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The Century Club
Lost in all the hype over Detroit Tiger Miguel Cabrera’s chasing milestone home run and RBI records is the fact that quietly, and dare I say modestly, I am only 70 years shy of tying Danny Raskin’s breathtaking record for years consecutively writing for the Detroit Jewish News. Spoiler alert — I actually will never tie or surpass Danny Raskin’s nearly 80-year JN journalistic record because I plan on only writing for the JN through 2090, purposely and respectfully leaving Danny’s record intact.
As you well know by now, Danny, a popular fixture in our community and our beloved colleague at the JN, passed away on July 26 at 102.
Danny was a big baseball fan, so it makes sense that when I began reflecting on his longevity in the journalism game, I immediately thought of the legendary New York Yankee Lou Gehrig, who for his durability over the course of his illustrious 17-year baseball career was nicknamed the “Iron Horse.”
Much has been written in these pages over the last couple of weeks documenting the incredible journey and menschkeit qualities Danny exhibited in both his professional and personal life.
I was particularly moved by the revelation I read in several tributes to Danny that he never wrote a negative restaurant review. If he were on the disappointing end of a poor dining experience, he spared the restaurateur any public shaming in print; unlike the vitriol we too often see on social media platforms. Danny, instead, would privately offer advice to the proprietor with the hope of returning to write about the new and improved version of the restaurant.
Danny was a witness to so much history that only a lifespan of 102 years could afford. Thanks to the Detroit Jewish News Foundation’s William Davidson Digital Archive of Jewish Detroit History, you’ve got a free time machine at your disposal to go back to the JN’s inaugural issue in 1942
Alan Muskovitz
and read Danny’s first column. Set aside a few hours and binge read a few decades of Danny.
NANCY SERLIN
TOP: Dr. Maurie Reizen enjoys a recent
lunch date with his daughter Nancy Serlin.
BOTTOM: Dick Purtan and Alan “Big Al”
Muskovitz visiting Eva Port on the occasion of her 104th birthday.
RARE TREASURES
Rare is the opportunity to write about a centurion like the amazing Danny Raskin. So, while I’m at it, allow me to give a shoutout to 102-year-old Dr. Maurice “Maurie” Reizen of Novi. The good doctor, a former director of Michigan’s Department of Public Health, is a longtime friend of my father.
I was thrilled, along with a throng of other friends and family, to witness his 102nd “distanced” birthday celebration outside his senior living community this past Feb. 24.
Maurie continues to celebrate life’s simple pleasures as was evident in a photo his daughter Nancy sent me of her beaming father on one of their recent drives to a lake for an afternoon of lunch, relaxation and reading.
Then there’s the unforgettable and unflappable Eva Port, of blessed memory. In 1992, while on the air at WOMC radio in Ferndale, I received a phone call from a Ferndale convalescent residence. They thought that since I worked on the air for Dick Purtan on 104.3 FM, it was the perfect reason for us to interview their resident, Eva Port, on the occasion of her 104th birthday. And we concurred.
Dick and I will never forget that visit with Eva. I was a little more portly at the time (OK, I was fat), and when I asked Eva what I could do to experience the kind of longevity she had been blessed with, she replied emphatically without missing a beat — “lose some weight!”
Bill Clinton was president at the time of our interview and the Monica Lewinsky scandal had been making headlines. It turns out, I underestimated how up to date Eva would be on current affairs when I asked her what she thought about Bill Clinton. Again, without a second of hesitation she shot back, “I think he thinks with his pants!”
What a treasure Eva Port was. And what a privilege to have interviewed her on her 104th birthday … and again when she turned 105, 106, 107 and 108. She passed two months after her 108th birthday, and I was just one of three in attendance at her funeral.
I’m constantly inspired by the knowledge and enthusiasm for life by folks like Danny, Eva and Maurie. I think they make a good argument for that adage that youth is indeed wasted on the young.
Alan Muskovitz is a writer, voice-over/acting talent, speaker and emcee. Visit his website at laughwithbigal.com,“Like” Al on Facebook and reach him at amuskovitz@thejewishnews.com.
The West Must Counter Iran’s Maritime Terrorism
Commercial shipping activity in the Gulf of Oman near the port of Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates was disrupted Aug. 3 after several ships in the area reported difficulties operating their GPS-based navigational systems. Meanwhile, another report came in that a ship named Asphalt Princess had been hijacked by armed assailants. The entire story can be traced to a recent incident in the Arabian Sea, in which the Iranians attacked the MV Mercer Street vessel with a suicide drone, killing the ship’s Romanian captain and a British crew member.
After the world realized, based on Israeli intelligence, that Iran was behind the attack, senior U.K. and U.S. diplomats openly accused the Islamic Republic and threatened retaliation without saying whether it would be diplomatic or military in nature. The U.S. Pentagon said all options were on the table.
The Iranians, who apparently didn’t intend on killing any of the crew, were caught in this crisis rather off guard.
