DJN July 9, 2020

200 July 9-15, 2020/ 16-22 Tammuz 5780

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thejewishnews.com

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Hands On Deck Single parenting during a pandemic.

See page 12.

contents July 9-15, 2020/ 16-22 Tammuz 5780| VOLUME CLVII, ISSUE 23

Views 5-10

Jews in the D Single Parenting During a Pandemic 12 Local Jewish single parents on homeschooling, need for support and the uncertain future.

Papa Phil Can 16 Online campaign aims to help Sylvan Lake man find a kidney donor during COVID-19.

Anti-Semitism in Ann Arbor Campaign?

20 In her post, city council candidate Mozhgan Savabieasfahani depicts pigs with cash and calls out Jewish donors.

16 Shabbat Lights

On the cover:

Shabbat starts: Friday, July 10, 8:52 p.m.

Shabbat ends: Saturday, July 11, 10:02 p.m.

Cover photo/credit: Abby Segal and her 4-year-old daughter Aliyah. Photo by Alexander Clegg/ Jewish News.

Cover design: Michelle Sheridan

* Times according to Yeshiva Beth Yehudah calendar.

Eretz Don’t Annex: Save the Two State Solution 18

27 Local photographer builds business and ministry from l’dor v’dor.

19 Philanthropist Spencer Partrich wants to donate millions to Israeli PM’s defense fund.

Arts&Life

Jews and Racial Justice BLM Baby Drive

23 Bais Chabad pitcher Larry Lipnik says wearing a mask while playing softball ‘isn’t a big deal.’

Moments Moments 24

Spirit

Follow Us on Social Media: Facebook @DetroitJewishNews Twitter @JewishNewsDet Instagram @detroitjewishnews

Shop Fair Trade 30 A purchase from Thumbprint Gallery shows that a successful business can put people first.

22

Who Is That Masked Man?

thejewishnews.com

Inspired by Jewish Values

Bibi’s Buddy in Bloomfield Hills

Sports

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22

Jewish Pop-Up Drive-Ins 32 With summer in full swing, Jewish pop up drive-in theaters are gaining traction.

Carl Reiner, Consummate Old Jew Telling Jokes, Dies At 98 33

Is Jon Stewart Still ‘Irresistible’?

34 The Jewish comedian’s new movie is warmed-over political satire.

Torah portion

Celeb Jews

25

35

Business

Online Events

A Fond Farewell

35

26 Sherry Margolis signs off after 35 years at WJBK-TV (Channel 2).

Etc.

Here’s To 26

The Exchange Soul Danny Raskin Looking Back

36 38 45 46

OUR JN MISSION: We aspire to communicate news and opinion that’s trusted, valued, engaging and distinctive. We strive to reflect diverse community viewpoints while also advocating positions that strengthen Jewish unity and continuity. As an independent, responsible, responsive community member, we actively engage with individuals and organizations dedicated to enhancing the quality of life, and Jewish life, in Southeast Michigan.

JULY 9 • 2020

|3

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| 29

Views for openers

Not A Singular Message We may have heard that “More is better.” In dealing with our English language, however, we learn that making “more” can be conSy Manello fusing. There Editorial seems to be litAssistant tle consistency when forming plurals. (Yes, there are “rules,” but the exceptions can be daunting.)

Do not go by sound or similarity of spelling. Booth will be booths, but tooth becomes teeth. More than one boot? Boots. More than one foot? Feet! (Beet would not work for boot because we have already granted a red vegetable with that name.)

One mouse is unnerving; several mice mean an infes-

tation as well as confusion.

This also works for louse and lice. However, you can see one moose or many moose — no change. (Mice won’t work here as a plural since we have given the rodents that form.) One roof, many roofs; one hoof, however, leads to many hooves.

Some of our words change form altogether. One child, many children; one person, many people. If you are trying to work with a word that has come to us from Latin, you will end up with one cactus, many cacti. One fungus can lead to many fungi. Just so, one hippopotamus leads us to several hippopotami.

(See the picture of the rhinoceri?) Is it any wonder that we are now most accepting of cactuses, hippopotamuses

and funguses?

Some of our words that seem plural in spelling but represent a single item are still treated as if plural (still with me?) Therefore, we treat glasses (item used for seeing better), pants and scissors as plural words and give them plural verbs when used in sentences. (One other warning about scissors: Do not run with them!)

You can refer to an index but be wary of many indices

(in-de-cees). Ready for more confusion? One basis may lead to many bases (baseees), which when looking at the word makes one think of places on a baseball diamond. The pronunciation differs though. (See why reading aloud can be problematic?)

Just remember that if “one is good” may not be better if you have to struggle to find the right word. Just get used to saying “a lot” of them.

of Zion?

What if Jews had taken to the streets to picket the United Nations after it adopted a resolution that Zionism equals racism and took many other anti-Israel, anti-Jewish actions?

What if Jews had applied high-profile public pressure on the Catholic Church to force it to take Father Charles Coughlin, the World War II radio priest, off the air given his virulent anti-Semitic messages?

What if … what if … there are so many of these that can be posed given the history of Jewish activism — or more accurately the lack thereof — in the face of anti-Semitism.

It is important to dissect these

issues because Jews in general, to this day, have never learned that anti-Semitism — all bigotry, racism, xenophobia — can only be defeated by strong confrontations.

We have never done so historically, and we don’t do so even today. We frown on tactics such as pickets, boycotts and public condemnation, no matter how virulently we are attacked.

For instance, even in the ’30s, leaders like Hillel Kook (also known as Peter Bergson), a Zionist political activist, and the playwright Ben Hecht, among others, were ostracized from mainstream Jewish organizations for their “unacceptable” political activism in trying to

call attention to the Holocaust.

They organized mass meetings at Madison Square Garden in New York and placed ads in major newspapers, only to be condemned by more “moderate” Jewish activists.

In more recent years, when Rabbi Avraham (Avi) Weiss took to the streets for various Jewish causes, he was, basically, shunned and ignored by the mainstream Jewish body politic.

We seemed to have learned little in our long history of fighting anti-Semitism and xenophobia through the ages.

Consider the present atmosphere, which is witnessing a troubling increase in anti-Semitism. The Anti-Defamation

essay

What If …

W

hat if, in the 1930s, Jews had protested at the White House demanding more help from the Roosevelt administration and higher quotas for Jewish immigrants, especially children?

What if Jews had launched a Berl Falbaum boycott of the Ford Motor Co. when its founder, Henry Ford, published his anti-Semitic newspaper, The Dearborn Independent, and promoted the Protocols of the Elders

continued on page 6 JULY 9 • 2020

|5

Views editor’s note

How We Cover Elections

M

ichigan’s statewide primary elections are coming up on Aug. 4, and we at the Jewish News encourage all our readers to vote in them.

We especially advocate for the use of mail-in and absentee ballots as a safe and healthy alternaAndrew Lapin tive to the physical voting booth, as our state’s reported coronavirus cases appear to be on the upswing as of this writing.

All registered Michigan voters should have by now received their vote-by-mail applications, and you have

until the Friday before the election — this year, July 31 — to request a mail-in ballot. You can also request one in person at your clerk’s office any time before 4 p.m. on Election Day. Next week we’ll have some coverage of our area’s major contested Congressional primaries from “the Jewish angle.”

But when it comes to the smaller local races, we won’t be covering them as prominently. This is in keeping with an established JN editorial policy to minimize local campaign coverage.

We abstain because we lack the resources to profile every single candidate in every race on the ballot, and covering local elections in which some,

but not all, of the candidates are Jewish is tricky business for us.

Our readers do not necessarily cast their ballots exclusively for other Jews; in fact, in the past, many have backed Gentile candidates over Jewish ones. We don’t feel it’s our job to tell anyone to vote for or against Jews, nor do we feel we “owe” coverage to the Jewish candidates simply because they’re Jewish.

And sometimes there are no Jews running for positions in heavily Jewish areas.

We recommend going to vote411.org, which gathers information about all the candidates on the ballot, to read up on the choices in your local races and make an informed decision. You will still see us occasionally report on certain aspects of local races, such as reported instances of anti-Semitism. (See page 20 for one such story.)

In general, we do believe it’s important for members of our Jewish community to seek continued on page 8

WHAT IF ... continued from page 5

League (ADL) recently reported that the American Jewish community experienced the highest level of anti-Semitic incidents last year since tracking began in 1979.

Right-wing conspiracy theories are claiming on internet sites that George Soros, the liberal billionaire and Holocaust survivor, is funding the protests against police brutality.

President Trump has stoked anti-Semitism and Rudy Giuliani, a strong Trump ally, retweeted a message calling Soros an “anti-Christ.”

The internet is awash with anti-Semitism, and NPR reported that Israeli researchers have tracked a global trend of anti-Semitic hate speech blaming Jews and Israelis for the coronavirus.

It has all been met by silence.

6 |

JULY 9 • 2020

The irony is that, to our credit, we always have helped others.

In the 1960s, we went to the South in droves to help Black people in their civil rights battle.

We assisted labor unions, the LBGT community, women — and now Jewish organizations and individuals are joining tens of thousands to demand action against institutional racism in the aftermath of George Floyd’s tragic death.

When Black people, union leaders, gay rights activists and other minorities fight for their rights, they are labeled “liberals.”

When Jews confront anti-Semitism and take controversial positions and promote activism they are labeled “conservatives,” and the characterization is not meant to be positive.

Why not launch a major high-profile campaign to force

Facebook, Twitter, et al, to enact more controls to stem anti-Semitism and hate speech? Why not call for a boycott of rapper Ice Cube’s music in light of his recent anti-Semitic tweets?

We do not have to reinvent the wheel; all we have to do is adapt the playbook from other minorities.

Overall, the response for stronger resistance is generally met with arguments that “it will be counterproductive and do more harm than good.” Well, it did not do more harm for others who have suffered from racism, bigotry and humiliation.

The Black community learned this lesson with the Civil Rights movement. Guided by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and other Black leaders, they learned how to bring about change and to make racists come to grips

for their bigotry.

Dr. King heard the same complaints; fortunately, he did not listen. He understood what was required to promote change.

We generally are content with writing letters to the editor, issuing press releases, holding conferences to “build bridges.”

Activism not only produces results, but it also gives a warning to other bigots that they will pay a price for their hatred.

Although Rabbi Hillel the Elder’s quote on this issue has almost become a cliché, repeating it one more time won’t hurt: “If I am not for myself, who will be for me?”

Berl Falbaum is a West Bloomfield veteran political journalist and author of 11 books, including Not One Normal Day, Trumpedia: A Tome of Scandal, Lies, Corruption and Much More.

JULY 2 â&#x20AC;¢ 2020

|7

Views letters

Thankful to Law Enforcement The Michigan Jewish Action Council strongly condemns violence in our cities.

Americans are suffering arson, looting, murder and intimidation. Elected officials have turned against citizens, threatening our property and our personal safety.

We thank police and all law enforcement officers for their courage and loyalty.

We thank President Trump

and Attorney General Barr for their steadfast war against domestic and foreign terrorism.

— Ronna H. Ross, Secretary Michigan Jewish Action Council

On “Open, When? Helping My Autistic Brother Through Uncertain Times” (June 18, pg. 8)

by Eve Silberman This is a wonderful article about an extraordinary person.

I remember Alex very fondly and, in spite of his struggles,

he had a presence about him that made him lovable. Your article was so well done as you helped make people aware of the silent struggles people face every day that are exacerbated during these hard times. It’s impossible to begin to comprehend these stories as we are overwhelmed by numbers and statistics, which, to me, take the human toll out of the big picture. I think you have an excellent writing style and I thank you for sharing such a personal story.

— Paul Gualdoni

On “Looking Back: The Jewish Automaker You Never Heard Of” (June 11, pg. 54):

Greenberg’s View

BY STEVEN GREENBERG

The Checker Car Company, which made most of the taxis in America for over 50 years, was owned by a Jewish immigrant, Morris Markin. The cars were made in Kalamazoo.

— David Flaisher

CORRECTION: Photo credit in the story “Marching in Crown Heights” (page 27, July 2) should have gone to photographer Mo Gelber.

Arthur M. Horwitz Publisher ahorwitz@renmedia.us F. Kevin Browett Chief Operating Officer kbrowett@renmedia.us | Editorial Editor: Andrew Lapin alapin@thejewishnews.com Associate Editor: Jackie Headapohl jheadapohl@renmedia.us Social Media and Digital Producer: Nathan Vicar nvicar@renmedia.us Multimedia Reporter: Corrie Colf ccolf@renmedia.us

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HOW WE COVER ELECTIONS continued from page 6

public office, whether on city councils, boards of education, county commissions, in Lansing or in Washington. While we may not have the capacity to cover the breadth or depth of our local elections, we do strongly advocate for our community members to bring their experiences, often informed by Jewish values and teachings, to our democratic process.

