DJN September 9, 2021

THE DETROIT

JEWISH NEWS $

200 Sept. 9-15, 2021 / 3-9 Tishri 5782

9-11: 20 Years Later

thejewishnews.com

Metro Detroiters who were in Israel on that fateful day share their memories.

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Sept. 9-15, 2021 / 3-9 Tishri 5782 | VOLUME CLX, ISSUE 5

PURELY COMMENTARY 4-10

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With homemade soup and a cake, Sweet & Savory delivers care packages to doorsteps.

Metro Detroiters who were in Israel on that fateful day share their memories.

An Evening of Hope & Renewal The Yeshiva Beth Yehudah’s annual dinner, Oct. 24, will honor GM’s Mary Barra.

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Charlottesville: Four Years Later Attorneys prepare for October trial to hold perpetrators accountable.

Journalist Danny Fenster still being held in Myanmar.

Get Good at Getting Older

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Welcome to the Neighborhood

Faces & Places

SPORTS He’s Ready for His Senior Moments

Injuries and COVID-19 can’t dim Benji Jacobson’s desire to rule on the tennis court.

MAZEL TOV! 34

Moments

HIGH HOLIDAYS 35

Time for Reflection

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The Lender and Borrower’s Roles During this Shmita Year

High Holidays are the perfect time to concentrate on relationships.

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Try these flavorful side dishes when you break your fast.

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Yom Kippur: The Happiest Day of the Year

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Torah portion

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Synagogue Directory

BUSINESS 44

It’s Been a Very Good Shmear!

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Here’s To

Generations of family owners mark New York Bagel’s 100th anniversary.

ARTS&LIFE 50

Road Art

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A Little Bit Country

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Celebrity News

Congregation T’chiyah starts new group to prepare for golden years.

Integrative Neighborhood creates housing community for adults with special needs.

A special dessert for the High Holidays.

SPIRIT

100 Days and Counting

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Eat Your Veggies

9-11: 20 Years Later

Save a Life: National Recovery Month

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Delivered with Kindness

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Sweet Treat

Essays and viewpoints.

OUR COMMUNITY 12

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Inspired by potholes, this artist created a semi-abstract mosaic series.

The jukebox musical Fancy takes a look at what happened to the girl in that famous song.

EVENTS 54

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Community Calendar

ETC.

The Exchange 54 Obituaries 56 Looking Back 62 Shabbat and Holiday Times

Fast of Gedalyah: Thursday, Sept. 9, 5:54 a.m.-8:35 p.m.

Shabbat Shuvah begins: Friday, Sept. 10, 7:32 p.m.

Shabbat Shuvah ends: Saturday, Sept. 11, 8:32 p.m.

Yom Kippur begins: Wednesday, Sept. 15, 7:24 p.m.

Yom Kippur ends: Thursday, Sept. 16, 8:23 p.m.

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* Times according to Yeshiva Beth Yehudah calendar.

ON THE COVER: Cover design: Michelle Sheridan SEPTEMBER 9 • 2021

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PURELY COMMENTARY for openers

All Hail Taylor North!

H

uge sports news! Michigan beats an Ohio team! Enjoy that headline now because that’s the last time you’ll see that sports headline for the remainder of the year. Ooh, admittedly with the college football season now upon us, that was a really cheap shot from this Spartan alum at Wolverine faithful.

Yes, Michigan did defeat Ohio, but it was on the Alan Muskovitz famed Little League baseball diamond in Williamsport, Pa. On Sunday, Aug. 29, Taylor North, our state’s representative in the 2021 Little League World Series, defeated Hamilton Ohio’s West Side squad 5-2, to capture our state’s first title since Hamtramck captured the crown in 1959. And, boy, was our current depressing news cycle in need of a healthy dose of a feel-good story.

I mean, seriously folks, can you possibly imagine a sports team that actually hasn’t been capable of winning a championship in 62 years? Ooh, admittedly with the pro football season now upon us, that was a really cheap shot at our Detroit Lions whose current championship drought stands at 64 years.

COVID restrictions forced most of Taylor’s 16-game tournament schedule to be played without family members in attendance. Still, over a 23-day stretch away from home, these courageous kids defeated champions from seven different states.

It takes me back (cue theme music from the film Field of Dreams) to the days when my old 1960s Camp Tanuga softball teams traveled up north in the back of a stake truck to play teams from Camp Walden, Maplehurst and Sea Gull. Win or lose, we always stopped at a Dairy Queen on the way back.

My Little League career wasn’t as notable. The two things I remember most were, one, panicking each time I stepped into the batter’s box praying I wouldn’t be nailed by some 12-year-old’s wildly inaccurate fastball. And two, our manager taking us to an A&W Root Beer stand after any game that we turned a double play in. Who knew ice cream would play such a dominant role in my baseball

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Alan Muskovitz with his championship plaque.

Alan Muskovitz up to bat over 40 years ago.

career?

I did go on to enjoy some “success” as an adult softball player. I was the winning pitcher for Drakeshire Bowling Lanes in the 1978 Southfield Parks & Rec Men’s Class B Softball Championship. After getting the last out, our catcher, Jeffery, charged the mound and picked me up like Bill Freehan famously picked up Mickey Lolich after clinching the ’68 Series against the Cardinals. Too bad smart phones didn’t exist to capture how goofy we looked.

Yes, baseball is in my blood. That’s why I cherish the Little League World Series tournament. (Cue theme music from the film The Natural.) Each year, it allows us the throwback thrill of enjoying our national pastime in its purest and

most innocent form. Teams competing without the benefit of sign stealing, foreign substances being applied to pitched balls or testing positive for performanceenhancing drugs.

Although, to be completely transparent, one Taylor player, 12-year-old Gavin Ulin, stunned the audience during an in-depth ESPN interview when he admitted to profiting off of “grass.”

“I cut lawns in my spare time,” Gavin said. “I got 10 lawns a week. … I like that cash.”

He said he makes $35-40 per lawn.

That’s a street value of up to $400 a week from his “grass” business. Oh, there is one thing he probably won’t be cutting any time soon — his now nationally recognized mullet haircut that hangs below his cap. This kid was “Taylor-made” for a great story.

I’m writing this prior to the big championship parade and celebration that was scheduled for last Thursday in Taylor’s Heritage Park. Hopefully, there, the players made up for the most notable error they made during their championship run when the squad attempted, but misfired, in dumping a cooler full of Gatorade over the head of their beloved manager Rick Thorning after the last out secured their title.

It will be exciting to check back in a few years to see if a Taylor Little Leaguer has made it to the big leagues. It has happened.

Trenton-born Steve Avery, 51, dawned a Taylor Little League uniform back in the 1980s and went on to become an All-Star pitcher for the Atlanta Braves in the early 1990s and appeared in four World Series.

Avery even had a short pitching stint in Detroit. But to this year’s Taylor North squad, Avery’s biggest stop in baseball no doubt was when he visited the team’s practice prior to their Great Lakes Regional Game.

Three cheers to Taylor North on being Little League World Champions! I only wish I could’ve been in the celebratory locker room to watch the players douse themselves with juice boxes.

Alan Muskovitz is a writer, voice-over/acting talent, speaker, and emcee. Visit his website at laughwithbigal.com, “Like” Al on Facebook and reach him at amuskovitz@thejewishnews.com.

Walk A Mile In My S h oes 2 02 1

Inaugural Fundraising Walk Sunday, October 3, 2021

Hel p Jewish Family Services of Washtenaw County (JFS Ann Arbor) raise the vital funds necessary to support our efforts in addressing the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan and other parts of the world. Meeting the basic human needs of our clients, such as personal safety, nourishment, support, and guidance as they settle into their new lives in their new home country, truly takes a vill age. Your partnership will make a real and tangible difference.

As a country, we made a pr omise to these people. They risked their lives to help us. Now it is our time to help them.

Wh ile registration for the event is free, we encourage you to ask your friends and family to sponsor your journey and JFS' mission of creating solutions, promoting dignity, and inspiring humanity.

To learn more and register for the walk, visit: https://jfswc.akaraisin.com/walkamile or scan the QR Code:

PURELY COMMENTARY analysis

Islamism’s Brutal Face Is Back on Display in Afghanistan and Iran

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ny notion that the worst days of Islamist terrorism are long behind us was brutally shattered at Kabul Airport on Aug. 26, as a terrorist bombing ripped indiscriminately through Afghan civilians and U.S. and other Ben Cohen JNS foreign servicemen trying to complete the desperate evacuation of thousands of people for whom Taliban rule represents the most terrible fate.

Gen. H.R. McMaster, a former U.S. national

security adviser who served as deputy commander of the international force in Afghanistan, put it succinctly in the hours that followed the bloodshed in Kabul.

“Maybe this moment is the time that we can stop our self-delusion that these groups are separate from one and other and recognize that they are utterly intertwined and interconnected, and what we are seeing is the establishment of a terrorist, jihadist state in Afghanistan,” McMaster, a visceral critic of the U.S. withdrawal strategy pursued by both the Trump and Biden administrations, observed in a BBC interview.

“And all of us will be at much greater risk as a result.”

His underlying argument is that talking up divisions between the Taliban and fellow Islamist fanatics — such as ISIS-K, the Afghan branch of the Da’esh terrorist organization in Iraq and Syria that carried out the Kabul Airport bombing — elides the point that these groups are united in their fundamental worldview. On the ideological front, the late Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden’s promise of a war against “crusaders and Jews” still holds firm, which means terrorism against Western interests and Western targets,

most of whom will be defenseless civilians. It also means, for those unfortunate enough to live under the direct rule of the Islamists, that ordinary Muslims will continue to be their principal and most numerous victims.

The “intertwined” connections described by McMaster inside Afghanistan can be seen in the region more broadly. At the same time that the Taliban have conquered Afghanistan, Iran has appointed a new cabinet composed of men with a direct, personal role in terrorism, torture and other systemic violations of human rights, all of whom have continued on page 8

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PURELY COMMENTARY continued from page 6

THE TALIBAN AND IRAN In the past, many analysts have scorned the contention that there could be a strategic connection between the austere Sunni Islam adhered to by the Taliban and the Shi’ite millenarian Islam that defines the Tehran regime. It is also true that the Taliban and the Iranians have come to blows in the distant past, as evidenced in the Afghan city of Mazar-iSharif in 1998 following the kidnapping of a group of Iranian diplomats by Taliban fighters.

Even so, what unites them is, in the last analysis, more important than what divides them. Taliban delegations have visited Iran on at least two occasions this year, in January and in July, with the outgoing foreign minister Javad Zarif recently praising their “noble … jihad against the foreign occupiers.”

In part, the Iranians are simply betting on the right horse, correctly deducing that further conflict with the Taliban is unnecessary given that the Taliban are once more the masters of Afghanistan. But more significantly, they share the common goal of banishing the United States and its allies from the region, including the State of Israel and, one assumes, those conservative Gulf Arab states that have made their peace with the Jewish state.

Which brings me back to Iran’s new cabinet. It is not surprising that the Islamic

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ISIS K fighters in Afghanistan

SCREENSHOT/JNS

extensive connections with Iran’s regional proxies, like Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Republic’s new president, Ebrahim Raisi — a sadist who, as a regime prosecutor in the 1980s, supervised beatings, rapes and mass executions of prisoners — would appoint a bunch of thugs to his cabinet. But what is alarming is the silence of Western states on the unmistakable message that this cabinet sends. For this is not an occasion to defer to the principle of not commenting on political appointments in other countries.

Iran’s new defense minister is Ahmad Vahidi, who is returning to the post for the second time in his career, having previously occupied it during the term of the Holocaust-denying former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The vice president for economic development is Mohsen Rezaei, a fierce devotee of the Islamic Republic’s founder, Ayatollah Khomeini, and the commander for 17 years of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC). Both Vahidi and Rezaei are fugitives from justice — specifically, for their roles in the July 1994 Iranian-sponsored bombing

of the AMIA Jewish Center in the Argentine capital Buenos Aires, the bloodiest act of antisemitic terrorism in more than half a century, in which 85 people lost their lives and more than 300 were wounded. Both of them were among the subjects of six “red notices” that were issued in connection with the AMIA atrocity by Interpol, the international law-enforcement agency, in 2007.

More than a quarter of a century after the AMIA bombing, Vahidi and Rezaei sit in Tehran, secure and stony-faced, serving a daily reminder that justice has never been delivered to those who died or lost their loved ones on that terrible morning in Buenos Aires.

Poking the international community in the eye by placing two terrorists in the cabinet isn’t the ultimate goal here, though.

Like all authoritarian states, the Iranian regime enjoys political theater, bloodthirsty rhetoric and the grandstanding that goes with it, but these are a means to an end. Vahidi and Rezaei are in the cabinet because there is a job to do, and

Raisi — and behind him, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei — has judged that they are the right men to do it.

Across the Middle East and the Islamic world, extremist regimes and terrorist groups are rejoicing in the fact that the U.S. presence and reputation in their region is a shadow of what it was just 10 years ago. They are not wrong; the options of America are largely restricted to diplomacy and sanctions. In that light, there is no reason for the Biden administration to continue its talks with the Iranians in Vienna over their nuclear program unless it wants to look even more gullible in the eyes of America’s Islamist adversaries.

It also needs to review the existing sanctions on Iran and extend these where necessary. Should Vahidi or Rezaei surface as official guests of a U.S. ally — Turkey being the obvious example — then the United States should make its displeasure known.

None of these moves can be said to be gamechangers. But they speak to the lack of a broader vision for the Middle East on the part of successive U.S. administrations, save for the ambition of getting out of the region as quickly as possible.

As McMaster reminded us amid the carnage of Kabul Airport, the region won’t let us go so easily.

Ben Cohen is a New York City-based journalist and author who writes a weekly column on Jewish and international affairs for JNS.

My STORY “Hebrew Free Loan cares for our community as if we were members of a large, extended family,” said Megan Topper.

Despite feeling as if she wasn’t deeply interconnected with the Jewish community in her youth, Megan went on to become a dedicated Jewish professional, sparked by her college job teaching second grade at a Hebrew school, and further fueled by her college education loans.

Megan, now Director of Philanthropy and Sustainability at Jewish Hospice and Chaplaincy Network, was on staff at the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit when she and her husband, Aubrey, had an issue with the exterior of their home.

“Several strips of siding came off the house during the winter, and we found that the siding as a whole was in poor shape and exposing our house to interior damage,” Megan said. “Fixing it was a large job and a completely unexpected expense that would have wiped out our savings. I was discussing it with co-workers, one mentioned her positive experience with Hebrew Free Loan, and there was the answer.

“Our home repair wasn’t a tragic situation, but HFL treated us as if mitigating a potential issue was just as important as an emergency. This organization helped my family without judgement and with deep kindness, as if they knew us.

“I have found that our Jewish community is a real gift and a treasure,” Megan said. “It’s beautiful and powerful to be surrounded by people who, even though they are relative strangers, will unite to have your back.”

Click. Call. Give Now. www.hfldetroit.org • 248.723.8184

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

6735 TELEGRAPH ROAD, SUITE 300 • BLOOMFIELD HILLS, MICHIGAN 48301 Hebrew Free Loan Detroit

@HFLDetroit

SEPTEMBER 9 • 2021

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PURELY COMMENTARY

B’nai David Cemetery

guest column

A Special (and Much Needed) Summer Israel Experience

H

aving only been to Israel once in my life as a baby, I was thrilled to receive the opportunity to return 17 years later.

The anticipation leading up to my summer CTeen trip was high, having joined numerous Zoom sessions to learn Inez more about Mundrian Israel, its history and culture.

I felt a strong sense of excitement, passion and commitment to take on this new experience. Due to the scary situation going on in Israel weeks prior to my departure, I was worried the trip might get canceled, but thankfully it didn’t; nor did COVID really impact the trip.

Even though this feeling of uncertainty was present, I knew deep inside that no matter what we as Jews encounter, we will continue to persevere and find ways to visit our homeland. Many say that when a Jew visits Israel for the first time they feel like they have finally come home.

My dad told me this before I left, and he was so right. I felt this feeling numerous times throughout the trip. I felt it in different ways and learned new things about myself and my Jewish identity.

A moment I will never forget from the Heritage Trip to Israel was Friday night as the sun was coming down.

The Kotel was flooded with Jews from all backgrounds, all there for the same reason,

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which is that special moment to connect with God before Shabbat. We all took our moments to connect, some of us even using a bit of Israeli chutzpah to make our way to the Wall. Once my group finished praying, we decided to start singing. We formed a big circle and started singing songs that many people know no matter where they are from. It started with my group of 40 and quickly expanded to other teen groups joining, tourists and locals. The energy was high, and the smiles were wide; everyone was jumping, dancing and singing. The unity felt that night was amazing while being surrounded by so many other Jews.

Another very special and personal moment during my trip to Israel and reaching the Kotel was the phone call I got just before praying at the Wall.

The call was from my mom, who let me know that finally she has been cured from a life-threatening illness. I carried her tiny note to the Kotel, knowing she is probably praying for health and good news from her doctor. I wanted to pray for her successful recovery. Her call was my magic moment, my blessing.

As our trip ended, I left with an extra amount of love for Israel, new friendships and the biggest smile on my face.

Getting to see different areas and meeting Israelis opened a new door of feelings and joy knowing that we as Jews are all truly connected and have this beautiful homeland.

And yes, there were moments

during stories and visiting historic sites where I was amazed or horrified by what had happened or is happening; but, in the end, we as a Jewish people continue to fight for our people and land and show lots of love to Israel. The sense of unity is comforting.

Lastly, I learned more things about myself and how to better my community back at home. Additionally, I learned leadership skills like when my group hiked Masada — some of the group couldn’t make it down but instead of being bummed out about having to wait, we made light of the situation and decided to play Israeli music and have a dance party to pass the time.

Honestly, even on our bus ride we still made a blast out of it. No moment was a boring moment.

I could tell anyone who is considering a summer teen trip to Israel: You’ll meet new friends for a lifetime; you will learn more about yourself and your Judaism; and you’ll have the best summer, leaving you with endless memories that you’ll want to share back at home. RootOne and CTeen made it possible because without their support I might not have been able to go. Eternally grateful.

Inez Mundrian is a high school senior in Ann Arbor who traveled to Israel this summer with CTeen, one of 20 providers of RootOne trips to Israel. RootOne provides subsidies to make the trips more accessible and includes pre- and post-trip learning and community engagement experiences for teens.

Historic Cemetery Open on Sept. 12 B’nai David Cemetery, 9535 Van Dyke Ave. in Detroit, will be open for visitors Sunday, Sept. 12, from 10 a.m.-2 p.m.

Visitors are welcome to stop on Marjorie Street (at the southern border of the cemetery) to see the urban garden David Goldman has built on nine lots.

Goldman purchased the lots from the Detroit Land Bank Authority to help clean blight and give back to the neighborhood that B’nai David cemetery has been a part of since 1898.

“As always, I thank those who have donated to B’nai David Cemetery in the past,” Goldman said. “We are working diligently toward a sustainable model that provides grounds-care in perpetuity.”

