frontlines
Memories Of Early
Israel Come Full Circle
Ronelle Grier
Contributing Editor
A
lot has changed since brothers
Leon "Lee 86, and Marvin,
81, Warshay last sat together
on the steps of their childhood home in
the town of Gedera, Israel, a land then
known as Mandatory Palestine.
Last month, during a family trip to
Israel, the brothers paid their first joint
visit to their boyhood home, a sturdy stuc-
co structure that has survived the effects
of time, just like its former inhabitants.
"When we lived here, there were two or
three streets and a few hundred people
said Lee, who lives in Detroit with his
wife, Diana. "You would see cows walking
down the road:'
The trip to Gedera, which included a
visit to the cemetery where their father,
Avraham Yitzhak Warshay (Varshaii), is
buried, was a sentimental journey for the
brothers and their wives. Though both
couples have visited Gedera before, this
was the first time the brothers have been
there together since they were children.
Back then, the town had one grocery
store and a single synagogue, where Lee
remembers saying Kaddish for his father,
who died in 1936 at age 39. The family's
small but solid house, one of the few with
electricity and a refrigera-
tor, was built to withstand
gunfire from Arabs opposed
to mass Jewish immigration Lee and Marvin Warshay were able to sit together
on the stoop of their childhood home in pre-state
into British Mandate-ruled
Israel for the first time since they were children.
Palestine.
"There were weapons
hidden in our furniture said Lee, who
never been enthusiastic about living in
recalls huddling in his bedroom while
Palestine, took the boys, ages 2 and 7, to
join her family in Brooklyn.
machine gun fire ricocheted through the
neighborhood.
For Marvin, returning to his birthplace
Avraham Yitzhak, born in Kovno,
with Lee was very meaningful because his
Lithuania, was an avid Zionist throughout memories of his father have always lived
his short but colorful life. After serv-
through others, especially his brother.
ing in the Turkish army, he came to the
"I have a sense of history now:' said
United States in the early 1920s, where
Marvin, who lives in Cleveland with his
he met his wife, Miriam, and earned a
wife, Ieda. "After so many years, we've
master's degree in agriculture from Ohio
returned. That means something:'
State University. His dream was to live in
The outing, organized by Lee's son,
Palestine and cultivate land purchased by
Nathaniel, was part of a family trip to
his Lithuanian relatives, which he fulfilled celebrate the Jerusalem wedding of
by moving there when Lee was 5 and
Nathaniel's daughter, Madeleine. In addi-
Miriam was pregnant with Marvin.
tion to Lee and Marvin and their wives,
Soon after their arrival, Avraham con-
the group included Nathaniel's wife,
tracted a fatal blood infection from a foot
Shaina, their children, and his brother,
injury and died in a Tel Aviv hospital,
Jonathan Warshay of West Bloomfield,
leaving his wife, two young sons and an
and me, Jonathan's fiancee.
unfinished orange grove.
"For me, it was like closing the
"They cleared the grapes and planted
circle said Nathaniel of Oak Park. "It
orange trees; but, unfortunately, my father brought me a little closer to my grand-
never lived to see the blossoms:' Lee said.
father, who has always been a mythical
Miriam, a Polish immigrant who had
figure in my life:'
❑
JN CONTENTS
theJEWISHNEWS.com
April 23-29, 2015 I 4-10 Iyar 5775 I Vol. CXLVII, No.12
Ann Arbor
Arts & Life
Business
Calendar
Editor's Picks
Israel
Letters
Lifecycles
Marketplace
Metro
NextGen
72
53
42
37
58
5, 15, 46
5
62
66
8
51
Obituaries
Points of View
Sports
Synagogue List
Torah Portion
Columnists
Arthur Horwitz
Danny Raskin
Robert Sklar
71
46
44
48
49
Shabbat Lights
Shabbat: Friday, April 24, 8:06 p.m.
Shabbat Ends: Saturday, April 25, 9:11 p.m.
Shabbat: Friday, May 1, 8:14 p.m.
Shabbat Ends: Saturday, May 2, 9:20 p.m.
14
60
15, 46
Lag b'Omer: Thursday, May 7.
Times are from Yeshiva Beth Yehudah calendar.
4
ft
Lorraine and Alden Leib want
to make an impact on the lives of
Michigan Jewish students pursuing
a medical or dental education.
As a periodontist in private practice,
and an instructor at the University of
Michigan, Dr. Leib knows it can be
difficult to manage without student
loans, and that students are often
burdened with the enormous debt
they incur.
The Dr. Alden M. and Lorraine
Leib Medical/Dental Education
Fund is a new and important interest-
free fund recently established at
Hebrew Free Loan. The Leibs' fund
will follow the parameters of the
William Davidson Jewish College
Loan Program, and will provide
education loans to Jewish students
in Michigan who pursue a medical
or dental education through an
accredited in-state program.
This new fund can make a
significant difference for students
who are planning to pursue a medical
or dental education. It may offer
the opportunity to a student who
did not think that kind of education
was financially possible.
It is the Leibs' hope that students
applying for funding through their
loan fund will have the incentive to
remain in Michigan upon completion
of their studies. The intent is not only
to help educate, but for graduates
to practice here, knowing that their
Jewish community supports them.
Help strengthen our
Jewish community.
Become an HFL Donor.
Click. Call. Give Now.
www.hfldetroit.org
248.723.8184
Health. A fresh start.
A good education.
The next great business idea.
Hebrew Free Loan gives interest-
free loans to members of our
community for a variety of
personal and small business
needs. HFL loans are funded
entirely through community
donations which continually
recycle to others, generating
many times the original value
to help maintain the lives of
local Jews.
HEBREW
FREE*LOAN
Our JN Mission
The Jewish News aspires to communicate news and opinion that's useful, engaging, enjoyable and unique. It strives to
reflect the full range of diverse viewpoints while also advocating positions that strengthen Jewish unity and continu-
ity. We desire to create and maintain a challenging, caring, enjoyable work environment that encourages creativity
and innovation. We acknowledge our role as a responsible, responsive member of the community. Being competi-
tive, we must always strive to be the most respected, outstanding Jewish community publication in the nation. Our
rewards are informed, educated readers, very satisfied advertisers, contented employees and profitable growth.
Cover design by Michelle Sheridan. The Detroit
Jewish News (USPS 275-520) is published every
Thursday at 29200 Northwestern Highway, #110,
Southfield, Michigan. Periodical postage paid
at Southfield, Michigan, and additional mailing
offices. Postmaster: send changes to: Detroit
Jewish News, 29200 Northwestern Highway, #110,
Southfield, MI 48034.
hfldetroit.org
We Provide Loans. We Promise Dignity.
6735 Telegraph Road, Suite 300 • Bloomfield Hills, MI 48301
I r
a Hebrew Free Loan Detroit
The Jewish Federauon
# @HFLDetroit
111
April 23 • 2015
3