Views 12 | JUNE 25 • 2020 OUR JN MISSION: We aspire to communicate news and opinion that’ s trusted, valued, engaging and distinctive. We strive to refl ect diverse community viewpoints while also advocating positions that strengthen Jewish unity and continuity. As an independent, responsible, responsive community member, we actively engage with individuals and organizations dedicated to enhancing the quality of life, and Jewish life, in Southeast Michigan. 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BACK ISSUES OF THE JN The Detroit Jewish News Foundation’ s William Davidson Archive of Jewish Detroit History contains more than 330,000 pages of content — spanning more than 100 years — from the Jewish News and its predecessor publication. It is fast, free and accessible via djnfoundation.org Visit the JN website www.thejewishnews.com been taken “for a family member of the mayor. ” He also told me that my dad could have been “at McDonald’ s or in a hotel” and “that he didn’ t warrant depart- mental resources. ” As you can imagine, this was shocking and devastating to me. My dad, in fact, was not at “McDonald’ s” or “in a hotel. ” He was found dead in his car the day after he went missing, not by the police, but by a person that lived on the block where my dad’ s car was parked. It came to my attention via friends that Shelide had made some abhorrent posts on social media. These posts invoked violence against people of color. At best, they are unequivocally racist in nature. At worst, they are criminal and should not be acceptable coming from any human being, let alone a law enforcement officer. My concern is that if your chief of police could speak to a grieving daughter that way, what else is he capable of? And how many police departments in this state will pass him around, hop- ing he will magically change? If change is going to come, it has to start with the people who have power. And you do. So, the ques- tion is, how will you use your power? Would you be OK if the next George Floyd occurred in your city? Forget about Neal Rott, of blessed memory. Think of all those who don’ t have the priv- ilege I have to even be able to write this letter. Black lives have always mat- tered but, apparently, they matter more to some than to others, and others should not include law enforcement officers. Leslie Rott Welsbacher University of Michigan Editor’ s Note: You can read about the social media posts in “ Actions Matter, ” page 34 in the June 18 issue of the JN. On June 16, Shelby Township Trustees suspended Chief Robert Shelide for 30 days and ordered him to undergo cultural awareness and de-escalation training. Choosing Life Following the funeral of my late husband, Dr. Sheldon Kapen, and listening to the most beau- tiful eulogy of our eldest son, Gilead, a close friend quipped that for such a funeral and eulo- gy it was wor th dying. Needless to say, he wasn’ t serious. However, these very words can also be said regarding the most elaborate funeral and eulo- gies said on behalf of Mr. George Floyd, the African American who was callously killed by a cop who kneeled on his neck, not listening to the man’ s plea that he couldn’ t breathe. Yet, I’ ll bet that Floyd would not forfeit his precious life for the most elaborated funeral and the nicest of words said about him. Our holy Torah tells us — practically orders us — to choose life when faced by the choices of life and death; thou shall choose life — u’ vacharta ba’ chayim. May we all vow to do all that in our power to make this choice available to us all when at all possible, and make sure that Black Life Matters is more than a slogan, but a guiding light to us all. Rachel Kapen West Bloomfield continued from page 10 Neal Rott BC