Leading up to the general election in November, the JN will compile and submit questionnaires to the campaigns of major races (including Congress, Senate and president), along with invitations to sit down with our editorial staff. Even in these cases, the JN won’t be endorsing anyone. Endorsements at the Jewish News traditionally came from an editorial board led by its publisher. But these days our newsroom is too small to disentangle any endorsement we make from our reporting itself, and we don’t want one to appear to inform the other.

Following the election, we will take stock of the winners and report on the new and returning local Jewish elected officials worth covering. Happy voting! | Production By Farago & Associates Manager: Scott Drzewiecki Designers: Jessica Joannides, Kelly Kosek, Kaitlyn Schoen, Michelle Sheridan

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Jews in the D cover story

ALEXANDER CLEGG/JEWISH NEWS

Abby Segal and her 4-year-old daughter Aliyah weather the challenges of single parenting during a pendemic.

Single Parenting

During a Pandemic COURTESY OF CADY VISHNIAC

L Local l JJewish i h single i l parents t on h homeschooling, homeschooling h li need for support and the uncertain future.

MAYA GOLDMAN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

C

ady Vishniac’s 8-yearold daughter Luta was about to start her Zoom math class.

“She has these Zoom classes that are the bane of my existence,” said Vishniac, a divorced single mom living in West Bloomfield, on the phone to the Jewish News.

“Paper! Paper! Paper!” Luta chanted. “Look at me!”

“I see you, Luta. You’re climbing on the stairs in a way that makes me nervous,” Vishniac said as she ran around trying to find the computer.

Vishniac located the computer and explained to Luta that class would be with the whole group today. Luta, who has behavioral challenges, has mostly been getting individual instruction.

“I can’t!” Luta shouted.

“You’re getting the idea,”

12 |

JULY 9 • 2020

Vishniac said to JN. This is what it’s like to be a single parent in quarantine.

AMPLIFIED CHALLENGES When Gov. Gretchen Whitmer issued her stay-at-home order in March in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, parents found themselves in a seemingly impossible situation. Vishniac put it bluntly: “You can’t make a kid focus on school and work 40 hours a week at the same time.”

These challenges were amplified for other single parents as well. At one point during quarantine, Abby Segal, a single mom in Bloomfield Hills, went five days without taking a shower. When she finally got a second to sit her 4-year-old daughter Aliyah down in front of the computer and went to take a shower, she heard Aliyah

open the back door and walk outside into the yard.

“You don’t have another set of eyes,” she said. “You don’t have coverage.”

For divorced single parents, the pandemic brought up the added question of how to co-parent during a stay-athome order. As Vishniac said, “There’s a degree of social distancing that I can’t do. I can’t do it anyway because she’s going back and forth between my house and my ex’s house.”

Erica Gray of Farmington Hills has been divorced for almost two years. When the pandemic began, she didn’t feel comfortable having her 12- and 13-year-old daughters, Chloe and Leah, split time between her house and their dad’s place.

Legally, though, she had to continue the custody arrangement she had with her ex-husband.

Cady Vishniac and Luta

“You can’t make a kid focus on school and work 40 hours a week at the same time.”

— CADY VISHNIAC

COURTESY OF JEN KOPNICK

r r r f g .

Jen Kopnick, Chloe and Emma

Gray said she and her ex-husband had a hard time getting along before the pandemic. The need to figure out the questions raised by COVID-19 forced them to become better communicators. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I think the one good thing about this is that weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve learned â&#x20AC;Ś to be nicer to each other and to talk to each other differently,â&#x20AC;? she said.

LACK OF SUPPORT Segal found out about the Single Parents Alliance and Resource Connection (SPARC), a program run for Jewish single parents out of the JCC, when her daughter was about 2 years old. But late in 2018, the organizationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s funding was abruptly cut off.

SPARC no longer provides programming, though a Facebook page remains to connect local single parents.

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Segal became concerned about the lack of support for Jewish single parents in the community. As a social worker and therapist, â&#x20AC;&#x153;I'm always paying attention to this kind of stuff,â&#x20AC;? Segal said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not just personal â&#x20AC;&#x201D; it's my profession, too.â&#x20AC;?

After posting on the Facebook page and talking back and forth in the comments with a few other single parents, Segal said she finally got a private message from the groupâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s administrator asking if she was doing OK. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I said that I was doing fine, but maybe the community needed some attention,â&#x20AC;? she said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;And that was the last I heard about it.â&#x20AC;?

With a lack of institutional support from the community, single parents have looked elsewhere for assistance.

In Ann Arbor, widowed dad Steve Kaganove and his son Nathan, who has Aspergerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s, have kept their biweekly appointments with a social worker, though those now take place virtually. Still, â&#x20AC;&#x153;I kind of wish I had more parents to talk to,â&#x20AC;? he said.

Gray and her neighbor Jen Kopnick, who also has two daughters, have found that support in each other and through other single-mom friends. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We laugh, because itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s like a little team that her and I have become,â&#x20AC;? Kopnick said.

Kopnick also said the pandemic has started a new culture in her neighborhood

My STORY A few years ago, Karen Kahn Schultz and Stefan, her business partner, met in a cooking group, were both transitioning from other jobs, and catering together seemed a natural choice. They created Nosh Pit Detroit, a food truck that broke new ground with creative vegan comfort food.

They catered, they made the rounds of the Detroit food truck scene, and the concept was so popular, Nosh Pit Detroit was named Best of Hour Detroit Food Truck of the Year in 2018, 2019, and now 2020. â&#x20AC;&#x153;As things grew, we needed a free-standing prep kitchen of our own, and fell into a restaurant space in Hamtramck where we have a few tables, and do a great carry-out business,â&#x20AC;? Karen said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Of course, quarantine changed everything. Events and truck service stopped at the beginning of the outdoor season, but we decided to pivot and focus on our customers.

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continued on page 14 JULY 9 â&#x20AC;˘ 2020

| 13

continued from page 13

Jews in the D

Lauren Cohen and Kinneret

14 |

JULY 9 • 2020

COURTESY OF ERICA GRAY

Erica Gray, Leah and Chloe

COURTESY OF LAUREN COHEN

Steven Kaganove and his son Nathan

COURTESY OF STEVEN KAGANOVE

cover story

of leaving wine and other small gifts on people’s porches to brighten a neighbor’s day.

“All these women have just bonded together to try and make this a little easier for everyone,” she said.

Lauren Cohen, a single mom to 19-month-old daughter Kinneret, decided to expand her quarantine bubble to include her parents after a strict two-week distancing period in midMarch. They’ve helped ease the stress of single parenting for Cohen, who lives in Lathrup Village. And Cohen has been glad to have these months with her daughter — time she wouldn’t have gotten otherwise as a single working mom.

“We’re really thankful for this time,” she said.

But for Vishniac, who moved with her boyfriend to a new house just as quarantine began in March, and Segal, whose brother came to live at her house during the stay-at-home period, having other adults in the house doesn’t make much of a difference when it comes to parenting.

“A parent is really different than another person,” Segal said. “No one else can kiss her booboo when she falls or gets hurt.”

UNIQUE CHALLENGES No matter what kind of support they’re receiving, local single parents say there are challenges at every turn of the pandemic.

Gray is a preschool teacher at Temple Beth El in Bloomfield Township, but teaching swim lessons was another big part of her income. Those were put on hold as indoor pools closed across the state. Although she didn’t qualify for unemployment, she did start getting food stamps for the first time.

“I was getting the free lunches from the school that I never thought I would do,” she said. “It was very humbling.”

Keeping their children up to date with virtual schooling also became a major struggle for some parents when Michigan schools moved online in March. Kaganove’s son Nathan receives extra support at his middle school. It

was a struggle to keep him motivated to do schoolwork at home, Kaganove said.

“It’s just not going to work fighting with him, so I don't,” he said. “I kind of let him do his thing.”

Kaganove said he hopes “with every fiber of my being that we get something a little closer to normal in the fall” in terms of school.

Vishniac, who ran around trying to get her daughter ready for online math class, said her daughter will repeat second grade next year — a decision made before the pandemic began. That made struggling to get her daughter to finish schoolwork even more frustrating, Vishniac said.

“Give me a single parent pass,” she said. “Tell me I’m allowed to disappear for the rest of the school year.”

NOW WHAT? Now that summer has arrived and Michigan’s stay-at-home order has been lifted, single parents are faced with more options and more uncertainty.

Vishniac has started hiring babysitters again to help keep Luta busy while she works. Kaganove hopes to go camping with his son — staying outdoors is low-risk and he wants to find a way to get the two of them out of the house, he said.

But what happens beyond the summer is still hazy. Vishniac wants to hear from Luta’s school about what the fall will look like and what the future might hold.

“I just want a plan, you know?” she said. “It’s difficult to imagine what I’m going to be doing in another several months. I know that I can’t keep this up … that’s for certain.”

In terms of finding support from the Jewish community, Segal said she hopes a group like SPARC can gain funding once again.

“I’d like [the community] to acknowledge that there are single parents out there and I’d like them to have an organization again,” she said. “I’d like them to have a single Jewish parent, working on whatever they do for single Jewish parents.”

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Jews in the D

Phil and Debbi Ross

Papa Phil Can O li campaign Online i aims i tto h help Sylvan Lake man find a kidney donor during COVID-19.

ROBIN SCHWARTZ CONTRIBUTING WRITER COURTESY OF PHIL ROSS

T

he stunning views from the national parks in Utah weren’t all that took Phil Ross’s breath away. During a family trip earlier this year, the 67-year-old husband, father and grandfather from Sylvan Lake found himself having trouble breathing while on sightseeing walks at higher elevations.

“I couldn’t go on hikes. I couldn’t go to the high altitudes without feeling it,” he recalled.

Upon returning home in February, Ross went to see his doctor. A series of tests revealed some devastating news — his kidneys are failing. Ross, who has had chronic kidney problems likely due to an infection as a child, was diagnosed with end-stage renal failure. Doctors say he needs a kidney transplant within months or he will have to begin dialysis, a process where he’s routinely hooked up to machines to filter and purify his blood. COVID-19 has complicated his search for a donor.

“The pandemic delayed my ability to get on the transplant list because the clinics were temporarily closed. I could not get in for testing,” Ross said. “I was just recently able to make an appointment and I did get added to the list, but the wait to find a donor could take five to 10 years.”

Ross, a member of Temple Shir Shalom in West Bloomfield, does not have that kind of time. He recently retired after running a family-owned electrical supply company for most of his career and planned to travel and spend more time with his adult children and

16 |

JULY 9 • 2020

two young grandchildren. Now, finding a kidney donor is his full-time job.

His best chance for a transplant would be to find a living donor. With that in mind, family members helped launch a social media campaign called “Papa Phil Can, His Kidneys Can’t,” where people can sign up to get tested to see if they’re a match.

“It’s life and I just want to live it. Doing something like this is a super mitzvah.

I can’t express the gratitude I feel.”

— PHIL ROSS “We’re getting an outpouring of love from all of our friends and family. There’s a lot of concern,” said Debbi Ross, Phil’s wife of 40 years. “My hope is that we get in really quickly and get it done because I know COVID-19 is only going to get worse and they could close the clinic again like they did before.”

Between the online campaign, emails to friends, family members and supporters, and a few local TV appearances, about 130 people are now signed up to get tested. Phil

and his family say they’re overwhelmed and hopeful they’ll find a match soon.

“I’m blown away — I can’t believe there are that many people out there who are willing to help a total stranger. It renews my faith in humanity,” he said, fighting back tears.

“I am really feeling positive we will find a match. I’m much more optimistic now.”

According to the National Kidney Foundation, 100,000 people nationwide are currently waiting for a kidney transplant.

To donate a kidney, you should be 18 years or older and in good physical and mental health.

“People with kidney disease and transplant recipients are at higher risk for developing serious complications from COVID-19,” reads the National Kidney Foundation’s website.

That’s another concern. Phil and his family are taking extra precautions because getting sick now could cause a major setback.

“He’s very kind, good-natured; he’s very honest in all his dealings — and he’s very dedicated to family. He’s a family man,” Debbi said. “We don’t know who the potential donors are. It’s all confidential. But we thank them with all of our hearts.”

Phil added, “It’s life and I just want to live it. Doing something like this is a super mitzvah. I can’t express the gratitude I feel.”

If you or someone you know would like to help, visit papaphilcan.com to sign up for a blood test and find out if you’re a match.

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opinion

Don’t Annex:

Save the Two State Solution Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, right, and Defense Minister Benny Gantz at a meeting at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Jerusalem, June 28, 2020.

YAEL S. ARONOFF SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS

I

srael’s unilateral annexation of parts of the West Bank could be imminent. It would be one of Israel’s greatest mistakes.

