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)