views

letters

commentary

Limmud Was Exhilarating

I want to tell you about a very special,
truly exhilarating experience I shared
with our Jewish community.
My husband and I participated in
the Limmud program, a Day of Jewish
Learning, on March 11. It was a one-of-
a-kind experience, with a large number
of inspiring lectures on a wide variety of
Jewish subjects.
Every aspect was outstanding. The
day was very well organized; the lectures
were very interesting (everyone I talked
to agreed); the food for snacks and lunch
was nutritious and delicious, and the
volunteers, in their yellow T-shirts, were
ready to help with smiles on their faces.
This awesome event brought a com-
munity of learners together. I met people
I hadn’t seen for years. Relaxing over
lunch, we were able to share ideas and
experiences.
Boundaries fell. All of us — Orthodox,
Conservative, Reform and secular Jews
— became one large community as we
celebrated our love of Judaism.
Many thanks to Irv Goldfein, the presi-
dent of Limmud Michgan, whose tasks
are too many to enumerate; to Susan
Birnholtz and Mira Sussman, chairs, and
the rest of the Steering Committee; and
to all the wonderful volunteers without
whom this would not have been done.

Nira Lev
Farmington Hills

Editor’s Note: Read a story about Limmud
on page 26.

Sticking With Facebook

I read the Views column in the March
15 edition of the Detroit Jewish News
in which David Weiss, aka Davis Was,
announced he was leaving Facebook. He
has a right to make this choice, but I’ll
not do so myself.
As one of millions of post-World War
II baby boomers, perhaps half my likely
life span was over when I first began
participating in the internet, when the
only social networking was Usenet news-
groups. On one alt.* newsgroup I made
numerous acquaintances, a few of whom
remain good cyberspace friends to this
day on Facebook.
Then came the familiar “dub-dub-dub
dot whatever dot com” during the early
1990s. Again, on some websites I met, if
only in cyberspace, interesting people I
would not have met otherwise.
In the first decade of the 20th century
came social networking sites, of which
Facebook has become the most success-
ful. Some of those in my FB circle are
carryovers from newsgroups, some are
members of my shul, some are family
members.
And then there are those I knew 50+
years ago when I was in high school in
Chicago.
In the early 1960s while I was finish-
ing eighth grade, there was a song I

10

March 29 • 2018

jn

often heard on WLS radio titled “Your
Graduation Means Goodbye.” Before per-
sonal computers, iPhones and all that,
“Your Graduation Means Goodbye” often
meant exactly that. Someone in my posi-
tion might see high school classmates at
reunions once in 10 years. Today, thanks
to social networking, goodbye doesn’t
have to be forever. Thanks to FB, when
somebody in my graduating class wants
to kvell about their grandchildren, they
can post pictures for everyone in their
circle of friends to see. What’s wrong
with that?
When I think back to the days before
personal computing, cell phones, the
internet and social networking, I have no
desire to go back.
Regards for all the Detroit Jewish News
does to hold our community together,

Jewish Community, Dr. Charles
“Charley” Silow, the founder of CHAIM
aimed at children of Holocaust
Survivors and then of a program for
the benefit of Holocaust Survivors and
Families (PHSF) celebrating its 25th
anniversary and honoring its founder.
Having the great privilege of know-
ing Dr. Silow since coming to the
area in the early 1980s, I know that by
dedicating his life and career to those
directly impacted by the Shoah, second
and third generations, he didn’t do it
for honor but as wonderful acts of tik-
kun lam, the repairing of the world in
which we live. However, singing the
song of praise to a much deserving
unsung hero is a most beautiful ges-
ture to him and to all of us.

Rachel Kapen
West Bloomfield

Alex Kovnat
West Bloomfield

Really, Weiss?

