14 | NOVEMBER 5 • 2020
VIEWS
more chaotic because we packed
meals for the whole weekend,
including a Shabbat dinner with
soup and dessert, a Saturday
Shabbat lunch, and frozen meals
for Saturday and Sunday.
As it turns out, two of the
things that I least expected
and found most rewarding
were making friends and being
inspired. My “Shabbat Crew”
arrives at 6 a.m. to pack and
5:15 on days when we are
packing for extra days for a
holiday like Passover or Rosh
Hashanah. We laugh under
our masks together, tell sto-
ries and have gotten to know
each other well over the past
seven months. For a long time,
besides our immediate fami-
lies, this was the only “social”
outlet we had. I have been
inspired by the dedication
of two volunteers from the
NCJW who come to the JCC
every single morning. They
prepare at home every evening
for the next day’
s deliveries,
labeling bags and confirming
the clients on the delivery
schedule for the next day.
These women have arrived
at 6 a.m. every morning for
years. In my different volun-
teering pursuits, I have rarely
seen firsthand such complete
love and dedication to a cause.
Both the delivery drivers
and packers are vetted by
sures and demolition, refocuses
on a wider mission of being an
effective cultural, educational,
social and recreational commu-
nity center for Detroit Jews, it
may have a future. There was,
however, no hint of any such
refocusing in the Oct. 8 JN arti-
cle; only on rehashed plans that
remain fixated only on sports
and fitness.
Based on the dismal member-
ship and financial declines allud-
ed to in the article, I can only
wonder whether the current
closures/demolition may just be
a step toward the final demise of
the JCC.
— David Barth
Dynamic Duo
Thank you for printing the beau-
tiful article “Dynamic Duo” by
Jackie Headapohl (Oct. 22, pg.
14) on the two new presidents
at the Jewish Federation: Matt
Lester and Dennis Bernard.
As a lifetime board member of
Federation, I am excited to work
with these two very special lead-
ers in business, community and
family. I don’
t think there could
have been better selections.
Our Jewish community con-
tinues to be blessed with such
great people.
— Harvey Bronstein
Southfield
Hillel of Metro Detroit
Hillel of Metro Detroit (HMD)
was disappointed to be exclud-
ed from the article about the
MitzVote program on Michigan’
s
college campuses (Oct. 29, pg.
16). HMD is also participating
in MitzVote and successfully
reaching Jewish students at the
six campuses we serve around
Metro Detroit.
HMD has three MitzVote
interns and a MitzVote com-
mittee of seven. Here are some
of the things they have already
accomplished from this initia-
tive:
• The interns received train-
ing in community engagement
and best practices to access the
Motivote online engagement
tool.
• The MitzVote committee
LETTERS continued from page 8
THE EARLY SHIFT continued from page 12