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JOYVIN CHARDONNAY CABERNET SAUVIGNON MERLOT FLORA 750 ML $6.99 EACH TEAL LAKE CABERNET MERLOT SHIRAZ CHARDONNAY 750 ML $9.49 EACH RASHI JOYVIN RED RASHI JOYVIN WHITE 750 ML $7.49 EACH KINNERET CABERNET SAUVIGNON MERLOT 750 ML $9.99 EACH $2.49/BOTTLE BY THE CASE ONE STOP KOSHER 25155 GREENFIELD ROAD 248-569-5000 JEN 3/10 2005 46 To t h March 1-April 22 We are not responsible fin any typographical errortl. Management reserve';; the iloht to change or end any promotion Jitltrrul notice. Sorry no raincheclo-i. Offer good : rule suppltes last A eMaX few hours after the visionary Max Fisher passed away on March 3, Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit's CEO Bob Aronson called a staff meeting in the first-floor conference room. Max's benevolent smile from a large por- trait on the wall of the Max M. Fisher Federation Building in Bloomfield Township greeted some 45 staff members as they trickled in. Aronson wanted to tell the staff how dev- astating this loss was, how the news media onslaught would soon begin, and what was expected of them in the coming days. He wanted to tell them. He just couldn't. "This is a difficult day for us . . . I can't do this," was all Aronson could manage to say before he sum- HARRY moned Howard KIRSBAUM Neistein, Federation's Columnist chief planning officer, to speak on his behalf. Twenty minutes later, Aronson sat in the executive conference room, staring at a list of news organizations wanting a comment. He knew he had to talk now. His comments to me were part practice, part therapy. "He was the man who presidents and prime ministers and world leaders of all kinds came to," he said. "The world Jewish com- munity came to him over and over again dur- ing the course of his long and illustrious life." Aronson would speak with Max about once a week, and the relationship grew over time. "It took me a while to win over his confi- dence because I was the new kid on the block, and I came here and knew this giant of a man lived here, and I better get to know this guy and develop a relationship with him," Aronson said. "It was the greatest relationship I've had. "He was unbelievably loyal to his friends and larger than life," Aronson said. "He knew that he had the influence and the power, but he used it judiciously, he used it strategically, he never put himself first. "I don't think there was a more important player in the entire Jewish world than Max Fisher during the second half of the 20th cen- tury," Aronson said. "He was the most effective convener, power broker and facilitator behind the scenes there ever was for our people. "Whenever anything really big needed to get done, whether it was in the city, whether it was in the Jewish world, people would seek the counsel of Max Fisher," he said. "Whenever you got done seeing Max, even though he didn't often use a lot of words in a conversation, you always had a new sense of direction and purpose. "He was a wise man. He spoke often about the importance of leadership and commitment to your community," he said. "If we can emulate him and model ourselves after him as a community and as individuals, then in my view we will carry on for Max." Last Call My Max Chat When "The Max" — the Max M. Fisher Music Center — opened in Detroit last October, I finally got my shot at speaking with him. I had only met him a couple of times before, and he rarely gave more than a one-sentence com- ment when I called about a story. JN Editor Bob Sklar and I sat down with Max on a beautiful day in his study. The phone sat next to him on a table, next to a bulging phone book. I could only imagine what names were in that book. I wondered if he had the White House private number written in pen and the president's name in pencil. I obsessed on the phone book until Max began to speak. Then Bob and I hung on his every word, a fact backed up by the picture on page 5 of today's JN. Max talked about the Max, the future of the city of Detroit, the Middle East and tikkun olam, repairing the world. At the end of the one-hour conversation, I shook his hand and told him that I rooted for his alma mater, Ohio State University, when they won the NCAA national football championship in 2002 because of him, and that should mean a lot because I'm a Michigan State University alumnus. He laughed. The last time I spoke with Max was for a comment about his nephew, Stephen Ross, who donated $100 million to the University of Michigan School of Business in Ann Arbor. Before I hung up, Max thanked me for doing a good job and being a "fine young man." You never forget a compliment from a man like him. IVF Harry Kirsbaum's e-mail address is hkirsbaum@thejewishnews.com