DJN September 16, 2021

THE DETROIT

JEWISH NEWS $

200 Sept. 16-22, 2021 / 10-16 Tishri 5782

thejewishnews.com

Remembering How grassroots efforts, secret trips and rallies paved the way for Soviet Jewish freedom.

See page 10

Our Local Heroes

MEREDITH COLBURN R E A L

E S T A T E

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contents Sept. 16-22, 2021 / 10-16 Tishri 5782 | VOLUME CLX, ISSUE 6

FOOD 39

From the Home Kitchen of Chef Aaron Adding a Filipino Touch

ARTS&LIFE

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40

Let the Light Shine In

43

Parting Was Such Sweet Sorrow

Habatat Galleries celebrates 50 years of showcasing glass art.

For the second time, Birmingham Village Players presents Shakespeare in Love.

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Celebrity News

EVENTS

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23 PURELY COMMENTARY 4-9

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Remembering Our Local Heroes How grassroots efforts, secret trips and rallies paved the way for Soviet Jewish freedom.

A Little Bit of Israel at Camp Tamarack

Tamarack had 35 Israeli staff members this summer, the most ever.

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Putting Out the Welcome Mat

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Rescue Flight

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Ann Arbor Jewish agency prepares for influx of hundreds of Afghan refugees.

Southfield pilot, son of Holocaust survivor, flies plane full of Afghan refugees to U.S.

Remembering Durban

A Jewish journalist looks back on the antisemitic hate fest.

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Making Amends

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Interactive Sukkot Experience

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Yom Kippur has parallels with 12-step programs.

The Well’s Sukkot Sounds allows for in-person or virtual gatherings.

A Living Genizah

ETC.

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Sparking the Conversation

The Exchange 46 Obituaries 48 Looking Back 54

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Terrible Tweets

Shabbat & Holiday Lights

Essays and viewpoints.

OUR COMMUNITY 10

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Community Calendar

Two Michigan AEPi members spark conversation with hats for suicide awareness.

Tech-savvy teen uses artificial intelligence to document antisemitic hate speech on Twitter.

26-28 Faces & Places

NATION 29

New Antisemitism Envoy

Deborah Lipstadt, noted Holocaust historian, is Biden’s pick.

ERETZ 30

Meet Rochelle Zelcer: ‘This is the Place for Me’

MAZEL TOV! 31

Moments

SPIRIT 31

Torah portion

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The Leader’s Call to Responsibility

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Synagogue Directory

SPORTS 36

Eagle Scout project creates a first on the grounds of B’nai Moshe.

Team’s 25-Year Championship Drought Ends

Congregation Shaarey Zedek wins 4 playoff games in one day, earns Koufax Division softball title.

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Quick Hits

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

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

Shabbat begins: Friday, Sept. 17, 7:20 p.m.

Shabbat ends: Saturday, Sept. 18, 8:19 p.m.

Sukkot Day 1 begins: Monday, Sept. 20, 7:15 p.m.

Sukkot Day 2 begins: Tuesday, Sept. 21, 8:14 p.m.

Holiday ends: Wednesday, Sept. 22, 8:12 p.m.

*Times according to Yeshiva Beth Yehudah calendar.

ON THE COVER: Cover photo/credits: Clockwise: Refusenik Screenshot; ADL; Peter Turnley/Corbis/ VCG via Getty Images JTA; Wally McNamee/ CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images, JTA; Rick Maiman/Sygma via Getty Images via JTA; National Coalition Supporting Eurasian Jewry.

Cover design: Michelle Sheridan

thejewishnews.com Follow Us on Social Media: Facebook @DetroitJewishNews Twitter @JewishNewsDet Instagram @detroitjewishnews SEPTEMBER 16 • 2021

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PURELY COMMENTARY wise and otherwise

That’s a Slap in the Face

S

ixty-five years ago, in 1956, the rabbis who taught Hebrew subjects at the Yeshiva Beth Yehudah, then located on Dexter and Cortland, were allowed to slap male students for not behaving properly during class.

Each teacher had a different type of slap. Most slapped across the face, some harder than others.

Irwin J. Two longtime teachers were Cohen different kinds of hitters.

Rabbi F. would walk behind the seated student and deliver a hard slap across the back. Rabbi Z., who hailed from Germany, would ask the student to come up front to his desk and open their hand and while seated he slapped the open hand with his clear plastic ruler.

Once he asked me to come up front and meet his ruler. He didn’t notice that behind my back I had my baseball fielders glove. As he raised his rulered hand, I switched hands and the ruler came down on my mitt and broke. After the class finished erupting in laughter, Rabbi Z. announced he would slap each hand the next day with his new ruler. He did.

I received a slap across the face on Oct. 8, 1956, that I never forgot and never deserved.

It was Game Five of the 1956 World Series between the Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Yankees, and each team had won two games. Don Larsen, 27,

who didn’t last through the second inning in Game Two was pitching for the Yankees, and Sal Maglie was on the mound for the Dodgers.

The odds favored the latter as the 39-year-old veteran posted a 13-6 record with a nifty 2.89 ERA in 1956. It was the seventh straight winning season for Maglie, who won 108 career games at the time and lost 49 times. Larsen’s career record was 30-40.

Between classes, I raced across the street to the gas station for updates.

During the last break, the attendants were huddled around the radio, and it looked like something important happened. I soon learned that nothing of importance happened for the Dodgers.

Larsen was pitching a perfect game, no runs, no hits, no errors, and I was able to hear the end of the historic game that the Yankees won 2-0.

I ran back to the YBY and headed to the classroom. I encountered my next Hebrew studies teacher in the hallway.

Rabbi K. was a street-smart New Yorker and a big Yankees fan. “How’s the game going?” he asked. “The Yankees won. and Larsen pitched a perfect game,” I answered. Rabbi K. responded by slapping me across the face and said, “Don’t lie.”

I assume he found out the truth after school, but he never said anything to me and never apologized. New Yorkers are not known for apologizing.

letters

Thanks for the Recognition

Awards and commendations are vehicles of encouragement to do more activism.

Those contributing to the successes are the indispensable value and inspiration.

My achievements for Volunteers for Israel, Zionist Organization of America, Michigan Jewish Action Council, CAMERA, Adat Shalom Synagogue, StandWithUs, Walk for Israel and others have only been possible with the myriad

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help of extraordinary, selfless team members I have been privileged and grateful to work with.

I thank those team members, the Detroit Jewish News, those that nominated me for the Volunteer of the Year Award and my Volunteers for Israel team congratulating me in the Detroit Jewish News.

— Ed Kohl West Bloomfield

Fast forward some 20 years, and I headed a national baseball monthly at the time. I was schmoozing with United Press International’s baseball writer Milt Richman prior to a game at Yankee Stadium. Milt told me that he forged a friendship with Larsen several years before he was traded to the Yankees.

Richman often invited Larsen to his parents’ home on Tremont Avenue in the Bronx and enjoyed the kosher cuisine.

The night before the perfect game, Larsen dined with the Richmans and told the writer to expect a no-hitter. He punctuated his prediction by pulling out a dollar and instructed Richman to give it to his mother for a donation to her synagogue.

So armed with confidence and a donated dollar to receive help from above, Larsen took the mound in front of 65,419 paying fans and pitched the only perfect game in World Series history.

And it was the only time in my history that I didn’t deserve a slap in the face.

Author, columnist, public speaker Irwin J. Cohen headed a national baseball publication for five years and earned a 1984 World Series ring while working in a front office position with the Detroit Tigers. He may be reached in his dugout at irdav@sbcglobal.net.

The Baroque 9.29.21 6:00p

FIA Theater

Guest Lecturer

Dr. Taylor Hagood Resplendent in its elaborate beauty, baroque art embodies an era of immense religious upheaval in Western culture—the Catholic Counter-Reformation.

In this lecture, Taylor Hagood will explore the forces driving the development of baroque architectural style and the powerful images of Caravaggio, Velázquez, Rubens, Rembrandt, and other artists throughout Europe in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.

Taylor Hagood, Ph.D. lectures on literature, art, history, travel, music, and the history of magic. His publications include the C. Hugh Holman Award-winning Faulkner, Writer of Disability and Secrecy, Magic, and the One-Act Plays of Harlem Renaissance Women Writers. A former Fulbright Professor at LudwigMaximilians-Universitaet in Munich, Germany, he is currently Professor of American Literature at Florida Atlantic University.

FREE and open to the public

The Sheppy Dog Fund, Dr. Alan Klein, Advisor, presents topics of art, religion, and history through its funded lecture series.

Upcoming Lectures 11.10.21

‘There came a deadly pestilence’: Art in Tuscany Before and After the Black Death

12.8.21

The Book of Marvels: Imagining Asia in Late Medieval France

1.11.22

New Archaeological Evidence for the Biblical Kingdom of David

1120 E Kearsley St, Flint 810.234.1695 flintarts.org

Caravaggio Italian, 1571–1610 Judith Beheading Holofernes, ca. 1599 Oil on canvas 57 x 77 inches Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Antica, Palazzo Barberini, Rome

SEPTEMBER 16 • 2021

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PURELY COMMENTARY essay

D

uring the Sukkot holiday, the PicoRobertson neighborhood of Los Angeles erupts in joyful celebration. Our 40-plus kosher restaurants all have sukkot attached. \ There’s a sukkah on top of Ralph’s supermarket.

One could conceivably sukkah Sam Glaser hop to a different hut every five minutes and not exhaust the inventory.

Google “Sukkah’s on Fire” to see my music video showcasing an assortment of local sukkot, accompanied by a wacky parody of the Jerry Lee Lewis “Great Balls of Fire” classic. The next video in the cue will likely be my brother Yom Tov’s enormous Jerusalem-based sukkah

going up in flames. A wellplaced security camera caught the tragic conflagration, and his kids mischievously added my song as a soundtrack.

For those driving down Pico Boulevard, it must look strange to see all the Jews happily parading with palm fronds. I’m sure people wonder what we are doing with those sticks. Well, what are we doing with those sticks? Waving the lulav is perhaps our most primordial chok (superrational commandment).

We circulate the four species (willow, myrtle, palm and citron) in six directions during the daily Hallel service and then hold them aloft while marching around the bimah.

It’s really weird and a lot of fun. Some say we are unifying four types of Jews with varying degrees of knowledge and

CHAMELEONSEYE/ISTOCK

The Joy of Sukkot

merits. Another theory: the species represent our spine, eyes, mouth and heart. Some say waving in six directions plus the center acknowledges God’s omnipresence. Others maintain it invokes a blessing for rain or favorably impacts the lower seven kabbalistic sefirot (Divine qualities).

We have epic parties of our own in our 20-foot squared sukkah and often potluck with neighboring families. We create a new decorative theme each year; past innovations have included Japanese Spa, Autumnal Splendor, Four Species Disco and my personal favorite, a Nacho Librécontinued on page 8

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1942 - 2021 Covering and Connecting Jewish Detroit Every Week

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JFMD & UJF 21-22

Annual Meeting Tuesday, October 5, 2021 7:30 pm

The Berman Center for the Performing Arts Jewish Community Center 6600 W. Maple Road, West Bloomfield Masks will be required

Virtual option available Link will be emailed to registrants prior to the event Register at:

jewishdetroit.org/annualmeeting

Meeting Highlights Presentation of Federation’s Highest Honor The Fred M. Butzel Memorial Award for Distinguished Service to:

Lawrence A. Wolfe Plus election and installation of officers and board members Presiding Matthew B. Lester, President Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit Dennis S. Bernard, President United Jewish Foundation of Metropolitan Detroit Questions? Contact Melissa Mertz at (248) 860-7332 or mmertz@jfmd.org SEPTEMBER 16 • 2021

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PURELY COMMENTARY opinion

The Urgency of Preventing a Nuclear-Armed Iran

D

uring their meetings at the White House on Aug. 27, President Joe Biden told Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett that the U.S. is committed “to ensur[ing] Iran never develops a nuclear weapon … We’re putting diplomacy first and seeing where Farley Weiss that takes us. But JNS.org if diplomacy fails, we’re ready to turn to other options.”

The Biden administration made it clear from the get-go that it intended to return to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) — the 2015 nuclear deal, negotiated by former President Barack

Obama, from which former President Donald Trump withdrew in 2018.

Lest one think that the current attempt to reverse Trump’s move indicates the success of the previous policy forged by Obama, Iran consistently violated the JCPOA. Furthermore, the Biden administration’s efforts have not only failed abysmally but have emboldened the terror-supporting Iranian regime in its pursuit of nuclear weapons.

Before the JCPOA was finalized, the Obama administration had repeatedly approved the increase of sanctions on Tehran, making it desperate for a negotiated deal as its economy was crumbling.

A major criticism of the JCPOA was the elimination of these sanctions, enabling Iran to receive more than $100 billion.

Moreover, the JCPOA lacked stringent nuclearoversight provisions and clauses deterring Iran’s ballistic-missile program and global terrorist activities. With the influx of cash, Iran increased its defense budget by 40%, and enhanced funding to its proxies, such as the Lebanon-based terrorist organization Hezbollah and Hamas, which rules Gaza. It was also able to expand its ballistic-missile program, while still pursuing nuclear weapons — as Israel’s 2018 seizure of a trove of documents from a warehouse in Tehran illustrated.

As a result of the above,

Trump exited the JCPOA and reinstituted massive sanctions on Iran, with much success.

Iran’s economy suffered greatly, and the regime was unable to provide the same level of support to Hezbollah and Hamas.

In addition, the Trump administration carried out the Jan. 3, 2020, assassination of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Quds Force commander, Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani. Subsequently, on Nov. 27 that year, Israel assassinated the head of Iran’s nuclear program, Mohsen Fakhrizadeh.

It is thus that Iran did not want Trump to remain in office for a second term. This was borne out by U.S. intelligence that Iran was attempting to interfere in the November 2020 American presidential elections in favor of Biden.

Seeking diplomacy as a way to prevent a nuclearized Iran, the Biden administration wants

THE JOY OF SUKKOT continued from page 6

movie inspired Sukkah De Los Luchadores (Mexican masked wrestlers).

When Sukkot arrives, I feel a palpable rush of simchah during that first Minchah/Maariv service. I look around at my peers and can see in their expressions the exuberance of the season.

The first minyan on any given holiday is about arrival. We made it — Shehecheyanu! Anything that hasn’t been done by candlelighting won’t be done, and believe me, we never finish everything. When it’s time to cease from melachah (acts of creation), we really do stop. The feeling of letting go is intensely liberating, especially when plunging into the ultimate season of joy, Sukkot.

I strive to keep the joy flowing all eight days of the week. I go

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into a half-time work mode so I can attend parties and chill in my own sukkah. Jewish law stipulates that any formal meals (involving motzi or m’zonot blessings over bread) must be eaten in a sukkah. Not that I have to be coerced to dine al fresco — I love my sukkah! My kids each get their own carefully selected lulav and etrog and we proudly march about every morning holding aloft our arba minim (four species). This holiday offers permission for even the stodgy, stoic types to get on the same happy page, 24/7. We relish in the feeling of victory after our assumed favorable judgment on Rosh Hashanah and whitewashing on Yom Kippur. Most of us have spent a month-and-a-half of heightened scrutiny of our personal balance sheet. We recon-

nect with our true purpose; our elation is heartfelt.

SUKKOT IN ISRAEL I wish everyone could experience what it’s like to be in Israel during Sukkot. As much as I love celebrating in L.A., there is nothing like the unfettered joy of Sukkot in the Promised Land. In Israel, the celebration of Sukkot is of another dimension.

Sukkot is indeed the capital of joy. Just sitting in a sukkah is a delightful mitzvah. The rest of the world relies on the permanence of well-built buildings and homes. Jews believe the only shelter we truly need is under the wings of our Creator, as represented by the fragile sukkah. This is where we feel totally secure and totally joyous.

When our forefather Yaakov

made it back to the Holy Land after dealing with his crooked father-in-law Lavan for 22 years, the first city he established was named after the temporary pens for his flocks, Sukkot. In the words of Chassidic master Rabbi Leibele Eiger, at that moment he made permanent the condition of impermanence. Our human fragility can be a source of consternation or celebration.

As Jews, we are commanded to celebrate!

May we all merit to rejoice together in the ultimate sukkah in our Homeland, bimheira b’yameinu (speedily in our days).

Sam Glaser is a performer, composer, producer and author in Los Angeles. He has released 25 albums of his compositions and produces music in his Glaser Musicworks recording studio.

a better, stronger agreement than the JCPOA. In order to achieve this, however, Washington should have continued increasing sanctions, as the Obama administration had done.

Instead, it appointed Robert Malley, an architect of the JCPOA, as U.S. special representative to Iran and lifted additional sanctions. This has served only to embolden and further radicalize the regime in Tehran.

AN EMBOLDENED IRAN Indeed, Iran responded to the above U.S. actions by “electing” mass murderer in Ebrahim Raisi, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s candidate, as president. Once instated in the role, Raisi appointed such figures as former IRGC chief Mohsen Rezaee — wanted

by Interpol for the 1994 mass murder of 85 Argentinians at the Jewish community center (AMIA) in Buenos Aires — as

vice president for economic affairs, and Gen. Ahmad Vahidi, also involved in the attack, as interior minister.

Meanwhile, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) confirmed that Iran, for the first time, has produced uranium metal-enriched up to 20% and has significantly increased its production capacity of enriched uranium to 60%, both of which are prohibited as part of the JCPOA. Germany, France and Britain — parties to the JCPOA — called the above moves “serious violations” of Iran’s commitment under the deal.

They said that “both are key steps in the development of a nuclear weapon, and Iran has no credible civilian need for either measure.”

The “concerns are deepened by the fact that Iran has significantly limited IAEA access through withdrawing from JCPOA-agreed monitoring arrangements,”

they added in a joint statement.

What they did not do, however, is reinstate sanctions.

Describing the current situation to the foreign press, Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid said, “Right now it seems like the agreement is not going anywhere and the talks are not going anywhere. The world needs a plan B, and Iran needs to know there is a credible threat on it if they will keep on advancing their nuclear program as they do now.”

