Opinion

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Dry Bones JIHAD 2009

IN THE WEST THEY
WANT TO KILL YOU

BECAUSE YOU'RE
NOT A MOSLEM

Editorial

R

aising kids is an awesome
charge. Orphans elevate that
responsibility. Taking in orphans
traditionally has been a high Jewish prior-
ity. It remains so.
To help orphaned Jewish children in our
community, Temple Israel has created the
Yaldeinu Fund. The money it yields will be
well spent.
The fund was created following the
death of Rob Fischer, a West Bloomfield
father of two who died March 6 at age 59
after a heart attack. Five years earlier, his
wife, Nancy, died at 45 after battling can-
cer. They leave two young children; Evan is
now 13; his sister, Emily, is 11.
Nancy and Rob always kept a loving,
Jewish home. The kids helped their father
sustain that tradition after Nancy died.
Before their tragic deaths, Susie and
Rob took delight in their close friendship
with neighbors Susie and Chris Tarnas
and their two sons, Skyler and Dylan.
Because of Rob's foresight and his trust
in them, the Tarnases are now legal guard-
ians to Evan and Emily. Though Christian,
the couple are committed to raising their
newest family members Jewish. Two years
ago, Rob had asked the Tarnases to take in
his kids if anything ever happened to him.
Susie and Chris Tarnas: Talk about a

gift sent from God. In his eulogy for Rob,
Rabbi Paul Yedwab called them angels who
have gone beyond the normal expectations
of human compassion. They and their
kids have embraced the Fischer kids in the
true spirit of chesed, of loving kindness.
To raise money for the Yaldeinu Fund,
six Jewish organizations will host Banding
Together, a teen battle of the bands, at
Temple Israel at 7:30 p.m. Sunday, May 24.
Teen acoustic acts will perform concur-
rently. The music will rock, but the sounds
will be sweet; the cause will assure that.
Temple Israel's Yom Sheini teen band
initiated the fundraiser and had no prob-
lem enlisting local cosponsors: B'nai B'rith
Youth Organization, ATID/The Alliance for
Teens in Detroit, Tamarack Camps, Frankel
Jewish Academy, Kidz Klez, the Detroit
Jewish News. Others have stepped up to
assure a special night. Minimum admis-
sion is $20 for adults and $10 for teens.
Following Rob's death, the Jewish
Federation of Metropolitan Detroit found
an angel donor to build an addition to the
Tarnas house to accommodate the new
family members. Rob's mother, Marti,
is mentoring Susie on Jewish tradition;
already, Friday night in the Tarnas home
means lighting the candles in the silver
candlesticks that were a gift from Temple

Israel.
When Temple
Israel approached
Federation for support
with the build-out
at the Tarnas house,
BECAUSE YOU'RE
. WHILE IN THE
Rabbi Yedwab recalls
NOT THE RIGHT
MOSLEM WORLD THEY
CEO Robert Aronson
WANT TO KILL YOU
KIND OF MOSLEM,
responding, "Why
have a Jewish commu-
nity at all if we can't
come together for a
cause like this?"
Imagine if your
own kids were left
without parents at
a young age. What
would you want the
www.drybonesblog.com
Jewish community to
do for them?
As Rabbi Yedwab says, when God's face
We can do no less.
seems so hidden from us in the grip of a
The Yaldeinu Fund is intended to aid
severe and devastating loss, we must bring Jewish children who are orphaned in
the warmth of God's compassion to bear
Metro Detroit. But thinking of it in a more
with compassion, caring, affection, friend-
personal way will drive home what it's
ship and abiding love.
really all about. ❑

Yaldeinu Fund contributions are tax-deductible. Make checks payable to Temple
Israel with the words Yaldeinu Fund on the memo line. Mail to Yaldeinu Fund,
c/o Temple Israel, 5725 Walnut Lake Road, West Bloomfield, MI 48323.

Reality Check

Coffee And Memory

W

e knew the face from some-
where, but couldn't quite place
it. Sherry, unable to let a small
mystery go by at one of our favorite break-
fast places, walked up and asked.
It was Elliot Lewkow, or as he is best
known to most Detroiters, Cappuccino
Man.
Over the last 15 years he has worked
hundreds of parties, including ours, with
his stand of flavored coffees.
We had good reason to remember him
for another reason, but I'll get into that
later.
Soon we were discussing life stories,
and it turned out that Elliot grew up in the
Bayside area of Queens. I winced because
I knew what was coming next. Most of
Sherry's New York family had grown up
scattered throughout this heavily Jewish
borough.
That never stops her from playing
Jewish Geography, but over a much wider

surface than the game we're
used to in Detroit, where the
odds of a hit are infinitely
smaller.
"Did you know my cousin,
Michelle Cohen?" she asked.
Elliot started to shake his
head with one of those "Do
you know many Jews lived in
Bayside" looks. Then he stopped
and said, "Did she have a broth-
er named Alan?"
Sherry nodded, and as it
turned out he not only had
taken Michelle out on a date or
two but he was college room-
mates with Alan.
Sherry immediately pulled out her cell,
punched in Michelle's number in North
Miami Beach and handed the phone to
Elliot. Judging from our end of the conver-
sation it went well.
Elliot walked away with a smile and

when Sherry called her cousin
back later, Michelle said, "It
made me feel young again."
What a scrub to the ego to
learn that someone you had
known briefly so many years
ago still thought of you now
and then. I had the same sort of
experience after my 50th high
school reunion.
I did not attend because I
was too hip for the room. Well,
actually, I was lying on a gur-
ney in Beaumont Hospital with
a fractured hip, but the other
way sounds better. But some-
one I was friendly with all those years
ago, and still thought about now and then,
noted my absence.
I also asked about her to a mutual
friend and we wound up having break-
fast a month or two later. It made me
feel young again, too. I can't speak for

the effect it had on her because she still
looks young.
About Cappuccino Man, though. Shortly
after my daughter Courtney's death in
1998 we received a note from him.
It seemed his son had been in a sum-
mer camp program where Courtney was a
counselor.
He idolized Courtney and took the news
of her death hard.
At his next soccer game he insisted
on carrying her photograph inside his
sweater.
"He played like he'd never played
before,' wrote Elliot, "and scored the win-
ning goal."
It's a letter we have treasured for years.
Like other unexpected gifts from the
past, it can still bring warmth and conso-
lation. Li

George Cantor's e-mail address is

gcantor614@aol.com.

May 21 • 2009 Cl