Arts & Entertainment
Journey Man
Peter Greenberg
offers travel tips
for Hadassah.
Suzanne Chessler
Special to the Jewish News
T
ravel reporter Peter Greenberg
launches a new book on the day
he addresses the Greater Detroit
Chapter of Hadassah's opening meeting.
Copies of The Complete Travel Detective
Bible (Rodale Books; $17.95) will be avail-
able for sale and signing Tuesday, Oct. 2, at
Congregation Shaarey Zedek in Southfield,
where lunch is at noon.
Greenberg, 57, with the Today show for
12 years, launched his journalism career
as a Newsweek correspondent. While mov-
ing from one assignment to another, he
got the novel idea to cover travel as news.
Greenberg recently talked about his pro-
fessional and personal outlook:
DJN: What will you cover in
your talk?
PG: I'll be talking about how to travel
with security and safety in an increas-
ingly complex world and still have a great
experience.
DJN: What do you cover in
your new book?
PG: It's sort of a physician's desk reference
for the travel process. It gives all the infor-
mation needed and the questions to ask
before leaving home so that the bad stuff
never happens.
DJN: Will you look for inter-
esting travel sites when you
visit Michigan?
PG: I'm always looking for stories. I've
probably been in Michigan six times this
year as a journalist. I've covered stories in
Ann Arbor and along Lake Michigan near
Grand Rapids. I'll talk about my favorite
Michigan places at the meeting.
DJN: What would you recom-
mend as offbeat spots to visit
in Israel?
PG: Anyone in Tel Aviv can drive a little bit
down the line to Jaffa late at night to the
most incredible bakery — the Aboulafia
Bakery — and buy hot bread.
I'm a big fan of great dive
trips out of Eilat. The Red Sea
is underrated as a dive loca-
tion.
cars other than fire trucks, and
I'm a fireman there in the sum-
mers. That's my vacation.
DJN: How much time do
you spend at home dur-
ing the year?
PG: I live in six places. I could
argue that wherever I am, I'm
home.
DJN: What are some
interesting places
outside Israel that
have a Jewish link?
Peter Greenberg
PG: I'm a big fan of Tunisia,
Syria and Jordan for Jewish
DJN: When you're in
history. There's so much religious history
one of those six homes and
readily accessible.
not traveling, what do you like
to do?
DJN: What are the "in" desti-
PG: I watch the most mindless television
nations right now?
simply because I need the break. It's the
PG: One of the hot places is Dubrovnik,
time of day I don't have to think.
Croatia. In the last couple of years, New
Zealand has been a hot place although it's
Peter Greenberg addresses the
now becoming quite middle ground.
DJN: What has been your
most recent fun trip?
PG: My most recent trip has been to Fire
Island, 50 miles east of Manhattan. It's
much like Mackinac Island. You go across
on a ferry, which is eminently helpful to
getting your pulse rate down. There are no
Greater Detroit Chapter of Hadassah
on Tuesday, Oct. 2, at Congregation
Shaarey Zedek in Southfield.
Boutiques run 10 a.m.-3:30 p.m.
Lunch starts at noon, and the
speech begins at 1 p.m. $25 speaker
only; $45-$55 lunch and speaker.
(248) 683-5030.
Soul Singer
Joshua Nelson
appears in benefit
for Kadima.
Suzanne Chessler
Special to the Jewish News
oshua Nelson, a third-generation
African-American Jew who per-
forms traditional prayers with
nontraditional sounds and beats, promises
that no two performances are ever the
same.
Nelson, slated for an upcoming area
benefit in Michigan, is getting ready for
what he terms a "tip-top" show to raise
funds for Kadima, a nonprofit agency
serving people confronting mental illness.
Nelson and his Kosher Gospel Singers
will appear 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 25, at
the Max M. Fisher Music Center in Detroit.
Benefit honorees are Naomi and Lionel
Margolick.
The religious singer, 30, a Grammy-
nominated recording artist profiled in
the documentary Keep on Walking, has
studied at the Hebrew University in
j
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September 13 • 2007
Ai
Jerusalem. He has worked with Wynton
Marsalis, Billy Preston and Albertina
Walker.
Nelson, who recently worked with the
Klezmatics for a live recording titled
Brother Moses Smote the Water, discussed
his plans and current projects with the
Detroit Jewish News:
DJN: Why are you always
looking for new sounds for
religious pieces?
JN: Because Judaism is a multicultural
religion; its music has to be that way. We
want to express joy, and I tell people who
will be at our concerts to wear comfort-
able shoes so they can have a good time
dancing and moving to the music.
DJN: Are there selections that
you do at every performance?
JN: We always sing "Hinei Ma Tov" and
"Adon Olam" because people recognize
them. We just filmed a performance of
"Hinei Ma Tov" for a new movie, The
Yankels, which we hope will be a big hit.
It's about a baseball team, and the name is
like the Yankees.
DJN: Have you complet-
ed any new recordings?
JN: We have a new one coming out
called Barechu. We've written an
alternative [Shabbat] service.
someone who sits and
waits for someone
else to come and do
something for me.
DJN: What
DJN: What has been spe-
are your plans
cial for you recently?
for the High
JN: In the past two years, I've been
Holidays?
studying history and culture. I've
JN: I'm going to
found that lots of times people ask
Ethiopia. There will
about my being both black and
be some religious
Joshua Nelson
Jewish, and I want them to know
seminars.
about the history of black Jews. I
also want to know about the eth-
DJN: What are
nicities of other Jews. We want to educate
your upcoming projects?
people with our music because I believe
JN: We're going around the world to do
that lessens racism.
Shabbat programs. We'll be doing tradi-
tional prayers with a soul feeling. Since
DJN: Have your remained
I've become more of a humanist, I present
steady in your religious out-
that way of looking at the world.
look?
JN: My religious approach definitely has
Joshua Nelson appears 7:30 p.m.
changed. Growing up a traditional Jew, I
Tuesday, Sept. 25, at the Max M.
waited for someone to come and deliver
Fisher Music Center in Detroit. An
us. From the writings I've been studying
afterglow with refreshments is
lately, I believe that everybody should help
included in the ticket price. $100. Call
one another and bring world redemp-
Paula at (248) 559-8235, Ext.128.
tion that way. I'm more of a doer — not