rosh hashanah

continued from page 66

Robert Gamer is a rabbi at Congregation Beth
Shalom in Oak Park.

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2017

AL

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HONORING

2017 MICHIGAN JEWISH SPORTS HALL OF FAME INDUCTEES

2OB !LVIN

3HEILA *OHANSSON #OHEN

7ILLIAM &AGENSON

*ACK ,EVITT

2017 PILLARS OF EXCELLENCE

*AMES $WORMAN

DR. STEVEN (

3HELDON ,ARKY

!L -UST

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AN

JEW

IS H SP O RTS H A
LL

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Michigan Jewish Sports Hall Of Fame
Induction Dinner

L O
F

ER

Alana Alpert is the rabbi for Detroit Jews for
Justice and Congregation T’chiyah.

hands, for our souls that are under
Your care, for Your miracles that
accompany us each moment …” ( from
Siddur Lev Shalem).
The lesson the sages are teaching
is clear: The most important aspect
of Jewish prayer, and therefore one of
the most important aspects of being
Jewish, is gratitude. We should never
take for granted the blessings in our
lives and especially the source of all
blessing in life, the Holy Blessed One.
Whether it is at work, home or
with friends, we should take time to
express our gratitude for the blessings
we receive and the blessings we are
able to bestow on others. As we enter
the High Holy Days, this is a time for
prayer and introspection; it is certain-
ly important that we are able to spend
time with family and friends, if pos-
sible. It is also a time for thanksgiv-
ing. Shanah tova u’metuka — May we
all be blessed with a sweet, happy and
healthy New Year filled with moments
to be thankful for. •

M
FA

Michigan
Jewish Sports
Foundation

water shutoffs are symptoms of
the same lethal cocktail of rac-
ism and public policy. It is hard
to look seriously at this reality
and not believe we are doomed to
make the same mistakes — for-
ever.
But if we can remember to
look up, we will see the ram. We
will see the truth that we have
agency. There is nothing natural
about these systems — nothing
ordained by God. We sound the
shofar to cry: There is another
way! We can join hands with
communities throughout Metro
Detroit to build a future of securi-
ty, dignity and equity for all of us.
The Prophet Isaiah calls to us:
“Cry out full-throated, don’t hold
back; lift your voice like a shofar”
— we cry out that another world
is possible. In this new year, may
we be blessed to help bring it
about. •

CH

T

in the thicket. Not just any ram —
he number 50 is on my
the primordial ram! The ram that
mind. It is a tender and
was always there, if he would only
powerful moment in
see it.
Detroit as we com-
The shofar announcing
memorate the 50th year
the 50th year calls us back
of the Rebellion. Fifty
to that moment of seeing
years is jubilee — a time
— of realization that there
of radical renewal. The
is another way. We are not
shofar is a well-known
bound to a fate outside of
symbol of the High
our control. The ram was
Holidays, but it is on the
always there, hiding — just
jubilee we also blow the Rabbi Alana
out
of sight.
shofar.
Alpert
There is an alternative, a
Tradition teaches that
better ending, a new begin-
10 things were created
ning, a chance to change
bein hashmashot, on
course.
the eve of the first sab-
One thing that is clear from the
bath at twilight. In this liminal
learning I have done in honor of
moment, on the cusp of the days
this anniversary is that the condi-
of struggle and the day of peace,
tions that led to the crisis, such
God creates the ram. Why the
as “urban renewal,” segregation,
ram?
unemployment and redlining, are
When God commands
not things of the past — far from
Abraham to sacrifice his son, it
it. They may look slightly differ-
seems inevitable — Abraham can
ent in 2017 than 1967, but failing
see no other way. It isn’t until his
public schools, police brutality,
child is bound on the altar that
disproportionate asthma and
he looks up to see a ram, caught

MI

Another World Is Possible

FA M

E INDUCTION

DIN

N

2017 ALVIN FOON HUMANITARIAN AWARD HONOREE

.OAH 2UDEN

'REG +AMPE /AKLAND 5NIVERSITY -ENS "ASKETBALL #OACH

JEWISH NEWS HIGH SCHOOL ATHLETE AWARDS

,ARRY 3INGER )

!LEXA (ARTJE

*ACQUELINE 3PIZIZEN

*ACKSON 2OSS

) AND EVELYN ROSEN STARS OF TOMORROW SCHOLARSHIP: -ATTHEW "LACKMAN s !LLISON "LOOMBERG s *ORDYN #RANIS s %MMA 'REEN s -ELISSA 3TROME

BENEFITING
Maccabi Detroit at the JCC, Dr. Steven( ) & Evelyn Rosen Stars of Tomorrow Scholarship Program,
and the Michigan Jewish Sports Hall of Fame.

Sponsorship opportunities, dinner tickets, dessert, and program tickets available.

For more information regarding Stars of Tomorrow scholarships contact David Blatt at 248-592-9323 or dblatt@michiganjewishsports.org

www.michiganjewishsports.org

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68

September 14 • 2017

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