moments
special moments
Matchmaker,
Matchmaker
AVERY DRONGOWSKI
SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS
NJP
(Nice Jewish Person)
Jen Lipson
Each month, The Well
highlights an amazing
(and eligible!) individual.
The Well has agreed to
share its Q & As with these
amazing singles with the JN.
This month, The Well
has a conversation with
NJP Jen Lipson.
48
April 26 • 2018
Q
: How did you decide to make your
adult life in Metro Detroit?
JL: I was born and raised here.
G
Growing
r
up, I basically lived within the same
square mile as my mom’s side of the family.
Family dinners, complete with grandma,
aunts, uncles and cousins, were a normal
occurrence because everybody lived so close.
Aside from going to college in Kalamazoo at
Western Michigan University, I pretty much
have spent my whole life here. I considered
going elsewhere after college, but the fact
that my family is here kept me here.
Q: You spend your days teaching Spanish.
Tell us more!
JL: I knew that I wanted to teach since
I was 5, and I realized in high school that
Spanish was my passion. I had the same
teacher for junior and senior year and seeing
her passion and the creative projects she had
us do made me realize that I wanted to teach
Spanish. I love my job teaching eighth-grad-
ers. When I tell people I teach middle school,
their general reaction is “Why!?” Once you
get past all the drama, they’re really cool
kids. They’re still figuring out who they are
and who they want to be. They frustrate me
sometimes, but I really love them and love
working with them.
Q: What is a hobby that you are really
into? How did that passion come about?
JL: I have a handful of hobbies I do for fun.
The first one is playing the violin. I started
in fourth grade and went all through school
and into college and was a music major until
sophomore year. I took a break for a while,
but recently got back into it and play with a
local civic symphony orchestra. I love play-
ing in groups.
Another hobby I have is capoeira. Most
people have never heard of it. It’s an Afro-
Brazilian martial art mixed with dance. It
jn
co
mbi
mb
b ines
in es a b
un ch
h o
nter
nt
t e es
est ts:
ts : mu
sic,
si
i c,
combines
bunch
of f my i interests:
music,
language, culture and dance. How I found
out about it is actually kind of funny. One
of my friends came to our friend group and
said “I have this Groupon for this thing
called capoeira. Who wants to try it with
me?” Everyone else was like, “Nope.” But I
decided to try it out. And that was almost
six years ago. I love it!
Q: What’s your favorite book and what
about it moves you?
JL: I hardly read for fun anymore, but
some of my favorite books include Memoirs
of a Geisha, The Red Tent and Shores Beyond
Shores by Irene Butter. I just really like any
good story that includes history or charac-
ters that are relatable. I enjoyed learning
about the life of a geisha in Memoirs of a
Geisha. The Red Tent spoke to me because it
was interesting to have these biblical char-
acters that were sort of personalized. You
don’t hear much about the female charac-
ters in the Torah, and visualizing this story
was super interesting to me.
Irene Butter is a Holocaust survivor and
a personal friend of my grandma’s. She has
spoken at the school where I work year
after year, and I have also heard her speak
at the public library in the community
where I teach. How she continues to have
such a positive attitude is beyond me. The
book is interesting because it focuses on
her childhood and her perspective on what
happened to her from a child’s point of
view. She even had a connection to Anne
Frank for a brief time. I just feel like it is
interesting to hear about and to keep those
stories alive.
Q: Where would you most like to travel
to that you haven’t visited?
JL: My ultimate goal is to see the world.
The list of where I don’t want to go is
shorter. One of the places that is on my
bucket list is Vetibsk, Belarus. This is
where my great-grandma was born, and I
would love to see what it looks like now. I
realize that where she was born and places
she frequented probably don’t exist any-
more, but I still want to see it to have that
connection with her.
Q: How do you like to give back to the
community/others?
JL: My parents really instilled in me the
importance of giving back. When I was
younger, we would always do Mitzvah Day
as a family. As I got older, I looked for other
opportunities to give back. I would par-
ticipate in Mitzvah Day on my own. I have
played violin at a church for Palm Sunday. I
also am involved with the NEXTGen Detroit
PRIDE
PRID
PR
IDE
ID
E committee.
c mm
co
mmit
itt tee.
it
te e. I w
want
antt to
t o h
help
elp
el
l p other
o the gay
Jews find their place in the Jewish com-
munity.
Q: What’s your favorite Jewish holiday
and why?
JL: Wow. This is a tough one. I really like
any holiday where my family gets together. I
think my favorite one is Chanukah because
we have our family Chanukah party. I love
getting together with my family and seeing all
my cousins who mostly live out of town.
Q: Fav Jewish food?
JL: I love what I call “Jewish Soul Food.” I
love a good bagel and schmear with lox and
matzah ball soup. Those would have to be
my favorites.
Q: If you could compete in any Olympic
sport, what would you choose?
JL: Aside from capoeira, I’m not super ath-
letically inclined. In some alternate universe,
though, I would love to be a gymnast. I love
all the cool tricks they do and would put
together a killer floor routine.
Q: If you could be a contestant on any real-
ity/game show, what would it be?
JL: I would like to think that I would do
decently on Jeopardy. But I also think that it
would be cool to go on The Price is Right.
Q: How about a fun fact?
JL: I have a 4-year-old nephew that
everyone thinks is my son. As he gets older,
though, he’s starting to look more like my
brother and sister-in-law.
Q: Best movie ever made, hands down?
JL: I have so many favorite movies. Off
the top of my head, I love The Sandlot and
Keeping the Faith. My students know how
much I love The Sandlot; I have a “You’re
Killing Me, Smalls!” poster in my classroom
and I quote it all the time. I also like Keeping
the Faith because Jenna Elfman is hilarious,
and I love all the new methods that Ben
Stiller’s character uses to infuse Judaism with
some energy and connect with his congrega-
tion’s younger members.
Q: What would you put on your “family
crest” if you were asked to design one?
JL: Obviously I would have to include the
Star of David to represent our Jewish heri-
tage. I would also include a Canadian flag
and a Russian flag to represent where my
grandparents and great-grandparents came
from. I feel like a laughing emoji would also
have to be included because my family has
an awesome sense of humor. And, of course,
a heart, because we’re all full of love. •
Read more at meetyouatthewell.org. Want to meet
Jen? Email Rabbi Dan Horwitz at dan@
meetyouatthewell.org for an introduction.