I share the life-long, deep desire of Israelis and Palestinians for peace. I am convinced that this will only happen through a twostate solution that recognizes both people’s desire for and right to self-determination.

This resolution paradigm — a Jewish majority state and a Palestinian majority state existing alongside one another — has existed almost as long as the conflict itself. Although the stagnation in the peace process has undermined support for this solution, Israeli and Palestinian polls have shown over many years that both peoples prefer this solution significantly more than any other single alternative.

The temptation by some to unilaterally annex territory from the West Bank, emboldened by encouragement from the Trump administration, must be strongly and vehemently resisted by Israelis. There are no benefits, and only multiple and grave costs.

The Israeli military leadership has strongly opposed unilateral annexation, warning of likely spikes in violence, while the Palestinian Authority could dismantle itself, leaving Israel solely responsible for security

18 |

JULY 9 • 2020

in the entire West Bank. A letter dated Aug. 27, 2019, signed by 25 retired Israel Defense Force commanders and former government security heads, and addressed to four U.S. House representatives, reaffirmed the importance of rejecting unilateral steps and maintaining the two-state paradigm.

Likewise, both the Commanders for Israel’s Security (CIS) and the Israeli Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) warn of the dangerous security consequences of unilateral annexation, including Hamas capitalizing on the vacuum left by the potential collapse of the PA; the end to the strengthening of relations with many Sunni states that has quietly been taking place over the last decade, who are Israel’s allies in balancing against Iran; and imperiling the peace agreement with Jordan. On top of that, Amos Gilad, former director of Policy and Political-Military Affairs at the Defense Ministry, predicts a diplomatic nightmare, in which Israel becomes further isolated and ostracized by countries and populations around the world.

Deepening disillusionment could also lead to further deterioration in public support among Israelis and Palestinians for a two-state solution, which could also eventually undermine international legitimacy for this solution. Benny Gantz, Israel’s current

defense minister and alternate prime minister, and Israeli’s Foreign Minister, Gabi Ashkenazi, both have warned that unilateral annexation should not happen without international backing — and that backing does not exist.

Thus, even for those whose only concern might be Israeli security and well-being, this move would be a disaster.

Israel will be left with no peace agreement, an increase in violent attacks, greater threats to its democracy, undermined legitimacy of the two-state solution, the elimination of existing Palestinian partners to peace and significantly increased threats to its legitimacy globally. Most of all, it undermines its own Zionist dream of having a democratic, Jewish state, that is also a state where all its citizens can live in peace alongside its neighbors. It also all but extinguishes legitimate Palestinian dreams of having their own state.

If the goal is to annex all settlements as part of Israel, then we should all be clear — despite the magical thinking or obfuscation represented by the Trump plan — that this would mean the end of the two-state solution: It would render impossible a viable Palestinian state that would be accepted by Palestinians. If, however, as some in Israel now suggest, the goal is primarily to annex

OLIVIER FITOUSSI/FLASH90 VIA JTA

Eretz

Yael Aranoff, Serling Chair in Israel Studies

MSU

large settlement blocs near Jerusalem, then Israel would achieve much more in keeping those through a process of swaps and negotiation than it would bearing all the costs and none of the benefits of unilateral annexation.

Such swaps and annexation of large settlement blocks have been the staple of numerous sets of peace negotiations: Olmert’s 2008 offer, the Clinton Parameters and Arab League declarations, all envision a peace agreement with borders based on the 1967 borders, with swaps that would leave some large settlement blocs (like those near Jerusalem) in Israeli hands.

If it takes the path of unilateral annexation, instead of getting what it wants with all the benefits of a peace deal, Israel would lose the support of long-standing, moderate, genuine partners for peace such as Salam Fayyad, former prime minister of the Palestinian Authority, who is driven now, based on just the threat of unilateral annexation, to advocating that Palestinians harden their positions and go back to demanding either a Palestinian state with 1967 borders without any swaps or a one-state solution in which Palestinians would eventually be the majority of that state. In a completely unnecessary unilateral move, Israel would be losing its best partners for a lasting peace.

A glimmer of hope in

this dark moment, however, remains for those brave and far-sighted enough to pursue it. On June 29, in a letter to the Quartet on the Middle East, the Palestinian Authority said it is prepared to renew negotiations with Israel and agree to minor territorial exchanges. This is a shift, and should be urgently pursued.

The U.S. can help Israel make this decision. Joe Biden, who according to current polls is likely to be the next U.S. president, has publicly and strongly opposed unilateral annexation, as have 191 Democratic House representatives. As Paul Scham, director of the University of Maryland Gildenhorn Institute for Israel Studies, has recently written, Biden should now make clear that he will not recognize any such annexations if he becomes president. Polling shows that only a quarter of Israelis support unilateral annexation if the U.S. does not support it. For anyone, Republican or Democrat, concerned with Israel’s well-being — as well as international law, human rights and the right to self-determination for both Israelis and Palestinians — the time is now to make our opposition to unilateral annexation known, and dissuade Israel from taking any such steps.

Yael S. Aronoff is Serling Chair in Israel Studies and Director, Serling Institute for Jewish Studies and Modern Israel at Michigan State University.

RON LIEBERMAN PHOTOGRAPHY/R-MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/POOL/FLASH90 VIA JTA

Bibi’s Buddy in Bloomfield Hills

Spencer Partrich (left) and Netanyahu (right).

Philanthropist Spencer Partrich wants to donate millions to Israeli PM’s defense fund.

CORRIE COLF STAFF WRITER

I

sraeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was indicted on charges of fraud, breach of trust and bribery in January. The trial began last month in Jerusalem and is set to resume July 19, and a prominent Jewish Detroiter may play a large part.

Although he’s on trial for receiving money from wealthy friends, Netanyahu has asked an Israeli oversight committee to allow him to receive a $2.9 million donation from his friend, Bloomfield Hills resident Spencer Partrich, to help fund his legal defense. Partrich is currently witness No. 283 out of 333, in one of the cases against Netanyahu.

Partrich declined to comment to the JN regarding the matter.

Partrich is co-owner of Lautrec Ltd., a Farmington Hills-based real estate management and development firm. He has also been long associated with Jewish causes throughout Metro Detroit, including running the Spencer M. Partrich Charitable Foundation, a private foundation in Farmington Hills founded in 2016.

Partrich serves on the executive board for the Friends of the Israel Defense Forces (FIDF) and was honored Nov. 3, 2015, at its gala.

Netanyahu spoke via video at the dinner honoring his “close friend and a committed, dedicated Jew, Spencer M. Partrich.”

The FIDF would not comment for this story, citing policy.

According to the AP, Netanyahu’s ties to Partrich date as far back as 1999, when Netanyahu was just finishing his first term as prime minister.

According to court documents, Netanyahu has already been approved to receive a $570,000 loan from Partrich. But last year, the committee denied Netanyahu’s request for the $2.9M donation, saying it was inappropriate given the circumstances.

This year, a new committee was formed under Netanyahu to reconsider Partrich’s donation.

The committee is awaiting the Israeli attorney general’s decision on whether Netanyahu will be allowed to accept the money.

Bryan Roby, assistant professor of Judaic Studies at the University of Michigan, said the outside donation to a sitting prime minister “is incredibly unusual.”

“Over the past decade or so, there have been, in the Likud party particularly, attacks against the center and left-wing parties for receiving foreign donations from American Jews, and that it is an unnecessary and undue foreign influence on Israeli politics,” Roby said. “To hear that [Netanyahu] is openly soliciting donations from American Jews is not surprising, but pretty shocking.”

JULY 9 • 2020

| 19

Jews in the D

Anti-Semitism

in Ann Arbor Campaign?

In her post, city council candidate Mozhgan Savabieasfahani depicts pigs with cash and targets Jewish donors.

MAYA GOLDMAN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

20 |

JULY 9 • 2020

Michigan Jewish Democratic Caucus issued a statement later that week, condemning Savabieasfahani’s campaign tactics and anti-Israel views. In addition to the post, Savabieasfahani has been known to protest outside of Ann Arbor’s Beth Israel Congregation, where a group has staged anti-Israel and anti-Semitic pickets every week for over 16 years. She and her husband, Blaine Coleman, have also earned local notoriety for frequently attending city council meetings, imploring Ann Arbor to divest from Israel and carrying signs with swastikas equating Israel with Nazi Germany.

“The Michigan Democratic Jewish Caucus urges Ann Arbor Democrats to reject the hateful and extremist candidacy of Mozhgan Savabieasfahani, who is far more interested in elevating her own pet prejudices than representing the values and interests of Ann Arborites,” the MJDC’s statement reads.

Eyer also denounced Savabieasfahani’s post as anti-Semitic in her own note on Facebook June 23.

Joan Lowenstein, MJDC’s Washtenaw County chairwoman and the treasurer of Eyer’s campaign, said she thinks the imagery

COURTESY OF VOTEFORTHEDOCTOR.COM

CARTOON COURTESTY OF MOZHGAN SAVABIEASFAHANI

A

nn Arbor city council candidate Dr. Mozhgan Savabieasfahani has come under fire for posting cartoons on local political Facebook pages that carried anti-Semitic connotations.

Savabieasfahani, a longtime local protester who frequently targets Israel, is running in the Aug. 4 Democratic primary to represent the city’s fourth ward. In a now-edited post in the “Ann Arbor Politics” Facebook page, a public group with more than 800 members, she posted a caricature of one of her opponents, Jen Eyer, popping out of a wallet. Next to Eyer in the image is a pig in a suit, smoking a cigar and holding a wad of cash.

The original post, published June 22, mentioned that Eyer has received donations from “old party hacks.” When asked by a group moderator to clarify the post, Savabieasfahani changed the word “hacks” to “honchos.” She also added that Ron Weiner and Lon Johnson, both former chairs of the Michigan Democratic Party, and retired school administrator Neal Elyakin, whom she noted in her edits is a former board member of the Friends of the IDF, have given money to Eyer.

Eyer is not Jewish. Weiner and Elyakin are both Jewish; neither are top donors to Eyer, according to the most recent campaign finance documents available from the campaign.

When Elyakin, who is not a member of the Facebook page, saw the post, he was upset. Though he has given $100 to Eyer’s campaign, he said he does not consider himself a party “honcho.” To him, the post felt like an anti-Semitic attack. He contacted the Facebook group’s moderator and posted a note on his own Facebook page to call awareness to the situation.

“I generally don’t get upset about politics like that, but I felt I needed to say something,” Elyakin, who lives in Ann Arbor’s fifth ward, told the Jewish News.

in Savabieafahani’s post was a clear hallmark of anti-Semitism.

“For anybody that’s Jewish, it’s like an alarm going off or something, to see the pig with the cigar,” Lowenstein, who previously served on Ann Arbor city council, said.

“This is directly from Nazi propaganda. And so that alone was more than a dog whistle … I think non-Jews might not recognize it unless they’re real students of history, but certainly Jews do.”

But Savabieasfahani, a native of Iran who works as an environmental toxicologist, insists otherwise. She said she chose to use pigs in both the caricature of Eyer and another in another cartoon she posted of her other opponent, incumbent Jack Eaton, because of their history as a symbol of capitalism.

“I hope you know that pig images are an old American labor tradition. That couldn’t be more obvious,” Savabieasfahani wrote in an email to JN. “Pig is shorthand for the capitalist side in labor disputes.”

Not everyone in the Ann Arbor Jewish community agrees that the post was anti-Semitic, either. Ann Arbor resident Marjorie Winkelman Lesko said she has concerns

about Eyer, a non-Jewish candidate, flagging the post as anti-Semitic.

“The thing that strikes me about this election cycle … is not so much whether Mozghan is anti-Semitic or anti-Israel — that’s pretty obvious. But, rather, it’s how other candidates are jumping on this weird anti-Semitism bandwagon that’s really made me uncomfortable,” said Lesko, who lives in the city’s first ward and belongs to Beth Israel.

“That sounds anti-Semitic to me, that Jen Eyer’s supporters are saying — and Jen Eyer herself — that big money equals Jews,” she said. “They’re saying it’s an anti-Semitic slur against a non-Jewish woman.”

Though Elyakin asked “Ann Arbor Politics” moderator Stephen Lange Ranzini to remove Savabieasfahani’s post last week, it remains public.

However, in comments to the post made within a few hours of its publication, Ranzini asked for Savabieasfahani to make extensive edits. In a second call for edits, he asked her to remove Elyakin’s name and mentions of the IDF from the post. According to Ranzini, Savabieasfahani has made all the corrections he’s asked her to make.

The group’s moderators also changed the group rules to no longer allow caricatures “that support or stir up trouble” to be posted, and asked Savabieasfahani to remove the images in her post or delete it altogether. She has since removed the images.

