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multi-generational families

“This Is Why I Survived”

ROCHEL BURSTYN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

I

Five generations celebrate the most recent family bris:
Ieshula Ishakis, Sara Miriam Cohen holding new baby
Yitzchak Cohen, Judy Ishakis and Toba Cik.

t is an indescribable treasure
to see generations following
the family path that genera-
tions have worked so hard to pave.
Toba Cik of Oak Park is one such
blessed bubbie who recently
was guest of honor at her great-
great-grandson’s bris. Even more
unusual — a direct line of five gen-
erations of their family live within
walking distance of each other.
Cik was born in Czechoslovakia
in 1923, then the Holocaust
uprooted and destroyed her child-
hood. When the dust settled,
Cik, an Auschwitz survivor with
only two surviving siblings out
of a large extended family, asked
herself the question all survivors
struggled with: Why did I survive?
After the war, she settled in
Israel with her husband, Moshe,
also a survivor, who joined the
army and fought for Israel’s
independence in 1948. Her sister
Serena had settled in Detroit and
insisted the Ciks leave Israel.
“You’ve had enough war. If you
come to America, you won’t have
war anymore,” she said. Serena
arranged the paperwork and the
Ciks and their three young daugh-
ters, Eva, Judy and Fay, arrived in
Detroit in 1958.
The family settled on Tuxedo
Street in the Dexter neighborhood
and attended B’nai Israel-Beth
Yehudah. The Jewish Federation

arranged for Cik to work in a
Jewish nursing home, which was a
constant painful reminder of her
senior family members who had
been wiped out.
Every morning until he retired,
Toba got up at 4 a.m. to drive
Moshe to his job at Michigan Veal
and Lamb in the Eastern Market.
He passed away in 2003.
Another challenge was edu-
cation. Cik recalls that while
some folks urged her not to send
her children to an Orthodox
school, warning her they might
develop accents and wouldn’t be
Americanized, another survivor
told her bluntly, “This is America.
You can do whatever you want.”
What Cik wanted most was for all
her children to be religious. So, the
three Cik daughters attended Beth
Jacob School for Girls in Oak Park.
The warnings about accents
and not being Americanized were
unwarranted. Today, all members
of the five generations of Cik’s
family are not only Orthodox, but
college-educated professionals.
There are doctors, lawyers, accoun-
tants, electricians and teachers in
the family — any kvelling Jewish
mother’s dream!
Eva and Fay both moved to New
York, but Judy married local Jacob
Ishakis, settled in Southfield. They
have seven children, all of whom
are married. Three of their children

From the DJN

Davidson Digital Archive

A

s I read the current news from America and the
world — as well as from Israel as it approaches its
secular 70th anniversary as a state on May 14, 1948
— I am struck by some similarities to certain issues from
the past century. This notion was reinforced as I was cruis-
ing the Davidson Digital Archives this week, as I read an
issue of the Detroit Jewish Chronicle from May 3, 1935. There
were several stories that reminded me
that, while there has been great progress,
there is still a long way to go for the global
Jewish community.
One whole page was devoted to the
theme, “They Need Your Help.” Who
needed help? Poor Jews trying make a life
in Palestine. The page was an advertise-
ment for the Allied Jewish Campaign of the
Mike Smith
Jewish Welfare Federation of Detroit that
Detroit Jewish News
was
seeking to raise $270,000. Doesn’t seem
Foundation Archivist
like a large number today, but in the midst

66

May 3 • 2018

jn

of the Great Depression, this was a huge sum of money. The
photos presented in the ad made a most persuasive case for
the cause. And, 83 years later, while there are still poor in
Israel, there is also a vibrant, thriving nation. After 70 years
of statehood, this certainly speaks to a major success story.
Two other stories could have been written in today’s
newspapers and still be relevant. A letter on the front
page from the legendary Detroit Jewish leader Fred Butzel
addressed the need for unity in the Jewish community, as
well concern for Palestine and the aged in Detroit.
Another essay inside was titled: “The Jew Faces Fascism.”
Indeed, this was certainly prescient as the Nazis soon began
their series of atrocities. It made me think of the recent rise
in anti-Semitism in the world and rise of extreme right-
wing governments in Eastern Europe. I do not believe his-
tory repeats itself, but sometimes, it sure gets close. •

Visit the Davidson Digital Archives at djnfoundation.org.

are raising families in Southfield.
“My mother instilled within us
the value of religion and education
and we, in turn, instilled it in our
children,” Judy Ishakis said. “My
mother is my role model. I hope
when I’m her age I’ll be just like
her, strong and independent.”
Judy’s son Ieshula Ishakis of
Southfield is equally motivated by
the family matriarch.
“My grandmother’s quiet deter-
mination to do the right thing is a
tremendous inspiration,” he said.
“She doesn’t demand anything of
us, but I see what she built and
accomplished and that obligates
me to be a better person.”
Cik doesn’t tell how many grand-
children, great-grandchildren or
great-great-grandchildren she has.
“Why should I count? You count
money, not children,” is a con-
stant refrain. When a new baby is
born to the family, Cik is told her
“stocks went up.” Most recently,
the “stocks” referred to Ieshula’s
daughter, Sara Miriam Cohen, also
of Oak Park, whose son Yitzchak
was born April 12.
Cik says she’ll never forget the
horrors she experienced early in
her life. But when she looks at
her family, all of whom are fol-
lowing the path she carved when
she settled in Detroit, she says her
question is answered: “This is why
I survived.” •