8 | NOVEMBER 12 • 2020 

for openers
Are You Coming or Going?

editor’s letter
Tired, But Still Here

S

ometimes we get so 
harried that we do not 
know if we are coming 
or going. That situation, howev-
er, does not keep 
us from using 
front and back 
regularly in our 
speech.
Wars and 
even belligerent 
exchanges may 
be grounds for 
a frontal attack 
of some sort. This may then 
lead to a lot of back and forth 
action.
Anything that requires your 
immediate attention is said to 
be on the front burner. A line 
chef who creates a popular dish 
may find several requests for 
it back-to-back, which would 
keep the literal front burners 
busy.
It is a good idea to be up 

front with people. You would 
then avoid being accused of 
creating a business which was, 
in truth, only a front. Such a 
creation would lead many to 
distrust you.
If you should discover that 
someone has been downgrad-
ing you, it is like a knife in the 
back. Such action may occur 
during an election of any kind 
and the front runner, who is 
often front and center and 
doing back-breaking work, will 

be shown the back door. Should 
the accuser’
s statements prove 
false, they might backfire on 
him.
Are you musical and seeking 
a gig? You may desire to be the 
front man for the group and lis-
tening for the back beat would 
be crucial to your performance.
The frontage (façade) of 
Britain’
s houses of parliament 
is most impressive; inside we 
find the members who are 
either front- or back-benchers, 

depending on their standings in 
the party.
If you are feeling philan-
thropic, you might consider 
putting up front money for 
a business or production or 
event. Do not, however, get 
used to back dating checks for 
this may lead to shady business 
practices and a backhanded 
invitation to step down. Then 
you must put on a brave front.
If foggy weather keeps you 
from being unable to see your 
hand in front of your face, stiff-
en your backbone and march 
on. This will work best in the 
back country where there are 
fewer obstacles to pose threats 
(in front of your nose) and you 
won’
t seek to back out grace-
fully.
Well, keep facing front; avoid 
being backed into a corner and 
always know if you are coming 
or going. 

Sy Manello
Editorial 
Assistant

VIEWS

W

hen the last of 
the Michigan 
votes finally came 
through late in the day on 
Wednesday, Nov. 4, we rushed 
to get the news 
up on thejewish-
news.com. And 
then I collapsed 
in exhaustion.
It was quite 
the week. That 
final vote tally 
in Michigan, 
a squeaker of a win for Joe 
Biden and an even slimmer 
victory for Sen. Gary Peters, 
followed a long period of 
uncertainty that began on 

Election Day and continued 
after the state’
s polls had 
closed Tuesday night. The race 
for president took another 
three days to call for Biden, 
but the national spotlight had 
moved on from our neck of 
the woods.
This election period has 
been incredibly stressful on 
Michigan’
s Jewish community, 
no matter who you voted for. 
We’
ve seen moments of unity 
and strength, but also acts of 
anger and aggression. We at 
the JN have witnessed this 
firsthand, in reporting and 
firsthand accounts that you’
ll 
see in this issue and online. 

Taken together, the events 
of last week — from the 
pre-election vandalism of a 
Jewish cemetery in Grand 
Rapids to an intense final vote 
count in Detroit — reaffirm 
the work that still lies ahead of 
us, to heal some tremendous 
divisions: not only between 
Democrats and Republicans, 
but between Jews and our 
neighbors, and even between 
Jews and other Jews. Anger, 
hate and division still persist 
in this country, in this com-
munity; elections have become 
wars waged over our shared 
human condition and moral 
values. And our alignments 

are not as clear-cut as some of 
us may have believed before 
Nov. 3. 
To put it another way, our 
Judaism has very little to do 
with the guy in charge … and 
everything to do with us.
It takes real work to move 
on from here; but moving 
on is what we have to do. We 
have no choice in the matter 
because the sun is going to 
rise tomorrow and the day 
after that and so on. How we 
choose to respond to it is what 
we will be remembered for.
So, let’
s talk. But first, I need 
to get some rest. 

Andrew 
Lapin
Editor