jews d
in
the
75th Anniversary
Forever Mentshen
Former JN mentsh
honorees continue
to help others.
STACY GITTLEMAN CONTRIBUTING WRITER
M
itzvah Heroes, Mentsh of the Month, Jewish
Stars — whatever you call them, the Jewish
News through the years has a habit of focus-
ing on the many, many people who are doing great,
unselfish work in the community. Here are some
updates on some of those mitzvah makers.
Jeff Lazar
Throughout his life, Jeff Lazar of Southfield has commit-
ted himself to doing mitzvot. His good deeds have been
documented in the Jewish News over the years since he
was first featured as a Mitzvah Hero at
age 14 for his work in raising thousands
of dollars for muscular dystrophy at his
backyard summer carnivals. (“Hawking
for MDA,” March 23, 1990).
“It was such a joy to raise money for
kids with MD and kids with special
needs,” said Lazar, who in addition to
raising money, would walk Detroit’s
streets at all hours of the day to hand out food to the
homeless. He also babysat for neighborhood kids with
special needs.
His entrepreneurial self-starting spirit of doing for oth-
ers in his teens has carried over into his adult professional
life. In addition to running his own scrap metal recycling
business for a livelihood, he has been a committed teen
member and then adviser for the (Orthodox) National
Conference of Synagogue Youth (NCSY) for 25 years.
Five years ago. Lazar helped launch Yachad Detroit.
A project of the Orthodox Union, the Oak Park-based
Yachad group is dedicated to addressing the needs of
individuals with disabilities and including them in the
Jewish community.
Each week, Yachad Detroit invites Jews with special
needs to have some pizza, learn about the parshat sha-
vuah (Torah portion of the week) and make friends.
“Yachad is all about inclusion and friendships within
a Jewish framework,” Lazar said. “Students from Farber
[Akiva] Hebrew High School and NCSY help out. Everyone
is learning and having a good time, while their parents
can get a respite and have a night out to themselves.”
A lifelong Detroiter, Lazar and his wife of 18 years,
Susan, a native of Long Island, N.Y., and an office manager
at Jewish Hospice and Chaplaincy Network, are raising
their 16-year-old son, Eliyahu, to also be a mentsh. For
many years now, Eliyahu volunteers with Yachad partici-
pants. They are greatly invested in the continuation of
strengthening Detroit and see places like Oak Park and
Southfield as great neighborhoods where young Jewish
couples continue to settle and thrive.
“My wife and I live by a motto: Unleash your spirit; be
bold and share with the world,” Lazar said. “It is some-
thing we have tried to instill in our son, that he should al-
ways maintain his sensitivity and compassion for others.”
Jennifer Ribiat
Jennifer Ribiat of West Bloomfield is one busy woman.
This mom of three works full time as a dental hygienist
and donates her professional skills and time at the Jewish
Dental Clinic in Pontiac.
In the years since she was featured as Mentsh of the
Month (“Paying It Forward,” Nov. 21,
2013), she created a social media push-
up campaign in April of 2016 — video-
ing herself doing 22 push-ups a day
for 22 days — sometimes at home and
sometimes at work in between patients
— to raise awareness to the number of
U.S. Veterans who commit suicide daily.
“I did this because these brave men
and women put their lives on the line
for our freedom,” Ribiat said. “When they come home,
they may be broken inside and feel hurt and alone. The
push-ups were my gesture of letting them know that they
are not alone.”
Extending this message to West Bloomfield, Ribiat was
recently elected to the post of vice president of the West
Bloomfield High School PTA. She will continue a student-
teacher-driven project called UMatter, which raises
awareness about mental health and suicide prevention at
the school.
When her son Eli was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes,
the two became active ambassadors for raising awareness
continued on page 92
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July 18 • 2017
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