JANUARY 02 • 2020 | 17

Jews in the D

What We Bring 
To The Table
A

group of die-hard ping 
pong players at the 
Jewish Community 
Center in West Bloomfield have 
persevered for more than 12 
years. We play every day from 
9:30 a.m.-1 p.m. 
 Initially Big Boris, age 67, 
and Little Boris occupied the 
right table, keeping score in 
Russian, leaving the left table to 
the Americans: Sy Borsen, 92, 
Fred Kendell and Bob Salamon, 
both 86. When Bob’
s wife, Lila, 
recently passed away, Fred orga-
nized a fund to plant 15 trees in 
Israel in her honor.
 
Big Boris came from near 
Chernobyl. Bob, a Holocaust 
survivor, migrated to China 
before arriving in the U.S. 
Fred also endured the perils of 
Germany. Once in America, he 
studied art at Cass Tech. His 
daughter is a museum artist in 
California. 
Kind enough to help me along 
with my own art, he takes credit 
for every piece I sell. Oh, and his 
jokes, he always has one. 
Sy was a national ping pong 
champion until he was disqual-
ified for being too young. He is 
our human ping pong robot. He 
has mentored us all. 
The team continues to 
grow. Now there is Yury I 
(Gendelman, 68), a dentist 
from Ukraine, and Yury II 
(Kuperstock, 67), a metal-
lurgical engineer also from 
Ukraine. Yakov Faytlin, 72, is 

a Birmingham photographer. 
Illyah Dakhmutsay, 67, a Realtor, 
was a champion boxer back in 
Ukraine. While waiting for a 
turn at the table, he burns off his 
raw egg breakfast with warm-up 
boxing routines. 
Sasha Shakhim, 72, enjoys 
eating 62 homemade Chinese 
barbecue ribs from Hong Kong 
Ken Wong, 62, a mechanical 
engineer, the only non-Jewish 
player we have. 
Myron Stein, a teacher, 
provides movie reviews. Lou 
Brown, 72, a retired teacher and 
opera buff, who displays his 
collectibles and memorabilia at 
the Royal Oak Farmer’
s Market, 
shares CDs from the 1930s that 
are played on a boom box for 
ambience. It’
s contagious. Now 
I listen to Big Band music at 
home. So long, Talking Heads. 
Sy, Lou and Bob formed a 
Tuesday night poker group. For 
one of Sy’
s big birthdays, and 
he’
s had plenty, I bought him a 
sweatshirt that says, “Ping Pong, 
Poker, Porn.
” His daughter-in-
law wouldn’
t let him out of the 
house wearing it, so he keeps it 
in his locker and wears it here. I 
hope Stacy’
s not reading this. 
I traded in my tennis racket 
for a paddle. The solo woman, 
I’
m just one of the guys. 
We slice and dice. We remem-
ber; we forget — but never the 
score. We laugh together, cry 
together. At closing time, when I 
say, “Bye, guys; I’
m going home,
” 
Fred says, “Hey, girl, you are 
home.
” 

ELLEN STONE SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS

essay

This group of die-hard ping pong 
players meet daily at the JCC.

YAKOV FAYTLIN

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