$2.00 DEC. 19-25, 2013 / 16-22 TEVET 5774
A JEWISH RENAISSANCE MEDIA PUBLICATION

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» Winning Writer Beth Jacob student's essay on fear
wins national award. See page 19.

» Twice As Cool At 65, Karen Jacobson participates
in the Polar Bear Water Ski fundraiser. See page 33.

DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

» Forty Years Of Film Detroit Film Theatre
celebrates special anniversary with gala celebration.
See page 35.

Karen Jacobson getting ready to ski Loon Lake

metro

Haunting

After a suicide, the devastation
still lingers for loved ones.

Ronelle Grier I Contributing Writer

L

aura Last Solomon is still recovering from the day she learned
her mother, who was 50, had hanged herself. While Marcia Last
had struggled with depression, Solomon said it was not obvious
when she was growing up.
"She was a college professor; she never missed work; she sailed:'
Solomon said.
Nearly 30 years later, Solomon, now married with seven children, still
feels the effects. Mother's Day continues to be difficult, and it saddens
her to realize her children will never know their grandmother.
"It devastated my father, and it gave me a lifelong fear that anyone who
is upset about anything, even for a few minutes, is about to go kill him-
self' Solomon said. "It impacts you in many ways; the most is knowing it

CONTINUED ON PAGE 8

Shared Traditions

Holiday celebrations are multiplied
for many interfaith families.

Shari S. Cohen I Special to the Jewish News

Michigan

Printed In

1942 - 2013

Covering and
Connecting
Jewish Detroit
Eve y Week

hristmas is the behemoth of American
holidays. Each year, the festivities
1 11/ seem to start earlier and become
more commercial; some observers say it is less
and less a religious holiday. And the holiday's
increasingly secular nature may be one reason
that many interfaith families observe both
Christmas and Chanukah.
These dual holiday celebrations have evolved
as intermarriage has escalated. A national Pew
Research Center survey reports that since 2000,
almost 60 percent of Jewish Americans have
married a non-Jew.
"Very few of us are living with only Jewish
extended families:' said Rabbi Michal Woll,
rabbi of the Ann Arbor Reconstructionist
Congregation.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 12

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