Expenses run about $7,000 a year for grass cutting. This does not include the repair of fallen headstones, fencing and asphalt patching, etc. Donations are welcome and needed. Please consider giving. Tax deductible donations can be sent to: Friends of B’nai David, 4540 Cherokee Lane, Bloomfield Hills, MI 48301 The nearby urban garden

WILL

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Your support will provide tens of thousands of needy Israelis with the resources and nourishment to get back on their feet, and ultimately, create a stronger Israel.

!

After a year of lockdowns, terror, and unrest, unemployment is still at a record high of 11% — nearly double that of the US. It has been tough. Luckily, the Israeli spirit is tougher. But, to rebuild, they will need our help.

DOUBLED

2x

DON

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ON

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The Israeli economy is struggling

Donate now to deliver hope for a brighter New Year GO TO OUR WEBSITE AT MPDONATE.ORG AND MAKE A DONATION

American Friends of Meir Panim 88 Walton St, Suite B1 . Brooklyn, NY 11206 / Tel 877. 736.6283 Donations to American Friends of Meir Panim are tax deductible in the US registered under EIN number 20-1582478

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☐ Call jhelp at 1-833-445-4357 ☐ Visit jhelp.org ☐ Chat online with a staff member or schedule a call at jhelp.org

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Supported through the generosity of The Jewish Fund and the D. Dan and Betty Kahn Family Foundation.

SEPTEMBER 9 • 2021

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OUR COMMUNITY

Delivered with Kindness With homemade soup and a cake, Sweet & Savory delivers care packages to doorsteps.

ASHLEY ZLATOPOLSKY CONTRIBUTING WRITER

W

ith Sweet & Savory, Metro Detroit’s Jewish community can send food packages to loved ones. Whether to celebrate a joyous occasion or to simply show some love in a time of need, one of the newest programs from Partners Detroit aims to provide home-cooked meals on delivery.

Launched in May of this year, Sweet & Savory is a volunteer-based kindness program where local Jewish community members can donate their time to cooking soups and baking cakes, which are later packaged with cards and delivered to homes. People can apply on Partners Detroit’s website to either receive a food package or request one to be sent out.

“It’s an opportunity for people to give back,” says Shaindel Fink of Partners Detroit, “and a way to reinforce a sense of community.”

As the brainchild of Chef Debra Walter, who has been involved with Partners Detroit for six years, Sweet & Savory was created in honor of her father Seymour Kleiman, who passed away

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in September 2020. “She wanted to do something in his memory,” Fink explains.

“She is very passionate about cooking, so she came up with Sweet & Savory.”

FROM OUR KITCHEN TO YOURS In collaboration with Partners Detroit and Partners in Care, the organization’s community kindness division, the program was built out and launched to the Metro Detroit Jewish community.

Sweet & Savory’s slogan of “from our kitchen to yours” relates back to the idea of the program, which involves volunteers getting together to cook at an event space at Platform 18, Partners Detroit’s new event space and community center in Royal Oak. There, volunteers create the sweet and savory food packages (soup and a cake), which are then delivered by other volunteers. “People can apply online for a free package,” Fink says. “Every package is delivered in a beautiful insulated bag with the logo on it.”

Additionally, recipients of a Sweet & Savory food package also receive a list

PHOTOS FROM PARTNERS DETROIT

Sheri Aahron-Miller, Debra Walter and Shaindel Fink cooking at Platform 18 for the Sweet & Savory program.

of ingredients for the meals they receive, so they can recreate them at home. A card is also added to the package that can send messages for speedy recoveries, thinking of you or to simply say mazel tov. Each card is signed: “Made with love, from our kitchen to yours — Your Partners Detroit Family.”

While Partners Detroit, a Jewish-faith community organization that curates educational programs and service projects, sponsors program operations, Fink says volunteers are the ones who keep the wheels turning. “Women give up their time to cook and bake and deliver,” she says. “It’s really been such a fantastic program that everyone feels so amazing about.”

SENDING KIND GESTURES Fink says both volunteers and recipients of Sweet & Savory packages are moved by the gesture, which has already lifted spirits of Jewish Metro Detroiters going through challenging times. One woman who participated in Partners Detroit programming, for example, was severely ill in the hospital, so she and her husband were sent a Sweet & Savory package.

Though the woman passed away that evening before the package was

A Sweet & Savory delivery package.

A delivery of homemade soup is welcomed for any occasion.

delivered the following morning, it was still sent to her husband’s doorstep — a source of bright light in a time of grief.

“Her husband was coming home from the hospital and was really very broken from having lost his wife of many years,” Fink recalls.

“He came home and found the package there. It was so meaningful to him to have come home in such a place and to feel loved and cared for at a time when he really needed the support of a community.”

Yet Sweet & Savory isn’t just for times when people need support. “Even when you’re going through a joyous occasion, your Pam Turkin, Debra Walter, and Judy Jacobs with a batch of babka they made for the Sweet & Savory packages.

community becomes so important to you,” Fink continues. “You can feel like people are thinking of you and along for this journey with you.”

A small taste of homemade food, she says, is a beautiful gesture that’s universal to all occasions.

With positive feedback since Sweet & Savory’s launch, Partners Detroit hopes to expand the program in the near future to offer even more options to the local Jewish community.

“We’ve had people of all ages volunteer,” Fink says.

“People have offered to come with their mothers and their daughters. It’s really been a special program.”

Robert E. Paletz Announces the Publication of A New Book

Streaming Life: A Poetic Journey, written by Robert E. Paletz, is a collection of poems that delve into the passion, pain and joy of life. Mr. Paletz was motivated to write poetry to make his own life, and the lives of others, happier and more fulfilling with words and thoughts that could touch hearts and stir feelings of well-being. The author sincerely hopes this will be your experience as you read these heart-felt poems.

Available at:

SEPTEMBER 9 • 2021

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OUR COMMUNITY

9-11: 20 Years Later Metro Detroiters who were in Israel on that fateful day share their memories.

JACKIE HEADAPOHL DIRECTOR OF EDITORIAL

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M

ost adults can tell you exactly where they were and what they were doing when they first learned about the terror attacks that sunny Tuesday morning on Sept. 11, 2001.

For 81 Metro Detroiters, that memory includes a stop for ice cream in a mall at Alonim Junction in the Jezreel Valley, en route to Migdal HaEmek in the Detroit Partnership region.

They were there as part of a national United Jewish Communities (UJC) Mission, meant to show solidarity with Israelis who were experiencing suicide bombings on nearly a daily basis in wake of the Second Intifada, which had started a year earlier.

“The communities of our Partnership 2000 region were suffering and we needed to show our concern by being there Mark to express our solDavidoff idarity,” said Mark Davidoff, then

CFO of Federation, who was on the mission. Tourism to Israel had dried up, and Federation wanted to participate in the mission to “focus on giving comfort to our friends in Israel,” he said.

Before the trip was over, the tables would be turned, and it would be the Israelis who provided comfort to their American friends.

GETTING THE NEWS ON THE BUS Staff Writer Harry Kirsbaum was on the mission, covHarry ering the event for Kirsbaum the Jewish News. “I remember this one lady, who had been going the opposite way on the expressway when she passed our buses,” he said. “She turned around to follow the buses and when we stopped, she ran up and thanked us. She said it was good to see buses on the road again.”

At that stop, people’s phones started ringing, telling of a

plane hitting the World Trade Center in New York.

“We didn’t initially understand what was going on,” said Larry Jackier, who headed up the Detroit delegation.

Larry Bert Stein was on the misJackier sion as a participant, eager to show his support for Israel when it was “alone in the world.”

“When someone said a plane hit the World Trade Center, I thought it was a feasible accident,” he said.

Bert Stein “Then someone said a second plane had hit the tower.

My first thought was naive: ‘Isn’t that a coincidence?’ I couldn’t believe that people would want to hurt people in New York City. Then, of course, I realized it was a terror attack.”

Marta Rosenthal was on the mission with her 22-year-old daughter Rachel.

“We were frantic because my husband was in Chicago and my younger daughter was in Washington, D.C., at university, and we couldn’t get hold of them,” she said.

Jackier said their bus driver had the news on and began to translate what he was hearing into English for those who didn’t speak Hebrew.

“It became very clear that America was under attack,” Davidoff said. “We tried but couldn’t get a single call home. continued on page 16

“IT BROUGHT EVERYTHING HOME TO ME. THIS IS WHAT ISRAEL HAD BEEN DEALING WITH ON A DAILY BASIS. WE WERE HATED BY THE SAME PEOPLE. WE WERE ALL IN THE SAME BOAT.” — HARRY KIRSBAUM

SEPTEMBER 9 • 2021

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OUR COMMUNITY

LEFT: Steven Posner of Southfield, Barbara Cantor of West Bloomfield and David Raben of Livonia at a memorial service for the victims of the attack in America held at the Nofota School in Nazareth Illit in Israel’s Central Galilee.

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around and headed back to Jerusalem,” she said. “We had over 200 people from New York on the mission. Amazingly, none lost a first-degree relative that day.”

Sherman turned her attention to coordinating arrangements to take care of the missiongoers. “The Israeli government was fabulous. They sent in their trauma teams to every hotel.

We arranged to make sure people had enough medicine if we had to stay longer. We tried to keep the mission going and provide as much as loving care for the group as we could,” she said.

Sherman got on the phone and began working with the government and El Al Airlines to try to get people back home.

IN METRO DETROIT’S PARTNERSHIP REGION When the Detroiters arrived at Migdal HaEmek, there was a huge welcoming assembly awaiting them. “It felt like the entire community had come out to support us when the plan had been for us to support them,” Davidoff said. “The tables had been turned instantly. It was a heart-wrenching moment.”

Stein said of the welcome, “We went to console the Israelis, and we were being consoled.

Israeli were hugging us because people wanted to hurt America.

PHOTO BY DEBBIE HILL

PHOTO BY DE

Lines were overloaded. When we heard about the Pentagon attack, the bus pulled off the road. As far as we knew, the entire country was under attack.

People were anxious and concerned.”

Some people wanted to end the mission, turn the bus around and go home, but Jackier insisted they continue on to be with “their family in the region.”

Jackier said, “After the initial shock, people from Detroit were amazing. We all stuck together.

We all hugged each other. There were no problems after that initial reaction when we first heard it. Everyone was terrific under extremely difficult circumstances.”

Kirsbaum said he was glad when Jackier said the attacks wouldn’t deter the mission. “All the airports were closed so we weren’t going back anyway,” he added.

Kirsbaum, who was sitting with freelance photographer Debbie Hill on the bus, has another chilling memory.

“She told me she had just got a message from a colleague in the West Bank, who said the Palestinians were celebrating with gusto, passing out candy to children.

“It brought everything home to me. This is what Israel had been dealing with on a daily basis,” he added. “We were hated by the same people. We were all in the same boat.”

Meanwhile, Jane Sherman, who was the national chairperson for the Jane Sherman 500-person mission, was driving with the chief of UJC on their way to Nazareth Illit. “When we heard the news, we turned

BBIE HILL

continued from page 15

TOP: Larry Jackier speaks to the Detroit Group in the lobby of the hotel. ABOVE: Bernie Brawer of Franklin, Morris Silverman of Farmington Hills and Bert Stein of West Bloomfield marks with youth from Detroit’s Partnership region in the Central Galilee at Timrat.

There was a lot of love around and a lot of tears.”

Marta Rosenthal and her daughter Rachel headed to a friend’s house in the region to see if they could contact their family back home. “We have a unique Partnership Region.

We’ve become a family. I think what was so helpful that day is that we were with family. That’s how I felt, and I think others

felt the same way. We felt clearly that we were not alone.”

Rachel recalls watching CNN and seeing footage of the events at their friend’s house. “We couldn’t get through to my sister by phone, so we tried email,” she said. “Eventually, we got a reply saying she was fine.”

Marta remembers that they had planned a huge party that night, but then they

PHOTO BY DEBBIE HILL PHOTO BY DEBBIE HILL

Marta Rosenthal of Franklin holds her daughter Rachel as they watch footage of the terrorist attacks in America on a large-screen TV in the Nazareth Renaissance Hotel.

changed the agenda. “It was no longer celebratory; it was more somber.”

After the event, the Detroiters headed to the Renaissance Hotel in Nazareth, an Arab-run hotel that had been shuttered but was opened just for the mission-goers.

“We walked into the lobby

and saw they had wheeled out large-screen TVs. Many of us had not seen one image the entire day,” Davidoff said. “As we watched the coverage, many of our delegation became emotionally overwhelmed. Seeing the towers falling was a horrific moment.”

Photographer Debbie Hall captured the horror the delegation felt with a photo of Rachel Rosenthal “crying my eyes out on my mom’s shoulder,” she said.

Kirsbaum said, “I didn’t understand the immensity of the attacks until we got back to the hotel. It was such a horrible thing to see. I was wrapped up in the emotions but trying to do my job as a reporter. It was a pretty sleepless evening.”

Kirsbaum recalls that the next morning, their first stop was at a school Detroit had been supporting that had been attacked earlier that year. “There were guards everywhere. We walked into the courtyard and saw an Israeli flag and an American flag, both flying half-staff. Kids were lined up holding flowers for us. Before we even took the tour, they planted a tree for us in a moving ceremony.

“All the children had written us notes and drew us pictures,” he added. “I took one with me and still have it. It says, ‘I am very sorri’ with a pencil drawing of planes crashing into the building. It was really touching.”

Rachel Rosenthal said that their “friends in Israel were there for us. A lot of that day was a bit of blur … Then I remember getting on the bus and trying to get back home.”

THE RETURN HOME Mission-goers spent the next several days in Jerusalem while the mission leaders worked the phones, trying to arrange a flight home. “We called Sen. Carl Levin to help us,” Jackier recalled. continued on page 18

An Israeli in New York on 9-11 — A Firsthand Account Yoav Raban was nearly 21 on Sept. 10, 2001, on his way to Detroit for a mifgash, exchange visit, following a 10-day Hillel of Metro Detroit Community Birthright trip in Israel. He had been selected as one of six Israelis from Michigan’s Partnership Region to join the Birthright trip.

He had arrived in New York two weeks prior to his flight to Detroit, scheduled for Sept. 11, in order to meet friends and tour the city.

“On the morning of Sept. 10, I wanted to say goodbye to the city and decided the best way to do that would be to go on top of the Observation Deck of the World Trade Center for one last scenic view of the city,” he said.

He was with his dad, who was also making his way to Detroit for a business meeting, when they arrived at LaGuardia airport on Yoav on Sept. 11. “We were not allowed the World to go in. We were told there was Trade Center a bomb threat, something we observation deck, Sept. were very used to from back 10, 2001. home when there were daily suicide bombings, and so the notion of a bomb threat was an everyday thing for us.

“We thought we would wait outside for a bit, and they will surely clear the bomb threat and allow us back in just like they do in Israel,” he continued. “But after a couple of hours, we were told that all flights were canceled, and we should go back to the city.”

Neither Yoav nor his father had a cell phone. They began to make their way back to the city, clueless as to what had happened. “We could see the smoke all the way from Queens, but we had no idea what we were looking at.”

After hours of looking for a bus, they made it back to their uncle’s hotel room, with whom they had been staying. It was already late evening. “When he opened the door for us, he was pale, as if he had seen a couple of ghosts,” he said.

“We asked him in such a naive manner, ‘What is going on in the city today? It’s crazier than ever out there,’” Yoav continued. “He was absolutely shocked and in total disbelief, asking us if we really had no idea what was going on. He immediately took us in front of continued on page 18 SEPTEMBER 9 • 2021 17

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OUR COMMUNITY continued from page 17

the TV screen and nearly 11 hours after the first plane hit, we finally saw what the entire world had already known and seen time and time again, all while we were just a few miles away from where it all happened.”

IN HIS OWN WORDS Yoav said: “After that, everything changed. I kept a copy of the NY Times that was placed outside the door the following morning. And I did what every Israeli does the day after a terror attack, I went outside, back on the Yoav Raban streets. And maybe that is the memory that burns brightest for me, New York City itself, the day after. One of the most vibrant cities in world, of constant noise, of nonstop hustle and bustle, suddenly silent, empty, gloomy — a big cloud of dust covering the streets and a strong smell of smoke and devastation.

“I remember walking by the fire stations, seeing the memorial candles that were already placed outside. A city full of grief. It felt as if I was walking in the streets of Tel Aviv during Yom Kippur. I was simply incapable at that time to even begin to process the magnitude of the historical tragic event that I was a part of. It was all so surreal.

“We in Israel, we are used to the notion of, ‘This could have been you.’ Many of us will endure that sense at least a few times during our lives here. We get it during our mandatory Army service, during the many wars that even someone my age has already been through. And it was definitely a repeating notion during 2001, in the midst of the Second Intifada.

Back then, ‘It could have been you’ was just a bus ride away, a visit to a restaurant or a shopping center or a night out at the bar or at the

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“IT WAS SO EMOTIONAL FOR US TO SHARE A SHABBOS AFTER WHAT WE HAD BEEN THROUGH AND WHAT WE HAD SEEN. ”

dance club.

“And, so, for me, to suddenly find myself an ocean away in one of the liveliest and vibrant cities in the world and still get hit by the same notion of ‘this could have been me,’ it made my stomach turn.”

9-11: 20 YEARS LATER continued from page 17

MEETING THE DETROIT DELEGATION AT JFK A few days following the attacks, while stuck in New York without any idea of what to do next, Yoav received a message from Hillel’s Miriam Starkman that Federation had arranged a bus to Detroit. He and his dad joined the Detroit delegation at JFK. “The inspiring and emotional experience of the bus ride cemented my relationship with our Detroit Jewish community,” said Raban, who is now director of Grants and Relations in the Israel & Overseas Department of Federation. “It made it my bashert and created one of my most meaningful and important life-changing and lifelong connections.

“I have been fortunate that through my connection with the Detroit Jewish community and our Partnership Region relationship, that I have had the opportunity to get back to Detroit every year since 2001 until the recent COVID crisis, which ended my consecutive streak at 18 years,” he continued.

“About three years ago, I felt that I finally got some closure for my personal journey when I went back again to visit the new World Trade Center Tower and was able to get back on top of the new observation deck, which now also serves as a beautiful memorial tribute.

“I felt more at peace after that, feeling the strength and spirit of the human creation and the passion of life and how it will always triumph over darkness and the desire for destruction.”

Working with the government and El Al, whose reputation for security was beyond reproach, Sherman was able to secure a plane for Friday morning. There was an El Al plane bringing Israelis who had family that perished in the towers to New York. Levin was able to get them on that jet.

“It was quite an undertaking,” Sherman said. “On Thursday morning, I told people to be ready at a moment’s notice. I told them at 6 to get on the bus by 8 p.m. They spent Thursday night at the airport, but nobody complained.”

Sherman waited for the second plane before leaving Israel.

“Everything happened so fast,” she said. “I never saw a TV when I was there — never had the time. I didn’t see what happened until I got back.”

Stein was one of the people waiting at the airport. “I promised my wife I would come home on that first flight,” he said. “At one point, Larry Jackier, who was a fabulous leader, asked if we were willing to sleep in the airport.

