vaccination status is still legally murky and culturally unacceptable, resulting in some

Canadians not feeling the urge to get vaccinated, as being vaccinated does not automatically translate into new freedoms.

Most meetings continue to be held via Zoom, and summer vacations are still mostly driving distance.

Whereas President Biden removed his mask on May 13 following the CDC’s revised mask guidance, many of Canada’s fully vaccinated federal and local politicians are still masked outdoors, elbow-bumping their constituents and behaving almost identically to how we all did throughout pre-vaccine 2020. Up until a couple of weeks ago, basic activities in Ontario such as getting a haircut and indoor dining were forbidden, which left small business owners no choice but to operate an underground black-market economy in order to survive.

Restricting economic activ-

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DIrector of Editorial: Jackie Headapohl jheadapohl@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 Senior Columnist: Danny Raskin, of blessed memory Contributing Writers: Nate Bloom, Rochel Burstyn, Suzanne Chessler, Annabel Cohen, Shari S. Cohen, Shelli Liebman Dorfman, Louis Finkelman, Stacy Gittleman, Esther Allweiss Ingber, Barbara Lewis, Jennifer Lovy, Rabbi Jason Miller, Alan Muskovitz, Robin Schwartz, Mike Smith, Steve Stein, Ashley Zlatopolsky

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MISSION STATEMENT The Detroit Jewish News will be of service to the Jewish community. The Detroit Jewish News will inform and educate the Jewish and general community to preserve, protect and sustain the Jewish people of greater Detroit and beyond, and the State of Israel.

VISION STATEMENT The Detroit Jewish News will operate to appeal to the broadest segments of the greater Detroit Jewish community, reflecting the diverse views and interests of the Jewish community while advancing the morale and spirit of the community and advocating Jewish unity, identity and continuity.

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AUGUST 5 • 2021

ity for so long and forbidding cross-border tourism have resulted in the closure of many small businesses throughout Windsor; I was shocked to recently walk down Erie Street in Little Italy and see so many barricaded storefronts.

There are many aspects of Canada I greatly appreciate, such as its diversity, universal healthcare and the general civility of its people. I genuinely hope that the Biden administration decides to reopen the land border next month, not only to revive cross-border tourism and reunite loved ones, but especially because Canadians will greatly benefit from observing an alternative, and in my view, more sustainable way of learning to live with COVID-19.

Originally from Boston, Dan Brotman is a member of the Windsor Jewish Community. He writes in his personal capacity.

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Postmaster: send changes to: Detroit Jewish News, 32255 Northwestern Highway, #205, Farmington Hills, Michigan 48334

To make a donation to the DETROIT JEWISH NEWS FOUNDATION go to the website www.djnfoundation.org

IN MEMORY OF OUR DEAR FRIEND,

DA N N Y R A S K I N

I knew Danny Raskin for 33 years, starting when I opened my first Andiamo Restaurant in Warren. What I can tell you about Danny is that he was a kind soul, and he wanted every restaurant to succeed. If the restaurant he was reviewing had a bad night, he would call the owner and tell them their mistakes and come back and review the restaurant again. He told me that a restaurant owner may spend their entire life savings to open a restaurant and he knew they would work 70 hours a week, sometimes more. He said “I’m not going to write a bad review, I’ll give them another chance.” Danny told me this 30 years ago and we became good friends from that point on. My restaurant was one of those 30 years ago that had a bad night!

M AY G O D B L E S S DA N N Y R A S K I N

With Love,

Joe & Rosalie Vicari & The Joe Vicari Restaurant Group Family

V I C A R I R E S TA U R A N T S . C O M

AUGUST 5 • 2021

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PURELY COMMENTARY analysis

Why Is Support for ‘Freedom of Worship for Jews’ on the Temple Mount So Controversial?

M

aybe it was just the product of the ongoing civil war between the different political parties on the Israeli right. Or maybe it was just time that an Israeli prime minister said something that, in a saner world, Jonathan S. wouldn’t be conTobin sidered controJTA.org versial.

But whatever motivated Prime Minister Naftali Bennett to speak of Israeli security forces and police acting to maintain order on Jerusalem’s Temple Mount after Arab disturbances while also “maintaining freedom of worship for Jews” at the sacred site, it was a first and, in the eyes of many in his own country’s foreign policy and security establishment, something that could be a dangerous mistake that will lead to violence.

Bennett’s statement, made on Tisha b’Av — the day on the Jewish calendar that commemorates the destruction of both the First and Second Temples that existed on the Mount — was an eye-opener for a number of reasons. But it came in the context of what appears to be a shift in policy by the new government in that, for the first time since the city was unified in 1967, it is acknowledging that Jews are being allowed to pray at the holiest place in Judaism.

After an illegal Jordanian occupation that lasted from 1948 to 1967, Israel took control of the Temple Mount when it unified Jerusalem during the Six-Day War. Israeli rule meant that for the first time in its modern history, there was complete freedom of worship at all the holy places in Jerusalem. Prior to 1948, the British — and before them, the Turks — had maintained a status quo that established Jews

gesture intended to help keep the peace, to allow the Muslim Waqf to maintain control over the Temple Mount. Those Jews who did visit were often harassed by Arabs, including police, who were vigilant against any behavior that might be construed as prayer.

That was a policy that was not challenged by any Israeli government, including those led by former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, even

Israeli security forces guard as a group of religious Jews visit the Temple Mount, also known as Haram al Sharif, in Jerusalem’s Old City, during Tisha b’Av, July 18, 2021.

as second-class citizens with respect to prayer at many holy places. During the Jordanian occupation, Jews were forbidden to pray at the Western Wall, let alone on the Temple Mount.

But the one exception to that rule after June 1967 was on the Temple Mount where Jews were, in theory, allowed to visit, but forbidden to pray.

Then-Minister of Defense Moshe Dayan decided, in a

though the coalition that has succeeded him is still to some extent claiming, as Netanyahu’s governments always did, that there has been no change in the status quo.

Dayan’s surrender of the Temple Mount has been criticized bitterly over the years, not least because it allowed the Muslim religious authorities to engage in vandalism on the site when they undertook construction projects that essen-

tially trashed the treasure trove of historical artifacts that existed underneath mosques built on the site of the two temples.

The ban on prayer was maintained because Israeli governments feared that Palestinian Arab leaders would use any gesture toward acknowledging the Mount’s holiness to Jews, as well as to the Muslims who worshiped at the mosques there, to justify violence.

Since the beginning of the conflict a century ago, leaders such as Haj Amin el-Husseini, the pro-Nazi Mufti of Jerusalem, PLO leader Yasser Arafat and his successor Mahmoud Abbas have attempted to gin up violence and hate by claiming that the Jews are planning to blow up the mosques.

Palestinians have consistently treated any acknowledgment of Jewish rights to the Mount as an intolerable insult to all of Islam — an unreasonable stand that has nevertheless been supported by the rest of the Arab and Muslim world.

Even the supposedly “moderate” Abbas hasn’t hesitated to play that card, vowing that the “filthy feet” of Jews would not be allowed to defile Jerusalem’s holy places during the so-called “stabbing intifada” in 2015 and 2016.

This appalling incitement was largely accepted

by Netanyahu as a reason to maintain the status quo. He not continued on page 12

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AUGUST 5 • 2021

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PURELY COMMENTARY guest column

Campus Antisemitism Then & Now

I

n 1985, I stood in the corner of a crowded meeting room at the Wayne State University Student Center, stone-faced, while people I did not know lined up at a microphone to denounce me before Howard Lovy the Student Newspaper Publications Board.

“I don’t think Howard Lovy should be editor of the The South End because he is biased toward Israel,” said one, referring to the name of the student newspaper, where I was up for the editor’s position. The board would decide if I should take the top job. I was next in line, and the position should have been mine.

However ...

“Howard is a Zionist, so he should be disqualified from this important job as editor of The South End.” Some of them said something about the racist rabbi, Rabbi Meir Kahane; another said something about the Sabra and Shatila massacre in Lebanon three years previously. Apparently, I was responsible for all these things and people. I should not have been surprised.

A few “anti-Zionist” students had targeted me months earlier and not only peppered the Letters to the Editor column about me but would show up at The South End office specifically to

harass and threaten me.

At this hearing, there were not dozens, but hundreds of people I had never met, telling the board about what a lousy journalist I was because I had written pieces on the opinion page in support of Israel.

The Student Newspaper Publications Board, wary of controversy because of a previous editor’s antimilitary activism, rejected me, and I did not get the job.

I was 19 years old then.

I’m 55 now and over the shock, but I look back on it as a key event in my development as a Jew and as a journalist. It was an important lesson for me in how isolating antisemitism could be.

It was difficult for me to explain to my friends and colleagues that this even was antisemitism at all. I mean, it seemed perfectly reasonable to many that my “bias” in favor of Israel’s existence compromised my impartiality. But what was the “other side” I was supposed to take equally?

Israel’s nonexistence? In 1985, at the age of 19, I lacked the words to explain to anybody that I was being targeted for harassment specifically because I was a Jew. In this way, I understand what is happening on campus today, with the rise in antisemitism masquerading as antiZionism.

SAME THING — DIFFERENT NAME The AMCHA Initiative has been tracking antisemitic incidents and activities on college campuses all over the country since 2015.

Out of curiosity, I punched Wayne State University into their database and found 16 incidents of “antisemitic expression” and “BDS activity” (Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions against Israel) between March 2016 and June of this year.

The argument, of course, can be made that all these events are not antisemitic, that they simply express solidarity with Palestinians.

And, if you’re not a Jew on campus and see and feel for yourself how these things manifest themselves in reality, it is difficult to explain this gray area between pro-Palestinian activism and antisemitic hate speech. You just know it when you feel it.

And, ultimately, Jews are gaslighted with the phrase, “Criticism of Israel is not antisemitism,” which creates a nonexistent caricature of a Jew who takes offense at every criticism of Israel.

What got me into the whole mess, and sent me down a path I continue to this day, was a story I wrote about a pamphlet. Earlier that year, the director of the campus Hillel approached me at the Wayne State Student Center. He tossed a book near my lunch tray

and asked, “Guess what I found the Muslim Students Association selling at Manoogian Hall?”

It was The Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion, that infamous czarist-era Russian forgery that set out the Jewish plan for world domination. The Hillel director knew I wrote about Jewish issues, so he challenged me to write a story about this.

“It doesn’t matter if the Protocols are fiction. Maybe they are, maybe they aren’t,” the head of the Muslim Student Association told me in an interview at the time. “But you cannot deny that many of the prophecies in this book have come true. Jews run the financial systems.”

A NEMISIS This student became my nemesis. Every time I’d write anything in The South End, there he was to refute it.

Not only that, but it became a campaign. The student organization began tracking everything I wrote. Once, I ran into one of them while shopping at Eastern Market.

I heard him say, “Zionist,” as I walked by.

OK. Yes. That was, and is, true. I am a Zionist. So, how do you describe to nonJews that, to “anti-Zionists, that is the equivalent of saying, ‘“Dirty Jew.’” How do you tell people that this was not “just criticizing Israel” when it’s part of a coordinated campaign to continued on page 12

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PURELY COMMENTARY SUPPORT from page 8

unreasonably believed that the alternative was a bloody religious conflict that would undermine Israel’s efforts to normalize relations with the rest of the Arab world and provide fodder for the Jewish state’s critics in the West.

POSSIBLE RAMIFICATIONS That decision was easy to stand by as long as the Israeli public was largely indifferent to Jewish rights on the Mount. That was backed up by the opinion of some in the Orthodox world that held that Jews should stay off the Mount since the exact location of the Temple’s Holy of Holies was unknown and thereby avoid profaning a place that only the High Priest was allowed to enter while it still existed. But in recent years, more support for the rights of Jews to pray on the Mount has been building, especially among the rightwing and religious parties.

It appears that some Jewish prayer has been going on in the last two years. In 2019, there was a report that some Jews were praying aloud there regularly in a minyan conducted openly without police interference. But the abridged informal services being held did not involve participants wearing prayer shawls or tefillin, so it somehow escaped much notice. But once Israel’s Channel 12 news reported the policy shift, it was enough to prompt violence from Arabs.

At this point, it remains to be seen what the implications of that shift and Bennett’s public expression of support for “freedom of worship for Jews” on the Mount — words

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AUGUST 5 • 2021

CAMPUS from page 10

that never passed the lips of Netanyahu during his 12 years in power, despite his being labeled as a hardline right-winger in the international press — will be.

It’s possible that Abbas and his Hamas rivals, whose firing of 4,000-plus rockets and missiles into Israel in May was rationalized as an expression of opposition to Israeli policies in Jerusalem, will use it to escalate the conflict again. Arab states, including those with relations with Israel, such as Jordan, will also feel obliged to make an issue of it as well, possibly endangering the normalization of relations with the Gulf States.

Nor is anyone expecting the United States — let alone, Europe — to express support for the right of Jewish worship on the Temple Mount.

That will create problems for Bennett and the incongruous coalition he leads. He will likely be pressured to walk back his statement from both Foreign Minister Yair Lapid and the Ra’am Arab party that provides the government with its slim majority.

Whatever the cost he must pay for having said those words, Bennett cannot take them back without doing incalculable damage to himself and Israel.

This dispute is dismissed by some as an unnecessary conflict that is harming Israel’s security merely to satisfy the wishes of extremists.

But the Palestinian claim that Jews have no rights on the Temple Mount is inextricably linked to their unwillingness to recognize the legitimacy of the Jewish presence and sovereignty anywhere in the

country.

That Abbas and his “moderates” claim there were no Temples on the Mount or the historical nature of the Jewish claims to this land isn’t merely rhetoric that enables them to compete with Hamas. It goes to the heart of their long war against Zionism that they still refuse to renounce. A Jewish state that would officially renounce Jewish rights on the Mount would be sending a message to the Palestinian street that the extremist belief that Israel will disappear isn’t a pipe dream that they must abandon if they want a peaceful future.

Those who are still trying to pressure Israel to accept a two-state solution that the Palestinian Authority has repeatedly made clear it has no interest in pursuing need to understand that peace can’t be built on the denial of Jewish rights, especially in Jerusalem.

Israel has no desire to interfere with the mosques on the Temple Mount or stop Muslim (or any) worship there. Those who circulate this lie, whether among the Palestinians or their American cheerleaders, like Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), are opponents of peace, not people working for coexistence. That even some of those who claim to be Israel’s friends think it is reasonable to deny “freedom of worship” for Jews at their most sacred site are giving unwitting aid and comfort to the very extremist forces that make peace impossible.

Jonathan S. Tobin is editor in chief of JNS—Jewish News Syndicate.

attack everything you write and, ultimately, prevent me from attaining the editor’s position?

I was alone in 1985, but today, Jewish students can find solace in online communities. Julia Jassey, a student at the University of Chicago, is emerging as a leader among young people on campus fighting back against antisemitism that masquerades as antizionism.

She runs a group called Jewish on Campus, and you can find them on Twitter, Instagram or you can write to them at connect@ jewishoncampus.org.

Of course, none of those things were available to me in 1985, so I did the next best thing: I interned for the Detroit Jewish News, which also ran a version of my story about the Protocols.

This unexpectedly led to my career as a “Jewish journalist” and, eventually, years later, as managing editor at JTA. Today, my college experience is wrapped into a lifetime of experiences in recognizing the various shades of antisemitism. It is difficult, I know, for college students. But I am also optimistic that, even though it looks worse than it was “in my day,” young Jewish communities are being formed to help define and fight the problem of campus antisemitism.

Howard Lovy is an editor and writer based in Traverse City. He is the former managing editor of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. You can find him at howardlovy.com or on twitter @howard_lovy.

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13

DAVID SACHS

GOODBYE, DEAR FRIEND

Thank you,

Danny...

you gave us the best!

The life and legacy of Danny Raskin.

JACKIE HEADAPOHL DIRECTOR OF EDITORIAL

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JN Director of Editorial Jackie Headapohl and Danny Raskin after they both received honors from the Detroit Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists in 2019.

A

n era ended at the Detroit Jewish News on July 26, 2021, with news of the death of community icon and our beloved colleague Danny Raskin at age 102, after having suffered a fall several weeks before. For the first time in the history of the paper, we have to move forward without him, and it won’t be the same. You’ll have to forgive us for wishing we had more time with someone who had already enjoyed so many years — all lived to the absolute fullest.

Danny has been with the paper since its beginning in 1942.

