Celebrating Hope for the Future

OUR COMMUNITY

ROBERT BRUCE PHOTOGRAPHY

On Oct. 24, more than 2,000 people celebrated an Evening of Hope and Renewal with the Yeshiva Beth Yehudah. They came to the Detroit Celebrating Hope for the Future Marriott Renaissance Center for an inspiring and heartwarming evening highlighting the special place the Yeshiva Beth Yehudah Annual children of the Yeshiva occupy in the hearts and minds of our community.

Dinner inspires thousands. And they left feeling they were part of a transformative movement. Based in Oak Park and

JACKIE HEADAPOHL DIRECTOR OF EDITORIAL Southfield, the Yeshiva is the educational home to 1,300 students in Pre-K through grade 12, who receive the essential foundations to become the next generation of leaders. Their campuses also house the Partners Detroit Adult Learning Program and the Yeshiva’s Scholars’ Kollel, a full-time postgraduate Talmud program with more than 40 resident scholars. More than 200 guests came to the dinner an hour early to participate in the Partners Detroit Torah study session. Each of them learned with a specially selected study partner from a curriculum developed by Partners educator Rabbi Chaim Fink. Along with the rest of the Yeshiva’s dinner guests, they were there for the chilTOP: Gov. Gretchen Whitmer at the dais of the dren of the Yeshiva, celebrating hope ABOVE: 2021 Yeshiva Beth Yehudah Dinner. Mark Davidoff accepts the Yeshiva’s prestigious Guardian Award. for the future of our people and our community.

A PROGRAM TO REMEMBER

Rabbi Gershon Miller, the Yeshiva’s new dean, underscored the role of the children. “As we go through life and are beset by its many challenges and difficulties,” he told the crowd, “it is all too easy to become weary, negative and pessimistic about our world and the future. But then we look at our children. Through them we see a world of endless possibilities of goodness and kindness … of hope and renewal.”

Yeshiva president Gary Torgow inspired the audience with a Dvar Torah about Noah and the devastating flood brought upon his generation by the Almighty. “The Bible tells us when the floodwaters receded, Noah sent two birds from the ark, the raven and the dove,” he said. “The holy commentator the Or Hachaim explains that the dove was sent on a mission which it completed by bringing back from the newly barren world an olive branch, indicating that the world was again habitable. The raven, in contrast, had no mission whatsoever. Noah simply discharged the raven from the ark strictly to banish it from his and his family’s presence.”

Torgow continued, “Throughout literature and world history, the raven represents darkness, despair, pessimism and negativity. Edgar Allen Poe describes the raven as a symbol

of hopelessness, that which was destroyed will never be rebuilt. That is why Noah needed to banish the raven, as he and his family were about to rebuild and repopulate the world. They could not allow space for pessimism and hopelessness.

“It was the dove, the symbol of hope and renewal, that was sent out to herald the dawn of the new era of rebuilding. The Torah describes that when the dove came back to Noah on the ark bearing an olive branch it was to proclaim that there is always the opportunity for rebirth and renewal, if we reject despair and focus on the positive.

“That is our message this evening, a proclamation of hope and renewal summoning us as a diverse but unified community to rebuild, to grow, to dream and to believe in our ability to bring those dreams to fruition. This is why tonight we celebrate as we invest in every child, as each of them has their own ability to change the world, one person at a time.”

Torgow recognized the assembled guests for their part in the Yeshiva’s success. “By all of you joining together, COVIDconscious, but hopeful, you have become identified with the beautiful dove that represents the shared vision of hope and renewal. Tonight I am supremely confident that with your friendship and generosity the Yeshiva will continue to succeed in this cosmic vision.”

Both diversity and unity were evident on the dinner dais, featuring a veritable who’s who of politicos, CEOs and community leaders from throughout our state and country. Last year’s virtual event, An Evening of Unity, reached hundreds of thousands of viewers around the world and included video messages from national and world leaders. But this year’s attendees seemed grateful to gather in person once again.

The dinner dais and the entire ballroom were filled with rabbis, senators, congressional representatives, supreme court justices, mayors, and sheriffs, along with Dinner chairpeople, Jewish Federation leadership, and the evening’s keynote speaker, First Lady Dr. Jill Biden. The event was presented by General Motors and sponsored by DTE Energy. Lead sponsors also included Lear Corporation, Huntington Bank and Princeton Enterprises. Greetings were presented by Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, both of whom were grateful to be there in person.

A highlight each year is the Yeshiva Boys Choir, a group of talented middle school boys who perform under the direction of Rabbi Rocky Stewart and Rabbi Dudi Kalish. After being introduced by Sen. Gary Peters, the boys choir dedicated one song to Mary Barra and another in honor of the First Lady.

A FEW SURPRISES

In a surprise presentation, distinguished community leader and Dinner Chair Jim Grosfeld announced the induction of Mark Davidoff as the newest Yeshiva Guardian, a cohort of longstanding Yeshiva friends and supporters. Mark received the Yeshiva’s Outstanding Leadership Award in 2018 and has served as a Dinner chair for the last three years. He was commended for his dedication to ensuring the success of the Yeshiva Dinner year after year.

Another announcement was the inauguration of the Yeshiva’s boys educational complex, to be named for philanthropist Mickey Shapiro. Mickey’s relationship with the Yeshiva began more than 70 years ago, when he was enrolled in the Beth Yehudah Preschool at age 4. The child of Holocaust survivors, Mickey’s generosity continues to reinforce his belief that we must never ever forget the past and we must do everything possible to strengthen and guarantee our future. He called the dedication of the Mickey Shapiro Educational Complex of the Yeshiva Beth Yehudah “a dream come true.”

Torgow presented the Yeshiva’s Outstanding Leadership Award to Mary Barra, Chair and CEO of General Motors. Mary’s work at GM emphasizes her commitment to creating a better, more sustainable and more inclusive world for our children. Mary expressed her joy at seeing so many “from all cultures, religions and walks of life gather in the city of our world headquarters to support the education of our future innovators, educators, physicians, leaders and anything else they choose to be.” She shared that her parents and teachers encouraged her love of learning and taught her that “with hard work, I could be and do anything I wanted. It’s the very same message I shared with the students when I visited last month.”

Barra applauded the leadership and supporters of the Yeshiva. “You are modeling, through example, the values that will shape their character and citizenship for the rest of their lives. With your environment of learning, encouragement and hope at Yeshiva, you, too, are inspiring the next generation of innovators and leaders.”

TOP: The Yeshiva Boys Choir. ABOVE: Outstanding Leadership

Awardee Mary Barra. First Lady Dr. Jill Biden at the Yeshiva Beth Yehudah Annual Dinner.

The Yeshiva’s Dinner staff is already hard at work preparing for next year’s event. Mark your calendars for the next Yeshiva Dinner, on Oct. 30, 2022.