12 | JULY 2 • 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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Online Comments

The JN welcomes comments from our Facebook followers. 
Recently, several people responded to the story “Safe to Come 
Out?” which discussed how local Jews are feeling about the 
state reopening.

Jill Stern: I’
m high risk and so is my daughter. If something hap-
pens to me, she ends up in foster care since I have no remaining 
family. I only go out for necessities such as food. Even with that, 
I use Kroger pickup. Nothing is important enough to risk my 
daughter’
s life. 99% of everything that I need I can get delivered 
or pick up every 2 weeks using Kroger pickup.

Fred Cislo Jr.: I worked through the whole time (I work in a 
funeral home), went to the store as needed and continue to 
work. I feel comfortable going to the nature preserve and to the 
park and to where I need to go to get what I need.

Rebecca Goldberg: Depends on the safety standards of the 
businesses. Trying to keep my shopping short and focused, 
probably only dining out on a patio if I do go somewhere this 
summer.

With the outbreak of war, 
neither of my parents was able 
to finish their schooling. With 
only two weeks of English lan-
guage lessons upon their arrival 
in Michigan, my mother and 
father struggled with English, 
their sixth and seventh languag-
es, respectively. However, they 
greatly valued and supported 
education, and were so proud 
of their three college-educated 
children. Their family grew, and 
they were able to enjoy many 
years with their three beautiful 
and much beloved grandchil-
dren. 
When touring Ellis Island, I 
also remembered the surprise 
I had uncovered some years 
earlier while searching the 
Ellis Island ancestry records. 
There were the details of my 
paternal grandfather’
s ill-fated 
exodus to America. My pater-
nal grandfather, Tevye Balaj, 
aged 28, arrived in New York 
from Glasgow, Scotland, on 
the S.S. Furnessia on Aug. 15, 
1905. He moved to Boston 
for a year, where he joined his 
brother-in-law, who had come 
to the U.S. some years earlier. 
Tevye did not find American 
life to his liking, missing the 
traditional European Jewish life 

of Koretz, then part of Russia. 
Instead of bringing the family to 
America, tragically, he returned 
to Russia, only to face the even-
tual destruction of the family 
— except for my father, who 
managed to survive after being 
deported to Siberia.
My parents survived Hitler, 
Stalin, World War II and the 
Holocaust. They created a 
loving family, finding a piece 
of the American dream. They 
fulfilled the promise embodied 
in the Statue of Liberty, the 
“Mother of Exiles,
” in the words 
of the famous sonnet by Emma 
Lazarus. 
Over the years, I recall my 
parents repeatedly saying, “This 
is the best country in the world, 
and don’
t you forget it!” And 
as my mother said in her later 
years, “I came to this country 
with empty arms, and now they 
are full.
” 

Barbara S. Balaj, Ph.D., a native of 
Michigan, lives in Washington, D.C., 
where she works for the World Bank 
Group, a United Nations specialized 
agency, initially created to rebuild coun-
tries devastated by World War II. The 
World Bank now provides loans, grants 
and technical assistance to over 100 
developing countries around the world.

ANNIVERSARY from page 10
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