The ensuing condemnations from all directions, along with the numerous threats, it seems, sparked considerable anxiety in Tehran, and the Iranian leadership, seeking to nip matters in the bud, delivered a message that any action against Iran would be met with a response, which would most likely severely disrupt oil shipments from the Persian Gulf.
It’s worth noting that some 30% of all of the world’s oil passes through this highly sensitive waterway, such that
any disarray could cause a global crisis even to the point of war with Iran. The Iranians are adept at pushing boundaries. In any crisis, they pull the rope to its absolute limit, right to the point before it snaps, in order to gauge the West’s response. When the Iranian tanker Grace1 was stopped by British forces in Gibraltar Vice Adm. in the summer of 2019, the (Ret.) Eliezer Iranians hijacked the British-
Marom JNS.org flagged tanker Stena Impero. Ultimately, the British released the Iranian vessel, and the Iranians released the British tanker, ending that particular crisis. In the latest incident, the Iranians, it appears, activated GPS jammers that disrupted several ships’ navigation systems, and armed assailants, who didn’t identify as Iranian, to hijack a vessel. The Iranians
— VICE ADM. (RET.) ELIEZER MAROM
continued on page 8
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PURELY COMMENTARY
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Editor’s Note: The JN thanks our readers for your thoughts on the July 26 passing of Danny Raskin, of blessed memory. Danny’s ‘Florida Guy’
“The Best of Everything” kind of says it all about my friend, Danny Raskin. In fact, most everyone who came in contact with Danny had the feeling that they were his friend.
Several years ago, maybe 20 or so, and upon our moving from Michigan to Florida, Danny asked me to “review” and write-up some local restaurants from Miami to Palm Beach to be “my Florida guy.” Inasmuch as Debbie and I enjoy discovering and eating at new places, Danny’s request ranked as one of those “I’d pay for this job.”
Early on, I quickly learned: • never to write a bad review, he wouldn’t use it; • always say the names of who we were eating with (especially if Detroiters); • plan on returning to that restaurant at a later date to compare from the prior visit; • “can you cut it down, I don’t have that much space for it.”; • or, “can you expand upon it as it is ‘too short.’”
Any “review” was not accepted at first draft, whereas questions would follow like “did you order off the menu,” “did others in your group have the same dishes” and on and on until we finally agreed on a final go-to-press review.
Yes, and as each draft and redraft was submitted, Danny always said, “Remember me to Debbie” … a little touch that said so much about him. And, we all know of his charitable acts for Jewish and other needy causes.
Debbie has fond memories dating back to the 1980s when she and a group of gals attended the City of Hope Convention in Los Angeles. And, lo and behold, in an adjoining room was Danny with whom the group all shared a wonderful week together.
He will be missed, spoken about and quoted by many for a long time in the future.
We will miss you, Danny.
— Dennis and Debbie Silber
A Caterer’s Hero
To the Detroit Jewish News family, my condolences to the Danny Raskin family. Danny was a groomsman in my parents, caterers Albert and Sarah Rosenberg’s wedding party in which I have a picture of Danny giving my father a push down the synagogue aisle.
I started out my career as the caterer at Adat Shalom Synagogue beginning in 1972. From that moment, I had the opportunity of becoming a new friend of Danny, which I will cherish forever!
Blessed memory for Danny Raskin.
— Jeffrey Lee Rosenberg
A True Legend
I worked with Danny for more than 20 years at the Detroit Jewish News. When I first arrived as a local columnist and special sections editor, it didn’t take long for Danny to ingratiate himself with his sense of humor and knowledge of everything and everybody in Detroit. I then became editor of Style magazine, a secular lifestyle publication at the JN, and our friendship grew.
In the ’90s, political correctness was not a big issue, and Danny was a flirt — he would always compliment the waitresses and the JN sales staff.
Danny and I bonded over our love of candy — especially his stash that he kept in a drawer. Danny’s licorice was the best, and he tied it with a rubber band after opening the bag. He knew I loved it, but he chastised me whenever it was left open. He always stopped by the office to tell me when the stash was replenished. Once, I was in the drugstore buying candy, and I didn’t notice Danny behind me. When I went to pay for my $20 order of candy, Danny rushed up and treated me!
Danny liked to drive when we went to events. One time on I-696, we were pulled over by the Southfield police for speeding. He told me he would handle it. The officer came up to the window, and Danny introduced himself. “Oh, you’re Danny Raskin,” said the officer. No ticket. “You’re a legend,” he said.
Yes, Danny, you are and were a legend.
—Carla Schwartz Carla Schwartz currently lives in Florida and has a blog, www.motownsavvy.com.
For more on Danny Raskin, please see “Looking Back” on page 54.
MARITIME TERRORISM continued from page 6 apparently want to show the West that they possess a variety of capabilities in the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman, and that if the West decides to act, as its leaders have suggested, Tehran has a diverse array of responses at its disposal.