We stayed in the airport for about 30 hours. I met so many people I didn’t know. It was as different a night as I can ever remember.”

Nineteen of the Detroit delegation were on that plane, the first international flight to arrive in the U.S. after 9-11.

The rest stayed until after Shabbat.

“When we landed, JFK was

— BERT STEIN

empty,” Jackier said. “You could still see the smoke.”

Marta Rosenthal said it was “eerie — kind of spooky. It was like they had done a spring cleaning. Jetways were against the buildings. We were at customs with the Israeli families. I asked one of the agents, ‘Are we really the first?’ She said absolutely. We hadn’t seen a soul.”

Davidoff said it was like being in a ghost town. “They had just started domestic flights. Should we wait or drive? We took a vote and decided we should drive. I called Federation and told them we needed a bus, and a bus appeared.”

They were joined by a young Israeli from the Partnership Region and his father, who were also trying to make their way to Detroit (see sidebar).

On the drive home, the bus made a stop at a 7-11 in Pennsylvania and they bought bread, candles and vodka and made Shabbos, Stein said. “It was so emotional for us to share a Shabbos after what we had been through and what we had seen. It is a lasting memory for me.”

Davidoff recalls traveling across the country and seeing American flags on every single building.

“We were passing flags on cornfields,” Kirsbaum recalled.

The delegation arrived home at 5 a.m., Jackier recalls.

“Like everyone else, the first thing I did was kiss my family.”

SHANAH TOVAH!

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OUR COMMUNITY Former President George W. Bush addressing the 2014 Dinner.

Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair at the 2018 Dinner.

Ambassador Nikki Haley, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Dinner Chairman Gary Shiffman at the 2019 Dinner.

Choir performance at the 2019 Dinner.

An Evening Y of Hope & Renewal The Yeshiva Beth Yehudah’s annual dinner, Oct. 24, will honor GM’s Mary Barra.

JACKIE HEADAPOHL DIRECTOR OF EDITORIAL

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eshiva Beth Yehudah’s annual dinner, this year themed “An Evening of Hope & Renewal,” takes place 4:30 p.m. Oct. 24 at the Detroit Marriott Renaissance Center.

The dinner, an annual Detroit event, is attended by thousands and graced by famous local, national and international leaders in politics, business and philanthropy.

In 2020, the COVID pandemic halted the in-person annual dinner, which for the first time was held virtually. The theme for 2020, “An Evening of Unity,” was a natural choice for the event, whose dais is graced annually by a

most diverse group of leaders from across the community and the political spectrum.

With sights set on bringing communities together, united to bring positive change to the world, the event featured guest remarks from several thought leaders, including Jamie Dimon, CEO of JP Morgan Chase; Reverend Dr. Wendell Anthony of the NAACP; and President Donald Trump and future President Joe Biden, who made surprise back-to-back appearances. The event was viewed by 500,000 people.

THIS YEAR’S HONOREE Joining her name to the who’s who list of past honorees

and speakers at the Annual Dinner will be General Motors Chair and CEO Mary Barra, who is this year’s recipient of the Outstanding Leadership Award, the Yeshiva’s highest honor.

Barra began her career with GM in 1980 as a General Motors Institute (Kettering University) co-op student at the Mary Barra Pontiac Motor Division. She was named CEO in 2014. Under her leadership, GM envisions a world with zero crashes, to save lives; zero emissions, so future generations can inherit a healthier planet; and zero congestion, so customers get back a precious commodity — time.

She is focused on improving the customer experience and strengthening GM’s core vehicle and services business, while also working to lead the transformation of personal mobility through advanced technologies like connectivity, electrification and autonomous driving.

“I appreciate Yeshiva Beth Yehudah’s commitment to fostering education and growth at all stages of life, and I am honored to join the ranks of Outstanding Leadership Award recipients,” Barra said.

“I have learned that success is always a team effort, and much of my own has been paved by incredible mentors and the support of great colleagues at General Motors.”

MORE THAN ‘JUST A SCHOOL’ For more than 100 years, Yeshiva Beth Yehudah has provided Torah and secular education that shapes bright young minds into exceptional, compassionate leaders. But it’s more than just a school.

“IT’S LIKE ABRAHAM’S TENT — WELCOMING TO ALL WITH ROOM FOR EVERYONE” — MARK DAVIDOFF

Past Outstanding Leadership Award Winners Steve Steinour,

Gary Shiffman,

Huntington Bank

Sun Communities

Jim Nicholson,

Dan Loepp,

PVS Chemicals

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan

Mark Davidoff, The Fisher Group

David Provost,

Matt Simoncini,

Huntington Bank

Peter Cummings,

former CEO of Lear Corp.

The Platform

Mark Fields, former CEO of Ford Motor Company

Past Annual Dinner Speakers This year’s speaker has yet to be announced.

President Joe Biden & President Donald Trump

President George W. Bush

UN Ambassador Nikki Haley

Then Vice President Joe Biden

UK Prime Minister Tony Blair

Sen. John McCain

General Colin Powell

It’s a place where community members come together to grow, connect and be inspired. Its Partners Detroit program gives Jewish adults the chance to enjoy enlightening and invigorating Torah study, regardless of their background or level of experience. And its Scholars Kollel program enables adult Torah scholars to dedicate their time and energy to learning while serving as ambassadors of Torah teachings and role models to our community.

“The dinner has been a foundation for opportunities to introduce the Jewish com-

First Lady Laura Bush

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice

munity to opinion leaders in our broader community and allow them to look through the lens the Yeshiva plays in greater Detroit. It’s like Abraham’s Tent — welcoming to all with room for everyone,” said General Chair Mark Davidoff, also an honoree in 2018.

Rabbi Shragie Myers, executive Mark director of the Davidoff Yeshiva, said the dinner showcases the partnership between private philanthropists, business and community leaders, and the

general public for a great cause.

“We’ve always been proud of the diversity of the crowd — Rabbi both Jewish and Shragie Myers non-Jewish — and that everyone on that dais stands for unity,” he said.

“We open a window to the Jewish community for so many others to look through,” he added, “and what they get is a glimpse of the Yeshiva and all it encompasses, from the youngest children to the elderly and everyone in between. When they see that, people, in a word, are uplifted and want to be associated with it.

“Everyone in the Detroit Jewish community has a place with the Yeshiva, either through Partners Detroit, communal events or the annual dinner, which breaks down barriers and invites so many people who might not otherwise feel welcome, to come into the tent,” Myers said.

This year’s dinner is planned and organized

by Dinner Chair Steve Steinour, president and CEO of Huntington Bancshares and last year’s Outstanding Leadership Awardee. General Chairs are community philanthropists Jim and Nancy Grosfeld and Mark Davidoff, president and CEO of the Fisher Group; Event Chair is Jerry Norcia, president and CEO of DTE; Honorary Chair is Ambassador David.

T. Fischer, chairman emeritus of the Suburban Collection; and Campaign Chair is Sandy Pierce of Huntington Bank.

Sponsorship opportunities and tickets are available at www.ybydinner.org. For additional information, call (248)663-8299.

SEPTEMBER 9 • 2021

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Free Drive-Up Narcan Training Training takes place from 1-3 p.m., Sunday, Sept. 19, at Henry Ford West Bloomfield Hospital— Maplegrove Center (6773 W. Maple Road).

Attendees will receive training on the proper administration of the intra-nasal Narcan overdose reversal drug. You must be at least 14 years of age to receive a Save a Life kit, which includes two doses of 4 mg nasal Narcan.

Registration is appreciated but not required: tinyurl. com/driveupmaplegrove.

For more information, call (248) 221-7101.

Offered by the Alliance of Coalitions for Healthy Communities, Greater West Bloomfield Community Coalition, Tri-Community Coalition, Henry Ford West Bloomfield Hospital and Maplegrove Center, Jewish Addiction Resource Alliance and the West Bloomfield Fire Department.

Jewish Addiction Resource Alliance (JARA) is a coalition of organizations, agencies, congregations and people representing points along the vast spectrum of addiction and recovery. JARA’s vision is to eliminate the stigma associated with addiction within the Jewish community through education, resources and support to the individual, the family and the larger community.

For more information, contact the JFS Resource Center at (248) 592-2313 or resourcecenter@jfsdetroit. org.

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OUR COMMUNITY

Save a Life: National Recovery Month

T

his September marks the 32nd National Recovery Month, an annual observance to recognize and educate the American public on addiction and/or mental health and to promote recovery.

This year’s theme is Recovery is For Everyone: Every Maureen Person, Every Lyn Bernard Family, Every Community. And it reminds people in recovery and those who support them that no one should ever feel alone in the journey. Although everyone’s journey is different, we are all in this together.

Yes, even if you’re Jewish!

As a young child, I was told that we couldn’t become alcoholics or addicts because our faith, traditions and community served to protect us. Fast forward many decades later in my present role as an addictions therapist; I know that while faith, family, community are protective, they are not an invincible shield. Addiction can be found in households and communities regardless of income, education, observance or togetherness.

The Jewish Addiction Resource Alliance (JARA) is a

relatively new group, developed over the last few years after Jewish Family Service hosted a day filled with learning and resources. The most critical takeaway from that day? That there are members of our Jewish community who are struggling with their addictions, and there are loved ones who are feeling alone and isolated. Membership in either group transcends level of religious observance.

Through JARA, representatives from local prevention coalitions, treatment facilities, clergy and community members are banding together to develop innovative programming and gather resources that members of the Jewish community can feel comfortable seeking.

Of the estimated 2,684 overdose deaths in Michigan in 2020, 1,768 are attributed to opioids. This represents an increase of 16% over 2019, yet less than the nationwide average of 30% as reported by the United States Centers for Disease Control (CDC).

The Michigan Opioids Task Force and Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) have partnered in several initiatives to bring these numbers down even lower. The MDHHS 2021 Opioids Strategy

is multi-faceted in its approach with specific initiatives targeting prevention, treatment, harm reduction, criminal justice and pregnant and parenting users.

The data is being used to ensure equity in access to treatment.

You can read more about it at michigan.gov/opioids.

One example of this multi-faceted effort is to increase access to Naloxene, (commonly known by its brand names Narcan or Evzio), which, when used within the first 30-90 minutes of a suspected opioid overdose, can reverse the effects.

Naloxene is found on all EMS responders, in ERs and in many pharmacies without a prescription. Administration is simple to learn and a short training is encouraged. In fact, anyone in the community can take advantage of a free training on Sept.

19. (See sidebar.)

While I cannot say with certainty how many lives can be saved, I will borrow this quote from the Talmud (Sanhedrin 37a), which has been requoted in the movie Schindler’s List: “Whoever saves one life, saves the world entire.”

Maureen Lyn Bernard, LMSW, ACSW, CADC, CCS, is a clinical therapist at Jewish Family Service.

T

ANTHONY CRIDER VIA WIKIPEDIA

OUR COMMUNITY

his October, a trial will begin in Charlottesville, Va., to seek accountability for the leaders of white supremacist and other extremist organizations responsible for a weekend of frightening rallies and violence in Charlottesville in 2017. The images were startling — organized marches of tikitorch carrying men with shields and clubs, shouting racist and antisemitic slogans, some of whom assaulted peaceful protestors seeking removal of a Confederate statue. They also marched around Charlottesville’s Congregation Beth Israel.

Media reports said that some participants in the “Unite the Right” rally carried guns as well. Fights broke out between the groups, but the most horrific event was the intentional use of a car to ram into protestors. One individual, Heather Heyer, a 32-year-old paralegal and civil rights activist, was killed and dozens of others were injured.

The driver, allegedly an admirer of Hitler, was convicted of state and federal offenses and is serving a life sentence.

But there were no legal consequences for others who planned and implemented the hate-filled, violent Aug. 11 weekend.

“No matter how the defendants seek to avoid accountability, we’re committed to bringing these violent extremists to justice” says Amy Spitalnick, executive director Amy of Integrity First for America Spitalnick (IFA), a nonprofit organization. “At a moment of rising white supremacy and extremism, this case sends a clear message: There will be consequences for violent hate.”

IFA was established to sue the leaders of these extremist hate groups and their organizations, claiming that they injured peaceful protestors. Their case is based in part on the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871.

After delays due primarily to COVID, the trial is scheduled to begin in federal court in Charlottesville on Oct. 25.

The IFA lawsuit, Sines v Kessler, alleges that the defendants planned a conspiracy that led to the violence in Charlottesville, using Discord and other social media sites to recruit and organize participants,

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SEPTEMBER 9 • 2021

Alt-right members preparing to enter Emancipation Park holding Nazi, Confederate, and Gadsden “Don’t Tread on Me” flags.

CHARLOTTESVILLE: Four Years Later Attorneys prepare for October trial to hold perpetrators accountable.

SHARI S. COHEN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

and discuss which weapons to bring. The plaintiffs are a coalition of Charlottesville residents who were injured in the 2017 violence.

According to IFA, the two dozen defendants are leaders of the white supremacist movement, including Richard Spencer, Andrew Anglin, Christopher Cantwell and Jason Kessler. Their organizations include Identity Europa, Vanguard American and the National Socialist Movement.

IFA’s lead attorney, Roberta Kaplan, said in an online case update, that the lawsuit seeks “justice for the plaintiffs through monetary claims against the defendants and Roberta deterrence to other groups Kaplan considering such things.”

Spitalnick adds, “By winning large financial judgments at trial, we can effectively bankrupt and dismantle the leaders and hate groups at the core of the violent, antisemitic white supremacist movement and make clear the consequences for this violent hate.”

The IFA legal team is encouraged by the court’s sanctions — including financial penalties and jail time — against multiple defendants who have refused to turn over required evidence. According to IFA, defendant Richard Spencer has called

the case “financially crippling” and said it has hampered his ability to use online and other communication platforms. The Anti-Defamation League is assisting in the legal effort through a contribution of $100,000 and research through its Center on Extremism.

“Our team and plaintiffs have been the target of extensive threats and harassment by the defendants and their supporters,” Spitalnick explains. “Much of it is antisemitic (I’m Jewish and the granddaughter of Holocaust survivors, and a number of our attorneys are also Jewish). That is why security is by far the biggest line item in our budget. Much of the legal work is pro bono; IFA is funding all case expenses, with security being the biggest cost.”

Carolyn Normandin, regional director of the Michigan ADL, says, “Accountability is one step toward progress. This event ignited so much hatred against Carolyn Normandin Jews.

“We need to continue the message that Americans do not give in to violence and hate. We have to support people who bring people to justice. It’s really important for ADL to be involved.”

For information, visit integrityfirstforamerica.org.

100 Days and Counting Journalist Danny Fenster remains in Myanmar, imprisoned without charges.

STACY GITTLEMAN CONTRIBUTING WRITER Danny Fenster

T

he family of journalist and Huntington Woods native Danny Fenster marked 100 days since he was taken prisoner by the Myanmar military junta with an Aug. 31 press conference expressing gratitude for the support received from friends, community and government officials as well as their continued determination to assure his release.

Fenster is the managing editor of Frontier Myanmar. On May 24, 2021, he was detained by the military in Myanmar moments before he was to fly from Yangon to Detroit to see his family for the first time in three years. Since then, he has been held at the notorious Insein Prison under investigation for a law criminalizing dissent that carries a maximum three-year jail sentence.

He has yet to be charged.

The fourth foreign journalist arrested since the military takeover in February 2021, Danny is one of more than 70 reporters in Myanmar who have been wrongfully imprisoned. Their plight has drawn international calls for their freedom.

Danny’s brother Bryan said the family has not spoken with the journalist since Aug. 1, when he first complained of symptoms such as congestion and fever but had not been tested for COVID. There has been a sharp rise in COVID cases in the cloistered country, especially within the prison.

“One hundred days into his imprisonment, my fists are clenched just as tightly

as they were on the first day.” said Bryan Fenster, who has worked tirelessly to keep the spotlight on his brother’s plight with the #BringDannyHome social media campaign and other actions. “The worst part is that sleepless nights have become our new normal.”

Bryan said Danny is being represented by an attorney from Frontier Myanmar, and the family is in touch with the lawyer through a translator, though communication and information has been very limited. Danny’s next hearing was scheduled for Sept. 6.

U.S. Congressman Andy Levin, who was also on the conference call, released a statement ahead of the grim milestone. Though he had no promising developments to report on the journalist’s status, he said that he, with the Fenster family, the State Department and Congress, are “pursuing all possible channels to move Burma’s military authorities to

release Danny.

“I want to reach out to everyone because we must not remain silent,” read Levin’s statement. “The urgency of our efforts has not diminished in any way — not Danny’s family, not our community and not the Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs, not any of us. We remain as committed as ever to bringing Danny home immediately and unconditionally.”

Each morning when Danny’s father, Buddy Fenster, wakes up in Huntington Woods, he knows another day is ending in Myanmar that his son is not free.

“We were hoping to have him home by Rosh Hashanah,” Buddy said. “We celebrate Judaism with happiness and family togetherness but, unfortunately, there is also suffering. Danny was raised listening to the stories of his grandmother (Lily Fenster) who is a Holocaust survivor. We believe those stories resonated deeply for Danny. It was what inspired him to want to tell the stories of other people who do not have a voice and who have suffered as well.”

Danny’s mother, Rose Fenster, added, “As a journalist, Danny has always been the type of person to deeply care and listen and tell other people’s stories. We are grateful for our community as well as local government support who continue to keep Danny’s story alive. Hope is inherent in human nature. We are going to stay tough and feed off Danny’s strength.”

SEPTEMBER 9 • 2021

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OUR COMMUNITY

Get Good at Getting Older Congregation T’chiyah starts new group to prepare people for their golden years.

ESTHER ALLWEISS INGBER CONTRIBUTING WRITER

F

or the unlearned, old age is winter; for the learned, it is the season of the harvest.”

The old Chasidic saying applies to everyone moving through life. Learning how to prepare for old age will surely turn those later years golden.

Taking the education challenge to heart are five members of Congregation T’chiyah, a Reconstructionist synagogue in Ferndale. Working together, they host a series of online lectures called “Getting Good at Getting Older” (colloquially known as GG@GO). The name comes from an influential book by Rabbi Laura Geller and her now-deceased husband, educator Richard Siegel (Behrman House, 2019, 310 pages). Employing Jewish wisdom and gentle humor, “the authors share their insights and recommendations on lifelong learning, relationships and community, healthy aging and the importance of purpose,” said a review.

Having covered the book’s topics last fall, the GG@GO

Lora Frankel and Roz Schindler

Planning Committee is continuing the series with its own program ideas and local experts. The first new GG@ GO program, on Monday, Sept. 13, will feature Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel discussing online scams.

The committee’s intent is for GG@GO participants “to be armed with information that will allow us to continue to lead meaningful, purposeful lives, both helping ourselves and helping others,” said member

Roslyn Schindler of Huntington Woods. While seniors are the target audience, the lecture topics also assist younger people in preparing for the future and better understanding the elders in their lives.

PREPARING FOR AGING In joining the committee, Sandy Hansell of Bloomfield Township acknowledged he is among the older people who find it hard accepting their advancing age.

