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