jews d
in
the
Jewish Contributions to Humanity
#26
#33 in a series
Canceled
PHOTO COURTESY OF LENA EPSTEIN
Candidate says
her fundraiser
was nixed
because of her
political views.
JACKIE HEADAPOHL MANAGING EDITOR
L
dent Charlie Rothstein were not
ena Epstein, a Republican
returned.
candidate for Michigan’s
Epstein is a fourth-generation
open seat in the 11th District
member of Franklin Hills.
and co-chair of Trump’s Michigan
“I grew up at the club, my daugh-
campaign in 2016, said a June 27
ter swims in the pool, my husband
fundraiser for her campaign at
and I golf there. It’s where we have
Franklin Hills Country Club was
our Sunday night dinners,”
canceled by the board
TOP:
she said in a statement. “It’s
of directors due to her
Lena Epstein
a huge part of who I am. So,
political views. The event
poses with
this situation was very pain-
had been scheduled and
Donald Trump
ful.”
confirmed for more than
during a cam-
In a press release, Epstein
a month and was fully
paign stop in
Dimondale on
compared her treatment to
compliant with Franklin
Aug. 19, 2016.
that of Trump’s press secre-
Hills rules, according to
tary Sarah Sanders, who was
Epstein. A fundraiser for
asked to leave a Virginia restaurant
Suneel Gupta, a Democrat vying
in June by owners who disagreed
for the same seat, was held in May
with Trump’s policies.
at the country club.
“We need to learn how to have
According to media reports, a
civil discussions and be cordial
week earlier, former club member
Michael Simon posted his concerns with those we don’t always agree
with. On the campaign trail, I don’t
on Facebook about Epstein’s sup-
always see eye to eye with everyone
port of President Donald Trump’s
I meet. But at the end of the day,
policy of separating migrant chil-
we can still be kind to one anoth-
dren from their families at the
er,” Epstein wrote.
U.S.-Mexico border, calling her a
Epstein told the press she would
“neo-fascist.”
continue going to the Franklin
In that post, he called on club
Hills Country Club with her family.
members to disassociate them-
Epstein, who is a co-owner of
selves from her campaign. The
Southfield-based Vesco Oil, said in
Facebook post has since been
deleted. Simon told the Detroit Free the release that she “still adamant-
ly supports Trump” and “couldn’t
Press that Franklin Hills canceled
be more proud that he is keeping
the event and instituted a new
policy of not hosting political fund- his campaign promises.”
Her supporters came to her
raisers of any kind.
defense on social media, calling for
The Franklin Hills Country
Trump supporters to cancel their
Club has deep roots with the local
memberships at Franklin Hills.
Jewish community.
Those opposed to her candidacy
In the 1920s, a group of Detroit
left a plethora of negative com-
Jewish leaders formed the club
ments on her “Lena for Congress”
when they were banned from
Facebook page.
Detroit’s other clubs because of
Epstein’s campaign was able to
their religion. Both Simon and
move the fundraiser planned for
Epstein are Jewish. The JN’s calls
for comment to the club’s manager the Franklin Hills Country Club to
Andiamo in Bloomfield Hills. •
Scott Cummings and board presi-
Jews Who
Changed the World
With Words.
HEINRICH HEINE (1797-1856).
b. Dusseldorf, Germany. d. Paris, France.
A German philosopher who foresaw the dangers of his homeland.
Originator of the saying, “Where they have burned books, they will end in burn-
ing human beings,” the prescient Heinrich Heine is one of the wittiest lyricists and
satirists the Western world has produced. And much of his lyric poetry was set
to music by composers like Robert Schumann
and Franz Schubert; and Friedrich Nietzsche
held Heine in very high regard. An admirer of
Napoleon Bonaparte and the French Revolution,
Heine hated the Prussian government. He never
progressed in the field of law, to his family’s
chagrin. During one break from his studies, He-
ine went on a self-guided walking tour through
the Harz Mountains, fictionalizing his adventure
and weaving in social criticism and autobiogra-
phy into the first volume of what would become
his well-known Reisebilder (Pictures of Travel).
With the government’s censorship, Heine’s liter-
ary success proved too difficult. In 1831, Heine
left Germany for Paris, thrilled to be in the midst
of a society upending the traditional norms of Europe. He was well-known among
France’s literary crowd, and earned money working as a correspondent for the
Allgemeine Zeitung, continuing to publish in German, while having his works trans-
lated into French. German censors attempted to enact a nationwide ban on all his
works. In 1834, 99 years before the rise of the Nazis, Heine (a convert to Christian-
ity) predicted that if Christianity declined in Germany, a “frenzied madness” would
take its place. Heine’s writings were hated by the Nazis and, to that effect, were
included in the infamous Nazi book burning at the Bebelplatz on May 10, 1933. The
Nazis allowed some of his works to survive during their reign, but marked them
“author unknown.”
SALOMON MAIMON (1753-1800).
b. Zhukov Borok, Lithuania. d. Siegersdorf, Silesia.
A Jewish outcast who helped inform Kantian philosophy
A child prodigy in rabbinic literature and Jewish philosophy, young Shlomo ben
Joshua was a husband by 11 and a father by 14, when he taught Talmud to put
bread on the table. He was an admirer of Moses Mai-
monides (the Rambam), even adopting Maimon as his
last name, but was opposed by the Jewish commu-
nity and regarded as a heretic for some of his views.
He wrote a controversial commentary on Rambam’s
“Guide to the Perplexed.” Maimon abandoned his wife
and child, embarking for Berlin in order to join philo-
sophical circles. He became acquainted with Moses
Mendelssohn and other Jews of the Haskalah (“Jewish
enlightenment”) movement, but Mendelssohn disasso-
ciated himself from Maimon. Maimon lived in perpetual
poverty, but received enough support to study the
teachings of Immanuel Kant, who viewed Maimon’s critique of Kantian philosophy
in high regard. Like many philosophers, Maimon was highly controversial. Now
he is best known for such works as “Search for the Transcendental Philosophy,”
“Philosophical Dictionary” and a highly regarded autobiography.
Original Research by Walter L. Field Sponsored by Irwin S. Field Written by Jared Sichel
jn
July 5 • 2018
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