If your property tax
is excessive, hire the
experts in property tax law:
• See our ad on page 9 •
248-702-6100 • hoffertlaw.com
Hoffert & Associates
171
HOFFERT &
ASSOCIATES
$2.00 FEB.19-25, 2015 / 30 SHEVAT-6 ADAR 5775
theJEWISHNEWS.com
A JEWISH RENAISSANCE MEDIA PUBLICATION
» Teen Mental Health Orley family provides forum
for Wolverine Support Network's peer-to-peer work. See
page 31.
» Author On Campus Students find Israel ties with
Ari Shavit, author of My Promised Land. See page 33.
DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
» At The Oscars A Jewish "Who's Who" of 2015
Academy Award nominees. See page 41.
Author Ari Shavit and MSU junior Nate
Strauss
metro
Reform
Vision
Detroit seniors look
to the city's past
11131 with an eye to the future.
Religious Action Center's
new leader sees a
"more socially just
America."
Shari S. Cohen
Special to the Jewish News
H,I711
i1,111111111111
R
abbi Jonah Pesner, the newly
appointed director of the
Religious Action Center (RAC)
of Reform Judaism,
visited Detroit recently
to share his mission
of mobilizing Reform
congregations nation-
wide to advocate for
social justice.
With extensive rab-
binic, organizational
Rabbi Jonah
leadership and advo-
Pesner
cacy credentials, Pesner
seeks to enhance the
Reform movement's support for a "more
socially just America!'
"In Genesis, it says that we are the
stewards of God's creation," he explains
as part of the basis for Jewish concern
about such issues as economic inequality,
climate change and race relations as well
as Israel advocacy.
Mandell "Bill" Berman
D
Paula Marks-Bolton
David Tanzman
Josh EI'Chonen I Special to the Jewish News
owntown Detroit used to be a bustling, flourishing
business district and is only now seeing a resur-
gence. Memories of that distant past are not lost on
the Jewish community's older generation.
So how do we ensure that future generations appreciate
previous Jewish generations' contributions to Detroit —
and, more importantly, learn from them?
Paula Marks-Bolton, David Tanzman and Mandell "Bill"
Berman have different backgrounds, but all share a love
for Detroit's Jewish community. These three profession-
als shared a few moments of history, reflection and their
thoughts on the future.
CONTINUED ON PAGE 12
1942 - 2015
Covering and
Connecting
Jewish Detroit
Eve y Week
Marks-Bolton of West Bloomfield is a Holocaust survivor
who came to America in 1949 with the help of the American
Jewish Joint Distribution Committee. She stayed at first in
Detroit with her relatives, Jane Meisner and Alan Zeiger, in
a four-family flat on Tyler Street. She says she found work
right away because she did not want to be a burden. She
became a U.S. citizen in 1954.
"My first job was at Nate Green's on Seven Mile and
Livernois, a high-end lady's dress shop:' she said. "I was the
main fitter"
Many Holocaust survivors lived near Marks-Bolton, and
many attended Rabbi Leo Goldman's congregation Shaarey
Shomayim.
"We and the other survivors were close she said. "There
was a special bond, and we wanted to restart:'
This bond among survivors was strengthened by
Goldman, a survivor as well. Marks-Bolton now teaches
about the Holocaust and speaks at the Holocaust Memorial
Center in Farmington Hills.
CONTINUED ON PAGE 8