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