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World-Wide Family

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their phones, constantly tak-
espite our conflicts
ing selfies or frantically texting
of opinions and loud
others, making you wonder
arguments, at the end
what they’ll remember when
of the day, we have a lot in
they’re older.
common, particularly when it
Many of us have relatives
comes to family.
who come up with a nickname
I mean, every family has
for everyone they meet. I once
at least one member who
introduced Sam, a man in his
merrily slurps his soup and
Rochel Burstyn
80s, to a young flirty relative
another person who always
who promptly began calling him
complains about how noisy
“Sammy baby.” Sam’s friend over-
they are. (“Can’t you eat
heard and said warningly, “She
quieter?” and “Why do you
must be after your money …” to which
have to breathe so loudly anyhow?”
and then, particularly if it’s a teenager, he replied, “But I don’t have any money!
She must be after my food stamps!”
“This family is so embarrassing.”)
And even if you don’t have those
Most of us have those relatives
types of relatives (and you’re missing
who are handy to know, like the ones
out if you don’t; they’re annoying as
who can fix your phone or computer
anything, but do keep things interest-
(again, often a teenager) or the ones
who love baking and push their fresh- ing!), the bottom line is this: Jews are
like one family, wherever we are in the
ly baked whatevers at you. Always
world.
wonderful, until you don’t fit into
This is especially clear to me at
your clothes anymore … and then you
have that inevitable conflict when you this time of year. When a holiday
rolls around, folks tend to reminisce
try to resist next time. (“What do you
about the holidays of the past, their
mean you’re too fat? A little schmaltz
family and the good old days — only
never hurt anybody!”)
half aware that soon today will be
We all have those relatives who
part of the “good old days.” When I
disagree with anything anyone says,
start talking about the Chanukah of
even when they’re called on it. (“I do
my childhood, I talk about sunshine,
not always disagree with you!”) And
summer camp, swimming parties or
those who spend all their time on

spending the day at the beach. That’s
because I grew up in Australia far
on the other side of the equator, and
Chanukah falls in the middle of the
summer. Little kids barely know what
Chanukah is — school’s not in ses-
sion, so they don’t learn about it and
they’re put to bed loooong before it’s
time to light the menorah.
I still remember the strangeness I
felt in experiencing my first winter
Chanukah in Michigan. It was so
weird to be so cold in December! And
I had never even seen snow before …
Chanukah felt familiar but different
at the same time, like putting on your
shoes, but on the wrong feet.
On the other hand, it was beauti-
ful. Because there I was, suddenly far
from my immediate family, but the
holiday itself was exactly the same.
Even though I missed my family and
friends back home down under, it was
lovely to be singing the same songs,
spinning the dreidel and lighting the
menorah, like always.
Even if we celebrate differently, the
fact that we keep the same holidays at
all speaks volumes. It really hammers
home the message that Jews all over
the world are truly one large extended
family.
Happy Chanukah! •

letters

Berl Falbaum’s Nov. 28, 2017, article pro-
mulgates lies by the Forward that have
repeatedly been debunked, in order to
falsely malign guests at the recent ZOA
Annual Gala, especially Steve Bannon
and Dr. Sebastian Gorka.
Israeli Ambassador Ron Dermer
himself told me that Bannon is a great
friend of Israel and the Jewish people.
I am a child of Holocaust survivors;
the Nazis murdered most of my family.
Understandably, I despise neo-Nazis,
anti-Semites and racists. Neither I nor
the other speakers at the ZOA gala,
including Alan Dershowitz, Sen. Joe
Lieberman, U.S. Ambassador David
Friedman or Sen. Tom Cotton, would
have shared a dais and happily taken
pictures with Bannon if he were anti-
Semitic.
Talk show host Dennis Prager, who
authored books about anti-Semitism,
says: “Calling Steve Bannon anti-
Semitic is a witch hunt. . . . It’s just a
libel. It’s fabricated.” The liberal Anti-
Defamation League wrote: “We’re not
aware of any anti-Semitic statements
from Bannon.” Bannon has assisted us
combatting anti-Semitism on college
campuses. His Breitbart news site is full
of pro-Israel and pro-Jewish articles —

including a column written by me.
Dr. Sebastian Gorka’s father defended
classmates against Nazis during the
Holocaust and was honored by the
local Jewish community. Dr. Gorka
often asks me how he can help Israel, to
continue to honor his father. Jerusalem
Post Senior Editor Caroline Glick
praised Dr. Gorka at the Jerusalem Post
conference in May, and spoke about
how shameful and demoralizing it is

Greenberg’s View

when members of the Jewish com-
munity “demonize one of Israel’s best
friends in Washington today.” Caroline
Glick implored: “Stand up for our
friend. Don’t allow people to slander a
good and honorable man as a Nazi.”
It’s time to stand up for our friends
instead of slandering them.

Morton A. Klein
national president,
Zionist Organization of America

Our
Story

Stacy and Michael Carroll
had been married just two months
when Michael’s mother passed away.
“It was an incredibly emotional
time of mourning and loss, and
transition to new responsibilities
with his siblings,” said Stacy. “As
time passed and we began to think
about family and our future, we
found hope and excitement at the
thought of having a baby. We wanted
children and looked forward to some
happiness in our lives.”
However, after that prospect proved
difficult, the Carrolls contacted a
fertility specialist in an effort to
‘take it up a notch,’ and looked into
in-vitro fertilization.
“We realized it was quite costly,
even if was just a single, successful
attempt,” Michael said. “We both
work, but our savings wouldn’t cover
that easily, certainly not more than
once. Bank loans have high interest
rates, and this isn’t normally why a
bank funds you.”
Stacy, Director of Advancement
at Michigan Hillel in Ann Arbor, was
perusing Jewish agency websites
looking for partnership opportunities,
when she had a “lightbulb moment”
about Hebrew Free Loan. “It all kind
of came together. I called, and the
process couldn’t have been easier,”
Stacy said. “It was done with a great
deal of dignity and respect, and
suddenly, it was happening for us.”
The Carrolls joined a clinical trial
as soon as the loan was approved.
After two unsuccessful attempts,
perhaps due to new medications,
Stacy became pregnant on her own.
“However it happened, we credit
HFL with helping us have our
daughter, Fiona, Stacy said. “What
a gift the Jewish community has
given us in starting our Jewish
family. She’s healthy and happy,
and she’s the delight of our lives.”

Click. Call. Give Now.
www.hfldetroit.org
248.723.8184

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December 14 • 2017

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