Savabieasfahani is still a member of the Facebook group, but according to Ranzini, she has been placed on prior review

for her posts until the end of the primary season. He said the group has a two-strikes policy before removal. “She has been publicly moderated, which is a kind of naming and shaming,” he wrote in an email.

Elyakin would still like to see Savabieasfahani removed from the page. He said she has been banned from at least one other local politics Facebook group.

More than that, though, he’d like to see someone else win the primary.

“It will just not give her an official elected voice, which is what she is striving to do, because her singular passion is the destruction of the state of Israel,” Elyakin said.

For her part, Savabieasfahani said she’s running for council this year because she feels the current city government has not provided environmental security for residents. This is her first time on the ballot. Though she has been an active speaker at council meetings for years, she said this will also be her first time voting in a city council election.

“I will do everything to be heard when it comes to Palestinian human rights, and I will do everything to be heard when it comes to the environmental health of the public, right here in the town that I’ve lived in for almost 20 years.

And I am proud of doing both of those things,” she said.

Elyakin doesn’t want to think about what it would mean to have Savabieasfahani on council, though.

“For me to even think about her in any kind of official, elected official capacity is abhorrent,” he said.

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| 21

Jewss in tthee D Je jews and racial justice

I know firsthand that in America, food is not an issue. There are food stamps, WIC, farmers’ markets.

There’s food in abundance. But if you can’t afford diapers, then what?

Michigan’s Jewish moms donated to the baby drive en masse.

— SHIRAH FISH

Baby Drive ROCHEL BURSTYN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

O

n June 7, Shirah Fish of Oak Park scrolled through her Facebook account, oblivious to how it would impact her next few weeks.

On the much-loved “Jewish Moms of Metro Detroit” page, she saw a post that began, “With everything that’s going on in the country right now. I want to try and show support to …”

Fish smiled, she thought she knew where this was going and that felt good. But the sentence ended not with “the Black Jewish community” as she’d expected, but with “the police.”

Fish was taken aback.

“I’m not anti-police,” Fish explained. “But I felt that it wouldn’t be right to give a public show of support to the police as a group at this time.”

Fish commented that as a Black Jewish woman she was

22 |

JULY 9 • 2020

COURTESY OF SHIRAH FISH

BLM

disappointed in the post and felt that, if anything, the powerful support of a group of 2,200+ Jewish moms would be better directed elsewhere.

Within minutes she was inundated with supportive comments and approximately 50 private messages from fellow J-moms who wanted to offer tangible help to the Black Lives Matter movement but didn’t know how.

“I felt like a deer caught in headlights,” Fish said. She hadn’t really thought things through at that point. But she was willing to start.

That night, she conferred with Ashira Leah Solomon and Aliza Bracha Klein and, within days, Michigan Jewish Womyn Together (MJWT) was launched. Within 24 hours, their Facebook page had over 100 members. As it was mostly

made up of Jewish moms, they thought helping Black moms would be most fitting.

“The childbirth statistics for Black moms are disturbing,” Fish said.

According to the CDC, Black women are three times more likely to die in childbirth than white women. The CDC also says that the rate of preterm births for Black moms is 50% higher than the rate for white moms. That particularly struck home for Fish. Of her children, Noemie, 16, Lea, 13, Hudi, 12, Rafi, 4, and twins Dassi and Zach, 1, four were born prematurely.

Fish is a single mom and can especially sympathize with the challenges of raising children while struggling financially.

“I’ve had a rough time in the last few years,” Fish said. “I know firsthand that in America, food is not an issue. There are food stamps, WIC, farmers’ markets.

There’s food in abundance. But if you can’t afford diapers, then what?”

With that in mind, Fish spearheaded a baby drive. More than 40 donors immediately stepped up with 20+ cases of diapers and wipes, bulging bags of gently used baby clothing and assorted baby equipment and paraphernalia. Within one week, the storage space was full to bursting.

Fish polled the group members for which organization

their donations should go to.

The winner was the LighthousePATH program, a transitional housing program for women and children, most of whom are fleeing domestic violence situations.

MJWT has other projects in the works, too. Noemie Fish wants to create a book for kids about diversity within the Jewish community. Ashira Leah Solomon plans on creating a cookbook interwoven with stories from recipe contributors.

“Food is a tool that brings people together,” Solomon said.

“My hope is that each time we open this cookbook, we will reflect on the cherished value of people as individuals and the beauty of unification. As we modify cookbook recipes to suit our individual tastes, the hope is that we should embrace those differences that bring authenticity to our table and to our world.”

This group is just getting started, but they’re hoping to make a difference, one step at a time.

The Baby Drive is running until July 15. Donations can be dropped off or shipped to BLM Baby Drive/Shirah Fish 14611 Borgman St., Oak Park, MI 48237. For more information, call (248) 607-4549.

To contribute recipes or for more information about the cookbook, email ashira.mail@gmail.com.

NATALIE LIPNIK

Sports Larry Lipnik can mask his emotions while he pitches for Bais Chabad Torah Center.

Who Is That

Masked Man? Bais Chabad pitcher Larry Lipnik says wearing a mask while playing softball ‘isn’t a big deal.’

STEVE STEIN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

L

arry Lipnik wears a mask while he plays softball during this summer of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“It’s not comfortable, especially when you’re running the bases, but it isn’t a big deal after you get used to it,” said Lipnik, who pitches for the Bais Chabad Torah Center team in the weekly Inter-Congregational Men’s Club Summer Softball League.

“When you’re learning how to play baseball or softball, you have to learn how to wear a mitt,” Lipnik said. “When you’re learning to play football, you have to learn how to wear a helmet. There’s no difference here.”

Lipnik, 62, said he takes his mask-wearing seriously because public health experts say wearing a mask is an effective way to stop the spread of the coronavirus.

He wears his mask nearly the entire time he’s playing in a

league game, taking it off only for the few seconds it takes to get a drink.

Wearing a mask for long stretches isn’t a new experience for Lipnik.

He wears one all day in his job as an internal medicine doctor.

“I tell my patients to wear a mask, so I’m practicing what I’m preaching when I wear one during a softball game,” he said.

While it isn’t a mask, Lipnik wears a face guard while he’s pitching in some league games.

“A line drive glanced off my face during a league game a few years ago,” he said. “I got my mitt up and deflected the ball, but that was enough to convince me to get the face guard.

I wear it when we play against teams with really good hitters.”

Wearing a mask isn’t required for players or umpires during league games, which are played

“I tell my patients to wear a mask, so I’m practicing what I’m preaching when I wear one during a softball game.”

— LARRY LIPNIK at Drake Sports Park and Keith Sports Park in West Bloomfield.

A few players and at least one umpire are wearing a mask.

Social distancing measures like keeping a 6-foot distance when possible, avoiding tagging or sliding, using hand sanitizer, and stationing the home plate umpire, catcher and batter farther apart than normal are part of the “new normal” in the league’s 25th season.

Plus, there’s free substitution.

A team can loan players to an opponent to play in the field so there are no forfeits in the shortened league season, which began June 21, seven weeks later than scheduled, because of the pandemic.

HELPING THE COMMUNITY League players raised $390 for the Detroit Justice Center in a pair of exhibition games June 14, a week before league play began. Each of the 39 players on four teams donated $10 to the cause.

“I made sure each team had a pitcher and I kept family members together, then I divvyed up the rest of the players,” said Steve Achtman, a league organizer, about how he put together the four teams.

Achtman’s son Ryan Achtman made the recommendation to designate the Detroit Justice Center as the recipient of the fundraiser.

“I have some good friends who are involved in the organization,” Ryan said. “My dad asked me for a recommendation on where the money raised by the exhibition games should go because he trusts me when it comes to social justice issues.”

Ryan sent an email to each league player after the exhibition games to explain why the DJC is an appropriate fundraiser recipient.

In the email, Ryan noted the DJC’s mission statement, which describes the organization as a “nonprofit law firm working alongside communities to create economic opportunities, transform the justice system, and promote equitable and just cities.”

“As Jews — descendants of oppressed peoples — we have a duty to stand up against injustice, whenever and whenever we see it,” Ryan wrote in his email.

“Today, in America, our focus has been directed to the economic, educational and political systems that have oppressed the Black community long after slavery. We have a duty to ‘never forget’ the tragedies experienced by our own people and use this fire to stand up for those now being killed, directly or indirectly.”

Ryan lives in Denver, Colo., and is a freelance graphic artist and web designer.

JULY 9 • 2020

| 23

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oward and Eileen Young of West Bloomfield celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary on July 12, 2020. They are the parents of Marc (Erin) and Heather. They are the grandparents of Dylan, Ella, Lilly and Noah, who are the love of their lives. They are deferring a special celebratory vacation with the family because of COVID.

Spirit torah portion

Zeal Vs. Commitment

P

inchas, the hero of this These “zealots” are fanatics, as week’s portion, was opposed to those who act with singled out because “he zeal to promote acts of selfwas zealous for his God.” An lessness, of commitment of the Israelite prince, Zimri, had need for peaceful existence. done a scandalous thing.

Our zeal should be directed The encamped men were toward eradicating the divisivebeing seduced into heaness of the situation. We then worship and cormust continue to demand ruption through assojustice for all citizens ciating with the women and remain committed of the land. Zimri to fighting the discord openly and flagrantly that leads to violent and brought a Midianite destructive acts.

Sy Manello woman into his tent.

The opposite of zeal is Pinchas, a priest and, indifference and detachtherefore, a man of ment. The dangers we Parshat peace, was filled with face today are from Pinchas: indignation, seized a uncommitted hearts; Numbers spear and inflicted the 25:10-30:1; we cannot, in good punishment of death conscience, distance I Kings upon the offender and 18:46-19:21. ourselves and proclaim his partner. non-involvement. We Today, many of us have a cannot remain detached when different outlook on Pinchas’ we witness the destruction of actions. Rather than applaud communities and clouding of him, we are more inclined to issues. criticize. We feel that his violent We must zealously find act conflicts with today’s moral ways to be heard and be seen standards. I feel that we must to bring attention to problems look less at the act and more that involve us all and which at the motivation of the man. demand that we stay active in Pinchas was filled with kinah, our commitment to unity. zeal. He boils inwardly and is In the eyes of the sages, filled with passion for a cause.

Pinchas’ deeds were unacceptHowever, like any great force able. We must, however, conor energy, zeal can be dangersider his zeal and commitment ous; directing the passion and to be of heroic proportions and its subsequent acts must be worthy of emulation. tempered with sensibility. Our A great part of Jewish life history is replete with tragic means making commitments expressions of fanaticism in to the community. We dare not oppression and intolerance, be detached and indifferent. resulting in destruction and We must remain zealous in our desecration. commitment to the betterment Today we are experiencing of all people in just causes. protests and marches aimed to direct our attention to the need Sy Manello is editorial assistant of for mindfulness of inequality in the Jewish News. our midst. The cause is being CONVERSATIONS clouded by zealots who, taking Is violence ever the right path advantage of crowd situations, are digressing from the main to peace? Is there anything intent and taking opportunities we can do in unjust situations to loot, destroy, desecrate and except be outraged? commit many violent acts.

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business SPOTlight

BIRMIN GH A M

COURTESY OF SHERRY MARGOLIS

brought to you in partnership with

A Fond Farewell D Sherry Margolis signs off after 35 years at WJBK-TV (Channel 2).

ROBIN SCHWARTZ CONTRIBUTING WRITER ABOVE: Sherry’s family: her late husband, Jeff, Alex, Eden, Jordan and Sherry.

etroit had a lot to cheer about in 1984. The Tigers won the World Series, defeating the San Diego Padres, 4 games to 1. And a rising TV news star — Sherry Margolis — came to town.

Margolis moved to Detroit that year from her hometown of Buffalo, New York. With her polished, professional

presence and warm, welcoming smile, she has been a beloved fixture on the local evening news at WJBK-TV (Channel 2) ever since.

“It’s been my second home,” she said.

“I will cherish every moment and every memory.”

Sherry has anchored the station’s nightly newscasts for the last 35 years, most recently on weekdays at 11 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. Her work earned her seven Emmy awards, two Edward R. Murrow awards and countless other honors. Last year, Margolis was inducted into the Buffalo Broadcasters Hall of Fame.

On June 24, she announced her retirement; she signed off during an emotional final broadcast June 30.

“I want to thank all of you for allowing me into your homes each day,” Margolis said, her eyes welling up with tears. “It has been an honor and a privilege, and I don’t take that lightly. I thank you from the bottom of my heart.”

Because of COVID-19 and the need for social distancing, fellow anchors Huel Perkins, Monica Gayle and Roop Raj were not physically there for the sendoff. Most of the on-air staff, including Sherry, have been broadcasting continued on page 28

here’s to Gerald Acker was named into the Michigan Lawyers Weekly Hall of Fame Class of 2020.

