The Children Of '42
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Living a lifetime with the Jewish News.
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RONELLE GRIER
Special to the Jewish News
W
hat began as a lighthearted assignment
for the Jewish News' 60th anniversary
issue became for me a journey of discov-
ery and insight.
As I pored over page after faded newspaper page, I
was transported to anoth-
er era. Our country was
embroiled in a second
world war, birth
announcements appeared
on a page entitled "News
of Interest to Women"
and Himelhoch's adver-
tised "wingtip slack sets"
for $7.95.
And over the years,
optimistic parents contin-
ued to have babies, and to
announce their new
arrivals on the pages of
the Jewish News. I identi-
Ronelle Grier
fied with the hopes and
dreams they must have
had as I remembered sub-
mitting the birth announcements for my own chil-
dren: Molly, Ethan and Lily.
After 60 years of the Jewish News, many things
have changed. Newspapers no longer have
,
:'
"women's' pages; Himelhoch's has long since closed
its doors; and pantyhose, not pantsuits, carry $7
price tags. But much remains the same. The world
still has not achieved the peace hoped for after
• • 1
3/29
2002
20
World War II, but parents everywhere still announce
their babies' births with a gleam in their eyes and
hope in their hearts.
As my research unfolded, I was struck by how dif-
ferently all those lives turned out, even though most
of them began almost literally on the same page.
One baby born that year was Richard Wishnets ky,
the troubled young man who shot and killed Rabbi
Morris Adler and then himself during a bar mitzvah
service at Congregation Shaarey Zedek in 1966.
Another man, Harve Disner, told me how his wife
was stabbed to death two years ago by her own
brother, who was mentally ill.
Many others were struck down by insidious dis-
eases without ever reaching their 60th birthdays.
On the other end of the spectrum, many of those
babies from 1942 grew up to become doctors, lawyers
and schoolteachers, parents and grandparents. Many
described lives rich with satisfying work, loving fami-
lies and fulfilling community involvement.
Soon after my daughter Molly's birth announce-
ment appeared, she was diagnosed with autism, and
the life I planned disappeared before my eyes, never
to materialize again in quite the same way.
I realized that life is often wonderful, sometimes
tragic, seldom boring and never predictable. I
learned to treasure the small miracles that every day
brings, and to look for the unexpected pleasure in
every unplanned journey.
Happy 60th birthday to the Jewish News and to all
of the people profiled on these pages. ❑
— Ronelle Grier, a West Bloomfield freelance writer,
wrote all the brief profiles of the Detroiters who share a
birthday with the Jewish News.
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Young Israel of Greenfield and B'nai Moshe dedicate Oak Park syna-
gogues ... Adolf Eichmann on trial in Jerusalem for war crimes ...
Hillel Day School moves to Oak Park JCC 3,000 people attend
religious service dedication of Shaarey Zedek in Southfield ... Akiva
Hebrew Day School opens in the Labor Zionist
Building on Schaefer ... Yeshiva Beth Yehudah
dedicates new school building on Lincoln in
Southfield ... Rabbi Morris Adler is fatally
wounded during services at Shaarey Zedek
Ahavas Achim and Beth Aaron merge ... Israel's
Ambassador Yitzhak Rabin makes first Detroit
visit for "Bond with Israel" dinner at Shaarey
Zedek ... Six-Day War rally at the Meyers 'and
Curtis Jewish Community Center in Detroit ...
Hillel Day School completes new building on
Middlebelt Road in Farmington Hills.
Rabbi Morris Adler
,,,,,,,,,,
July 24—To Mr. on.i Mr:. Jr•-
i.rph )L Jark■er (Edith TurtcL.
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Born: 7-24-42
Resides: West Bloomfield
Spouse: Eleanor
Children: 7
Grandchildren: 12
Work Attorney specializing in cor-
porate law with Jackier, Gould,
Dean, Upfal and Eizelman in
Bloomfield Hills
Synagogue Membership:
Congregation Shaarey Zedek
Southfield
Volunteer positions: president, Jewish
Federation of Metropolitan Detroit;
board chairman, American Technion
Society; board member of American
Board of Overseers of Bar-Ilan
University, United Jewish
Communities, Jewish Fund, New
Detroit
Jewish News: "I appreciate the
tremendous support that the Jewish
News gives to Federation and the other
Jewish organizations."
Comment: "There is no other
Jewish community like Detroit in
all of North America. It has greatly
enhanced my life — socially, profes-
sionally and personally."
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Beth Abraham Hillel, Beth Achim
and Temple Beth El build new
houses of worship in the northwest-
ern suburbs ... Bais Chabad opens
on Middlebelt Road in Farmington
g Hills ... First residents of Federation
i Apartments move in near Oak Park
f5
JCC Yom Kippur War ... Carl
Levin becomes president of Detroit
Common Council ... Jewish
Community Center and Temple
Israel build in West Bloomfield ...
Beth Abraham Hillel and Beth
Moses merge ... Young Israel of
Southfield builds on Lahser Road ...
Detroit Soviet Jewry Rally.
On April 30, 1972, a Soviet Jewry rally was held.
Seated in front on ground level are Carl Levin, left,
and Rabbi Samuel H Prero, right. Michigan
Attorney General Frank Kelley is seated on the stage,
second from left, as is U.S. Sen. Phil Hart, right.