In an interview with Bloomberg TV on Sept. 3, Malley said that the United States is prepared to be patient with Iran about a return to the JCPOA, but “can’t wait forever.” Isn’t it already obvious, as Lapid pointed out, that that “the agreement is not going anywhere, and a plan B is needed?”

Former Israeli Ambassador to the United States Ron Dermer has been more direct, stating that Iran will obtain

nuclear weapons “if Israel doesn’t stop it.”

At this point, it may be too late for sanctions to be effective, and that the only remaining option is a military one — for which Israel has been preparing. But not imposing sanctions immediately will guarantee that the military option is the only one left.

Biden announced that he would not withdraw troops from Afghanistan until all Americans were evacuated.

He didn’t keep his promise.

His assurances to Israel about Iran, then, cannot be counted on. Judging by the Afghanistan debacle, there are two possibilities: a nuclear Iran or a major Israeli strike on the Islamic Republic’s facilities.

Farley Weiss, former president of the National Council of Young Israel, is an intellectual property attorney for the law firm of Weiss & Moy. The views expressed are the author’s and not necessarily representative of NCYI.

opinion

A Positive ‘Viddui’

E

very year during the High Holidays, Jews recite a litany of ways we have fallen short in a confessional prayer. Known as a viddui, the prayer is a centerpiece of our Yom Kippur Rabbi liturgy.

Jillian This year, Cameron we again will JTA reflect on our shortcomings.

But one takeaway from the past year is that even when Cantor we do our best, Juval Porat it may not be JTA

enough.

So many of us joyously awaited the return to in-person High Holiday services, only to have our plans undermined by the threat posed by the Delta variant of COVID-19.

Against this backdrop, we recognized that our community would benefit from a communal expression of encouragement, comfort and balance.

So, together we crafted a positive viddui for our congregation that we are sharing here.

Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak HaCohen Kook, the first Ashkenazi chief rabbi of

what would become Israel, once said that Jews should celebrate our good deeds as much as lament our sins.

We hope you find this meaningful.

We’ve acted authentically We’ve blessed We’ve cultivated compassion We’ve delighted We’ve engaged empathically We’ve favored fairness We’ve galvanized We’ve harmonized We’ve inspired We’ve joined We’ve kindled kindness We’ve laughed We’ve matured We’ve nurtured

We’ve offered optimism We’ve persevered We’ve questioned We’ve released We’ve sympathized We’ve tried We’ve uplifted We’ve vivified We’ve welcomed We’ve x’d out excess We’ve yearned We’ve zoomed and zoomed in For all these, Source of Life inspire us, encourage us, sustain our hope.

Rabbi Jillian Cameron and Cantor Juval Porat are clergy at Beth Chayim Chadashim, a Reform synagogue in Los Angeles.

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OUR COMMUNITY

A screenshot, from the 2007 documentary Refusenik

by Laura Bialis, which chronicles the 30-year international movement to free Soviet Jews.

Remembering Our Local Heroes How grassroots efforts, secret trips and rallies paved the way for Soviet Jewish freedom.

COURTESY OF JEWISH HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF MICHIGAN

ASHLEY ZLATOPOLSKY CONTRIBUTING WRITER

COURTESY OF JEWISH HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF MICHIGAN

Photos taken at the JCC during the Freedom Run for Soviet Jewry on September 25, 1983.

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I

n the early 1970s, a slow trickle of Soviet Jewish refugees resettled in Metro Detroit.

They gave up life in the USSR to pursue religious freedom and better opportunities for their families.

What started as a few hundred immigrants steadily began to pick up speed. By the late 1980s and particularly the mid1990s, following the collapse of the Soviet Union, the trickle turned into a wave and thousands of Soviet Jewish refugees left the Iron Curtain for good.

It’s estimated that by the time the mass emigration finally slowed down, some 2 million Jews escaped the Soviet Union to start new lives in the United States, Israel, Canada and Australia, among other countries. For those resettled in Metro Detroit, their opportunities were possible thanks to a group of dedicated volunteers unwaveringly committed to the Soviet Jewry cause.

Everyday individuals like Metro Detroit-based Jewish community members Jeannie

Weiner and Beverly Yost worked relentlessly around the clock to advocate on behalf of Soviet Jewry.

GETTING THE WORD OUT In the early years of the Soviet Jewish exodus, the Soviet Jewish struggles still weren’t publicized.

“It wasn’t something that was widely known or thought about in those years,” explains Yost, who at the time worked for the Jewish Community Council. There, she focused on international concerns, which led to cause of Soviet Jewry eventually Beverly entering her life.

Yost “It was an issue that had really developed after the 1967 Six-Day War,” she said, “when Soviet Jews wanted to get out of the Soviet Union and get to Israel.”

In the early days of the movement, an organization separate from the Jewish Community Council known as the Detroit Committee for

RICK MAIMAN/SYGMA VIA GETTY IMAGES VIA JTA

A U.S. demonstration on behalf of the liberation of Soviet Jews

Soviet Jewry was organized by a small group of deeply committed activists. This, Yost explains, paved the way for a wider communal movement to launch several years later.

Piece-by-piece, awareness of what Soviet Jews were experiencing daily made its way to Jewish leadership in the Metro Detroit community. They learned that many Soviet Jews experienced constant antisemitism, had limited education and work opportunities, and couldn’t openly practice their religion. Children born after World War II had little-to-no knowledge of Jewish life, often never having been exposed to Jewish holidays or culture.

“It was a gradual awakening to a very serious problem,” Yost says.

Yet in the years that followed the Six-Day War, the issues of Soviet Jewry became entangled in other major problems facing the Jewish community. There was the Yom Kippur War, worry about domestic issues and overall concern for Israel.

A dedicated group of individu-

als continued to push for Soviet Jewry, though, and moved the issue to the forefront of Jewish concerns.

“The Jewish Community Council was able to get a grant from the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit to focus on Soviet Jewry,” Yost recalls.

“They were able to hire somebody to specifically work on

with elected officials, worked with members of Congress and pushed awareness for the cause through community education.

Jewish youth who became bar or bat mitzvahed in the 1980s often participated in a twinning program, where they would receive a Jewish “twin” in the Soviet Union who

“SOME JEWS WAITED YEARS FOR APPROVAL TO LEAVE, OFTEN LOSING THEIR JOBS. OTHERS WAITED YEARS AND WERE STILL DENIED.” — BEVERLY YOST

Soviet Jewry, and that was me.”

In the early 1980s and on, Yost and other supporters dived straight into raising awareness for Soviet Jewry, a cause that was quickly gaining speed and becoming a major issue not only in Metro Detroit, but across the entire United States. They advocated

couldn’t have their own bar or bat mitzvah. American Jews would recite the name of their Soviet twin at their service, honoring the individual while also driving awareness for the struggles of Soviet Jewry. Many of these Soviet twins were “refuseniks” or Soviet Jews denied the right to emigrate.

FIGHTING FOR THE REFUSENIKS Freedom concerts, fundraisers, runs and more were also put on by various Jewish community organizations and synagogues to spread the message about the issue of Soviet Jewry and catch the attention of the government.

Many local families also participated in an adopt-a-family program where they would write letters to a family in the Soviet Union.

“This was a challenge because many, if not most, of these letters didn’t get through,” Yost recalls. “People were making phone calls. A lot of the time the calls wouldn’t go through.”

Activist Jeannie Weiner, meanwhile, remembers writing letters that would receive censored responses. “Probably 30% of it was missing,” Weiner says, “but it caused me to learn even more.”

Weiner, advocating for the Soviet Jewry movement since the mid-1970s and involved with the Jewish Community continued on page 12 SEPTEMBER 16 • 2021

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A Telephone Soldier

OUR COMMUNITY continued from page 11

JACKIE HEADAPOHL DIRECTOR OF EDITORIAL

R

SHARFMAN

ae Sharfman of West Bloomfield calls for Soviet Jewry. Whatever news we found, herself “just a small soldier in a big we could send to prominent Soviet Jewry movement.” activist Michael Sherbourne, who became the She started volunteering to help save center of information in London. We became Soviet Jewry shortly after the first Leningrad very good friends.”

Trial, which happened on Dec. 15, 1970. In Sharfman remains friends with many of the it, a group of Soviet Jews was charged with people she met in the 1970s in the moveattempting to hijack a small Soviet commercial ment. “We get together and we’re in touch all plane. Their aim was to reroute it to Sweden the time, whether we’re in Israel or not,” said from where they would Sharfman, who moved make their way to Israel. back to Michigan from On the planned day, the Israel two years ago but group knew the authorhopes to return soon. ities had been alerted, One of those friends but went through with was Pam Cohen, whose it anyway, prepared to book, Hidden Heroes: be arrested and inspire One Woman’s Story of a movement to free all Resistance and Rescue Soviet Jewry. As they in the Soviet Union, was walked toward the plane, published in July. they were beaten and During her years as a arrested. volunteer, Sharfman went The sentences the parto the Soviet Union twice ticipants received were and constantly lobbied harsh, even according people in Congress.

Rae Sharfman, on the far right, with a group to Soviet standards. Two of Soviet Jewry activists in Israel three years “People in Congress were were sentenced to death, ago. absolutely fabulous.” and two others were She recalls a trip to handed long prison terms. the Soviet Union in 1989 with the Union of Soon after the trial, “A woman came to West Councils for Soviet Jewry. “The Soviets were Bloomfield and was speaking at one of the not too happy we were there,” she said. synagogues. Her daughter had been arrest“People came from all over the Soviet Union ed,” Sharfman recalled. “She stuck her finger to speak. It was amazing.” at the audience and said, ‘Your grandparents Once the Soviet Union began to break up left, your parents split, or you could be standin the late 1980s, Soviet Jews were finally free ing here begging for the life of your child.’ to go. “Until then, it was a big struggle, but, That hit me right in the heart. And I said, ‘OK, thank God, we made it,” Sharfman said. we have to get involved.’”

Sharfman said she knows of someone in Sharfman, whose parents were from the Israel working on a curriculum for high school Soviet Union, began looking for people to students to learn more about the history of work with and got in touch with Glenn Richter the Soviet Jews and what a “miracle it was at the Student Struggle for Soviet Jewry, that we won.” which had been founded by Jacob Birnbaum Sharfman is uncomfortable getting accoin 1964 and was among the first grassroots lades for her volunteer work that helped make movements for the liberation of Jews from that miracle happen. “It’s not me. It was a the USSR. “He became my mentor,” Sharfman whole group of us doing the same thing,” she said. “Then we formed a group in the said.

Michigan area.”

Sharfman said a majority of the Jews who Armed with a telephone and a list of Soviet fled the Soviet Union came to Israel, where Jews who had been arrested, harassed or more than a million of them live now. “They refused exit, Sharfman made calls. “There was have made an amazing contribution to Israel. a whole network of people like me making They’re just fabulous people,” she said. calls. We were a part of the Union of Councils

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SEPTEMBER 16 • 2021

Jeannie Weiner

Council like Yost, was alarmed by the censorship. She pushed hard for awareness and quickly became one of the leading voices of the

cause.

Between 1984-1989, Weiner served on the board of the National Conference on Soviet Jewry. She, along with hundreds of others, wore bracelets bearing the name of a Soviet Jewish refusenik. They marched, protested and continued to write letters to the government. “Most of it was to bring attention to the issues so that every single congressperson, every single senator or person in the State Department, and certainly the president, was aware of it,” Weiner says.

At Passover, many American Jewish families also left out extra matzah on the table in honor of fellow Soviet Jews unable to celebrate the holiday. As more Soviet Jewish families resettled in Metro Detroit and the rest of the country, knowledge about the widespread issues they faced in getting approval to emigrate continued to grow.

“There was a lot of red tape,” Yost recalls. Some Soviet Jews waited upwards of years for approval, often losing their jobs in the meantime. Others, like the refuseniks, waited years and were still denied, becoming ostracized from society and pushed into a state of limbo.

In 1983, Weiner and a group of volunteers decided

ADL

© WALLY MCNAMEE/CORBIS/CORBIS VIA GETTY IMAGES, JTA

“WE WENT TO THE USSR AS TOURISTS, AND AT NIGHT WE’D SNEAK OUT AFTER DINNER TO SEE SOVIET JEWISH FAMILIES.”

PETER TURNLEY/CORBIS/VCG VIA GETTY IMAGES JTA

LEFT: American Jews protest against Soviet Jewish policies during a demonstration in Washington, D.C. RIGHT: A scene from the Free Soviet Jewry March, Dec. 6, 1987, with Sen. Carl Levin in the lower left.

BELOW: Natan Sharansky, left, and Elie Wiesel, right, separated by activist Vladimir Slepak.

— JEANNIE WEINER

to take matters into their own hands. They boarded a plane en route to Moscow and later Leningrad with luggage full of clothing, religious articles, medicine and electronics Soviet Jews could later sell, like cameras. “We went as tourists,” Weiner recalls, “and at night we’d sneak out after dinner to see Soviet Jewish families.”

While in Soviet airspace, they didn’t dare utter a word of their mission in fear of being overheard. They worked undercover in partnership with national organizations that provided them with the names and addresses of Soviet

Jews in need. In addition to the religious artifacts that helped teach these families about Judaism, the electronics and clothing could later be sold to secure much-needed cash for the lengthy emigration process.

The process often involved a carefully organized pipeline that ran from Vienna to Rome, which refugees would spend months traveling through. Prior to leaving, Weiner and others secured as many donations of blue jeans as possible from local merchants, which were a hot commodity in the Soviet Union and sold for high pric-

es, helping families secure temporary housing in Rome.

In 1987, Weiner also co-chaired a trip to Washington, D.C., for Freedom Sunday for Soviet Jews, a national march and political rally held on Dec. 6. There, 250,000 Jews and non-Jews gathered to rally for more American governmental support in the fight for Soviet Jewry. That afternoon, three planes full of Detroiters (plus buses) went to Washington, D.C. to join the rally.

“It was a massive demonstration,” Yost recalls, who also attended the march.

The relentless efforts of

Weiner, Yost and hundreds of others eventually paid off. Now, thousands of Soviet Jewish refugees and their Americanborn families call Metro Detroit home. They’ve become an essential part of the Jewish community and workforce, but no one, not even those behind the movement for Soviet Jewry, could have imagined the extent of the impact.

“We were up against a brick wall,” Yost says of the movement’s early days. “There seemed to be no way to break through it. That’s how it felt for a long time until things changed. It was a moment that stands out in my life.”

SEPTEMBER 16 • 2021

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OUR COMMUNITY

TAMARACK

The Israeli staff were welcomed with a dinner buffet

Tamarack had 35 Israeli staff members this summer, the most ever.

DANNY SCHWARTZ STAFF WRITER

A

fter Tamarack’s summer 2020 programming was canceled due to COVID-19, Tamarack returned this summer with calculated safety measures in place. While Israeli campers were not able to make it to camp, 35 Israeli staff members, the most ever, brought Israel to life this summer.

“This year we had an Israeli counselor in every village,” said Carly Weinstock, director of Tamarack’s Camp Maas.

Carly Weinstock “The Israeli camper program

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was really missed this year. It was sad we couldn’t have them, but we look forward to continuing that program in the future.”

Israeli staff members led and impacted a variety of programs at camp: from artists-in-residences to staff training to teaching Krav Maga, as examples. In so many ways, Israeli staff enhance the Jewish overnight camping experience.

Yuval Hazon was an Israeli counselor at Tamarack this summer. Hazon wishes Israeli campers were able to attend but believes there were so many Israeli staff

Yuval Hazon

TAMARACK

A Little Bit of Israel at Camp Tamarack that the kids at camp still had positive Israeli experiences.

The presence of Israeli staff members, Israel Day and Jewish programming were obvious ways Tamarack was able to bring Israel to life, but Hazon believes the most important way is through personal connections.

“Just through being who we are, connecting with the campers and counselors here and hearing personal stories about Israel,” Hazon said. “You can hear and read about Israel but it’s so different when you actually get to know someone from there. Every one of us is so different and

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Israeli staff at Camp Tamarack

it just gives you a bigger, more detailed picture.”

Hazon said it’s through those personal connections at Tamarack that she’s made best friends for life.

“That’s the biggest impact, having Jewish-American people here and having best friends from Israel and keeping in touch with them — that’s the best thing there could be.”

Hazon, 22, was a Tamarack camper one time in 2012. This summer was her first time back after nine years.

“The summer I was here as a 13-year-old completely changed my life. I know so many things I did in life were because I came here, and I wouldn’t be where I am in life right now if I wasn’t in camp.”

Hazon, who won the counselor of the year award this summer as elected by her peers, plans on coming back next summer, hopefully with Israeli campers.

“Every one of us had a completely different experience at camp, but I think everyone will remember this summer for their entire life,” Hazon said.

“I hope everyone felt like I did here, because this is a place that makes you feel 100% who you are.”

Included in Israeli’s staff ’s training before they arrive is how they can bring their story in Israel and implement it in camp. Weinstock herself had

a connection to Israeli’s staff ’s impact this summer.

“My son had an Israeli counselor who he developed a really nice relationship with,” Weinstock said. “To have conversations with my son about Israel — he’s in fourth grade — it’s just really nice.”

Israel Day, a day of celebration where the entire camp participates in festivities with Israel-themed food, music, dancing, activities and education, luckily didn’t feel too different from other years.

“Even without [Israeli] campers, the celebration continued,” said Lee Trepeck, Tamarack CEO. “That was very important to the Camp Maas team and to our agency that we reserved time to celebrate even in the Lee absence of [Israeli Trepeck campers], and the spirit really reverberated.”

Both Trepeck and Weinstock believe the Israeli staff members being there this summer brought some normal back to campus, with the last year and a half being anything but normal.

“It was so important to give these campers a sense of normalcy, our camp community some of the same spirit as always and to remain connected to Israel in a time where too many people are disconnected,” Trepeck said.

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SEPTEMBER 16 • 2021

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15

OUR COMMUNITY

Putting Out the Welcome Mat Ann Arbor Jewish agency prepares for influx of Afghan refugees.

