July 4 • 2019 25
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JFS CEO Perry Ohren, JFS Board Chair Julie 

Teicher, event co-chair Randy Orley

On May 29, nearly 500 community members attended Jewish Family Service’
s 
annual Spotlight event at Congregation Shaarey Zedek. The focus of this 
year’
s event was to shine a spotlight on mental health in our community. The 
event was chaired by Diane and Randy Orley, who have become community 
leaders in the area of mental health, and featured speaker Liza Long, author 
of The Price of Silence: A Mother’
s Perspective on Mental Illness. Long capti-
vated the audience with her compelling and sometimes heartbreaking story 
of raising a child with bipolar disorder and her years-long search to find him 
proper treatment. Jewish Family Service raised more than $330,000, which 
will go toward supporting all services provided by JFS and specifically with 
mental health services such as counseling and suicide prevention trainings. ■

Jim and Sandy Danto with Amy Newman of JFS

Geoff Orley, AnaPaola Orley, Sally Orley and Orly Bernat

Eva Kaplan, Amanda Orley, Joy Nachman and Sally Orley

Co-chairs Randy and Diane Orley

Doreen Hermelin and Eleanor 

Jackier

Rabbi Josh Bennett, immediate past JFS chair 

Suzan Curhan, speaker Liza Long

Speaker Liza Long

jews d
in 
the | faces&places

Allan and Joy Nachman, Joan and Steve Freedman, Renee and Craig Erlich

Lowell and Jennifer Friedman, and Regina 

and Darren Colton

Melissa Liverman and Joshua Gitlin

Andrew and Erika Bocknek
Josh and Emily Hunegs, and Sue Kaufman

Nearly 500 supporters of Hillel Day School attended the Annual Gala 
June 2 at the Farmington Hills school. Honorees included Joy and Allan 
Nachman, and Reneé and Craig Erlich for their dedication to Hillel and 
the Jewish community. Steve Freedman, outgoing and longest-serving 
head of school, was named an honorary alumnus for his 16 years of 
service. 
The Erlichs, whose three children are Hillel alumni, said, “
As our 
children learned, we learned. Hillel provided us a sense that we were part 
of a community.”
Adin Victor, a graduating eighth-grader, said, “Hillel is a second home. 
Like home, it teaches us the essentials: Derech eretz, Torah, problem-
solving, empathy.” 
Allan Nachman, whose children attended Hillel and whose 
grandchildren are current students, said, “The Jews have survived 
persecution for 5,000 years. Schools like Hillel ensure Judaism continues 
in each generation.” ■

PHOTOS COURTESY OF HILLEL DAY SCHOOL

PHOTOS BY JEFF AISEN AND KELLY HAINES