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My
Story
for openers
Water Woes
T
he discovery of gold near San
Francisco in 1848 sparked the
“Great California Gold Rush,”
drawing thousands of prospective
gold miners in search of fortune.
The water main
break last week
on 14 Mile Road
sparked the “Great
Oakland County
Water Rush,” draw-
ing desperate folks
to the Meijer I was
at in search of bot-
Alan Muskovitz
tled water to flush
their toilets with.
Where were you
and what were you
doing when the boil
water alert was announced a week
ago Monday? I was reading about the
water main break online while simul-
taneously spitting out the coffee I had
just made with unboiled tap water!
My panic subsided “somewhat,”
when I remembered I had used our
insta-hot water dispenser to make
it. I conducted a Google search
— because that’s what a germa-
phobe does — and learned that it
heats water to 201-degrees. Though
11-degrees shy of official boiling
water, I was “confident” I would
remain microbe-free. To be certain,
I Googled potential symptoms —
because that’s what a hypochondriac
does.
Alas, the shelves of cheap flats of
bottled water at Meijer were bare.
That’s when I entertained the idea of
at least buying a couple, large, expen-
sive, flavored Fiji brand bottled waters
to shower with, figuring it would act
as a nice scented body wash. But that
would be, if you will, scents-less.
Off to Lowes, where I discovered
“lots of flats of water on them thar
shelves!” The only other customer
“mining” for water was an assisted
living apartment employee who was
stocking up to help ensure the safety
of the residents under his care. In
hindsight, I shouldn’t have pushed
him out of the way. I’m kidding!
I may have been lacking water, but
not perspective. I’ve thought of what
our fellow Flint citizens have been
enduring. I’ve thought of the breath-
taking devastation left by recent hur-
ricanes. Not to diminish its impact
— our hospitals, businesses and
schools were greatly affected — but
by comparison the water main break
of 2017 was an unprecedented incon-
venience and thankfully not a horrific
catastrophe — and for that we should
count our lucky stars … and empty
water bottles.
MUST-SEE EVENTS
AT THE BERMAN CENTER
Speaking of stars … Two great eve-
nings of entertainment are coming
up at the Berman Center for the
Performing Arts. I’m honored to be
the “opening act” at the Jewish Book
Fair’s Comedy Night on Saturday, Nov.
11, featuring two of television’s funni-
est writers.
Susan Silver, author of Hot Pants in
Hollywood — Sex, Secrets & Sitcoms,
was one of TV’s first breakthrough
female comedy writers. Among
Silver’s credits are the legendary Mary
Tyler Moore Show, Maude and The Bob
Newhart Show.
Plus, Alan Zweibel, author of
For This We Left Egypt? A Passover
Haggadah for Jews and Those Who
Love Them. Zweibel is a multi-Emmy
award winner who was an original
Saturday Night Live writer and whose
credits include Curb Your Enthusiasm
and The Late Show with David
Letterman.
On Thursday, Nov. 16, internation-
ally renowned concert pianist David
Syme will perform from Springsteen
to show tunes at “An evening with
Friends of Jewish Senior Life.” Special
guest performances by Temple Israel
Cantor Michael Smolash and the Hillel
Day School Choir are included.
Your attendance will help the JSL
continue to enhance the quality of life
for older adults through programs and
services that support aging with digni-
ty and choice, and maximize indepen-
dence. Nobody does it better than JSL!
The evening will once again honor
the memory and incomparable legacy
of my dear friend and best-selling
author, Jeffrey Zaslow.
For tickets to both events, call the
box office at (248) 661-1900 or visit
theberman.org. •
Alan Muskovitz is a writer, voice-over/acting
talent, speaker, emcee and guest host on the
Mitch Albom Show on WJR AM 760. Visit his
website at laughwithbigal.com and “Like” Al on
Facebook.
Jordana Wolfson is a clinical
social worker who worked for a
long time in Jewish education.
“I was a school principal, which
was a wonderful experience, and I
loved working with children,”
Jordana said. “Despite that, in the
corner of my mind, I always wanted
to go back and open a practice.
Then, I was sitting in a workshop,
getting continuing education credits
to keep up my license, and one of
the speakers said that social workers
rarely think of themselves as entre-
preneurs, and we should consider
how we can build a business out of
what we love. That spoke to me.”
Jordana launched Co-Parenting
Solutions based on some of the
interactions she saw daily with the
school children. Certified in divorce
mediation, Jordana works mostly
with divorcing parents to adjust
their personal dynamics and co-
parent effectively, without going
down a negative path.
Jordana approached Hebrew
Free Loan’s Marvin I. Danto Small
Business Loan Program for help
with startup costs.
“I was excited to get started, and
my husband had just finished an
expansion of his business, so the
cash on hand just wasn’t there. I
knew it would be, but I didn’t want
to wait,” Jordana said. ”I’m impressed
by HFL as a modern, relevant
agency. The process was respect-
ful, and they supported my idea.
Because of HFL, I was able to put
money and effort into marketing –
logo, brochure, launch my website,
get ads into different markets, and
fund other things until I got going.
HFL and my drive to succeed helped
me take off quickly, and now I’m
helping divorcing parents keep
their kids developmentally healthy.“
Click. Call. Give Now.
www.hfldetroit.org
248.723.8184
Health. A fresh start.
A good education.
The next great business idea.
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
jn
@HFLDetroit
November 2 • 2017
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