metro >> Jews in the digital age
Treasure Of Nostalgia from page 8
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10 December 12 • 2013
JN
When I typed in my grandparents'
names in the search, I was amazed at
how quickly one of Danny Raskin's
"Listening Post" columns popped up on
my screen. The page is an easy-to-read
scan of the original page from the paper
dated Friday, Jan. 2, 1959 — 55 years ago.
Of course Danny Raskin is still writing
for the paper!
In this column, which is neighbored
by advertisements for such historically
famous locales as Leon and Lefkofsky's
Deli, Boesky's Deli and Marlen's Deli and
Snack Shop, Raskin writes, "A proud
feather in the caps of the leaders of our
Jewish community will bloom brightly at
the ground-breaking ceremonies of the
new Town and Country Club. Sunday, on
the beautifully wooded 131/2 acre site at
Southfield and 121/2 Mile Rd ... It started
three years ago when Dr. and Mrs.
Morris Bachman and Dr. and Mrs. David
Gudes [my grandparents] were sunning
themselves by a pool at one of Florida's
sumptuous hotels:'
That country club isn't around any-
more, but Raskin's well-known ellipses
still are.
Some interesting things that early
users of the digital archives have noticed
about how things have changed include
the fact that decades ago married women
had no first names in the Detroit Jewish
News. I found many articles written
about my grandmother and her leader-
ship in various organizations and yet her
first name is nowhere to be found.
All of these women are referred to as
"Mrs." and then the husband's name.
This makes it difficult to search for our
grandmothers and great-grandmothers
by their first names, but it also proves to
be an interesting historical exercise to
look back and see when that publishing
standard ended.
The digital archives are also prov-
ing to be a resourceful way to learn
about our local Jewish community. For
instance, on a typical page from the
1970s or 1980s, you can easily see how
many mohels (ritual circumcisers) there
were at that time compared to today.
You can be reminded of the communi-
ty's favorite restaurants that were once
popular, but have since closed.
Of course, you notice that area codes
and website addresses are missing
from advertisements up until a couple
decades ago. And it is interesting to
see advertisements for services that we
no longer use as frequently anymore
such as handwritten calligraphy invita-
tions and envelopes.
Tracking Down The Past
After searching for my grandparents
in the archives, I typed in my own
name and found the blurb announc-
ing my bar mitzvah in October 1989.
Occurring just before the fall of the
Soviet Union, the blurb announced
that Cory Trivax, with whom I shared
my bar mitzvah date at Adat Shalom
Synagogue in Farmington Hills, and
I would be twinning our bar mitzvah
with a young man named Alexander
Proekt of Leningrad. Just as performing
a mitzvah project has become the norm
today for b'nai mitzvah youth, having
a bar mitzvah twin in the Soviet Union
was de rigueur for the time.
The blurb in the Jewish News
mentioned that Alexander's family
had been refused to emigrate on the
grounds that his father, Mark, had
been exposed to state secrets during
his two years of employment at the
Institute of Radio Communications
12 years prior. In the days before my
bar mitzvah, I remember sitting with
Rabbi Efry Spectre and unsuccess-
fully trying to contact Alexander in
Leningrad by phone. I also sent him a
couple of unanswered postcards.
Based on the information in the
DJN archives, I was able to track
down Alexander Proekt, who is now
a 37-year-old medical doctor doing
research at the Weill Medical Center
at Cornell. He quickly responded to
my invitation to connect on the social
network Linkedln, and we have been
in touch for the first time ever.
It turns out that Alexander wasn't
aware that Cory and I had been des-
ignated as his bar mitzvah twins back
in October 1989 and seemed surprised
that I had worn a metal bracelet with
his name on it. He expressed his grati-
tude to me almost 25 years later.
I'm grateful for the gift of these digi-
tal archives. Just imagine how many
people will learn new things about
their family history. People will become
reunited thanks to these archives, and
historians will find a searchable trea-
sure trove of information. Kudos to
Arthur Horwitz and the Detroit Jewish
News Foundation for this wonderful
gift to our community.
❑
Rabbi Jason Miller is a local educator,
entrepreneur and blogger. He is president
of Access Computer Technology in West
Bloomfield and blogs at blog.rabbijason.com.
Follow him on Twitter at @RabbiJason.