ASHLEY ZLATOPOLSKY CONTRIBUTING WRITER

A

s chaos and violence wash over Taliban-controlled Afghanistan, resettlement agencies across the U.S. are preparing to support an influx of Afghan refugees fleeing the country.

Jewish Family Services of Washtenaw County, which has a robust resettlement program in place, is one of the agencies getting ready to help. They’re now resettling their first Afghan refugee since the violence escalated a few weeks back.

JFS also has two additional cases in the pipeline for Afghan refugees hoping to start new lives in Washtenaw County, but are preparing to help dozens, if not hundreds more, in the coming months.

“These individuals were evacuated in early July,” Shrina

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SEPTEMBER 16 • 2021

Eadeh, director of the resettlement program at JFS, explains of the two waiting cases. “Right now, they’re currently in Virginia and Texas doing their processing.”

The first Afghan refugee helped by JFS this summer had a family member living in Washtenaw County. Other cases, however, are known as “free cases.” In these particular cases, individuals arrive without friends or family in the area. Upon receiving a case, JFS reviews it and determines if their organization will be a good host for that individual’s unique needs.

Yet JFS is no stranger to the Afghan humanitarian crisis. For years, they’ve helped Afghan refugees build new lives in Ypsilanti and Ann Arbor, among other cities in the

Washtenaw County area. Now, though, the need is more pressing than ever.

“We really felt the need to answer the call,” Eadeh says.

“We felt that we could help individuals who are coming from Afghanistan right The food pantry at Jewish Family Services of Washtenaw County

now have a home here in Washtenaw County.”

SERVICES FOR ALL While operating as a Jewish organization, JFS goes beyond assisting only the Jewish community. “One of the mis-

of services geared specifically for employment also include micro enterprise development programs that help people start small businesses, if desired.

The JFS offices

conceptions about any Jewish organization is that they only serve Jewish individuals,” Eadeh describes, “but we serve everybody in our community.

“It doesn’t matter what anybody’s income status is,” Eadeh continues. “If somebody has a need, we will do our best to meet that need within our services.”

JFS helps refugees like those from Afghanistan from the day they arrive in the U.S. until the day they receive citizenship.

Oftentimes, Eadeh explains, the organization, which always picks up refugees directly from

the airport, is there waiting at the terminal as late as midnight.

“We initially take them to a hotel,” she says, “or if they have friends or family in the area that are going to host them, we will take them to that home.”

Once an apartment is ready, JFS helps refugees move in. The organization provides furniture, household goods, foods and everything else individuals or families need to initially build a life.

Then, they help refugees enroll in benefits, find ESL classes and identify employment opportunities. A vast suite

GETTING READY TO HELP Since first working with Afghan refugee cases, Eadeh estimates that JFS has helped resettle 166 individuals in the last six years. Now, in working with the national agency, the Washtenaw County organization has committed to assisting upwards of 300 refugees between September 2021 and March 2022.

To prepare for the influx, JFS is in talks with housing partners to increase housing options in the coming months. They’re also in the midst of creating a special language task force to further assist refugees who don’t speak English. In addition, JFS is beefing up their food pantry and building a commercial kitchen at the agency to meet

the food needs of new clients and cases.

“One of our other most important efforts is to work with more employers,” Eadeh says, “and increase the employment opportunities for the clients that we serve.”

In being mindful of the COVID-19 pandemic, JFS also helps refugees access and receive vaccines. They provide PPE like masks and offer virtual school options for kids when needed. Despite the health crisis and past lockdowns, JFS did not encounter any lapses in services.

“Our goal is to provide a safe place for people to land that have fled really, really dangerous situations,” Eadeh says.

“Part of that mission is to assist individuals and make sure that they have a place to land where they feel safe with opportunities to achieve their dreams and goals.”

We could use a hand.

Are you looking for a meaningful way to give back?

Jewish Family Service has multiple opportunities for you to spend your time making a difference in the lives of those we serve.

Whether you’re looking to volunteer once or once a week, in-person or virtually, we would love to hear from you.

Bilingual Russian speakers are especially needed.

For more information contact: Melissa Pletcher 248.592.3986 or mpletcher@jfsdetroit.org

jfsdetroit.org SEPTEMBER 16 • 2021

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OUR COMMUNITY

Rescue Flight

Southfield pilot, son of Holocaust survivor, flies plane full of Afghan refugees to U.S.

ASHLEY ZLATOPOLSKY CONTRIBUTING WRITER

W

hen Delta Air Lines put out a call for crews to operate an urgent flight out of Germany, which at the time was simply coded as a “military operation,” Southfield-based pilot Captain Alexander Kahn happened to have a few free days in his monthly schedule.

“I accepted the rotation,” Kahn, 52 and a member of Southfield’s Young Israel synagogue, says. What the pilot didn’t know is that he would be flying a plane full of Afghan refugees escaping the violence and chaos of Taliban-controlled Afghanistan to the U.S. for freedom.

Prior to the flight, which completed the mission in late August, several Delta crews met in New York’s JFK airport to fly an empty plane to Frankfurt, Germany. “There was much chatter as we introduced ourselves and tried to figure out what the flights were all about,” Kahn recalls.

The pilot, who has been flying commercial airlines for 21 years and Delta’s mainline for seven years, says there was speculation over whether the crews would be transporting active-duty soldiers back from a training exercise or mission,

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or family members returning to the U.S. after a three-year assignment in Germany.

Yet with the Afghanistan crisis central in the news, Kahn realized that the flight could in fact be transporting civilians who escaped its capital of Kabul. “That first night, nobody knew for sure,” he remembers.

“After we arrived in Germany, the general feeling was that this was most likely an evacuation flight.”

GATHERING SUPPLIES FOR EVACUEES While Delta is known for operating regional and international flights, the airline also handles sports charters and military charters. As the crew touched down at Germany’s Ramstein Air Base, which serves as headquarters for the U.S. Air Force in Europe, they quickly got to work preparing the flight.

Pilots reviewed paperwork and programming, while flight attendants prepared the cabin for passengers. Ground support teams got everything ready for takeoff. However, as realization dawned that this was an evacuation flight for Afghan refugees, who left their lives behind and escaped Afghanistan by the thousands without preparation,

Captain Alexander Kahn

it became clear that supplies were needed.

Without prompting, flight attendants stepped in to support the evacuees. “At dinner the night before, we all brainstormed what the needs might be,” Kahn says. “Not knowing the exact circumstances, our flight attendants theorized that the evacuees might have run with only what they could carry and there might not have been a chance to bathe since evacuating.”

This meant children, in particular, would be without crucial supplies like diapers, toys and other distractions to help soothe them during a physically and emotionally challenging process. “The focus quickly switched to the children,” Kahn continues. “What could they eat? Would western candy contain too much sugar? Would their diaper sizes be smaller than those of U.S. babies?”

The decision was made: the flight attendants purchased diapers, wipes, coloring books, gummy bears and balloons.

While the three pilots offered to pay for the items, the flight

attendants insisted upon their contribution. “All of this was very inspirational to me,” Kahn says.

During the next morning in the hours before the flight, Kahn met a friend, and the two visited the Base Exchange store to purchase additional supplies.

He spoke with several mothers, who advised on what to get.

“They instantly asked how they could help, once again illustrating that generosity is alive and well in our military families and American society,” Kahn says.

ELEMENT OF NOSTALGIA While the flight from Germany, itself, was uneventful, it held priceless meaning to Kahn, the Delta crew and the Afghan refugees who were transported to Texas, to begin the process of resettlement. For Kahn, who began his flight training and earned his private pilot’s license at Ramstein Air Base, there was an element of nostalgia to the mission.

“Because this is a military base overseas, I never expected to be able to fly there again,” he says. Knowing that Ramstein

DELTA

Touching down in the U.S.

Air Base was central to military operations and the place where freed hostages, injured soldiers from war zones and more were taken before making their way home to the U.S., the mission came full circle for Kahn, the son of a Holocaust survivor.

“My father was liberated from Buchenwald concentration camp by Patton’s 3rd Army on April 18, 1945,” he said.

“Having lost his parents and

most of the rest of his family in the Holocaust, he applied for and eventually received permission to immigrate to the United States in 1947.”

Kahn’s father, who arrived in the U.S. with just the clothes on his back, learned English, pursued an education, became a doctor and started a family in Los Angeles. Later, he accepted a job working as an internal medicine physician at a U.S. Army

base in West Germany at the tail end of the Cold War, where Kahn was eventually born.

“The irony was not lost on me,” he explains. “These Afghan evacuees have the same path ahead of them. Some may come from wealthy lives; others don’t. Some may speak English already; others don’t. Some may already have an education, others don’t.

“But all are starting over in a new country.”

MITZVAHS AND GIVING BACK Despite the antisemitism and horrors that Kahn’s father experienced during World War II, his father was always grateful for the opportunity to build a new life in the United States.

“He knew that he was safe and secure on a national level,” Kahn says. “This was the country that accepted and protected him and treated him as an

Q

equal.”

Now, the pilot can only wish for Afghan refugees to experience the same feeling.

“I’m proud of my crew and others like them for providing what I hope is one of a series of welcoming gestures in the path to a new life,” Kahn says.

For Kahn, these missions are central to Jewish identity as well. He believes in a moral obligation to welcome guests, save people from terror and preserve human life.

“Our Afghani partners will face certain death if left in Afghanistan,” the pilot explains.

While this flight was Kahn’s first in evacuating refugees, he isn’t hesitating to take on similar missions in the near future.

“I will certainly volunteer again,” he says.

“But I will have a lot of competition. Many of our pilots are excited to be able to participate.”

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SEPTEMBER 16 • 2021

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OUR COMMUNITY

Remembering Durban A Jewish journalist looks back on the antisemitic hate fest.

Michael Belling

O

n Sept. 22, 2021, the United Nations is holding a one-day event to celebrate the 20th anniversary of its first World Conference Against Racism, held in Durban, South Africa, in 2001. This is a dubious comMike Smith memoration. The Alene and first Conference, Graham Landau Archivist Chair Durban I, infamously devolved into an antisemitic, anti-Israel hate fest. This is well-documented.

For a firsthand account of the Conference, a few questions were posed to Michael Belling, a Jewish journalist from South Africa, who attended Durban I. Belling was a foreign corre-

spondent in Israel for a major South African newspaper group for several years. After his return to South Africa, he was the local correspondent for the Jewish Telegraphic Agency (New York) and the Jewish Chronicle (London). Belling has written extensively on Middle Eastern and financial issues.

He has appeared on TV and radio, and he has translated several books from Hebrew into English. Belling is also a novelist in his spare time. He lives in Pretoria.

Q: Why were you reporting from Durban I in 2001?

MB: I covered the “anti-racism” conference in Durban for the Jewish Chronicle (London).

Q: What were your expectations of the Conference before you arrived there?

MB: Not high at all. The preparatory conferences in several countries, including Iran, made it clear that, as is common in many organs of the United

Nations, Israel was going to be singled out disproportionately for opprobrium, but nothing prepared any of the Jewish delegates to the NGO conference or the governmental conference, or me, for that matter, for what occurred. The floodgates of overt and blatant Jew-hatred on the streets of Durban were opened in ways not encountered since the 1930s. Since 2001, antisemitism has been the only acceptable racism in large parts of the world, including the USA, France and Britain.

The impact of Durban I did not end in that city. The BDS movement is a direct consequence, as is the widely held view that Zionism is, in fact, a dirty word.

I am not going into any detail here, but ironically, all the activities at the Durban I conference gave the Soviet KGB a posthumous victory — it was the brains behind earlier disinformation campaigns, using the same techniques, that led directly to the notorious “Zionism is

Racism” resolution passed by the U.N. in 1975 (repealed after the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991).

Q: The Conference is now known for its vehement promotion of antisemitic and anti-Israel sentiments. What was your personal experience at the Conference?

MB: The venue was the Durban Conference Centre, within easy walking distance of a major sports stadium and the site of the NGO stalls.

Interestingly, the main Jewish venue in Durban, the Jewish Club, is also within walking distance, and it had to endure a few protests. The Club served as the center for meetings, discussions, consultations and strategizing for all the Jewish groups there — not to mention an endless source of food, snacks, tea and coffee! All of this created a strong sense of camaraderie among all of us.

The Protocols of the Elders of Zion was freely available at the NGO conference, as were sev-

A panel at the World Conference Against Racism in Durban, South Africa, from Aug. 31 to Sept. 8, 2001.

U.N./RON DA SILVA

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eral flyers lauding Hitler and indicating that the outcomes would have been favorable had he won — including no Israel.

Neturei Karta — opponents of Zionism — stood in the streets showing their own placards declaring that Zionism was not Judaism and the like, sharing the demonstrations with real Jew-haters.

The atmosphere in the huge and impressive media center was, fortunately, very different.

There was a direct feed of all the public proceedings, as only a few journalists could be accommodated in the conference hall.

I personally did not encounter any direct violence, although there was some around the NGO conference.

But the atmosphere at the Jewish Club was at times tense, with a police presence outside, as rumors circulated of possible violence against it (which never materialized).

Q: How would you summarize or characterize the Durban Conference and its proceedings?

MB: I would offer three main points: The Conference opened the way to public Jew-hatred after more than 50 years of such hatred skulking largely underground in the West: Open antisemitism was just not polite, as opposed to the usual camouflage of anti-Zionism.

Clear examples of this change can be seen in the Jews targeted physically last May during the Gaza war and, more disturbingly, the tolerance of the blatant antisemitism of the “Squad” in U.S. Congress.

It resulted in wide acceptance of the old antisemitic view that the Jews (sorry, Zionists) were the source of all evil in the world. It became almost conventional wisdom

in all too many public and private circles.

It demonstrated the extent to which uncritical Palestinianism has become the leitmotif of the international left. As a result, all other human rights issues since have been pushed aside, including the Uyghur genocide in China.

Unfortunately, this still holds, and Durban IV will simply replay the old themes.

Q: Did you attend Durban II or III? If so, what was your experience?

MB: No, I did not, as they were held in other countries.

Interestingly, though, I covered the U.N. Sustainable Development Conference in 2002 in Johannesburg for JTA. Both the conference organizers and the South African authorities appeared to have learned something from the previous year’s fiasco. An attempt was made by the Palestinians and their supporters to hijack this conference as well, but their attempts failed, although the issue still formed a significant part of the proceedings.

Q: In your opinion, what is the legacy of Durban I? MB: To put it crudely, I don’t believe the Durban legacy was unique or special — it merely lanced the boil that had come to a head, letting all the poison out. The U.N. legacy, however, for moer than 50 years, has been one of overt racism against the Jews and Israel.

Q: What are your expectations for the upcoming 20th anniversary celebration of Durban I? MB: Same old, with possibly some new wrinkles, if the bearers of the burden of hate have enough imagination. If not, more of the same.

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OUR COMMUNITY

Making Amends

Yom Kippur aligns with 12-step programs.

RONELLE GRIER CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Y

om Kippur has heightened meaning for those in recovery from alcoholism and drug addiction.

For many people, the parallel between the pre-holiday tradition of asking those we have wronged for forgiveness and the amends process outlined in the 12 Steps is especially Rabbi Benny significant.

Greenwald In the days before Yom Kippur, also known as the Day of Atonement, Jews are encouraged to review their conduct of the past year and acknowledge any wrongdoings.

Similarly, Step 4 calls for “a

searching and fearless moral inventory,” which includes taking responsibility for actions that caused others to be hurt.

And, because both Judaism and recovery are programs of action, it is not enough to ask God for forgiveness if another person was harmed. Before we say the final prayers on Yom Kippur, we must apologize to those whom our behavior affected. Likewise, Step 9 requires recovering addicts to make “direct amends” to people they harmed, knowingly or not.

However, the 12-Step program makes a clear distinction between extending an apology and making amends. More

An Interactive Sukkot Experience The Well’s Sukkot Sounds allows for in-person or virtual gatherings.

DANNY SCHWARTZ STAFF WRITER

Y

ou don’t need a sukkah to celebrate the festival of Sukkot this year, just ask The Well.

Sukkot Sounds (powered by The Well) is a grassroots initiative to pair local musical artists and educators with hosts to co-create gatherings that enrich, diversify and revitalize the ancient Jewish cultural celebration of Sukkot.

There are many ways to participate in Sukkot Sounds.

People can host or attend a backyard concert featuring one of Sukkot Sounds’` registered musical artists, a backyard or

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SEPTEMBER 16 • 2021

in-home gathering with Sukkotinspired content, a Sukkotthemed meditation or guided discussion, drum circle, folk dancing lesson, Lulav-making, or any Sukkot-inspired experience one can think of.

People can also host or attend a virtual gathering and celebrate Sukkot with friends near and far.

Marisa Meyerson, director of operations at The Well, says

important than apologizing is taking the necessary actions to set things right.

“We are taught that the ninth step is not just about saying, “I’m sorry,” says Frank, a longtime member of AA. “It’s about showing them how sorry I am by how differently I act.

“On Yom Kippur, we aren’t saying sorry to God; we’re saying we will do our best to act differently. The Hebrew word for repentance is teshuvah, which means return. In the 12 steps, this means returning to aligning our behavior with God’s will.”

In “Atonement or Forgiveness?” at Chabad.org, Rabbi Ben A. explains the Hebrew word for atonement is kaparah, meaning “wiping up.”

“If I spill my grape juice on your carpet, I can say sorry and be forgiven,” he writes. “But the stain is still there. Atonement comes when I get the carpet

cleaners to clean your carpet.”

Rabbi Benny Greenwald, director of Daniel B. Sobel Friendship House, explains how the holiday of Sukkot provides a joyful transition from the solemnity of Yom Kippur.

“On Yom Kippur, we acknowledge our wrongdoings, and that is the first step of making amends,” he explains. “But we don’t get stuck on that because following is Sukkot, the holiday of joy. It’s the joy that comes from learning from our mistakes when we reexamine what we did and learn how that can make us a better person.

