social distancing and proper
health precautions, we’
re
prepared to provide some sort
of volunteers or manpower to
assist them as well,” Low said.
Chabad of Eastern
Michigan, which is based in
Flint but also services the
tri-cities area, is offering
assistance to people impacted
by the floods, too.
“The good news is that
all the people we know,
they’
ve conveyed to us that
everybody is safe. Their
homes may not be safe, but
they’
re safe,” said Rabbi
Yisroel Weingarten, director
of Chabad of Eastern
Michigan.
Weingarten and his sons
went to the tri-cities area
May 22 to check in and
deliver food and Shabbat
supplies to over 35 people.
The day before, he worried
the bridges and roads he had
to take to get there would
be blocked, but water had
receded enough for him to
get through.
“You could see devastation.
You could see parks flooded,
covered in probably
two, three feet of water,”
Weingarten said. “On the
front lawn of many homes,
you see washers, driers,
carpeting, beds, mattresses,
couches, you name it. I’
m
telling you, it was literally
heartbreaking.”
In an email to the Detroit
Jewish News on May 20,
Temple Beth El President
Sheldon Messing said the
synagogue’
s members seemed
to be doing all right.
“As far as I know our
Jewish community is safe and
coping well,” he wrote. “We
are a very small congregation,
so we look out for one
another.”
Currently, Temple Beth El
has suspended programming
until September due to the
coronavirus pandemic.
JUNE 4 • 2020 | 15
ABOVE: Rabbi Weingarten and his sons delivered food and Shabbat supplies to the
people affected by the flood. FACING: People photograph the floodwaters of the
Tittabawassee River that encroached on downtown Midland, Mich., Wednesday,
May 20, 2020. Floodwaters have overtaken dams and forced the evacuation of
about 10,000 people from communities in central Michigan. Families living along
the Tittabawassee River and connected lakes in Midland County were ordered to
leave home May 19, the second time in less than 24 hours.
CHABAD OF EASTERN MICHIGAN
ELI
GI
BI
LI
TY
FOR
NOMI
NATI
ON
All Jewi
sh communal professi
onals employed by t
he Jewi
sh Federat
i
on
of Met
ropoli
t
an Det
roi
t
(
JFMD)
or local const
i
t
uent
agenci
es of JFMD who
have been worki
ng i
n t
he Det
roi
t
Jewi
sh communi
t
y a mi
ni
mum of five
consecut
i
ve years may be nomi
nat
ed for t
he Berman Award.
CRI
TERI
A
FOR
SELECTI
ON
The reci
pi
ent
of t
he Berman Award shall mani
fest
t
he hi
ghest
professi
onal
st
andards i
n hi
s/her chosen field. The professi
onal must
have made a
cont
ri
but
i
on t
o and for t
he general good of t
he Jewi
sh communi
t
y,
demonst
rat
ed creat
i
vi
t
y, dedi
cat
i
on, knowledge and care i
n t
he provi
si
on
of servi
ces of t
he Jewi
sh communi
t
y. Moreover, i
n awardi
ng t
he Berman
Award, consi
derat
i
on shall be gi
ven t
o speci
al professi
onal i
nnovat
i
on
whi
ch reflect
s quali
t
y professi
onali
sm. Fi
rst
consi
derat
i
on i
s gi
ven t
o agency
professi
onals, followed by JFMD st
aff and agency execut
i
ve di
rect
ors. The
CEO of JFMD i
s not
eli
gi
ble t
o wi
n t
hi
s award. Past
Berman Award wi
nners
and yearly commi
t
t
ee members may nomi
nat
e candi
dat
es for t
he award, but
must
recuse t
hemselves from t
he conversat
i
on duri
ng t
he select
i
on meet
i
ng.
Those past
wi
nners and yearly commi
t
t
ee members who have submi
t
t
ed
nomi
nat
i
ons may vot
e i
n t
he final select
i
on.
NOMI
NATI
ON
PROCESS
We encourage each agency t
o submi
t
a nomi
nee no lat
er t
han July 6, 2020.
Names of t
he nomi
nees wi
ll remai
n confident
i
al and may be re-nomi
nat
ed i
n
subsequent
years.
Nominate
online:
jewishdetroit.org/bermanaward
DEADLI
NE
FOR
NOMI
NATI
ONS:
JULY
6,
2020
Quest
i
ons
? Cont
act
Rabbi
Ari
Wi
t
ki
n at
wi
t
ki
n@jfmd.org or 248-203-1460.
Berman
Award
for Out
st
andi
ng Professi
onal i
n Jewi
sh Communal Servi
ce
C A L L F O R N O M I N E E S
2020 Mandell L. (
z"l)
and Madelei
ne H. (
z"l)