This award and honor recognizes attorneys with at least 30 years of experience who have not only been successful in the courtroom but also in their respective communities. Acker said, “It’s an honor to have been selected by Michigan Lawyers Weekly to their Hall of Fame. Fighting for justice has been the calling of my life, whether in the courtroom or in the political world. I’m thrilled to have been chosen with so many others who have had my respect and admiration over the years. I hope that all of us will continue that fight during these turbulent times.” The Michigan Lawyers Weekly induction lunch will be held Oct. 9 at the Detroit Marriott in Troy, Michigan.

26 |

JULY 9 • 2020

Aubrey Macfarlane has been named executive vice president and chief operating officer of JVS Human Services. Macfarlane will oversee business operations of the Southfield-based nonprofit, which aims to enhance the lives of job seekers, people with disabilities and seniors in Metro Detroit.

When Marilyn Kohen of West Bloomfield was 10, she bought her first sewing machine. When COVID-19 began, she saw a request for face mask seamstresses. She has made more than 400 masks thanks to JoAnn Fabrics curbside pick-up and some friends for their fabric donations. She is the daughter of Ethel Shapiro.

Dayna Frenkel has been recognized in the 2020 edition of the WTR300 (World Trade Review) as one of the world’s top-ranking corporate trademark professionals. Born and raised in Oak Park, she now works in the Legal Department at Under Armour Headquarters in Baltimore, Md., as associate counsel for trademarks.

T

Inspired by Jewish Values

wenty years ago, local African American entrepreneur John Stewart, owner of Stewart Photography, set himself apart in his field as one of the first to offer digital keepsake photos with customized backgrounds. As his Local photographer builds business grew, he began to hire business and ministry people from the Jewish commufrom l’dor v’dor. nity who referred him to clients who needed pictures for bar KENNETH POWERS SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS mitzvah events.

John Stewart, a Pontiac native, Stewart describes his experiences working with bar mitzvah events as a turning Americans think and plan generationalpoint for him, as he established positive ly. They invest a lot in their children and relationships with people in the Jewish youth,” he added. community and began to incorporate the One of the Jewish teens he met over principles he learned from them to improve 10 years ago, Lexie Garfield-Turner, has his own life. fond memories of working with Stewart “When I first came to the bar mitzvahs Photography as a photographer’s assistant, and saw the community coming together to which was her first job. celebrate younger people, I was impressed.

“I loved working at the bar mitzvahs. I In life we need to celebrate each other and remember working with other young people mark important moments,” he said. and everyone was professional, but we had a Stewart was also impressed with the teens great time,” Garfield-Turner said. at the events who had a vision of their career Garfield-Turner, who is now a licensed paths at a young age. He credits the older therapist, described John as “the go-to guy” generation of Jewish Americans for guiding for bar mitzvah photos in the Metro Detroit and supporting their vision.

Jewish community in the early 2010s.

“I like the fact that a lot of Jewish “The photographers that competed with

John for business back then didn’t stand a chance because of the technology that he used and because of his charisma. He not only did quality work, but he established a lot of positive relationships with the community,” she said.

As time progressed, Stewart expanded his work in the Jewish community as he photographed weddings, high-end parties and sports events. Also an ordained Christian minister, Stewart started his own church called Generation2Generation Ministries in Bloomfield Hills a few years ago. He says that the church’s name reflects his experiences with the Jewish community and his understanding of the Hebrew phrase l’dor v’dor, which means “from generation to generation.”

“As a Christian minister, I teach what the Bible says about generations. You can see it in the lives of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

The Bible speaks about wise stewards who pass an inheritance to their children. As a church, we need to have a multi-generational vision,” he said.

“I try to emphasize the role of family in my life and ministry. The family is the pillar of any culture,” he said. “If the family is destroyed, people will have a hard time trying to build.”

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business SPOTlight

LEFT: A screenshot of her goodbye. RIGHT: The surprise Zoom call. continued from page 26

from home since March. Perkins is the only one still on-site at the station in Southfield.

“Thank you for being an example of the kind of human being we should all be,” he said. “Thank you for being a model of integrity and grace, courage, kindness and compassion.”

The live broadcast was filled with laughter, tears and a few surprises.

There were old news clips of Sherry’s hairstyles through the years and recorded interviews with her three adult daughters, Jordan, Alex and Eden.

Sherry’s late husband, best-selling author Jeffrey Zaslow, was killed in a car crash in February 2012. Years later, she talked about that life-altering ordeal in a special segment called Still Standing and regularly featured inspiring stories of other people overcoming hardships and challenges.

“What a remarkable career you’ve had,” Alex said. “We couldn’t have asked for a better role model to guide us through this thing called life.”

“You taught us how to be a fearless, independent, strong and determined women,” added Eden.

Jordan also fought back tears during her interview.

“We’re just so grateful you’re our mom,” she said. “And we’re so proud of you.”

A surprise Zoom call was held after the broadcast with dozens of family members, friends and colleagues who shared stories and memories.

Jewish News contributor Alan “Big Al” Muskovitz was among them. He first met Sherry when he and his wife sold their condo to her and Jeff in the late 1980s. Sherry was eight months pregnant with her first daughter, Jordan, at

here’s to Oakland County Treasurer Andy Meisner’s Returning Citizens Entrepreneur Training Center has been recognized with an achievement award from the National Association of Counties. The award honors innovative, effective county government programs that strengthen services for residents. The county treasurer’s new program is an entrepreneurial development system designed to transition returning citizens from incarceration into financial empowerment through the rewards of self-employment.

28 |

JULY 9 • 2020

the time.

“Little did I know she would be responsible for the birth of my radio career,” Muskovitz said. “In 1992, she declared I’d be a perfect fit for Dick Purtan’s morning radio show. She made a call. I made an audition tape. And within days, my life and career were forever changed.”

Despite the emotional goodbye, Sherry, a member of Congregation Shaarey Zedek, says she’s looking forward to her next chapter. She’ll be staying in Michigan and plans to spend more time with her daughters and her mother in Buffalo and possibly writing a book, taking up piano or tackling other projects that come her way.

“I’m excited about the open opportunity to do what I want, when I want,” she says. “It just feels like the right time.”

The lay leadership of Temple Emanu-El’s was installed on June 26 via Zoom. Officers are President, Ruthanne Okun; Administrative Vice President, Robert Olender; Financial Vice President, Debora Renner, Engagement and Development Vice President, Jackie Bean; Religious Vice President, Stuart Trager; Treasurer, Daniel Steinhardt; Secretary, Linda Hollins; and Immediate Past President, Martin Leibowitz. Trustees are Kim Conwell-Leigh, Vickie Edwards, Liz Fallert, Richard Gold, Sandra Goldberg, David Gubow, David Hart, Steve Ingham, Robert Kahn, Robert Levitt, Aric Parr, Michael Patterson, Lance Starler and Susan Stettner. Sisterhood Co-Presidents are Rae Mandel and Robin Gold, and Brotherhood President is Harry Onickel.

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Arts&Life shopping

Fair Trade

PHOTOS COURTESY OF THUMBNAIL GALLERY

Shop

Hand-beaded African animals

LYNNE KONSTANTIN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

I

n 2012, lifelong friends Becky Riess and Kris Engle had come to a crossroads in their careers. Each had worked hard for more than 20 years — Riess taking the corporate route and Engle becoming a South Africa-based entrepreneur and travelling around the world.

They had learned a lot and earned enough, but both felt

A purchase from Thumbprint Gallery shows that a successful business can put people first.

they needed something more.

They wanted to put their individual expertise to work in a way that could help others in need.

Inspired by Engle’s adopted home of South Africa, the friends honed in on the idea of supporting fairly traded artisan companies in areas of the world greatly affected by unemployment, and to do so in a way that

A South African artisan at work

30 |

JULY 9 • 2020

recognizes the entrepreneurial spirit.

“Even though apartheid is over, the country was left badly scarred,” Riess said. The unemployment rate for South African women ages 18 to 35 is approximately 40 percent.

With Engle managing business in South Africa and Riess handling things in the U.S., the pair launched Thumbprint Artifacts as a wholesaler, offering unique home decor and gift items handcrafted by South African women and sold to the U.S. market. Hand-beaded jewelry, hand-roasted coffee by Himelhoch’s, ceramics, felt baby booties, body butter — and Judaica — are among the items offered.

Buoyed by interest from buyers at the semi-annual NY Now gift show — the largest

in the country — the business in 2018 opened a small shop in Detroit’s Eastern Market called Thumbprint Gallery.

Now, inspired by the COVID19 quarantine, the friends have launched a website, thumbprintdetroit.com. “Our goal here at the Thumbprint fulfillment and gallery is to hire women from Detroit who we can train and employ. Now we’re helping women on two continents,” Riess said.

Every year at the gift show, a group of women shopping for items for a North Carolina temple would stop by Riess’ booth and ask if she had any Judaica.

“They loved what we offered, and they loved the idea of supporting fair trade, but there wasn’t anything for their specific needs,” Riess said.

So Riess got in touch with

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a design team to create a collection of Judaica items — Shabbat candles, tapers, pillars and votives, plus hamsas, all found in Thumbprint’s White on White and Hamsa collections. The pieces are assembled and hand-painted by artisans in South Africa and sold at museum and Judaica gift shops throughout the country, including the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. Thumbprint Artifacts also has pieces in about 400 retail shops across the country, including the Smithsonian and Cleveland Museum gift shops.

“We are the only gift shop in Detroit that is a member of the Fair Trade Federation,” Riess said. The North American organization stands for the mark of trust bestowed upon businesses and business leaders who are dedicated to fair trade practices.

“The FTF does a great job of vetting out businesses,” Riess said. “It’s not just about making sure artisans are receiving a fair wage, which it does. But it’s also about the working conditions, respecting the culture the artisans live in, protecting children. Companies are protecting the environment and creating sustainable processes.”

The support that fair trade provides translates into empowerment and self-sufficiency that helps the artisans

care for themselves, their families — and contribute to their communities.

“Being part of the Federation is pretty powerful,” Riess added. “It allows us to communicate with like-minded people. Many parts of the country are more attuned to fair trade.

Detroit is very Detroit-centric, which is fabulous. But we are a small segment of the fair trade community.

“We hope people will come in and ask about our products, where they are made, and learn about the people who make them, their cultures, their conditions. Every object is not only beautiful, but meaningful.

Every object has a story behind it.”

When Thumbprint Artifacts was launched, the entrepreneurs worked with about 60 artisans. Today, that number has increased to 500 — about 90 percent of whom are women, primarily single mothers who support an extended family.

“We purchase each piece outright, so we know everything is fair,” Riess said. “It can take up to 12 people to handpaint a single candle. So, for every candle we purchase for sale in the U.S. — we have no idea how many people we are helping. But it’s a lot. It makes it very easy for me to get up in the morning and sell some candles.”

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Arts&Life

Canterbury Village

family fun

Jewish Pop-Up COURTESY TESY OF JARC

Drive-Ins With summer in full swing, Jewish pop up drive-in theaters are gaining traction.

CORRIE COLF STAFF WRITER

F

olks got to take a trip back in time, June 28, as the Jewish Community Center’s parking lot transformed into The 15 Mile Drive-In Theater, airing Ferris Bueller’s Day Off at 9:30 p.m.

The idea for The 15 Mile Drive-In Theater was created by Jackson Partrich, 19, and Daniel Sternberg, 19, who both reside in Bloomfield Hills and are rising juniors at the University of Michigan. Partrich and Sternberg both have an interest in entrepreneurship and thought a summer drive-in theater was a perfect way to bring the community together.

“I started thinking about what people are going to be able to do throughout the summer and I thought about how a lot of movie theaters might remain closed, and I just had the idea of bringing a drive-in theater to West Bloomfield,” Sternberg told the JN. “We wanted to bring the community together and have something to do as a family.”

Partrich, who is an alumnus of Frankel Jewish Academy, is Daniel familiar with the JCC Sternberg and thought their

32 |

JULY 9 • 2020

parking lot would be the perfect spot to host their drive-in theater. The guys reached out to Brian Siegel, CEO of the JCC, who loved the idea and thought it was a great opportunity to bring a drive-in to West Bloomfield.

Sternberg and Partrich have partnered with not only the JCC for the event, but also West Bloomfield School District and Fleece and Thank You, an organization that makes and provides fleece blankets to children battling life-threatening illnesses in hospitals.

Since there is a limit on how many people can gather due to the coronavirus pandemic, tickets are sold per person, instead of per car. The ticket price for two people is $30, three people is $40 and four or more is $50.

You can purchase tickets by heading to their Facebook page or website.

The cars are parked with ample amount of space between each one to ensure that the theater is adhering to COVID-19 guidelines. Attendees were told what FM radio station to tune into to transform their vehicles into their own personal movie theater.

Proceeds from the drive-in theater benefit Fleece and Thank You and the JCC. Fleece and Thank You also sold warm blankets at the theater for those who forgot them.