“After we acknowledge our defects and make amends to those we hurt, then we can move forward and experience the joy of transformation, the holiday of Sukkot.”

Sukkot Sounds is an idea The Well’s Executive Director Rabbi Jeff Stombaugh has had for a while.

“The Well has always been about coming up with ways to bring mainstream, fun things that are happening right now and finding a way to make them Jewish,” Meyerson said. “Sukkot is about high-energy community gatherings, and another place we see that same sort of vibe is at a music festival. Something we’ve missed especially during COVID is live music, so it sort of seems like a natural progression of how we can reinvent Sukkot.”

Sukkot Sounds is developing a directory of registered artists and educators that will continue to grow on the website leading up to the holiday.

Individuals and organizations looking to host gatherings for Sukkot can reach out to regis-

tered Sukkot Sounds artists and educators directly and inquire about them being a part of their gathering once they are bookable on the website.

To Meyerson, missions of The Well, Sukkot Sounds and the holiday it celebrates align perfectly.

“One of the taglines of Sukkot is actually about reinventing ritual and inspiring authentic connection, and that’s really what The Well is all about,” Meyerson said. “We want to offer something fresh, exciting and relevant that gives young adults an opportunity to connect with a holiday they may not have connected with before or can connect with in a new and different way.”

For information, visit friendshipcircle.org/ friendshiphouse.

Submissions to host an event or to join the team of registered artists are now available at sukkotsounds.com, along with further details. For further questions, reach out to hello@sukkotsounds.com.

COURTESY OF B’NAI MOSHE

TWO GENERATIONS OF SOLD

OUR COMMUNITY

become one with the Earth.

This summer, Zachary Friedman led a group in designing, building and installing a genizah on the synagogue property as his requirement to become an Eagle Scout. Only 4% of scouts have earned this designation in the last 100 years. This is the first Eagle Scout project of its kind in the state.

What is a living genizah?

Zachary Friedman The installation of It’s a phrase coined by B’nai lowers books into the genizah took Moshe Executive Director the genizah. place this summer.

Steven Fine to depict that the genizah, while covered, is not full; and religious books and ritual articles can be added to Eagle Scout project creates a first on the genizah at any time. The the grounds of B’nai Moshe.

West Bloomfield synagogue doesn’t anticipate the genizah JN STAFF to be completely filled for ’nai L AMoshe K E Sis thrilled A N Dto BALgenizah O O MisFa Iplace E L to Dbury S P E Cyears.

IALISTS to me asking have one of, if not the ritual items such as damaged M A X B R O O C K B L O O M F I E L D H I L L S #“Zachary 1 A G came ENT S only, “living” genizah prayer books, tallitot and other if there was a project at B’nai Moshe that we needed done. on the grounds of a synagogue ritual objects that should not Rabbi Shalom Kantor and I in Metro Detroit — perhaps be thrown away. Over time, the country even. the contents of the genizah will had just recently discussed the

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idea of a living genizah, so the timing was perfect,” Fine said.

Zachary worked with an architect to design the genizah and raised all the money to cover the materials needed to build and install it.

Rabbi Kantor dedicated the genizah and indicated the importance of books, past and present, particularly to the Jewish people. Even though the life or usefulness of a book is limited, the knowledge contained therein continues in the minds of those who have read or studied that book.

The first book that was carefully placed in the genizah by Zachary was a bible from the 1800s.

Many of Zachary’s fellow scouts and their parents helped in installing the genizah along with B’nai Moshe members. B’nai Moshe is extremely proud and grateful for Zachary’s wonderful Eagle Scout project.

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OUR COMMUNITY

Brecher and Stone’s hat for suicide awareness reads in white letters “Your story isn’t over” on the black baseball cap’s front logo.

Sparking the Conversation Two Michigan AEPi fraternity members spark conversation with hats for suicide awareness.

BRIAN GOLDSMITH SPECIAL TO THE JN

T

wo University of Michigan students from Alpha Epsilon Pi found a creative way to raise funds and awareness for mental health challenges on campus. By selling customized hats, the pair raised nearly $1,000 for Friendship Circle’s UMatter.

“Your story isn’t over,” states the front of the cap. On the side, it reads “National Suicide Awareness Month” with a hotline number. For someone struggling with thoughts of suicide, this powerful statement could be the sign they need to seek help.

Jared Brecher and Jonah Stone launched the initiative out of their fraternity and Jared sold the hats around the Brecher

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Jared Brecher and Jonah Stone

University of Michigan campus over the past year. Through partnerships with AEPi chapters at neighboring schools like Michigan State, the hats reached a

wide audience.

“It was a hard year, and everyone was in a weird headspace because of the pandemic,” Stone said. “Whether you related to it or not, it was an issue everyone could support.”

The Michigan AEPi duo talked extensively about which cause would be best to support. They agreed on suicide awareness.

According to the National Institutes of Health, 1 in 5 American adults live with mental illness as of 2019. Suicide took 47,500 American lives in 2019 and was the second leading cause of death for people ages 10 to 34 according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“Suicide is something that has impacted more of us than I would’ve thought,” Brecher said. “We felt it was our job to help.”

Brecher said he was surprised and excited to find out so many people connected with the hats and their message.

“The sororities were also extremely supportive, and about half our sales came from them,” said Brecher. “We never knew what impact there would be until we looked down one day and saw that we raised over $1,000.”

LINK TO UMATTER Stone’s passion for mental health causes began in high school when he got involved with UMatter, a Friendship Circle initiative powered by the Andrew Kukes Foundation for Social Anxiety, that enables high schoolers to help their peers overcome stigmas and other obstacles related to mental health.

“I saw that UMatter was a group that was actually making a difference,” Stone said. “It ignited a passion in me that kids my age were having that important conversation.”

Jonah Stone While in the program, Stone took on the role of major events coordinator for UMatter’s One Thing I Wish You Knew.

The annual event amplifies voices in the community and how their attempts to overcome challenges have often felt isolating and alienating.

“Hearing the speakers telling their

stories to hundreds of people in the audience, knowing I played a role in getting these conversations out there really meant a lot to me,” Stone said.

Even after leaving for college, UMatter’s mission never left Stone’s mind.

Brecher and Stone’s donation will help UMatter programming continue impacting teens in the community.

“Jonah found a remarkable way to continue supporting UMatter’s programming Rabbi and mission Yarden after high Blumstein school,” said Friendship Circle Teen Director Rabbi Yarden Blumstein.

“Mental health challenges are a major concern for college students. Jared and Jonah took UMatter’s mission on a college framework and started that important conversation on campus.”

The money raised will help many kids in need of counseling and emotional support.

Even though Brecher doesn’t struggle with

mental health, he realized that many of his fraternity brothers do when living in the AEPi house this past school year (2020-21).

“At one point or another we’ve all hit an emotional wall, and the hats are a way of telling people they aren’t alone,” Brecher said. “So many of my friends have said that therapy has been great for their psyche.”

In Brecher’s experiences, “people don’t talk about [mental health] enough, and quarantine forced people to spend much more time with their thoughts than they were prepared.

“I spent so much time with these guys that they just felt comfortable to open up at a certain point,” he added. “I’d say some of the most honest and meaningful conversations of my life came from my brothers when we lived in the house.”

To support the cause, or for information about the UMatter program powered by the Andrew Kukes Foundation for Social Anxiety or Friendship Circle, call (248) 788-7878. If you or anyone else is thinking about suicide, you can contact the National Suicide Prevention Hotline at 998 or call 1-800-273-8255.

JN 1/8 page

Jewish Family Service Receives Grants from Zuckerman Klein Foundation Jewish Family Service received two grants from the Zuckerman Klein Family Support Foundation, a part of the United Jewish Federation.

The Foundation has awarded JFS $100,000 to improve the quality of life of Holocaust survivors, leveraging funding from the Claims Conference Inc. and the Jewish Federations of North America to support services such as emergency financial assistance, home care and food assistance, as well as programming that addresses the issue of social isolation. This programming includes support groups, cognitive training, and connection to and training in technology such as iPads and Uniper, a telehealth and social engagement company that offers older adults access to social groups and wellness programming.

“We are honored to be a recipient of this funding,” says Yuliya Gaydayenko, JFS Chief Program Officer, Older Adult Services. “This grant

enhances our ability to serve Holocaust survivors while also serving as a match for other funding sources, leveraging millions of dollars in funding for our community’s most vulnerable members.

The Foundation also awarded JFS with $65,000 toward school social workers. These JFS employees are based in area day schools to support students, parents and school staff.

“In response to COVID, JFS increased the presence of our social workers in area day schools,” says Dini Peterson, JFS Chief Program Officer, Family and Community Services.

“This grant from the Zuckerman Klein Family Support Foundation allows us to provide a higher level of support for students, especially in the areas of social skills, behavioral challenges, depression and anxiety. We’re looking forward to supporting students, parents and teachers for the coming school year.”

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OUR COMMUNITY

faces&places

Terrible Tweets

Tech-savvy teen uses artificial intelligence to document antisemitic hate speech on Twitter.

BRIAN GOLDSMITH SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS

A

cross Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, antisemitism is no stranger to American Jews.

Jonah Liss, 18, a recent graduate of International Academy in Bloomfield Township, while scrolling through Twitter, unfortunately saw messages such as “I wish Jonah Liss Hitler was still alive,” “Kill the Jews” and other hate directed at Jews. He then felt it was his duty to research the instances of antisemitism on Twitter.

Liss examined the issue methodically, using an artificial intelligence (AI) program he developed — and gathered data through Twitter’s application programming interface API. API allowed Liss to scrape data using keywords over a specified time period. He could then take the data and apply it to his AI program, which can analyze aspects of text with human-like precision.

One of the applications is for “sentiment analysis,” which is primarily used for identifying the opinions expressed in a piece of text. Opinions are sorted by positive, negative or neutral language and can be very useful for recognizing hate speech.

During the May battle between Israel and Hamas, Liss spent several days researching the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

“As someone with a diverse group of friends, I think it’s a very complicated issue,” he said.

“Something that I found very disturbing in my research was

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the absurd amount of antisemitic language on Twitter.”

Liss pulled 100,000 tweets containing the words Israel, Israeli government, IDF, Jew, Jewish people and Judaism to see the relationship in rhetoric between the two groups. “What I found, unfortunately but expectedly, is that as negative language increased regarding Israel, antisemitic language also increased in general,” he said.

Liss found in May that negative and very negative tweets about Israel outnumbered positive and very positive ones by about 23,000 to 21,000, and negative tweets about Jews outnumbered the positive by about 26,000 to 17,000.

Liss used tweets in April as a control group since the battle between Israel and Gaza unfolded in May. During the conflict, he documented an increase in negative tweets and hate about both the Israeli government and Jews in general.

Liss is a member of Temple Israel and belonged to BBYO Michigan Region. In the fall, he will attend the University of Michigan where he plans to continue his work in the social entrepreneurship world.

Using technology to help fix what is wrong in the world is Liss’ forte and he has been involved in other technology projects.

He is off to a fast start in the tech world. In 2020, he developed Meduimize, a software making it easier for people to shelter at home due to the pandemic to receive groceries and other essential errands.

JSL Senior Dream Cruise DANNY SCHWARTZ STAFF WRITER

Jewish Senior Life held its annual Senior Dream Cruise on the JSL campus in West Bloomfield on Thursday, Aug. 19.

With a mixture of the pandemic and a rain date pushing the event back a day, the event had 35 classic cruisers, fewer than usual.

But that didn’t stop the fun by any means, as seniors from across the JSL campus joined in awe, replicating the experience Metro Detroiters see on Woodward each year.

“We had to pick and choose what we did this year for safety precautions, but we always want to make it a really special experience for our residents and the cruisers,” JSL’s Leslie Katz said.

“We’ve been doing this for so many years, and it’s just something we look forward to.”

Through COVID and other obstacles, being able to put on Seniors on the JSL Campus enjoy their own Dream Cruise.

an event such as this means a lot to Katz, knowing it’s a team effort.

“Regardless of what the obstacles are, we’ll make sure we can provide meaningful experiences,” Katz said. “That’s what we do and that’s who we are. We’ll figure out ways to do it in safe and special ways.”

faces&places

NCJW Helps Outfit Kids for Back to School About 900 Metro Detroit children in need, identified by 21 local human service agencies and schools, received new winter jackets, gloves/mittens, hats, socks, masks, pants/ leggings, books, sweatshirts, underwear, toothbrush/toothpaste, bookmarks and greeting cards at the slightly modified Back 2 School Store. The Aug. 12 drive-through event arranged by the National Council of Jewish Women, Michigan (NCJW|MI) and manned by its volunteers.

The nonprofit organization, which works to improve the lives of local families, is known for organizing the Back 2 School Store event annually in August, where pre-identified Detroit children in need are provided their own personal shopper to choose their supplies. This year, the program had to be modified because of the

School clothes and supplies packaged and sorted by NCJW|MI volunteers prior to the event.

NCJW|MI volunteers Susan Friedman, Debbie Barnett, Margo Stocker, Community Outreach Team agency representative Inez DeJesus, NCJW|MI volunteer Ruth Zerin, Community Outreach Team agency representative Christina Morales and her two daughters.

pandemic, with clothing distributed to 900 children via agencies.

“With the pandemic going into its second year, we must be creative, adjust and modify, but not stop our work in the community,” explained Amy Cutler, president of NCJW|MI. “Our volunteers started shopping for clothes and supplies in January of 2021, and the agencies we contacted were overwhelmingly appreciative.”

Corpus Christi Parish agency representative Curtis Simpson Jr. and his daughter flank NCJW|MI volunteer Susan Friedman and Ruth Zerin.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF NCJW

NCJW|MI volunteers Karen Disner, Ruth Zerin and Margo Stocker.

NCJW|MI volunteers Lauren Koenigsberg, Susan Friedman, Detroit Parent Network agency representative Toyja Bridges, NCJW|MI volunteer Karen Disner.

SEPTEMBER 16 • 2021

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faces&places

‘Uncorking Israel’ A winery tour in Israel might be a bit difficult to take right now, so NEXTGen Detroit, Federation’s young adult division, brought the tour to more than 45 young adults on Aug. 11.

The group gathered at Dayspace Studio in Royal Oak and sampled a diverse collection from multiple regions in Israel, beginning with a blind strolling tasting and finishing with a formal sitdown pairing.

Wine Guide Sean Sutton led the tasting and Detroit’s Shiliach Yiftak Leket discussed the history of wine

in Israel and shared about the exciting wine production happening in Detroit’s Partnership2Gether Region in the Central Galilee.

“Thanks to the country’s range of landscapes and climates, and rich agricultural traditions, Israeli vintners are producing some of the world’s most delicious and interesting wines,” said Hannah Berger, lead staff for the event.

“We were very excited to bring this tasting experience to the NEXTGen Detroit community, and so glad everyone enjoyed it.”

NEXTGEN DETROIT

Young adults gathered to sample wine and learn about Detroit’s Partnership2gether Region in Royal Oak on Aug. 11.

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NATIONAL

New Antisemitism Envoy

Deborah Lipstadt, noted Holocaust historian, is Biden’s pick.

P

resident Joe Biden will nominate Deborah Lipstadt, the Emory University Holocaust historian, to be the State Department’s antisemitism envoy.

The White House alerted top Biden supporters of the pick, which has been expected for weeks, in late July.

Lipstadt is perhaps best known for defeating Holocaust denier David Irving after he sued her in a British court for defamation for calling him a Holocaust denier. Her 2005 book, History on Trial: My Day in Court with a Holocaust Denier, was made into a 2016 movie with Rachel Weisz starring as Lipstadt.

Lipstadt, 74, has been for years a go-to expert for the media and for legislators on Holocaust issues, particularly on how the genocide’s meaning should be understood in the 21st century, and whether it had any cognates among anti-democratic forces in the current day. She twice endorsed Barack Obama for president but has been on call for her expertise across the political spectrum.

Last year, during the election, she broke a longstanding taboo on comparing present-day American politicians to the Nazis and endorsed an ad by the Jewish Democratic Council of America likening the Trump administration to 1930s Germany. Lipstadt

OSNAT PERELSHTEIN

RON KAMPEAS JTA.ORG

Deborah Lipstadt, the renowned Holocaust historian, is the author of the forthcoming book Antisemitism Here and Now.

said Holocaust analogies were still off-limits, but she could see parallels to the rise of the Nazis.

“I would say in the attacks we’re seeing on the press, the courts, academic institutions, elected officials and even, and most chillingly, the electoral process, that this deserves comparison,” she said at the time. referring to the JDCA ad. “It’s again showing how the public’s hatred can be whipped up against Jews. Had the ad contained imagery of the Shoah, I wouldn’t be here today.”

Jewish organizations, alarmed by a spike in antisemitism, have been pressing the Biden administration to name an envoy and to name a Jewish liaison to the community — another post that White House

officials said would be filled soon. The Trump administration took two years to name an envoy.

Lipstadt will be the first nominee who will need to be confirmed by the Senate since Congress first created the position in 2004.

Congress last year elevated the role to ambassador-level, granting the position more funding and easier access to the secretary of state and the president. If Lipstadt is confirmed, she will be the fifth person in the position.

The antisemitism monitor’s role is tracking and reporting on the phenomenon overseas, and lobbying governments to address anti-Jewish bigotry within their borders. The position does not have a domestic role.

SEPTEMBER 16 • 2021

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ERETZ

MEET THE OLIM

Rochelle and Barry Zelcer and their five sons.

Rochelle Zelcer: ‘This is the Place for Me’ AVIVA ZACKS CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Q

: What were your early experiences of Zionism when you were growing up?

Rochelle Zelcer: Growing up, I went to Akiva Hebrew Day School [now Farber] w and then I went to Hillel Day School, which were very Zionistic places in terms of education, the teachers and the overall messaging from the schools. I also went to Tamarack Camp, which is also very Zionistic.

My parents are from the former Soviet Union, and I grew up with an underlying value system that first, we are Jews, and then we are other things.

Q How old were you when you visited Israel for the first time?