Although he turned down founding Publisher Philip Slomovitz’s invitation to become his associate editor, he offered to help by writing a column, the “Jewish Youth’s Listening Post,” and he’s had a column appear in every single issue — every single one — through July 29, more than 79 years’ worth.

Over those 79 years, Danny has impacted countless lives and shared countless stories in our pages and with his co-workers, some of them hard to believe, like the time he shared pie with the junior varsity of the Purple Gang or being given a watch by the gangster Bugsy Siegel’s former girlfriend or the time he sent a personal note to Hitler himself, scrawled upon a bomb by an American airman just before it was dropped. All the stories were

true. Danny led a storied life. But perhaps we should start at the beginning.

HIS EARLY YEARS Danny was born the youngest of three siblings on Jan. 23, 1919, to Louis and Minnie Raskin at Hastings and Brady in Detroit. Louis died shortly after Danny’s birth. Louis was an immigrant from Belarus who landed in Detroit and brought over his siblings and parents.

Family lore says he was the first Jewish fireman in the city. Minnie raised Danny and his siblings alone. The family soon moved to Dover Court apartments near Pingree and 12th Street, right behind the Cream of Michigan restaurant, where members of the Purple Gang hung out in the mid-’30s.

Danny was a teenager when young members of the gang were in their 20s.

“They were wonderful fellows — with me they were,” he once said. “And they were very dedicated to defending Jews.” He told a story about how he had been eating banana cream pie with the gang when they invited him along for a ride and he witnessed them put the fear of God into an antisemite by threatening him with an (unloaded) gun in the mouth. “It was a scare tactic,” Danny said.

He went to High School of Commerce in Detroit, where he learned typing and wrote columns as a teenager for the Center News at the old Jewish Center on Hazelwood. After that, he went to Detroit Institute of Technology for a year to study journalism. Then, he worked as a reporter with the Lansing State Journal and, later, covered the midnight shift at the Detroit News, where his first scoop was blowing the lid off an illegal poultry operation — someone was trying to sell plucked pigeons as chickens.

He was 23 when he wrote that first column for Detroit Jewish News founder Phil Slomovitz. The paper Danny originally thought “wouldn’t last” took off in popularity, and he left the Detroit News to work for the JN. He has said Phil offered him a “terrific deal.” He did all kinds of writing, sold advertising and helped out in many other ways.

During World War II, he used to do

a lot of work with the boys in service. “They would send me letters, and I would send letters to a lot of them,” he said at one time. “One of them, Bobby Shan, dropped a bomb on Germany that said, ‘From Danny Raskin to Hitler.’

We put the picture in the paper. I also worked with the USO. I sang and danced. And I helped sell a lot of War Bonds and got a citation from the War Department.”

One of his better efforts came in the Oct. 23, 1942, issue of the JN with a poem titled: “When Hitler’s Goose is Cooked.”

At first, Danny worked at the paper while pursuing other interests on the side. In the 1950s, Danny started a record company with his friend Al Marks. The labels were “Seville” and “Lorelei.” The company did not sell many records. As Danny recalled, “We papered the walls of my rec room with all the unsold records.” He also had an advertising agency and produced TV commercials for various companies.

He often liked to share the story about how, while at the Caucus Club in Downtown Detroit, he once heard an unknown young singer from New York.

Her name was Barbra Streisand. Danny did not like her voice at first and said she would never make it. “Then she went on the Jack Paar late-night show and the rest is history,” Danny said.

FAMILY LIFE Danny was married three times. His first marriage, which he never spoke much about, lasted only six months. Next, he was FROM THE TOP: Performing at a married to Gerrie Katz for USO show during WW II. Danny as a about 10 years. They had a toddler. Having fun son, Scott. After the divorce, at a Tigers game at it was just the two of them, the former Briggs Stadium. Dapper Scott said.

Danny looking cool “We lived in Oak Park at on a hot day. the time,” Scott told the JN. continued on page 16

AUGUST 5 • 2021

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15

GOODBYE, DEAR FRIEND continued from page 15

FROM THE TOP: Danny and Frieda Raskin with entertainer Wayne Newton. Danny’s son Scott Raskin with his daughter Hannah and son Matthew in 2006.

Danny with his wife, Frieda, and dog Gigi.

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AUGUST 5 • 2021

“It was him and me. Most of the time, we spent our nights going to restaurants, usually a three-hour affair, which I hated when I was a kid.

“Back in the day, my dad used to smoke cigars, seven inches long. He’d always be sitting in a booth, smoking a cigar, drinking coffee and talking to people, while I would sleep in the booth. It was his happy place.

“He’d tell me we’d leave when he finished his cigar or his coffee. But he never wanted his coffee warmed up — had to be fresh every time, so it was basically never-ending coffee.”

When Scott was 15, Danny married Frieda, “the love of his life,” and the family moved to Southfield. The couple was together 35 years, until her death in 2010.

Scott now lives in Salt Lake City and is the CEO of an internet company. He has two children, Matthew and Hannah, and two grandchildren, Mason and Olivia.

He said the three things his dad loved most were his column, the Jewish community and baseball.

Scott also remembers Danny as a father “who knew how to draw the lines.”

“I remember being in the car with him on our way to a Tigers game. My dad always drove the biggest, longest Cadillacs they had. I was playing with the power windows, and he told me to stop and if I did it again we would go home. I did it again, and he turned around when we were nearly there and drove home. He came home and put his robe on, and we watched it on TV.” When he was home, Danny was always in a robe. But when he went out? “Everything had to match. Suit, tie, shoes,” Scott said.

“He had dozens of custom suits, and when he bought shoes, he’d buy a pair in every color. When he left the house, he was dressed to the nines, something he continued all his life.”

Scott said his father took great joy in helping the community.

He was involved in the American Cancer Society, Variety and the Shriners, was a 32nd degree Mason and belonged to the Knights of Pythias, a non-sectarian fraternity that did community philanthropy. “And he loved to support Jewish-related charities,” Scott said. “If he were asked to help, he did, promoting charity events in his column and attending them in person.”

Over the years, Danny lent his support to multiple Jewish organizations, such as Jewish Senior Life and the Michigan Jewish Sports Hall of Fame. And he was also a frequent “guest judge” at a multitude of chili cook-offs and burger contests and “grand marshal” at many walks for causes around town.

“He was a larger-than-life figure,” Scott said.

HELPING RESTAURATEURS After the war, Danny’s weekly “Listening Post” became the place to read about social happenings in Detroit’s Jewish community. In 1964, a second column debuted under his name, the “Best of Everything,” in which he wrote about local restaurants, which continued until his death.

Danny had one rule: He would never give a restaurant a bad rap in his column because “I know how much it costs just to put that damn key in the door!”

If he had a bad experience, he would tell the owner what to do to fix it — but would not write about it. He’d return once the problem was solved and then get something in the paper. “I always tried to help out.”

continued on page 18

Danny Raskin A great friend to our community, our family and the Stage.

You will be dearly missed.

248.855.6622 www.StageDeli.com AUGUST 5 • 2021

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17

GOODBYE, DEAR FRIEND continued from page 16

And help he did. The late Matt Prentice credited a mention in Danny’s column for launching his career. The following Friday, people were lined up out the door at his deli. “If Danny hadn’t put me on the map, I would have gone down,” he said in 2008.

Mark Zarkin, good friend and owner of Lelli’s Inn on the Green in Farmington Hills, shared on Facebook after learning of Danny’s passing: “Danny Raskin, you will be missed so much by so many. These days we all say restaurants will never be the same. But without Danny Raskin writing about them every week in his column you can surely bet restaurants will never be the same.”

Photographer Linda Solomon said that a mention in Danny’s “Listening Post” column about her first exhibit in 1980 helped launch her storied career that led to her induction in the Michigan Journalism Hall of Fame.

The two would go on to become good friends. “I can’t imagine life without Danny,” she wrote in an email to the JN. “His presence, his talent, his heart, gave us lifelong smiles. He was a landmark, even though he was human. Imagine doing what you love forever? I guess that was his secret.

“As a journalist, he got it right. He made people happy. And that’s a life lesson for all of us. Make others happy forever. Danny, thank you for listening to our stories and making us feel special for all your life. Newspapers fade, but not Danny’s column. It’s framed on walls in our homes and in restaurants and it was in my Nana’s wallet.”

MANY HONORS Danny earned many accolades for his journalism over the years, most recently the Legacy Award from the Society of Professional Journalists Detroit Chapter in 2019.

But more than awards, Danny also treasured the honors given to him by those in the restaurant industry.

Zarkin, who opened the Grand Circus Diner in Detroit, made sure the decor included an artistic tribute to Danny.

“He’s just a legend in this town,” Zarkin said.

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AUGUST 5 • 2021

The Stage Deli in West Bloomfield also named a sandwich after him in honor of his 100th birthday. “The #100 Danny Raskin is, like its namesake, a timeless classic filled with sweet and spicy warmth that is sure to be a crowd favorite!” said owner Steven Goldberg of the warm, house-recipe sliced meatloaf on thick challah with sweet pickle, horseradish, mayonnaise, red onion and crisp lettuce.

“This mix of textures and flavors reminds us of Danny’s column. It delights and ends in a huge smile!” Goldberg said.

Danny also treasured the relationship he built with readers over the years. “People read my column and write to me, not only from here, but also from all over the country,” he said at age 100.

“Many times, a part of my column is nostalgia for them. It brings back good memories. I’m like a representative of their memories.”

Just 10 days before Danny’s death I, along with JN Associate Editor David Sachs, visited him in a rehab facility where he was recovering from rib injuries from a fall. Danny was cheerful, funny and sharp as a tack. He pitched to us an idea for a new column of his Detroit memories — “Danny Raskin’s Rearview Mirror-Plus.” Tragically, he took a sudden turn for the worse three days later.

I find it amazing that Danny, at age 102, still had more stories to tell and couldn’t wait to get back to his computer.

When asked a few years ago if he would change anything about his career, Danny said, “No, I don’t think so. I enjoyed the days then, and I enjoy the days today. It’s a good ride. I try to have a lot of fun.”

It was a good run. We hope you had fun … Goodbye, Danny.

Danny Raskin is survived by his son and daughter-in-law, Scott and Suzy Raskin; stepchildren, Pamela Smith, Gregory Smith, Leslie Ball and Howard

TOP TO BOTTOM: Danny is given an award depicting a bowl of matzah ball soup by David Blatt and Jeff Cohen of the Michigan Jewish Sports Foundation.

Danny and son Scott at a Society of Professional Journalists awards dinner in 2019.

Ball; grandchildren, Hannah and Nic Berglund, Matthew and Jamie Raskin, and Brad Smith; great-grandchildren, Mason and Olivia Berglund.

He was the beloved husband of the late Alfrieda “Frieda” Raskin.

Interment was at Adat Shalom Memorial Park. Contributions may be made to a charity of one’s choice.

Arrangements by Ira Kaufman Chapel.

JN Director of Editorial Jackie Headapohl acknowledges the efforts of previous writers of JN stories about Danny: former Editor Phil Jacobs, former Associate Editor Alan Hitsky and current Associate Editor David Sachs.

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AUGUST 5 • 2021

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19

Steve Goldberg, Stage Deli, West Bloomfield: I knew Danny well for many, many years in the restaurant business. He always told the truth but always in the kindest of ways. He was a link to the treasured history of Detroit area restaurants we’ve lost, the restaurants we knew and loved. He will be remembered for the memories he kept alive.

Danny came in frequently with his son, Scott, ordered a lot and held court. Rarely was he alone at his table.

He was in his element, smiling, kibitzing and sharing his encyclopedic knowledge.

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AUGUST 5 • 2021

GOODBYE, DEAR FRIEND

Danny’s Enduring Appeal ARTHUR HORWITZ PUBLISHER EMERITUS

F

or decades, the bestread parts of the Jewish News were obituaries and Danny Raskin’s columns.

In that order.

We introduced new or expanded arts & entertainment, business, sports and family sections, beefed up local coverage and secured our own correspondents in Israel and Washington, D.C. Yet survey after survey told us the same thing … obituaries and Danny Raskin’s columns were reader favorites.

Danny was the Lou Gehrig and Cal Ripken Jr. of column writing. From the March 27, 1942, inaugural edition of the Jewish News through July of 2021 — a span of nearly 80 years — he wrote more than 5,000 weekly columns (from 1964 through 1986 he wrote two weekly columns).

His initial “Jewish Youth’s Listening Post”

columns focused on Jewish Detroiters serving our country in the global battle against Axis forces in Europe and the Pacific.

As a concession to Danny on his 30th birthday, Jewish News Publisher Philip Slomovitz removed the word “youth” from his column’s title.

The year was 1949. However, Danny was forever young … pitching for the Jewish News softball team into his 70s, mentoring two generations of young chefs and exhausting those who tried to keep pace with him on the dance floor.

Danny always viewed himself as a journalist. Which he was. Yet he was also a very productive advertising executive. In May of 1986, I had just arrived in Detroit from the Baltimore Sun to run the day-to-day operations of the Jewish News. Our Southfield office was so small that a

100, upon his Danny Raskin, age Arthur Horwitz with troit Chapter of De the of ard Aw cy receiving the Lega in 2019. fessional Journalists the Society of Pro

KERI COHEN

Former Oak Park Mayor Jerry Naftaly: I wrote guest restaurant reviews for Danny’s columns. He pushed me to write about Jewish and kosher places like the former Unique Kosher Deli and Kravings, or other places with Oak Park connections, or memories of the old Farrell’s Ice Cream Parlor and Victoria Station.

Danny included my mini-reviews and recommendations for my books and plugged every one of them … Danny included me in annual birthday recognition in his columns like many of his valued and loyal readers I’ll miss you, Danny. I enjoyed our phone and email chats, some up to midnight. You were like the Energizer Bunny. A legend.

An icon.

You were, like your column heading, “The Best of Everything”

group of five commission-only account executives aggressively competed against each other for business while sharing what was essentially a large closet.

Danny, already 40 years older than the others, out-hustled and out-elbowed all of them … even for a $5 commission. At the time, he was responsible for more than half of all advertising placed in the Jewish News.

FOREVER OPTIMISTIC When a devastating fire destroyed the Jewish News offices in January of 2002, Danny provided optimism and encouragement. “We’ll survive this and be better than ever,” he predicted in his booming baritone voice while we stared at smoldering piles of debris. “The community depends on us,” he added.

However, one item didn’t survive the fire. Once occupying a place of honor in his workspace, a large, signed photo of Danny with Wayne Newton was ruined by water and soot. Initially devastated, he insisted that I include his photo in our insurance claim.

It was rejected, apparently thought of by the insurance company as worthless rather than priceless.

Danny lived and breathed Detroit and the Jewish News.

He had a special relationship with its readers and advertisers.

He was motivated to generate an engaging, entertaining and informative column for them every week … as if their lives and his own depended on it.

Obituaries and Danny Raskin. Today, they finally come together as one on the pages of the Jewish News.

Danny Raskin, thank you for your kind words of support over the many years. It was a pleasure serving you and most of all thank you for your friendship. You were an icon and you will be missed.

Danny Raskin

— The Rugiero Family

A Family Tradition Since 1964

www.antoniosrestaurants.com Danny was a great friend.

Very kind when my partner, Chuck Muer, was lost at sea in 1993. After that we regularly communicated and spoke about what we had going on at the Rochester Chop House and Kruse & Muer. A true icon in his business and will be missed by all that came to know him.

— Bill Kruse

“Only the good die young.”

“Only

-Billy Joel-

At 102 years young, you embodied The Best of Everything.

I will forever cherish your kindness, friendship, and our 40+ years of wonderful memories.

Carolyn Krieger and the entire team at kruseandmuerrestaurants.com Dine with us at any of our 7 Metro Detroit locations

“Only the good die young.”| 21 “Only AUGUST 5 • 2021

-Billy Joel-

Mark Zarkin, Steven Lelli’s on the Green, Farmington Hills: I spoke with Danny during the lockdown. He said, “If you need help, I would work here for less than a $1.25 an hour because I love your chicken soup.” That’s Danny.

He was like E.F. Hutton: Everybody listened. After writing about a restaurant, people were flocking there for the next three or four weeks.

Stuart Raider, Michigan Jewish Sports Foundation board president: Danny was the only recipient of the Michigan Jewish Sports Hall of Fame Danny Raskin Award. He was a good friend to the foundation.

My favorite story about Danny took place at the dinner when we honored him. I said I hope we don’t get a bad review. Danny smiled at me and said, “I don’t give bad reviews.

Sari Cicurel, executive director of the Michigan Jewish Sports Foundation, added, “Danny was a good friend to the foundation.

