JUNE 25 • 2020 | 5
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for openers
Schmoozing about Zooming
I
’
ve got to say, while some of
these new COVID realities
aren’
t so much fun, I’
m actual-
ly really enjoying Zoom! I know,
I know, there’
s no replacement
for face-to- face interactions, but
sometimes that’
s
exactly the point.
In the “old” days,
whenever I’
d get
postcards announc-
ing classes or meet-
ings, I’
d think, “Oh,
wow, this looks
interesting.
” But
then, you know, 8 p.m. would roll
around and I’
m tired, don’
t want
to put my shoes back on, don’
t
want to drive at night.
And, most of all, I don’
t want
to come home to find my kids
still up and raring to go, while
my husband is snoring loudly
from a kid’
s bed. Nothing is more
annoying than coming home from
a parenting class, all uplifted and
motivated to be this amazingly
patient mother from now on, only
to find that you have to start some
kind of crazy bedtime routine all
over again with hyper, overtired
kids at 11 p.m.
But now
we can attend classes
and meetings from the comfort
of our living rooms, porches or
beds while wearing pajamas or, if
you’
re particularly hot, absolutely
nothing at all. It’
s a whole new ball
game. I’
ve been “getting out” more
than ever and absolutely loving it.
I’
ve heard people say a benefit
to Zoom is that you only have to
clean the tiny bit of your house
that will be seen on the screen.
Didn’
t get around to it? Don’
t
bother turning on your camera
and you’
re golden.
Now there’
s no more thinking,
“Oh, that dessert table looks good,
but I don’
t want to be the first to
cut the cake.
” Nope, now I can
turn off the camera, sprawl on
the couch and get to work on that
pint of ice cream I’
ve been waiting
for all day. It’
s fantastic.
Of course, there are downsides
to Zoom, too. Someone’
s going
to take a “group picture,
” which
would be really cute if you had
been warned and wasn’
t snapped
yawning like a hippo at that very
moment.
And almost every Zoom
meeting has the whole “You’
re
muted” kerfuffle in the beginning,
which I know some find annoy-
ing. Personally, I’
m always more
concerned about the opposite.
I’
d rather be muted so no one
can hear me shushing my kids to
sleep or yelling at my husband to
stop snoring. Kind of like when
moms and dads make the mis-
taken assumption they’
re entitled
to a little privacy and are in the
bathroom minding their business
when their kids come along flash-
ing their device while complain-
ing, “It’
s not working.
” ‘
Course
its working, kid, and thanks very
much, now your teachers and
classmates just got an eyeful of
something they’
ll unfortunately
not forget in a hurry.
’
But so long as no one snapped a
group picture at that moment, you
should be OK.
I suppose there are upsides and
downsides to pretty much any-
thing. I don’
t always mind wearing
a mask either. Finally, I can mouth
the words to songs being piped
through grocery stores without
making people move away from
me in a hurry. And if they do,
I can always tell myself it’
s the
COVID-recommended 6 feet and
not because I’
m making them
nervous.
The downside? My glasses get
fogged up every time I breathe.
I guess that’
s like pretty much
with everything in life. There’
ll
always be good and bad Zooming
about, we just need to try to make
the best of it.
Rochel
Burstyn
A
ll our cover stories are
special, but this week’
s is
extra-special. Keri Guten
Cohen, who worked for two
decades as the JN’
s beloved story
development editor, has spent
months research-
ing the amazing
story of the Beta
Israel of North
Shewa, a.k.a. the
“Hidden Jews” of
Ethiopia, and the
group that one
Jewish Detroiter formed to help
them after a single three-hour
visit. It’
s a remarkable narrative,
one rich in cultural history
as well as deeper significance
about what it means to be a Jew.
Suzi Colman of Commerce
Township, Rabbi Joshua Bennett
of Temple Israel and two others
have formed the group Friends
of Beta Israel of North Shewa.
Over time, these 200 or so Jews
and their group, the Lovers of
Zion Association, may be able
to live more freely and openly as
Jews — and, with the planned
addition of a Jewish cemetery in
Addis Ababa, to die as Jews, too.
And their ranks may yet grow as
more “hidden Jews” come out of
hiding.
We Jews have always been a
“lost tribe,
” a diasporic people.
But the Beta Israel of North
Shewa became “hidden” not
because they fled their homes,
but because they stayed — most
living as Christians while hiding
their Jewish roots, yet still fac-
ing prejudice from the majority
Coptic Christian community.
Meanwhile, the Ethiopian Jews
who made aliyah to Israel in
Operations Moses and Solomon
face discrimination and police
violence today in the land they
were told was their own (see
story, page 30). And here in the
U.S., we are once again being
compelled to listen to and learn
from our own brothers and sis-
ters from the African diaspora.
I hope Keri’
s story, and the
work these groups have done, can
help us shed some light on the
ties that bind all of us who have
faced hardship around the world,
for being Jewish or any other rea-
son. In the future, may we have
no more reason to hide.
Editor’
s note
Hidden No More
Andrew Lapin