metro

Communal Tashlich

Detroit River symbolically accepts individuals' shortcomings
at event hosted by The Well.

0

n a beautiful September after-
noon that still felt like summer,
nearly 500 people, mostly ages
22-35, joined together Downtown in Hart
Plaza and along the Detroit Riverwalk for
a Rosh Hashanah celebration and tashlich
ceremony.
The Sept. 15 event, dubbed "Rosh
Hashanah Rush Hour; was organized and
hosted by The Well, Metro Detroit's new
pluralistic Jewish community-building,
education and spirituality outreach initia-
tive.
The organization is geared to the needs
of young adults and those who haven't
connected with traditional institutions. Its
philosophy is that Jewish ethics, values,
spirituality and community can be directly
applicable to people's lives and should
drive them to positively impact the world.
Rabbi Dan Horwitz, founding director
of The Well, set the tone by saying: "We
welcome you as the imperfect human
beings we all are, constantly striving to
become the people we wish to be. We
welcome you as the parents, children,
grandparents, friends, family, lovers and
partners you are in the lives of others.
"And we welcome you with open arms,
with song, food, drink and community,
to participate in the challenging work of
introspection our tradition teaches us
we're meant to engage in at this time of
year:'
He then led participants in a guided
meditation, with this primary message:
"How you welcome others at The Well
determines how your life story is writ-
ten:' Attendees joined together in song,
led by Temple Israel Cantorial Soloist Neil

Michaels, heard the blast of the shofar
and then symbolically cast away their
shortcomings in the form of breadcrumbs,
provided by the Detroit Institute of Bagels
into the Detroit River. The festival-esque
atmosphere included drumming by local
band Collision 6, donuts and cider from
the Franklin Cider Mill, and samplings
from Mitch Albom's new dessert philan-
thropy Detroit Water Ice Factory.
In addition to casting away their short-
comings, participants were given the
opportunity to write down their wishes
for the year ahead and to drop them into
a makeshift wishing well, and to enter
a raffle for dining gift cards courtesy of
Townhouse restaurant.
In attendance were a number of elected
officials, including State Reps. Jeremy
Moss and Robert Wittenberg and State
Sen. David Knezek. Event partners were
NEXTGen Detroit, Repair the World, the
Downtown Synagogue, Hillel of Metro
Detroit, BBYO, Temple Israel and the
Jewish News. Host committee members
were Adam Blanck, Allie Sherman, Ariella
Raviv, Ben Falik, Dan Cherrin, Danny
Samet, Eddie Berger, Ethan Lis, Hayley
Sakwa, Jenny Gross, Josh Fishman, Justin
Jacobs, Kelly Sternberg, Lacey Cohen,
Lauren Cohn, Lindsey Schwartz, Matt
Cohn, Rob Sallen, Sam Dubin, Sherrie
Singer and Vadim Avshalumov. A number
of other young adults volunteered at the
event as well.

JN

Attendees closed their eyes and participated in a guided meditation focusing on how
to welcome others to their personal Well.

❑

For more information about The Well, a project
of the Lori Talsky Zekelman Fund at Temple

Israel, and to learn about upcoming events,
visit www.meetyouatthewell.org .

Brandon Schram of Detroit, Gabe Scharg of Royal Oak,
Ian Gross of Birmingham and Brett Powell of Detroit
toss their bread into the Detroit River during tashlich.

20 September 24 • 2015

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Sam Dubin of West Bloomfield,
Eli Natinsky of Detroit, Jonathan
Abramson of West Bloomfield and Alex
Scharg of Detroit

Rabbi Dan Horwitz welcomes the crowd to the Detroit
River.

Wendy Lazar of Farmington Hills,
Allison Weiner, 12, of West Bloomfield,
Avery Owen, 12, Howard Lazar and
Jonah Owen, 9, all of Farmington Hills

Volunteer Steven Hurvitz of Huntington Woods offers
Franklin Cider Mill donuts to attendees.