He always wrote about our events, and he would often ask his restaurant industry friends to contribute to our Greenberg Invitational auction.”

Alan Muskovitz, JN columnist: My condolences to the JN staff who knew Danny so well. What a legacy! I loved hearing about how he didn’t share negative feedback about a restaurant — instead giving the proprietors advice privately on how to improve.

A much-needed breath of fresh air in this constant negative feedback world we live in.

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GOODBYE, DEAR FRIEND

Danny: A Writer at Heart ROBERT SKLAR FORMER JN EDITOR

D

anny Raskin and I were colleagues and friends who shared a passion for writing. We’d share how sports writing spurred each of us to newspapering — for him in the 1930s, for me in the 1970s. We’d savor how we melded our love for newspapering and Judaism thanks to the Detroit Jewish News.

While celebrating the JN’s 70th anniversary year at a community party in 2012, there we were, Danny and I, talking shop about the JN’s diversity of readers. By then, Danny and I had worked together for 14 years.

Danny was best known for an upbeat style of writing about local restaurants and personalities — and for serving as grand marshal or ambassador for local parades, walks or causes.

He was astute enough in newspapering to attract a loyal readership for a staggering 79 years.

I grew up in a family of Detroit newspaper professionals: my aunt Tavy Stone was a Detroit News fashion writer, cousin George Maskin wrote about sports for the old Detroit Times and uncle Sam Sklar was a Detroit Free Press delivery supervisor. Danny, of course, knew them all.

That gave Danny and me a special connection.

VOICE OF DETROIT Danny sold advertising

Robert Sklar and Danny

Raskin at the JN’s 70t

space for most of his JN tenure. But he wasn’t shy about saying he was a writer first. That distinction meant the world to Danny.

From tracking Detroit’s war heroes in his “Jewish Youth’s Listening Post,” to serving up upbeat restaurant news and personalities tidbits in his later-revamped “The Best of Everything” to a retrospective on dining in the D and its environs via his recent backof-the-book column, Danny found fulfillment, recognition and joy in writing.

When my wife, Beth, and I socialized with Danny and his wife, Frieda, he revealed an engrossing smorgasbord of conversation about living and working in Detroit. “You bet it’s my hometown!” he’d bellow so other diners could hear.

Danny also would regale us with thoughts about Israel. Yes, he wrote about the lighter side of

h anniversary party

Jewish life; but he clearly embraced the JN’s Zionist roots nurtured by the Purely Commentary eloquence of JN founding Publisher, Editor and Columnist Philip Slomovitz.

Danny was quick to say he knew early that writing was his calling. That calling pushed him to try poetry. Nothing had the appeal of writing. Nothing so inspired and humbled him.

Writing drove, shaped and lifted him in the early years as he toiled in the recording, advertising and entertainment fields.

Later, writing helped ground him. It surely was a force for him to live purposefully to age 102.

Writing ultimately gave Danny what he so wanted, a voice that long resonated in his beloved hometown.

Robert Sklar was Editor of the JN from 1998 to 2011 and thereafter Contributing Editor until 2020.

“I read about you in Danny Raskin’s column!”

Thousands AND thousands have heard those words.

His words made us sparkle.

Danny, we will forever love you and miss you …

— Linda and Barry Solomon PHOTO BY LINDA SOLOMON

In Memory of Danny Raskin

Forever part of the Buddy’s Family.

You will be missed, Danny.

Love,

Danny, Thank you for your many years of interesting and informative columns.

Thank you for inspiring me to write... my books... my mini restaurant reviews in your columns.

I enjoyed our phone chats and our emails.

You were always full of energy. An icon. A legend.

Rest in peace, my friend. May your memory be for blessings.

— Jerry Naftaly, Former Mayor of Oak Park

AUGUST 5 • 2021

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Danny Raskin

we remember...

the stories you told, the laughs you shared and the incredible kindness you extended to everyone.

We will miss you.

ADVERTISING | PUBLISHERS 24

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AUGUST 5 • 2021

OUR COMMUNITY

About half the services from Hebrew Memorial Chapel are being held graveside.

Closer to

Normal

HEBREW MEMORIAL CHAPEL

Funerals and shivahs edge back to usual practices without COVID restrictions.

SHARI S. COHEN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

F

or many months during 2020 and 2021, Jewish funerals were held at graveside with only a limited number of attendees; some were able to watch online services. Shivahs were often held only on Zoom. These policies, established by the Michigan Board of Rabbis, were implemented to comply with the state’s COVID restrictions on public gatherings.

As vaccinations increased and COVID cases declined, the state eased restrictions in June and removed all limits on public events in July. Funerals can again be held indoors without capacity restrictions.

However, Detroit’s three Jewish funeral homes continue to conduct most services at graveside, often limited to family members only.

“Some people are still very nervous about COVID and rightfully so,” says Otto Dube, Otto Dube managing funeral director at Hebrew Memorial Chapel in Oak Park. Many funeral attendees

are older and therefore more health-conscious, he says, and there is concern about the COVID variant.

In addition, Dube says that some rabbis prefer services to be held outside. Currently, slightly more of Hebrew Memorial’s services are being held at graveside than in their chapel.

Jonathan Dorfman, coowner of the Dorfman Chapel in Farmington Hills, says, “We are on a path to get back to where things were, but a lot of people Jonathan are still cautious.”

Dorfman About half of their funerals are being held at graveside and half in their chapel, compared to 80% inside prior to COVID. At the Ira Kaufman Chapel in Southfield, about 80% of funerals are held at the grave, compared to 30-40% previously. “People have gotten more comfortable with graveside services, but I think there will be a shift when the weather changes,” says funeral director

Josh Tobias.

Graveside services offer some advantages unrelated to COVID — such as a slightJosh Tobias ly lower cost. In addition, Dube says that some people prefer a single location rather than having to travel to both the funeral chapel and cemetery. However, indoor chapels — whether at funeral homes or cemeteries — are temperature-controlled while bad weather can make graveside services uncomfortable.

LIVESTREAMING HELPS Livestreamed funeral services have become much more common. “They provided a real benefit when people couldn’t or didn’t want to travel to Detroit,” says Tobias. “It’s become much more important. It was really heartbreaking when COVID prevented family members from attending funerals.”

All three Jewish funeral homes continue to take extra precautions to counteract the potential spread of COVID,

including providing hand sanitizer and masks. Some families request that unvaccinated individuals wear masks or refrain from attending funerals and shivahs. Dorfman says that about 5-10% of funeral attendees wear masks. “It’s a comfort issue,” he explains. Tobias points out that because children can’t be vaccinated, they pose a greater risk for developing and transmitting COVID. For many months, shivahs were relegated mainly to Zoom events — eliminating the warmth of in-person gatherings but providing access for those out of town. “Everything was on Zoom and then outside,” says Tobias. Some families now hold shivahs outside at temples or synagogues, such as at Temple Israel’s outdoor pavilion.

“Shivahs have started to come back,” says Dorfman, although most temples and synagogues ask that volunteer or clergy-led services be held outside. “There are a lot of shivahs in backyards. They are very nice and comforting,” says Dube.

AUGUST 5 • 2021

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OUR COMMUNITY Sen. Carl Levin

‘A Big Heart and a Kind Soul’ Sen. Carl Levin led a life dedicated to public service.

RON KAMPEAS JTA

Editor’s Note: Look for an extensive tribute to the life of Sen. Carl Levin in next week’s Jewish News.

C

arl Levin, the Jewish Detroiter who spent 36 years as a fierce advocate for Michigan and the American people in the U.S. Senate, died July 29 at age 87.

The Levin Center at Wayne State University Law School announced his passing. Sen. Levin was diagnosed with lung cancer four years ago. The center, named for Levin, focuses on the passion of his career: government oversight.

Sen. Levin, first elected to the Senate in 1978, became his state’s longest-serving senator.

From 2001 until his retirement

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in 2015, Sen. Levin served as the chairman or the ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee. He always appeared a little disheveled and spoke softly, and his staffers described him as a rarity — a kind and accommodating boss in the world’s most intense pressure chamber.

“Carl Levin was a giant of a senator and a giant of a human being with a big heart and a kind soul,” former California Sen. Barbara Boxer told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. “He made his mark and will go down in history as one of the best.”

Sen. Levin could be fierce in eliciting testimony in the Senate as chairman of the subcommittee on investigations. Hauling Goldman Sachs executives

before his committee in 2010, amidst the carnage of the 2008 financial collapse. Under his intense questioning, his subjects squirmed on camera.

Sen. Levin’s liberal economic outlook was shaped as he watched the diminishment of his beloved city, Detroit. He fought hard for car manufacturers in Congress, knowing the lifeblood that they were for his state’s working class. He worked as a taxi driver while in college — he said he knew Detroit’s every block. He also worked on an assembly line at Chrysler.

Sen. Levin was a dove who spoke out early against the George W. Bush administration’s plans to invade Iraq. But as chairman of the committee that shaped military policy, he was also a defender of protections for the armed forces, sometimes to what fellow Democrats said was a fault. He successfully prevented bids to take investigations of sexual misconduct out of the hands of the line of command.

FAMILY ROOTS Sen. Levin grew up in a middle-class household in Detroit.

His parents, Saul and Bess Levin, were Zionists. Bess was active in Hadassah.

Future U.S. Rep. Sander “Sandy” Levin was his older brother.

“Sandy and Sander I and our sister Levin Hannah used to call ourselves Hadassah Orphans because when we got home in the afternoon, my mother was never there,” Sen. Levin said in an oral history for the Detroit Jewish Federation.

“She was volunteering for Hadassah.”

Sen. Levin was a go-to senator for lobbyists from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee and was attentive

to their requests for defense assistance to Israel. However, he parted ways with AIPAC when the lobby, heeding the Israeli government, opposed the Iran nuclear deal in 2015.

Even after his retirement in 2015, as the deal neared completion, Sen. Levin remained influential, urging his former colleagues to back the deal.

He was devoted to Michigan, traveling to its farthest corners to meet constituents. A staffer recalled to the JTA that he convened the staff after a woman in an airport complained to him that she had not heard back from his office after writing.

The talk, the staffer said, was “serious,” but not a rebuke and not unkind.

Sen. Levin’s brother Sander Levin was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1982, and from 2010-2012 — when Sander was the chairman of the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee, and Carl chaired the Senate Armed Services Committee — they were the most powerful brothers in Washington.

They were throughout their lives the closest of friends.

Sander, who retired in 2019, was replaced by his son and Carl’s nephew, Andy Levin.

Their cousin, Avern Cohn, the retired U.S. District Court judge for Eastern Michigan, spoke with former JN Editor Robert Sklar when Sen. Avern Cohn Levin announced his retirement plans in 2013.

“Carl Levin’s role in the public life of Michigan and of the nation has set a standard that few have ever in the past, or indeed in the future, will come close to,” Cohn said.

“The Jewish people should be particularly proud of having contributed Carl to the public wellbeing.”

Reform Jews, ADL Launch Partnership Amid an alarming rise in antisemitic rhetoric and violence, the Union for Reform Judaism (URJ) and ADL (Anti-Defamation League), the anti-hate organization, will join together in a multifaceted partnership to provide Reform congregations with the tools needed to address antisemitism in their communities.

The newly launched partnership will link the expertise of ADL and the resources of the URJ to better equip the Jewish community to respond to and prevent antisemitic attacks, beginning with a new online incident reporting form tailored specifically to Reform congregations and their members. The new partnership also includes collaboration around advocacy and educating youth about antisemitism.

“The scourge of antisemitism is not isolated to any one source or in any one community,” said Rabbi Rick Jacobs, president of the URJ. “The Reform Movement and ADL have long been partners in addressing and working against antisemitism, racism and other acts of injustice. This critical collaboration will further integrate that work.

“It could not come at a more pressing moment with rising vandalism and violent threats on congregations, assaults on Jewish individuals, and an increase in antisemitic rhetoric and conspiracy theories from all sides. Our community knows all too well that when hatred against one group is allowed to fester, bigotry imperils us all.”

“Antisemitic incidents are on the rise in the U.S., but we know that without complete and accurate data we do not have a full picture of the problem,” said Jonathan A. Greenblatt, ADL

CEO and national director.

“Through this partnership, we hope to encourage more reporting to help raise awareness of the threats facing the Jewish community, and to leverage our combined resources to convince policymakers of the need to devote more resources to combating extremism while ensuring the safety and security of our communities.”

Security Grant Budget Increased The Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America welcomed Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas’ recent announcement that the $180 million in federal Nonprofit Security Grant Program (NSGP) awards for fiscal year 2021 have been allocated to synagogues and other houses of worship, parochial

day schools, summer camps and a variety of other nonprofit organizations across the United States.

The allocation for FY 2021 represents a 100% increase over the previous year, which was $90 million. Since 2005, when Orthodox Union Advocacy helped spearhead the creation of the NSGP, Congress has apportioned a total of $599 million for the program. The Orthodox Union is urging Congress to increase NSGP funding for FY 2022 to $360 million.

The latest allocations follow a dramatic surge in antisemitic incidents and attacks nationwide. In recent weeks alone, a Chabad rabbi was stabbed in front of a Jewish school in Boston; a Jewish man was attacked on his way to a Brooklyn synagogue; and graves at a Baltimore Jewish cemetery were defaced with swastikas.

Honigman celebrates the life and legacy of

Senator Carl Levin, 1934-2021 Since joining Honigman as Distinguished Counsel in 2015, Carl has been a friend, mentor and partner to the entire Honigman family. He was the longest serving senator in Michigan history, a passionate supporter of equal rights for all and devoted himself to serving the people of Michigan for more than half a century.

He honored us with his presence, and we will miss him greatly.

AUGUST 5 • 2021

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JERRY ZOLYNSKY

OUR COMMUNITY

Cherna and Eugene Kowalsky.

Lasting Gifts

Loving patriarch, 85, carves yads for great-grandsons’ future bar mitzvahs.

SUZANNE CHESSLER CONTRIBUTING WRITER

E

ugene Kowalsky has celebrated important firsts in his life that reach beyond family milestones.

Kowalsky was in the first graduating class at Detroit’s Mumford High School, and his marriage to Cherna Bodzin is noted among the first wedding ceremonies performed at Congregation Shaarey Zedek in Southfield, the city where he and his wife have resided for most of their 58 years together.

Now, Kowalsky shares what he considers some important artistic lasts in his life that also reach beyond family milestones and into religious observation.

The retired Detroit science teacher and school administrator, who is 85 and battling cancer and macular degeneration, has been carving yads (pointers for Torah reading) for one grandson and three great-grandsons to use and show during congregational

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celebrations of each one’s bar mitzvah.

Anticipating possible times when he might not be present as each is called to read Torah, the couple soon will be traveling to visit family in Israel so yads can be presented in person to the boys descending from his daughter, one of three Kowalsky children raised in Michigan.

The youngest great-grandson about to receive a yad is 5 years old so the ritual object has been made smaller for practice as the boy readies to recite the parshah (Torah section) that will be his bar mitzvah reading according to the youngster’s birth date.

“My wife and I are both interested in Judaic art,” said Kowalsky, whose home-displayed collection includes a papercut of Jerusalem, lithograph of a shofar and several versions of the Birkat HaBayit (Blessing

for the Home). “My wife has done beautiful needlepoint, and she is the backbone for making tallis and tefillin bags as well as challah covers for our children.”

Kowalsky’s interest in art began when he was a student at Guest Elementary School in Detroit. After modeling objects out of clay, he turned to soap carvings and kept up with that into attendance at Wayne State University, where he met his wife at a gathering hosted by the Hillel chapter.

While working part time at the Detroit Institute of Arts, Kowalsky was asked to display his carvings as a component in a series showcasing imaginative projects created by employees. In addition to his miniature replicas of animals, he sculpted hearts planned for his then wife-to-be.

“Ten years ago, we started spending winters in Boca Raton, and I joined a wood-

OUR COMMUNITY

JERRY ZOLYNSKY

ABOVE: Eugene’s carvings, including yads he made for his grandson and great-grandsons (right). They took him four years to make.

BELOW: Needlepoint that Cherna did. Each one took 100 hours to do.

carving club believing that if I could make things out of clay, I could make them out of wood,” Kowalsky said. “I didn’t have any tools, but I found out what I needed from the members.

CARVING A LEGACY “I started carving very simple things until I was thinking about my grandsons’ and great-grandsons’ upcoming bar mitzvahs.

They are very learned in Hebrew studies and will be capable of reading the Torah, and I thought about trying to carve yads.