As a result, “Far too many ‘gee-

zers’ delay asking for help when they need it or taking other steps to meet their needs,” he said.

“We do not always realize how very vulnerable we are,” said Syma Echeandia, a committee member from Shelby Township. “Many of us have not sorted out our legal affairs, cleaned our closets and properly adjusted our homes for the aging process, even though we understand the importance of doing so. That’s why meeting regularly and talking through the issues has been so important.”

GG@GO started after Victoria Kohl of Shelby Township, the congregation’s vice president, coordinated with Rabbi Geller to speak at Sukkot about her book. Each time she and the rabbi talked, “I realized what a treasure trove the book was and how fantastic the opportunity would be to continue the learning throughout the year,” Kohl said.

Lora Frankel of Huntington Woods, who sponsored and also continued on page 28

Sandy Hansell

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Syma Echeandia

SEPTEMBER 9 • 2021

Victoria Kohl

Rabbi Laura Geller

Welcome to the Neighborhood!

Integrative Neighborhood creates a housing community for adults with special needs.

ASHLEY ZLATOPOLSKY CONTRIBUTING WRITER

“I was awestruck,” Terry says of initially learning about the Washtenaw County neighborhood. “These young adults were so happy to be on their own. They were so proud of their apartments.”

Now, local residents who have special needs can have the same housing opportunity. The first Oakland County pod is finally off the ground and thriving.

Located at the Hunter’s Ridge complex, where Mackenzie Matlen will be moving to in a few weeks, five residents who have special needs share three apartments.

There, they socialize, encourage one another and learn how to be independent while developing crucial interpersonal and life skills. They’re also close enough to their parents to provide an important safety net for both the young adults and their families.

Integrative Neighborhoods of Oakland County, led by parent Melanie KoblinCohn, has even been able to hire its first Community Builder, a woman living in her own apartment paid for by the families of residents to help the young adults socialize. “My daughter went from zero friends to having a whole community of friends,” Terry explains of the neighborhood, which has been especially important during COVID-19 when most young adults were more isolated than ever.

COURTESY OF TERRY MATLEN

F

or young adults who have special needs, setting up a secure future is of utmost priority for many parents. That includes safe and inspirational housing where young adults can grow and become the best versions of themselves.

Terry Matlen of Birmingham, whose 34-year-old daughter Mackenzie Matlen has special needs, struggled for years to find the right home for her child where she could be independent but also have support to succeed. “About 10 years ago, when Mackenzie was finishing up a posthigh school program, I was wondering, ‘OK, what’s her future now?’” Terry Matlen recalls.

Though Mackenzie was working on vocational goals, the issue about where she was going to live in the future continued to press the Matlen family. “I’m not going to be here forever, and her father is not going to be here forever,” Terry explains. “I needed to set her up so that she is in a stable environment where I know she’ll be OK for the rest of her life.”

Working with other parents facing the same concerns for their children who have special needs, who were steadily becoming young adults, a handful of moms developed a program known as an Integrative Neighborhood in 2014.

Inspired by a similar neighborhood in Washtenaw County, where young adults who have disabilities could rent units and live together in small supportive “pods,” the parents built a like-minded community in Farmington Hills.

FUN ACTIVITIES At the Integrative Neighborhood, residents enjoy pool parties, pizza nights and even taking trips to places like Marvin’s Marvelous Mechanical Museum. “Before, continued on page 28

FROM TOP: James Pentis, Stanley Wolf and Jacob Barron, IN members at an outing at Marvelous Marvin’s in Farmington Hills. • James Pentis and Jacob Barron behind Community Builder Tonja Shellman. They are walking home from their social outing at Buffalo Wild Wings. • IN member Spencer Cohn stands behind parents, Melanie and Harry Cohn. Melanie is the president of the board and has taken on the hard work of making the first Integrative Neighborhood in Oakland County a reality.

SEPTEMBER 9 • 2021

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OUR COMMUNITY NEIGHBORHOOD continued from page 27

Mackenzie was pretty isolated,” Terry says, adding her daughter previously lived at a different complex where these opportunities weren’t possible. Access became even more restricted throughout the pandemic when Mackenzie moved back home for a few months during the height of the crisis.

Terry wants more families who have adults with special needs to be able to learn about opportunities such as Integrated Neighborhoods of Oakland County.

“It takes a huge emotional and physical toll on the parents,” Terry says of having a child who has special needs.

“It’s a job that never ends. The concern is that parents don’t often know where to go or

what to do, so they keep their adult children home. Some of them are doing nothing other than watching TV.” Knowing these neighborhoods are out there can give parents and their children hope, Terry believes. “My hope is that more people will come to the Integrative Neighborhoods, and we can have a larger group of young adults,” she says, “so they can do more social activities, make more connections and gain more friends that they may have never had before.”

Integrative Neighborhoods of Oakland County doesn’t plan to stop with the Farmington Hills community. They’re also in talks with JARC, a Jewish organization that serves people with developmental disabilities,

Mackenzie Matlen.

to potentially open an Oak Park community to benefit the area’s Orthodox population.

“That’s a dream of ours,”

Terry says. “Our hope is to expand because there’s a huge need and a lot of parents don’t know about this program.”

who has experienced disability most of her life and has a son, Teddy, with Down syndrome.

Other topics under consideration include: “Grandparenting;” “Technological Aging in Place;” “Senior Activism;” “Preparing for a Better End” and “Gerontology and Geriatrics.”

The sessions meet 6:30-8 p.m. monthly, on the third Wednesday. After recapping the previous program, each session continues with a new topic and presenter, followed by a Q&A discussion.

Offered initially only to T’chiyah members, GG@ GO participation no longer has boundaries. Frankel and Schindler recently did outreach for the series, telling the Huntington Woods Monday Lunch Bunch about the chal-

lenges, opportunities and benefits of retaining or regaining a life’s purpose.

Schindler, a retired Wayne State University professor, will speak this fall about the series in relation to interdisciplinary aspects of aging in her scholarly presentation to a virtual national conference.

Moving forward, Frankel said, “We solicit input from anyone interested in GG@GO discussions to suggest additional topics of interest, and welcome other presenters with knowledge to share.”

GETTING OLDER continued from page 26

Getting Good at Getting Older hosts Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel at 6:30 p.m. Monday, Sept. 13. Her topic, “Staying Safe from Scammers,” will focus on online security. Registration is required at www.tchiyah.org/913 to receive a Zoom link. met with Rabbi Geller, shared Kohl’s enthusiasm. After the rabbi’s presentation was “such a hit,” according to Kohl, “we took the rabbi’s suggestion to build this community by planning a series of programs that followed her book and spoke to the challenges that faced us as we aged.” Echeandia, Schindler and Hansell joined them.

The original GG@GO series on Zoom presented book chapters dealing with “Invisibility,” “Isolation,” “Purpose” and “Dependency.” For the final session, Rabbi Geller — still the planners’ “guru” – was brought back at Shavuot to talk about

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“the harvesting of our lives, the importance of the intergenerational community,” Kohl said. A highlight, she added, was witnessing the “beautiful exchange between the ‘seasoned’ Rabbi Geller and T’chiyah’s young rabbi, Alana Alpert.”

Frankel said members of the coordinating committee “meet periodically to evaluate past efforts and plan future presentations.” Each committee member commits to facilitating a program, usually featuring a knowledgeable speaker. For “Acquired Disabilities” on Oct. 20, she will present her friend Susan Fitzmaurice, a woman

Congregation T’chiyah 22331 Woodward Ferndale, MI 48220 Email: TchiyahJake@gmail.com3 Phone: 248-823-7115

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SPORTS

He’s Ready for His Senior Moments

Tulane University tennis player Benji Jacobson was a 2018 Jewish News High School Athlete of the Year.

Injuries and COVID-19 can’t dim Benji Jacobson’s desire to rule on the tennis court.

B TULANE UNIVERSITY

enji Jacobson is the oldest player on the Tulane University men’s tennis team and the team’s lone senior.

But the 21-year-old from Bloomfield Hills has three years of athletic eligibility remaining.

Welcome to college sports, COVID-19 style.

Jacobson, named a 2018 Jewish News Benji Jacobson High School Athlete of the Year following an outstanding tennis career at Bloomfield Hills CranbrookKingswood, has battled through injuries and illness during his college tennis days to become the “elder statesman” of the Green Wave.

“Benji has had no luck at all since he came here,” said Tulane assistant coach Chris Simpson.

“It seems like every time he’s been on the cusp of something happening for him, he’s been injured or gotten sick.

“You know, some guys wouldn’t tough it out and say this just isn’t for me. But not Benji.

He always has a smile on his face and is ready to go at practice. He’s always dialed in.

“You can’t help but like him.

He has an infectious personality.

He always has a great relationship with everyone on the team. The young guys on our team will lean

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SEPTEMBER 9 • 2021

on him this season. Benji knows what we expect at Tulane tennis.”

Jacobson calls himself a positive person. That positivity has been challenged many times since he went to Tulane to play tennis.

He didn’t play in the 2018-19 season, sitting it out as a redshirt.

The 2019-20 season was halted early in spring 2020 by the COVID-19 pandemic. Spring sports seasons were canceled by the NCAA, and athletes were granted an extra year of eligibility.

“Everyone on our team was sent home for five months after the season was canceled,” Jacobson said.

Jacobson was infected by COVID-19 in January 2021, just before the start of Tulane’s 202021 spring schedule. Spring is the major season for college tennis.

“I had it all. Fever, aches, no smell or taste, bronchitis,” Jacobson said. “The bronchitis was a major concern because I have asthma. I wasn’t allowed on a tennis court for a month and I didn’t feel normal for 2½ months.”

Feeling a little burned out at the start of this summer, Jacobson said, he took a couple weeks off from working out and tennis.

“I won’t deny it. I thought about not playing college tennis

TULANE UNIVERSITY

STEVE STEIN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

anymore,” he said. “But I told myself I’ve worked too hard all my life to do that.”

On July 5, while running in the bleachers on the football field at Cranbrook-Kingswood, Jacobson stumbled and broke his ankle.

“Benji sent me a picture of his ankle. It had swelled to the size of a tennis ball,” Simpson said.

Jacobson had an Achilles tendon injury and sprained thumb earlier in his Tulane career.

The sprained thumb happened when he slipped on a clay court during a practice before a tournament.

“Benji had to play the tournament using a one-handed instead of his usual two-hand backhand,” Simpson said.

Simpson said this season could be Jacobson’s best opportunity to find a regular place in Tulane’s lineup.

Jacobson is 5-8 in singles and 6-15 in doubles in his Tulane tennis career. All the singles matches took place during the 2019-20 season. He was 5-13 in doubles that season.

“Benji is always pushing himself to be a better tennis player,” Simpson said. “He’s made an incredible leap from his redshirt season to now.

“I told him back in 2018 that he could be as great as he wants to be as long as he trusts the process. He’s done that.”

Jacobson thinks very highly of Simpson.

“He’s taken my game to the next level,” he said.

Jacobson isn’t sure what he’ll be doing after this school year.

He’s on track to graduate next spring.

He’s a political science major with a minor in business, with future aspirations of being a sports agent or working in the front office of a professional sports team.

Regardless of the next chapter in his story, Jacobson is happy he chose to attend Tulane, located in New Orleans, La. “One of the reasons I came to Tulane is because there are a lot of Jewish students here,” he said.

“I also wanted the challenge of playing Division I tennis.”

Jacobson was a three-time All-American and three-time state champion at CranbrookKingswood. He didn’t lose a single set when he was a senior.

Send sports news to stevestein502004@yahoo.com.

faces&places

Walk for Friendship Hundreds turned out for Friendship Circle’s Walk for Friendship on Sunday, Aug. 29. Both in funds raised and in number of participants, this year was Friendship Circle’s most successful walk yet. The event raised more than $600,000 for individuals with special needs, surpassing the goal by $100,000.

All the money raised at the walk will support Friendship Circle and allow the organization to continue providing support through recreational, social, educational

and vocational programming to more than 3,000 individuals and their families.

The theme for this year’s walk was “You Belong,” which represents the idea that without each of us, the world is incomplete. Hundreds of Friendship Circle families and community members joined together at Friendship Circle’s Farber Center in West Bloomfield to celebrate the belief that every individual deserves friendship and belonging.

“After having to spend last year’s walk

apart, we were grateful to see such an incredible turnout from the community,” said Friendship Circle co-founder Bassie Shemtov. “This was a record-breaking year, which wouldn’t have been possible without our incredible corporate sponsors, each and every donor and, of course, our amazing Friendship Circle families who never fail to support our mission.”

After the walk, participants celebrated their success with food, family activities, entertainment and more.

PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY FRANCO PR Hundreds of supporters participated in Friendship Circle’s Walk for Friendship.

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faces&places

Shaarey Zedek Hosts Fun Family Events Congregation Shaarey Zedek has introduced new programs to bring together congregation members and the community with updated family-friendly and inclusive events for all ages, including Shabbat Shalom Tots, a family-friendly and musical Friday service.

Shabbat Shalom Tots, began in early summer for children ages 0-6 and their favorite adults — parents, grandparents and friends. More than 40 of them attended the Aug. 13 Friday afternoon outdoor service with Rabbis Aaron Starr and Yoni Dahlen, and Lindsay Mall, for singing, dancing and ice cream treats.

Congregation members were also on hand for Hazon Detroit’s Michigan Jewish Food Festival on Aug. 16. The CSZ family staffed a booth at the festival, offering complimentary healthy eating cookbooks and other information.

Other new programs include TGIS (Thank

God it’s Shabbat), a Friday night “Green” Shabbat and Barbecue, which was vibrant musical service that asked attendees to focus on environmental best practices and ways to improve everyday sustainability; and the Twilight Stroll and Havdalah with Empty Nesters at Maybury State Park. The Empty Nesters is a group to foster camaraderie among those members with fewer family obligations.

“Our synagogue family works to meet members and the community where they are,” said Rabbi Aaron Starr.

“We’ve adapted our programs to the schedules and variety of interests of a diverse group of members, including keeping pandemic safety in mind. Our ability to pivot has worked to enrich the Jewish journeys of existing members and to attract new members as well. Our new programs fit their lives, and are meaningful and fun.”

PHOTOS COURTESY OF CONGREGATION SHAAREY ZEDEK

Rabbis Aaron Starr and Yoni Dahlen, and Lindsay Mall made music.

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Na’amah Segal Karas and Rhonda Rich

Rabbi Yoni Dahlen hands a popsicle to his son, Elior.

Dierdre Holt and Barbara Levitt

Sue Smith and Na’amah Segal Karas.

Shabbat Shalom Tots Ice Cream Party with ice cream by Hello Marla.

Shauna

Works of Art

JARC holds art show in conjunction with Friendship Circle.

JN STAFF

On July 29, JARC held an art show in collaboration with Friendship Circle at Soul Studio in West Bloomfield. The show featured art by individuals with developmental disabilities who created the artwork throughout the pandemic. Approximately 150 people attended the art show, including the artists, friends, family, and other community members.

JARC is a 52-year-old Bloomfield Hills-based nonprofit organization dedicated to serving individuals with developmental disabilities through group homes, independent living support, and in home respite care.

Shaindle, Jonathan and Paul Kayla and Jenna

Vivian

PHOTOS COURTESY OF JARC

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SEPTEMBER 9 • 2021

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MAZEL TOV! JUNE 17, 2021 Matthew and Morgan Barker of Birmingham are thrilled to announce the birth of their son, Logan Pierce (Ya’akov Eliezer). Logan is the grandson of Jeff and Liz Barker of Birmingham, and Dr. Michael and Lori Wayne of West Bloomfield. He is loved dearly by his great-grandmothers Joannie Barker, Nancy Krawitz and Marilyn Wayne; he is also the great-grandson of the late Beverly Singer. Logan is named in loving memory of his great-grandfathers Larry Wayne, Philip Krawitz and Dr. Jack Singer.

Freed-Lefkofsky

M

r. and Mrs. Steve Lefkofsky of West Bloomfield are thrilled to announce the engagement of their daughter Hailey Brooke to Daniel Scott, son of Mr. and Mrs. Larry Freed of Bloomfield Hills.

Hailey earned a bachelor of science in mathematics at the University of Michigan and is the director of operations for neurology and psychiatry at Tempus Inc., located in Chicago. Danny earned a bachelor of business administration degree from the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan.

He is the founder and CEO of Blueprint, a mental health technology company.

Hailey and Danny reside in Chicago and are looking forward to a fall wedding.

Noah Leo Bigelman, son of Sharone and Joe Bigelman, will lead the congregation in prayer as he becomes a bar mitzvah on Saturday, Sept. 11, 2021, at Temple Israel in West Bloomfield. Noah will be joined in celebration by his siblings Ari and Amelia and his proud grandparents Michal and Jonathan Firsht, Lynn Rubin (Arnie Rubin) and Jerrold Bigelman (Deborah Marwil). Noah is the loving great-grandchild of Isaac and the late Miriam Barr, and Arlene and the late Mort Firsht, the late Terry and Al Geronemus, and the late Leo and Celia Bigelman.

He is a student a Derby Middle School in Birmingham. Among his many mitzvah projects, Noah found it most meaningful to make PPE gowns for

frontline workers through the organization Angels Wear Gowns.

Zachary Mark Kraft, son of Terri and Michael Kraft, will lead the congregation in prayer on the occasion of his bar mitzvah on Friday, Sept. 10, 2021, at Temple Israel in West Bloomfield. He will be joined in celebration by his sister Madison and grandparents Marlene and Gary Kraft. He is also the loving grandchild of the late Ruth and Mark Silver.

Zachary is a student at West Hills Middle School in Bloomfield Hills. His most meaningful mitzvah project involved volunteering at the West Bloomfield-based Friendship Circle for the summer camp and Sunday Buddy Program.

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.

CANTOR SAMUEL

GREENBAUM — Certified Mohel — Answering all of your anesthetic & aftercare needs.

Skill, Sensitivity and Tradition come together to create your special Bris.

(248) 417-5632 855ABoy@gmail.com Office: (248) 547-7970

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HIGH HOLIDAYS

Time for Reflection High Holidays are the perfect time to concentrate on relationships.

KAREN SCHWARTZ CONTRIBUTING WRITER

R

eflecting on relationships is a part of the High Holidays every year, but it’s taken on a new meaning in the context of this past year.

The isolation brought about by the pandemic is challenging people to recalibrate and ask themselves what really matters at the end of the day: To reflect on what they can release and what overall relationships they can reengage with in a meaningful way.

For Rabbi Joseph Krakoff, senior director of the Jewish Hospice and Chaplaincy Network (JHCN), these are questions that come up throughout the Rabbi year. He’s involved Joseph with helping people Krakoff reflect on their lives daily as part of the spiritual care the organization provides.

This gives people a chance to explore their lives and legacies — and allows JHCN clients to see the impact their lives have had and the ways they’ve lived with purpose.

However, this message, now

LEFT: George Glassman and family. RIGHT: George Glassman’s late parents, Jerry and Debbie.

more than ever, is for everybody, he explains, and part of more conversations because of the pandemic and the approaching new year.

