18 |
JANUARY 30 • 2020
Jews in the D
to be identified as Esther.
“None of my family are
near the fires,” Esther said,
“but there’
s a lot of emotional
attachment hearing about
the destruction. I hear about
burned areas and I think,
‘
That’
s where I hiked as a
teen,’
and now that entire
area is gone. Or ‘
I went
horseback riding over there,’
and I hear that all the horses
in those regions died.”
According to Esther, life
continues mostly unaffected
for her parents, sisters,
nieces and nephews, all who
live in Melbourne.
“My sister went on a
holiday to Sydney and drove
four hours through complete
fog from the smoke,” Esther
said.
It is hard when something
so painful happens to your
hometown and you’
re far
away, powerless to help in
any significant way.
“I keep watching and
rewatching bush fire videos
on YouTube and crying every
time I see them,” she said.
“I wish I could just hop on
a plane to help somehow —
especially with rehabilitating
all those animals.
If I had unlimited
funds and real life
didn’
t get in my
way, I would do it
in a heartbeat.”
Rabbi
Yerachmiel
Rabin, director
of Spiritual Care at Danto
Family Healthcare Center
in West Bloomfield, is from
Sydney and has lived in
Oak Park for more than 20
years. His mother and sister
still live in Sydney; he has
cousins in Melbourne and an
aunt in Brisbane.
“My family’
s out of the
danger zone, but they told
me the sky over Sydney is
clouded with heavy smoke,”
Rabin said. “I speak to my
mother every day — she has
Alzheimer’
s and is sensitive
to the smoke so she can’
t
even go outside, for weeks
now.”
Even though his family
isn’
t otherwise directly
affected, thinking about the
many Australians who are is
hugely upsetting.
“It’
s so sad, all those
hundreds of people, their
belongings, livelihoods,” he
said. “I can’
t imagine how it
must feel being in the line
of fire, knowing my home
is going to burn down with
everything I’
ve owned in
the past 50 years and there
is absolutely nothing I can
do to stop it … all that
farmland, wildlife … it is
huge, mindboggling.”
Rabin couldn’
t help but
compare how life continues
in Detroit while this
massive national disaster
is occurring. “Here we sit
in comfortable Detroit
suburbia; we don’
t get
hurricanes or any major
scrapes. Life just goes on
as normal. It’
s really just so
hard to imagine.”
Rabbi
Yerachmiel
Rabin
continued from page 17
T
he man accused of
killing a 54-year-old
Jewish Waterford res-
ident has pleaded not guilty
to all charges.
Adonis Drey Wilson, 35,
was arraigned Jan. 24 in the
Oakland County Circuit
Court in front of Judge
Jeffery Matis. Authorities
have charged him with
open-murder and second-de-
gree arson in the Aug. 27,
2019 death of Stefanie Kroot
Steinberg.
Wilson stood mute and
composed while Judge Matis
read his plea of not guilty.
He will appear back in court
on April 17 for a pre-trial,
with his trial beginning May
26.
Wilson is represented by
attorney Mitchell Ribitwer.
The Oakland Press report-
ed that during Wilson’
s pre-
liminary exam on Jan. 15, his
ex-girlfriend testified that
Wilson confided in her about
stabbing Steinberg in the
neck and eye before starting
the house fire.
Capt. John Thebus, fire
marshal for the Waterford
Regional Fire Department,
was also called on as a wit-
ness during the preliminary
exam. He testified that he
discovered Steinberg’
s body
on her dining room floor
with a blade lodged in the
back of her neck.
After listening to witness
testimony and examining the
autopsy reports, Judge Todd
Fox determined the evidence
was sufficient to advance
Wilson’
s case to the higher
court.
Wilson has also been
charged with mutilation of
a dead body due to the fire,
and second-degree cruelty to
an animal since Steinberg’
s
dog, Casper, sustained inju-
ries during the fire. Casper
was rescued and received
veterinary care. He was taken
to Home Fur-Ever Rescue
where Steinberg initially
adopted him.
Waterford Murder
Suspect Arraigned
Man accused of killing Stefanie Kroot
Steinberg enters not guilty plea.
CORRIE COLF STAFF WRITER