“I tried one with assistance from members of the club — carving, chipping away and sanding. From a rectangular block of wood, I carved the shaft of the yad and moved on to the hand. I worked at it and came out with a pointer finger and added fingernails. The hand has an extended

index finger.”

That first yad, finished five years ago, was given to a grandson in New York, and its appreciation further motivated Kowalsky to do four more for the boys living in Israel, where their celebrations will be upcoming over time.

After the yads were built, Kowalsky went to a sofer (scribe) in Israel and told him to have the appropriate parshah listed on each one along with the appropriate birthdate of the designated recipient. All that was painted on along with Kowalsky’s initials in English and Hebrew inscribed on the stem.

The Kowalskys, proud of all seven grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren, feel they haven’t left out attention to granddaughters and great-granddaughters, who, according to the Orthodox tradition they observe, will not be called to the Torah.

Cherna Kowalsky — a retired English, French and social studies teacher who worked at Hillel Day School for 38 years — enjoys cooking traditional Jewish foods and has taught her granddaughters and great-granddaughters the hows and whys of the delicacies linked to observances.

“We have given the girls knowledge, and I think that’s pretty important,” said Cherna Kowalsky, who also expressed pride in their daughters’, granddaughters’ and great-granddaughters’ various interests in academics and careers of their own choosing, including teaching and social work.

The couple — who belong to both Young Israel of Southfield and Young Israel of Oak Park as well as Congregation Torah Ohr in Boca Raton — have traveled to Israel just about every year since 1973. Before their daughters moved to Israel, Cherna’s parents

continued on page 30

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Cardiology & Heart Surgery Diabetes OUR COMMUNITY & Endocrinology Gastroenterology & GI Surgery Geriatrics Gynecology Orthopedics Pulmonology Urology Cancer Neurology & Neurosurgery Cardiology & Heart Surgery Diabetes & Endocrinology Gastroenterology & GI Surgery Geriatrics Gynecology Orthopedics Pulmonology Urology Cancer Neurology & Neurosurgery Cardiology & Heart Surgery Diabetes LEFT: Cherna Kowalsky with one of her needlepoints. & Endocrinology Gastroenterology & RIGHT: Eugene Kowalsky holds one of the yads he carved.

GI Surgery Geriatrics Gynecology continued from page 29 Orthopedics Pulmonology Urology had made aliyah, and the fami- but I am living a blessed life and looking forward to going Cancer Neurology & Neurosurgeryly visited them. to Israel once more.

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Cancer Neurology & NeurosurgeryEnergized with a blood trans- through and I am about to meet twin Cardiology & Heart Surgery Diabetes great-granddaughters we have fusion, he anticipates care only experienced through contacts at Hadassah Medical & Endocrinology GastroenterologyCenter & as arranged by his Skype.

“I will bring to my Israeli Israeli-born cancer specialist GI Surgery Geriatrics Gynecology grandson and great-grandsons at the University of Michigan Orthopedics Pulmonology Urology what I hope will last throughMedical Center. out their lifetimes. My last step “The yads will be the last Cancer Neurology & Neurosurgeryartistic work I will ever do,” to making the gifts lasting was adding a layer of polyurethane said Kowalsky, who has Cardiology & Heart Surgery Diabetes [for durability]. I’m happy and required extra lighting and & Endocrinology Gastroenterologymagnifying & joyful to reach this new year glasses as he finthese yads so the boys will ished the final yad. “I can no GI Surgery Geriatrics Gynecologylonger do this work, which has with have Judaica to remember me forever.” included making mezuzahs, Orthopedics Pulmonology Urology Cancer Neurology & Neurosurgery Cardiology & Heart Surgery Diabetes “I’M HAPPY AND JOYFUL TO REACH & Endocrinology GastroenterologyTHIS & NEW YEAR WITH THESE YADS GI Surgery Geriatrics GynecologySO THE BOYS WILL HAVE JUDAICA Orthopedics Pulmonology Urology TO REMEMBER ME FOREVER.” Cancer Neurology & Neurosurgery — EUGENE KOWALSKY Cardiology & Heart Surgery Diabetes &

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OUR COMMUNITY

Food Fest Returns

Hazon festival has new format and location.

DANNY SCHWARTZ STAFF WRITER

T

he Hazon Michigan Jewish Food Festival is back. The 2021 version will be celebrated safely and at a new location on Sunday, Aug. 15, from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. as participants drive through the grounds of the Marygrove Conservancy at McNichols and Wyoming avenues Detroit.

The festival is Hazon’s largest event in the country. The purpose of the festival is to educate

people on how they can be more sustainable and live a healthier life — and to find out what organizations do to help make a difference.

The festival was held at Eastern Market in Detroit for four years.

The last in-person festival in 2019 was estimated to draw about 7,000 people.

Not being able to meet in-person last year, Hazon created the Food Festival in a Box, seeking to

Green Shabbat Several synagogues and organizations will join Hazon event.

DANNY SCHWARTZ STAFF WRITER

O

n Friday night and Saturday morning, Aug. 13-14, members of the Metro Detroit Jewish community will come together to celebrate Green Shabbat, sponsored by Hazon Detroit.

More than a dozen partnering synagogues and Jewish organizations will spend Shabbat, each from its own location, engaged in environmentally friendly practices, learning about Jewish connections to the Earth, advocating on behalf of the climate and committing to help ensure a healthier and more sustainable planet. The event takes place in association with the 2021 Hazon Michigan Jewish Food

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Festival happening on Aug. 15.

“We recognize that issues of the environment and sustainability really cut across all different kinds of organizations, geography and denominations, and that sustainability and caring for the planet is a Jewish and human value and something we can all get behind,” said Rabbi Nate DeGroot of Hazon Detroit.

“This is a Rabbi Nate chance for the DeGroot community to get excited about the festival, to celebrate the sustainability efforts this community has taken on and to feel connected

connect people to local entrepreneurs making healthy products from local ingredients. Hazon knew knew they had to come up with something different this year.

With the uncertainty of the pandemic, the solution was to turn it into a drive-thru event.

“We’re putting together in 10 weeks what normally I would spend 10 months doing,” said Marla Schloss, Hazon Detroit’s Food Festival manager.

Cars will go from station to station, about one minute at each, to hear how Hazon and its partners are supporting and/or making a sustainable difference, taste samples of foods, receive goodies, giveaways and prepared activities.

Since this is a drive-thru event and there are limited spots, registration is required. The event can handle 40 cars an hour and 280 cars total.

“What’s very important for

us is this is an event that when people come away, they will feel a personal commitment to making change and creating a more sustainable world for all,” Schloss said. “It could have to do with reducing household waste or food waste, transitioning to a plant-rich diet, reducing energy, getting to grow and buy local or to buy less. These are the key areas we want people to learn about and commit to, and they’re going to receive this information throughout the festival.”

Thanks to the William Davidson Foundation and D. Dan & Betty Kahn Foundation, the event is free once again.

To participate in the festival as a volunteer, sponsor, vendor or organizational partner, or if you have questions about the festival, contact Marla Schloss at marla. schloss@hazon.org.

after a long time apart.”

The core of the program is a collective Zoom call at 7 p.m.

Friday for all the communities who are participating to do the Kiddush and HaMotzi together, along with a brief welcome and celebration of the community’s participation and efforts toward sustainability.

Then, each community will take it and run with it in the way they best see fit.

“Some of the rabbis in these communities might be giving sermons on the topic of sustainability, some might be featuring special foods at their dinner or at their oneg,” DeGroot said. “Many of them will be using compostable dishware, plates, cups and utensils, or reusable/washable ones.”

Community members are urged to seek out what their home community or syna-

gogue has planned and then to participate in that service or celebration. “In essence, showing up at their home community, and together, celebrating as a large community,” DeGroot said.

“For none of these organizations is this the starting point for their sustainability work — these are all organizations who have been committed to growing their practices of sustainability and participating in community-wide efforts to do the same,” DeGroot said.

“Hopefully this will be a furthering and deepening, but also a celebration of the work that has been ongoing and will be continuing going forward.”

For information, visit hazon.org/detroit/ michigan-jewish-food-festival.

To find out which synagogues and organizations are participating, to sign-up for the live Zoom event and for other information, visit hazon.org/ calendar/greenshabbat2021.

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NOSH

DINING AROUND THE D

Here’s the

Beef

ESTHER ALLWEISS INGBER CONTRIBUTING WRITER

J

ewish and Muslim (halal) dietary traditions have one big thing in common: Pork is forbidden. At A.B.’s Amazing Ribs in Dearborn Heights, staking claim as Michigan’s only 100% halal barbecue restaurant, the ribs offered are hickory-smoked beef back ribs. After tasting them and the rest of the menu, I’d say there is much to brag about.

I recently watched restaurant owner Ali “A.B.” Bazzy during a cooking segment on WDIV-TV’s Live in the D program. When he sliced into a round of prime grade beef brisket with a lovely black char on top, my lunch plans became a mission to check out Bazzy’s place.

He opened his restaurant-meat market in March

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2019 with business partner Abe Jebahi, a longtime friend.

Both self-taught in the art of barbecuing, Bazzy started off making ribs with a smoker in his garage. Today, he said, the partners smoke 1,500 pounds of meat at a time, selling “a ton of brisket and 400-500 slabs of ribs a week” for carryout, catering and dining in.

Creekstone Farms in Kansas supplies meat for A.B.’s, included on several area “Best Barbecue” surveys.

A store billboard and paper menus show the array of from-scratch items. Orders are placed at a service counter, where Hassan Bazzy, 14, is helping out this summer — “it gets him away from videogames,” his dad said with a laugh. Customers eat at bare tables in a clean, comfortable, 2,500-square-foot

A.B.’S AMAZING RIBS FACEBOOK

A.B.’s Amazing Ribs 27310 Ford Road Dearborn Heights, MI 48127 (313) 914-2159 abamazingribs.com *** ½ out of **** paneled dining room. Before digging in, they grab their own wrapped plastic silverware, purchased water or pop bottles from the cooler and lots of extra napkins. The meal will be hands-on, messy eating because of Bazzy’s “amazing” house-made barbecue sauces. The horseradish-based white sauce perfectly complements A.B.’s brisket. He also developed his own salad dressings.

So, what’s cooking? The slowly smoked back ribs, short ribs, brisket and chicken wings can be ordered individually as “Plates,” with a choice of two sides: Mac’n cheese, tangy coleslaw, seasoned french fries and smoked beans with bits of brisket. The sandwiches, served with fries, include

Wagyu (Japanese beef) burger and hand-battered North Atlantic cod.

To try nearly everything, I recommend “A.B.’s Feast” — combination platters serving up to eight diners. My generous platter for one easily fed two. Stars of my lunch were two large, tasty and tender, bone back ribs; one-third pound of mouthwatering brisket; and three sweet and smoky wings. The biggest platter also has a whole smoked chicken, and trays of side dishes and Greek or Caesar salad. The cornbread is good, too.

A.B.’s ships its meat and other products nationwide every Monday; order by noon Sunday.

“We get Jewish customers here all the time, from Royal Oak and Southfield,” said Bazzy, whose business is open daily, except Monday. Hours are noon to 8 p.m. TuesdaySaturday, and until 6 p.m. on Sunday “or until we’re sold out,” he said. “We sell out every time. The meat never lasts till our closing time.”

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SPORTS

Nate Emery is laser-focused on his next move in the sport climbing semifinals at the USA Climbing national competition.

Home climbing gym keeps Nate Emery reaching for the stars.

STEVE STEIN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

N

ate Emery has an important day coming up in his young life. His bar mitzvah will be in January at Temple Israel in West Bloomfield.

But he’s had a celebration of another sort this summer.

One of the nation’s best competitive rock climbers in his age group, the 12-year-old from Farmington Hills participated in the USA Climbing nationals last month in Reno, Nev., and was thrilled to finish in the top 20 in the sport climbing and bouldering disciplines.

“My big goal for this summer was to make it to nationals.

Then my next big goal was to get to the semifinals at nationals in sport climbing and bouldering. I achieved both goals,” he said.

Nate finished 14th in sport climbing and 17th in bouldering at the nationals among about 80 competitors in each discipline despite being one of the young-

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PHOTOS BY JERROLD EMERY

Rock Solid

est competitors in the Male Youth C group.

It was Nate’s third trip to the USA Climbing nationals.

He also went to Bend, Ore., in February 2019 and Philadelphia in July 2019 when bouldering and sport climbing had separate national competitions.

There were no USA Climbing national competitions last summer. The COVID-19 pandemic took care of that.

The pandemic also shut down gyms across the country for much of last year, including Planet Rock in Madison Heights, Nate’s home base.

Planet Rock (where Nate’s bar mitzvah party will be held) was closed from mid-March until the end of September in 2020.

There were Planet Rock climbing team Zoom workouts and a small climbing wall was put up outside the gym, but it wasn’t the same as having fullfledged workouts and practice.

HOME WORKOUTS Luckily, Nate was able to put in the work he needed at home, where a climbing gym was built in his dad’s former home office.

“We actually started to build the climbing gym before the pandemic,” said his dad, Jerrold Emery. “The gym was expanded during the pandemic and now is essentially a full climbing gym.

The room is 250 square feet with 350 feet of climbing areas. I have a new home office in what was a spare bedroom.”

Nate was asked if his home climbing gym has been a help.

“Massively,” he said. “I wouldn’t have done so well at nationals without it.”

Nate competed in seven USA Climbing COVID-safe, video-recorded regional qualifying events in Indiana and Ohio after the start of the pandemic — finishing in first place in all of them — before he finally had an in-person competition in June in Morgantown, West Virgina.

He placed first in sport climbing and third in bouldering in the regional in West Virginia and qualified for USA Climbing nationals in both disciplines (the top four finishers moved on).

Now that the USA Climbing nationals are behind him, Nate will spend time at Camp Tamarack then head to the New River Gorge National Park and Preserve in West Virginia for eight days of recreational and practice climbing.

It’s been a grueling climb for Nate to achieve the heights he’s reached in the five years he’s done competitive climbing.

But the soon-to-be seventh-grader at Power Middle School in Farmington Hills has loved every minute of it and is looking forward to putting in more work.

“I love climbing more than ever. It’s challenging and fun,” said the muscular 4-foot-10,

90-pounder who has a popular Instagram account (@nate.climbs) with videos of his climbs.

Nate’s parents, Jerrold and Carolyn Emery, are fully on board with their son’s passion, and not solely because of the fitness and dedication that’s required to be a nationally known competitive climber.

“Nate has made friends from all over the country through climbing,” Jerrold said.

Jerrold calls climbing a community sport, where competition and camaraderie — even among the parents — are equally as important. There are no stereotypical sniping parents.

“We’re all proud of our kids and love to share their successes,” Jerrold said. “Climbing families see each other at competitions, and we meet up when our kids do recreational climbing at outdoor sites.

“There isn’t a day that goes by that I’m not in contact with another climbing dad just to say hello and see how things are going.”

Climbing is an Olympic sport for the first time this year. The competition is Aug. 3-6 at the Summer Olympics in Tokyo.

Forty climbers from 19 nations are expected to compete.

Please send sports news to stevestein502004@yahoo.com.

Nate Emery hangs out in his home climbing gym.

Generations of Joy

Youth & Family Services at Shaarey Zedek Rosh Hashanah Services at The Prayground 10:30 AM to 12 Noon Both days of Rosh Hashanah Open to the Community – no membership needed, no tickets, no charge Child-friendly services at the William Saulson Pavilion Outdoors with COVID safety precautions B’Seyfer Chayim reading and story time Alef Bet Yoga, First Fruits station Choose Your Own Torah Adventure Teen Talk, 10:45 AM to 12 Noon on North Lawn RSVP for these events on our website or call 248-357-5544

Strength to Strength. Since 1861.

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AUGUST 5 • 2021

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CATALYST MEDIA

SPORTS

Helping Others Play

These high school students from Birmingham are collecting sports equipment for Brilliant Detroit.

Local students hold a collection drive to provide sports equipment to needy.

JN STAFF

A

sports equipment drive spearheaded

by Birmingham high school students Cooper Schoenberg, Carter Lutz, Ethan Wise and Mitchell to Greenberger kicked off recently and will continue through early September. The seniors, who host The Student Section podcast together, are collecting all kinds of sports equipment

for children up to 10 years old.

The equipment collected will benefit families served by the nonprofit Brilliant Detroit.

“My friends and I were fortunate growing up to be involved in sports and afford the necessary equipment,” Schoenberg, a member of the Jewish Fund Teen Board, said. “It was a way for us to get fit, have fun, and it’s where we made some of our

best friends and learned some important life skills. We want to give back because all kids should know the joy of sports and have access to playing them.”