“I think it can be very uplifting, especially going through a pandemic. It gives us a chance to step back and say, ‘wait a minute here, my life is a blessing,’ and ‘am I living my best life?’ — and if not, what do I have to do to make it happen,” he says. “Those are all opportunities to make positive changes.”

People don’t have to wait until the end of their lives to open the door to this kind of introspection and what adjustments they might want to make, he says.

It can be an optimistic and forward-thinking process, he

adds, as people wake up to the message of living more in the moment, appreciating the moment and not putting things off because of life’s unpredictability. Exploring one’s relationships, connections to family, expressions of gratitude and the ability to put their authentic selves into their interactions are all meaningful places to start.

“It’s real and it’s relevant, as a result of what we’ve been through as a world. It resonates more powerfully than it may have resonated previously, with a larger swath of people.”

END-OF-LIFE SUPPORT As the High Holidays approach, George Glassman of Sylvan Lake is thinking about the tight family

bonds his late parents, Debbie and Jerry, valued so much. They instilled those values of family, and of being caring and compassionate, from the start. “That’s how we were raised,” he says.

“My father lost both of his parents as a teen … for him, family was everything.”

He’s mindful of those messages every day. They were passed on to him and his siblings, and then to the next generation.

As he and his sisters, Lenore and Judith, worked together to support their parents during the ends of their lives, their bond grew stronger. The whole family came together as a unit.

“It reinforced all the things we always knew were important,” he explains. “This was a perfect example of taking care of those who needed help.” It also highlighted the importance of being there for each other, he says.

“It was very comforting that we were all there together.

Whether we were there for painting, singing, whatever it was, it was spending quality time.”

Glassman also savors the time Jerry spent interacting with great-granddaughter Elsa, and the intergenerational connection they had in the last weeks of his life. “It was this incredibly touching moment … there was this incredible bond,” he explains.

In dealing with loss, the holiday tropes are magnified, he says. He’s making sure to take the time to enjoy life and family — seeing his granddaughter, visiting with his daughter and son-in-law who recently moved back to Michigan, and more.

“You never forget, nor should you ever forget, those who have enriched our lives,” he says. “It’s a special time of year, a time of reflection — of reassessing what’s important, hopefully living the following year as a better person, and doing more good for others.”

SEPTEMBER 9 • 2021

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HIGH HOLIDAYS

The Lender and Borrower’s Roles During this Shmita Year

O

nce every seven years, the Torah prescribes a Sabbatical year for the Land of Israel. Agricultural work comes to a halt and produce of the trees is considered ownerless, free for the picking.

There is another, less known, Rabbi Chaim component of Fink the Sabbatical, or Shmita year, and that is the cancellation of debts.

In Deuteronomy 15, it states, “At the end of seven years you shall institute a remission. This is the matter of the remission: Every creditor shall remit his authority over what he has lent his fellow; he shall not press his fellow or his brother, for he has proclaimed a remission for Hashem.”

You may have noticed something peculiar with how the Torah presents the concept of debt nullification. Let’s picture a modern-day court where the judge issues his ruling in favor of the defendant, and his decision is that no money is owed. How will the judge phrase his verdict?

Will he say the plaintiff may not collect any funds from the

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accused? Or will he say the defendant need not pay any money? The second option makes the most sense; addressing the one who now is exempt from paying.

Yet, the Torah doesn’t direct its commandment of debt cancellation at the borrower by telling him of his good fortune, that due to the Sabbatical year he doesn’t have to pay back the money he borrowed. Instead, it speaks to the lender and commands him not to attempt to collect the debt.

The Torah’s unusual presentation of this idea makes us realize that we need to examine this concept a bit deeper.

THE LENDER’S LESSON It seems that the Torah’s nullification of debt is in place primarily for the betterment of the lender; for him to learn and grow from the process. Through his willingness to let go of collecting the money owed, although he may experience a financial setback, he will gain significant spiritual advancement. What exactly does the lender learn from relinquishing his right to collect money rightfully owed to him?

The Chinuch, a 12th-century scholar, explains several benefits.

First, the lender will learn to become a kinder, more magnanimous person by his willingness to adhere to the Torah’s principle of letting go of the debt. Also, in sync with the general theme of the Sabbatical year, he will reinforce his belief that despite his vast efforts in earning his livelihood, ultimately, sustenance comes from the Almighty.

Just as a farmer abstains from working his land in the Shmita year, and refrains from his usual involvement in earning a living, here in debt forgiveness, the businessman is given a chance to demonstrate his faith in the Creator of the world. And, finally, says the Chinuch, if one is willing to abstain from collecting even money that he rightfully deserves, he will certainly learn to distance himself from ever trying to gain a profit in a way that is dishonest or unlawful.

THE DEBTOR’S ROLE There are several indications that this law of debt cancellation was intended mostly for the character refinement of the lender and not exclusively to alleviate financial hardship for the borrower.

First of all, even if the borrower is wealthy and can easily pay

back the loan, still the debt is canceled, and the lender cannot collect. Also, in Psalm 37, written

by King David, it states, “Wicked is the one who borrows and does not pay back.”

We see clearly that the Torah expects a person to pay back money that he or she borrowed, so much so that it calls a debt defaulter “wicked,” a rarely reserved phrase in the Torah, used only in limited circumstances.

Furthermore, the Mishnah, the first recording of the Oral Torah (Sheviis 10:9-10), states that even when a loan is to be nullified by the Shmita year, the borrower should still approach the lender and attempt to pay back the loan. Clearly, once the lender has shown his willingness to abide by the Torah’s command of forgiving the loan, he is allowed to receive the money and it is considered honorable for the lender to always pay back.

The Torah is primarily a guidebook for the world on how each of us can grow into bigger, more developed people. It contains three types of mitzvahs, each reflecting a fundamental relationship that makes up our lives.

The first are mitzvahs that are between us and God, such as not worshipping idols and the kosher dietary laws. Then, there are the mitzvahs that are interpersonal, those that teach us how to treat others in a kind and respectful manner. Finally, there is also a section of mitzvahs that are between man and himself.

These are the laws that guide a person through life and help advance and improve him into a better human being. Debt cancellation seems to be one from this last category.

Its primary focus is to teach us the many lessons we have discussed; to become kinder people who place their trust in God and strive to earn a living in an upstanding and honest way.

Sweet Treat

A special dessert for the High Holidays.

LOUIS FINKELMAN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Yiddish Limerick

TAIGLACH

KLEZMERGUY/WIKIMEDIA

J

ews have prepared special foods just for the holidays for at least 1,700 years, when Talmudic sage Abaye recommended eating foods which symbolize a good new year (Keritot 6a). In 16th century Poland, R. Moshe Isserles noted with approval the custom of serving all sorts of sweets, with a prayer that God grant us a sweet new year.

In Jewish Lithuania, a special High Holiday treat was Taiglach.

Jews from that area, known as Litvaks, delighted in this confection.

Recipes for Taiglach vary from simple to exquisitely complex. They all have in common the basic ingredients: dough, cut into small pieces, given a crunchy crust and then covered with a syrup of boiled honey.

In some recipes, the dough gets rolled into a rope, then simply cut into chickpea sized bits.

Other recipes call for tying the dough into little knots, or making miniature circlets, as if for tiny doughnuts or bagels. The name “taiglach” is a diminutive plural of the Yiddish word for dough, “taig.” Taiglach are “little doughs” or, in more idiomatic English, “little bits of dough.”

Meanwhile, the recipes call

Ingredients Dough: 1 Tbsp. sugar 2 cups flour ½ tsp. baking powder ¼ cup oil 4 eggs

Honey sauce: 20 ounces honey 3 Tbsp. sugar 1 tsp. ground ginger 1 tsp. cinnamon ¼ cup water ½ cup sliced almonds ½ cup dried cherries

bringing honey — perhaps with some other ingredients — to a boil to make a thick syrup.

Many of the recipes suggest adding spices, usually ginger and cinnamon.

The recipes vary about what to do next. Some call for fry-

Directions Sift together the sugar, flour and baking powder. Add in the eggs and the oil. Mix until a soft dough forms.

Roll the dough into a thick rope and cut into small pieces. Roll each piece into a ball and place on a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Bake at 375°F until brown, about 10 minutes.

Heat the honey, sugar, ginger, cinnamon and water in a pot until it boils. Add in the baked dough, nuts and dried cherries. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Once that’s done, uncover the pot and let it simmer slowly, stirring occasionally until all the honey is absorbed, about 10-20 minutes or until you start smelling a delicious caramel smell.

Turn out onto a serving tray, shape into a mound, garnish with extra sliced almonds and dried cherries.

Let cool and enjoy.

Recipe from Yocheved Perlman Magier of Cookies and More by Shelly and Yocheved. Visit at facebook.com/cookiesandmore2016.

ing the dough bits, some for toasting them, some for drying them in the sun. Some forgo the drying entirely, and just add the dough bits a few at a time to the honey syrup as it boils. Most recipes call for adding toasted nuts. Once you have fried, dried

or baked the dough, then you mix the dough bits into the syrup.

And there you have it: Taiglach. So sticky-sweet that you will want to eat only a small serving, washed down with a cup of hot tea or coffee.

Yom Kippur Eib ich zitz or eib ich shtay Dos the rabbi has to say.

And oh, ich vil Shayn essn But ich can nisht fargessn, Dos iz Yom Kipper, friends, today.

Eib ich zitz: if I sit eib ich shtay: if I stand

Dos: this Ich vil shayn essn: I want to eat Ich can nisht fargessn: I can not forget Dos iz Yom Kipper: this is Yom Kippur

By Rachel Kapen SEPTEMBER 9 • 2021

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HIGH HOLIDAYS DINING IN

Eat Your Veggies Try these flavorful side dishes when you break your fast.

T

his year’s early High Holidays mean I’ll be eating (and serving) cider mill donuts and drinking fresh cider from any of the myriad cider mills in our area. I’ll keep those donuts in the bag and Annabel heat them in Cohen the oven for a Contributing writer few minutes at 2000F. I may also pick up a few caramel apples to slice and serve as well.

This is also technically “harvest time,” so I’m thinking of new vegetarian and vegan dishes. Try some of these for your special break-the-fast meal.

WILD RICE AND ORZO SALAD WITH BASIL This is more of a side dish

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than a salad, so serve it with dinner.

Ingredients 1 Tbsp. thinly sliced fresh basil leaves 1 tsp. chopped fresh oregano ½ tsp. chopped fresh thyme 1 clove garlic, grated 1½ Tbsp. sugar ¼ cup champagne vinegar ½ cup olive oil ½ teaspoon (or more to taste) kosher salt ¼ teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper For the salad: ½ pound (1 cup) long grain wild rice ½ pound (1 cup) dried orzo pasta 1 red bell pepper, finely diced 1 cup fresh or frozen corn kernels (thawed if frozen) 2 Tbsp. chopped red onion ½ cup toasted sliced almonds ½ cup chopped fresh parsley leaves

¼ cup raisins or dried cranberries ¼ cup pomegranate seeds (arils) optional ¼ cup thin sliced fresh basil Salt and pepper to taste Dressing: ¼ cup olive oil ¼ cup white balsamic vinegar 1 Tbsp. honey, melted (I do this in the microwave) 1 tsp. Dijon mustard Directions Cook the wild rice and the orzo according to package instructions to al dente (don’t make them mushy). Transfer both to large bowls and set aside.

Whisk together the dressing ingredients in a small bowl and pour over the rice and orzo. Use a rubber spatula to fold in the dressing.

Allow to cool to room temperature before adding remaining ingredients.

Toss well and serve at room temperature, or cover and chill until ready to serve.

Makes 8 servings.

ROASTED SWEET POTATOES WITH LEEKS Ingredients ¼ cup olive oil 6 medium sweet potatoes, skinon and diced into equal, bite-size chunks (about 2 pounds) 1 cup leek “rings” (white parts only) 1 cup diced celery 1 Tbsp. chopped garlic 1 tsp. kosher salt (you can add more later) ½ tsp ground black pepper (you can add more later) ¼ tsp. ground cayenne pepper (optional) ½ cup chopped scallions, garnish Directions Preheat oven to 4250. Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil or parchment.

Toss all ingredients (except

scallions) in a medium bowl.

Arrange the potatoes on the baking sheet in as much of a single layer as possible and bake for 30-minutes, or until the edges are golden and the potatoes are just tender. Remove from the oven (the potatoes will continue to cook as they cool).

Adjust seasonings, garnish and serve warm or at room temperature. Makes 8 servings.

RICOTTA AND APPLE KUGEL Ingredients ½ ounces wide egg noodles 3 cups ricotta cheese 1½ cups sour cream 5 Tbsp. melted butter ¾ cup sugar 4 large eggs, lightly beaten 1 cup golden raisins 2 medium Granny Smith apples, peeled and sliced into very thin wedges ½ tsp. salt 1 tsp. ground cinnamon 2 tsp. vanilla extract Directions Preheat the oven to 350°.

Spray and 9x13-inch glass or ceramic baking dish well with nonstick cooking spray.

Set aside.

Cook the noodles according to package instructions.

Drain well and transfer to a large mixing bowl Add melted butter and toss well to coat the noodles. Add remaining ingredients and use a rubber spatula to mix well.

Transfer the mixture to the prepared baking dish, and bake for 1 hour, uncovered (if the kugel begins to brown too quickly, cover with foil and continue cooking until cooked through. Remove from oven and let cool before cutting into squares.

Serve warm or at room temperature. Makes 12-15 servings.

SPINACH AND ROASTED BUTTERNUT SQUASH SALAD WITH WARM LEMON HONEY VINAIGRETTE Ingredients 3 cups 1-inch cubes, peeled butternut squash 2 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil 1 red bell pepper, sliced thin 8 cups fresh baby spinach leaves (or about 8 handfuls) 1 cup thin sliced bok choy (white and green parts) 1 pint grape tomatoes, halved ½ cup very thin sliced bermuda or red onion, optional kosher salt and fresh ground pepper to taste Dressing: ¼ cup fresh lemon juice 3 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil 2 Tbsp. honey 1 Tbsp. sesame seeds Directions Preheat oven to 4250. Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil or parchment.

Toss the butternut squash with the olive oil and arrange on the prepared baking sheet. Cook for 15-minutes. Remove from oven to cool. (The potatoes will continue to cook as they cool.)

Combine dressing ingredients in a small bowl and whisk well.

Combine all salad ingredients in a large bowl. Add the squash and dressing and toss well. Serve immediately.

Alternately, you can arrange the salad on 8 individual plates and drizzle the dressing over before serving.

Makes 8 servings.

1 tsp. salt 2 large eggs 2 Tbsp. olive oil (not extra virgin) 1 Tbsp. rum ⅓ cup sugar ¾ cup honey, melted 1 cup strong prepared coffee, cold Directions Preheat oven to 3250.

Grease or spray a 12-well muffin tin (regular size) well with nonstick cooking spray, or line with paper cupcake liners. Set aside.

Combine flour, baking powder, cinnamon, cloves, baking soda, ginger and salt in a bowl and whisk well to combine. Set aside.

In another bowl, using an electric mixer, beat eggs until thick and pale. Add the oil, rum, sugar and honey and beat well. Add flour mixture and beat well.

Transfer the batter to the prepared muffin tin and bake for 40- minutes or until set and golden (and a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean). Cool for 15-minutes. Makes 12 or more servings.

VEGAN CHOCOLATE COOKIE BRITTLE Ingredients 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter or (for vegan) kosher-parve/vegan margarine, at room temperature 1 cup sugar

1½ tsp. vanilla extract 1 tsp. salt 2 cups flour 10 -12 ounces good quality vegan semi-sweet mini-chocolate chips Directions Preheat the oven to 3500.

Line a rimmed baking sheet (18”x13”) with parchment paper.

Using an electric stand or hand mixer, cream the margarine with the sugar.

Beat in the vanilla and salt.

Slowly add the flour and mix until incorporated. Stir in the chocolate chips.

Press the dough into a thin, even layer in the prepared pan. I like to cover the dough with a sheet of parchment or wax paper and use a small rolling pin or heavy can to quickly and evenly spread the dough.

(Dough can only be pressed as thin as the thickness of the chips).

Bake about 25 minutes or until golden.

Either cut into uniform pieces while still warm (I like to use a pizza cutter), or cool completely and break into pieces with your hand to create uneven shards of cookie brittle. Store by itself (don’t put with other cookies), in an air-tight container for up to two weeks. Makes 12 or more servings.

OLIVE OIL HONEY CAKE MUFFINS Ingredients 1½ cups flour 1 tsp. baking powder 1 tsp. ground cinnamon ½ tsp. ground cloves ¼ tsp. baking soda ¼ tsp. ground ginger 1 tsp. grated orange or lemon zest SEPTEMBER 9 • 2021

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SPIRIT

TORAH EXPANDED

Yom Kippur: The Happiest Day of the Year

H

ow would you describe Yom Kippur? A solemn day? A day of prayer and supplication? A day of abstinence? The Mishnah has a different description.

It says Yom Kippur is a day of joy — in fact, one of the two happiest days of the year. This Rabbi seems surprising to Warren Goldstein say the least. Yom Kippur is a day spent praying and fasting and generally putting aside the things that bring us physical enjoyment.

The Talmud explains the happiness and joy of the day is because it’s a day of forgiveness for our misdeeds, the opportunity to begin our lives afresh, free from the mistakes and wrongdoings of the past. It’s the miraculous opportunity to go back and change history … our history.

The Hebrew word for repentance is teshuvah, which literally means “return.” Through teshuvah, we return to that pristine state in which there was no distance or disconnect in our rela-

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tionship with our Creator and with our fellow human beings.

Of course, it doesn’t just happen. Real repentance takes heart-rending effort and application. The Rambam, in his Laws of Repentance (Laws of Teshuvah, 2:2), defines the process of repentance and sets out its various components: regretting the mistakes of the past, desisting from that wrongdoing in the present, resolving not to return to this course of action in the future and, finally, confession, an explicit verbal admission of all of our misdeeds.

The process of teshuvah leads to forgiveness at any time, but it has special power on Yom Kippur. As the Rambam writes: “Yom Kippur is a time of teshuvah for every individual and for the multitudes, and it is the climax of forgiveness … therefore everyone is obligated to do teshuvah and to confess on Yom Kippur.” (Laws of Teshuvah, 2:7).

On Yom Kippur, the force of Divine forgiveness is at its apex.

Our heartfelt pleas for forgiveness are more readily accepted.

AN EXTRA STEP IS NEEDED The Rambam points out that the process of teshuvah is sufficient when it comes to misdeeds that have damaged our relationship with God, but words and actions that cause harm to other people require an extra step. To rectify the harm done to others, we need to personally ask their forgiveness, as well as make any monetary restitution if we have caused them financial loss.

Indeed, the Rambam says, based on the Talmud, that Yom Kippur does not atone for sins between one person and another unless personal forgiveness has been granted. It is for this reason that in the days leading up to Yom Kippur,we ask for forgiveness from whoever we have wronged in the past year, so as to be able to access the gift of Divine forgiveness.

