For Openers

a

More Than Nourishment

hen is a bowl of matzah
ball soup something
more? When it's central
to an uplifting story.
The story is about Arlene Frank's
father, George, who was in home hos-
pice care in Bloomfield
Township for more
than two months
beginning last
November. Anne
and George Frank,
members of
Temple Israel in
West Bloomfield,
had three children
and six grandchil-
dren in 50 years of
marriage. He died
Arlene Frank
on Jan. 24 at age
84 from complica-
tions of heart disease.
As George's life neared an end, his
family developed an unusual bond with
Steve's Deli in the Bloomfield Plaza at
Maple and Telegraph. For Arlene Frank,
food was just part of the appeal of the
Bloomfield Township deli, located near
her parents' home.
In a letter to owner Joanee Hurwitz,
Frank wrote that the deli provided not
only sustenance, but also "many
moments of joy, connection, relief and
respite, which were crucial during this
transition in my life and the life of my
family."
In a note to me, Hurwitz called the
letter "a heartwarming story of everyday
life and how people cope with it."
Seldom does a restaurant touch a
family so deeply.
Arlene Frank, director of the
Womencenter at Oakland Community
College in Farmington Hills, lives in
downtown Detroit. But Steve's Deli has
been a popular stop for her and other
family members.

GRAPLIEWZ

BY

BOW

© 2002
Her father loved the matzah ball
soup. But as he became sicker, the deli
became a family lifeline for more than
matzah ball soup. "When being at my
parents' house seemed too overwhelm-
here are some 400 kosher
ing and we needed to get away," Arlene
certification agencies in the
said, "there was Steve's — with the hus-
world today, each with its
de and bustle, and the familiar faces of
own symbol. Can you
staff and clientele — to remind us that
name the five symbols of agencies that
life goes on, that we could still enjoy
were the "pioneers," having been
ourselves, that it was important to eat,
around for some 50 years?
relax and shmooze with each other in an
uncontrolled atmosphere."
')I-JOHD PuB
She said her family "could laugh about
the humorous moments even illness can
`)1.--.ft1 S `110 'NO atl.L :.nmsuV
bring, listen to a waitress show interest
in my son's reading of 'The Lord of the
Rings,' watch my mother share her pre-
cious time with her college-age grand-
daughter, sit with our jaws dropped as
"You don't need a rabbi to guide you
we sat next to Aretha Franklin, share
through the Haggadah. You set your
frustrations, anger and moving moments
own tone. You can do as much or as
of connection, reminisce about our
little of it as you want."
father and grandfather, and nourish our-
— Rachel Chernick, a Brooklyn social
worker, as quoted by JTA.
selves to regain the strength to spend
final moments with him.
"The great attraction of Passover is that
When her father no longer could
we not only recite the Haggadah ... but
digest solid food, his caretaker blended
we also live and breathe and smell the
Steve's matzah ball soup at home so he
history, with the additional layer of
could enjoy its nourishment while stay-
family memory. The seder becomes a
ing hydrated. That taste of a favorite
family reunion, a powerful reliving of
food at death's door somehow gave
family history."
Vienna-born George Frank, a
— Dr Ronald Wolfson, vice president
Holocaust survivor arrested by the Nazis
of the University of Judaism in
during Kristallnacht in 1938, the will to
Los Angeles, as quoted in the March
fight, even as he grew weaker.
issue of Hadassah magazine.
"Sometimes," said Arlene Frank, who
is part of Workmen's Circle Arbeter
Ring in Southfield, "a corned beef sand-
wich is just a corned beef sandwich, and
sometimes a bowl of matzah ball soup is I don't understand what the rage is.
just a bowl of matzah ball soup.
You'd think all these health nuts were
"But this time, they were the 'staff of
sages.
life' — and provided more than mere
This big trail mix fad
nutritional nourishment." ❑
Is old hat. We've had
"Ruzhinkehs mit Mandlen" for ages.

•
•

By Goldfein

QuOtables

Yiddish Limericks

—Robert A. Sklar, editor'

— Martha Jo Fleischmann

Mendel

* Raisins with Almonds (one of the
best-loved Yiddish songs ever written)

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) .11N D

es from
Selected news an
the Detroit-Jewish„
www.detioitjewish.cam
, —inews
;

) Inteinal Strif '

When Israel
Isue
,stot4 ---
. s ,,,e rose
www d iixo

,-

) Pes s

out
Stories fro rrilaiWilhd,., wo
preparing foi Passover.
www.detroatjewr -ewss m/news

) What's Eating

It's *$%#@ OZZY!
Ozzy Osbourne puts out the welcome
mat on MTV.
www.detroitjewishnews.com/opinion

) Interfaith Issues

You probably had fantasies of sharing the
cooking for a seder, and sitting together
in synagogue for the High Holiday serv-
ices. All this seems in jeopardy. From a
package of stories about grandparenting
in interfaith marriage at
i nte rfai thfam ily. co m
www.jewish.com

) The Saudi Factor

As Saudi Arabia's stock rises as a
potential force for Arab-Israeli peace,
concerns are being raised about the
country's anti-Semitic and anti-Israeli
rhetoric. Plus an update on how the
fight over conversion is further threat-
ening Israel's shaky unity government,
a look at the solidarity statement issued
by American Jewish organizations and
an update on a potential cease-fire.
wvvvv.jewish.com

) Frequently Asked

I inevitably report to my daughter, par-
ents and brother, my cousins and
wide extended family and friends whose
love and concern make every night a
seder and every phone call a meeting
with the Four Children. They ask: What
is your prognosis? Do you know how
long you have to live? Do you know
about X or Y secret treatment in
Germany/Mexico/Canada? How do you
feel? Marlene Adler Marks responds.
www.jewish.corn

3/22

2002

11