All four of the members of The Student Section podcast have a passion for service.

This is Cooper Schoenberg’s second partnership with Brilliant Detroit. Last summer, the teen partnered with the nonprofit to host a book drive.

With a passion for literacy, he mobilized his community and collected a few thousand books for elementary-aged children.

Established in 2015, Brilliant Detroit uses underutilized housing stock to create early child and family centers in neighborhoods. These homes provide year-round programming and services for children.

In each location, neighbors come together for fellowship, activities and learning to assure

families and children have what they need to be school ready, healthy and stable.

“We are grateful for the efforts of these four young men,” said Cindy Eggleton, co-founder and CEO of Brilliant Detroit. “This drive is important because it offers our families with children the opportunity to participate in a sport they might not otherwise have afforded due to the cost of equipment.

“They also can enjoy the physical, emotional and mental benefits of sports that Cooper, Carter, Ethan and Mitchell have experienced.”

Donations of equipment can be dropped off in marked bins in front of each of the four boys’ houses or mailed to their addresses by emailing Schoenberg at cschoenberg123@gmail. com. Brilliant Detroit is also accepting donations at its Southwest-ChadseyCondon hub location at 5676 Larkins Street, Detroit MI, 48210.

MAZEL TOV!

Jonas 98th

B

ernie Jonas of West Bloomfield celebrated his 98th birthday on July 28, 2021, with some of his 37 grandchildren and 96 great-grandchildren,

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.

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Jews For Justice Seeks Executive Director Now in its seventh year of organizing the Metro Detroit Jewish community to participate in movements for racial and economic justice, Detroit Jews for Justice (DJJ) has established itself as a strong partner in the social justice community in Detroit.

As DJJ’s founding Executive Director Rabbi Alana Alpert transitions to her next role at Congregation T’Chiyah, DJJ seeks a visionary leader who will bring the organization into its next exciting phase.

The new executive director will steward existing relationships and support leaders to represent DJJ in a

range of movement spaces, working closely with DJJ’s steering committee to expand organizational capacity through the next stage of growth.

Since 2014, DJJ has focused on local issues, which have recently included water, regional transit, immigration justice and workers’ rights.

To read the full job description, visit detroitjewsforjustice.org/ jointheteam. Applications are accepted until Sunday, Aug. 8, 2021, and should include a resume and cover letter emailed to hiring@ detroitjewsforjustice.org.

TWO GENERATIONS OF SOLD

SPIRIT

TORAH PORTION

A Plan to Boost Our Spirituality

farming brethren in the Holy Land and apply them to our own lives.

We can live with a faith so real that we are prepared to lose the Jewish farmer relaxes, conan entire year’s revenue without n the Land of Israel now, compunction. And we can use there is a feeling of purpose- fident that his field (and his bottom line) will be OK without every free minute to serve God, ful and reverent determihis efforts. Why? Because God recognizing that every moment nation. From the Galil to the assures us that there is nothing is a gift that we dare not squanNegev, farmers are preparing to to worry about. He will send der. observe shemitah, the Biblical enough blessings in the years Our dear mentor and teacher, command outlined preceding shemitah to tide us the Rebbe, of righteous memory, in this week’s Torah over until we can again enjoy pointed out an anomaly in the portion not to work the bounty from our farms. text in which we are introduced the field in the seventh So, we know that the farm- to shemitah: “The earth shall year. rest a Sabbath unto God. Six ers don’t work the land in It’s not for nothing years shalt thou plant thy field.” that farming is referred Rabbi Kasriel the seventh year. But what Shemtov Now, the six years take place do they do? Our sages tell to as husbandry, as before the seventh year of rest, us that this year and the free tending to the land is a so why does the Torah mention consummate, lifelong Parshat Reeh: time it affords are to be alloDeuteronomy L A K Ethe S A N D B L O O M F I E L D S P E C I A Lafterward?

I S T S The answer, them cated toward Torah learnmission, paralleling 11:26-16:17; I the Rebbe explains, ing and increased spiritual wayM weA continuously X B R O O CSamuel K BLOOMFIELD HILLS #1 AG E N TisSthat in essence shemitah comes first, involvement. We can each work on our relation20:18-42. and it influences and uplifts all take the lessons of shemiships at home. the six years that come before tah and the example of our Every seventh year,

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it. From year one, the farmer is preparing for shemitah, excited to be able to rely on God and His kindness for an entire year.

Thus, the entire cycle is elevated and made holy.

We can apply this to our lives as well. There are the shemitah moments like Shabbat (which comes after six days of work), when we attend synagogue or a Torah class, or otherwise connect with our souls.

The lesson is to make the mundane spiritual, injecting holiness and godliness unto every aspect of our lives.

Consider packing Shabbat essentials to celebrate wherever you may be when the sun sets on Friday. Or start each morning with a moment of gratitude, Modeh Ani. Rabbi Kasriel Shemtov is spiritual director of The Shul in West Bloomfield.

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AUGUST 5 • 2021

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39

SPIRIT

A WORD OF TORAH

Why Preparation Is Essential for a Spiritual Experience

I

t’s so interesting that preparation deepens an experience. But this applies particularly to deep and meaningful experiences. The truth is, an experience that is superficial is not enhanced by preparation; it can sometimes even be ruined by preparation.

The more profound the experience, the more it is enhanced by preparation.

And what could be a Chief Rabbi bigger experience than that Warren of Rosh Hashanah, the day Goldstein of judgment for us and the entire world?

Next week, the month of Elul begins.

It is such an important month in the Jewish calendar. Elul is the month before Rosh Hashanah — thus it is the month of preparation for Rosh Hashanah, two days that are of the utmost significance and impact.

These are the days of judgment and introspection, of reflection on the purpose of creation and the purpose of our lives. We cannot simply walk coldly into such an experience. We need to prepare.

And that’s what the month of Elul

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is about. It is a month of preparation before entering into Rosh Hashanah, followed 10 days later by Yom Kippur.

Elul is a time of preparation not just for Rosh Hashanah, but for Yom Kippur as well, and for the 10 days in between.

A MINDFUL LIFE Preparation is crucial to how our sages guide us to live a life of meaning. Living a life of goodness, in harmony with the will of Hashem, requires preparation.

To live such a life means to live in a constant state of preparation — to live with mindfulness. We don’t just rush through life oblivious to what is taking place; we carefully consider our purpose and the general direction of our lives. We consider our actions and give genuine, deep thought to who we want to be and where we want to go.

In the Mesillat Yesharim, one of the classic works of spiritual development and growth, written by Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto, known as the Ramchal, he describes a ladder of ascending levels of spiritual achievement to help us to grow and become truly great people. The starting point of the ladder is what the Ramchal calls zehirut, which

means living with self-awareness and mindfulness.

The Ramchal quotes an image from Jeremiah the prophet, who talks about people living life “like a horse charging headlong into battle.” The image is a powerful one. Think of horses in a cavalry charge, with no awareness of what is going on around them, but still rushing headlong because they are caught up in the frenzy of the moment. Rather, we should live with mindfulness, and Elul arrives as a reminder for us to return to this state of mindfulness — therefore, it is crucial in preparation for Rosh Hashanah.

Mindfulness is about living with careful introspection and self-awareness of what we are doing, which enhances the spiritual experience of living like a Jew. An example is saying the Shema and praying. These are two important mitzvahs. In the Shema, we accept God as our King, and we can experience a moment of incredible closeness to God as we accept His authority in our lives.

Prayer is a time when we pour out our hearts to God in a state of vulnerability and deep emotional connection to Him. These two mitzvahs are fulfilled when

we say the Shema and the Amidah.

But the siddur is structured in such a way that we don’t just rush headlong into the Shema and Amidah. There is a process of preparation. First, we say the morning blessings, and then the special passages from the Book of Psalms and other places in the Tanach, which are filled with words of praise and reflection about God and His greatness.

These pesukei dezimrah — the “verses of song” — prepare us for the climax of what is contained in the siddur in the form of the Shema and the Amidah.

We also prepare for Shabbos each week, not just practically, i.e. food and home preparation, but rather, we go through a process of mentally, emotionally and physically preparing ourselves to accept the holiness of the Shabbos experience, which is enhanced through our preparation.

This is why the prayers that begin the Shabbos service, taken from the Book of Psalms, are called Kabbalat Shabbat, the receiving of the Shabbos. We don’t just walk into Shabbos, we prepare to receive Shabbos.

LEARNING TORAH One of the greatest mitzvahs of mindfulness is the mitzvah of learning Torah. Firstly, this mitzvah is preceded by blessings, where we acknowledge that God is the giver of the Torah — so we prepare ourselves for the experience of learning Torah. It is not merely a dry intellectual activity, but rather an experience of receiving the wisdom of Hashem in this world and appreciating the privilege of what that is and what that means.

To divorce Torah from its Divine origins and just to experience it as one would experience any intellectual pursuit is to drain it of its holiness and its significance, and to severely limit its capacity to impact our lives. In fact, the Gemara says one of the reasons for the destruction of the Temple is that the Jews of the time did not say their

blessings before learning Torah. They approached Torah with a lack of awe for its greatness.

As we approach Elul with awe, mindful and aware of the opportunity it gives us to prepare for Rosh Hashanah, what should we be focusing on? Our sages teach us that the month of Elul corresponds to the verse from the Song of Songs: “I am for my beloved and my beloved is for me.” In Hebrew, the first letters of words of the verse: Ani ledodi v’dodi li make up the letters of Elul. So Elul is about our love for God and His love for us, and about our closeness to God. And an important part of the preparation of Elul is to feel that closeness to God. Rav Simcha Zissel Ziv — the Alter of Kelm — links this to the famous prayer we say over Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur: Avinu Malkeinu — “Our Father, our King.” First, God is our Father, and that represents the relationship of love, connection and bonding. And then He is our King who judges us. So, before He is our King, He is our Father. The Alter of Kelm explains that before we can embrace the experience of being judged by God, we need to embrace the experience of being loved by God. GOD’S LOVE Whatever He does is ultimately because He loves us and because He wants the best for us. In the same way that a parent loves a child and only wants the best for a child, so, too, God loves us and wants what’s best for us. We need to enter Rosh Hashanah deeply connected to God’s love for us and our love for God. Then the process of judgment, introspection and repentance can be so much more powerful.

We also prepare for Rosh Hashanah during the month of Elul by blowing the shofar. The shofar blowing, says the Rambam, is to “awaken those who sleep.” We need to awaken ourselves spiritually, and this connects deeply with the idea of mindfulness and living

with intent and heightened awareness.

Habit is one of the most powerful forces in human life. This can be used for the good, because if we adopt good habits then they can be effortlessly implemented without us having to think about them. On the other hand, habit can lead us to living without intent.

In preparation for Rosh Hashanah, we need to step out of our habits and reconsider, look at everything afresh, renew ourselves and reawaken ourselves spiritually. The message of the shofar sounded throughout the month of Elul is a reminder to prepare for Rosh Hashanah. It is actually preparing us for the mindfulness with which we need to engage Rosh Hashanah, and it’s reminding us to live our lives with mindfulness, so it touches on both aspects.

Elul was the time, historically, when we were forgiven for the sin of the golden calf, which culminated in Moshe bringing down the second set of tablets from the mountain on Yom Kippur.

It was a time of acceptance by God, a time of closeness to God, a time of opportunity and a time of preparation.

Our sages describe these days as yemei ratzon — “the days of acceptance.” It is during this time that we are especially close to God and that our prayers, repentance and introspection are more easily accepted

by God. In fact, the entire period, beginning with Rosh Chodesh Elul leading up to Yom Kippur, is a time of acceptance.

So, as we take the time to carefully prepare for Rosh Hashanah this year, let us be mindful of the fact that this is a time in which the gates of heaven are wide open for us, and let us use this opportunity to truly connect with and be embraced by Our Father, our King — Avinu Malkeinu.

Rabbi Warren Goldstein is the chief rabbi of South Africa.

AUGUST 5 • 2021

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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

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Kehillat Hatzhav Hagadol Mackinac Island (906) 202-9959 mackinacsynagogue.org

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

ORTHODOX Agudas Israel Mogen Abraham Southfield (248) 552-5711 aymadetroit.org

Chabad House-Lubavitch of Eastern Michigan Flint (810) 230-0770 chabad.org

Ahavas Olam Southfield (248) 569-1821 Ahavasolam.com

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

Ahavas Yisroel Oak Park (248) 298-2896 Learntorah.info Aish Hatorah in the Woods Oak Park (248) 327-3579 Aishdetroit.com Bais Chabad of Farmington Hills (248) 855-2910 chabad.org Bais Chabad of North Oak Park (248) 872-8878 chabad.org Bais Haknesses Hagrah Oak Park (248) 542-8737 Balfour Shul – K’Hal Rina U’Tefila Oak Park (732) 693-8457

Chabad Jewish Center of Novi-Northville (248) 790-6075 novijewishcenter.com Chabad Jewish Center of Troy Troy/Rochester Hills (248) 873-5851 jewishtroy.com Chabad-Lubavitch of Bingham Farms Bloomfield Hills (248) 688-6796 chabadbinghamfarms.com

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

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

Shaarey Zedek Windsor (519) 252-1594 shaareyzedekwindsor.com

Dovid Ben Nuchim-Aish Kodesh Oak Park (313) 320-9400 dbndetroit.org

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

Shomrey Emunah Southfield (248) 559-1533 congregation-shomreyemunah-105705.square.site The Shul-Chabad Lubavitch West Bloomfield (248) 788-4000 theshul.net Woodward Avenue Shul Royal Oak (248) 414-7485 thewas.net

Congregation Beth El Windsor (519) 969-2422 bethelwindsor.ca

Temple Emanu-El Oak Park (248) 967-4020 emanuel-mich.org

Temple Beth El Battle Creek (269) 963-4921

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

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

Temple Jacob Hancock templejacobhancock.org

Ohr Hatorah Oak Park (248) 294-0613 Ohrhatorah.us MINYANS Fleischman Residence West Bloomfield (248) 661-2999 Yeshivat Akivah Southfield (248) 386-1625 farberhds.org

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

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

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

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

CONSERVATIVE Beth Israel Congregation (734) 665-9897 @BethIsraelCongregation

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

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

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

ORTHODOX Ann Arbor Chabad House (734) 995-3276 jewmich.com

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

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

Yagdil Torah Southfield (248) 559-5905 Young Israel of Oak Park (248) 967-3655 yiop.org

Congregation T’chiyah Ferndale (248) 823-7115 tchiyah.org Reconstructionist Congregation of Detroit (313) 567-0306 reconstructingjudiasm.org REFORM Bet Chaverim Canton (734) 480-8880 betchaverim@yahoo.com Temple Benjamin Mt. Pleasant (989) 773-5086 templebenjamin.com

Congregation Beth Shalom Traverse City 231-946-1913 beth-shalom-tc.org 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

REFORM/RENEWAL Congregation Shir Tikvah Troy (248) 649-4418 shirtikvah.org SECULAR/HUMANISTIC Congregation for Humanistic Judaism of Metro Detroit Farmington Hills (248) 477-1410 chj-detroit.org Sholem Aleichem Institute Lathrup Village (240 865-0117 secularsaimichigan.org SEPHARDIC Keter Torah Synagogue West Bloomfield (248) 681-3665 rabbisasson.wixsite.com/keter

ANN ARBOR

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 SECULAR HUMANISTIC Jewish Cultural Society (734) 975-9872 jewishculturalsociety.org Please email factual corrections or additional synagogues to list to: smanello@thejewishnews.com.

AUGUST 5 • 2021

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CHUCK ANDERSEN

ARTS&LIFE MUSIC

Top of the Charts!

Decades-old Ann Arbor jazz band reunites to find fame and success.

SUZANNE CHESSLER CONTRIBUTING WRITER

A

lthough reunions are generally geared toward looking back and catching up, that hasn’t been so for the Lunar Octet, a Latin jazz group formed in 1983 by students at the University of Michigan.

A performance reunion of the octet, after some 12 years of changing memberships and almost 20 years of being disbanded, is moving the group forward with a recording now receiving international acclaim as it is played on many radio stations.

Convergence, holding 14 tracks of original Lunar Octet compositions, was released by Summit Records in May. It is topping the jazz charts and drawing performance invitations from venues across three continents.

