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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