RZ: The first time I came, I was 18 and came on Birthright. From that time, I said, “This is it. This is the place for me. This place is amazing.” Every winter break and summer break that I had going forward, I

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would go back to Israel. I went on any trip I could get on.

If I couldn’t get on a trip, I would just go to Israel for the summer. One summer, I went to Nishmat, which is a seminary in Jerusalem, for the summer, and I was no longer a tourist. I was really getting the taste of Israeli culture and olim who were coming to live in Israel. This was where I wanted to raise my kids, and this was where I wanted to be.

But I had to go back and finish my psychology degree at the University of Texas. The day after I finished, I had a ticket to go back to Israel. I didn’t even stay for graduation. I found an internship working with psychologists.

I assumed that I would get a second degree here in psychology and continue in that field, but that didn’t work out for various reasons. I had to prove it to myself and my parents that I could make it here and that I could create a life. So, I worked

three jobs, including the internship. Then my brother got engaged, so I went back to Dallas. My parents asked me to move to New York for six months. I think they were hoping I would meet a New Yorker that would refuse to leave New York.

A month after I moved to New York, I met my husband. I told him I would only go out with him if we were going to make aliyah. He agreed and eventually we got engaged. The next day, I told him we needed to go to the aliyah office and register. I’m very fortunate and grateful that my husband, Barry, had a flexible job that allowed us to pursue this dream.

Q: Where did you live?

RZ:: I had a friend who was going away for the summer. So, she lent us her apartment. Then we moved a few times, and we have been living in Ramat Beit Shemesh for eight years.

Q: Tell me about your kids.

RZ: We have five boys, so that is pretty messy. It’s a beautiful jungle.

Q: What do you miss about living in Detroit?

RZ: I miss Detroit like crazy. I loved the winter. I loved the snow. It was such a big part of my childhood — having a huge yard and being able to go outside and play in the snow for hours and hours and shoveling the snow. I also love the way that people are so very real. I miss all the memories that I built there.

Q: What message do you have for anyone who’s reading this interview back in Detroit?

RZ: I see the beauty of Israel, but I also see the challenges; and I see them in a very, very distinct way. I hope that people won’t allow those challenges to become a deterrent for them when they want to make aliyah.

There’s no shame in being an American in Israel. You can be who you are. That’s the beauty of Israel. When my parents came to the U.S., they wanted to assimilate because they felt that was important for us as children, but Israel is the melting pot of Jews from all over the world.

MAZEL TOV! Maxx Wyatt Lyngaas, son of Sarah and Brian Lyngaas, will be called to the Torah as a bar mitzvah on Saturday, Sept.

18, 2021, at Temple Beth El in Bloomfield Township. He will be joined in celebration by his brother Drew and proud grandparents Andrea and Richard Ketchel, and Mary-Ellen and Karl Lyngaas.

Maxx is an eighth grader at Derby Middle School in Birmingham. For his mitzvah project, he prepared kits for science programming through the SPARKS Foundation.

Jaymie Rose Miller will lead the congregation in prayer on the occasion of her bat mitzvah at Temple Israel in West Bloomfield on Saturday, Sept. 18, 2021. She will be joined in celebration by her proud parents, Emilia and Jeffrey Miller, and sister Arin.

Jaymie is the loving grandchild of Alla and Alex Segal, and Marlene and Alex Miller.

She is the great-grandchild of the late Shirley and Saul Lederer, the late Maryana and Yevgeny Amelkin, the late Rachel and Max Miller and the late Hava and Lazar Segal.

Jaymie is a student at West Hills Middle School in Bloomfield Hills. Among her

SPIRIT

TORAH PORTION

What Needs Fixing?

D

I support the Jerusalem r. David Fellowships and yeshivot.

Luchins, a professor at More than 60 years ago, Philadelphia’s Touro when I was 8 years old, College and frequent I was already an ardent lecturer at Aish Labor Zionist. I had a Rabbi HaTorah, recalled the religious uncle who was Simcha Tolwin following story. upset by my lack of faith On the morning and dragged me to the Parshat village of Radin to meet after Yom Kippur on Haazinu: September 1993, U.S. Deuteronomy the venerable Yisroel 32:1-52; Meir Kagan, also known Sen. Daniel Moynihan II Samuel as the Chofetz Chaim. and the professor 22:1-51.

“The old rabbi and had a private meeting I had quite a talk. He with Israeli Foreign quoted Maimonides and Minister Shimon I responded with Marx; he Peres. At the end, Moynihan quoted Talmud and I quoted thanked Peres for his “strong support for the Aish HaTorah [Zionist leader Menachem] Ushishkin.

Jerusalem Fellowships.”

“Then he began to cry and Peres grew animated.

“Senator, let me tell you why put his hands on my head

many mitzvah projects, she found it most meaningful to volunteer with and donate tzedakah to the Adaptive Sports and Fitness program at University of Michigan.

Bradley Philip Zuckerman, son of Stephanie Zeskind and Adam Zuckerman, will lead the congregation in prayer as he becomes a bar

mitzvah on Saturday, Sept.

18, 2021, at Temple Israel in West Bloomfield. He will be joined in celebration by his brothers Ari and Ethan and proud grandparents Sandy and Jay Zeskind, and Beverly and Steve Zuckerman.

Bradley is a student at Bloomfield Hills Middle School. For his most meaningful mitzvah project, he read books to children in Israel through Partnership2Gether.

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. and blessed me saying, ‘The Almighty gave me a long life, He should give you the same.

You should go as you wish to Israel and become a great leader of the Jewish people; but remember, my child, that you can’t have a Jewish state without the Almighty and the Almighty’s Torah.”

At this point, Peres grew quite emotional. “Senator,” he declared, “yesterday was Yom Kippur. I do not fast all day. I do not spend the day in synagogue. But every Yom Kippur night I think of that old rabbi and realize how true his words were.” Peres knew that Israel and the Jewish people understood that Torah is relevant to all Jews and is crucial to their future.

Throughout Jewish history, ideologies have arisen to replace Torah. Today, it is tikkun olam, repairing the world, I believe that tikkun olam

has become the new “ism” to replace the essence of what it means to be Jewish. We are, however, ignoring its true meaning. The complete phrase in the Aleinu prayer is repair the world “with the glory of God.” The greatest Jewish contribution to the world is the idea of one God, the creator and sustainer of the world, who loves you.

Peres knew that nothing can replace Torah and mitzvot; they are the only guarantors of a family’s Jewish continuity.

Let’s make tikkun olam about God. As Lori Palatnik, founding director of Jewish Women’s Renaissance Project, says, “It’s time for the Jewish people to once again be the God people.

This is tikkun olam.”

This article by Rabbi Simcha Tolwin originally appeared in the Jewish News on Oct. 13, 2016.

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SPIRIT

TORAH EXPANDED

The Leader’s Call to Responsibility

W

hen words take wing, they modulate into song. That is what they do here in Parshat Haazinu as Moses, with the angel of death already in sight, prepares to take leave of this life. Never before had he spoken with such passion. His language is vivid, even violent. He wants his final words never to be forgotten. In a sense Rabbi Lord he has been articulating Jonathan this truth for 40 years but Sacks never before with such emotion. This is what he says: Give ear, O heavens, that I may speak, Earth, hear the sayings of my mouth …

The Rock, His acts are perfect, For all his ways are just.

A faithful God without wrong, Right and straight is He. He is not corrupt; the defect is in his children, A warped and twisted generation.

Is this the way you repay God, Ungrateful, unwise people?

Is He not your Father, your Master.

He made you and established you.

(Deut. 32:1-6) Don’t blame God when things go wrong. That is what Moses feels so passionately. Don’t believe, he says, that God is there to serve us. We are here

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to serve Him and through Him be a blessing to the world. God is straight; it is we who are complex and selfdeceiving. God is not there to relieve us of responsibility. It is God who is calling us to responsibility.

With these words Moses brings to closure the drama that began in the beginning with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. When they sinned, Adam blamed the woman; the woman blamed the serpent. So it was in the beginning, and so it still is in the 21st century secular time.

The story of humanity has been, for the most part, a flight from responsibility. The culprits change. Only the sense of victimhood remains. It wasn’t us. It was the politicians. Or the media. Or the bankers. Or our genes.

Or our parents. Or the system, be it capitalism, communism or anything between. Most of all, it is the fault of the others, the ones not like us, infidels, sons of Satan, children of darkness, the unredeemed. The perpetrators of the greatest crime against humanity in all of history were convinced it wasn’t them.

They were “only obeying orders.” When all else fails, blame God. And if you don’t believe in God, blame the people who do. To be human is to seek to escape from responsibility.

That is what makes Judaism different.

It is what made some people admire Jews and others hate them. For Judaism is God’s call to human responsibility. From this call you can’t hide, as Adam and Eve discovered when they tried, and you can’t escape, as Jonah learned in the belly of a fish.

PARAPHRASING MOSES What Moses was saying in his great farewell song can be paraphrased thus: “Beloved people, I have led you for 40 years, and my time is coming to an end.

For the last month, since I began these speeches, these Devarim, I have tried to tell you the most important things about your past and future. I beg you not to forget them.

“Your parents were slaves. God brought them and you to freedom. But that was negative freedom, chofesh. It meant that there was no one to order you about. That kind of freedom is not inconsequential, for its absence tastes like unleavened bread and bitter herbs.

Eat them once a year so you never forget where you came from and who brought you out.

“But don’t think that chofesh alone can sustain a free society. When everyone is free to do what they like, the result is anarchy, not freedom. A free society

requires cherut, the positive freedom that only comes when people internalize the habits of self-restraint so that my freedom is not bought at the expense of yours, or yours at the cost of mine.

“That is why I have taught you all these laws, judgments and statutes. None of them is arbitrary. None of them exists because God likes giving laws. God gave laws to the very structures of matter — laws that generated a vast, wondrous, almost unfathomable universe. If God were only interested in giving laws, He would have confined himself to the things that obey those laws, namely matter without mind and life-forms that know not liberty.

“The laws God gave me and I gave you exist not for God’s sake but for ours.

God gave us freedom — the most rare, precious, unfathomable thing of all other than life itself. But with freedom comes responsibility. That means that we must take the risk of action. God gave us the land, but we must conquer it. God gave us the fields, but we must plough, sow and reap them. God gave us bodies, but we must tend and heal them. God is our father; He made us and established us.

But parents cannot live their children’s lives. They can only show them by instruction and love how to live.

“So when things go wrong, don’t blame God. He is not corrupt; we are. He is straight; it is we who are sometimes warped and twisted.”

That is the Torah’s ethic of responsibility. No higher estimate has ever been given of the human condition.

No higher vocation was ever entrusted to mortal creatures of flesh and blood.

MADE IN GOD’S IMAGE Judaism does not see human beings, as some religions do, as irretrievably corrupt, stained by original sin, incapable of good without God’s grace.

That is a form of faith, but it is not ours.

Nor do we see religion as a matter of blind submission to God’s will. That, too, is a form of faith but not ours.

We do not see human beings, as the pagans did, as the playthings of capricious gods. Nor do we see them,

as some scientists do, as mere matter, a gene’s way of producing another gene, a collection of chemicals driven by electrical impulses in the brain, without any special dignity or sanctity, temporary residents in a universe devoid of meaning that came into existence for no reason and will one day, equally for no reason, cease to be.

We believe that we are God’s image, free as He is free, creative as He is creative, on an infinitely smaller and more limited scale to be sure, but, still, we are the one point in all the echoing expanse of space where the universe becomes conscious of itself, the one life form capable of shaping its own destiny: choosing, therefore free, therefore responsible. Judaism is God’s call to responsibility.

Which means: Thou shalt not see thyself as a victim. Do not believe as the Greeks did that fate is blind and inexorable, that our fate once disclosed by the Delphic oracle, has already been sealed before we were born, that like Laius and Oedipus we are fated, however hard we try, to escape the bonds of fate. That is a tragic view of the human condition. To some extent it was shared in different ways by Spinoza, Marx and Freud, the great triumvirate of Jews-bydescent who rejected Judaism and all its works.

Instead, like Viktor Frankl, survivor of Auschwitz, and Aaron T. Beck, co-founder of cognitive behavioral therapy, we believe we are not defined by what happens to us but rather by how we respond to what happens to us. That itself is determined by how we interpret what happens to us. If we change the way we think — which we can, because of the plasticity of the brain — then we can change the way we feel and the way we act. Fate is never final. There may be such a thing as an evil decree, but penitence, prayer and charity can avert it. And what we cannot do alone we can do together, for we believe “it is not good for man to be alone.”

So Jews developed a morality of guilt in place of what the Greeks had, a morality of shame. A morality of guilt

makes a sharp distinction between the person and the act, between the sinner and the sin. Because we are not wholly defined by what we do, there is a core within us that remains intact — “My God, the soul you gave me is pure” — so that whatever wrong we may have done, we can repent and be forgiven.

That creates a language of hope, the only force strong enough to defeat a culture of despair.

It is that power of hope, born whenever God’s love and forgiveness gives rise to human freedom and responsibility, that has made Judaism the moral force it has always been to those whose minds and hearts are open. But that hope, says Moses with a passion that still sears us whenever we read it afresh, does not just happen. It has to be worked for and won. The only way it is achieved is by not blaming God. He is not corrupt. The defect is in us, His children.

If we seek a better world, we must make it. God teaches us, inspires us, forgives us when we fail and lifts us when we fall, but we must make it. It is not what God does for us that transforms us; it is what we do for God. The first humans lost paradise when they sought to hide from responsibility.

We will only ever regain it if we accept responsibility and become a nation of leaders, each respecting and making space for those not like us. People do not like people who remind them of their responsibility. That is one of the reasons (not the only one, to be sure) for Judeophobia through the ages. But we are not defined by those who do not like us. To be a Jew is to be defined by the One who loves us.

The deepest mystery of all is not our faith in God but God’s faith in us. May that faith sustain us as we heed the call to responsibility and take the risk of healing some of the needless wounds of an injured but still wondrous world.

The late Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks served as the chief rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth, 1991-2013. His teachings have been made available to all. This essay was first published in September 2014.

SEPTEMBER 16 • 2021

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SPIRIT

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

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

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

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

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

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

Beth Tefilo Emanuel Tikvah Southfield (248) 559-5022 Birmingham-Bloomfield Shul Birmingham (248) 996-5818 bbchai.org B’nai Israel-Beth Yehudah Oak Park (248) 967-3969 bi-by.org B’nai Zion Oak Park (248) 968-2414

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

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

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

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

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

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

Etz Chayim of Toledo Toledo, OH (419) 473-2401 Etzchayimtoledo.org First Hebrew Congregation South Haven (269) 637-1603 firsthebrewcongregation.org Kehillat Etz Chayim Huntington Woods etzchayim-detroit.org Kollel Institute of Greater Detroit Oak Park (248) 968-1891 kollel@kolleldetroit.org Mishkan Israel, Nusach H’ari, Lubavitch Center Oak Park (248) 542-4844 theyeshiva.org Ohel Moed Shomrey Emunah West Bloomfield (248) 737-2626 ohelmoed.org Or Chadash Oak Park (248) 819-1721 or-chadash.org Sara & Morris Tugman Bais Chabad Torah Center of West Bloomfield (248) 855-6170 baischabad.com Shaar Hashomayim Windsor (519) 256-3123

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Temple Beth El Battle Creek (269) 963-4921

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

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

Temple Jacob Hancock templejacobhancock.org

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 16 • 2021

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sports HIGHlights brought to you in partnership with

NMLS#2289

STEVE ACHTMAN

Team’s 25-Year Championship Drought Ends Congregation Shaarey Zedek wins 4 playoff games in one day, earns Koufax Division softball title.

STEVE STEIN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

STEVE ACHTMAN

Congregation Shir Tikvah celebrates its Rosen Division championship.

STEVE ACHTMAN

Congregation Shaarey Zedek celebrates its Koufax Division championship.

Temple Israel No. 2 celebrates its Greenberg Division championship.

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C

ongregation Shaarey Zedek won the InterCongregational Men’s Club Summer Softball League championship in the league’s inaugural year in 1996.

There were six teams in the league, and no divisional setup like there is now. Times were different.

Shaarey Zedek didn’t win another title until this year.

The 25-year dry spell ended last month in a most unlikely and spectacular way.

After finishing in third place in the five-team Koufax Division in the regular season with an 8-11-1 record and losing its first game in the double-elimination playoffs, Shaarey Zedek won five straight games and the division playoff title.

Four of the playoff wins came on one day, a very hot Aug. 22 at Keith Sports Park in West Bloomfield. Shaarey Zedek beat Temple Israel No. 1 19-7, Temple Beth El 21-5, and Temple Israel No. 3 10-5 and 11-10. Temple Israel No. 3 defeated Shaarey Zedek 22-8 in a division playoff opener Aug. 15, leaving Shaarey Zedek a loss away from elimination.

Richard Jacobs, who has been Shaarey Zedek’s manager since 1996 and is the only

current Shaarey Zedek player who also was on the 1996 championship team, didn’t play Aug. 22. He was out of town in Washington, D.C., visiting family.

“The league season was supposed to end Aug. 15, but that got pushed back a week because of rainouts,” he said. “I had to keep up with what was going on [Aug. 22] through text messages.”

Jacobs said he wasn’t surprised by his team’s amazing run through the playoffs.

“We underperformed during the regular season. We were a better team,” he said.

“We started playing well at the right time. Crazy things happen in recreation softball.”

Shaarey Zedek didn’t play in the league last year.

It was the only team that opted out. Jacobs said several players decided not to play because of the COVID-19 pandemic. A few did play and joined other teams.

Besides Jacobs, the Shaarey Zedek roster this summer included Tom Berry, Vadim Brayman, Gary Fealk, David Kozlowski, Lance Lis, Stephen Maiseloff, Lonnue Pukoff, Steve Rosenblatt, Matt Weingarden, and Gabe, Gary, Joey and Sam Yashinsky. continued on page 38

SEPTEMBER 16 • 2021

GARY KLINGER

quick hits

BY STEVE STEIN

Dale Taub (left) and Gary Klinger added a fourth team championship to their B’nai B’rith golf league resume this season.