To celebrate their accelerating success,

Aron Kaufman on the congas

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members are returning to Ann Arbor for a performance of the tracks and perhaps numbers written since. They will appear Wednesday evening, Aug. 11, at the Blue Llama Jazz Club.

Aron Kaufman, a composer-percussionist in the original group and still living in Ann Arbor, composed five of the numbers with each one having a story behind it as does the title of the album.

Kaufman’s commitment to the Lunar Octet style continues as he teaches Jewish studies at Hillel Day School and Adat Shalom Synagogue, both in Farmington Hills, and performs with other groups.

“Jon Krosnick, our drummer who lives in California, got people motivated to perform again,” Kaufman said. “We did a show and were encouraged to record the numbers. We came up with the title Convergence because of the way we had to coordinate rehearsals of the mostly instrumental tracks. It involved travel from both the Eastern and Western United States so everyone could converge in Ann Arbor.

“Convergence is also a convergence of musical styles that bring together a jazz matrix with world flavors from the continent of Africa as well as countries that include Cuba and Brazil. There are sound variations that you wouldn’t normally find on one recording as we highlight our

Members of the Lunar Octet about to appear in Ann Arbor are (from left) Paul VornHagen (tenor saxophone, flute, alto clarinet), Keaton Royer (piano), Brandon Cooper (trumpet, flugelhorn), Sam Clark (guitar), Steve Hiltner (alto saxophone, clarinet), Jeff Dalton (acoustic and electric basses), Jon Krosnick (drums) and Aron Kaufman (congas, percussions).

individual musical expressions that have many world influences.”

CONGA CREATIVITY The members’ original musical intent was captured in the group’s first name, Lunar Glee Club, which was to suggest singing through instruments, not vocalizing. In that vein, the first song on the album, “Norm’s Nambo,” was written by Kaufman with a mambo beat in tribute to a former mentor.

“When I first began playing conga drums, I studied with Norm Shobey,” Kaufman explained. “He had performed on Broadway and played briefly with the 5th Dimension music group. Norm was an incredibly creative conga player who would take different rhythms and combine them creatively. That inspired me to think about music creatively.”

Another number by Kaufman is “Heart of Congatar,” based on a pattern he played using four conga drums. After a fellow musician commented that the four drums in combination sounded like a tune, Kaufman realized that composing was something that could be done using congas instead of the usual piano or guitar. The title is a wordplay that associates the conga and guitar.

Other Kaufman songs on the recording, sometimes explained in live per-

Details

The Lunar Octet will appear starting at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 11, at the Blue Llama Jazz Club, 314 S. Main, Ann Arbor. Three 45-minute sets. $10. (734) 3723200. bluellamaclub.com.

MICHELLE LE

John Krosnick on drums

formance, include “Oye,” “Subway Tension” and “Dancin’ in the Doghouse.”

“Because of the relationship among musicians and how we developed over many years, we are a genre-busting kind of a band,” said Kaufman,

whose musicianship also has him appearing with his own Dream Ensemble, Gemini and Tumbao Bravo. “We have multiple influences and find that it all works together.

It’s all of our personal soul music.”

RAVE REVIEWS Krosnick, a political science professor at Stanford University who provides political consultation on voting for the federal government, is thrilled about the acceptance of the Lunar Octet’s continuing style.

Regularly appearing with the group Charged Particles, which takes him to foreign countries, he is glad a current recording project is connecting him with his Jewish roots. Charged Particles has performed at many Jewish centers as they play music in tribute to Michael Brecker, the late Jewish composer-saxophonist.

“We’re just breathless, knocked out and completely stunned by the world’s reaction to the Lunar Octet

recording,” said Krosnick, who made the initiating contact with Summit Records.

“We’re being nominated for a Grammy, and we’re humbled by that.”

Part of the pleasure experienced by the group has to do with the many complimentary reviews in noted jazz publications, such as Jazziz and Downbeat. Reviewers repeat liking the joyful sounds that seem to make listeners want to dance.

“We worked for about 10 years to perfect our music and became more mature players during our 20-year break from the Lunar Octet,” Krosnick said. “We came back from the break playing that music again with one new song on the recording — ‘Until I Find the Words’ by Stephen Hiltner.”

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ARTS&LIFE

Artwork by Ellen Stone

ART

Art

in the

Garden

Ellen Stone opens home and garden for event to benefit Mint Artists Guild.

SUZANNE CHESSLER CONTRIBUTING WRITER

E

llen Stone defines her West Bloomfield residence as more of an art gallery than a home.

Her walls are covered with collected works by famous artists and include those with Jewish heritage, such as Peter Max, Yaacov Agam and Max Fleischer. Between pieces of functional furniture, there are three-dimensional artworks that distract from Ellen Stone conventional seating and accents.

On her approximately one acre of land, she has arranged more artistry through the natural beauty of plant life

entered the world of originating her own expressionist paintings. She displays her projects alongside the others.

To celebrate the opening of private and public spaces as pandemic isolation draws down, Stone is opening her garden and home for the first time to present an art show and sale — Art in the Garden — to benefit the Mint Artists Guild, a nonprofit Detroit organization that helps emerging teen artists develop their innovative abilities and marketing skills.

The event, which runs 4-8 p.m.

Thursday, Aug. 12, features the for-sale work of 10 accomplished metro artists and includes expressionistic and “funky figure”

“I STARTED PAINTING ON A WHIM ... I LIVE ON A DEAD-END STREET, AND ALL THE LITTLE KIDS WOULD RIDE THEIR BIKES AND WATCH ME PAINT. OVER TIME, THEY WOULD SAY IT’S GETTING BETTER.” — ELLEN STONE

and landscaping joined with man- and woman-made creativity as expressed through sculptured structures. Stone describes her yard as a sculpture park, and even her mailbox has color and an imaginative design.

Although trained as a psychotherapist at the University of Michigan and maintaining a private practice in an office in the same city as her home, Stone has

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paintings by Stone, who impulsively began self-expression through art eight years ago.

With the wide range of garden space, artists will be placed in their individual sections distanced from one another, all jointly chosen by Stone and co-chair Kelly O’Neill, a sculptor who adds glass and clay accents to metal and also serves as a Mint board member.

“I started painting on a whim,” Stone said. “I live on a dead-end street, and all the little kids would ride their bikes and watch me paint. Over time, they would say it’s getting better. I took my first class through the Birmingham Bloomfield Art Center (BBAC) — an abstract art class — last year. We always want to keep doing better.”

Among the artists showcasing their work will be Meaghan Blankenship (acrylic and watercolor paintings), Donald

Details

Art in the Garden runs 4-8 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 12, in West Bloomfield. Free; Mint Guild donations are welcome.

To register, go to eventbrite. com/e/163310454967. For information, call (248) 661-2498.

Calloway (mixed media paintings and sculpture), Joe Lamontagne (metal sculpture), Priscilla Phifer (acrylic paintings), Richard Phillips (watercolor paintings), Paul Robertson (digital paintings) and Charlene Uresy (painted furniture).

By way of entertainment, Scott McDuffie will be participating in performance art as he showcases his process of creating abstract acrylic paintings to music accompaniment.

“There’s a Detroit community of artists, and I’m familiar with their work,” said Stone, who has attended services at Temple Beth El. “I thought this group would be diverse and required no competition. They were all happy to participate, and each is showing at least 10 works.”

There also will be a section where Mint participants will be selling greeting cards and original artwork by program participants.

“I chose Mint to benefit because I volunteer for the organization,” Stone said. “I donate my canvases, and I take part in fundraising events that they sponsor.”

In promoting arts education programs and artist displays in various art shows, Mint focuses on youth development, entrepreneurship and community service and collaboration. Programming is divided among the categories of Learn & Earn, Summer Creative Jobs and Paint Detroit with Generosity.

“Ellen has some separate patio areas where artists will be placed to discuss their work,” said O’Neill, whose own sculptures are contemporary and use recycled metal.

There is no charge for this event.

People touring the home will be escorted in groups by their hostess, who will be giving background information on individual artworks and answering visitor questions.

Artwork by Kelly O’Neill

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ARTS&LIFE MUSIC

Funkadelic!

Don Was celebrates music of legendary George Clinton in Concert of Colors program.

SUZANNE CHESSLER CONTRIBUTING WRITER

COURTESY OF MARX LAYNE

D

on Was, famed music performer and producer, brings two noteworthy twists to this year’s Concert of Colors as he once again presents his Detroit All-Star Revue.

Preparing for a salute to R&B Superstar George Clinton, Was can recall his introduction to the legendary composerperformer. In Don Was the ninth grade at Oak Park’s Clinton — that’s right, Clinton — Junior High, Was became a fan by watching George Clinton in a special school performance hosted by a local DJ to promote a Clinton recording.

Putting together an eight-member band for his upcoming show to be broadcast at 9 and 10 p.m.

Saturday, Aug. 7, on WTVS, Was invited percussionist Larry Fratangelo, who played on Clinton records and toured with Clinton’s Parliament Funkadelic.

Fratangelo also played on the records of the popular Was group Was (Not Was).

The many performance and discussion sessions of the 29th annual free Concert of Colors run Aug. 2-9 with live, broadcast, streamed and hybrid presentations at various venues to celebrate

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diversity.

“George Clinton made some of the most significant R&B records ever right in Detroit using a lot of musicians from this area,” Was explained about his choice for this year’s theme.

“Everything that he recorded made his influence pervasive across the board. He changed the face of music a couple of times.

WAS’ TESTIMONIAL “George was born in Detroit and did a great body of work here. I consider him to be among the greatest contributions to Detroit music. My very favorite Clinton song to perform is ‘I Just Want to Testify.’”

That song was introduced to Was at that junior high program. It was lip-synched and featured dance steps performed in ways similar to the Temptations but in hippie dress instead of tuxedos.

“No one had ever seen that in R&B before,” Was said. “I think George even preceded Jimi Hendrix. There was a blending of psychedelic culture and rhythm and blues. It blew my mind [combined with] uplifting lyrics.”

Was, based in California, has been spending more time in Michigan since April, when he began a weekly WDET radio program, The

Don Was Motor City Playlist, co-hosted with Don Was can be seen at 9 Ann Delisi, WDET and 10 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 7, music host. It runs on on WTVS, Channel 56. For a Detroit’s NPR station, lineup of Concert of Colors 101.9 WDET-FM, and programming, Aug. 2-9, go to streams worldwide. concertofcolors.com.

The show, with broadcasts starting at 10 p.m. Fridays, builds on Was’ experiences as a multiprogressive rabbi out of Los Grammy winner who has Angeles, Naomi Levy, who been recognized as a bassist, has a congregation called producer and president of Neshuva. Attended by Was Blue Note Records. family members appreciating “The radio program is the music orientation, my favorite thing to do on the programming was earth,” Was said. “It’s been at communicated to Was, who the top of my bucket list. In oversaw the studio progress. the late ’60s, when I was in This will be the 14th high school, I used to listen year Was has been slotted to a show on WDET called into the Concert of Colors.

Jazz Today hosted by Bud During his first year, he Spangler, a local drummer appreciated the diverse music who played with the coolest representations but noted bands. It was always my Detroit music was missing dream to have that show. and wanted to add that “I mentioned that to Ann, element in future years. the queen of Detroit radio, “The beautiful thing about and she arranged for us to the Detroit that I grew up in do that together. We have during the ’50s and ’60s was so much fun. I love picking that the people came from the songs and preparing all over the country and all something to say about each over the world to work in the one of them.” factories here and brought As Was presents the radio their cultures with them,” he show, he is often appearing said. remotely because of other “I think that makes Detroit commitments. Maintaining a great place to celebrate all an interest in his Jewish those different cultures, and heritage, Was (family name I think Concert of Colors is a Fagenson) produced a beautiful festival that’s being religious recording. held in exactly the right The album was for a spot.”

Details

BY BFVSGF VIA WIKIPEDIA

ARTS&LIFE CELEBRITY NEWS

NATE BLOOM COLUMNIST

MR. CORMAN, DETECTIVE TURNER, NANNY NIXERS Mr. Corman is a 10-episode series that premieres on Apple TV+ on Aug. 6. Joseph Gordon-Levitt, 40, created the series, directs it, writes it and stars as the title character.

It follows Josh Corman, a former musician who teaches fifth grade in Los Angeles. As the series starts, his fiancée has just moved out and she’s replaced by his high school buddy. The advance publicity says: “He knows he has a lot to be thankful for, but finds himself struggling nevertheless through anxiety, loneliness and a sinking suspicion that he sucks as a person.

Darkly funny, oddly beautiful and deeply heartfelt, this relatable dramedy speaks for our contemporary generation of 30-somethings.”

The hit Tom Hanks’ comedy/action film, Turner and Hooch (1989), about a U.S. Marshal and the unruly dog he inherits, is now a Disney + series of the same name (began streaming on July 21).

Josh Peck, 34, stars as Turner.

Peck is best known as the co-star of Nickelodeon teen comedy Drake & Josh (20042007). But he’s remained busy in other projects since.

While most of his roles have been in short-lived sitcoms, I particularly liked his dramatic film The Wackness (2008). He gave a strong performance as a troubled but likeable Manhattan teen who bicycles around delivering marijuana to customers to help support his family. The co-starring cast is terrific (Ben Kingsley and Olivia Thirlby, 34).

Peck was raised in Manhattan by his Jewish mother and grandmother and was a bar mitzvah. He never

Josh Peck

knew his biological father, but did a DNA test a few years ago, and found out his father is Jewish, too.

Peck’s story differs greatly from so many young actors who “crash” after getting early fame. He was a pudgy guy when Drake & Josh began but made a conscious effort to slim-down and stay healthy when the fourth season of the series began, and he’s remained slim and healthy.

(Sadly, his co-star, Drake Bell, now 35, fits the “crash” story — multiple arrests for serious things and personal bankruptcy.)

I’ve seen Peck in several recent interviews, and I can see why he got the Turner role. He projects the same “good guy” charm and upbeat “vibe” that Tom Hanks often exudes.

The Nanny star, Fran Drescher, is in a tough fight for the presidency of SAGAFTRA, the actors’ union. The sad news is that her Nanny co-stars are not lining-up behind her. Drescher, 63, is running against Matthew Modine for the presidency. Deadline, a show biz site, reports Nanny co-stars Charles Shaughnessy and Madeline Zima are backing the Modine slate. They played, respectively, Mr. Sheffield, Fran’s boss, and Grace, the youngest child.

Renee Taylor, 88, who played Fran’s Jewish mother, is staying neutral.

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ON THE GO

PEOPLE | PLACES | EVENTS

GOLF CLASSIC AUG. 9 11 AM-8 PM BOOK BASH 11 AM-2 PM, AUG. 8 Join an in-person, outdoor celebration of Detroit Jewish Book Fair and the art of Jewish storytelling at the Jewish Community Center in West Bloomfield.

This expo-style event will feature Michigan authors, local artists, musicians and family activities.

Featured event schedule: 11 am-12:30 pm – Klezmer band Klezundheidt; 12:30 pm – Local celebrity author Harvey Ovshinsky talks about his new memoir, Scratching the Surface; 1:15 pm – Meet Michigan authors; 1:30 pm – Book signing with Harvey Ovshinsky. Info: culturalarts.jccdetroit.org/ bookfair.

KICKBALL TOURNAMENT AUG. 8 NEXTGen Detroit and ComePlayDetroit present Let’s Kick It!: A Sunday Funday Kickball Tournament. Take to the field at Inglenook Park, 20901 W. 12 Mile,

50

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AUGUST 5 • 2021

Southfield, for some serious fun. In between games, spectators and kickballers can stay competitive with lawn games and the ice cream truck. Cost $14. Info: jlive.app/events/711/

September 11 Memorial & Museum of History), and Evan Osnos (Pulitzer Prize recipient; staff writer, The New Yorker; senior fellow, The Brookings Institution).

Free Registration at gcaug. splashthat.com/Global Connections. After the initial program, it can be viewed on JBS TV and on AFRMC’s YouTube and Facebook. Learn more at afrmc.org.

GLOBAL CONNECTIONS AUG. 10 4-5 PM

GOLF CLASSIC 11 AM-8 PM, AUG. 9 At Franklin Hills Country Club, 31675 Inkster Road, Franklin, Kadima will host the Lois Zussman Golf Classic. Fundraiser. Info: michellem@kadimacednter. org; 248-663-4343.

