MARCH 12 • 2020 | 5
Views
for openers
If It Ain’t Broke …
letters
Y
ou are watching TV
and there it appears
on the screen:
“Breaking news …” You are
on vacation
at the seaside
and you get
up early to
enjoy the dawn
breaking. Just
how often are
we employing
the break con-
cept in our conversations?
Let’
s see.
Going to Las Vegas? Why
not play all the machines?
Go for broke in the hope that
you will break the bank!
Of course, if you get
involved with any money
lenders, you may end up
with broken bones by ignor-
ing a payback date. This is
not a concept to confuse
with the good-luck wish to
a performer, “Break a leg.”
When things go espe-
cially right for you, are you
tempted to break into song?
Having to perform any task
can be a joy if you do not
have to break a sweat.
We may read in the news
about someone who broke
out of prison. He had been
incarcerated for breaking
and entering, which he had
accomplished by hacking
security — breaking a code.
Recaptured, he is now a bro-
ken man.
If your daily grind gets to
be too much, you may wish
to break for lunch before you
break down. A real break
away may involve seeing
waves break on the shore.
An intense wave of sum-
mer heat may break a record;
you will seek air conditioning
until the heat wave breaks.
A referee at a boxing
match often has to brea
k a
clinch between the oppo-
nents. This is not the same
as having to break up with
someone.
If you’
re thinking I need to
put a brake on all this, you
will not trap me with your
homonym tactics. Just give
me a break!
Jews of Color
I would just like to start out
by saying thank you to the
Detroit Jewish News for start-
ing the conversation on the
issues that Jews of Color face
in the Metro Detroit Jewish
community (“Hues of Jews,”
Feb. 20, page 14).
Since the article has been
published, I’
ve been receiv-
ing a lot of comments from
people that seem to have
misinterpreted the article in
ways that made it seem like I
wasn’
t happy in the Orthodox
community. To be clear, I
love my life as an Orthodox
woman and embrace that
part of me. I am also grateful
for the many warm families
and individuals in the Metro
Detroit Orthodox Jewish
community who have treat-
ed me with kindness and
respect. So, it saddens me
when I get comments asking
why I became religious or
encouraging me to join a dif-
ferent sect of Judaism.
As someone who has
had many different Jewish
experiences, from Reform
to Orthodox, I can say that
racism or unconscious bias is
a widespread issue across the
Jewish community. That said,
there needs to be less blam-
ing and finger-pointing at
different sects of Judaism and
more solution-focused think-
ing. Also, don’
t assume that
your fellow Jew of Color is
not having any issues in the
Jewish community because
they’
re not Orthodox. There
is ignorance everywhere,
and there is no escaping
that. To end, we don’
t always
know what someone is going
through until we walk in
their shoes — so it’
s import-
ant to be kind, have compas-
sion and remember to treat
others the way you’
d want to
be treated.
— Aliza Bracha Klein
Oak Park
continued on page 10
Sy Manello
Editorial Assistant
DO
YOU
WANT
TO
GET
THERE?
The
Jewi
sh
Feder
ati
on
of
Metr
opol
i
tan
Detroi
t’
s
uni
que
GET
THERE!
schol
arshi
p
progr
am
provi
des
f
undi
ng
to
hel
p
def
r
ay
costs
on
tri
ps
to
I
sr
ael
,
maki
ng
i
t
possi
bl
e
f
or
more
young
peopl
e
to
experi
ence
a
l
i
f
e
changi
ng
journey.
Avai
l
abl
e
f
or
a
wi
de
vari
ety
of
progr
ams,
GET
THERE!
tr
avel
gr
ants
hel
p
young
Detroi
ters
bui
l
d
a
l
asti
ng
f
oundati
on
of
Jewi
sh
i
denti
ty.
The
pr
ogr
am
i
s
open
to
Jewi
sh
r
esi
dents
of
Metr
o
Detr
oi
t
between
the
ages
of
13
and
28
year
s-ol
d
who
wi
l
l
be
parti
ci
pati
ng
i
n
an
educati
onal
pr
ogr
am
for
12
months
or
l
ess.
For more information on both
our Ben Teitel Incentive Grant
and our Needs-based Grant,
visit our website:
jewishdetroit.org/getthere