views

My
Story

for openers

Th e Other Side Of Th e Fairy Tale

L

chemistry? Isn’t that insulting on a
ike many folks, I really like kid’s
certain level? Don’t women want to
books. I like seeing what’s new
be appreciated for their minds? Did
and interesting, and I love read-
ing my childhood favorites to my kids. the prince and Cinderella perhaps try
to exchange basic information but
The thing is that kids tend to develop
the noise level of all the jealous ladies
favorites of their own and instead of
watching them and gossiping made
wanting to hear new books or the
them not hear each other so they had
classics, they want to hear you read
to revert to sign language and
the same book day after day.
guess what the other meant?
It’s a problem because they
Why did the glass slipper
learn the words by heart, so
not fit anyone else in the land?
you can’t skip pages without
First, it’s weird that the shoes
them noticing.
didn’t evaporate at the strike
Most of the time, I’m
of midnight like all the other
reading these favorites with
magic. And weirder still is
my eyes closed, my mind
that the footman went to
counting the minutes til
Rochel Burstyn
every woman and girl in the
bedtime, but other times I
kingdom and had them try on
find myself tuning in with
the glass slipper but the shoe
an unexplained cynical curi-
didn’t fit a single other person.
osity — and suddenly the
I mean, judging by the selec-
story seems so unfinished.
tion of shoes available in my kid’s
For example, these days my little girls
sizes at Target (not very many), there
are fascinated by princesses (which
are many people who share the same
meant toilet training was helped
shoe size in the area. So, what was it?
along by one of Frozen’s finest songs
Did Cinderella have unusually small
“Let it Go”) and they request that I
feet? Did she practice the ancient
read our dog-eared copy of Cinderella
Chinese ritual of foot binding? (And,
every single night.
if so, how did she dance?) Or were her
And I have these questions:
feet unusually large… and if so, again,
How is it possible to fall in love
how did she dance?
before you’ve even exchanged first
Lastly and, most importantly: What
names? Was it all about the physical

does “happily ever after” mean exactly?
It’s easy to assume the wedding was
fun and fancy, but did the wicked
stepmother and stepsisters crash it?
And, if so, how did Cinderella react?
Did she forgive them for their past
mistreatment and move on or did she
have them banned from every royal
establishment in the county so she
would never have to see their ugly
faces again?
Did she need therapy to work
through her compulsive habit of
sleeping in the fireplace with the cin-
ders or did she just move to a huge
princess canopied bed without issue?
Did she sometimes get bored with her
new life and say to her servants, “Oh,
please, allow me” and start washing
the dishes while the hired help got
to relax with a magazine and a cup
of hot chocolate? Did the prince ever
learn her name? Did they have kids?
And, if so, who got up in the middle of
the night when the baby cried?
Basically, my point is, a story is
never really over. When one ends,
another begins. •

letters

Offensive
Performance On SNL

Don’t Place Politics
Ahead Of Judaism

The entire viewing public needs to
be aware of Larry David’s horrendous
appearance on Saturday Night Live
on NBC, Nov. 4. To me, his “humor”
was offensive to the entire civilized
world. His disturbing jokes were
Holocaust-themed. The routine that
was the most offensive in his mono-
logue was a misogynistic view of
women in concentration camps.
We must all take part in a strong
outcry to NBC for allowing this appall-
ing, disrespectful narrative to be aired.
It is very easy to contact NBC by going
to NBC.com and voicing your opin-
ion. Hopefully, they will receive a tor-
rent of negative input and apologize
for this horrendous performance.
The Anti-Defamation League has
forcefully expressed their displea-
sure. I feel individual outcries in great
numbers would also be effective.

Esau sold his birthright to his brother
Jacob for bread and a bowl of len-
til stew. How cheaply are today’s
Jews willing to sell their allegiance?
Apparently, the cost is dinner and a
sympathetic political stance.
In her support for BDS, her celebra-
tion of Rasmea Odeh, associating
Zionism with white supremacy and
declaration that Zionists cannot be
feminists, Linda Sarsour has publicly
demonstrated her hostility toward
Jews and Israel … but! Some Jews are
willing to overlook all of this because
of other political issues and some
kind of “bigger picture.” (A Chorus Of
Women’s Voices,” Nov. 2, page 16)
There is no “but,” and there is no

Carol R. Wiseman
West Bloomfield

“bigger picture.” All other issues are
secondary. If we are serious about
protecting our children, this kind of
Jew-hatred is what we must protect
them from. Placing your politics
ahead of your Judaism and ignoring
Sarsour’s offensive, anti-Zionist state-
ments will make your children targets.
Don’t let her empty gestures fool you.
While she’s willing to accept Jewish
support for her agenda and as tokens,
she’s not on our side.
How much Jew-hatred are we will-
ing to accept from someone because
we share their political views? The
more BDS and anti-Semitism we are
foolishly willing to overlook, the more
we will get, especially when we allow
ourselves to be so easily manipulated.

Marlene and David Gross
have had several loans from
Hebrew Free Loan through the
years, including one in the 1980s to
make home improvements at their
Oak Park home, and another to
help their daughter with expenses
for a Bat Mitzvah. Recently, when
Marlene needed hearing aids, they
again approached HFL.
“I work as a school lunch aide,
and I realized I wasn’t hearing the
kids very well when they spoke to
me,” Marlene said. “It seemed best
for me to get hearing aids. One
thing I found out was that they are
very expensive, and that’s what
made us decide to go to Hebrew
Free Loan, because the cost is not
covered by insurance, so the entire
expense would have come out of
our pockets.”
“Before we thought of Hebrew
Free Loan, we were considering
taking money out of our retirement
fund to cover the cost,” said David.
“Going to HFL helped us avoid that.”
“Everyone we’ve talked with at
HFL has always been very kind and
professional,” Marlene said. “This
is a great service for our community,
and it’s interest-free. I would recom-
mend it to everyone if they need it.”
Marlene’s hearing aids were
funded by the D. Dan and Betty
Kahn Older Adult Care Loan
Fund (KOACLF) at HFL. In part-
nership with Jewish Family Service
and Jewish Senior Life, the fund
helps adults age 62 and older, and
their families, better afford life-
enhancing services, equipment
and home adjustments.
“HFL has made our lives easier
several times,” David said. “What a
benefit for us all to have it.”

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.

Harry Onickel
Ferndale

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

Hebrew Free Loan Detroit

jn

@HFLDetroit

November 16 • 2017

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