The Rambam writes that it’s important for the person who has been wronged to act with compassion and graciously grant forgiveness. In this way, relationships damaged by our wrongdoing can be fully restored.

The bottom line is that the redemptive, purifying powers of Yom Kippur can only be accessed through real action and sincere intention — through a deep and meaningful teshuvah process. This also explains why an important part of our Yom Kippur prayers is devoted to viduy — “confession.” In each of the Yom Kippur Amidahs, there is a section devoted to confession. The fact that the confessions formula is embedded in the most intimate and personal of our prayers — the Amidah — indicates our confession is meant to be a direct encounter with God, a moment of truth as we stand before our Creator, our defenses down, without any pretensions of innocence.

The relationship between confession and the other components of the teshuvah process is important to understand. The teshuvah process is largely an internal process of transformation, buried in the heart, mind and soul of a person. Regret for the past and resolve for the future are a state of mind. It is

the process of confession that gives verbal expression to the deep internal process of personal change and repentance.

The words of the viduy help us articulate and concretize the deep feelings of regret for the past and resolve for the future.

By vocalizing our misdeeds, we reinforce — and give shape and form to — the processes taking place deep beneath the surface.

WE NEED TO PREPARE Ultimately, we cannot just walk into the Yom Kippur experience without preparation. When we recite the various confessions before God on Yom Kippur, we need to have done the necessary spiritual and physical work beforehand. That is why Yom Kippur does not appear in the calendar in isolation. It is part of the Ten Days of Repentance, which begin with Rosh Hashanah and culminate with Yom Kippur. The hard work of teshuvah begins, in fact, from the beginning of the month of Elul, the month preceding Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.

One of the confessions we say on Yom Kippur is to acknowledge that sometimes we say a confession without meaning and intention, and this is something we have to be aware of and guard against. To merely mouth the words and assume it’s an automatic pass to forgiveness and atonement is a critical mistake.

Yom Kippur is the happiest day of the year because of its powers of forgiveness, atonement and spiritual cleansing — but it is a gift which is accessed through the real work of personal transformation.

Confession also catalyzes another dynamic, and that is self-transcendence. Rav Chaim Friedlander explains the source of most personality faults and wrongdoing in the world is selfishness and self-absorption.

Egotism. Our sages call on us to transcend our ego, to concern

ourselves with the well-being of others. The Gemara says we will find forgiveness and compassion from God when we are able to be compassionate and forgiving toward others. On a simple level, the Gemara is saying God deals with us measure for measure. If we show understanding, forgiveness and compassion to others, then He will do the same for us in return.

Rav Friedlander says it goes deeper. The capacity to show understanding, forgiveness and compassion to other people is derived from a capacity to transcend our ego. This self-transcendence imbues us with a holiness and purity and greatness, and it is this that brings about the Divine forgiveness.

So, Yom Kippur is a day of achieving self-transcendence. We do so through our confessions, where we take a step back from our ego and look at ourselves objectively, acknowledging where we have made mistakes and where we can improve and how we can become better people. Doing so verbally and sincerely before God is a very powerful act of self-transcendence.

The other dimension of self-transcendence on Yom Kippur is to transcend the physical world by not partaking in food and drink, not wearing leather shoes, not washing or anointing with oils or engaging in marital relations. That, too, is an act of transcendence — of transcending the pursuit of personal physical gratification that can sometimes weigh us down and can distract us from the task of self-mastery that the day of Yom Kippur is all about.

Above all, Yom Kippur is a day of Divine forgiveness, a day of redemption and liberation from our mistakes and misdeeds. It is, in short, the happiest day of the year.

Rabbi Warren Goldstein is the chief rabbi of South Africa.

TORAH PORTION

Facing Fear and Doubt

A

s we are about to doubts at some time in our enter the High lives, whether about our own Holiday season and health, job, other personal begin the new Jewish matters or worrying year of 5782, we are about our larger world. full of hopes and God even tells the dreams for ourselves Jewish people there will and our families; and be times when he will at the same time, due hide his face from us to the Coronavirus Rabbi David (Deuteronomy 31:17), Fain variant, we also “Then My anger will approach this year flare up against them, Parshat with some fear and and I will abandon them Vayelekh: doubt. What will this and hide My counteDeuteronomy year look like with the nance from them.”

31:1-30; new variant? When God himself acknowlHosea 14:2will young children get edges there are times 10; Micah 7:18-20; vaccinated? How will when we do not feel His Joel 2:15-27. presence, times of lonethis virus continue to (Shabbat affect our lives? When liness, fear and doubt. At Shuvah) will we return to a times, God is hiding and “normal” life? A year at times God is with us. full of excitement also And He charged begins with a year of some Joshua, son of Nun: “Be uncertainty, fear and doubt. strong and resolute; for you Reading this week’s porshall bring the Israelites into tion, we learn that doubt and the land that I promised them uncertainty are not new to the on oath, and I will be with you.”

Jewish people. In the parshah, Just as Jews needed to face as the great Jewish leader their fear and doubt then, Moshe tells the Jewish people we must also face our doubts he will not cross the Jordan and fears today. We must and enter the Land of Israel, remember the message of the Jewish people feel fear this parshah: to have strength and uncertainty about their and courage. And we must future. We know this because also remember at the times of Moshe tells them, “Do not most doubt when God feels fear.” There is fear in the new far that there will be times leader, Yehoshua, as Moshe when God will also feel close. reminds him not to fear.

May we begin this new Actually, three times in this year, a year full of hope, week’s reading, the Torah uses fear and doubt, also Chazak some variation of “be strong V’Amatz, Be strong and have and have courage.” courage.

The Torah emphasizes Rabbi David Fain is rabbi at Hillel strength and courage because Day School of Metropolitan Detroit it knows that doubt is part of in Farmington Hills. human nature. We all have SEPTEMBER 9 • 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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SEPTEMBER 9 • 2021

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

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

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

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

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

ANN ARBOR

CONSERVATIVE Beth Israel Congregation (734) 665-9897 @BethIsraelCongregation ORTHODOX Ann Arbor Chabad House (734) 995-3276 jewmich.com Ann Arbor Orthodox Minyan annarborminyan.org RECONSTRUCTIONIST Ann Arbor Reconstructionist Congregation (734) 445-1910 aarecon.org REFORM Temple Beth Emeth (734) 665-4744 templebethemeth.org RENEWAL Pardes Hanah pardeshanah.org SECULAR HUMANISTIC Jewish Cultural Society (734) 975-9872 jewishculturalsociety.org Please email factual corrections or additional synagogues to list to: smanello@thejewishnews.com.

SEPTEMBER 9 • 2021

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business SPOTlight

BIRMIN GH A M

JERRY ZOLYNSKY

brought to you in partnership with

Owners Howard Goldsmith of Bloomfield Hills and his son Phil Goldsmith of Birmingham.

It’s Been a Very Good Shmear!

Generations of family owners mark New York Bagel’s 100th anniversary.

DANNY SCHWARTZ STAFF WRITER

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I

f you’re Jewish and were raised in Metro Detroit, chances are you’ve grown up eating a warm, familiar delight topped with cream cheese, lox or more. You’ve probably broken a Yom Kippur fast with the delicious treat or spent a Sunday brunch with family not even needing to ask what you would be feasting on — a bagel, a New York Bagel.

This year, Metro Detroit staple New York Bagel celebrates its 100th anniversary, a legacy passed down and owned by four generations of the Goldsmith family.

Howard Goldsmith, 70, the grandson of Morris and son of Harvey, currently runs the business with his son Phil, 39.

Phil is set to take full ownership and control of the business as

his father eases himself out of the business, with plans to retire next year.

While both Howard and Phil worked at the store growing up, entering the bagel business full time was not the initial plan for either. Fate or not, the Detroit institution sees its centennial led by a father and son, with the generational baton soon to be handed over once again.

BAGEL BEGINNINGS New York Bagel began in 1921, when a New Yorker opened the first shop on Hastings Street near Downtown Detroit. In the 1930s, Morris Goldsmith, a Russian immigrant who was an employee since 1923, became a partner with the original owner and another immigrant, William Needelman. continued on page 46

here’s to Ernst & Young LLP announced that president and CEO Mat Ishbia of United Wholesale Matt Ishbia Mortgage was named an Entrepreneur of The Year 2021 Michigan and Northwest Ohio Award winner. The awards program is one of the preeminent competitive awards for entrepreneurs and leaders of high-growth companies. The award recognizes those who are unstoppable entrepreneurial leaders, excelling in talent management; degree of difficulty; financial performance; societal impact and building a values-based com-

pany; and originality, innovation and future plans. Ishbia was selected by an independent panel of judges, and the award was announced during the program’s virtual awards gala in August.

Wixom-based Firebolt Group, an innovative software and hardware marketing solutions David Bean company for leading global brands, announced the appointment of David Bean as president and board member. He will guide the company’s trajectory of growth this year, helping brands reemerge to connect with their customers. His

expertise as a business leader includes sales, marketing, operations, manufacturing, client relations, event management, project management, logistics and field services.

Hertz Schram PC, a Bloomfield Hills and Detroit law firm, announced that prominent First Herschel Amendment Fink and media law attorney Herschel Fink has joined Hertz Schram as Of Counsel to the firm, where he will continue his practice representing newspapers, media organizations and entertainment companies.

He is currently legal counsel

to USA Today Network’s six Michigan newsrooms, including the Detroit Free Press, that he has represented for 35 years, and will continue to represent separately.

Previously, he was a senior partner at the Honigman firm, where he headed its media law practice for 35 years.

Veteran organizer and community leader Noah Arbit (D-West Bloomfield) Noah Arbit announced his campaign for state representative in the competitive West Bloomfield-based 39th House District ahead of redistricting.

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business SPOTlight continued from page 44

Eventually, in the 1960s, Morris owned the business outright with his son Harvey.

The bagel shop kept moving, following the Jewish community north through Detroit and eventually to the suburbs. Many Detroiters remember the store on Schaefer north of Seven Mile, near the former Ahavas Achim synagogue. Nearly 50 years ago, the flagship store was opened in Ferndale, and later stores in Southfield and West Bloomfield.

Over time, Morris retired, and Harvey was solely at the helm until Howard came along.

Howard earned a Ph.D. in speech and hearing sciences and taught at the University of Wisconsin in Milwaukee before returning to Detroit in the late ’80s looking to switch paths.

“I was an assistant professor, and I wanted to change my career,” Howard said. “My father had always left the door open for me to join him, and I decided to take the plunge in 1987.”

Howard eventually became a partner with his father and gained full ownership and control as his father retired years later.

Soon after Goldsmith took the plunge, the bagel business exploded in the early 1990s.

“That’s when Einstein Bros.

“IN THE BACK OF MY HEAD, I ALWAYS SORT OF FELT THE LEGACY WAS SOMETHING I HAD TO KEEP GOING. ” — PHIL GOLDSMITH

Bagels and Bruegger’s Bagels came along — they were reacting to the explosion,” Goldsmith said. “What was nice for us is we were there to catch the wave.”

Over 30 years after entering the business and reaping the rewards of the explosion, Goldsmith is ready to hand the reins over to his son, just like his father and grandfather did before him.

NEW GENERATION While working full time in the bagel business was never the plan, Phil Goldsmith worked at the shop since he was a kid, throughout high school, during college and even after college on the weekends.

After college, he went into public accounting and became a licensed CPA, eventually working at a firm and a small business.

Looking for a change in mid-2014, Phil started talking

with his father about potentially transitioning into the family business as well.

“He was overjoyed, I think, because there really wasn’t a transition plan otherwise,” Phil said. “In the back of my head, I always sort of felt the legacy was something I had to keep going.

I’ve got a brother and sister but neither of them live in town, and I felt it was time. A small fraction of businesses make it to 100 years and make it to the fourth generation, so I was feeling it was an important legacy to carry on. Looking back, I’m happy I did.”

In hindsight, Phil doesn’t know if the move was fate, but does feel it was almost inevitable.

“Who else was going to do it if it weren’t me? What would’ve happened? My dad would have sold it to somebody, and who’s to say it would’ve been the same New York Bagel anymore,” Phil said.

Now co-owner with his father, Phil knows how monumental his role is in being a fourth-generation owner.

“It’s really something to be proud of,” Phil said. “We just lost my grandfather this year back in March, and he was ecstatic that I decided to join.

He was second generation and got to work with his father, my father got to work with his father and now I get to work with my father and help him start to wind down and transition to the next generation.”

Phil has one child, a 6-yearold daughter, and laughs when the topic of fifth-generation potential comes up. It may be a bit too early to tell, Phil believes.

“When I ask her what she wants to do, she says she wants to be a teacher or veterinarian,” Goldsmith said. “She’s not thinking about bagels, she likes to eat them, but not about making them.”

Goldsmith has made many contributions to New York Bagel so far, but none more important than adding to the company’s technological capabilities. He has spearheaded efforts in adding DoorDash and GrubHub delivery service capability and transitioning from an old-school cash register to a full point-of-sales system, giving the

Supporting the Community The bagel shop, with three locations in Ferndale, West Bloomfield and Southfield, wants to offer a FREE bagel to all teachers at any of their locations on Thursday, Sept. 9, and Friday, Sept.

10. Teachers just need to show their school ID to receive the free bagel.

For years, New York Bagel has helped area schools raise thousands of dollars for special school projects, activities and materials with their bagel fundraising program. New York Bagel sells bagels to

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the schools for $6 a dozen or .50/bagel and schools normally conduct a Bagel Day each week and sell the bagels for $1 each. Delivery is available for a nominal fee. For more information, visit, www.

NewYorkBagel-Detroit.com.

In addition, throughout September.

New York Bagel will be accepting donations for three area charities, including Yad Ezra in Berkley, Detroit PAL in Detroit and the Ferncare Free Clinic in Ferndale.

PHOTOS BY JERRY ZOLYNSKY

1.

2.

3.

4.

1. Torrance Jones of East Pointe puts seasoning on the bagels.

2. Slava Galaiko of Oak Park pulls dough out of a giant mixer. 3.

Torrance Jones and Kyle Sandtveic of Pleasant Ridge put seasoning on the bagels. 4. Timothy McNeal of Detroit throws cornmeal onto the bagel trays. 5. Hattie Golembiewski of Ferndale gathers bagels for customers.

store a lot more insight into the business.

AFTER THE PANDEMIC Similar to most businesses during the pandemic, New York Bagel faced its challenges, such as having to shut down for a month and a half. The Goldsmiths believe they were fortunate in many respects, though, seeing most of their staff return for reopening while so many businesses didn’t come back at all.

“When we came back, it was a little bit of a slow start, but that’s when we really enhanced our ability to take care of the GrubHub and DoorDash orders and our ability to take orders online from customers, doing

curbside and such,” Phil said. “It hasn’t been an easy 16 months, but we’re still here and kicking.”

Surviving a pandemic, Howard Goldsmith realizes how much his son’s contri5. butions in the technology area have been to their business.

“We can’t believe the number of DoorDash and GrubHub orders we get, and people want the convenience of ordering online and doing curbside service if they request it,” Goldsmith said. “This is about taking care of customers. If it weren’t for Phil, we wouldn’t be doing all of that, so it’s very important that he’s been here.”

For Phil Goldsmith, the

future of New York Bagel will be carried by a recurring theme in its 100-year success story: consistency.

“We’re going to keep doing things the same way from an ingredient and process perspective. We’ll be looking at other ways to enhance our offerings to customers and opportunities for additional locations, expanding our customer base and continuing to give back to the community,” he said.

Goldsmith also hopes to leverage technology more to help growth, including enhancing the store’s social media presence.

“To a large degree though, we’ve been successful for 100 years because we don’t change our process and the fundamentals of what we’re doing.

We’ll be continuing to be out there making the best bagels in Detroit.” continued on page 48 SEPTEMBER 9 • 2021

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Happy New Year

May the coming year be filled with health and happiness and prosperity for all our Family and Friends.

DeVinney Czarnecki Physical Therapy 6020 W. Maple, Suite 500, W. Bloomfield 248-851-6999 www.dcptonline.com

business SPOTlight continued from page 47

BAGEL LEGACY Howard Goldsmith believes New York Bagel’s product and connection to their loyal customer base is what has set them apart all these years.

“I’d like to think we’ve had a close eye on putting out a great, consistent product every day,” Goldsmith said. “Another key is taking care of customers well and trying to satisfy them in any way possible. No matter how much technology you incorporate, if you don’t put out a good product and your customers aren’t satisfied, you’re screwed.”

Seeing an unwavering connection between Metro Detroit’s Jewish community and the shop in its 100-year existence, Howard remains grateful, but has also witnessed bagels having an evolution beyond the Jewish customer base.

“If it weren’t for the Jewish community, I think New

York Bagel wouldn’t have flourished,” Goldsmith said.

“We still rely on the Jewish community to keep us going, but bagels have entered into the general culture now and are a food for the general population. We’re eternally grateful for every customer who comes in here, Jewish or not.”

Reflecting on his family’s legacy and looking to the future, Howard is hopeful as he gets closer to fully handing off the reins to his son.

“Any time a business reaches 100 years old, that’s a real accomplishment. It’s a reflection of hard work and keeping our eye on the ball,” he said.

“Phil represents the fourth generation. I’m extremely proud. He’s brought some capabilities that I could never bring, and that’s what it’s all about really.

“If you want to grow, you have to have an eye toward the future, and he has that.”

NCJW’S COUNCIL RE|SALE THRIFT HOSTS ART SALE BASH AND SILENT AUTION

Weekly Headlines Delivered to Your Inbox.

thejewishnews.com/newsletter 48

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SEPTEMBER 9 • 2021

Council Re|Sale (3297 W. 12 Mile Road, Berkley), will be taking a front seat in the Berkley Art Bash this year, hosting its own Art Bash Sale and Silent Auction. The event will be held on Saturday, Sept. 11, with the Art Bash Sale running from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and the silent auction from 1-4 p.m. All proceeds will be used for the many projects run by National “The Carnivale” Council of Jewish Women, Michigan (NCJW|MI).

A painting being auctioned is called The Carnivale, a vibrant 4-foot by 4-foot acrylic on canvas by Greek American painter Yiannis Karimalis worth more than $1,500. Karimalis, who lives in Metro Detroit, is known for creating show-stopping colorful paintings in acrylic and watercolor, often with an unexpected three-dimensional element. Bidding will start at $300, and bids can be made in $50 increments.

For more information on Council Re|Sale go to www.councilresale.net.

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SEPTEMBER 9 • 2021

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ARTS&LIFE

Michelle Sider

ELI SIDER

ART

Inspired by potholes, this artist created a semi-abstract mosaic series.

SUZANNE CHESSLER CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Images from Michelle Sider’s “On the Side of the Road”

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Road Art

M

ichelle Sider, an avid recreational biker around Michigan, unsurprisingly has encountered many deteriorating roads. As a result, she relates to current talk about state and national initiatives regarding infrastructure in general and “fixing the damn roads” in particular.

