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.

