MAY 28 • 2020 | 21
Jimmy Prentis Morris Jewish
Community Center in Oak
Park, then to Handleman
Hall in the West Bloomfield
JCC and finally to
Congregation Shaarey Zedek,
the only venue big enough to
accommodate the crowd.
The organizers also lim-
ited the size by raising the
qualifying age to 95 instead
of the original 90. Still, more
than 400 attended last year,
including more than a dozen
honorees over age 100.
In 2005, the event was
named in memory of Bessie
Spector, one of the original
honorees.
Spector’
s granddaughter,
Joan Chernoff-Epstein, said
Bessie enjoyed the annual
brunch immensely until she
died in 2005 at the age of
102.
Chernoff-Epstein, of
Birmingham, said her grand-
mother “kept the most beau-
tiful home; she made the
most delicious blintzes and
banana cake that anyone ever
tasted.”
Chernoff-Epstein remem-
bers when Carol Rosenberg,
then director of JSL’
s fore-
runner, Jewish Homes and
Aging Services, asked Bessie
to share a special memory.
Her grandmother mentioned
the first time she saw her
husband getting out of the
shower.
Committee member
Joyce Weingarten of West
Bloomfield said her grand-
mother, Fannie Whiteman,
also attended one of the
first luncheons. Weingarten
later accompanied her hus-
band’
s grandmother, Belle
Rosender, and her father,
Louis Berlin, who attended
the last three brunches.
“He was so proud to be
there,” said Weingarten. “He
would sing to the music and
even got up and danced.”
Berlin died in April, and
Weingarten said she will
miss attending the brunch
with him when it resumes,
hopefully next year.
Julie Zussman of
Huntington Woods, one of
the event chairs, said she
feels like she’
s “late to the
dance,” because she started
attending the brunch in
2017. Her father-in-law, Milt
Zussman, was her “ticket” to
the event, she said. Last year,
the family had four gener-
ations there. In addition to
her and her husband, Rick,
Milt’
s guests included his
grandson Adam Zussman
and Adam’
s daughter,
Delaney.
Milt, now 98, spends
much of his time in Florida
but always made it back to
Michigan for the brunch.
“He has driven himself to
every brunch and only wants
us to meet him there,” said
Zussman. Milt says what he
likes best about the event is
that his son picks up the tab.
“It’
s such a simchah!” said
co-chair Sharon Alterman.
“Families really look forward
to it, and honorees’
children
and grandchildren come
from all over the country to
attend. It’
s so feel-good!” The
event is usually held around
Memorial Day to make it
easier for out-of-towners to
come.
As soon as the mailing is
complete, the committee will
turn their attention to plan-
ning next year’
s event, with
the hope that such a gath-
ering will again be feasible.
They already have a theme:
“Our Classics: The Greatest
Generation.”
To add someone to the honoree
list, or to make a tribute gift rec-
ognizing someone being honored,
contact Leslie Katz at lkatz@jslmi.
org.
Award-Winning Student
Will Hearn from Clio,
Michigan, earned
the Outstanding
Undergraduate
Student Award from
the Frankel Center
for Judaic Studies
at the University
of Michigan. Each
spring, the faculty
nominate students who have
made stand-out academic
achievements and have achieved
a grade point average of at least
3.8 in Judaic studies courses.
Hearn majored in Judaic
studies, Middle East studies
and minored in religion. He
impressed several of his teachers
with his original thought and
commitment to course work.
Professor Deborah Dash
Moore praised Hearn as a
model student: “
Always deeply
engaged, he wrote
a superb paper on
‘
Rabbinical Heroes:
How Perceptions
of Jewish Military
Chaplains Shifted from
the Civil War to World
War II,
’
taking off from
an article published
in the Detroit Jewish
News.
”
Hearn’
s paper argued that
during the Civil War, Jews saw
military chaplains as a means for
Jews to progress in comparison
to Christians, and during World
War I as a way of encouraging
religious tolerance. Not until
World War II were they seen as
war heroes. “This is an original
and compelling interpretation
drawn from a variety of Jewish
newspaper sources,
” said Dash
Moore.
JN STAFF
Camp Ramah in Canada Closes
for the Summer
Camp Ramah in Canada
announced May 19 that it won’
t
hold summer camp this sum-
mer due to Doug Ford, Premier
of Ontario, announcing that no
residential summer camps will
be allowed to open in Ontario
due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Located in southern Ontario,
Camp Ramah in Canada has been
serving Jewish youth since 1960.
The camp is run through the
Ramah Camping Network, a large
group of summer camps affiliated
with the United Synagogue of
Conservative Judaism with loca-
tions in the United States, Canada
and Israel.
“While this is not surprising to
us, it is, nonetheless, heartbreak-
ing news. It brings home what we
knew was nearly certain — that
we would not be able to meet on
the shores of Skeleton Lake this
summer,
” read the press release.
“In the end, it was not our deci-
sion.
”
The news comes just nine
days after the camp announced
the cancellation of the first ses-
sion of summer camp set to begin
June 24. This year, they were
looking forward to celebrating
the 60th anniversary of Camp
Ramah.
“Our hearts break thinking of
all that was ‘
supposed’
to happen
this summer and will not,
” read
the statement.
Camp Ramah will soon be
sending out more information
regarding the next steps, includ-
ing refunds and donations, and
information on virtual program-
ming they are implementing.
Camp Ramah also hosted a
Zoom town hall event on Sunday,
May 24, for families with ques-
tions.
CORRIE COLF STAFF WRITER