The movies are aired on a giant, inflatable 55-foot screen. The guys have purchased all the movies on DVD and are obtaining the movie licensing.

Jackson All cars receive a free Partrich bag of popcorn from Detroit Popcorn with a choice of a water or pop. Other snacks and candy are available for purchase at the theater, including kosher pizza from Jerusalem Pizza and Domino’s Pizza. All snacks orders are placed by text and then delivered to the cars.

Partrich and Sternberg plan to continue to air movies throughout the summer on Thursday and Saturday nights. They hope to feature a mix of throwback movies, such as Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, and animated movies, such as Frozen or The Incredibles, to bring families together throughout the community.

“I think it is very important for families to get out of the house, bring their kids out and just have a glimpse of normal life,” Sternberg said. “The drive-in provides a space to distract yourself and put a smile on your family’s faces.”

JOHN WOLFSOHN/GETTY IMAGES

Carl Reiner at the Aero Theatre in Santa Monica, Calif., Aug. 3, 2017.

The Probate Law Firm of

Carl Reiner, Consummate Old Jew Telling Jokes, Dies At 98 (JTA) — Until the last day of his life, Carl Reiner was tweeting about some of his favorite topics: politics, comedy and the twists and turns he experienced over decades as one of the world’s greatest living funnymen.

Reiner died Monday, June 29, at 98, hours after reiterating his dismay that Donald Trump had become president, days after posing with his daughter Annie and longtime friend Mel Brooks in Black Lives Matter shirts and 70 years after his first television appearance.

The Bronx native, the son of Jewish immigrant parents, called himself a “Jewish atheist” and said his faith in God had ended with the Holocaust.

After serving in the U.S. Army during World War II, he began a long and varied show business career. He created The Dick Van Dyke Show, formed a comedy duo with Brooks that was highlighted in their album the “2000 Year Old Man,” wrote screenplays for Steve Martin films including The Jerk and, in his later years, voiced characters in animated films.

DETROIT MEMORIES In 1999, Jewish News Contributing Writer Suzanne Chessler interviewed Reiner, in which he shared some memories of Detroit. He told her about the time when he was in a Broadway road company of Call Me Mister in 1947, and

Detroit was the last stop before Chicago. “My son Robbie (producer-director-actor Rob Reiner) was 5 weeks old. There were two weeks in Detroit and Cleveland when I did not see my little son, but my wife brought him out to Chicago because that was a six-month run. We stayed at a hotel, and that’s where he started to grow.”

An avid baseball fan, Reiner told Chessler about one of his all-time favorite players.

“When I was a kid, I knew every Detroit ballplayer because I followed every team in the league,” he said. “When Hank Greenberg, a Jewish kid from the Bronx, became an idol not only in Detroit but in the whole baseball community, I followed his career.”

HIS ‘KEY TO LONGEVITY’ In a 2015 documentary about longevity that Reiner hosted, he offered his own secrets for long life. “The key to longevity,” he said, “is to interact with other people.”

In the documentary, Reiner also offered insight into what made him funny.

“I think it’s partly your genes,” he said. “Also, it’s your environment. Also, if you have a funny bone; if you grew up in a family with a sense of humor.”

Reiner’s wife of 64 years, Estelle, died in 2008. Along with Rob and Annie, he is survived by a son Lucas, their children and their children’s children.

Jaden, your mom and I are so proud of you.

The way you handled waiting for your Bar Mitzvah taught us all a lesson on patience.

Now the time is here and you will be called to read out of the Torah this weekend!

We know you will be amazing!

We included this photo of you with your siblings because you really are the best big brother and we all love you.

Love Mom, Dad, Noah, Stevie and Eddie

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JULY 9 • 2020

| 33

movie review

Jon Stewart Still ‘Irresistible’?

Is

DANIEL MCFADDEN/FOCUS FEATURES

Arts&Life

The Jewish comedian’s new movie is warmed-over political satire.

ANDREW LAPIN EDITOR

34 |

JULY 9 • 2020

Washington Goes To Mr. Smith.

Stewart casts his old Daily Show correspondent Steve Carell as Gary Zimmer, an NPR-loving Democratic strategist bemoaning his party’s inability to connect with white Midwestern voters in the wake of Trump’s near-sweep of the Rust Belt in 2016. When Gary sees a viral video of a melancholy army colonel (Chris Cooper) taking on his rural Wisconsin town’s new immigrant registration policy at a town hall, he’s instantly smitten. This gun-toting, plainspoken veteran, he believes, is the Democrats’ ticket back to the White House.

Gary’s demographic experiment becomes all-out war when his bleached-blonde Republican rival (Rose Byrne) catches wind of the race and throws her party’s campaign muscle behind the incumbent mayor, transforming the town overnight into a grotesque carnival of outside money.

And the national media causes further trouble once they pick up on the scoop; many cablenews talking heads play themselves as they sputter through

various sound-bite inanities.

Influence in politics has long been one of Stewart’s biggest hobbyhorses, and he relishes the chance to lay into the gulf between these yammering Washington elites and the close-knit, largely white, supposedly apolitical group of voters they’re courting. The film’s best bits send up the emptiness of this machine.

When Gary berates his staff by yelling “I need some Hispanics!” over and over,

“Irresistible” is available to rent from most VOD platforms.

DANIEL MCFADDEN/FOCUS FEATURES

W

here have you gone, Jon Stewart? Our nation turns its lonely eyes to you. (Woo woo woo.)

The former Daily Show host, and longtime torch-bearer for a certain brand of caustic Jewish political humor, has been largely absent from public eye since he took his bow from the show in 2015.

His timing was auspicious: Stewart’s final episode was also the same night that Donald Trump made his debut on the debate stage in the Republican primaries, in the process further eroding the line between politics and comedy, news and “fake news.”

Now Stewart is back with something that isn’t news at all. But it wants to be.

Irresistible, a new movie he wrote and directed (his second film after the 2014 Iran-set drama Rosewater), is a political satire set in the post-Trump era. It follows what happens when national political strategists descend on a mayoral election in small-town Wisconsin, trying to pervert it to their own agendas. Call it

he turns on a dime with the classic political apology: “I am profoundly disappointed in the comments that I just made.”

Irresistible has another disappointment in it, though.

Much of the movie seems like it’s rooted in the version of politics Stewart made fun of for two decades on the Daily Show, instead of what it’s become in the five years since. The ugliest aspects of post-2016 campaigning — the active voter suppression, the bigoted dog-whistles, the willful ignorance of basic facts — go largely unremarked-upon here. In their place is material about Super PACs and bothsides emptiness that feels so … last election cycle.

We can’t really blame Stewart, though. Reality outpaced satire long ago, and it’s hard to mock the political establishment without becoming a part of it. For a comic like him, who’s usually so good about keeping his finger on the pulse, this opportunity must have been pretty irresistible.

A Democratic strategist (Steve Carell) tries to convince a Wisconsinite (Mackensie Davis) to back her father’s mayoral campaign in Jon Stewart’s “Irresistible”.

Arts&Life

OFFICIAL TRAILER HBO

celebrity jews

NATE BLOOM COLUMNIST

THE PEACOCK SPREADS ITS WINGS The new Peacock network premieres “for everybody” on July 15.

Everybody comes with qualifiers.

Certain cable company customers are already getting Peacock with their subscriptions. “Everybody” can see some of the shows (with ads) if they have an internet connection. If you pay $5 per month, you can see everything on Peacock. Peacock is connected to NBC, and many old NBC series will be on the channel.

Peacock original series

On The Go virtual events | learnings

STAYING CONNECTED At this time of social distancing, the Jewish News will try to bring awareness to events/learning situations offered online by synagogues, temples and community organizations.

BOOK TALK ONGOING The Jewish Theological Seminary originally aired a talk by author Laura Arnold Leibman on “The Art of the Jewish Family” on June 22, 2020.

View at jtsa.edu/art-of-the-jewishfamily.

LIVESTREAM CONCERT 8 PM, JULY 11 The Chamber Music Society of Detroit will present another chamber music concert: Julia Bruskin on cello and Aaron Wunch on piano. View at CMDetroit.org.

starting on July 15 include The Capture, Brave New World and Intelligence. Capture is a six-episode British series that aired in the U.K. last fall and got great reviews.

It focuses on a British veteran of the Afghan War who is a suspect in a horrible domestic crime. Ron Perlman, 70, has a supporting role.

Brave New World stars Alden Ehrenreich, 30. It’s based on the famous 1932 dystopian novel by Aldous Huxley. Ehrenreich was discovered by Steven Spielberg, who chanced to see him in a funny bat mitzvah video. Ehrenreich is talented, but he’s had the misfortune to

AN AMERICAN CLASSIC 2-3:30 PM, JULY 14 The Jewish Historical Society of Michigan will present Barbara Cohn, co-author of The Detroit Public Library: An American Classic (2017) and a master’s candidate in museum studies at Johns Hopkins University, highlighting Jewish Detroiters instrumental in the foundation and sustenance of the Detroit Public Library from the 1800s to the 1960s. Hear many surprising and inspiring stories, including the conflict between the Detroit Library Commission and the Detroit Police “Censorship Squad.”

Format: Zoom (virtual conference platform). Cost: Free for members, $18 for non-members. Register by 9 pm Monday, July 13. Instructions for joining the Zoom call will be sent the day before.

star in three big-budget films that flopped (Beautiful Creatures, Rules Don’t Apply and Solo: A Stars Wars Story).You can see him at his best, I think, in Hail, Caesar!, a Coen brothers’ film that was a critical and box-office hit.

Finally, there’s Intelligence, a six-episode British sitcom set in the U.K. David Schwimmer, 53, co-stars as Jerry Bernstein, an American National Security Agency employee who acts as a liaison to a British cybercrime unit. The first season aired in Britain last February and a second season has been ordered. Schwimmer’s ex-wife, Zoe Buckman, 35, is a Brit and they have a 9-year-old daughter.

Over on HBO, the documentary Showbiz Kids premieres on Tuesday, July 14. HBO publicity says: “[It] peels back Hollywood’s velvet curtain, shining a spotlight on the glamour and allure of working in the entertainment industry while also affording a sobering

window on the tolls that early success can take on young professionals.”

Interviewees include Mara Wilson, 32, and Evan Rachel Wood, 32. Both are the children of Jewish mothers and both were raised Jewish. Wilson’s first big role was in Mrs. Doubtfire (she was 6). She also starred in Matilda. Wood’s breakthrough role was in the film Thirteen. She was 15 when it opened.

The documentary director is Alex Winter, 54. He began as a child actor and is best remembered as “Bill” in Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventures (1990) and its 1991 film sequel. Born in the U.K., he was raised in the states by his American Jewish mother. As an adult, he’s had more success as a documentary maker than as an actor. However, he’ll hit the big screen again in August when a third Bill and Ted film adventure (co-starring Keanu Reeves as Ted) is released.

FAMILY ROOM SERIES 7:30 PM, JULY 12 The Ark in Ann Arbor presents Annie & Rod Capps, folk artists. View on the Ark’s Facebook page. Upcoming: 8 pm, July 14, enjoy Alex Cuba, singer-songwriter who performs in English and Spanish; and 8 pm, July 16, listen to Kiana June Webber, singer, formerly of Chelsea, Mich.

MEDITATION & MOVEMENT 8 PM, JULY 15 Federation’s We Need to Talk presents ttrained yoga and meditation teacher Stacy Bishop is back to once again help people relax, re-center and recharge. This class is open to all ages, and no experience is necessary. Info: Amy Wayne, (248) 203-1483, awayne@ jfmd.org.

WIND-DOWN WEDNESDAY 7 PM, JULY 15 Sib4Sib is hosting a Facebook live event featuring Dr. Jackie Issner, Ph.D,. licensed psychologist and Sib4Sib clinical adviser. Wind-down Wednesday is an opportunity to learn more about Sib4Sib and participate in a family-friendly mindfulness activity, like connecting with ones you love. On the Sib4Sib Facebook page. More info and to add to your calendar: Sib4Sib.org/wdw.

READER ALERT ONGOING Southfield Public Library Summer Reading Program has begun. All summer programs will be virtual. Log your reading, complete challenges, play games and earn badges when you register at southfieldlibrary. readsquared.com.

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

JULY 9 • 2020

| 35

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| 37

Soul

of blessed memory

A Community Leader

J

ohn E. Jacobs, 73, of Huntington Woods, died July 1, 2020.

Throughout his life, John Jacobs made it his mission to fight for those who could not fight for themselves.

A native Detroiter, John attended Mumford High School, graduated from John Jacobs Michigan State University and earned his juris doctor from the University of Michigan Law School.

Along the way, he met and married Gilda; together they raised two beautiful daughters, Jessica and Rachel.

