24 August 1 • 2019
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NCSY Bids Farewell to
Lucky Winner Lichtig
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ROCHEL BURSTYN CONTRIBUTING WRITER
D
etroit NCSY is bidding fare-
well to the Lichtig family,
who are moving back to their
native England in August, with plans
to join Aish U.K.
“Dovid Lichtig came to Detroit nine
years ago as a rookie; NCSY was his
first job,” said Rabbi Tzali Freedman,
director of NCSY in North America
for 27 years.
Rabbi Lichtig, 34, serves as associ-
ate regional director.
At the annual NCSY Garden
Dinner fundraiser June 18 at the
Southfield home of Chayala Levitz,
Molly Horwitz, 18,
spoke about Lichtig.
She followed her three
older brothers, who
all had been involved
with NCSY. With
Lichtig’
s support, Molly
had taken the reins
of NCSY programs
in Windsor, which her bother Noah
spearheaded five years ago.
Of the Lichtigs, Molly said, “They
are great at what they do … They
have a way of connecting with people,
not just as mentors, but as friends.”
Molly shared that early last year,
Noah asked Lichtig to purchase a raf-
fle ticket for his Israeli yeshivah. The
prize: two round-trip tickets to Israel.
Lichtig did so, and joked, “If I win,
maybe I’
ll come to your wedding!”
Noah laughed; he wasn’
t even dating
at the time.
Amazingly, Lichtig won the raffle.
A few weeks later, Noah called
Lichtig again. “I knew they were hav-
ing another raffle, so I figured he was
calling to solicit some more,” Lichtig
shared. But that wasn’
t it. Luck had
struck twice — Noah was engaged to
his principal’
s daughter.
Lichtig was able to keep his jok-
ing promise. In November 2018, he
joined the Horwitzes in Israel and
participated in the wedding, alongside
many of “his” NCSYers.
Although Lichtig is excited to live
closer to his extended family, his
leave-taking is bittersweet. His wife,
Chavi, 30, and their children, Shira,
10, Nosson, 8, Avital, 6, and Rachel, 2,
have grown used to calling Oak Park
“home.”
“It’
s been an incredible nine years.
We’
ve created such wonderful rela-
tionships, and we’
ve become part of
such a warm community,” Lichtig
said.
Along with thanking the Lichtigs
for their hard work and dedication,
and honoring Noah Klein, NCSY’
s
director of operations for 20 years,
scholarships also were awarded.
Recipients were Daniel Shamayev, 18,
who is heading on a gap year to Israel,
and Raphael Ifraimov, 16, who will
be attending the beginner track of the
NCSY summer Kollel.
NCSY offers informal Jewish
education and summer programs in
Israel for teens, affording junior high
and high school students of all back-
grounds an opportunity to learn more
about Israel and their Jewish heritage
and identity.
During his years in Detroit, Lichtig
has engaged more than 1,900 local
teens, and helped foster in them a
passion for Judaism, Israel and a sense
of communal responsibility.
“The magic of NCSY is unparal-
leled anywhere in the world,” Lichtig
said. “The goal of NCSY is to inspire
the Jewish future, but what it accom-
plishes inspires me.” ■
Molly Horwitz
PHOTOS BY AARON PERGAMENT
Rabbi Tzali Freedman, Rabbi Dovid
Lichtig and Chavi Lichtig
Honoree Raffi Ifraimov, Susanna Ifraimov, Tarana Shamayev,
honoree Daniel Shamayev, Rabbis Dovid Lichtig, Jason
Cohen and Tzali Freedman
The opening of a Burgerim restau-
rant in Dearborn has been can-
celed because of backlash from the
Arab-American community there
unhappy with the burger
company’
s Israeli roots,
the Detroit Free Press
reported.
Burgerim, which
bills itself as “the fastest
growing burger chain
in the country” on its
website, means “many burgers” in
Hebrew. The chain specializes in
mini burgers of different types of
meat, including lamb and veggies
option. The chain, now headquar-
tered in Encino, Calif., was founded
in Tel Aviv.
Franchisee Sam Zahr, a Lebanese
American who lives in Dearborn,
told the Free Press he was “too
worried to open the restaurant on
Greenfield Road
after his kids were
bullied and he
received threatening
messages.”
Zahr owns a
Burgerim location in
Royal Oak that has
not garnered much opposition. He
told the Freep he decided to walk
away from the Dearborn location
because he has two other scheduled
openings this month in Oak Park
and Redford Township.
Burgerim Not Coming to Dearborn
Judge Cohn and ‘
Marilyn Monroe’
On July 23, more than 100 people
attended an open house at the U.S.
District Court in Detroit in honor of
Judge Avern Cohn’
s 40 years on the
federal bench and his 95th birthday.
It was a fine affair, set in the
judge’
s own courtroom. It began
with a live television feed from the
U.S. House where Congressman
Andy Levin honored Judge Cohn,
thereby entering Cohn’
s legacy into
the official history of Congress. This
was followed by tributes from Chief
Judge Denise Page Hood and Judges
Sean F. Cox, Paul D. Borman and
Arthur Tarnow, as well as Detroit
Mayor Mike Duggan and retired
senator and congressman respec-
tively, Carl and Sander Levin.
With a strong, energetic voice,
Judge Cohn made closing remarks,
thanking all who attended. The
highlight of the day was, perhaps,
the special guest: Marilyn Monroe
(an impersonator, to be sure) who
sang “Happy Birthday” to Judge
Cohn.
All participants and guests came
to the same conclusion: Judge Cohn
is one of the court’
s intellectuals
who always pursues fairness and
justice and, moreover, that he is still
going strong.
— Mike Smith
COURTESY OF U.S. DISTRICT COURT EASTERN DISTRICT
Happy 95th Birthday, Judge Cohn
The JCC’
s Adult Jewish Learning
Department, JLearn (formerly
FedEd), is offering a sneak peek of
its 2019-2020 instructors Monday,
Aug. 19, at the Max M. Fisher
Federation building. There will be
two sessions: 9:30 a.m.-11:50 a.m.
and 7-8:30 p.m.
The event is free of charge and
registration is required. To register
and for more information, contact
(248) 205-2557 or ccomensky@
jccdet.org. The complete catalog
can be found at jccdet.org/JLearn.
Meet the Instructors