MOVING ON
BETH SHALOM HOSTS
ANNUAL WOMEN’S SEDER
Women of all faiths are invited to a Women’s
Seder at Congregation Beth Shalom in Oak
Park at 6 p.m. Wednesday, April 13. The pro-
gram includes a kosher Passover-style dinner.
Vegetarian meals are available upon request.
Beth Shalom President Marie Slotnick
will lead the program with help from Cantor
Pamela Schiffer of Congregation Shaarey
Zedek in East Lansing. Participants will sit on
pillows under a billowing tent for part of the
program that will celebrate women’s contribu-
tions to the Exodus from Egypt and through-
out Jewish history. Participants will follow
The Journey Continues: The Ma’yan Passover
Haggadah by Tamara R. Cohen, Deborah L.
Friedman and Suelevi Elwell.
Linda Bell and Mandy Garver
Reservations are $25 for adults and $10
for girls age 12 and under. Sponsorships are
welcome at $54. “Angel” sponsorships are $72.
Anonymous sponsorships for guests at $25 are
also welcome.
Paid reservations must be made by April
7. Mail checks to Congregation Beth Shalom,
14601 Lincoln, Oak Park, MI 48237. For more
information or reservations, call the syna-
gogue office at (248) 547-7970 or email cbs@
congbethshalom.org.
— Barbara Lewis
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Credit: Milton Viorst
VIORST TO SPEAK
Judith Viorst
Geoffrey Melada/Washington Jewish Week
metro » n ews yo u c a n u se
Renowned author Judith Viorst will be among the four present-
ers at “Mourning, Transitions and Love: Recurring Realities in
Psychoanalysis, Psychotherapy and Life,” a daylong symposium at 8
a.m. Saturday, April 16, sponsored by the Michigan Psychoanalytic
Society at the Inn at St. John’s in Plymouth. While the emphasis of the
meeting has a clinical focus, issues related to death, loss, mourning
and vitality will be discussed. Breakout groups with local psychoana-
lysts will be held in the later part of the morning session. All are wel-
come. For more information, go to www.mpi-mps.org.
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For nearly three years, former Detroiter
Matt Nosanchuk has served President
Obama and his administration by work-
ing in the Office of Public Engagement as
the liaison to the American Jewish com-
munity.
Last week, he announced it was time
to move on and that his in the Office of
Public Engagement would be March 25.
“The White House remains firmly
committed to robust engagement with
the American Jewish community, so I
have a terrific successor who will begin
working here within the next few weeks,”
Nosanchuk said in a statement.
“So many aspects of this role have
been extremely gratifying. The American
Jewish community has tremendous depth,
Matt Nosanchuk
breadth and expertise. Time and again, I
have appreciated the opportunity to part-
ner with organizations and individuals
who embody the values we share as Jews
and as Americans, and who maintain a
steadfast commitment to tikkun olam.”
Without giving specifics, Nosanchuk
says he will continue working as an
appointee in the Obama administration
and will remain involved with the admin-
istration’s outreach to the American Jewish
community.
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RUBE GOLDBERG
PASSOVER MACHINE
To get you in the mood for Passover,
check out the Rube Goldberg machine
Israeli students at the Technion-Israel
Institute of Technology in Haifa,
put together to tell highlights of the
Passover story. You might remember it
from last year, but it’s always fun.
The Technion students are from the
Faculties of Mechanical Engineering
and Architecture and Town Planning
departments. To watch, go to www.
on.fb.me/1R0rTn1.
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MUSIC FOR HUMANITY
Reggae rapper Matisyahu, who has been targeted by those who boycott
Israel, will tour U.S. colleges with acoustic hip-hop artist Nadim Azzam,
who has an Egyptian Palestinian father and American Jewish mother and
has said he is able to see both sides of the conflict.
The tour is cosponsored by Hillel chapters. Matisyahu, formerly
Chasidic, wrote on his website that the decision to play with Azzam is “to
replace boycott and finger pointing with music as a reminder to find the
compassion and humanity we share.”
Matisyahu and Azzam will play an April 4 concert for students only at
the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. He will play for general audi-
ences at Freedom Hill in Sterling Heights July 12; opening act is 311.
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Matisyahu and Nadim Azzam
DREAM MAKER GALA
Hillel Day School will fete community
leaders Beverly and Arthur Liss, and
Norma and Michael Dorman, at the
Annual Dream Maker Gala on Sunday,
May 22, at Hillel in Farmington Hills.
Beverly and Arthur Liss will receive the
Dream Maker Award for their strong
support of Hillel, as both past parents
and current grandparents, and for their
involvement in numerous organizations
and activities in the Jewish and greater
community.
Norma and Michael Dorman, also
past parents, will receive the Rabbi Jacob
E. Segal (z”l) Award for their countless
hours in support of Hillel, which have
24 March 31 • 2016
Michael and Norma Dorman
made a lasting impression on the school,
and for their longstanding dedication to
Jewish Detroit.
The gala will also recognize
Distinguished Alumni awardees arts
patron Elanah Nachman Hunger (Class
of 1988), Pulitzer Prize-winning journal-
ist Charles Ornstein (Class of 1988) and
Arthur and Beverly Liss
Dr. Ron Gaba (Class of 1990).
Tickets are $180 per person. The com-
munity is invited to celebrate all the
honorees in the Shulman Scholarship
Journal, which will be distributed at the
gala. For information on submitting a
tribute, contact Marni Cherrin, director
of annual giving, at (248) 539-2920.
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BAKED WITH LOVE
Kayla Mayerfeld, 21, of Oak Park makes
homemade treats that sell like hot cakes.
Always a fan of baking, she was urged
by family and friends to try selling her
specialty-flavored kosher mini-cupcakes.
She started advertising her Bite Sized Bliss
business on Facebook and Instagram in
September 2015 and liked the reaction.
Mayerfeld, who is studying food science
at Wayne State University, offers a range
of flavors, including some she invented
herself, such as lemon basil — all with fla-
vored frostings and custom-made fondant
designs to match. Hoping to branch out
and add more specialty cakes to her rep-
ertoire, Mayerfeld is enjoying what she’s
doing in the meantime.
“I really like mini-cupcakes because
they make people so happy,” she said.
For more information, check out her
website www.bsbcupcakes.com.
— Rochel Burstyn
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