John grew up at Temple Beth El, but his family did not take an active role

in the Jewish community.

As an adult, he realized that he missed having a Jewish education. He and Gilda made the decision to create a strong Jewish environment for their daughters and joined Temple Emanu-El. John ultimately assumed the presidency of the congregation.

He also served on the boards of the Jewish Community Center, Jewish Vocational Services and Tamarack Camps and is a past president of Jewish Family Service and the Michigan Regional Advisory Board of the Anti-Defamation League.

Additionally, he was chair of the Jewish Eldercare Services Committee

(COJES), the Federation Community Services Division and the Government Relations Oversight Committee (GROC).

John had been particularly drawn to serve in places where he felt he could make a difference. In the case of COJES, he recognized the needs of our Jewish elderly and sought to coordinate services for them. At JFS, he felt compelled to help those who were financially challenged or who suffered from domestic abuse, helping to make the Windows Program a reality. At ADL, he helped fight for those who did not have a voice, who would otherwise have been forced to work on Jewish holidays.

In his role with GROC, he lobbied legislators for financial support for the continued on page 40

38 |

JULY 9 • 2020

IN LOVING MEMORY OF

Dr. Abraham G. Gotman

It is with deep sadness that we share the passing of a beloved, son, brother, husband, Physician, father, grandfather, civil servant and friend Dr. Abraham G. Gotman. He passed peacefully the afternoon of June 27th, 2020 in his beautiful home surrounded by his entire loving family. While his passing was sudden to us all, he went to heaven peacefully and on his own terms.

He lived to be 86 years young, born on March 4th 1934. He is survived by his Wife, Elsa Gotman, sister Haya Inai, three daughters and their spouses Doctor Sandra Gotman and Enrique Mechulan, Miriam Hovey-Gotman, Doctor Marsha and Lenny Black, and eight grandchildren, Regine, Aaron, Elyse, Nathan, Jessica, Rachel, Eden, and Emma along with the countless number of babies he delivered throughout his lifetime.

Born in Kolki, Poland in ‘34, to Luba and Leibel. Together they immigrated to Havana, Cuba in ‘37. When he was 13, his younger

sister Haya Inai (‘47) who is married to Ruven Inai and lives Haifa, Israel, was born. At 16 he was accepted and attended the worldrenowned Universidad de Ciencias Médicas de La Habana where he would graduate (‘59).

He met his wife at the age of 18, six years later they would be wed at Temple Americano in Havana (‘58). The next year his first child and future doctor was born, Sandra Rachel (‘59). A year later, he took the three of them along with his in-laws, Max and Rosa, and brother in-law, Sammy, to immigrate to the United States (‘60). He would finally practice medicine as an obstetrician-gynecologist for 37 years in Detroit, Michigan. Throughout his prosperous career as an OBGYN he delivered thousands upon thousands of babies. He would come to have his second child, Miriam Rebecca (‘62) and his third child Marsha Lynn (‘67) in Detroit, Michigan. He retired to Bal Harbor, Florida (‘97). From ‘90 to ‘02, he was blessed with eight healthy, educated, and loving grandchildren; Regine (‘90), Aaron (‘93), Elyse (‘93), Nathan (‘95), Jessica (‘95), Rachel (‘98), Eden (‘98), Emma (‘02). He participated and donated to countless charities and served on the Bal Harbor Police Board of Trustees, fighting to protect those who protected the pubic. At the age of 70 (’04) he had his Bar Mitzvah at Temple Menorah given by his Friends and Family.

Doctor “Hume” Gotman was larger than life. He was a man of great moral character who lived his life rooted in Jewish-Zionist

values. A self-made one of a kind success who came into the world on the brink of chaos and with no fiscal means, he escaped two historical atrocities, the Shoa and a political revolution.

As an intellectual, he operated on a higher frequency than most, as he was always ten steps ahead of the rest. In life, he was a philanthropist and always operated on the principal that you only truly keep that which you give away. His life was a gift from hashem to all of us. Lastly, his greatest hobby in his life was to sing. He sang classical, Hispanic music all around the world as he traveled and was often mistaken for famous Cuban singers.

He was laid to rest on Monday June 29th, 2020 at Mount Sinai Memorial Park in Miami, Florida where he will now rest with Hashen for all eternity. Please feel free to reach out to the family to send your condolences and share your stories, for as much as we all mourn his passing, in truth we should all celebrate his life.

If you wish to honor Dr. Gotman please make a donation on his behalf to either of his two favorite causes: • To honor Abe’s heart make a donation to FIDF: https://www.fidf.org/covid19/takeaction/donate/general • To honor Abe’s brain make a donation to Mt. Sani Medical Center of Miami https:// www.msmc.com/donate/imoiho/

Zeda, your family loves you to the moon and back and your lessons, memory, and spirit live on within each and every one of us for forever.

JULY 9 • 2020

| 39

Soul

of blessed memory COMMUNITY LEADER continued from page 38

Jewish community, ensuring that state dollars were allocated for Jews as well as Chaldeans and Muslims.

He also fought to strengthen the Oak Park/Southfield Jewish communities, recognizing the important role that they play in our broad Jewish community.

The need to support others was at the very heart of everything he did. From the time he made his first gift to the Allied Jewish Campaign to the present day, John worked to build a better future for everyone.

Mr. Jacobs is survived by his beloved wife of 49 years, Gilda Jacobs; cherished child, Jessica (Joshua) Steinhart; son-in-law, Todd Waldman. He was the loving

Papa of Jacob Waldman, Lyle and Ruby Steinhart; dear brother of Elizabeth Jacobs and Charles Jacobs; brotherin-law of Karen and Robert Wildau; also survived by loving nieces, a nephew and a world of friends.

He was the father of the late Rachel H. Jacobs; devoted son of the late Hyman and the late Lillian Zalenko.

Contributions may be made to the Rachel Jacobs Fund at JVS, Jewish Hospice and Chaplaincy Network or a charity of one’s choice.

Interment was at Machpelah Cemetery. Arrangements by Ira Kaufman Chapel.

Look for an in-depth remembrance of John Jacobs in the July 16 issue.

Remembering

John Jacobs John Jacobs was a passionate and strong leader in our community, and a tireless advocate for the people we serve.

A dedicated member of the JVS Human Services Board of Trustees, John strengthened the agency, the Jewish community and our community at large.

John will be greatly missed, but never forgotten.

40 |

JULY 9 • 2020

OLGA ADLER, 97, of Farmington Hills, died June 29, 2020.

She is survived by her daughters and sons-in-law, Judith Scheinfield and Harvey Babcock, Vivian and Michael Sanfield; grandchildren, Adam (Rebecca) Scheinfield, Jordan Scheinfield, Carly Sanfield and Danielle Sanfield (fiancé, Matthew Schwartz); great-grandchildren, Alexander Scheinfield, Cruz Scheinfield and Kaia Scheinfield.

Mrs. Adler was the beloved wife of the late Ernest Adler.

As a survivor, she was predeceased by all her family.

Interment took place at Oakview Cemetery in Royal Oak. Contributions may be made to the Holocaust Memorial Center, the American Cancer Society or Jewish Hospice.

Arrangements by Dorfman Chapel.

SAMUEL “SANDY” CRANE, 67, of Farmington Hills, died June 27, 2020.

He is survived by his wife, Karen Crane; son, Marc (Hannah Borman) Crane; grandchildren, Claire Crane; brother, Michael Crane (Lisa Chapman); sisters, Lisa Crane Schiff and Lori Crane (Tim) Ryan; nieces and nephews, Ilene Crane (Gabe Neistein), Sarah Crane (Sam Liveson), Taryn Schiff and Adam Schiff.

Mr. Crane was the loving brother of the late Daniel Crane; the devoted son of the late Bud and the late Ilene Crane.

Interment was at Adat Shalom Memorial Park.

Contributions may be made to the Karmanos Cancer Institute, Lung Cancer Research Institute, Lung Cancer Research, 4100 John R, NCO6DS, Detroit, MI 48201, karmanos. org. Arrangements by Ira Kaufman Chapel.

ROBERT I. LESSER, 95, of Bloomfield Hills, died peacefully with his daughter at his side, June 27, 2020.

He is survived by his loving daughter, Ellen Lesser Siegel (Dr. Les Siegel); cherished stepchildren, Craig Zamler (Kim Curran Zamler), Dr. David R. Zamler (Deidre Zamler), Diane Zamler Henninger; his beloved grandchildren, Dr. Michael J. Siegel (Dr. Bianca Siegel), Eric Siegel, Steven Siegel, Lyndsey Desmond (Kyle Desmond), Kerri Burr (Peter Burr), Casey Agnew (Chris Agnew), Shelley Cain (George Cain), Julie Zamler, Joseph Henninger (Kaitlyn Henninger), Dayna Henninger, Daniel Zamler, Sarah Zamler, Noah Zamler; great-great-grandchildren, Sebastian Siegel, Oliver Siegel, Dylan Desmond, Ryley Desmond, Charles Burr, Avery Burr, Ben Agnew, Allison Henninger, Joey Henninger; many nieces and nephews, Dr. James

Lesser (Joani Lesser), Dr. Lanny Lesser (Deborah Lesser), Jeffrey Lesser (Sheryl Lesser), Gail Offen (Dr. Randle Samuels), and Jerry Offen (Karen Offen); many great-nieces, great-nephews, greatgreat-nieces and greatgreat-nephews.

The family is deeply grateful and thank the devoted and loving caregivers and staff of Sunrise of Bloomfield, the Community VNA Hospice and Jewish Hospice & Chaplaincy Network, especially Rabbi Joseph Krakoff and Natalie Rosenfield.

Mr. Lesser was preceded in death by his beloved wives, Elaine Hochstim Lesser and Lois Zamler Lesser; beloved parents, Jack and Anna Lesser; brother, Dr. Morton B. Lesser (Elaine Lesser); sister, Hyla Offen (the late Sam Offen); daughters, Nancy Lesser Eisner and Carolyn Jane Lesser; stepson, Sherwin E. Zamler (Monica Bisignano Zamler).

Interment was at Beth El Memorial Park.

Contributions may be made to Children’s Leukemia Foundation of Michigan, 27240 Haggerty Road, Suite E15, Farmington Hills, MI 48331, 800-825-2536, leukemiamichigan. org; Jewish Hospice & Chaplaincy Network, 6555 W. Maple, West Bloomfield, MI 48322, 248-592-2687, jewishhospice.org; or to a charity of one’s choice. Arrangements

by Kaufman Chapel.

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continued on page 42 JULY 9 • 2020

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Mary Been 20 Tamuz July 12, 2020 Diane Krosnick Dr. Robert S. Laufer Nathan Bell Esther Brown Nathan Moehlman Jacob Berman Siegfried Hess Roslyn Janet Samet Alvin Bez Max Karol Etta M Tatken Sanford Louis Coleman Irving M. Moskovitz Alan Jeffrey Tkatch Jordan Brian Gunsher Oscar Sherman Bessie Krakofsky Edith Strom 7DPX] -XO\ Isadore Levin Hannah Been 7DPX] -XO\ Irving Rosenthal Boruch Birman Phoebe Budnick Eva Scherr Ida Cohen Lena Firestone Sam Stoller Albert Goldfarb Samuel Glickman Louis Jack Weiss Louis Gunsberg Bessie Horowitz Avrum Seymour Harris 26 Tamuz July 18, 2020 Benjamin Krass Mendel Luckman Helen Brode Minnie Roberts Dorothy Harrison Gertrude Bell Schneider David Moses Esther Kunin Bernard B. Weinberg Wilder Freda Nyman David Saks Irving York 24 Tamuz July 16, 2020 Ben Shaffer 22 Tamuz July 14, 2020 Albert A. Craine Joel Siwek Morris Trivax Pinchas N. Engler Philip Weiss Sadie Weber Joseph Fridenberg Philip Zelickman Dora Weinenger Samuel Gold Lillian R. Holtz 25 Tamuz July 17, 2020 Blyuma Kharakh Dorothy Backhaut Betty Komer Mollie Baschin School for Boys â&#x20AC;˘ Beth Jacob School for Girls â&#x20AC;˘ Bais Yehudah Preschool Weiss Family Partners Detroit â&#x20AC;˘ Kollel Bais Yehudah â&#x20AC;˘ Maalot Detroit P.O. Box 2044 â&#x20AC;˘ 6RXWKoHOG 0, â&#x20AC;˘ 248-557-6750 â&#x20AC;˘ www.YBY.org

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of blessed memory continued from page 41

Monuments and Markers Bronze Markers Memorial Duplicating Cemetery Lettering & Cleaning

Our State. Our Town.

Soul

STEVEN GERARD PARDO, 50, of Livonia, died suddenly on June 27,, 2020.

