views

for starters

Building
Alliances
Over Dinner

I

t’s 7:30 p.m. on
Friday night, and
the dinner party
called for 7 p.m. has
just reached enough
critical mass to get
started. Jokes are made
Lauren
about “Jewish time,”
Hoffman
“black time” and the
fact that we never
would have begun on time.
Twenty-five young professionals
and creatives are piled into an event
room in the penthouse of a Downtown
Detroit apartment building; what they
have in common is that they are Jewish
and/or black, live in or around Detroit,
are doing interesting and overlapping
work, and care deeply about the impact
of their lives and the impact of their
lives on the city. They are there to eat
Shabbat dinner, cooked (vegetarian
and in tremendous portions) by a
chef behind a black-owned Detroit
food business, make friends with
one another and share what they are
working on.
This is the premise of the Coalition

My Story

A recent Coalition Shabbat dinner

Series, a string of monthly-ish
invitation-only events launched in early
2018, that meets for Shabbat dinners
in Downtown lofts. The dinners have
now seen a total of 76 unique attendees,
participating in rotation (smaller
groups keep things intimate).
At the dinners, we start by lighting
tea light Shabbat candles spread across
the table. We say Kiddush (the long
version), reflecting on our ability to
sanctify anything and everything and
our capacity to hold space, and we say
HaMotzi, either touching the challah or
touching someone who’s touching the
challah, etc.
For one dinner, Chef Godwin
Ihentuge, of the forthcoming
YumVillage restaurant in the New
Center area, cooked Nigerian jollof rice,
plantains, maafe (West African peanut
stew) and a giant challah-cinnamon-
French-toast-bake for dessert. At
another dinner, a Detroit DJ (Bernan

Bush — he’s excellent) taught us how
to properly eat the cornbread and
Liberian-inflected collard greens on
our plates. There is lots of wine and lots
of l’chayims. There is usually an ice-
breaker, where with rare vulnerability
we introduce ourselves and whatever
we are working on or thinking of that is
most important to us.
The dinners are the brainchild
of Jacob Smith, a Jewish Detroiter
inspired by the institutional work of
the Coalition for Black and Jewish
Unity, a partnership between the JCRC
and the Council of Baptist Pastors
of Detroit and Vicinity that emerged
in response to the “Unite the Right”
rallies in Charlottesville last year. The
partnership draws on the historic
alliance between two communities
marginalized by white supremacy and
seeks to redouble the active organizing
work that desegregated buses in
the south and choice Metro Detroit

continued on page 10

letters

What Constitutes Evil?

Regarding, “Heartbreak,” (Nov. 1,
page 12), in Avot (Chapter 1, verse
7), the Talmud says, “Do not cleave
to a wicked person.” Evil people may
be charming but being close to them
makes it much more likely you will
commit bad acts yourself, as your
inclinations to avoid trouble have
already been overcome.
What is evil? My nonpartisan defi-
nition is: Being dishonest on a regular
basis. Promoting hatred, prejudice
or violence. Taking away the rights
of others, even if you believe you are
helping them. Using one’s position in
government or the nonprofit world
to enrich oneself. Promoting policies
that benefit the rich and powerful
at the expense of the rest of society.

Supporting people or policies that do
the above.

Nat Pernick, M.D
Bingham Farms

Thank You from NCJW | MI

We would like to thank the commu-
nity for their support of the National
Council of Jewish Women, Michigan’s
(NCJW | MI) Women of Vision Benefit
Luncheon held on Oct. 11, 2018, (Oct.
25, page 12). We were honored to have
Cecile Richards, former president of
Planned Parenthood as our keynote
speaker, who recognized NCJW | MI’s
commitment to advocacy and social
ju stice. As Ms. Richards pointed out,
we must continue to stand up and
speak out for those whose voices need
to be heard. We also honored two

outstanding members of the com-
munity: Cathy Cantor, who received
the Josephine S. Weiner Award for
Community Service and Monni Must,
who received the Woman of Vision
Award.
The funds raised at the event will
help to continue the important work
done by NCJW | MI such as our
Backpack Project, Kosher Meals on
Wheels, Project Friendship, Jewish
Youth Awards, All Kids Playground,
Back 2 School Store, Bereavement
Support Groups as well as our advoca-
cy efforts both locally and nationally.
To learn more about NCJW | MI,
visit www.ncjwmi.org

Henry Lee is an attorney and
Hebrew Free Loan Past President
who believes that giving back and
investing in community are part of
the natural fabric of his life.
“Early on, I was recruited to join
the Young Men’s Leadership Cabinet
of the United Jewish Appeal,”
Henry said. “It was an exciting
time, full of ideals and action. I’ve
been involved in the community in
one way or another ever since.”
Henry married Linda (z’l), whom
he describes as an unassuming
lady from a modest background.
“I think she was motivated to help,
probably because she was helped
along the way herself,” Henry said.
“She was also very compassionate,
and I give her credit for being
another catalyst in my life for doing
good works. When I was president
of Hebrew Free Loan in 1991, she
was president of the JCC, and we
were a highly visible philanthropic
couple. I value that way of life, and
I would estimate that I’m still
involved in 15-20 hours per week
of work on various causes, secular
and not.”
Henry remains active at Hebrew
Free Loan, and says he still gets a
lot of pleasure from helping people,
and advising new Board members.
“HFL has come a long way,”
Henry said. “Through depressions,
recessions, political strife, it’s still
there. It may help in new ways, with
new approaches, but it remains a
place of warmth and understanding.
HFL’s team genuinely cares about
people’s circumstances, and how
they can open the doors of oppor-
tunity for Jews in Michigan.”

Click. Call. Give Now.

www.hfldetroit.org • 248.723.8184

Community donations help HFL
give interest-free loans to local Jews
for a variety of personal, health,
educational and small business
needs.

6735 Telegraph Road, Suite 300 • Bloomfield Hills, MI 48301

Jennifer LoPatin, West Bloomfield
Sandi Matz, Franklin
Co-Presidents NCJW | MI

Hebrew Free Loan Detroit

jn

@HFLDetroit

November 15 • 2018

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