Rosh Hashanah >> communal messages

29TH ANNUAL CRYSTAL ROSE CELEBRATION

• •

go. •

MEM

•
•

IF"

•

•••

e • • •

4 !"bl

/

AN EVENING OF RUSTIC ELEGANCE

THURSDAY, OCT. 2, 2014 • 6

STROLLING DINNER • TICKETS $100

HONORING OUTSTANDING COMMUNITY PARTNERS:

GILDA'S CLUB METRO DETROIT
HILLER'S MARKET
KIDS KICKING CANCER

COMMITTEE CHAIR: JEFFREY SCHOSTAK

ENTERTAINMENT BY

DETROIT'S OWN JAZZ CROONER BEN SHARKEY

Hospice of
Michigan

FOR TICKET AND SPONSORSHIP INFORMATION
VISIT HOM.CONVIO.NET/SHEDS
OR CALL ANNE-MARIE POLTORAK, 313-578-6265

1947130

.41111 ■ CCEI.

R
K•11
TC—CH 1\1CD IG

24-Hour Computer Support
Professional Web Design
Social Media Marketing

Call Today: 248-804-7005 I Web: accesscomptech.com

sio tt wIk
16.

*flak
Sit los or
t CD
ab.. lois s

ki

ft

1111110'

1946890

DON'T MISS THE HEALTH & FITNESS SECTION

INSIDE THE JN THE LAST WEEK EVERY MONTH

asi

A,- Call 248.351.5107 for more information

54 . eptember 18 • 2014

Confronting Our
Challenges

E

PM

FORD PIQUETTE AVENUE PLANT

/0

Messages from page 52

ach year, Rosh Hashanah pro-
vides a unique opportunity to
reflect on the year before and
consider the year ahead. This past year
was an especially difficult one for both
local and world Jewry.
In Israel, the entire country felt the
constant threat and destruction of
Hamas rockets. The IDF
was pulled once again into
a conflict to defend Israel
from terrorism. In Europe, a
resurgence of anti-Semitism
led to disturbing rhetoric,
riots and images that we
hadn't seen for decades.
Locally, the voices of BDS
(Boycott Divestment and
Sanctions) were loud and
heard on our campuses and
in our public spaces. And,
as if an absurdist and awful
biblical joke was being played on us,
flooding devastated many of the Jewish
homes in our region.
How can we possibly take stock of
the last year and look forward to the
next?
It is in this difficult environment
that I take great solace in our Detroit
Jewish community's passion, leader-
ship, philanthropy, love and humanity.
In each one of these cases, we
responded together as a community.
Federation's leadership, both lay and
professional, stepped forward with
significant contributions to an urgent
needs fund focused on Israel. We trav-
eled to Israel, when we could, to take
solidarity with our brethren there.
Organizations such as the JCRC,
ADL, AJC and others actively made
calls, took to social media and put
pressure on our elected officials to
strongly condemn the hatred we were
witnessing in Europe and around the
world.

Locally, a cohort of Federation
NEXTGen young adults trained to
become more articulate and better
advocates for the state of Israel, trying to
sway opinion at the largest gathering of
Presbyterian ministers in the country.
My Facebook feed was full of friends
offering to lend a hand and help their
family and friends dig out
from under the flood, move
heirlooms and furniture
out of submerged base-
ments and support each
other in a time of need.
What better local
response could there be to
the incredible media bias
against Jews and Israel than
having our local commu-
nity show the world how
thoughtfully and beauti-
fully we care for our com-
munity; how we provide services and
preserve dignity for our most vulner-
able; educate our children; and care for
our elderly by volunteering, giving and
leading with every fiber of our being.
Ours is a community that internal-
izes and personifies the phrase hineni,
here I am. There will be challenges
in the new year, some similar to last
years; others we may never have con-
sidered, but I am confident that our
current leadership and our next gen-
eration of leadership has and is devel-
oping the tools necessary to confront
and overcome those challenges.
On behalf of the NEXTGen Division
of Federation, we want to wish every
member of our community a happy,
healthy and wonderful new year. May
it be a year of peace, of rebuilding and
of friendship.
Chag sameiach.

Holocaust Events

Memorial Cemetery at Gratiot and 14
Mile in Clinton Township for a Yizkor
service. Those needing transportation
can call Lillian, (248) 444-8887.
Also on Sunday, Sept. 28, from 2-4
p.m., the award-winning film A Song
for You will screen at the Holocaust
Memorial Center in Farmington
Hills. It tells of George and Gisela
Karp, who, together with their infant
daughter and after a harrowing five-
year journey, escaped Nazi-occupied
France by crossing the Pyrenees on
foot. Free. RSVPs are recommended:
asongforyoumichigan@gmail. com .

On Sunday, Sept. 21, at 11:30 a.m.,
the David-Horodoker Organization
will host a Holocaust memorial
service at the Holocaust Memorial
Center in Farmington Hills. A light
brunch will follow. An optional
docent-led tour will be at 10:30. Free.
Memorial donations accepted. RSVP:
Susann Kauffman, (248) 538-8866 or
suekauffman@comcast.net .
On Sunday, Sept. 28, at 1 p.m.,
the United Jewish Organization,
First Second and Third Generation
Survivors, will gather at Hebrew

Jay Hack

President NEXTGen Detroit