Sider, also an avid professional artist, came to take an additional direction in infrastructure activity and thought.

She fixated on creative possibilities applying techniques of her current preferred medium — mosaics — as a result of what she experienced.

In 2018, when potholes and enlarging cracks regularly forced her to slow and stop on whichever bike route she ped-

aled, this Huntington Woods resident moved away from bemoaning the obstacles to focusing on colors and patterns formed by those obstacles — whether pavement or associated vegetation and debris.

A particularly difficult section at Kensington Metropark in Milford — since fixed — became Sider’s inspiration for a semi-abstract mosaic series titled “On the Side of the Road,” which has her colorfully reimagining crevices and strands along public pathways.

“At Kensington, I instantly decided to turn my unique experiences into artistic statements,” said Sider, 61, whose interest in art started in preschool, was encouraged at Groves High School, con-

tinued through studies at the University of Michigan and was passed along during a teaching position at the Frankel Jewish Academy and independent projects that have brought much recognition.

IN SEARCH OF PATTERNS “Instead of just riding my bike, I went in search of the patterns created by crumbling pavement, asphalt, tar, strewn rocks, debris, grasses and other materials. What I found in the midst of the unfortunate state of our roads was a start for developing semi-abstract beauty as derived from my imperfect surroundings,” Sider said.

Sider, who worked on paintings before prioritizing mosaics, labors in a home studio

according to a defined process she developed.

After picking out a specific site of interest to her, Sider takes many photos from different angles. She uses those snapshots to move into drawings with adaptations she believes will make the final mosaic appealing to viewers.

Deciding on colors comes with the development of acrylic renderings that will anticipate textured add-ons, which could include stones, metallic objects and other items found at the specific location.

“One thing about mosaics is working with reflectivity,” Sider said. “I put pieces of glass and other shiny objects at specific angles, so they catch the light, whether sunlight or artificial light, at different times of the day. Pieces can change colors depending on how the light is hitting them.”

Although Sider enjoyed painting in pastels, she changed to mosaics because of the added materials and moving from two dimensions into three. Color choices, just like in two-dimensional paintings, would still be important, most significantly because of the creative aspect of the semi-abstract approach.

“During this process of artistic expression, I found myself contemplating our relationship with the Earth,” Sider said.

“I began to see this organic wearing down of materials in a holistic way, contemplating the progression from nature to man-made materials and back to nature in a never-ending cycle. “‘On the Side of the Road’ fits into my body of work because I’m a Michigan woman through and through, observant and taking inspiration from my environment. I’m always interested in how I can make a dynamic, interesting composition with a sense of movement.”

MULTITUDE OF MOSAICS On commission, Sider has made realistic mosaics that capture people’s favorite spots in the state. She has used a series of photographs to plan the image replication of a lakefront family cottage. In another project, a lakefront homeowner, transfixed by herons, led to Blue Heron, which will be shown at the “ArtPrize” competition in Grand Rapids, running Sept. 16-Oct. 3.

Sider’s artwork also can reflect her devotion to Judaism, observed in younger years as a member of the Birmingham Temple in Farmington Hills and now as a member of Kehillat Etz Chayim in Huntington Woods. An earlier mosaic series depicts the plight of Yemenite Jewish refugees.

Married and the mother of three grown sons, Sider was part of the Artists in the Schools Program sponsored by the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit and facilitated mosaic projects now shown in synagogues and religious centers. Devotion to family interests motivated her to pursue master’s and doctoral degrees in psychology at the University of Detroit.

With the goal of applying art therapy approaches for children coping with illness, Sider had a private psychology practice before returning to artistry full time. Along the way, she illustrated and co-authored two books with Rabbi Joseph Krakoff — Never Long Enough: Finding Comfort and Hope Amidst Grief and Loss and Never Long Enough Workbook/ Coloring Book.

During the pandemic difficulties, Sider enhanced her own outlook by offering her mosaics for public attention.

Among this year’s recognition was Best in Show at the “Take Me Away” exhibition spon-

Blue Heron

sored by the New England Mosaic Society, participation in the “Women in Arts” exhibit at the Las Laguna Art Gallery in California and a feature spread starting on the January cover of Groutline, circulated by the Society of American Mosaic Artists.

On the roads again, Sider is so enthusiastic about her current series that she keeps one pavement project on display in her own home. Others from the series are on view at the Twisted Fish Gallery in

Elk Rapids and her website, michellesstudio.com.

“I must create,” Sider said. “It is the essence of my being. I am continually thinking about how I can translate my experiences into art, and this process is gratifying for me.

“The quiet concentration of working in my studio is very enjoyable as is the challenge of pushing myself with each piece to see if I can accomplish something new and then share my work with others.”

SEPTEMBER 9 • 2021

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ARTS&LIFE THEATER

A Little Bit

Country Hannah McEvilly

Details Fancy runs Sept. 8-Oct. 3 at the Meadow Brook Theatre on the campus of Oakland University in Rochester.

Tickets start at $36. Check website for latest safety measures. (248) 377-3300. mbtheatre.com.

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H

The jukebox musical Fancy takes a look at what happened to the girl in that famous song.

SUZANNE CHESSLER CONTRIBUTING WRITER

annah McEvilly enjoys spending working days in the world of fiction and free time in what has been labeled the world of reality. Attracted to acting out stage portrayals since elementary school, McEvilly also has long been attracted to watching TV programs that peek into actual experiences of others.

In Michigan for the first time, she has entered into the fictional world of country recording hits by appearing in the jukebox musical Fancy, which is being performed Sept. 8-Oct. 3 at the Meadow Brook Theatre (MBT) in Rochester.

The musical, as it depicts the life of a young woman who aims to become a country singing star, communicates some of McEvilly’s career ambitions. She is cast in the roles of a backup singer, factory worker and funeral attendee while she fulfills her responsibilities in the ensemble.

“In theater, I get the opportunity to bring someone who exists on paper into [an acted-out] character, demonstrating how each interacts with others in their worlds,” McEvilly, 23, said.

“Watching reality TV, I hopefully get a genuine look into people, the lives they live and how they interact with others in their worlds. Often, I get to see the funny times in their lives.”

Fancy, written by Susan DiLallo and Dan Wackerman, was inspired by Reba McEntire’s hit recording of “Fancy.” The show spotlights other hit songs that include “Mama, He’s Crazy,” “Before He Cheats” and “Take This Job and Shove It.” “I love the show because of the music that people are going to be really familiar with,” said McEvilly, who joins in the chorus of many songs. “It’s super fun to sing these songs, especially ‘Fancy.’

It’s super cool that the creators expanded on that, and it’s just a fun show — lots of good music and a good time.

“My primary role is Honeyann, a backup singer who doesn’t appear until Act II. Honeyann is kind of goofy.

She’s only there for a little bit so there’s freedom to make her what I want her to be in the show. It’s exciting and a great opportunity to portray the other characters as well.

They give me different perspectives of the story.”

CELEBRITY NEWS NATE BLOOM COLUMNIST

Max Falls and Hannah McEvilly rehearse a scene.

Fancy is directed by Travis Walter, MBT artistic director.

Zachary Ryan is music director and pianist.

“Dan and Susan (show developers) wondered what happened to that girl in the famous song,” Walter said.

“They decided to write a show, using music everyone knows, to tell her story. We’re thrilled they’ve chosen MBT as the theater for the world premiere.”

McEvilly, raised in Austin, did not anticipate theater participation until it was recommended early on by a soccer coach, who thought the stage would be more in keeping with her athletic skills and abilities relating to others.

Besides attending McCallum High School, a performing arts center, she was active with the ZACH Theatre, a professional company that also offers classes.

Musical theater studies and participation, which brought her into the world of dance, also brought her into Jewish community activities. She entered dance competition in the Maccabi Games and was cast in a young people’s production of Children of Eden at her local Jewish Community Center.

McEvilly’s bachelor’s degree in musical theater perfor-

mance was realized in 2020 at the University of Oklahoma.

Along the way, she accepted summer stock roles in Annie Get Your Gun, Footloose and Spamalot.

“I moved to New York last September, appeared in a talent showcase and signed with my agent,” she said. “That’s how I came to find Meadow Brook and be a part of this production.”

Because of COVID and the stopping of live shows, she continues to keep working remotely for a marketing firm in Texas, which assigned her to developing brand strategies. After sharing 900 square feet of apartment space with three roommates, she is able to move into a space with only one other person when the run of Fancy is completed.

McEvilly is proud to have her working mom, Deborah Gabor, as a role model who encouraged her daughter, an only child, in seeking a stage career.

“My mom taught me to never give up and always honor my commitments,” McEvilly said. “I find my experience in theater has helped [the marketing work] come along because it’s all about storytelling through different mediums.”

ASNER; TRUST ME: A GOOD HOLIDAY MOVIE I feel I have to note the passing of Ed Asner, age 91, even though there are good “Jewish-themed” obits in many sources, including the JTA and the Forward newspaper. I enjoyed his acting, admired his activism, and was in awe as decade-after-decade he stayed busy in film, TV and stage roles.

Every year, I mentioned Asner in this column several times because he was always in something new — and I knew he would be good in it.

I can suggest you read two (free, online) articles for a better sense of the man.

On Aug. 26, the Hollywood Reporter posted an interview they did with Asner on Aug. 16, just 13 days before his death. Simply search for “Ed Asner Reflects on the Golden Age” and “Hollywood Reporter” and you’ll find it.

The questions are good, and each stage of his life is covered (youth, college, time in the army, career milestones). It reads like a mini-autobiography, and you can “hear” Asner’s voice as you read it. His wry sense of humor is on display from the first question on. That first question is about how his birth name, Itzhak, “morphed” into Edward — and Asner makes a slightly risqué Yiddish joke about his name.

Later in the interview, Asner relates how he got the Lou Grant role. The Mary Tyler Moore Show co-creator, James L. Brooks, didn’t like the way Asner read his audition lines. He told Asner, “We want you to read

Ed Asner

it all-out, like a crazy, wild, meshuga, nutso.” Asner did it that way and got the part.

Also check out the Variety article titled “James L. Brooks Pays Tribute to Ed Asner.” Brooks, a three-time Oscar winner, described Asner as a team player who helped set a harmonious and respectful tone for the work environment and always kept his eye on what was good for the show.

“He was a beautiful actor,” Brooks, now 81, said. “He was just as deeply a good guy as everybody sensed he was.” (For more, see the obituary on page 61.)

Arrangement (2007) is a little-known film that I just watched and enjoyed a great deal. It’s a feel-good, very Jewish story that fits in, I think, with the joyful spirit of the High Holidays. Zoe Lister-Jones, now 38, stars as a 22-year-old Orthodox woman who has just begun teaching at a Brooklyn public school. She becomes friends with another teacher, a religious American-born Muslim woman about her age. Both accept that their marriages will be arranged, but they want the right guy.

Necessary spoiler: the ending is happy and that’s nice for the Holidays. Neither woman breaks with their community. Available on Amazon Prime.

SEPTEMBER 9 • 2021

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the exchange

ON THE GO

PEOPLE | PLACES | EVENTS

ARTIST TO SPEAK NOON-1:30 PM, SEPT. 10 The Stamelos Gallery Center will present a special guest artist Zoom lecture by Kelli Anderson titled “The Hidden Talents of Paper: Pop-Up Cameras, Planetariums and Other Work,” featuring Anderson’s remarkable artwork and discussing her fascinating career. She will discuss how her latest pop-up book, This Book is a Planetarium, creates handheld experiences intended to challenge an audience’s complacency regarding the functionality of paper. The event is free and open to all, but the Zoom lecture requires advanced registration at library.umd. umich.edu/stamelos/register.

For info: Laura Cotton at lacotton@umich.edu.

Emanuel Ax

PIANIST PERFORMS 8-9:30 PM, SEPT. 11 The Chamber Music Society of Detroit will present Emanuel Ax, pianist. The event will be at Seligman Performing Arts Center, 22305 W. 13 Mile Road, Beverly Hills. For tickets, call 313-335-3300.

FAMILY FUN 2-5 PM, SEPT. 12 ORT America invites you to Come ORT and Play, sponsored by Suburban Collection. Bring your kids, bring your grandkids and join

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|SEPTEMBER SEPTEMBER 9 • 2021 9 • 2021

community bulletin board | professional services

For information regarding advertising please call 248-351-5116 or 248-234-9057 or email salessupport@thejewishnews.com Deadline for ad insertion is 9 a.m. on Friday prior to publication.

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CHADD MEETING 7:30-8:30 PM, SEPT. 13 CHADD of Eastern Oakland County will host Brenda Mann, MAED, assistant coordinator of Eastern Oakland County CHADD, and academic and behavioral consultants Abc123achieve.com. Informal discussion of school and pandemic issues, including a discussion of wearing a mask.

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CAREGIVER SUPPORT 1:30-2:30 PM, SEPT. 14 Virtual caregiver support groups for individuals who are care partners for those living with cognitive changes including various types of dementia. Please contact Dorothy Moon, Brown Adult Day Program social worker. for Zoom link and more information: 248-233-4392, dmoon@jvshumanservices. org.

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

SPECIALTY REPAIRS INCLUDE: Brick, Stone, Concrete, All Masonry, Rotted and Damaged Wood, Cedar Roofing, Decks & Patios, Retainer Walls, Critter Control & Repairs, Kitchens, Bathrooms, Tile and Flooring

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TBE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OPPORTUNITY Temple Beth El is seeking an Executive Director to engage our congregation and impact the community-at-large. Candidates should display strong interpersonal, organizational, and supervisory skills, as well as the desire to build sacred partnerships with our clergy, staff, lay leaders, and members.

Come join our Temple Beth El family and be part of our rich history and robust future.

Resumes should be emailed in confidence to

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248-356-0114

SEPTEMBER 9 • 2021

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OBITUARIES

OF BLESSED MEMORY

GARY M. ALPERT, 76, of West Bloomfield, died Aug. 31, 2021.

He is survived by his beloved wife, Janet Alpert; son, Josh Alpert; daughter and son-in-law, Lindsey and David Levich; brother and sister-in-law, Joel and Gail Alpert; grandchildren, Grayson and Lincoln Levich; many loving nieces, nephews, other family members and friends.

Mr. Alpert was the brother of the late Fred (the late Donna) Alpert.

Interment took place at the Clover Hill Park Cemetery in Birmingham. Contributions may be made to Friendship Circle, Yad Ezra or a charity of one’s choice. Arrangements

by Dorfman Chapel.

ROBERTA (WOHLMAN) DAVIDSON died peacefully while sleeping in Scottsdale, Ariz., on Aug. 7, 2021. She was just four days shy of turning 77.

Roberta was born on Aug. 11, 1944, in Detroit. She graduated from Mumford High School and went on to attend Wayne State University. She loved to spend time with her grandchildren, cook for her family and travel.

Roberta, or “Bobbie” as she was known to many, is survived by her children, Alyssa Krauss of San Diego, Joshua Davidson of Scottsdale and Craig Davidson of Cave Creek; her sister, Stella Leff of London, Ontario, Canada; her former spouse, Dr. Maurice Davidson; and her nine grandchildren, Ryland

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Davidson, Ethan Davidson, Avi Davidson, Zachary Krauss, Miranda Krauss, Jaren Davidson, Sarah Davidson, Zoey Davidson and Lilah Krauss.

She was preceded in death by her beloved parents, Jennie and Albert Wohlman.

A memorial service for Roberta was held Aug. 12, 2021, at Mt. Sinai Cemetery in Phoenix, Ariz. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to Congregation Beth Tefillah in Scottsdale.

HARRY DINES, 92, of West Bloomfield, died Aug. 27, 2021.

He is survived by his wife, Esther Dines; son and daughters-in-law, Steve and Tammy Dines, Iris Dines; daughter and son-in-law, Riva and David Rosenberg; grandchildren, Marshall and Lizi Dines, Ella Dines, Sami and Knox Maslia, Bri Dines, Matthew Rosenberg, Sofie Rosenberg; great-grandchildren, Alex Dines, Kara Dines; sister-in-law, Rita Dines.

Mr. Dines was the devoted father of the late Philip Dines; dear brother of the late Norman Dines.

Contributions may be made to Jewish Senior Life, 15000 W. 10 Mile Road, Oak Park, MI 48237; Jewish Hospice and Chaplaincy Network, 6555 W. Maple Road, West Bloomfield, MI 48322; or to a charity of one’s choice. Services were held at Hebrew Memorial Chapel.

Interment was held at Adat Shalom Memorial Park in Livonia. Arrangements by Hebrew Memorial Chapel.

DR. JOSEPH SHERMAN DOBRUSIN, 84, of Southfield, died on Aug. 26, 2021.

He is survived by his beloved wife of 61 years, Linda Dobrusin; son and daughter-in-law, Eric and Dr. Shari Dobrusin; daughter and son-in-law, Stacey and Michael Simmons; grandchildren, Megan Simmons and Jared Alosio, Amanda Simmons, Franklin Dobrusin and Jackson Dobrusin; many nieces, nephews, other relatives and lifelong friends.

Dr. Dobrusin was son of the late Rose and late Morris Dobrusin; brother of the late Gerald Dobrusin; brother-inlaw of the late Myrna and late Cliff Klayman.

Contributions may be made to Hospice of Michigan, 43097 Woodward Ave., Bloomfield Hills, MI 48302. hom.org/ donations; or to a charity of one’s choice. Arrangements by Ira Kaufman Chapel.

DR. HOWARD L. DUBIN, 83, of Milford, died Aug. 26, 2021.

He is survived by his daughter and son-in-law, Susan and Michael Light; sons and daughters-in-law, Robert “Bobby” Dubin, David and Stephanie Dubin, Jeffery and Beth Dubin; stepchildren, Michael (Angel) Thompson, Bruce (Julie) Thompson, Jill Hunter; grandchildren, Brandon and Dylan Light, Joshua, Samantha and Ariana Dubin, James and Eli Dubin, Nathaniel, Gabriel and Amelia Dubin, and Tyler Jones, Eva, Grant and Raquel Thompson, Joshua and Emily Thompson, Matthew (Whitley) Olah and

Casey Olah; great-grandchild, Kaylee Poster; brother and sister-in-law, Dr. Bruce and Karen Dubin; brother-in-law, James Madsen; sister-in-law Mary Alice (Tom) Johnson.

Dr. Dubin was the beloved husband of the late Carole Dubin; son of the late Sam and the late Yetta Dubin; brother and brother-in-law of the late Brian Dubin and the late Sheila Dubin.

Interment took place at Milford Memorial Cemetery in Milford. Contributions may be made Pet Pantry, c/o Community Sharing Outreach Center or to a charity of one’s choice. Arrangements by Dorfman Chapel.

SANDI FOX, 55, of Washington, D.C., formerly of West Bloomfield, died Aug. 24, 2021.

She earned a bachelor of science degree in political and social sciences from Michigan State University and a master’s degree in library and information technology from the University of Michigan.

Sandi worked for The News Hour With Jim Lehrer on PBS for more 20 years and set up their original reference library.

Most recently she worked as a civilian in the Navy as a librarian at the Naval Heritage and Historical Command Center.

