Febraury 14 • 2019 19
jn
mission of the Federation, which is
to take care of the needs of the Jewish
people and build a vibrant Jewish
future here in Detroit, in Israel and
around the world.
”
Over the last seven
years, EPIC has con-
tributed more than
$1.5 million to the
Jewish Federation of
Metropolitan’
s Detroit
Annual Campaign,
last year raising nearly
$300,000.
“Every year, the EPIC
crowd is a mix of young
people who have an
understanding of the
work of the Jewish Federation and
those who may know very little about
the impact this organization has on
our community and communities
across the globe,
” said EPIC Co-Chair
Adam Bleznak.
“We want everyone to experience
a fun and entertaining evening out,
but we also take the opportunity to
explain the importance of being a
donor to the Federation because we
want every young adult in that room
to know the difference they are mak-
ing.
”
The importance of giving has been
presented in numerous ways over the
years. For the last two years, young
Jewish Detroiters who have been
impacted by the work of Federation
and its partner agencies have
addressed the room, sharing their per-
sonal and often poignant
stories. And the EPIC mes-
sage is hitting home, as the
event welcomes an average
of 100 new young adult
donors to Federation’
s
Annual Campaign each
year.
“Some people will ini-
tially make a donation
just to come to the event
and see the show, and
that’
s fine,
” said NEXTGen
Detroit President Ryan Landau. “But
we want every guest to leave EPIC
with a better understanding of how
this community takes care of one
another and feeling really good about
the gift they made.
”
Registration for EPIC is open until
Friday, March 1, at jewishdetroit.org/
EPIC. Early registration is $60/person
through Feb. 18 and general regis-
tration is $75/person beginning Feb.
19. All EPIC guests are required to
make a minimum donation of $100 to
Federation’
s 2019 Annual Campaign.
This is a 21+ event and dietary laws
will be observed. ■
Nikki Glasser
Etgar Keret, renowned Israeli author
and lecturer in the Department of
Hebrew Literature at Ben-Gurion
University of the Negev (BGU), has
received Israel’
s most prestigious lit-
erary award, the Sapir Prize, for his
collection of short stories, A Glitch at
the Edge of the Galaxy.
“I’
m surprised … it’
s the happi-
est thing in the world. But like love
or gifts, it’
s not something you can
strive for. It just happens,” Keret said.
“Israeli book prizes are much more
important to me than literature priz-
es awarded overseas. This is the lan-
guage I write in; this is where I live
and that’
s the most important thing.”
The Sapir Prize carries a $47,000
cash award and support for the
book’
s translation into two languages:
Arabic and a language of the author’
s
choosing.
A Glitch at the Edge of the Galaxy,
published in Hebrew by Kinneretz
Zmora-Bitan Dvir, features 24
short stories of varying lengths.
The stories, written in clear, every-
day Hebrew, touch on a range of
emotional issues in Israeli society:
Holocaust remembrance, euthanasia,
loneliness and intellectual disability.
Other selections tackle lighter sub-
jects. One follows a goldfish who
jumps out of his aquarium home in
the middle of the night in order to
watch television.
Keret’
s work has also been trans-
lated into French, Spanish, Italian,
German, Russian, Norwegian and
Swedish. He is married to artist Shira
Geffen.
Ben-Gurion University Lecturer Wins
Israel’
s Top Literature Prize
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