—
Exhibit Opening Event.,
h t is My V
•
Sunday, September 21 3:00 p.m. Artist Talk and Presentation by Todd Weinstein
Exhibit Opening Event is free with museum admission.
4
6clos, L
gends, and
Absft'aetib s 7-
Todd Weinstein explores themes including the reemergence ofJewish life in modern day Germany, the
prophets of the Bible, and the legend of the 36 Righteous Ones whose merit keeps the world from destruction
in times of peril. ON EXHIBIT SEPTEMBER 21 — DECEMBER 22, 2014
FOR MORE INFO: wwwholocaustcenter.org
$2.00 SEPT. 4-10, 2014 / 9-15 an 5774
A JEWISH RENAISSANCE MEDIA PUBLICATION
theJEWISHNEWS.com
» Bragging Rights Grandparents share their pride and
joy in their grandchildren. See page 14.
» Sharing The Bimah Song and Spirit Institute For Peace
builds interfaith harmony. See page 32.
DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
metro
» Angels And Dreamers West Bloomfield girl fulfills her
dream of helping the homeless. See page 36.
Sammy, 3, and Lenny LaKritz, 11
months, of West Bloomfield
>> cover story
Moving
Forward
r
Decision about Rabbi Krakoff
leaves rift Shaarey Zedek
is working to heal.
Keri Guten Cohen
Story Development Editor
W
hen a petition to hold a special con-
gregational meeting signed by about
20 percent of its congregants was
presented to the Congregation Shaarey Zedek
board at the beginning of August, signers were
hopeful their request would be met.
Members of the Save Our Synagogue (SOS)
group and other petition signers, numbering 550
people, sought a special meeting on Aug. 24 to
voice their opposition to a decision not to renew
Bryan Elkus-Shaarey Zede k
CONTINUED ON PAGE 12
Erica Ward Gerson, head of
the Detroit Land Bank, at „ 490,̀.:,-'07
;-4
-401...--
01 .
one of the abandoned Detroit
-tot'
4,4-4 1W404
homes up_,for sale and rehab
Erica Ward Gerson heads the Detroit Land Bank,
renewing Detroit one home at a time.
Sam Gringlas I Special to the Jewish News
Congregation Shaarey Zedek in Southfield
ne year before Mike Duggan declared his candida-
cy for Detroit mayor, he scheduled a lunch meet-
ing at Roma Cafe on Riopelle Street in the city.
His guest was Erica Ward Gerson, board chair at the
Detroit Medical Center's Children's Hospital of Michigan.
She had known Duggan for years through his role as head
of the DMC, and figured he wanted to discuss hospital busi-
ness.
Printed
Mich
1942 - 2014
Covering and
Connecting
Jewish Detroit
Eve y Week
8
1 1
08805
But when Gerson arrived, Duggan leaned forward and
told her something she wasn't expecting. He was consider-
ing a run for the mayor's office.
He said he thought he could make a difference, but only
with a robust plan to tackle the city's throngs of abandoned
and deteriorating properties.
"I can't do it unless I come up with a policy I believe in
to cure blight in the city; because if I can't cure the blight,
nothing else I do will matter;' Gerson recalled him saying.
So he asked her to help write the framework Duggan
ran on the policy, won his election and assumed office in
January Six months later, the city's reorganized Detroit
Land Bank Authority has auctioned more than a hundred
vacant homes, many of which are now on their way to reno-
vation and occupancy.
CONTINUED ON PAGE 8
93363
5