Back-to-Back Champs in B’nai B’rith Golf League It was a familiar story this summer in the weekly B’nai B’rith golf league.

Gary Klinger and Dale Taub won the team championship for the second straight year and fourth time since 2016.

Taub won his second individual championship. He previously won the individual title in 2014, with Klinger finishing in second place.

Last year, Klinger won the individual title for the first time and Taub finished second.

No team or individual had won back-to-back league titles until Klinger and Taub did it as a team in 2020 and 2021. They previously won team championships in 2016 and 2018.

Klinger has played in the league since it began in 2013.

He also won the team title with Howard Meyers in 2014. Taub has played in the league since 2013, but he was a substitute

Make memories this fall

the first year.

While the championships are nice, Taub said, winning isn’t the only reason why he enjoys playing in the league.

“The camaraderie is great.

This is a good group of guys,” he said. “Playing each week is a nice way to end the day.”

League golfers play a nine-hole round starting late Thursday afternoon at the Links of Novi.

All 24 spots in the league were filled this year.

After the first two weeks of play were rained out, the league played 17 straight weeks without a postponement, finishing Aug. 26.

HERE ARE THIS YEAR’S LEAGUE TEAM STANDINGS: 1. Dale Taub/Gary Klinger 193 points.

2. Aaron Herskovic/Brad Friedman 172. continued on page 38 SEPTEMBER 16 • 2021

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sports HIGHlights continued from page 36

quick hits

continued from 37

3. Mike Klinger/Kerry Chaben 170.

4. Larry Shapiro/Bob Shapiro-Chuck Houmaian 168.

5. Rich Luger/Richard Spalter 164.

6. Ryan Vieder/Adam Vieder 161.

7. Mitch Lefton/Stu Zorn 159.

8. David Swimmer/Jody Mendelson 158.

9. Marc Ruskin/Jeff Novick 156.

10. Josh Baker/Josh Harvith 151.

11. Lyle Schaefer/Ryan Stone 137.

12. Jeff Vieder/Mitch Cohen 131.

HERE ARE THIS YEAR’S LEAGUE INDIVIDUAL STANDINGS: 1. Dale Taub 93 points; 2. Aaron Herskovic 88 1/2; 3. Mitch Lefton 88; 4. Gary Klinger 87; 5. Mike Klinger 86; 6. Richard Spalter 85 1/2; 7. Larry Shapiro 84; 8. Kerry Chaben 83; 9. Jody Mendelson 82; 10 (tie). David Swimmer and Ryan Vieder 80; 12. Marc Ruskin 79 1/2; 13. Jeff Novick 78; 14. Bob Shapiro-Chuck Houmaian 77 1/2; 15. Josh Baker 76 1/2; 16 (tie). Adam Vieder and Lyle Schaefer 75; 18. Stu Zorn 74; 19. Josh Harvith 73; 20. Brad Friedman 72 1/2; 21.

Rich Luger 72; 22. Jeff Vieder 71 1/2; 23.

Ryan Stone 69 1/2; 24. Mitch Cohen 68.

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SEPTEMBER 16 • 2021

games, including a 15-14 eight-inning victory over Temple Israel No. 5 in the championship game on a walk-off sacrifice fly by Jeff Katzen that scored Jeff Kaplan.

“We were clicking. Everyone was hitting. Everyone was playing well,” Temple Israel No. 2 manager Victor Uzansky said about his team’s 13-game winning streak.

The team had three father/son duos on its roster: Victor and Benjamin Uzansky, Ryan and Andrew Schneider and Jeff and Jared Katzen.

Also on the team were Ben Watson, Marc Weiss, Dave Banooni, Brad Goldman and Eric Wolfe.

Despite rainouts and makeups, each team played the scheduled 20 games.

The list to the right shows the league’s final regular-season standings.

GREENBERG DIVISION 1. Temple Israel No. 2 16-4.

2. Temple Israel No. 5 14-5-1.

3. Temple Israel No. 6 14-5-1.

4. Temple Shir Shalom No. 2 14-5-1.

5. Temple Israel No. 4 4-16-0.

KOUFAX DIVISION 1. Temple Beth El 15-5-0.

2. Temple Israel No. 3 12-8-0.

3. Congregation Shaarey Zedek 8-11-1.

4. Temple Israel No. 1 8-12-0.

5. Adat Shalom Synagogue No. 1 7-12-1.

ROSEN DIVISION 1. Congregation Shir Tikvah 13-7-0.

2. Congregation Beth Ahm 10-10-0.

3. Adat Shalom Synagogue No. 2 6-13-1.

4. Temple Shir Shalom No. 3 4-16-0.

5. Bais Chabad Torah Center 2-18-0.

Play Ball! The Howard Weingarten Memorial Baseball Outing Returns to The Corner Ballpark After a year in which it was held virtually, the Howard Weingarten Memorial Baseball Outing is returning this month to The Corner Ballpark, former home of Tiger Stadium.

The third annual fundraiser for Detroit PAL’s Diamond Sports Program, named for a passionate and loyal Detroit Tigers fan, will be held from noon to 4 p.m. Sept. 26.

Lunch, a baseball game on the Willie Horton Field of Dreams and the presentation of Howard Weingarten Memorial Awards to PAL Tiny Tigers (ages 4-8) baseball players for leadership, teamwork and responsibility are included in the outing’s festivities.

“People who come to the outing should Howard Weingarten gets ready to swing at a feel safe. It will be held outdoors in a large pitch during a Tigers fantasy camp in Lakeland, venue. Masks will be available,” said Deby Fla. He died in an auto accident at age 65 in 2018.

Lebow, Weingarten’s longtime significant other, who founded and organizes the outing “People told me they loved the video of each year. the awards being presented because the kids The awards were presented for the first were so excited.” time last year (on Zoom) and there was a Weingarten, a West Bloomfield resident, video made by PAL of the Tiny Tigers prodied in a car accident in 2018 at age 65. gram. The COVID-19 pandemic wiped out the Donation for the outing is $125 ($36 for outing’s meal and baseball game. youths 16 and under).

“We needed to do something meaningful To sign up, contact Lebow at (248) 505for the outing last year, so we came up with 0199 or dlda@hotmail.com. the idea for the awards,” Lebow said.

DEBY LEBOW

The other playoff champions this year in the weekly league were Temple Israel No. 2 in the Greenberg Division and Congregation Shir Tikvah in the Rosen Division.

Temple Israel No. 2 and Shir Tikvah each also won its division’s regular-season title.

Like the Koufax Division, the Greenberg and Rosen divisions also had five teams.

This was the second Greenberg Division playoff championship in three years for Temple Israel No. 2.

This season didn’t start well for Temple Israel No. 2. Through 10 games, the team was 6-4 and in fourth place.

Temple Israel No. 2 never lost again.

It reeled off 10 straight victories to finish the regular season at 16-4 and in first place in the division.

Then it won all three of its playoff

FOOD

Senior Swimmer Adds 3 More Gold Medals to His Pool Haul

Filipino Borscht

AARON EGAN

JIM BERK

Jim Berk could have taken the easy route to the 2022 National Senior Games.

The 2021 National Senior Games were canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic, so organizers are allowing anyone who competed in the 2019 National Senior Games to compete in 2022 without having to qualify at the state level.

“I didn’t want to get to the nationals that way,” Berk said.

“I wanted to compete to get there.”

So the 66-year-old West Bloomfield resident competed in the Michigan Senior Olympics last month at Oakland University and won three gold medals in swimming in the men’s 65-69 age group, qualifying for the nationals in each event.

Normally held every two years, the National Senior Games will be in Fort Lauderdale in 2022, and get back on a regular schedule in Pittsburgh in 2023.

Berk won Michigan Senior Olympics gold medals last month in the 50-, 100- and 200-yard breaststroke. The sportscaster turned personal trainer and exercise teacher’s winning times were :38.09, 1:26.41 and 3:12.39.

His times in the 50 and 200 breaststroke were faster than his times in the same events at the 2019 Michigan Senior Olympics, the last time the Michigan Senior Olympics were held.

Berk won a silver medal in the 50 breaststroke in :38.33 and a gold medal in the 200 breaststroke in 3:13.12 in 2019.

His silver medal-winning time in the 100 breaststroke was 1:25.22.

Earlier in 2019, he finished fourth in the 200 breaststroke in the 2019 National Senior Olympics in Albuquerque.

FROM THE HOME KITCHEN OF CHEF AARON

A

Swimmer Jim Berk shows off the three Michigan Senior Olympics gold medals he won last month.

Berk has swam in 25 events in eight years at the Michigan Senior Olympics. He’s won a medal in each event: 19 gold, five silver and one bronze.

He’s swam in the National Senior Games three times (2015, 2017 and 2019). His best finish was a silver medal in the 100 breaststroke in 2015 in Minneapolis.

At 5-foot-4, Berk is shorter than most competitive swimmers, so he’s at a disadvantage for many strokes. Not the breaststroke.

Another advantage is his dogged determination to do well in breaststroke.

“I didn’t start swimming the breaststroke until midway through my senior year on the swim team at Lincoln (Neb.) East High School,” Berk said.

“I was a freestyle swimmer, but I was mediocre at it, so I tried breaststroke and I won my first race. I went on to qualify for the state meet, but I couldn’t compete in it because I was sick.

“That has motivated me through the years. I didn’t get to see what I could do in breaststroke at the state meet, and I still want to see my potential.”

few years ago, I presented an exciting popup dinner event with some friends who run Sarap, a Filipino popup. I’d recently learned about the Jewish community in the Philippines, mostly refugees from Eastern Europe during the 1930s. We set out to create a menu that would represent Chef Aaron local flavors Egan and ingredients while keeping a sense of Jewishness and OldCountry feel to our dishes.

As a soup course, we took the common use of coconut milk in Filipino cuisine and added it in place of the classic sour cream to an otherwise normal borscht recipe; the result was brilliantly magenta, rich and flavorful with a beautiful sweetness from both the roasted beets and the coconut milk. At our tasting night, both the Filipino friend and the friend with the Polish grandmother agreed that the soup tasted exactly like home, in ways they couldn’t quite quantify.

COCONUT AND BEET BORSCHT Ingredients 2 red beets 1 Tbs. + 2 Tbs. vegetable oil 1 cup Spanish onion, diced 3 cloves garlic, smashed 2 cups coconut milk (1 14.5-oz. can, with a small amount of added water, will work) Salt + pepper to taste Herbs, infused oils and other appropriate garnishes

Directions 1. Preheat oven to 450°F. Drizzle a little vegetable oil on each beet, then wrap them snugly in aluminum foil. Roast them for 45 minutes to an hour, or until soft through and through (use a skewer or a knife to determine doneness.)

2. Allow the beets to cool, with the foil slightly opened, until you can handle them comfortably. Using paper towels, or a sacrificial cloth towel, wipe the skin of the beets off with a firm but not crushing amount of pressure. If the skins do not slip off easily, pare them off with a knife. Cut the peeled beets into chunks and set aside.

3. Heat the 2 Tbs. of oil in a saute pan over high heat, and saute the onions and garlic until the onions have softened, become shiny and are very fragrant.

4. Combine the roasted beets, onions and garlic, and coconut milk in a blender.

Puree at high speed until completely smooth. Season well with salt and pepper to taste.

5. Serve hot or cold, at your preference, with a beautiful set of garnishes, like herb-infused oils, pureed golden beets, microgreens or just a little chopped parsley.

SEPTEMBER 16 • 2021

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ARTS&LIFE

Let the Light Shine In

LEFT: “Blue City” by Alex Bernstein.

ABOVE: A vessel form by Sidney Hutter.

Habatat Galleries celebrates 50 years of showcasing glass art.

SUZANNE CHESSLER CONTRIBUTING WRITER

F

ifty years ago. Ferdinand Hampson took a liking to glass art and opened a gallery dedicated to the medium. His space, moved around the metro area and now in Royal Oak, has become the largest and oldest art gallery dedicated to glass in the United States.

Hampson, applying business skills studied at Wayne State University, took on the name Habatat Galleries, giving an identifying spelling twist to the word describing a person’s preferred surroundings, and he worked nonstop at establishing a continuing group of collectors surrounding themselves with glass art.

Hampson, at different times, also had galleries out of state, organized exhibitions that reached into foreign countries, helped develop museum collections, led

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SEPTEMBER 16 • 2021

excursions to view studios and presenters and developed five books and dozens of catalogs about the glass artistry at the center of his interests.

The first glass work that caught his eye had been a paperweight by Gilbert Johnson, who headed the glass program at what became the College for Creative Studies in Detroit, and now the gallery is inviting the public to celebrate the weighty work in bringing the unique talents of glass artists into wider recognition.

Projects by Jewish artists long associated with Habatat will be featured in the celebration showing some 400 works.

Although the event runs from 5:30-9 p.m.

Saturday, Sept. 18, those wanting to avoid crowds are invited to come earlier in the day or view the display on the web.

Details The 50th Anniversary Gala Celebration and Exhibition of Habatat Galleries runs 5:30-9 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 18, at 4400 Fernlee, Royal Oak. Visitors may view the free exhibition in person 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Projects also can be seen on the web. (248) 5540590. habitat.com.

“Glass has a special characteristic of having an internal world and an external form, and very few materials can do that,” said Hampson, 74, happy in retirement that gallery operations have been turned over to sons Aaron Schey and Corey Hampson, part of a blended family of five children identifying as Jewish.

“Glass artists can concentrate on making interesting images on the inside or use the materials to make structures with the form being more important. Whoever works with glass has to be aware of what light does to it. Glass is a material that separates itself from other materials

COURTESY OF HABATAT GALLERIES

ART

COURTESY OF HABATAT GALLERIES

because of what it can do with light.”

Represented in the celebration showcase will be Alex Bernstein, Daniel Clayman, Laura Donefer, Joshua Hershman, Sidney Hutter, Steven Linn, Marvin Lipofsky and Toland Sand.

A HISTORY OF JEWISH ARTISTS “The first Jewish artist whose work we exhibited would have been Steve Weinberg,” Hampson said. “He has retired, but he capitalized on architecture and making pieces with an interior and exterior form that was architecturally very interesting. He worked with clear glass, sandblasting and casting it.”

Sidney Hutter, a continuing artist, has been noted for nonfunctional vessel forms, starting out with green glass before moving into other colors. Laura Donefer’s work has been described as flamboyant and exuberant by Hampson, who recalls fashion shows with everyone dressed in glass designs.

When Habatat started out, work was focused on Michigan and Midwest artists.

After deciding to host a glass exhibit in California, Hampson was introduced to a wider range of glass artists with new recommendations increasing gallery diversity.

“Detroit was wonderful to us, but I felt I had to reach beyond that,” said Hampson, who promoted the establishment of what had become Michigan Glass Month to

LEFT: “Photograff” by Steven Linn. CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: “Yellow Heart Amulet Basket”

by Laura Donefer; “Stockholm Series” by Marvin Lipofsky; “Cobalt in Time” by Toland Sand; “Nestle” by Daniel Clayman.

encourage glass displays by other galleries. “I wanted to do something important.

The world was out there without studio glass, and it’s been almost like an obligation to get other states and countries involved.”

Of special sentiment is a piece that was done by a couple working together, and it is kept in Hampson’s own collection.

“I have a piece from Stanislav Libenský and Jaroslava Brychtová that’s special because my wife and I were [with them]

in Mexico for an exhibit we put on,” Hampson recalled. “Together, we went on a little side trip and climbed the pyramid that became the inspiration for ‘Green Eye of the Pyramid.’

“The idea that we were there at the time of the inspiration and later seeing the results [has been very special]. They did several variations.”

Knowing that so many of his clients were Jewish, Hampson once conducted a continued on page 42 SEPTEMBER 16 • 2021

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ARTS&LIFE COURTESY OF HABATAT GALLERIES

ART

“Persistence of Vision” by Joshua Hershman continued from page 41

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Jewish Community Center panel discussion on the reasons. He learned about people losing their heirlooms when coming to the United States so collecting contemporary art became a source for family heirlooms and traditions.

“I’m very fortunate because

Hampson because another artist’s works were completed in a similar style.

The anniversary exhibit allows viewers to see how creative processes evolved from what can be done beyond blown glass by displaying the results of methods that feature cast,

“GLASS HAS A SPECIAL CHARACTERISTIC OF HAVING AN INTERNAL WORLD AND AN EXTERNAL FORM, AND VERY FEW MATERIALS CAN DO THAT.” — FERDINAND HAMPSON

my sons still seem to listen to me sometimes,” Hampson said. “We have a great relationship as we did when we worked together at the gallery. It’s been a very easy transition.”

One artist newer to the gallery is Toland Sand, who works with laminated glass having colors centered on the inside. Sand has been focused on the optics of glass and was not tapped by

slumped, fused, flamed and laminated glass.

“It has been a difficult time during the pandemic,” said Schey, who showed work digitally.

“Now, for the glass art community, this is the celebration of the year. It is a reunion of the artists followed by an opportunity for the public to see, in person, the latest work coming out of the glass community.”

COURTESY OF STEVE SUSSMAN

ARTS&LIFE THEATER

Parting Was Such Sweet Sorrow

For the second time, Birmingham Village Players presents Shakespeare in Love.

A sword fight choreographed by Steve Sussman

JULIE SMITH YOLLES CONTRIBUTING WRITER

I

t was March 6, 2020. Opening night of Shakespeare in Love at Birmingham Village Players. The audience raved about the romantic comedy that tells the fictional story of the creation of Romeo and Juliet and is based on the Academy Award-winning movie of the same name.

In fact, the cast and crew celebrated a stellar opening weekend of three performances.

And then Broadway and the theater world shut down six days later. The Shakespeare in Love set, props and costumes sat dormant for 18 months.

On Sept. 10, Shakespeare in Love reopened for the second time at Birmingham Village Players, in front of a live, masked audience and will run through Sept. 26.

