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