Coworkers and friends said that she had the utmost integrity, and she could find any fact or statistic no matter how obscure.

Sandi was a voracious reader and a prolific poet. She also loved to bake and share treats with friends and family. In springtime, she enjoyed seeing and photographing the blooming cherry blossom trees.

Sandi was very generous with her time, volunteering at libraries and assisted living homes. She was extremely kind and caring, and made many treasured friendships wherever she went. She only saw the good in people, and made friends feel worthy and valued.

In addition, Sandi was an avid walker and bike rider.

She was a doting daughter, always helping her parents, and she loved spending time with her niece and nephews.

Ms. Fox is survived by her mother, Judith Fox; brother and sister-in-law, Jeffrey Fox and Kathy Barron; sister and brother-in-law, Lori and Darren Rodner; nieces and nephews, Jack and Daniel Fox, Hannah, Joshua and Zachary Rodner; many other loving family members and friends.

She was the beloved daughter of the late Thomas Fox. Interment took place at the Nusach Hari Cemetery in Ferndale. Contributions may be made to charity of one’s choice. Arrangements by Dorfman Chapel.

DR. EUGENE A. GELZAYD, 86, of Bloomfield Hills, died on Aug. 30, 2021.

He is survived by his beloved wife of 60 years, Reinart Gelzayd; son and daughter-in-law, Dr. Bradford and Julie Gelzayd, daughter, Dena Gelzayd Tarson; daughter and sonin-law, Allison and Michael Weinstein; grandchildren, Justin and Rebecca Gelzayd, Dr. Evan Gelzayd, Lauren Gelzayd, Lindsay Tarson and

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continued on page 58 SEPTEMBER 9 • 2021

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Some days seem to last forever…

We’re offering one that actually will.

You can honor the memory of a loved one in a most meaningful way by sponsoring a day of Torah learning at Yeshiva Beth Yehudah.

During the coming week, Kaddish will be said for these departed souls during the daily minyan at Yeshiva Beth Yehudah. Your support of the Torah learning of our children and our Kollel’s Torah Scholars brings immeasurable heavenly merit. Please call us at 248-557-6750 for more information.

Yakov Schwartz 6 Tishrei Sept. 12 9 Tishrei Sept. 15 Yitzchok Schwartz Norman Bailey Louis Appllebaum Shana Goldsmith Judith Beitner Hanna Bluma Skalka Abraham Grossman Rose Berman Mordechai Skalka & Family Moritz Marx Martin Leonard Boraks Regina Weinberger Frank Moss Samuel Brenner 11 Tishrei Sept. 17 Anna Vaitrukova Bernard Elias Abraham Aronow 7 Tishrei Sept. 13 Max Ellias Albert Berry Martha Bigman Joseph Fishman David Harold Cooperman Robert Carnick Sam Goodstein Irene Deutsch Gedolia Elbaum Mildred Harris Irving Disner Rose Ferrer Sidney L. Kosowsky Simon Goldman Jacob Kogan Frieda Korn Litman Martha Herbst Sidney Margolis Lillian Meretsky Joseph Klein Leah Perlman Frank Plotkin Solomon Nucian George Stein Howard Schwartz Ella Rosenberg 8 Tishrei Sept. 14 Rose Sellins Lillian Saltsman Joseph Samuel Abramson Sam O. Watnick 10 Tishrei Sept. 16 Riva Baker Ruth Ann Shapiro Ida Amhowitz Sadie Camenker Joseph Weisblatt Alfred L. Bennet Fannie Escoff Ben Weitzman Emanuel Betansky Lena Finn 12 Tishrei Sept. 18 Esther Betansky Alvin Martin Friedman Sarah Golda Beshkin Moshe Betansky Marilyn Frumkin Jack Dorf Rivkah Betansky Anna Goldstein Chana Fishman Yaakov Betansky Ruben Greer Samuel Greenspan Betty Michaels Cottler Rachel Miriam Grossberg Bluma & Family Coviensky Rose Krosnick Rose Grossman Sol Lefton Charles Kabaker Dora Kaner Malka Moss William Karbel Esther Lifton Lena Sitrin Ann Rose Nosanchuk Dr. Harry Wolf Lindy Irving Tessler Samuel Robinson Esther Lipton William Winer William Rosenberg Philip Maiseloff Nusen Schwartz Henry Schneider Bessie Yassky School for Boys • Beth Jacob School for Girls • Bais Yehudah Preschool Weiss Family Partners Detroit • Kollel Bais Yehudah • Maalot Detroit P.O. Box 2044 • Southfield, MI 48037• 248-557-6750 • www.YBY.org

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OF BLESSED MEMORY continued from page 57

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32550 Northwestern Hwy. Farmington Hills

OBITUARIES

fiancé Joseph Heisley, Dylan Tarson, Phillip Weinstein and Matthew Weinstein; great-grandchildren, Eila and Evie Gelzayd; caregivers, Kevin Thomas, Theresa Anderson and Ernestine Searles Dr. Gelzayd was the adored brother of Karen (the late Robert) Duffy, the late Beatrice Freud and William “Billy” (Audrey) Fine, the late Norton (the late Roz) Fine and the late Jerome Fine; son of the late Blanche Feinberg Gelzayd and the late Mitchell Gelzayd, the late Raymond and the late Esther Fine.

Interment was at Clover Hill Park Cemetery.

Contributions may be made to: JARC, 6735 Telegraph, Suite 100, Bloomfield Hills, MI 48301, jarc.org; or St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 501 St. Jude Place, Memphis, TN 38105. stjude. org. Arrangements by Ira Kaufman Chapel.

ETKA GOLDENBERG, 95, of West Bloomfield, died Aug. 28, 2021.

She is survived by her son and daughter-inlaw, Zygi Goldenberg and Sally Olen of Seattle, Wash.; daughter and son-in-law, Susan and Stephen Feldman of West Bloomfield; grandchildren, Hannah and Gilad Biran, Max and Ally Farkas, Vanessa Farkas, Stephanie Feldman, Michael Feldman; great-grandchildren, Eitan Biran, Benjamin Farkas; sister-in-law, Liliane Roth.

Mrs. Goldenberg was the beloved wife of the late

Herman Goldenberg; dear sister of the late Herman Roth, the late Joseph Roth, the late Julius Roth; loving daughter of the late Selig and the late Bertha Roth.

Contributions may be made to Jewish Federation of Metro Detroit, 6735 Telegraph Road, Bloomfield Hills, MI 48303; Jewish Hospice and Chaplaincy Network, 6555 W. Maple Road, West Bloomfield, MI 48322; or Holocaust Memorial Center, 28123 Orchard Lake Road, Farmington Hills, MI 48334.

A graveside service was held at Hebrew Memorial Park.

Arrangements by Hebrew Memorial Chapel.

IRIS ELAINE JAFFE, 70, of Norwalk, Conn., died on Aug. 24, 2021.

She was a Detroit public school teacher for more than 30 years, a mah jong maven, reality TV enthusiast, and obsessed with everything black and white.

She is survived by her son, Bradley Jaffe; son and daughter-in-law, Philip and Jamie Rubin; grandchildren, Ashton Rubin and Leo Rubin; brother and sister-in-law, Gary and Mary Horwitch; nephew and niece, Philip Horwitch and Samantha-Anne Nadolny.

Mrs. Jaffe was the beloved wife of the late Herbert Jaffe.

Interment was at Beth El Memorial Park Cemetery.

Contributions may be made to Jewish Hospice & Chaplaincy Network, 6555 W. Maple Road, West Bloomfield MI 48322,

jewishhospice.org; or American Lung Association, 55 W. Wacker Drive, Suite 1150, Chicago IL 60601, lung. org. Arrangements by Ira Kaufman Chapel.

BERNARD KANER, 84, of West Bloomfield, died Aug. 28, 2021.

He loved all music, including classical and modern, and enjoyed listening to his wife practice and play the piano.

Bernard also loved going out to dinner, the theater and the movies.

Mr. Kaner is survived by his wife of 10 years, Judith Kaner; sons and daughters-in-law, David Isaac and Elizabeth Kaner of Bloomfield Hills, Sean and Sheila Kaner of Maryland, David Louis Kahn; daughters and sons-in-law, Tammy and Jeffrey Kahan of Bloomfield Hills, Rebecca

Vandenbrook and Adam Collins of Roseville; brothers and sisters-in-law, Sandy and Roberta Kaner, Al and Pauline Kaner, Faye Kaner; brothers-in-law and sisters-in-law, Harvey Halperin and Donna Barr, Sharon and Jim Hobson; many treasured grandchildren, other relatives and friends.

Mr. Kaner was the dear brother of the late Manuel Kaner.

Contributions may be made to Hebrew Benevolent Society, 26640 Greenfield Road, Oak Park, MI 48237; or Leukemia Lymphoma Society, 1421 E. 12 Mile Road, Bldg. A, Madison Heights, MI 48071. A graveside service was held at Adat Shalom Memorial Park in Livonia. Arrangements by Hebrew Memorial Chapel.

SUSAN F. KATZ (nee Schlafer), 80, of Southfield, died on Aug. 25, 2021.

She led an active life, enjoyed the company of many dear friends and loved her family.

Susan will be greatly missed and remembered for the caring and special person she was.

Mrs. Katz is survived by her son and daughter-in-law, Michael and Allison Schatz; daughter and son-in-law, Lisa and Richard Broder; son and daughter-in-law, Rick and Monica Schatz; grandchildren Avery, Aaron, Alden and Becket Schatz, Rachel and Daniel Kessler, Erica Broder, Ryan, Marlee and Mia Schatz.

She was the daughter of the late Leonard and late Doris Schlafer; sister of the late Howard Schlafer.

Interment was at Machpelah Cemetery. Contributions may be made to: Stand Up 2 Cancer, P.O. Box 843721, Los Angeles, CA 900843721, standup2cancer.org; or Peace, Love and Paws Rescue, peaceloveandpawsrescue.com.

Arrangements by Ira Kaufman Chapel.

ISRAEL KLEINBARD, 89, of Livonia, died Aug. 30, 2021.

He is survived by his daughter, Barbara Rys; grandchildren, Austin (Jericca) Rys and Alexandra Rys; great-grandchildren, Kylo and Ronin; sister, Adele Band; many loving nieces, nephews, other family members and friends.

Mr. Kleinbard was the beloved husband of the late Irene Kleinbard; brother-incontinued on page 60

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Allow us to give you options.

SEPTEMBER 9 • 2021

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OBITUARIES

OF BLESSED MEMORY continued from page 59

law of the late Leonard Gaba and the late Oscar Band; brother of the late Abraham Kleinbard; brother and brother-in-law of the late Pearl and the late Irving Naimark.

Interment took place at Adat Shalom Memorial Park Cemetery in Livonia.

Contributions may be made to the American Heart Association, the Alzheimer’s Association or a charity of one’s choice. Arrangements by Dorfman Chapel.

VICTORIA NIKIFOROV, 75, of West Bloomfield, died on Aug. 29, 2021.

She is survived by her beloved hus-

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band, George Nikiforov; son and daughter-in-law, Simon Nikiforov and Naira Karapetyan; daughter and son-in-law, Sonya Nikiforov and Jacob Griffin; grandchildren, Elizabeth and Jennifer Nikiforov; she was the greatniece of Bernard Brown and his family, and Selma Stromer and her family.

Contributions may be made to Oakland Community College Foundation, the Victoria Nikiforov Memorial Scholarship, 24806 Opdyke, Bloomfield Hills, MI 48304. oaklandcc.edu/Foundation.

Arrangements by Ira Kaufman Chapel.

SAUL NUSBAUM, 94, of Commerce, died Aug. 30, 2021.

He is survived by his sons and daughters-in-law, Dr. Jeffrey and Kathleen Nusbaum, Alan and Mindy Nusbaum, daughter and sonin-law, Amy and Sanford Margolis; grandchildren, Jonathon (Ilana) Margolis, Bradley (Stefani) Margolis, Alex Nusbaum, Elie Nusbaum, Emily Nusbaum and Jacob Nusbaum; great-grandchildren, Talia and Shira Margolis; many loving nieces, nephews, other family members and friends Mr. Nusbaum was the beloved husband of the late Beverly Nusbaum; devoted brother of the late

Harry Nelson, the late Dora Weintraub, the late Sylvia Posner and the late Lilly Nusbaum.

Interment took place at Machpelah Cemetery in Ferndale. Contributions may be made to a charity of one’s choice. Arrangements by Dorfman Chapel.

BRENDA FREEDLAND PANGBORN, 81, of Farmington Hills, died on Aug. 27, 2021.

She is survived by her son, Michael Schwartz; son and daughter-in-law, Robert and Jen Schwartz; daughter and son-in-law, Deborah and Marc Schwartz; grandchildren, Mara

Actor Ed Asner, 91 Schwartz, Brady Schwartz, Mandy Schwartz, Brandon Schwartz, Jordan Schwartz, Eliot and Ashleigh Schwartz, and Samantha Schwartz; nieces and nephews, Karen Berger, Amy Freedland, Marcie Freedland, and Stuart and Jen Freedland; former husband, Robert Pangborn.

She was daughter of the late Nathan and the late Ruth Freedland; sister of the late Herbert Freedland.

Interment was at Adat Shalom Memorial Park.

Contributions may be made to Quest Autism Foundation, 159 Godwin Ave., Midland Park, NJ 07432. questnj.org; or Interlochen Center for the Arts, Attn: Philanthropy Office, P.O. Box 199, Interlochen, MI 49643. interlochen.org. Arrangements

by Ira Kaufman Chapel.

ELAINE STOLER, 86, of West Bloomfield, died Aug. 30, 2021.

The people who knew and loved Elaine also knew and loved her handwriting: an effortless calligraphy that made any note look elegant and sophisticated. No written

task was too mundane for Elaine’s artistic touch, even a grocery list deserved her attention to detail. Indeed, Elaine’s script was truly representative of her approach to life: She found beauty in everything and everyone.

A gentle soul, she extended kindness and compassion toward all whom she touched. Just to be in Elaine’s presence was to feel special and loved.

Mrs. Stoler is survived by her beloved husband Dr. William “Bill” Stoler; daughter and son-in-law, Arlene and Ron Gottlieb; son and daughter-in-law, Dr. Robert “Bobby” and Shelly Stoler; grandchildren, Julian (Kenzie Bell) Gottlieb, Marshall (Darbi) Gottlieb, Rebecca Stoler, Kayla (Alex Hansen) Stoler; many other loving family members and friends.

She was the dear sister of the late Loren (Phyllis) Goodman.

Interment took place at Adat Shalom Memorial Park Cemetery in Livonia.

Contributions may be made to Intentional Communities of Washtenaw. Arrangements

by Dorfman Chapel.

Our State. Our Town.

Our Hospice.

E

d Asner, the Emmy Award-winning actor, died peacefully in Los Angeles at age 91.

He was born in Kansas City, Mo., into a traditional Orthodox Jewish family, the son of Lizzie (nee Seliger) and Morris David Asner, a poor immigrant junk man.

Asner won five Emmy Awards for playing Lou Grant across two series, in addition to two other Emmys for the miniseries Rich Man, Poor Man and Roots, making him the most honored male performer in Emmy Awards history. Asner appealed to younger generations as he provided the voice of another gruff fellow with a tender heart, Carl Fredricksen in Pixar’s Up (2009). Asner also notably played Santa Claus in Elf (2003).

Beyond his best-known roles, Asner had hundreds of acting credits in a television and movie career that spanned seven decades.

Asner was an outspoken activist against U.S. support of the junta in El Salvador. He stood on the steps of the State Department to announce the formation of Medical

Aid for El Salvador and presented the first $25,000 relief check for war-ravaged communities there.

Dozens of rightwing organizations asked their members to boycott the products that sponsored his show.

Asner was also twice elected head of the Screen Actors Guild, a position that he frequently used as a forum for his political opinions, which brought him into conflict with Charlton Heston, who took over from Asner in a highly publicised power play.

Asner had two daughters and a son from his first marriage to Nancy Sykes, which ended in divorce; and a son from a relationship with Carol Jean Vogelman.

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61

Looking Back

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

Remembering 9-11

T

his week, I do not believe I could write about any historic event other than the terrorism that occurred two decades ago on Sept. 11, 2001. Images of terrorist-commandeered airliners crashing into the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New Mike Smith York City are Alene and Graham Landau seared into the Archivist Chair memories of all but the youngest of us alive at the time. It was one of those monumental events that we can recall with precision just where we were when we heard or watched the news, and the emotions we felt.

Nearly 3,000 Americans died from this terrorism. Moreover, when considering the exposure of so many people to the resulting toxic storm of debris, still more deaths related to 9-11 are occurring today; among survivors of the initial devastation and among first responders who selflessly went into the fray.

The impact upon Metro Detroiters and Michiganders was profound. One only needs to read the September and October 2001 issues of the JN in the William Davidson Digital Archive of Jewish Detroit History to know that this is not an overstatement.

Begin with the thoughtful essays by JN Editor Robert Sklar: “Answering the Madness” (Sept. 14, 2001) and “Rallying Together” (Sept. 21, 2001). Or read “Local Reaction” (Sept. 14, 2001), which presents the feel-

62

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SEPTEMBER 9 • 2021

ings of local Jewish Detroiters including reactions from young Jews like 11th-grader Adam Horowitz who said he cried when he saw the World Trade Center towers collapse: “I realize how fortunate we are to be safe here [in Detroit].”

Ilana Goldberg, also in the 11th grade, said, “This was just shocking for our generation.”

Indeed, it was.

Jewish Detroiters soon rallied. For example, “Lending Helping Hands” by Ronelle Grier discusses local area professionals who rushed to New York City. Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard and a team of deputies did so; their pilot was Stuart Rich. Social worker Kay Tulupman helped survivors cope with the trauma. Adam Gottlieb, Richard Lavine and Alan Jacobson were among the emergency workers who answered the call for help.

These are just a few of the many

that made the trip to NYC. Other reports note the funds raised for the victims by the community. Advertisements in the JN show special events were held and businesses donated profits. Danny Raskin wrote about donations from kosher caterer Jeffrey Rosenberg, the MarioMax Salon and the Kosher Chinese All-You-Can Eat Dinner at Adat Shalom, among others. He concluded: “How very proud we all are of these and so many others in coming forth in the recent tragedies is far, far beyond any word” (Oct. 5, 2001).

One of the most interesting stories is “Mission of Emotion” (Sept. 21, 2001) by JN Staff writer Harry Kirsbaum, who was on assignment in Israel with a group of 81 Detroiters on a United Jewish Communities Mission. When the twin towers fell, all flights to the U.S. were canceled, and the group was temporarily stranded. They watched the event unfold with their Israeli hosts.

Senior Advisor to the Board of the Detroit Jewish News Foundation, Mark Davidoff, who was on the mission, said of the Israelis and Detroiters: “You could see how the group was coalescing around our own tragedy.” You can read their remembrances in today’s JN on page 14.

9-11 was a historic American tragedy. May we never see another.

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

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An appreciation of our day school educators during this pandemic.

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