“We essentially picked up where we left off,” says Steve Sussman, who is Village Players’ Artistic Board president, a featured cast member and the show’s fight scene

choreographer. “Everyone is thrilled and excited to be back on stage and reprising our roles.”

Between some scheduling conflicts and people who had moved out of state during the pandemic, a few roles had to be recast, including the lead character, William Shakespeare.

Patrick Lane plays Shakespeare, which is very fortuitous for the production reboot, as he’s married in real-life to Ashley Lane, who plays his love-interest, Viola.

“Village Players has taken all the precautions necessary to keep the actors and audience safe,” says Ashley Lane, who received her MFA in acting, along with her husband, at the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco. “I am lucky all around that my husband stepped in as my leading man.

I only have to kiss him, so no safety protocols are being broken, which makes it all the more fun to be onstage together.”

DETAILS Shakespeare in Love runs approximately 2.5 hours with one 15minute intermission. Show dates are Sept. 17, 18, 24, and 25 at 8 p.m. and Sept. 19 and 26 at 2 p.m. All audience members, whether vaccinated or unvaccinated, must wear masks at all times while inside the Village Players’ building. Tickets are $20 (plus a $1 processing fee for each ticket order) and are available online at www.birminghamvillageplayers. com or by calling the theater box office at (248) 644-2075. The Village Players theatre is located at 34660 Woodward Ave. in Birmingham.

continued on page 44 SEPTEMBER 16 • 2021

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NATE BLOOM COLUMNIST

NEW SERIES: CATCH-UP Scenes from a Marriage, a five-part mini-series, premiered on HBO Max Sunday, Sept. 12. New episodes will be streamed on successive Sundays. The series is based on an acclaimed Ingmar Bergman Swedish TV mini-series (1973) of the same name.

It was about the dissolution of a marriage over a 10-year period. The series was condensed as a film for American audiences and the film won many awards. Woody Allen has cited it as a major influence.

The original Scenes starred two Berman “favorites”: Liv Ullman and Swedish Jewish actor Erland Josephson (1923-2012). Scenes was so well-received and so important to Bergman that

he made Saraband (2003), an acclaimed TV/film sequel about the divorced couple (Ullman and Josephson) and their adult children’s problems.

It was Bergman’s last work.

This is quite a legacy, and advance reviews almost all say that the HBO series doesn’t live up to that legacy. It stars Jessica Chastain and Oscar Isaac as Mira and Jonathan, an upper-middleclass American couple whose marriage dissolves over several years. The acting, critics say, is first rate and there are truly very good “fireworks” scenes.

However, most reviewers say that changes Israeli director/writer Hagai Levi, 58 (In Treatment, The Affair) made to the original story are not interesting or illuminating. There is one potentially big change that caught my eye: Jonathan is Jewish (the Swedish husband was not).

Daniel Fienberg, 55ish, the

James Wolk

Hollywood Reporter’s chief TV critic, writes: “[Levi] has also added a surface coat of Jewishness … the fact that Jonathan was once Orthodox is treated as an empty series of data points — a challah on a table in one scene, a kippah attached to his hair with bobby pins in another. At no point did that minor embellishment make me think, ‘Well, now, this is a tale for 2021’ in the way that changes to the economic circumstances, race or, particularly, sexuality might have

done.”

Ordinary Joe, an NBC series, stars James Wolk, 36, as Joe Kimbreau, a guy who faces a pivotal decision after college. The decision could lead to three different lifepaths and the series follows all three possibilities — he could become a police officer, a music star (like his father) or a nurse. Veteran character actor David Warshowsky, 60, has a supporting role as Frank, Joe’s father. (Premieres Sept. 20, 10 p.m.).

Wolk, as I have noted in this column before, is a handsome guy who was born and raised in Farmington Hills.

He was raised a Reform Jew and emceed at bar and bat mitzvahs. A U-M grad, he has been steadily working in film and TV since 2008. Career highlights include a recurring role on Mad Men and a starring role on Zoo, a CBS drama (2015-2017).

COURTESY OF STEVE SUSSMAN

CELEBRITY NEWS

BY SAMHSA VIA WIKIPEDIA

ARTS&LIFE

continued from page 43

JEWISH PERFORMERS Sussman, an architect, sits on the Village Players Safety Committee made up of Village Players members, including two physicians. They have worked tirelessly to implement safety measures such as requiring that the cast and crew are fully vaccinated. In addition, the first row of seats has been removed in the auditorium to provide greater spacing and separation between the audience and onstage actors.

There are no afterglows or gatherings, and audience members can greet the cast only outside following the show. The theater is cleaned and sanitized after each performance.

Besides COVID protocols to consider, rehearsals had to be changed to accommodate the Jewish holidays for the two Jewish actors in the cast of 25 — Sussman and Alan Binkow of Troy.

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SEPTEMBER 16 • 2021

“Because our director, Holly Conroy, moved around our dress rehearsal and brush-up rehearsal, I was able to attend services at Temple Shir Shalom,” says Binkow, who plays Wabash, the stuttering tailor. “It’s so great to be back on stage. It’s been 18 long months without theater, but I hope we are here to stay.”

Sussman’s family and in-laws enjoyed Rosh Hashanah dinner outdoors at his home in Bloomfield Hills.

When Sussman wasn’t onstage rehearsing his role of Richard Burbage, he was choreographing the three swordfight scenes, including one with Sussman as the dueling theater owner.

“While fencing is very physical, it also has a mental component that they call ‘physical chess’ because you’re always plotting moves and planning your strategy,” says Sussman,

Alan Binkow and Steve Sussman

who was on the fencing team at Michigan State University as a freshman. He also volunteers once a week as the beginner foil fencing coach at the Honor Guards Fencing Club in Auburn Hills.

“There is a big difference between the sport of fencing and sword-fighting on stage.

In fencing, the goal is to hit your opponent. In theater, it’s the exact opposite. With stage combat, the number one thing is that both actors are safe. It’s kind of like a dance number where it’s choreographed so

you know each other’s movements while making it look realistic and exciting,” Sussman adds.

In rehearsals, they practiced with wooden swords. In the performances, they use steel rapiers.

“Just like the Three Musketeers,” says Sussman. “It looks great on stage. Shakespeare in Love is a very entertaining production with period costumes, lots of humor and romance, live renaissance musicians and singers, a marvelously talented cast and even a dog. It’s got everything.”

ON THE GO

PEOPLE | PLACES | EVENTS

GALLERY OPENS 5-9 PM, SEPT. 17 Swords into Plowshares Peace Center & Gallery 33 E. Adams, just east of Woodward, Detroit.

Featured: Detroit Fine Arts Breakfast Club - The Pandemic and Beyond.

Opening held for two days: Friday, Sept. 17, and Saturday, Sept. 18, 3-7 pm.

Virtual exhibit posted online at swordsintoplowsharesdetroit.org. For the opening, you are asked to contact Eventbrite to schedule your visit time for either date. Go to eventbrite.com. In “search events,” type: Swords into Plowshares Peace Center and Gallery; masks will be required during your time attending this exhibit.

COMMUNITY CONCERT 7 PM, SEPT. 19 Join The Well and the Coalition Series as they kick off Sukkot Sounds with a community concert.

At a private backyard in Detroit, young adults are invited to gather to enjoy a fantastic live music performance. Food and drink will be provided. Tickets:

$15. Info: meetyouatthewell. org. Advance registration is required, and space is limited. Tickets will not be sold at the door.

for $15. Advance registration is required, and space is limited. Tickets will not be sold at the door. Info: meetyouatthewell.org.

STREET ART FAIR SEPT. 18-19 Common Ground’s Birmingham Street Art Fair includes a silent auction that benefits Common Ground. For more information, visit BirminghamStreetArtFair. com. Hours: Saturday, 10 am- 6 pm, Sunday, 10 am-5 pm on S. Old Woodward around Haynes Street, Birmingham.

‘NOURISH’ YOURSELF 8:30 AM, SEPT. 23 On Thursday mornings The Well starts the day by nourishing our bodies and souls. Join them for mindful morning learning and music that will leave you energized, connected and ready to start the day. Info: meetyouatthewell.org.

WOMEN’S HEALTH CARE CLASSIC 8 AM-6 PM. SEPT. 21 The Beaumont Health Foundation is the organizer of this event at the Dearborn Country Club. It will benefit women’s breast cancer programs within Beaumont hospitals in Dearborn, Trenton, Taylor and Wayne. It is a twocourse event providing an opportunity for community members from across southeastern Michigan to enjoy a day of golf, as well as breakfast, lunch, cocktail hour, gifts, auction and dinner.

Registration/sponsorships: Beaumont.org/WHCC. SIGMAN CONCERT 7 PM, SEPT. 21 Join The Well at a backyard community concert featuring Jacob Sigman. Young adults are invited to gather at a private residence to enjoy a fantastic live music performance. Food and drink will be provided. Due to the generosity of donors, subsidized tickets are available

CAREGIVER SUPPORT 1:30-2:30 PM, SEPT. 23 Virtual caregiver support groups for individuals who are care partners for those living with cognitive changes, including various types of dementia. Contact Dorothy Moon, Brown Adult Day Program social worker, for Zoom link and more information: 248-233-4392, dmoon@jvshumanservices. org.

DETROIT MEMORIES 7 PM, SEPT. 23 “What I Learned Not Far From Seven Mile Road” with Leonard Felder, Ph.D. Join with the Jewish Historical

Leonard Felder, Ph.D

Society of Michigan on Zoom as Dr. Leonard Felder discusses the influences of growing up in Detroit with his father’s family of Holocaust survivors and his mother’s family of Russian and Polish Jews. Dr. Felder will also discuss how Michigan influences helped him understand the diversity of Jewish beliefs and opinions about spirituality, religion, politics, Israel and social change. Cost: $10 for members; $18 for non-members.

Please register by 9 pm on Wednesday, Sept. 22; michiganjewishhistory.org.

TOUR DETROIT ON ZOOM 7-8:30 PM, SEPT. 23 & 30 Instructor: Michael Hodges, retired fine-arts writer for the Detroit News. Ever wonder who the two guys on bronze thrones in Grand Circus Park are? Or what that bright continued on page 46

TOUR DETROIT ON ZOOM SEPT. 23 & 30 7-8:30 PM SEPTEMBER 16 • 2021

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the exchange

ON THE GO

PEOPLE | PLACES | EVENTS continued from page 45

CONCERT REBROADCAST SEPT. 23-27 To mark the 80th anniversary of Babi Yar, tune

46 46

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SEPTEMBER16 16••2021 2021 SEPTEMBER

JET PRODUCTION SEPT. 30-OCT. 24 JET will present Richard O’Brien’s The Rocky Horror Show. JET will reopen its theater space with this production for mature audiences. Participation encouraged and expected. Ticket info: 248-788-2900.

Agency looking to hire kind, friendly, experienced and reliable caregivers for our wonderful families. Immediate interview and orientation only if requirements are met.

Thank you! Please call Amy 248-277-5350.

J-CYCLE OCT. 10 The Jewish Historical Society of Michigan will hold its 10th annual bike tour of historic Detroit.

Online registration starts Sept. 20. Cost: Members: $54 cycle, $65 bus; non-members: $72 cycle, $80 bus; info@michiganjewishhistiory.org; 248-9151826.

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

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MUSICAL EVENING 7 PM, SEPT. 23 Join The Well at a backyard community concert featuring Emily Rose, Audra Kubat and Marbrisa. Young adults are invited to gather at a private residence in Royal Oak to enjoy a fantastic live music performance. Food and drink will be provided. Due to the generosity of donors, subsidized tickets are available for $15. Advance registration is required, and space is limited. Tickets will not be sold at the door. Info: meetyouatthewell.org.

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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A PLAY IN THE PARK 7-9 PM, SEPT. 23 At New Center Park, Detroit Public Theatre will present Thurgood, a compelling portrait of the first African American justice to serve on the Supreme Court of the United States. It is a one-man show about a true American hero and the pursuit of a more perfect union. Info: detroitpublictheatre.org.

community bulletin board | professional services in to a virtual program on holocaustcenter.org. On the evening of Sept. 29, 1941, almost 34,000 Jews were forcibly rounded up and shot over two days at Babi Yar, a ravine that was then located on the outskirts of the city of Kiev, Ukraine. This horrific massacre became a symbol of Jewish suffering during the Holocaust with the mass shootings carried out in Eastern Europe by the Nazis. The Holocaust Memorial Center is honored to rebroadcast the 2019 concert “Shostakovich Babi Yar Remembering the Holocaust” performed by the MSU Symphony Orchestra and Choral Ensembles. For more information, call 248-553-2400.

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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.

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Call/Text (248) 739-0698 SEPTEMBER 16 • 2021

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OBITUARIES

OF BLESSED MEMORY

E

A Living Symbol of Hope

tka Goldenberg was born in Sadki, Poland, on July 26, 1926. She passed away at her home in West Bloomfield on Aug. 28, 2021, at age 95.

Etka touched the lives of so many people across the continents with her story of survival. When she was 13, Hitler Etka Goldenberg invaded Poland, and her fight to survive began.

She recalled her father crying out to her in the fields “Etka, when you live you must tell our story so that we did not die in vain.” That became Etka’s mission.

As the first docent at the Holocaust Memorial Center to share her story and speak as both a docent and survivor, she brought her story down to the level of eighth-graders when she looked at them and said, “I was your age when I started to run for my life, so don’t look at me now as the older woman talking to you about historical events. This was my life at the age of 13.”

She shared her story at the middle schools, high schools and three times as a survivor on the March of the Living. Etka had the uncanny ability to describe to the youngsters so vividly the horrors of the Nazi inhumanity and despicable deeds. But her stories were replete with hope and a belligerent chutzpah with emphasis on the need to keep the Jewish hope and

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future alive. Hundreds of Hillel Day School students interviewed Gammy (as she was known to most), for their eighth-grade project.

Etka married Herman Goldenberg on Oct. 14, 1945. They had an amazing love affair until he died suddenly on Dec. 29, 1986.

They arrived in this country by boat from Hamburg in December 1952 with their son Zygi. They made Detroit their home.

Etka quickly immersed herself in life in Detroit. She graduated from Central High night school as valedictorian of her class. She became involved with B’nai B’rith Women, quickly moving herself up to president of the Louis Stone Chapter.

She was Adat Shalom Sisterhood vice president for years as well as a supporter of Hadassah and other Jewish organizations. She was very proud of the fact that she volunteered for the Jewish Federation Super Sunday phone-a-thons as well as participated in the Women’s Philanthropy leadership programs. At age 88, she was the oldest graduate of the Melton Judaic Studies Program.

Her kugel making was historical. She taught young and old alike the secret to making her famous kugels that graced the Adat Shalom kiddush lunches. She attended services on a weekly basis, and when leaving synagogue she would say that “everyone kissed me like she was a mezuzah.”

Etka had the gift of laughter in spite of the tragedies she endured. In her later

years, she could be found holding court on the balcony at Meer senior apartments surrounded by everyone and anyone who wanted to engage with her. An avid mah jong player, she played weekly with the same group for 50-plus years. She was a force.

Etka is survived by her son and daughter-in-law, Zygi Goldenberg and Sally Olen of Seattle; daughter and son-in-law, Susie and Steve Feldman of West Bloomfield; grandchildren, Hannah and Gilad Biran of West Bloomfield, Max and Ally Farkas of Atlanta, and Vanessa Farkas of New York City; great-grandchildren, Eitan Biran and Benjamin Farkas; step-grandchildren, Stephanie and Michael Feldman. She is also survived by her loving caregivers, Irina, Oksana and Lyuobov.

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.

GLORIA COHEN, 100, of West Bloomfield, died Sept. 5, 2021.

She is survived by her sons and daughters-in-law, Barry and Sherry Cohen, Gary and Marcia Cohen, Steven Cohen (girlfriend, Suzanne Gross), Ronald and Jackie Cohen; grandchildren, Eden (Andrew) Floyd, Shauna (Mark) Kocsis, Robyn (Kirk) Gold and Brett (Michele) Cohen; great-grandchildren, Austin, Savanna, Blake, Lexy, Alexander, Bradley and Caia; great-great-grandchild, Yvie; sister, Bessie Ruskin; many loving nieces, nephews, other family members and friends.

Mrs. Cohen was the beloved wife of the late Hyman “Hy” Cohen; sister of the late Sadie Aaron, the late Sam Simon, the late Hyman Simon and the late Martin Simon.

Interment took place at Clover Hill Park Cemetery in Birmingham. Contributions may be made to a charity of one’s choice. Arrangements by Dorfman Chapel.

BARRY EISENBERG, 77, of Southfield, died Aug. 27, 2021.

He is survived by his wife, Andrea Eisenberg; daughters and son-in-law, Abby Eisenberg of Riverdale, N.Y., Marcy and Yehudah Tatelbaum of Israel; brothers and sisters-in-law, Sanford and Lori Eisenberg of Southfield, Dennis and Terry Eisenberg of Bergenfield, N.J.; grandchildren, Meir Tatelbaum, Yakir Tatelbaum, Techelet Tatelbaum.

Contributions may be made to Farber Hebrew Day School, 21100 W. 12 Mile Road, Southfield, MI 48076; Yeshiva Beth Yehudah, P.O. Box 2044, Southfield, MI 48037; Young Israel of Southfield, 27705 Lahser Road, Southfield, MI

48034. Services and interment were held at Eretz Hachaim in Israel. Arrangements by Hebrew Memorial Chapel.

ROUAL “ROY” BERNARD FEINBERG, 91, West Bloomfield, died Sept. 1, 2021.

He is surc. 1979 vived by his beloved wife, Barbara Feinberg; sons, Gary Feinberg, Daniel Feinberg; grandchildren, Josh (Jessica) Feinberg and Samantha (Matt) Abels; great-grandchildren, Dylan and Ashton; many loving nieces, nephews, other family members and friends.

Mr. Feinberg was the devoted father of the late Robert Feinberg; brother of the late Clarice Hyman.

Contributions may be made to the American Cancer Society or the Michigan Humane Society.

