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Eleanor Gamalski
Celebrating the 2018 Honorees
Harriet Berg
Barbara Goodman, PhD
Robert Lask
Ellen Magar
Edith Maniker
Alvin M. Saperstein, PhD
Dr. Manuel Sklar
George Stern
SUNDAY, APRIL 29
Luncheon and Reunion of Past Honorees
11:30am
Dietary Laws Observed
Adat Shalom Synagogue, Farmington Hills
PRESENTING SPONSOR
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Proceeds Benefit Quality of Life Fund
22
March 29 • 2018
jn
Jordyn Singer
T’chiyah in Oak Park, was mentored
by Detroit activists while in the urban
studies program at University of
Michigan.
“They led me to believe that if I
wanted to be a part of movements of
justice, Detroit was the place I had
to be. People are waking up to see all
the work we have to do to fight white
supremacy and inequality. I have felt
a particular responsibility to take
advantage of this moment and bring
more people into social justice work.”
Marcie Paul said her daughter, 21,
a U-M senior, had been “astonishingly
apolitical” until the 2016 election.
“After the election, she felt rage
at the attacks against women and
minorities. She saw how the Michigan
legislature makes it difficult for col-
lege students to vote — they can’t vote
absentee their first time, and they
can’t register in the district where they
go to school. If they can’t go home on
Election Day, they’re effectively disen-
franchised,” she said.
Paul said it’s been exciting to see
her daughter’s growing awareness.
“Finally, she gets it!” she said.
CONSERVATIVE ACTIVISTS
Some Jewish women are becoming
activists on the conservative side as
well.
Lena Epstein says she’d always been
a Republican; she just didn’t realize it
till she studied economics at Harvard
University. Now she’s serving as a role
model to younger women.
Epstein, 36, of Bloomfield Hills is
co-owner of the Vesco Oil Company,
founded by her paternal grandfather,
Lena Epstein
Sharon Schwartz
Eugene Epstein, 70 years ago.
In 2012, Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder
appointed her to the Michigan Child
Abuse and Neglect Prevention Board,
and she became a grassroots organiz-
er and fundraiser for the Republican
Party.
During the Obama administration,
Epstein decided she wanted out from
behind the scenes. In 2016, she gained
visibility as the Michigan campaign
co-chair for Donald Trump. Last year,
she decided to run for office, first for
the U.S. Senate and then for the U.S.
House in District 11, where Rep. Dave
Trott is retiring. The district includes
Birmingham, Bloomfield Hills,
Commerce, Farmington, Walled Lake
and West Bloomfield.
Jordyn Singer, 19, a University of
Michigan sociology sophomore from
West Bloomfield, had been working
on campus to counter sexual miscon-
duct and gender-based violence but
felt “disengaged” from politics. That
changed when she met Epstein.
“I recognized that Lena was going
to contribute many positive things
to the GOP community, so I became
involved as an intern on her senate
campaign over the summer,” Singer
said. “I got the chance to attend
Michigan Republican conferences
and interact with many other GOP
members throughout the state. Lena
inspired me to want to make great
changes in the realms of policy, poli-
tics and advocacy.”
Epstein says more women are
involved in GOP state politics and in
college Republican clubs now than in
2012. •
Yad Ezra Pesach
Yad Ezra volunteer Bert Stein,
left, and others prepare Passover
packages before the holiday. For
28 years, Yad Ezra/Moies Chetim
Organization of Detroit have
joined forces to distribute Passover
groceries to 1,300 low-income
local Jewish families. Every family
received all the items necessary to
make a seder and for the holiday.
Additional produce was donated by Gleaners Community Food Bank of
Southeast Michigan, and baby parsley plants were also given to families for
their seder tables.
The two-day distribution March 25-26 was handled by 60 volunteers
directed by Darlene Rothman, client/volunteer manager, and David Jaffee,
warehouse manager. •