52 | SEPTEMBER 26 • 2019
Jews in the D
Inclusive Service
Dementia-friendly Kol Nidre/Yom Kippur
service brings comfort to families.
ALISON SCHWARTZ SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS
D
ebra Yamstein, direc-
tor of the Dorothy
and Peter Brown
Jewish Community Adult Day
Program in Southfield and
West Bloomfield, was sitting
in synagogue with her two
small children when she had a
lightbulb moment.
“My kids were 6 and 4 at
the time and were already
singing the melodies they
knew like ‘
Alvenu Malkenu.’
I
looked around the synagogue
and realized the people I knew
who either had dementia or
who were caring for loved
ones with dementia were not
there and I understood why.
The service was too long, the
synagogue was too full and there
were too many unknowns,” she
explained.
Yamstein knew from her
professional work at the Brown
Center, a partnership between
JVS Human Services and Jewish
Senior Life, that music, prayer
and liturgy are experiences peo-
ple living with dementia contin-
ue to respond to, often beyond
the time when other activities or
interests have been lost.
She decided to start a special
Kol Nidre/Yom Kippur service
for those affected so they could
express their faith and be with
their families in a meaningful
way during the High Holidays.
This is the third year of the
45-minute dementia-friendly
service, which will be held
at 11 a.m. Sunday, Oct. 6,
at Fleischman Residence/
Blumberg Plaza (6710 W.
Maple Road, West Bloomfield).
A shuttle will be available from
the JSL Oak Park campus and
the service will be followed by a
mock Break Fast meal.
For Cathy Deutchman of
Franklin, who has attended for
the past three years with her
mother, Rhea Brody, the service
is intimate and lasts just the
right amount of time. It allows
her mother, who is religious
and has always loved the High
Holidays, to hear important
prayers like ‘
Al Chet’
and
‘
Ashamnu,’
along with the blast
of the shofar.
“It brings me some comfort
to know I can still have her
go to a service and participate
in the best way she can, hear-
ing the familiar melodies and
prayers.”
Cantor Pamela Schiffer,
Cantor Emerita of
Congregation Shaarey Zedek of
East Lansing, will be leading the
service for the second year. She
said it is important for all Jews
to be able to experience the high
holy days.
“This program allows fami-
lies to share the service and the
music. At last year’
s Kol Nidre
you could have heard a pin
drop. The music of the prayer
reached inside all who were
there,” she said.
Individuals are encouraged
to pre-register with the under-
standing that last-minute
challenges may prevent them
from attending. To register for
the free service, call (248) 661-
6390.
ALISON SCHWARTZ
Cathy Deutchman of Franklin
and her mother, Rhea Brody
A Show of Solidarity
Detroit Jews for Justice shows
support for striking UAW members.
A
fter their monthly
meeting, a minyan
of leaders with
Detroit Jews for Justice
turned out at the Detroit-
Hamtramck GM Assembly
Plant on the second day
of United Auto Worker’
s
national strike.
About 46,000 GM UAW
employees walked off the
job Sept. 15 after their
contract with the automaker
expired. The two sides are
working through differences
on wages, health care and
seniority for temporary
employees, among other
issues.
DJJ leaders handed out
apples and honey to the
picketers and brought a sign
that read, “Detroit Jews for
Justice wish UAW a sweet
new year with prosperity,
health & power.”
“We’
re out here standing
up for our jobs. We’
re out
here standing up for middle-
class America, the working
middle class,” said Monique
Watson, vice president of
UAW Local 22.
DJJ leader Rabbi Alana
Alpert said, “Jewish tradition
is clear about our personal
and communal responsibility
to treat workers with
respect. The most significant
and respected Jewish
legal authorities of the
20th century forcefully
confirmed that Jewish law
supports unionizing and,
when necessary, striking,
to achieve just treatment of
workers.
“It was so meaningful to
visit the picket line during
these days leading up to
the High Holidays, a time
when we do individual and
collective introspection,” she
added.
ALLIE ZEFF
SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS
ALLIE ZEFF