GLOBAL CONNECTIONS 4-5 PM, AUG. 10 American Friends of Rabin Medical Center will present “How 9-11 Changed Us.” Robert Siegel (former Senior Host of NPR’s All Things Considered for 31 years) interviews Larry Silverstein (chairman, Silverstein Properties), Alice Greenwald (president/CEO, National

AUTHOR SPEAKS AT HMC 7-8 PM, AUG. 12 The Holocaust Memorial Center will make available this virtual event: The Ghost Army with author & filmmaker Rick Beyer. Info: holocaustcenter.org; 248553-2400.

RICK BEYER AT HMC AUG. 12 7-8 PM SPLISH SPLASH BASH 10-11:30 AM, AUG. 15 Sponsored by Federations’s NEXTGen Detroit and JFamily Detroit. Join us for some late summer fun at the Heritage Park Splash Pad, Playground and Pavilion, 24915 Farmington Road, Farmington Hills. We’ll have cooling (and kosher) treats for the grown-ups and kiddos. Perfect for little ones ages 0 to 5. $10 per family. Please register

by Aug. 10. Information: Contact Mimi at marcus@ jfmd.org.

Compiled by Sy Manello/Editorial Assistant. Send items at least 14 days in advance to calendar@ thejewishnews.com.

SPLISH SPLASH BASH AUG. 15 10-11:30 AM

the exchange

ERETZ

community bulletin board | professional services

STATE DEPARTMENT

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken participates in a video teleconference with the European Union’s Foreign Affairs Council at the U.S. Department of State in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 22, 2021.

U.S. Says Iran Nuclear Talks Cannot Continue ‘Indefinitely’ JNS.ORG

U

.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said July 29 that negotiations with Iran to revive the 2015 nuclear deal could not continue “indefinitely.”

“We are committed to diplomacy, but this process cannot go on indefinitely,” said Blinken while in Kuwait, reported Reuters.

“At some point the gains achieved by the JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action) cannot be fully recovered by a return to the JCPOA if Iran continues the activities that it’s undertaken with regard to its nuclear program,” he said.

“We have clearly demon-

strated our good faith and desire to return to mutual compliance with the nuclear agreement…The ball remains in Iran’s court, and we will see if they’re prepared to make the decisions necessary to come back into compliance.”

Indirect talks are ongoing between Washington and Tehran to revive the deal that the previous U.S. administration withdrew from in 2018.

Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said July 28, according to the report, that the country would not accept “stubborn” demands from the United States during nuclear talks.

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the exchange community bulletin board | professional services

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OBITUARIES

OF BLESSED MEMORY

RUTH AARON, 100, of West Palm Beach, Fla., formerly of Farmington Hills, passed away on July 23, 2021. She will be sorely missed by all who knew and loved her.

Ruth is survived by her devoted daughters, Hillary (Charles) Bale and Judith Korby; loving grandchildren, Andrew (Becky) Bale, Kali (Dan) Venuti, Eryn Korby and Amy Aaron; adored great-grandchildren, Max Venuti and Brayden Bale.

She was preceded in death by her loving husband, George; beloved son, Jerald Aaron (Ruth); her two sisters, Shirley Siefman and Toby Broder.

A crypt-side service took place on Sunday, July 25, 2021, at the Gardens of Boca Raton. In lieu of flowers, the family requests a memorial contribution in Ruth’s name be made to Trustbridge Hospice, 53400 East Ave., West Palm Beach, FL 33407.

WILLIAM KONSTANTIN, 94, of Southfield, died July 29, 2021.

He is survived by his daughter and son-inlaw, Lynne Konstantin and Jeffrey Hermann; daughter-in-law, Julie Tracht Konstantin; grandchildren, Charles and Annabel Hermann, and Samantha Konstantin.

Mr. Konstantin was the beloved husband for 56 years of the late Miriam Konstantin; the cherished father of the late Benjamin

Konstantin; the loving brother of the late Sylvia and the late Maurice “Red” Stotsky; the devoted son of the late Leon and the late Nettie Konstantin; the dear brother-in-law of the late Arlene and the late Max Burns, and the late Selma and the late Arnold Rodin.

Interment was at Clover Hill Park Cemetery.

Contributions may be made to Pan Can-Pancreatic Action Network Inc., 1500 Rosecrans Ave., Suite 200, Manhattan Beach, CA 90266, pancan.org; or Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation of Michigan, 25882 Orchard Lake Road, Suite 102, Farmington Hills, MI 48336, ccfa.org/chapters/michigan.

Arrangements by Ira Kaufman Chapel.

students he taught, and his colleagues and friends at Sinai Grace Hospital, where he trained residents and medical students and saw patients. He was a wonderful, humble, unassuming gentleman who loved working with our medical students and residents.”

Dr. Lachover is survived by his wife, Cookie Lachover; daughter, Rachel (Scott) Lachover-Sadoff.

Interment was at Machpelah Cemetery.

Contributions may be made to Friends of the IDF, Michigan Chapter, P.O. Box 999, Walled Lake, MI 48390 fidf.org/donate; or the Jewish National Fund, 42 East 69th St., New York, NY 10021, jnf. org. Arrangements by Ira Kaufman Chapel.

DR. LEONARD LACHOVER, 82, a clinical assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral neurosciences for the Wayne State University School of Medicine, died July 23, 2021.

Dr. Lachover was one of the longest-serving faculty psychiatrists at the Wayne State School of Medicine. He had served as a major in the U.S. Air Force from 1968 to 1970 and as a medic in the Yom Kippur War in Israel.

“He was an extraordinary member of our department who was held in the highest of esteem by his colleagues and friends,” said David Rosenberg, M.D., chair of the Department of Psychiatry and Neurosciences.

“He was beloved by the many residents and medical

REVA LEPLER, 81, of West Bloomfield, died July 29, 2021.

She is survived by her daughter and son-in-law, Jill and Bob Daly; sons and daughtersin-law, Scott and Amanda Lepler, Marc and Stephanie Lepler; grandchildren, Meredith Daly and Mason Lepler; many other loving family members and friends.

Mrs. Lepler was the dear sister of the late Libby; daughter of the late Morris and Minnie Taylor.

Interment took place at Hebrew Memorial Park Cemetery in Clinton Township. Arrangements by Dorfman Chapel. continued on page 57

Trial Lawyer Extraordinaire JUDGE NORMAN LIPPITT, 85, of Bloomfield Hills, died July 26, 2021.

He was a very accomplished trial lawyer who loved winning battles in the courtroom, a very well-respected judge and an extremely generous philanthropist for many causes.

Judge Lippitt was the beloved husband of Patricia Canner and the late Beverly Lippitt. He is survived by his son, Alan Lippitt; daughter, Abby Lippitt; brother-in-law and sisterin-law, Robert and Donna Slatkin; Patricia’s children, Kimberly and Stuart Wish, Krist Cadwallader, and Michael and Lauren Canner; Patricia’s grandchildren, Carson, Chloe, Quinn, and Dylan; many loving nieces and nephews.

He was the loving brother of the late Sarah Frank.

Interment was at Clover Hill Park Cemetery.

Contributions may be made to Michigan State University-College of Law, Spartan Way, 535 Chestnut Road, Room 300, East Lansing, MI 48824, givingto.msu.edu/ways-togive.cfm; Jewish Hospice & Chaplaincy Network, 6555 W. Maple, West Bloomfield, MI 48322, jewishhospice. org; or to a charity of one’s choice. Arrangements by Ira Kaufman Chapel.

AUGUST 5 • 2021

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OBITUARIES

OF BLESSED MEMORY

A Highly Cherished Community Leader

continued from page XX

W

ith his signature bowties, colorful round glasses and magnetic smile, Douglas Bloom was a successful businessman, a generous philanthropist and a charismatic leader who advanced the causes of numerous organizations in his beloved Jewish community. Douglas, who lived in Birmingham with his wife, Barbara, died on July 22, 2021, at age 82.

Born in Detroit in 1938, Douglas was the son of Josephine, an accomplished artist and community activist, and Arthur, the city’s first Jewish radiologist. From an early age, Douglas and his older brother, John, learned the importance of Judaism and community involvement from their parents and large extended family.

After graduating from Mumford High School, Douglas earned a degree in business administration from the University of Michigan and remained a diehard Wolverine throughout his life.

After college, he began working for his uncle’s auto parts company, sweeping floors and operating the switchboard. His exceptional business acumen and commendable work ethic enabled him to progress until he was running the company.

BUSINESS SUCCESS When his uncle retired and left the business to a foundation, his entrepreneurial spirit led him to found Bar Processing, which, under his leadership, became the largest steel bar processing company in the country.

While he expected his employees to adhere to the highest quality standards, he was a generous boss who cared about the people who worked

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RONELLE GRIER CONTRIBUTING WRITER

for him. He believed the key to success was hiring the right people and allowing them to do their jobs.

At age 38, he was reintroduced to Barbara, a former Mumford classmate. Nine weeks after their first date, they were married.

“I had never met anyone like Douglas. He was interested in people, active, curious and very much alive,” said Barbara.

The couple and their children formed a loving blended family that grew to include their sons’ wives and eight grandchildren, who were the lights of their lives. Barbara shared her husband’s commitment to Judaism and community involvement, along with his love of art, travel and gardening.

“We introduced each other to different worlds, different people and different kinds of art,” Barbara said. “He brought a lot of life to my life that had never existed before. We were a good team.”

With Barbara’s encouragement, Douglas re-ignited his lifelong love of model trains that began decades earlier when he worked in a store selling train sets. He pursued his hobby with a passion that culminated in 1,800 square feet of tracks filled with trueto-life trains and surrounded by detailed neighborhoods that included gas stations, restaurants and a drive-in movie with a working screen.

His son, David, describes his father as a “self-made man” who was wise, insightful and pragmatic.

“He knew when to stand firm, when to forge ahead and when to walk away. He built his business like he grew his trains, by laying more track,” said David, who has fond

memories of attending local sporting events and visiting art museums and galleries across the country with his father.

At the age of 60, after deciding to become a bar mitzvah, Douglas began studying Hebrew and learning Torah to prepare for the upcoming ceremony.

COMMUNITY EFFORTS He was active in a wide-ranging list of Jewish organizations and held several leadership positions. Most notably, he was president of the Jewish Community Center and served two terms as president of the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit.

He served many other agencies and organizations that included Temple Beth El, Jewish Senior Life, the Neighborhood Project, Jewish Vocational Service and the Jewish Chautauqua Society.

A generous supporter of numerous causes, one of his favorites was the annual Barbara and Douglas Bloom Matzah Factory at the JCC. He and Barbara also sponsored the Acts of Loving Kindness Fund, which helps seniors living in Fleischman Residence, and a fund for single parents of children with special needs at Temple Israel.

In 2018, he received the coveted Fred M. Butzel Award for distinguished community service, Federation’s highest honor for volunteer leadership. The following year, he was an honoree in the annual Eight Over Eighty ceremony sponsored by Jewish Senior Life.

Douglas Bloom is survived by his beloved wife, Barbara Bloom; cherished children, David (Boksook) Bloom, Matthew (Becky) Zuckerberg

Douglas Bloom

and Andrew (Denise) Zuckerberg; and loving grandchildren Rachel (fiance Lucas Niewenhuis) Bloom, Sarah Bloom, Ashley (Alek) Mead, Claire Zuckerberg, Ben Zuckerberg, Lauren (Stu) Cooper, Erik (Andrew Derr) Rasmussen and Alex Rasmussen.

He was the devoted brother of the late John Bloom and the brother-in-law of the late Ruth Ann Shapiro.

He will also be missed by many other dear relatives and friends, as well as his dedicated caregivers, Glennis, Mariama, Charles, Abena, Ama and Martha.

Interment was at Clover Hill Park Cemetery. Contributions may be made to Cure PSP, 1206 Broadway, 2nd Floor, New York, NY 10001, (800) 457-4777, www.psp. org; or Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit, 6735 Telegraph, Bloomfield Hills; or Jewish Senior Life of Metropolitan Detroit, 6710 West Maple Road, West Bloomfield, MI 48322, (248) 592-5026, www.jslmi.org; or a Jewish charity of one’s choice.

Arrangements by Ira Kaufman Chapel.

The Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit Honors the Memory of

Douglas Bloom 1938 - 2021 On Behalf of a Grateful Community

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OBITUARIES

OF BLESSED MEMORY

A Visionary Who Made a Difference ESTHER ALLWEISS INGBER CONTRIBUTING WRITER

G

od has been good to me,” Graham Orley sometimes said to his rabbi, with a characteristic twinkle in his eye. And it indeed was so during his long and fortunate life. But Mr. Orley wasn’t one to bypass opportunities or shirk responsibilities.

People loved and respected him for many reasons, including his being a devoted husband and father and, ultimately, the wise family patriarch. He was successful and ethical in business. He also served as a caring and visionary Jewish communal leader who made a difference.

Graham A. Orley, 96, of Bloomfield Hills died on July 21, 2021. His July 25 funeral service took place in the Davidson/Hermelin Chapel at Clover Hill Park Cemetery in Birmingham. Officiating were Rabbi Joseph Krakoff, senior director of Jewish Hospice & Chaplaincy Network, and Congregation Shaarey Zedek Rabbi Aaron Starr and Assistant Cantor Leonard Gutman. The Orley family affiliated with the synagogue in 1933, when Graham’s father initially exchanged his talent of singing opera for paying membership dues.

Mr. Orley was a first-generation American. His parents, Celia (Goldberg) Orley from Lithuania and George Orley of Odessa, Ukraine (formerly Russia), came to the United States between 1910-12. They moved shortly afterward to Detroit, where their middle child, Graham, was born on Oct. 9, 1924. Drafted for World War II after completing Central High School, he missed his chance to attend the University of Pennsylvania. He became a Navy Seaman First Class aboard the gunboat USS Paducah.

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The story of Mr. Orley must include his older brother, the late Joseph Orley. “They were 50-50 partners in business from the time they were boys, shoveling coal and selling Hibachi grills door to door,” said Graham’s son, Randy Orley.

The brothers, who ate lunch together every day, founded many real estate and manufacturing companies. Randy said their three most successful ventures were “Elro Corporation, Rudgate Mobile Home Communities and RheTech.”

“Graham took pride in being an Orley,” Rabbi Starr said, and giving back to the community was a given. The Orley brothers became leaders with the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit and Federation’s Annual Campaign.

Graham Orley was a member of Federation’s Board of Governors, president of what is now known as the United Jewish Foundation of Metropolitan Detroit and chaired Federation’s real estate committee.

In his eulogy, former Federation CEO Robert Aronson said his close friend Mr. Orley convinced his board colleagues to purchase the former Congregation B’nai Moshe building in Oak Park and allow Yeshiva Beth Yehudah to open a girls’ school. It was the impetus for developing an entire local campus for Orthodox Jewish education. Mr. Orley also guided Federation’s move from Downtown Detroit to its current building in Bloomfield Township.

NEW JFS BUILDING Perhaps the Orleys’ greatest gift to their community happened in 2001. The brothers and their spouses donated monies to build what became the Graham A. and Sally A.

Orley and Joseph H. and Suzanne E. Orley Jewish Family Service Building in West Bloomfield.

Mr. Orley also was active with Detroit Symphony Orchestra and the Beaumont and Henry Ford healthcare systems. Internationally, he supported ORT, Israel Bonds, BarIlan University and TechnionIsrael Institute of Technology.

He played tennis and attended team sporting events as pastimes.

Sally Ann Hechtman met Graham, a “sophisticated older man,” at a friend’s going-away party. He showed up with a pinky ring to “claim” her before she dated another man, soon winning her heart. They were married on April 17, 1950.

The Orleys blossomed into a large family. Recalling his “tough, but sweet grandfather,” Ethan Orley said, “We rarely saw him out of a suit and tie.”

Gramps taught his children and grandchildren to have a strong work ethic and the other hallmarks of being an upright person. Whatever family members wanted to do in life was OK, he’d say, as long as they strived to be the best.

At the end, it was all about Graham and Sally’s love story.

“He was blowing kisses at her, holding her hand, until he took his last breath,” said Rabbi Krakoff.

Mr. Orley is survived by Sally Orley, his beloved wife of 71 years. He was the cherished father and father-in-law of Geoffrey (Paola) Orley, Randy (Diane) Orley and Pamela (Dr. Walter) Feuereisen; loving “Gramps” of Adam (Alison) Orley, Ethan (Laurel) Orley, Jordan (Charlene) Orley, Amanda Orley (fiancé Jeremy Goldman), Samuel Orley, Kerri Feuereisen and James Feuereisen; proud great-grand-

Graham Orley

father of Ben Orley, Maya Orley, Naomi Orley, Levi Orley, Ruby Orley and Julian Orley.

