Shoah Remembered

Keri Guten Cohen
Story Development Editor

C

lose to 300 people attended the
Holocaust memorial program
featuring Russian survivors at
the Jewish Community Center in Oak
Park on May 31.
The program, offered in Russian and
English, included seven survivors telling
their individual stories of loss and surviv-
al during the Holocaust. Before introduc-
ing them, Rene Lichtman, vice president
of the World Federation of Jewish Child
Survivors of the Holocaust, said, "We
speak different languages, but we are one
Jewish people and we all share the pain
for the Jews who have perished in the
Holocaust. We are determined to do any-
thing in our power to ensure that another
such tragedy will never happen again."
The survivors are Luba Sherman, Raya
Danishevskaya, Haim and Eva Rosental,
all of Oak Park, and Sonja Koyfman,
Yaakov Sigal and Esfir Lupyan (Kaplan),
all of Southfield.
A highlight of the event came with
the performance by Children Making
Tomorrow, a children's dance group that
recreated an old-fashioned cheder (class-
room), complete with costumes, students
and bearded rebbe.
Other entertainment included song, art
and poetry. In the JCC hallway, an exhibi-
tion featured photos from the Holocaust

S ta ff p ho tos by Ang le Baan

Russian community hosts Holocaust memorial program at Oak Park JCC.

Survivor Fira Kaplan of Southfield tells
her story.

Ivan Zukov, 4, of Commerce with "Children Making Tomorrow" dance group, which
performed as students in cheder with a rebbe.

by a Russian World War II veteran as well
as other art.
Several people took advantage of the
opportunity to participate in the Shoah
Victims' Names Recovery Project started
by Yad Vashem in Jerusalem. The project
seeks to recover names of those lost in
the Holocaust so they will not be forgot-

ten. Of the 6 million who perished, Yad
Vashem can account for only half.
Ilya Bromberg, Yad Vashem representa-
tive in Michigan and a representative of
the American Forum of Russian Jewry,
organized the event. To participate in the
names project, call Bromberg at (248)
251-2985.

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Ida Gogan of Farmington Hills sings at
the memorial.

Cholent Showdown

Local chefs gear up for annual contest of traditional Shabbat fare.

y

oung Israel of Oak Park is gearing
up for one of the tastiest show-
downs of the year on Saturday,
June 6, when chefs go spoon to spoon to
win the title for best cholent.
The Iron Blech, first held at the syna-
gogue in 2003, challenges notions of the
traditional Sabbath stew and tests the cre-
ative mettle of chefs young and old.
Cholent is typically comprised of meat,
potatoes, beans and onions that are slow-
cooked for hours in a crockpot started before
sundown on Friday and eaten for lunch on
Saturday. Jewish law prohibits cooking until
after sundown Saturday, so cholent is often

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June 4 • 2009

the only warm meal of
the day.
The Iron Blech has
proven that despite
its simple ingredients,
cholent can be a dish E.
with plenty of variation and
even nuance. Vegetarian cholents have
a place at the table, and this year Devora
Cohen will join the cookoff with a spicy
Sephardi-style cholent.
Because of the strong showing of young
chefs in the past — last year, a pair of
7-year-olds won for a robust chili cho-
lent — organizers decided to divide the

Cholent — whose will be best?

competition into junior and
senior divisions. The Golden
rockpot, the top award, will
e inscribed with the names
of the winner in each division
and displayed at the synagogue.
Other honors to be given include out-
standing table display and best cholent
name.
The Iron Blech has room for 12 cholents,
with a limit of two cooks per team.
The way it works: Chefs will get their
toques and begin assembling their cholents
on Thursday evening and Friday afternoon

at Young Israel, 15140 W. Ten Mile. The
crockpots will be plugged in before sun-
down Friday.
On Saturday, after morning services, the
tasting begins. After sampling the cholents,
guests vote for their favorites by depositing
tickets in the boxes near each cholent sta-
tion. A family-style lunch follows.
Tickets are $15 for Young Israel members,
$18 for non-members and $8 for children
ages 2-12. A family rate of $75 is available.
Sponsorships for $200 guarantee a table.
Cholent chefs go free.
To make reservations, call the synagogue
office at (248) 967-3655.

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