Views
guest column
Goodbye 5780 – It Wasn’t All So Bad
A
friend recently sent me
a picture of a cartoon
book, titled How to Deal
with the Upcoming Recession,
Inflation, Ice Age, Population
Explosion and the Complete End of
the World in the Year 2020.
I think we can
all agree that 2020
will not go down
as a banner year.
Between econom-
ic collapse, an
exhausting polit-
ical race, racial
injustice and the
world’
s worst global pandemic
in 100 years, it’
s been a year that
America and the world would
like to forget.
The Jewish world will soon say
goodbye to the corresponding
year in the Hebrew calendar,
5780. The gloom of the insidi-
ous coronavirus will hang over
everything. Most of us will be
observing the High Holidays
from home, and every aspect
of our community life — work,
school, worshipping, socializing
— has been upended, just like
everyone else. In Israel, the virus
has ravaged that small country,
with more than 80,000 cases and
600 deaths.
But let’
s not lose sight of a few
things as we look ahead to 5781.
Jews have seen our share of dark
years before, and yet we always
manage to find reasons for hope
and inspiration. For a people
who have miraculously survived
for over five millennia — which
included persecution, exile,
extermination and terrorism —
we have learned to not get too
up or too down over a particular
year. We have wisely learned to
play the long game.
For all the misery of the past
year, the fact is that many pos-
itive things happened in the
Jewish world in 5780, and some
of them were truly incredible. We
should not overlook them. Golda
Meir once said, “Pessimism is a
luxury that a Jew can never allow
themselves.
”
We can choose to take Golda’
s
advice, reject the urge to wallow
in gloom and doom, and instead
feel optimistic about all the good
things of 5780, for there is much
to be proud of. Our Kiddush cup
is indeed half-full.
Here’
s a short list of some
things that happened this past
year that can uplift our Jewish
souls:
• The United Arab Emirates
and Israel entered into an historic
peace deal calling for “full nor-
malization of relations.
” The UAE
is now the third Arab country to
have formal relations with Israel,
after Egypt and Jordan.
• Two Russian cosmonauts,
during a spacewalk on Holocaust
Remembrance Day, displayed
an Israeli flag along a sign
they constructed reading “We
Remember.
”
• At the 75th anniversary of
the liberation of Auschwitz-
Birkenau in January, a senior del-
egation from the Muslim World
League and the American Jewish
Committee came together and
locked arms in solidarity.
• Israeli athletes competed in
the judo international champion-
ship in the UAE. The Israeli team
won, and the Israeli flag was
hoisted as “Hatikvah” was played,
a first in the UAE. Israel also
competed in the Tour de France
for the first time.
• Trade between Israel and the
Gulf States hit $1 billion.
• Israel’
s Minister of Culture
was invited to and visited Dubai
for the first time.
• The Arab Council for
Regional Integration was formed,
a “pan-Arab initiative devoted to
bringing security and prosperity
to the Middle East,
” and partic-
ularly focused on overcoming
hatred against Israel and Jews
and “growing coexistence and
cooperation.
”
• The FDA approved an Israeli
company’
s early warning testing
procedure for treating COVID-
19 patients. Many Israeli start-up
companies continued to thrive,
particularly in the area of track-
ing, tracing, diagnosing and
monitoring COVID-19 patients.
• The U.S. House
Appropriations Committee
approved $3.3 billion in security
assistance to Israel.
• Thirty-one U.S states passed
legislation condemning antisem-
itism and formally opposing
the Boycott, Divestment and
Sanctions movement. The legis-
lation directs state entities not to
contract with any business that
supports BDS.
• The Michigan Legislature
created its very first Black and
Jewish Unity Caucus, which will
be working with the Coalition for
Black and Jewish Unity, of which
Mark Jacobs
continued on page 10
To make a donation to the
DETROIT JEWISH NEWS FOUNDATION
go to the website
www.djnfoundation.org
The Detroit Jewish News (USPS 275-520) is published every Thursday at
29200 Northwestern Highway, #110, Southfield, Michigan. Periodical postage paid at
Southfield, Michigan, and additional mailing offices. Postmaster: send changes to:
Detroit Jewish News, 29200 Northwestern Hwy., #110, Southfield, MI 48034.
8 | SEPTEMBER 17 • 2020
1942 - 2020
Covering and Connecting
Jewish Detroit Every Week
jn
Arthur M. Horwitz
Publisher
ahorwitz@renmedia.us
F. Kevin Browett
Chief Operating Officer
kbrowett@renmedia.us
| Editorial
Editor: Andrew Lapin
alapin@thejewishnews.com
Associate Editor: Jackie Headapohl
jheadapohl@renmedia.us
Social Media and Digital Producer:
Nathan Vicar
nvicar@renmedia.us
Multimedia Reporter: Danny Schwartz
dschwartz@renmedia.us
Editorial Assistant: Sy Manello
smanello@renmedia.us
Senior Columnist: Danny Raskin
dannyraskin2132@gmail.com
Copy Editor: David Sachs
dsachs@renmedia.us
Contributing Writers:
Nate Bloom, Annabel Cohen, Keri
Guten Cohen, Suzanne Chessler, Shari
S. Cohen, Ben Falik, Louis Finkelman,
Stacy Gittleman, Maya Goldman,
Esther Allweiss Ingber, Barbara Lewis,
Rabbi Jason Miller, Alan Muskovitz,
Steve Stein, Mike Smith, Cheryl Weiss
| Advertising Sales
Vice President of Sales and
Business Development: Carol Kruemmer
ckruemmer@renmedia.us
Senior Account Executive: Keith Farber
kfarber@renmedia.us
Account Executives:
Kristine Bonds, Tim Brown,
Catherine Grace, Kathy Harvey-Mitton,
Anne Perlin
| Business Office
Operations Manager: Andrea Gusho
agusho@renmedia.us
Operations Assistant / Event Coordinator:
Ashlee Szabo
Circulation: Danielle Smith
Billing Coordinator: Pamela Turner
| Production By
Farago & Associates
Manager: Scott Drzewiecki
Designers: Jessica Joannides,
Kelly Kosek, Kaitlyn Schoen,
Michelle Sheridan
| Detroit Jewish News
Partner:
Arthur M. Horwitz
ahorwitz@renmedia.us
Partner:
F. Kevin Browett
kbrowett@renmedia.us
Partner: Michael H. Steinhardt
How to reach us see page 12
TI