Steve is survived by his wife of 18 years, Leslie Kollin Pardo; his parents, Marilyn and Paul Pardo; sister, Christine (Scott) Updike; in-laws, Arnold and Sharyanne Kollin; brothersin-law, Andy (Elena) Kollin and Jimmy (Sheryll) Kollin; nieces and nephews, Max Kollin, Elijah Kollin, Katelyn Wehrle, Sophie Kollin, Quinn Wehrle, Lily Kollin, and Carly and Emma Updike.

Steve was a veteran journalist for more than 25 years, spending more than 22 years with the Detroit News, covering high-profile legal cases including the controversial Detroit water and sewer shutoffs of 2014. During his tenure with the News, Steve was the Breaking News Editor, Food Editor and, in 1999, while covering holiday shopping at Fairlane, met a lovely young public relations executive and his future wife, Leslie Kollin.

This was a man who loved life. Steve didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t just cook, he entered and won high-stakes chili cookoffs. He won two Greek Iron Chef competitions.

He wisely became a competition judge to taste the areaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s best BBQ, fruit pies and pizza.

He was an officiant at numerous weddings. Steve bravely wore a kilt to his wedding, a top hat to all formal events and a red clown nose when he went to the circus.

In Steveâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s passing, the Pardo and Kollin families have lost a person who loved family above all, a man who created traditions with nieces and

nephews and always found ways big and small to connect and help with parents, aunts and uncles and distant relatives. In fact, no matter the distance, Steve found a way to visit and celebrate family with relatives worldwide. A private funeral was held on June 30, 2020, officiated

by Rabbi Paul Yedwab of Temple Israel. To best honor the memory of Steve Pardo, donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t take things too seriously; spend time with your family and, if you feel compelled, please donate to the charity of your choice in Steveâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s name. Arrangements by Ira Kaufman Chapel.

ELEANOR SHAPIRO, 101, of Southfield, died June 26, 2020.

She was born on May 9, 1919, the daughter of Joseph and Ida Gluchowsky. She was the loving sister of Lillian Lebeaux and Pearl Jaffee.

Eleanor married Herman Shapiro in 1942 and was married for 73 years until his death. Mrs. Shapiro loved her work for the City of Hope and raised funds for them by dancing at various conventions. She enjoyed writing songs and poems for every occasion.

She is survived by her sons and daughters-in-law, Robert and Niki Shapiro, Marty and Elaine Shapiro; grandchildren, Brian and Amy Shapiro, Dana and David Serlin, Cory and Samantha Shapiro, Eric and Robyn Shapiro; great-grandchildren, Jordyn and Jonah Shapiro, Lucy and Olivia Serlin, Dylan and Zachery Shapiro, Selma and Johnny

Shapiro; her sister-in-law, Lenore Shapiro; nieces, nephews, loving friends and caretakers.

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

Contributions may be made to City of Hope or a charity of oneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s choice. Arrangements by Dorfman Chapel.

BARBARA WOJCIK, 87, of Novi, died June 27, 2020. She is survived by her son, Allen Pechenikl; daughter and son-inlaw, Nancy and Burt Shnitzler; brother, Richard Budson; sister, Susan Fink; grandchild, Morganne Pechenik.

Mrs. Wojcik was the beloved wife of the late Henry Wojcik; the mother of the late Ruth Ann Pechenik; the sister-in-law of the late Allen Fink. Interment took place at Clover Hill Park Cemetery in Birmingham. Contributions may be made to the Detroit Institute of Arts or a charity of oneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s choice. Arrangements by Dorfman Chapel.

LORETTA SIEGEL ZIEGELMAN, 81, of Sarasota, Fla., died June 26, 2020. She graduated from the University of Michigan in 1960 with a bachelor of arts in early education and then from Wayne State University with an M.S.W.

degree. Loretta received the gift of a lung transplant on April 10, 2010. She is survived by her husband of 61 years, Dr. Seymour Ziegelman; children, Sharon Ziegelman, Julie Ziegelman and Daryl (Cindy) Ziegelman; grandchildren, Steven (Carly) Betel, Melanie Betel, Ahava â&#x20AC;&#x153;Theaâ&#x20AC;? Jackman, Beatrix Jackman, Sam and Evan Ziegelman; great-granddaughter, Aurora Betel. Mrs. Ziegelman was the loving grandmother of the late Theol Ray Jackman III; the devoted daughter of the late David and the late Sarah Siegel; the beloved sister of the late Richard Siegel; the dear sisterin-law of the late Susan Siegel.Â

Interment was at Beth El Memorial Park Cemetery. To honor Loretta, please register to give the gift of life by becoming an organ donor. Contributions may be made to Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation, 230 E. Ohio St., Suite 304, Chicago, IL 60611-3201, pulmonaryfibrosis. org; St. Jude Childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Research Hospital, 501 St. Jude Place, Memphis, TN 38105, stjude.org; or to a charity of oneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s choice.

Arrangements by Ira Kaufman Chapel.

CORRECTION The obituary for Harry Shecter (June 11) should have indicated that his date of death was May 28, 2020.

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Soul

continued from page 43

of blessed memory

My Carl Reiner Story ALAN MUSKOVITZ CONTRIBUTING WRITER

L

egendary writer, actor, comedian, director and producer Carl Reiner passed away peacefully from natural causes at his Beverly Hills home on June 30. He was 98.

I had the high honor of interviewing and meeting the beloved creative genius 19 years ago, Sept. 6, 2001, just five days before 9/11.

Reiner traveled to Detroit to entertain a gathering of the Detroit American Friends of Bar-Ilan University (BIU) in Israel. I was a member of the local young leadership committee overseen by

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JULY 9 • 2020

the late Les Goldstein, the Midwest director of BIU. Prior to his arrival from Los Angeles, Reiner called into the Dick Purtan show on WOMC to promote the event.

He could not have been more engaging or humble, a real mensch. At the time, the then nearly 80-year old Reiner reflected on the aging process saying: “I check on people who are older than me to find out what’s in store for me.”

When directing George Burns in the movie Oh God, Reiner recalled: “I used to question him every day about every part of his life when he was 83-4, knowing that

Carl Reiner and Al Muskovitz

hopefully I would get there some day and know what to expect.” You can listen to the interview on my Laugh with Big Al YouTube channel.

The photograph of Reiner and myself was taken the evening of the Bar-Ilan event. At the time, Carl was nearing 80 and I was nearing 50, both in age and pounds overweight.

My only regret that night was missing an opportunity to impress Carl Reiner’s agent who had tagged along with him from L.A.: George Shapiro, the executive producer of Seinfeld. I was certain Shapiro would see me as the next George Costanza.

Nineteen years later, I’m still the same old Alan Muskovitz.

Raskin VIA BISTRO LE BLISS FACEBOOK

the best of everything

French- Inspired

Deliciousness

Bistro Le Bliss will soon celebrate its second anniversary.

W

hen he left Latvia in 1995, he was only 17 years old and, by age 25, he had his first venture as the chef/owner of a restaurant here in America.

Today, Yakov Fleysher is the sole owner/ chef as he soon celebrates the second anniversary of his restaurant, Bistro Le Bliss, on Maple and Orchard Lake Road in West Bloomfield.

He had been sous chef at the Franklin Grill, Café Rendezvous and Fiddler where Danny Raskin Senior Columnist Yakov earned five more years of dedicated knowledge of Eastern European cuisine … with invaluable kitchen prowess information while attending the prestigious Oakland Community College culinary school.

Much of his dining presentations, for which Yakov has already received many accolades, are for his inspiring presentations of French-style cooking at low prices … to go with the vast knowledge he has garnered from fine dining emporiums.

Yakov It’s noted that the Fleysher updated summer

menu includes appetizers of crispy smelt with house made remoulade, salmon rillettes, crab cakes with warm red cabbage summer slaw and whole grain beurre blanc, etc. … Yakov’s Bistro Le Bliss dinners now also include a wonderful Walleye Provencal and desserts of luscious hot fudge and French vanilla ice cream profiteroles … Did I mention Yakov’s whitefish a la meuniere, beef stroganoff royal, Entrecote de Provence, coq au vin and so many others?

There are numerous other delicious Frenchinspired dishes of which Yakov is so justly proud … Bistro Le Bliss is open Monday through Thursday, 11 a.m.-9 p.m., Friday and Saturday 11 a.m.- 10 p.m.

Bistro Le Bliss is the neighborhood restaurant that seems to be the kind that so many readers have been looking for.

MANY PEOPLE still wonder why the likes of yesteryears restaurant that opened with much success, then closed because they may have been too much ahead of their time, have not been duplicated today … Healthy Jones was owned and operated by Joan Wittenberg and husband Dr. Don Wittenberg, serving gourmet natural foods with a menu that completed the bevy of vegetables, frozen yogurts, hot dishes, juices, teas, etc. … along with a blackboard filled with specials … The “bar-

tender” concocted mixtures made with strawberries and bananas and garnished them with fresh mint leaves.

Another side of Healthy Jones was a complete grocery store for take-out health food products including frozen foods, snacks, vitamins, cosmetics, etc.

(There are still many operations like this, but never so complete.)

OLDIE BUT GOODIE … Woman: “Honey, it’s me. Are you at the club?”

Man: “Yes.” Woman: “I am at the mall and found a beautiful leather coat. It’s $3,000. Can I buy it?”

Man: “OK, if you like it so much.”

Woman: “I also stopped by a Mercedes dealership and saw the new 2020 models. Can I buy it? … Man: “How much?”

Woman: “$400,000.”

Man: “For that price I want all the options.”

Woman: “OK, I’ll see you later. I love you.”

Man: “I love you, too.”

The fellow disconnects, and the other men look at him in astonishment.

Then the man asks, “Anyone know who this phone belongs to?”

Danny’s email address is dannyraskin2132@gmail.com.

FRESH Daily Headlines

Delivered to Your Inbox. thejewishnews.com/newsletter

JULY 9 • 2020

| 45

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

Wallenberg Statue Defaced — Again

W

e are living in tumultuous times.

First, the pandemic strikes America, and our daily lives have been dramatically changed.

Then, we have experienced a series of massive protests against police brutality following the death of George Floyd at the hands of a rogue officer in Minneapolis.

While largely peaceful, unfortunately, in several cities, the Mike Smith Alene and early stages of the protests were Graham Landau accompanied by rioting, looting Archivist Chair and civil unrest, all unrelated to the reasons underlying the cause.

On May 30, 2020, the Jewish Community in Los Angeles was a target for those assorted lowlifes who saw an opportunity for vandalism.

Synagogues were defaced and several stores burned and looted. Anti-Semitic graffiti was plastered throughout the neighborhood.

One of the targets for defacing was a statue of Raoul Wallenberg. Neither a Confederate General during the Civil War nor a slave-owner or racist figure from America’s past, why target Wallenberg? Because he saved tens of thousands of Jews from the Nazis during the Holocaust.

Sad to say, this was not the first time that the Wallenberg memorial in LA that opened in 1988 was defaced by anti-Semitic graffiti. Indeed, Wallenberg statues in other part of the world, like the one in Budapest, Hungary, have also been periodically damaged by anti-Semitic vandals.

I decided to search the William Davidson Digital Archive of Jewish Detroit History to see how the JN covered the story of Wallenberg. I found that he has had an ongoing presence, cited on 419 pages, beginning with the Oct. 19, 1945, issue of the JN, and as recently as April 4, 2018.

The 2019 issues of the JN will soon be loaded into the Archive, but I’ll bet Wallenberg is mentioned at least once.

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JULY 9 • 2020

Wallenberg also has a local connection. He studied architecture at the University of Michigan and graduated in 1935.

However, it was his work during WWII that made Wallenberg extraordinary. Using his Swedish diplomatic matic credentials and every personal skill he possessed, Wallenberg saved tens of thousands of Hungarian Jews from Nazi death camps. He continued nued to help Jews until January 1945, when he was taken into custody by agents of the Soviet Union. Wallenberg was never heard from again. As reported in the Dec. 3, 2016, issue of the JN, he wass officially declared dead that year by the Swedish government.

Certainly, Wallenbergg deserves every honor bestowed upon him, from his designation as “Righteous Among the Nations” at Yad Vashem m in Israel to his honoraryy American Citizenship, which only he and nd Winston Churchill enjoy; from the University versity of Michigan’s Raoul Wallenberg Award to Raoul Wallenberg Place SW in Washington, D.C., the address for the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum; and, from the bust of Wallenberg at Congregation Beth Shalom to memorials in his name at synagogues and temples around the nation.

And, for all this, Wallenberg’s statue in LA was defaced. It is another sad sign that the fight against ignorance and anti-Semitism must still be waged.

A correction to my last Looking Back: Randee Freedman wrote to me about her grandfather, d Joseph Chodoroff, not Joseph Newman. The B and C building in Royal Oak was a formerly a “B and C Market,” not its HQ. My apologies for the errors.

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