views

for openers

Th e Gift Of Receiving

S

ometimes the most memorable
birthday?!” he said, and you could just
gifts are not particularly expen-
see those wheels turning in his head.
sive nor even useful.
“Then she gets a present!” He
For example, once, many
immediately began sifting
years ago, on a trip to my
through the constant supply
hometown, I purchased a
of treasures in his pockets
small bouquet of flowers for
(back in those days, laundry
my bubbie before Shabbat. My
was always an adventure!)
kids, very young at the time,
until he found the perfect
instantly began arguing about
thing and turned to her, hand
who should have the honor of
outstretched with his precious
Rochel Burstyn
actually giving it to her, which
offering, his voice reverent
I easily settled by opening the
and loving: “For you, Bubbie. A
bouquet and handing each of
rusty nail.”
them a single flower to hold.
Ever gallant and gracious,
Well! The kids were thrilled
my mother-in-law accepted
with this arrangement and took off,
the offering with solemn thanks, look-
running as fast as their little feet would
ing, like my grandmother had, beyond
carry them, racing up the red brick path the physical item and rather at the
to her house, breathless and pink-faced, sweet child and his heartfelt sentiment
and ringing the doorbell. When my
of love and giving.
grandmother opened the door, the kids
I wish all my stories about gift-giving
excitedly thrust their offerings toward
were as warm and fuzzy.
her, which I was dismayed to see had
My mother visited for a few weeks
lost most of their petals and were all
last year and before she left, I found
bent over, due to all that exuberant run- a piece of jewelry on my living room
ning. My grandmother, however, was
bookshelf. I studied it; I didn’t remem-
delighted and clasped those broken
ber ever seeing it before, and it some-
stems with love and gratitude.
how made me think of my mother.
Similarly, when my son Yoni was
Feeling generous, I turned to her, saying,
4, I explained to him that it was my
“I don’t know why, but this reminds me
mother-in-law’s birthday. “Bubbie’s
of you. Here, you have it.”

She waited a moment, sure I was jok-
ing, before saying, “It reminds you of me
because I gave it to you when I arrived.”
Then came the awkward assurances
about how much I really liked it … as
well as mutually expressed concerns
about my short-term memory.
It’s much more fun to be on the other
side of those awkward moments … like
the time I stepped into a host’s kitchen
and saw a fellow guest scraping some
food off her plate and into the garbage.
“Don’t try the rice,” she advised me and
made a face. “It’s awful.”
At my slightly horrified but amused
expression, the realization slowly
dawned. “Oh, no. Don’t tell me, you
made the rice.” I nodded and suddenly
the lady was blushing and stammering
and cramming rice into her mouth,
while I doubled over in laughter, thor-
oughly grateful to discover I’m not the
only one who sticks her entire foot,
warts and all, into her mouth!
OK, I got a bit sidetracked there, but
my point was that we need to keep in
mind the person behind the giving and
the fact they’re usually offering us so
much more than just a random object.
Also, I’m still looking for a really good
rice recipe. •

arts&life

at home

editor’s letter

W

depend on closer to the front — like our
metro section (now called “jews in the
d”), our life-cycle events (now dubbed
“moments”) and sports (still called
“sports”).
We’re also adding periodic features
about young Detroiters connected
to the city but living elsewhere called
“detroiters in exile;” this will comple-
ment our regular coverage of young
Jewish Detroiters living and working in
the city. But, don’t worry, the obituaries
(now named “soul”) are still at the end
of the paper, where we know you start
reading first.
Other minor changes include moving
the Shabbat lighting times to the “spirit”
section to run with the Torah portion,
the addition of a section called “eretz”
devoted to news of Israel and “look-
ing back,” the last page of the paper
featuring a historic photo curated each
week by the Jewish Historical Society of

Michael Graub is a longtime
Hebrew Free Loan Board member
who believes his experience with the
agency improved his life focus.
“This agency is driven by a good,
diverse team of Board and staff who
check their egos at the door and do
what’s best for the Jewish community,”
Michael said. “This peer-to-peer model
connects with people, it is the beating
heart of HFL. When I’m on the way
home from meeting borrowers, the
type of energy I have is indescribable.
I know then, that I have helped a client
improve their life.”
Michael feels that energy translated
into positives at work as well. As a
business owner in ﬁnancial services,
Michael observed human interactions
at work and incorporated the
grounding principle of HFL in a
couple of areas where it was needed.
Dignity and respect, he said, are
universal needs, and being more
conscious of them helped his business.
Michael’s experience as a small
business owner drove him to be
part of the team that created the
nucleus of the Marvin I. Danto Small
Business Loan Program.
“The Danto program is close to
my heart,” Michael said. “I fell in
love with the idea of how Hebrew
Free Loan helps individuals and
families, and I was one of several
who asked how we could move that
model into other areas. Launching
and keeping small businesses here
is one of the ways we improve the
quality of life for everyone, and
make Michigan more attractive for
new generations. The legacy we
leave behind should be a strong,
rich and vibrant community.”

Become an HFL Donor.
Click. Call. Give Now.
www.hfldetroit.org
248.723.8184

DEAR READERS,

e’re getting excited about the
approaching 75th anniversa-
ry of the Jewish News, starting
this March and celebrated with special
features in the paper for a full year.
Some things haven’t changed much
over those 75 years — we are still a
Zionist newspaper; we still bring you
news — favorable and unfavorable — of
Detroit’s Jewish community you won’t
find anywhere else; and we still cel-
ebrate life’s milestones with you.
But we thought it was time for a
change as we head into our 75th year,
so we’ve modernized the look of your
paper with an eye to readability and to
design that gives nearly equal weight to
the visual look of our pages. Stories may
be a bit shorter and more conversation-
al, and photographs may be a bit larger
and more compelling.
We’ve also changed the flow of the
Jewish News, bringing more features you

My
Story

Let’s Get Lost

Inspiration for creatin

g other-worldly

LYNNE KONSTAN

Health. A fresh start.
A good education.
The next great business idea.

PHOTO BY BETH
SINGER

sanctuaries for kids.

TIN ARTS & LIFE EDITOR

In the sisters’ room
— two of a set
of triplets — of
fresh, fun and sophisticate
Lori Goldman’s Bloomfield
d. “When I presented
Township home,
the project to the
me the thumbs up,”
designer Jennifer
triplets, all three
Asmar went for
says Asmar, owner
of them looked
of Asmar Interiors
at me and, at the
in Troy. “It was the
same time, gave
cutest meeting I’ve
had in my life.”

jn

+BOVBSZt

 1

Michigan. You’ll find “Quick Click,” full
of history from the Davidson Archive
there as well.
We hope you’ll enjoy the changes.
Please let us know. We value your feed-
back!
The redesign is just one of several
upcoming initiatives — including a
mega-expansion of the JN’s digital plat-
form — that will be coming your way in
the months ahead. All with the intent
of giving you unique, useful and unsub-
stitutable information in the manner in
which you choose to receive it. •

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.

6735 Telegraph Road, Suite 300 • Bloomfield Hills, MI 48301

Hebrew Free Loan Detroit

@HFLDetroit

2139970

jn

January 12 • 2017

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