I wanted to respond to the David Weiss
Facebook commentary in the March
15-21 edition of the Jewish News.
Weiss, of course, is a brilliant and
prolific writer. He has been published
in Newsweek and many other formi-
dable publications. I grew up with
Weiss and count him as a friend. His
article, however, seemed a little bit
condescending and patronizing to
me. It read more like a lecture than an
opinion. Not only that, but he used sev-
eral words that I’m sure sent most of
us mere mortals (pithy inanities) scur-
rying for the nearest dictionary.
Don’t get me wrong; Weiss is right
on many levels. Are Facebook posters
desperately searching for accolades
in the form of likes? Absolutely. Do
most of us think we are hometown
Hemmingways? Sadly, we do. But
come on, Weiss, let us have our day
in the sun. Have a heart, my friend:
“Wasting our lives in self-aggrandizing
posturing,” “Internet the last refuge
of scoundrels,” “Posting as prophets
and pundits from the comfort of your
own den” … I haven’t been critiqued so
harshly since my wife was asked to rate
our honeymoon night.
I’m sure with your credentials and
numerous disciples, most readers
will dismiss my response and accept
your thoughts as gospel. For what
it’s worth, let me remind people that
although I have never been published
in Newsweek, I was a fairly regular con-
tributor to the once well-respected, but
now mostly forgotten Weekly Reader
(1965 Einstein Elementary School).

Steve Cash
Novi

Well-Deserved Kudos

What a wonderful and thoroughly well-
deserved tribute given to a formerly
unsung hero of our Metro Detroit

Consider Use
Of Pesticides

Let’s eat our bitter herbs and not
spray them with toxic lawn pesticides.
Actually, dandelion greens are good in
salads and healthy for the liver — the
great detox organ in our bodies.
It’s springtime and the chemical
lawn companies are out trying to
convince us to get our (natural) lawns
sprayed, and many companies are
using unhealthy dangerous chemicals
to do it. We have a right to know exact-
ly what these chemicals are that they
want to sell to us.
Scientific studies show that lawn
pesticides can increase the risks of
cancer and asthma in children. They
can also poison dogs and cats and
increase their risk for cancer. Please
don’t just believe any company that
tells you what they do is safe without
first learning exactly what they are
using.
For example, “Triplet’ is commonly
used and one of its ingredients is 2,4-
D, one of the chemicals used in Agent
Orange during the Vietnam War. Do
you want this dangerous chemical on
your lawn?
We can all easily find out the
truth for ourselves. The nonprofit
Washington, D.C., organization Beyond
Pesticides has been educating the
public for more than 36 years. Visit
pesticidefreelawns.org to learn about
the dangers of specific pesticides and
herbicides that are commonly used
by chemical lawn companies. You
can also find great information about
healthy alternatives for lawn care. Its
toll-free number is 1-888-NO-POISON.
May this spring bring our liberation
from those who might harm us and
this precious planet that we all share.
May we all choose wisely now and may
we all live well.

Marian Sandweiss
Oak Park

continued from page 5

as they know that at the end of the
day, they would be the ones to pay
the price for it. Their view of a future
intifada is sober and somber, and
they know that a new wave of terror-
ism would not serve their national
interest.
This view is shared by the majority
of Arab leaders, who have no interest
in backing Palestinian violence at a
time when they are trying to rally the
Arab world against Iran, rather than
Israel.
The recent spate of terrorist
attacks should be addressed as spo-
radic and unrelated events. This does
not take away from the fact that the
complex realities in Gaza, Judea and
Samaria pose a strategic question
that Israel has to monitor and deal
with while being prepared for any
scenario. •

Eyal Zisser is a lecturer in the Middle East
History Department at Tel Aviv University.

Yiddish Limerick

PESACH

Di shtub azay Pesachdik, di
tzimmer will shine
Der tish azay shayn with the gle-
zlach of vine.
Mir essen un trinken, the
Hagaddah we read
We sing alle zmirot, ich bin
hayzerik un mid.
But Pesach, Oy Pesach, a favor-
ite of mine.

Di shtub: the house
Azay Pesachdik: so Pesach
ready
Di tzimmer: the room
Der tish: the table
Azay shayn: so beautiful
Glezlach of vine: little glasses of
wine
Mir essen un trinken: we eat and
drink
Alle zmirot: all the songs
Ich bin hayzerik un mid: I am
hoarse and tired.
By Rachel Kapen

