Looking Back

From the William Davidson Digital Archive of Jewish Detroit History

accessible at www.djnfoundation.org

Fighting Hunger
I 

read the cover story in the Sept. 
10 issue of the JN with great inter-
est. In 2020, like antisemitism, 
hunger is still with us. With the pan-
demic and its accompanying severe 
economic woes, unfortunately, hun-
ger, like antisemitism, will be on the 
rise in the near future. 
It was therefore heartening to read 
Madeline Halpert’
s 
recent story about 
Hazon and Chad 
Techner doing their best 
to “rescue” extra food 
around the city and use 
it to alleviate hunger. 
This is an admirable 
partnership, to say the 
least. 
I was also very interested in the 
“Food Rescue” story for another 
reason. Recently, while on one of my 
frequent (one might say, obsessive) 
searches in the William Davidson 
Digital Archive of Jewish Detroit 
History, I ran across two related hun-
ger stories from the past. 
First, I read about the launch of 
the JN’
s yearlong campaign to fight 
hunger in Metro Detroit in 2005. The 
campaign was launched to coincide 
with Rosh Hashanah, the beginning 
of the Jewish New Year and the High 
Holidays. An editorial by then-Story 
Development Editor Keri Guten Cohen 
introduced the campaign in the Sept. 
29, 2005, issue of the JN.
Much like the current focus on 
antisemitism throughout 2020, the 
JN published stories that year about 
efforts made by organizations and 
individuals to combat hunger, and 
sponsored events that raised aware-
ness and resources. All proceeds 
were donated, non-kosher items to 
Gleaners food bank and kosher items 
to Yad Ezra, which leads to my sec-
ond point of interest — Yad Ezra is 

celebrating its 30th anniversary this 
year. 
Yad Ezra’
s vision is succinct but 
powerful: “
A Jewish Community 
Without Hunger.” And, for the past 
three decades, “Michigan’
s Kosher 
Food Pantry” has provided millions 
of pounds of food to Jewish families 
in need around Southeast Michigan.
My search for “Yad Ezra” in the 
William Davidson Archive showed 
that its name appeared on 4,371 pages 
of the JN since 1990. In short, there 
are many stories about and photos 
of Yad Ezra volunteers and the good 
deeds they performed. Several of 
these stood out. The Sept. 29, 2005, 
issue of the JN that launched its 
campaign has excellent stories by 
Shelli Liebman Dorfman about then 
15-year-old Yad Ezra. I also like that 
issue’
s cover photo of Lea Luger, Paul 
Finkel and Elaine Ryke in the Yad 
Ezra warehouse. 
The Feb. 16, 1990, issue of the JN 
reported the opening of Yad Ezra, 
with very nice photos of its first 
director, Jeanette Eizelman, and vol-
unteer Rabbi A. Irving Schnipper. I 
also liked the photo of volunteers in 
the Dec. 6, 2018, JN when Yad Ezra 
celebrated over 20 million — yes, that 
is 20 million — pounds of food dis-
tributed to needy Jewish families.
Hunger is still an issue in Metro 
Detroit. However, the efforts of 
organizations such as Hazon and 
Yad Ezra, to name just two, and of 
individuals like Chad Techner and all 
those who volunteer their time and 
effort, and because the Detroit Jewish 
community as a whole provides sup-
port in a myriad of ways, fewer fam-
ilies will go hungry this year. Tikkun 
olam in action, I would say. 

Want to learn more? Go to the DJN 
Foundation archives, available for free at 
www.djnfoundation.org.

Mike Smith
Alene and 
Graham Landau 
Archivist Chair

46 | OCTOBER 1 • 2020 