RESPONSE NEEDED
There’s no doubt whatsoever that this crisis with Iran necessitates a Western response. Iran’s actions are maritime terrorism for all intents and purposes and contravene international law. The West has more than a few diplomatic tools at its disposal for deterring the Iranians, which must now be implemented.
In the background, meanwhile, the Biden administration and the other signatory countries (P5+1) want to bring Iran back to the negotiating table and renew the original Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) nuclear deal.
The talks in Vienna were paused to allow the Iranians to finish the process of replacing their president and are supposed to recommence in the coming days. Will Iran’s actions and the West’s interests prevent Western countries, spearheaded by the United Kingdom, from retaliating against Tehran’s terroristic activities? Time will tell.
Vice Adm. (Ret.) Eliezer Marom
served as commander of the Israeli Navy from 2007–2011. This article first appeared in Israel Hayom.
PURELY COMMENTARY
analysis The Coming Earthquake
Giant fissures are emerging from just beneath the earth’s surface throughout the Middle East, and Israel is bracing for the inevitable eruption. The United States had better wake up, too, because the aftershocks will be felt here, and they will not be mild.
In a briefing to Israeli President Isaac Herzog, the Israeli Institute for National Security Studies’ Professor Manuel Tratjenberg stated that Tehran has accumulated immense knowledge of greater levels of highly enriched uranium and uranium metal production, operating more and more advanced centrifuges. He also expressed concern that the talks in Vienna are leading nowhere, buying more time for Iran.
Iran, in the meantime, has insisted that there would be no more talks until their new hardline president, Ebrahim Raisi, assumed office on Aug. 5. In order to sweeten the pot to induce Iran to sit down to the negotiating table, we have already rewarded the Islamic Republic. Robert Malley, the U.S. special envoy to Iran, gave a rather revealing interview on the PBS NewsHour on April 2, basically blaming the United States for leaving the deal during the Trump years.
Malley said, “The United States will have to lift those sanctions that were inconsistent with the nuclear deal of 2015, so that Iran enjoys those benefits that were part of the
deal.” This, despite the fact that U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, when he spoke at his confirmation hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Jan. 21, said we will have a “longer, stronger deal.” Malley also said that “verification will be easily determined by the International Sarah N. Atomic Energy Administration
Stern (IAEA).” This does not conform at all to the reality on the ground in Iran. Last month, the story emerged that Iran has been restricting access to the nuclear inspectors in its main power plant in Natanz. When they have been let in, the IAEA nuclear watchdogs have found suspicious particles at several undeclared sites. “They are provoking us,” said one Western official who closely monitors the IAEA. Getting back to his April 2 interview, Malley cites the progress that Iran has made toward a nuclear bomb since the United States, under former President Donald Trump, withdrew from the deal as the reason for the necessity of returning to the deal. But correlation is not causation. We had been promised by former President Barack Obama that once this deal was agreed to, Iran would be welcomed back into the international community, its maligned behavior curbed. The United States did not announce its withdrawal from the nuclear deal until May of 2018. They had three full years to prove to the world that they had become civilized with our inducement of $150 billion as a windfall for the agreement in 2015.
SPREADING TERROR
None of this windfall has trickled down to the impoverished people in Iran but has been used to arm Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas in Gaza, the Houthis in Yemen, and has simply made the Middle East more volatile.
In Lebanon, which has become nothing more than a puppet state of Iran, billionaire businessman Najib Mikati has just been appointed as the prime minister-designate and has the firm backing of Hezbollah. One cannot count on Makati to cleanse the state of its corruption and cronyism that has entered into every sphere of life there, and the throats of the good people of Lebanon remain under Hezbollah’s and Iran’s firm boot.
Today, the streets of Iran are erupting. What began as an isolated demonstration because the government absconded with water during the hot summer and because of the horrific summer drought in Khuzestan province has spread rapidly throughout the country. In Khuzestan, we know that people have been murdered on the street, and that internet service was cut and there was a news blackout from that region.
People are being heard in Tehran chanting, “Shame! Khomeini, let go of this country!” and “Mullahs, get lost!”
This is profoundly reminiscent of 2009, when millions of protestors were out on the streets holding up signs that read, “Obama, Where Are You?” And the Obama White
House ignored their anguished cries simply to get a horribly flawed nuclear deal.
If it is truly serious about wanting stability and peace in the region, the United States should support these brave protesters. We did it when we stared down the former Soviet Union, utilizing the humanrights issue of the Soviet Jewry movement as leverage. We now have that opportunity again not to ignore the courageous people in Iran and throughout the region that are suffering under Iranian militias and proxies.
Raisi, the notorious “Butcher of Tehran” is about to assume office. Iran is perhaps, mere weeks away from total nuclear breakout. The tremors of the earthquake are already being felt.
What are we waiting for?
— SARAH N. STERN
Sarah N. Stern is founder and president of the Endowment for Middle East Truth (EMET), a think tank and policy institute in Washington, D.C.