He is also survived by his sister, Rhea Brody; many nieces and nephews, and his caregivers, Joyce, Cheryl and Ricci.

Mr. Orley was the son of the late Celia and the late George Orley; son-in-law of the late Lillian and the late Samuel Hechtman, grandfather of the late George Orley, and brother and brother-in-law of the late Joseph and the late Suzanne Orley and the late Robert Brody.

Interment was at Clover Hill Park Cemetery. Contributions may be made to Jewish Federation, George A. Orley Memorial Fund, 6735 Telegraph Road, Bloomfield Hills, MI 48301, jewishdetroit. org/donate-online, (248) 6424260; Jewish Family Service, 6555 W. Maple Road, West Bloomfield, MI 48322, jfs.org, (248) 592-2300; or University of Michigan Depression Center, Orley Family Fund700978, Michigan Medicine Development, Attn: Sally Dillon, 1000 Oakbrook Dr., Ste. 100, Ann Arbor, MI 48104, victors.us/grahamorley, (734) 763-4858. Arrangements by Ira Kaufman Chapel.

continued from page 53

JOANNE LEVINE, 91, of Calabasas, Calif. formerly of Franklin, died July 22, 2021.

She is survived by her daughters and son-in-law, Shelley and Ron Segal, and Cindy Baker; son and daughter-in-law, Jeffrey Levine and Susan Lederer; grandchildren, Todd and Adina Segal, Erica and Jordan Tritt, Justin and Michelle Segal, Michael and Krystin Levine, Alexander Levine and Jing Li, and Levi Baker; great-grandchildren, Kayla Segal, Aubrey Segal, Ashton Segal, Isaac Tritt, Yael Tritt, Ruthie Tritt, Arielle Levine, Ethan Levine and Hudson Segal; daughterin-law, Caren Landau; many loving nieces, nephews, other relatives and friends.

Mrs. Levine was the beloved wife of the late Dr. Leslie Levine; the loving sister of the late Karen and the late Dr. Sheldon Schore, and the late Howard Lipkin; and the devoted daughter of the late Samuel and the late Frances Lipkin.

Interment was at Machpelah Cemetery.

Contributions may be made to Jewish Hospice & Chaplaincy Network, 6555 W. Maple, West Bloomfield, MI 48322, jewishhospice. org; Yad Ezra, 2850 W. 11 Mile Road, Berkley, MI 48072, yadezra.org/donate; or Alzheimer’s AssociationGreater Michigan Chapter, 25200 Telegraph Road, Suite 100, Southfield, MI 48033, alz.org/gmc. Arrangements

by Ira Kaufman Chapel.

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OF BLESSED MEMORY continued from page 57

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OBITUARIES

RHODA L. MILAN, 87, of West Bloomfield, died July 23, 2021.

She is survived by her sons and daughtersin-law, Gary Milan, Stuart (Courtney) Milan and Dr. Mitchell (Jill) Milan; brother, Marvin Skore; grandchildren, Matthew (Kaylyn) Milan, Jordan Milan, Evan Milan, Miriam Milan and Liv Milan; great-grandchildren, Leah and Abigail; sister-in-law; Linda (Jay) Schwarzberg; many loving nieces, nephews, other family members and friends.

Mrs. Milan was the beloved wife of the late Sol Milan; the sister-in-law of the late Marvin Milinsky.

Interment took place at Clover Hill Park Cemetery in Birmingham.

Contributions may be made to the American Diabetes Association or to a charity of one’s choice. Arrangements

by Dorfman Chapel.

GERALD MITCHELL, 82, of Southfield, died July 24, 2021.

Gerry grew up in Detroit, where his parents, Molly Hyman Mitchell and David Mitchell, were founding members of Temple Israel.

He and his brother Howard were shofar blowers on the holidays.

Gerry was an aficionado of vintage automobiles and loved driving his 1949 Studebaker and 1957 Hudson Hornet. Last year, he was honored to win the People’s Choice Award for his Studebaker at the

Ypsilanti Orphan Car Show, where cars no longer in production are shown. Traveling to visit with cousins living in Israel, England and Canada had been a highlight of his life.

Mr. Mitchell was the beloved husband of Margaret (“Peggy”) Ruffner Mitchell; cherished brother of the late Howard Mitchell. He is survived by treasured friends and family, who speak of his kind, soft spoken, appreciative manner; he loved engaging in conversation with all. He remained close to his cousin Sam Haberman of Birmingham.

Interment was at Machpelah Cemetery in Ferndale; Rabbi David Polter of Jewish Senior Life of Metropolitan Detroit officiated at the graveside service.

Contributions may be made to a charity of one’s choice.

Arrangements by Hebrew Memorial Chapel.

LOIS MYSLICKI, 77, of Clinton Township, died July 27, 2021.

She is survived by her beloved husband, Robert Myslicki; daughters, Sheryl Johnson, Dawn Myslicki; son and daughter-in-law, Jeffrey and Denise Myslicki; grandchildren, Jeffrey Johnson, Michelline Belanger, Danica Myslicki and Makayla Myslicki; many other loving family members and friends.

Interment took place at Clover Hill Park Cemetery in Birmingham. Contributions may be made to Jewish Hospice and Chaplaincy Network or to a charity of one’s choice. Arrangements

by Dorfman Chapel.

AARON ROSENSTEIN, 91, of West Bloomfield, died July 22, 2021.

He was an automotive plastics engineer, inventing key improvements for cars still in use today.

Once retired, he enjoyed adult education classes, teaching his daughter Yiddish, cycling and nature photography. His love of travel led to connections with people and places around the world. He was a lifelong athlete, excelling at basketball, downhill skiing and squash. Across generations, Aaron’s family and friends remember him as encouraging and kind, cherishing their time together.

Mr. Rosenstein is survived by his daughter, Deborah Rosenstein; brother-in-law and sisters-in-law, Kenneth and Phyllis Abrahams, and Sue Abrahams; nephews and nieces, Jacob “Jack” Hollander, Ellen Abrahams and Doug Freidenstine, Howard and Jennifer Abrahams, Jonathan and Dana Abrahams, Alan and Barbara Abrahams, Robert Abrahams, and Gary Abrahams; many loving great-nieces, great-nephews, cousins and friends.

He was the beloved husband of the late Jo-Lynne Abrahams Rosenstein; the cherished brother of the late Rachel Hollander; the dear brother-in-law of the late Bruce Abrahams; the lov-

ing uncle of the late Tovah Hollander.

Interment was at Clover Hill Park Cemetery.

Contributions may be made to Hospice of Michigan, 43097 Woodward Ave., Bloomfield Hills, MI 48302, hom.org/donations; the Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration, 2700 Horizon Drive, Suite 120, King of Prussia, PA 19406, theaftd.org/ support-aftds-mission; or Wayne State University College of Engineering, 5475 Woodward Ave., Detroit, MI 48202, giving.wayne.edu/ donate/engineering.

Arrangements by Ira Kaufman Chapel.

DR. HOWARD ALAN SALTER, of Olney, Md., died June 26, 2021.

He was the beloved husband of Elaine Toppall Salter; cherished son of Arlene and the late Harold Salter; devoted father of Matthew Louis Salter; dear brother of the late Jonathan (surviving wife, Jenifer) Salter; beloved nephew of Beverly and the late Charles Salter.

Memorial contributions may be made to Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation, crohnscolitisfoundation.org; to the American Cancer Society, cancer.org; or the Chabad Jewish Center of Commerce, jewishcommerce. org. continued on page 60

Jews believe that death is not a tragic end, but a transition.

Let us assist your loved one in that journey.

AUGUST 5 • 2021

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OBITUARIES

OF BLESSED MEMORY continued from page 59

DONALD SIMON, 89, of West Bloomfield, died July 27, 2021.

He is survived by his son and daughter-in-law, Robert and Debbie Simon; sons-in-law, Lewis Wagner and Bruce (Sue) Luria; grandchildren, Brent and Dana Luria, Elyssa and Eyal Dimant, Catie Luria, Stuart and Maggie Wagner, Hilary Wagner, Justin Wagner, Andrew Simon, and Allison Simon; great-grandchildren, Joey and Owen Luria, Boaz and Shai Dimant, Sora Cynthia Simon Wagner, and Julie Claire Simon Wagner; nephews and nieces, Michael Strub, Peggy and Archie Nash, Henry and Rebecca Strub, David and Lisa Simon,

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Anne and Steven Riegel, and John Simon.

Mr. Simon was the beloved husband for 59 years of the late Esther Simon; cherished father of the late Barbara Luria and the late Cynthia Wagner; loving brother of the late Lewis Simon and the late Richard Simon; the dear brother-in-law of the late Helen and the late Irvin Strub.

Interment was at Machpelah Cemetery. Contributions may be made to Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, 3 International Drive, Suite 200, Rye Brook, NY 10573, donate. lls.org/lls/donate; or Ovarian Cancer Research Alliance, P. O. Box 32141, New York, NY 10087-2141, give.ocrahope. org/give. Arrangements by Ira Kaufman Chapel.

BETTY SORKOWITZ, 93, of Novi, died July 25, 2021.

She is survived by her daughters and sons-in-law, Julie and Dr. Douglas Shiffman, and Janet and Dr. Allan Jacobs; grandchildren, Jodie and Joshua Jacobs, Jeffrey and Corey Shiffman, Carolyn and Jake Chachkin, and Renee and Alex Pellegrini; great-grandchildren, Marnie and Allie Jacobs, Eloise and Theodore Shiffman, and Meredith and Rebecca Chachkin.

Mrs. Sorkowitz was the beloved wife of the late Martin Sorkowitz; the devoted daughter of the late Morris and the late Sarah Friedman; the dear daughter-in-law of

the late Samuel and the late Ida Sorkowitz.

Interment was at Adat Shalom Memorial Park.

Contributions may be made to Friendship Circle, 6892 W. Maple Road, West Bloomfield, MI 48322, friendshipcircle. org/donate; Yiddish Book Center, 1021 West St., Amherst, MA 01002, yiddishbookcenter.org; or to a charity of one’s choice.

Arrangements by Ira Kaufman Chapel.

Correction The obituary for Rose Bohm (July 22) should have indicated that she is also survived by daughter, Michelle Bohm, and many close and loving nieces and nephews.

WHITE HOUSE PHOTO BY JOYCE N. BOGHOSIAN/JNS

Ruth and Judea Pearl light a menorah at the White House in 2007.

Ruth Pearl, Mother of Daniel Pearl

R

uth Pearl, the mother of slain Wall Street Journal journalist Daniel Pearl, died on July 20, 2021, at age 85.

In 2002, Ruth and her husband, Judea Pearl, were thrust into international attention after Al-Qaeda terrorists in Pakistan kidnapped their son, Daniel Pearl, and executed him nine days later.

Ruth Pearl, an electrical engineer and computer analyst, was born Eveline Rejwan in Baghdad on Nov. 10, 1935.

According to the University of Southern California Shoah Foundation, her childhood was interrupted in 1941, when a coup attempt in Iraq left a power vacuum in the Britishcontrolled territory, allowing thousands of Iraqi civilians, soldiers and paramilitary gangs inspired by Nazi propaganda and anti-Zionist fervor to start a pogrom against the Jews, known as the “Farhud.”

According to the release, at least 179 Baghdadi Jews were

killed in the Farhud and hundreds of others raped, injured, or had their homes and livelihoods destroyed. Pearl recalled seeing a bullet fly past her mother while she held her baby sister and watched Jewishowned shops being looted.

In 1951, she, her younger siblings and her parents were transported to Cyprus and then Israel as part of the mass exodus of Jews from Iraq, forfeiting citizenship and possessions.

Ruth met her husband, Judea Pearl, while studying electrical engineering at the Technion– Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa. They married in 1960 and moved to New Jersey to pursue graduate degrees. They had three children; Daniel Pearl was the middle child.

When Daniel was kidnapped, Ruth dreamt that he was in trouble. She woke up and sent her son an email.

“I said, ‘Danny … please

humor me and answer this email immediately.” Daniel Pearl never responded.

She and her husband went on to form the Daniel Pearl Foundation, which sponsors fellowships to bring journalists from Muslim countries to the United States, among other programs. They also started the Daniel Pearl Foundation Music Day project, held on their son’s birthday.

Ruth Pearl served as the chief financial officer for the foundation, which aims to perpetuate Daniel’s commitment to reaching across divides through journalism and music.

In addition to her husband, Ruth Pearl is survived by daughters Michelle and Tamara. She is also survived by her daughter-in-law Mariane; her sister Carmella; and grandchildren Leora, Tori, Ari, Evan and Adam.

— JNS.org

The Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit Honors the Memory of

Graham A. Orley 1924 - 2021 On Behalf of a Grateful Community

AUGUST 5 • 2021

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Looking Back

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

Remembering the Munich Massacre

I

t began as a joyous occasion. As the 20th Olympic Games began, the JN editorial on Sept. 1, 1972, captured the excitement with a simple sentence: “Jews were cheered in Munich.”

This referred to the cheers for Israeli athletes as they marched into the arena, but this was also a profound idea for Jews: “The Olympic Mike Smith Games of 1972 are a refutaAlene and Graham Landau tion of the horrors of Nazi Archivist Chair terror that had its image in Hitler’s presence at the Berlin Olympics in 1936.”

The same issue also reported that American Jewish swimmer, Mark Spitz, had already won three of his seven gold medals.

Spitz would be the most successful athlete at the 1972 Olympics.

The joy was not to last. On Sept. 5, 1972, eight Palestinian terrorists, affiliated with Black September, a militant offshoot of the Palestinian Liberation Organization led by Yasser Arafat, climbed the fence and entered the Olympic residential area. Armed with maps and stolen keys, they went directly to where Israeli athletes were living.

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As the terrorists entered, Moshe Weinberg, the team’s wrestling coach, and Yosset Gutfreund, wrestling referee, confronted them, but they could not stop them.

Weinberg was shot and wounded. Soon, Israeli athletes were hostages.

Already wounded, Weinberg was killed in a later confrontation when he attempted to wrest a gun from a terrorist. Assisting Weinberg, while on crutches, weightlifter Yossaf Romano was also killed. One escaped but nine others remained as hostages.

The terrorists demanded the release of 200 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons and a plane for their escape. At night, thinking they had a deal, the terrorists led the hostages, bound together and blindfolded, to buses that took them to helicopters, which transported terrorists and hostages to an air base.

West German police were waiting for them. Inside the plane were policemen disguised as air crew; others were stationed outside. There was, however, one major problem: the police were not trained in counterterrorism. Legally, the better-trained and armed units in the German Army could not help the police. The rescue operation was a recipe for the disaster that resulted.

Upon arrival, after checking the airplane, the terrorists discovered the ruse. They began to shoot-up and throw grenades at the helicopters. Although the crews were able to escape, the hostages were trapped. In the aftermath, 11 Israeli athletes, five terrorists and one policeman lay dead.

Shortly after, Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir launched “Operation Wrath of God” to punish Black September planners of the crime. Israelis were accused of vengeance, but Zvi Zamir, director of the Mossad, while noting that those who planned the terrorism deserved to die, said: “No … We acted against those who thought that they would continue to perpetrate acts of terror … We were not dealing with the past; we concentrated on the future.”

Despicable acts like this can’t really have positive ramifications. But, if there was any consolation to be derived from this “Munich Massacre,” it would be that much of the world was outraged and finally understood the forces of evil facing Israel. In addition, Western governments began properly training counterterrorist forces.

A moment of silence was held to honor the memory of the 11 Israeli athletes slain in 1972 at the opening ceremony for the current Olympics in Tokyo.

Want to learn more? Go to the DJN Foundation archives, available for free at www.djnfoundation. org.

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Atcreate its heart, a business is about people. A group of people coming toan something bigger than themselves.

To create a solution or atogether product or create something themselves.

ToHuntington, create a solution a product or an experience in the bigger servicethan of other people. At it’s our or belief that running experience service other people.

At Huntington, it’s ourpeople’s belief that a businessinisthe about moreof than making money, it’s about making livesrunning a better. business about making money, it’s about making people’s lives Soislet’s roll more up ourthan sleeves and get to work, together. better. So let’s roll up our sleeves and get to work, together.

Member FDIC. ⬢®, Huntington® and ⬢ Huntington. Welcome.® are federally registered service marks of Huntington Bancshares Incorporated. ©2021 Huntington Bancshares Incorporated.

Member FDIC. ⬢®, Huntington® and ⬢ Huntington. Welcome.® are federally registered service marks of Huntington Bancshares Incorporated. ©2021 Huntington Bancshares Incorporated.