Arrangements by Dorfman Chapel.

MORREY FINKE, 98, of Farmington Hills, died Sept. 4.

2021.

He is survived by his sons and daughter-in-law, Howard Finke of Sacramento, Calif., Leslie Finke and Catherine Tantau of Baltimore, Md.; daughter and son-in-law, Marcia and Dr. Kenneth Kram of Chesterfield, Mo.; grandchildren, Ashley Finke, Emily Kram; great-grandchildren, Layla Kram, Brayden, Kram; brother-in-law, Leonard Wispe.

Mr. Finke was the beloved husband of the late Ruth Finke; dear brother and brother-in-law of the late Shirley and the late Samuel Schwartz, the late Mildred and the late

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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.

Helen Klein Sadie Ettinger 13 Tishrei Sept. 19 Julius Lefton Shirley Feldman Morris Averbuch Laela Miriam Saulson Jack Franks Morris Brickner Esther Silverman Harry Nathan Goldman Bella Chessler 16 Tishrei Sept. 22 Samuel Granitz Nochum Cohen Elizabeth Brown William Morris Isenberg Celia Eizen Julius Corman Samuel Kief Alice Helfgott Tillie Koss Schmul Grun Hollender David M. Edelman Harold Kaplan Sol Kwartowitz Jennie Kramer Allen Krakow Abraham Sender Lipson Sarah Langwald Harry Levine Tania Safran Sarah Levine Celia Margolis Fannie Warsen Pearl Pauline Nusbaum Phillip Rossen Sam Weintraub Ruth Rose Morris Silverstein 19 Tishrei Sept. 25 Sylvia Unger Esther Rose Smith Henry Benach A. Marvin Westerman 17 Tishrei Sept. 23 Isadore Berkowitz 14 Tishrei Sept. 20 Leon N Cutler Tova Goldstein Harry Alpiner Joseph Hess Berko Iger Seymour Gorman Sadie Kaufman Robert Jonas Louis Radine Minnie Kideckel Manuel Rosenthal Edward Monterey Meer Ida Katzman Jennie Wasserman Dora Strom Rothenhaus Harry Levin 15 Tishrei Sept. 21 David Levine Simon Shlom Abraham Applebaum Bella Raim William Solomon Shirley Gallison Isadore Rolnitzky Rose Weingarden Chana Gershman Sol Stein 18 Tishrei Sept. 24 Barnett Gittleman George Raymond Terebelo Jack Blue-Bluestein Gertrude Hyams Richard Neal Wayne Dorothy Bodzin Maureen Bernice Kleiman Stanley Brawer 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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SEPTEMBER 16 • 2021

OBITUARIES

OF BLESSED MEMORY continued from page 49

Milton Moss, the late Dian and the late Newton Karp, the late Joyce Wispe.

Contributions may be made to Albert Einstein Center, 1935 Wright St., Sacramento, CA 95825; or Congregation Shaarey Zedek, 27375 Bell Road, Southfield, MI 48034. A graveside service was held at Beth Tefilo Emanuel Cemetery in Ferndale.

Arrangements by Hebrew Memorial Chapel.

PHILIP HOROWITZ, 82, of West Bloomfield, died Sept. 7, 2021.

He is survived by his beloved wife, Sandy Horowitz; daughters and son-in-law, Sherri Riggs, Beth and Mike Iatrou; sons and daughter-in-law, Jon and Artha Horowitz, Joel Ross; grandchildren, Zachary Riggs, Joshua Riggs, Rebekah (Aaron) and Mason Birch, Matt Horowitz, Tess Horowitz, Grace Horowitz, Pearl Ross, Ali Ross, Jamie Ross, Jake Iatrou and Emily Iatrou; brothers and sisterin-law, David Horowitz, Richard and Wendy Horowitz; many other loving family members and friends.

Mr. Horowitz was the brother of the late Toby Robinson, the late Morrie Horowitz; the son of the late Irving and the late Nettie Horowitz.

Interment took place at Beth El Memorial Park Cemetery in Livonia.

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

Arrangements by Dorfman Chapel.

MARGARET RUTH KATZ, 96, of Oak Park, died Sept. 4, 2021.

She is survived by her daughters, LesLee Roland and Marilynn Hansen; grandchildren, Kimberly (Michael) Summers, Shayna (Max Abrams) Hansen, and Kenneth (Lisa Storch) Hansen; great-grandchildren, Jacob and Chloe Summers; sisters, Shirley Lowenthal, Estelle Worona; brother and sister-in-law, Rabbi Reuven and Miriam Levinson; many loving nieces, nephews, other family members and friends.

Mrs. Katz was the beloved wife of the late Philip Katz; the mother-in-law of the late Dr. Harold Roland; sister-in-law of the late Richard Lowenthal and the late Paul Worona; sister of the late Jack Levinson, the late Ann “Honey” Levinson, the late Lillian Levinson, the late Milton Levinson, the late Florence Epstein and the late Oscar Levinson.

Interment took place at Clover Hill Park Cemetery in Birmingham.

Contributions may be made to the David-Horodoker Organization or a charity of one’s choice. Arrangements

by Dorfman Chapel.

JEROME B. KELMAN, 95, of Bloomfield Hills, died Sept. 7, 2021.

He is survived by his sons, Mark Kelman and Michael Kelman;

grandchildren, Jonah Kelman, Elinor Kelman, Samantha and Jeff Friedman, Justin Kelman, and Jack Kelman; brothers-in-law and sisters-in-law, David and Bernie Ruskin, and Dr. Harvey and Laurie Ruskin; many loving nieces, nephews, cousins and friends.

Mr. Kelman was the beloved husband for 62 years of the late Naomi Kelman; the cherished father of the late Jay Robert Kelman; the loving brother of the late David and the late Lillian Kelman.

Interment was at Clover Hill Park Cemetery. Contributions may be made to a charity of one’s choice. Arrangements by Ira Kaufman Chapel.

JOEL C. RIFKIN, 67, of Sarasota, Fla., died Sept. 7, 2021.

He leaves his beloved wife, Yadira Gonzalez-Mendez; her children, Jhozua Balleri Gonzalez, Kembly Mendoza Gonzalez and Krisbel Mendoza Gonzalez. He is also survived by his sister and brother-in-law, Debby and Barry Rosen; nieces and nephews, Shari and Adam Schwarzwald, and Aaron and Kelsey Rosen, great-niece, Elyse Rosen.

Interment was at Clover Hill Park Cemetery.

Contributions may be made to Jewish National Fund, 42 E. 69th St., New York, NY

10021, jnf.org; Friends of the IDF, Michigan Chapter, P.O. Box 999, Walled Lake, MI 48390, fidf.org/donate; or to a charity of one’s choice. Arrangements by Ira Kaufman Chapel.

RICHARD ALLAN RUZUMNA, 86, of Birmingham, died Sept. 21, 2021.

A devoted physician and loving father and grandfather, Richard was an esteemed psychiatrist and highly regarded psychoanalyst. In his final days, he was comforted by his close family.

Born March 8, 1935, Richard was the second child of Alex and Lillian Ruzumna

and grew up with his older brother, Donald, in Detroit.

His father was a clothier, and Richard spent many days of his youth working in his father’s store. Though his brother remained in the family business, Richard was intent on building a career in medicine.

He graduated from the University of Michigan with a bachelor of arts in history and received his medical doctor degree from Wayne State Medical School in 1961. He served his country faithfully in the U.S. Public Health Service in Washington, D.C., during the Vietnam War. Other than his residency and time in the service, Richard lived his entire life continued on page 52

We believe that every Jew has a portion in the world to come.

Trust us to prepare your loved one for that journey.

SEPTEMBER 16 • 2021

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OBITUARIES

OF BLESSED MEMORY continued from page 51

in the Detroit area, where he established his career as a renowned psychiatrist and psychoanalyst. He did his analytic training at the Michigan Psychoanalytic Institute and was recognized as an analyst by the American Psychoanalytic Society.

He served as president of MPI from 1999-2002 and was a longtime associate professor at Wayne State Medical School. Dr. Ruzumna was passionate about his work and cared deeply for his patients. Over the years, he helped scores of individuals and built lasting relationships with his patients and peers.

Richard was an intellectual, an avid reader, a lover of fine dining, a world traveler, and

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a skier and fisherman — at least when it allowed for spending time with family.

His warmth, kindness, and sound advice were appreciated by all — he will be deeply missed.

As committed as he was to his work, he was equally devoted to his family. He was blessed with two sons, Paul (Jennifer) Ruzumna and Daniel (Jodi) Ruzumna; and four grandchildren, Rachel and Adam Ruzumna from the Chicago suburbs and Amanda and Mason Ruzumna from the suburbs of New York. Richard was a beloved grandfather.

Interment was held at Beth Tefilo Cemetery.

Contributions may be made to the Juvenile Diabetes

Research Fund, JDRF.org.

Arrangements by Dorfman Chapel.

DR. HERBERT L. SOKOL, 92, of Farmington Hills, died Sept. 3, 2021.

He is survived by his son and daughter-in-law, Barry and Melissa Sokol; daughters and sons-in-law, Marla Sokol Twigg and Steve Twigg, Bonnie and Spencer Solomon; grandchildren, Sydney, Dylan, Taylor, Hannah, Brandon, Alexandria and Aunna; many other loving family members and friends.

Mr. Sokol was the beloved husband of the late Shelly Sokol; the dear brother of the

late Arnold Sokol.

Contributions may be made to the Jewish Hospice and Chaplaincy Network, to Jewish Family Service or to a charity of one’s choice.

Interment took place at Clover Hill Park Cemetery in Birmingham. Arrangements

by Dorfman Chapel.

BARBARA STOLLMAN, 83, of West Bloomfield, died Sept. 7, 2021.

She is survived by her sons and daughtersin-law, Larry and Anita Stollman of Farmington Hills, Sheryl Stollman; daughter and son-in-law, Susie and Jerry Zimberg of West Bloomfield; brother, Jerry

Richman; grandchildren, Seth Stollman, Matthew and Jennifer Stollman, Carley Stollman and Chris Wilder, Aaron and Sari Zimberg, Jennifer and Patrick Kelly, Daniel and Anna Marie Ray Zimberg, Ben and Emma Stollman, Ariel Stollman and fiancé, Jake Blizzard, Carrie Stollman; great-grandchildren, Clara Stollman, Violet Stollman, Clifford Wilder, Emma Kelly; sisters-in-law and brother-inlaw, Faye Moskowitz, Roger and Susan Stollman; many other loving family members and friends.

Mrs. Stollman was the beloved wife of the late Hyman Stollman; loving mother of the late Bobby Stollman; cherished daughter of the late Ceil and the late Morris Richman; treasured daughter-in-law of the late Sophie and the late Aaron Stollman; dear sister-in-law of the late Jack Moskowitz.

Contributions may be made to Temple Israel, 5725 Walnut Lake Road, West Bloomfield, MI 48323; American Cancer Society, 20450 Civic Center Drive, Southfield, MI 48076; or American Heart Association, Memorial & Tribute Lockbox, 3816 Paysphere Circle, Chicago, IL 60674. A graveside service was held at Hebrew Memorial Park.

Arrangements by Hebrew Memorial Chapel.

DAVID JOEL SUSSMAN, 58, of Waterford, died Sept. 1, 2021.

He is survived by his children, Benjamin and Rhea, Moselle, Joshua, and Sarah Sussman; granddaughter, Patricia Jane Sussman; brother and sisterin-law, Michael and Michelle Sussman; former wives, Debra Ring, Yanzi and Thu Dinh.

Interment was at Adat Shalom Memorial Park.

Contributions may be made to American Diabetes Association-Local Chapter, 20700 Civic Center, Southfield, MI 48076, diabetes.org; or American Heart Association, 27777 Franklin Road, Suite 1150, Southfield, MI 48034, heart. org/en/affiliates/michigan/ detroit. Arrangements by Ira Kaufman Chapel.

MICHAEL TAUBER, 50, of Farmington Hills, died Sept. 1, 2021.

He is survived by his wife, Jodi Tauber; daughters, Rebecca Tauber and Ashley Tauber; parents, Gerald and Joyce Tauber; sisters and brother-in-law, Susan Tauber, and Lisa Tauber and Kevin Wynne; brother-in-law and sisterin-law, David and Helene Little; nephew and niece, Mackenzie and Bella Wynne.

Mr. Tauber was the dear son-in-law of the late Norman and the late Gloria Little.

Interment was at Adat Shalom Memorial Park.

Contributions may be made to Crohn’s &

Colitis Foundation of Michigan, 25882 Orchard Lake Road, Suite 102, Farmington Hills, MI 48336, crohnscolitisfoundation. org; American Heart Association, 27777 Franklin Road, Suite 1150, Southfield, MI 48034, heart.org/en/ affiliates/michigan/Detroit; Alzheimer’s AssociationGreater Michigan Chapter, 25200 Telegraph Road, Suite 100, Southfield, MI 48033, alz.org/gmc; or to a charity of one’s choice. Arrangements

by Ira Kaufman Chapel.

KLARA UNGAR, 91, Livonia, died Sept. 2, 2021.

She is survived by her daughters and son-inlaw, Susanne and Stuart Rothenberg, Sandy Ungar; sons, Jeffrey Ungar, Jerry Ungar; grandchildren, Scott (Ally) Rothenberg, Andy Rothenberg and Steve Azzopardi; greatgrandchildren, Sierra, Elijah, Olivia, Zachary and Aya; brother, George Boronkay; many loving nieces, nephews, other family members and friends.

Mrs. Ungar was the beloved wife of the late Lawrence Ungar; the mother of the late Debbie Azzopardi; sister of the late Mary (the late Robert) Krammer; sisterin-law of the late Serena Boronkay Interment took place at Adat Shalom Memorial Park Cemetery in Livonia.

Contributions may be made to Henry Ford Hospice or the Alzheimer’s Association.

Arrangements by Dorfman Chapel.

ALBERT WATNICK, 96, of West Bloomfield, died Sept. 4.

2021.

A lifetime member of Michigan Pharmacists Association, he was also very active with Jewish Federation.

Mr. Watnick is survived by his wife of 71 years, June Watnick; sons and daughter-in-law, Dr. Richard and Kay Watnick of Birmingham, William Red Watnick of Farmington Hills; daughter and son-inlaw, Sari and Christopher Franklin of Portland, Ore.; grandchildren, Dr. Caroline Watnick and Daniel Fabbri, David Watnick and Elisa Garcia, Hart Watnick, Skylar Watnick, Joshua Franklin-Watnick; greatgrandchildren, Emilia, Benjamin, Gabi.

He was the loving father of the late Sam O. Watnick; dear brother of the late Sam Watnick, the late Nathan Watnick, the late Morris Watnick, the late Beverly Remer.

Contributions may be made to Leukemia Society of America, 1421 E. 12 Mile Road, Bldg.

A, Madison Heights, MI 48071; or Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit, 6735 Telegraph Road, Bloomfield Hills, MI 48303.

A graveside service was held at Hebrew Memorial Park.

Arrangements by Hebrew Memorial Chapel.

SEPTEMBER 16 • 2021

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53

Looking Back

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

Let’s Eat!

T

his column might be a bit late for Rosh Hashanah, but hopefully, you will still find it useful. I hadn’t planned on writing about this topic, but longtime JN food writer Annabel Cohen’s recent article about great apple-related recipes for Rosh Hashanah, “Sweet Dreams are Made of These,” inspired me (and made me hungry!).

So, I decided to cruise the William Davidson Digital Archive of Jewish Detroit History for holiday recipes.

Using the search terms “Rosh Hashanah” and “Recipes,” I discovered that, over the last 80 years, the JN published more than 300 Rosh Hashanah Mike Smith Recipes. And it is likely I Alene and Graham Landau missed a few additional recipes Archivist Chair lurking in the pages of the JN under different holiday spellings. The bottom line is: if you like cooking … or eating … or cooking and eating … the recipes are very interesting reading.

There are holiday recipes from every decade, beginning in the 1940s to the present.

Among the earliest are those found in an article, “Menu Suggestions for the Holidays,” in the Sept. 12, 1947/New Year 5708 issue of the JN. It featured recipes for basics such as sweet potato casserole, halibut ring and Kashe. The Sept. 8, 1950, issue of the JN had a unique twist. Famous comedian, Groucho Marx, “Spills Family Secret,” which was a family recipe for “Mushrooms Under Glass.”

Over the next few decades, there are lots of articles that specifically focus upon “Recipes for Rosh Hashanah.” In the Sept. 4, 1964, JN, an item under that title featured a complete holiday menu with a main dish of chicken, sweet potato, and prune tzimmes with cauliflower casserole on the side, and a carrot torte for dessert.

Until the 1980s, the holiday recipes are largely traditional and European. But, then, like society trends at-large, recipes began to change. For example, there was guidance for healthier concoctions in pieces such as “Enjoy Holiday Treats, But

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Keep Cholesterol Low” in the Sept. 8, 1988, JN (alas, a signal of the end of worry-free eating?). More recently, there is “Vegan, Vegetarian, Gluten-Free, Oh My” by Annabel Cohen (Sept. 9, 2014). One can also see influences from abroad entering the recipe lexicon.

See “Holiday Challah With A Spanish Flavor” (Sept. 18, 1992).

There are also great stories of how recipes and food preparation bring families together.

An article in the Sept. 2, 2010, JN featured the Korelitz family — Sheryl, Seth and daughters, Hannah and Zoe — and their Rosh Hashanah preparations, which included their recipe for homemade gefilte fish. I also liked the article about the annual kreplach-making marathon conducted by the Marcus family, where they made enough kreplach for the year, first eating them for a Rosh Hashanah meal.

I’ll conclude my food adventure with the person who is responsible for the idea of this column, Annabel Cohen. She first appears in the JN as a caterer as well as food lecturer around Detroit. In the 1990s, she began to write articles for the JN, and ever since, she has been — if you will pardon the pun — a JN “staple.” Many of us have been made very happy and content during the holidays because of Annabel’s culinary skills.

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

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