10 | NOVEMBER 5 • 2020
I was so tired the other
day, I slept right through
my nap.
”
— Benny Gurvitz
I
met Benny Gurvtiz in the
locker room of the Jewish
Community Center’
s Fitness
Center in 2000. I was a then-
52-year old clinical psychol-
ogist, and my brother Mike
was a then-47-year-old furri-
er. Benny was a 90-year-old
retired pharmacist. Our lockers
were next to each other.
Benny was older than my
dad, who died at the too-young
age of 67. Maybe that’
s what
drew me to Benny. Or maybe
it was our similar approach to
fitness: “When I feel the urge
to exercise, I lie down and wait
until the urge passes,” he’
d say.
For 10 years thereafter, I’
d
return home from the “J” and
tell my wife and kids all the
“Benny jokes” I had heard that
day. His humor was remark-
able. My brother Mike and I
would accompany Benny to his
pharmacist continuing edu-
cation seminars mostly so we
could listen, learn and laugh.
Remember, he was well into
his retirement, didn’
t need any
more CE credits, but we’
d drive
him to these events, and he
would pick the programs with
the best food.
I knew instantly Benny was
a rare breed. By the time we’
d
met, he’
d already lost so much
in his life. He’
d outlived his wife
and many of his friends. Benny
said, “I don’
t have any peer
pressure because I don’
t have
any peers.” Yet, he kept coming
back to the JCC Fitness Center.
He was a “regular.”
The “regulars” have come
back to the Center for the fit-
ness, the laughter, the socializa-
tion, the culture, the common-
alities and the differences.
We’
ve mingled with people
we know only in the context of
the schvitz at the “J.” We then
laugh to ourselves when we
run into a “regular” in public,
thinking to ourselves: “Boy, it’
s
hard to recognize these people
with their clothes on.”
We’
d talk about sex, love,
death, childhood, jealousy,
hate, envy, conscience, desire,
loss, character, sports, politics
and more. All of what makes
us human. All of what makes
us part of this incredibly tight-
knit, rich Jewish community.
We lost Benny 10 years ago,
two months shy of his 100th
birthday. Benny believed he
was going to live to be 100 —
“because when I turned 50,” he
said, “I felt half-dead.”
He lived a long, meaningful
life — and continued to laugh
and make others laugh until
the end. At his 99th birthday,
Benny did a stand-up routine
to nonstop laughter to an
overflowing crowd squeezed
into a room at Temple Israel,
his shul. (www.youtube.com/
watch?v=EopGBkqxees).
Just a year later at his funeral,
I chuckled thinking of what he’
d
once told me: “
As you get older,
it’
s a good day when you wake
up in the morning, stretch out
your arms and don’
t hit wood.”
The closing of the JCC
Fitness Center hit me hard.
Not because I, myself, am a big
fitness buff. Over the years, I
have certainly spent more time
in the locker room than on
the treadmill. But, because the
Center is the place that has fos-
tered one of the most important
and valuable parts of our Jewish
culture — the community, the
bridging of generational gaps,
the l’
dor v’
dor.
Those values which were
embodied so fully in my
10-year friendship with Benny.
All these years, I’
ve referred
to the JCC Fitness Center as
“the Jewish Center” or “the
Center” or “the J” and I’
ve
unknowingly left out the most
important word — community.
The JCC Fitness Center is the
very definition of our commu-
nity. Its closing marks the end
of an era.
Steve Ceresnie lives in Commerce.
Benny Gurvitz, age 99, doing
standup comedy at his birthday
celebration.
YOUTUBE
JEWISH WAR VETS continued from page 8
STEVE CERESNIE
essay
Benny and the ‘J’
VIEWS
been at the forefront of helping
the JWV adjust to operating
climates during the coronavi-
rus and has also been instru-
mental in introducing cutting
edge technology to ensure con-
tinuity of operations.
Weiss is also responsible
for the production of a slide-
show that commemorates the
75th anniversary of the end of
WWII, including brief histories
and photographs of many sur-
viving Michigan JWV of that
era, now available at
jwv-mi.org/WWII.
It carries the memory of
the thousands of Jewish men
and women who served and
those who perished giving, as
President Lincoln stated at the
dedication of the cemetery at
Gettysburg in 1863, “the last
full measure of devotion.”
A reminder that despite
the coronavirus keeping us
from physically gathering at
our congregations, many will
honor the JWV for Veterans
Day through virtual services.
Check your synagogue or
temple’
s website for details.
I am a proud patron of
JWV Post 510, and I’
m grate-
ful for all the relationships I
have forged with our beloved
JWV Michigan members. I’
ve
had the privilege of sharing
many of their stories with
you. I hope you read further
on in this issue for my most
recent submission about some
incredible local physicians
who served courageously in
Vietnam.
The JWV is vital to keeping
alive our Jewish community’
s
past and continued contri-
butions to military service.
If you know someone who is
a Jewish veteran or on active
duty, please make them aware
of the value of being a JWV
member. Direct them to www.
jwv-mi.org for details.
As their motto states: “JWV
is truly a Jewish voice for
Veterans and a Veteran’
s voice
for Jews.”
Alan Muskovitz is a writer, voice-over/
acting talent, speaker and emcee. Visit
his website at laughwithbigal.com,
“Like” Al on Facebook and reach him
at amuskovitz@renmedia.us.