jews in the d

Jewish Contributions to Humanity

# in a series

The West Bloomfield/Novi police departments’
special response team during a training session

Their Work Struck
a Chord With
Music Lovers.

Special Response Team

West Bloomfi eld/Novi police hold
monthly training session.

KERI GUTEN COHEN STORY DEVELOPMENT EDITOR

T

polling stations at many houses of wor-
hose who drove past The
ship. We have great relationships with
Corners on Walnut Lake Road,
the synagogues and places of worship.”
west of Orchard Lake Road, in
The WBPD also has been talking
West Bloomfield Wednesday morning
to synagogues, churches, schools and
last week might have been surprised
businesses about limiting entry to one
to see police vehicles outside. The
or two controlled areas, having visible
Corners houses Temple Shir Shalom’s
security and upgrading surveillance
preschool and some nonprofit organi-
systems, Lawson added.
zations.
“We’re really encouraging people in
After the shooting Oct. 27 at the
the community to be observant, aware
Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh, a
of their surround-
gathering like this
ings and, if they see
raises questions.
something, not to
Curt Lawson,
be afraid to call and
deputy chief
we’ll check it out —
of the West
it’s important to do,”
Bloomfield Police
he said.
Department,
The department
explained that
also has been
the vehicles and
offering ALICE
officers were
training in West
there as part of a
Bloomfield schools
special response
to give students and
team training held
— DEPUTY CHIEF CURT LAWSON, teachers options if
once a month at
WEST BLOOMFIELD
there is an assailant.
various locations.
POLICE DEPARTMENT
ALICE stands for
On Wednesday,
Alert, Lockdown,
The Corners was
Inform, Counter and
available, with per-
Evacuate. Several officers are trained to
mission from Shir Shalom.
teach it.
Lawson said the 14-person collabo-
“It allows for more options, depend-
rative team, made up of eight negotia-
tors and six entry team members from ing on the situation,” Lawson said.
Other measures include having elec-
the West Bloomfield and Novi police
tronic preplans available for vulnerable
departments, got a “call” there was a
places in the community that allow
barricaded gunman at the location.
They had little knowledge beyond that, officers to know what and where to go
in a building ahead of time; a detective
but the training exercise allowed them
assigned to a joint terrorism task force
to see how well they would respond if
in Detroit; and Lonzo, one of nine
the call had been real.
police explosive detection dogs in the
“They had to work through it,
county.
which they did very successfully,”
“We think about this [security
Lawson said.
issues]; the chief and I lose sleep over
“Since the Tree of Life shooting, we
it,” Lawson said. “We do what we can
have provided extra security to nine
to keep up on it and keep everyone
Jewish facilities in the township and,
informed.” ■
during Tuesday’s elections, we were at

“Since the Tree of
Life shooting, we
have provided extra
security to nine
Jewish facilities in
the township.”

Billy Joel

Bob Dylan

Debbie Friedman

BILLY JOEL (1949-). b. New York, New York. The piano man.

One of the most successful singer-songwriters in American music history, Billy Joel is
the sixth best-selling recording artist and the third best-selling solo artist in the U.S. He has
written each of his 33 Top 40 hits, has won six Grammy Awards, sold 150 million records,
and is in the Songwriters Hall of Fame and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Born in New York
to a German-Jewish father and British-Jewish mother, a young Joel took piano lessons at
his mother’s insistence. He was so talented that he was playing piano bars in high school,
and didn’t technically graduate until 1992, having fallen short by a few credits in his senior
year in 1967 when he overslept a final exam due to his having a late-night piano gig. Over the
next five years, Joel hopped between multiple bands in New York, failing to gain commercial
traction with any of his songs. Moving to Los Angeles, in 1973 Columbia Records offered
him a recording contract after his song “Captain Jack” was picked up on radio. The next
year, his song “Piano Man”, and the album by the same name, launched him into stardom.

BOB DYLAN (1941-). b. Duluth, Minnesota. Nobel Prize in Literature, 2016.
He changed the times.
An American cultural icon for five decades, musician and singer-songwriter Bob Dylan has
sold more than 100 million records, and has won a Grammy, an Oscar and a Nobel Prize in
Literature. Dylan was raised in a religiously active and Zionist family, and his love for music
was nurtured by listening to blues, country and rock and roll on the radio. His music career
began in earnest when he dropped out of the University of Minnesota as a freshman to move to
Manhattan’s Greenwich Village. There, in 1961, he played harmonica with Harry Belefonte in his
first professional recording session. After a positive review of one of his public performances in
The New York Times, Columbia Records signed Dylan, whose work became hugely influential
thanks in large part to the ‘60s counterculture. Songs like “Blowin’ in the Wind” and “The Times
They Are a-Changin’” were anthems for the anti-Vietnam War movement. Since then, though,
Dylan has greatly expanded his repertoire, incorporating folk, blues, country and jazz into his
work, and playing the guitar and keyboard in addition to his signature harmonica.

DEBBIE FRIEDMAN (1951-2011). b. Utica, New York. d. Mission Viejo,
California.
Coined as “the Joan Baez” of Jewish song, Debbie Friedman was one of the Jewish musical
world’s most prolific artists and performers of the past generation. The singer-songwriter’s work
fused ancient Jewish texts with modern melodies, often with a folksy twang. Her classic rendition
of Mi Shebeirach is used by hundreds of synagogues across America and throughout the
English-speaking world. Friedman recorded more than 20 albums and sold about half-a-million
copies. Born in New York, but raised in Minnesota, Friedman taught herself guitar by listening to
Peter, Paul and Mary. She wrote many of her early songs as a song leader at a Jewish summer
camp. Her inspiration to set classical texts to original melodies came to her sitting in synagogue
one night and feeling bored listening to the choir. Her first album, “Sing Unto God,” was released
in 1972. That album’s collection of Shabbat songs put Friedman on the map and, over the next
four decades, she toured extensively, encouraging audiences to sing-along during her concerts,
and stirring countless people with her themes of healing and renewal.

Original Research by Walter L. Field Sponsored by Irwin S. Field Written by Jared Sichel

November 15 • 2018

17