8 | FEBRUARY 4 • 2021 

I

solation. Fear. Grief. It is an 
unfortunate truth that Jewish 
history gives us a deep 
understanding of the same dif-
ficulties we are all experiencing 
during this time 
of COVID. But 
our tradition was 
forged as a pow-
erful response to 
the very hard-
ships that can 
plague us.
Huddled 
together at the edge of the 
Promised Land, the Torah envi-
sions a people who easily could 
have been resigned to their fate, 
or prayed for things to be dif-
ferent, or waited for someone to 
save them. 
Instead, we — the inheritors 
of that moment — are reminded 
that the ultimate responsibility 
is ours: “I call heaven and earth 
to witness against you this day: 
I have put before you life and 

death, blessing and curse … 
choose life!” (Deuteronomy 30:19).
I am deeply honored that Gov. 
Gretchen Whitmer appointed 
me to the newly formed Protect 
Michigan Commission. Along 
with a wide range of faith, busi-
ness, medical and civic leaders, 
our task is to help encourage our 
friends and neighbors to take the 
critical step of getting a vaccine 
as soon as it is available to them. 
It will take each one of us to 
ensure that 70% of Michiganders 
over the age of 16 are vaccinated, 
a vital threshold that will allow 
all of us to emerge from this 
pandemic.
To some, it may seem obvi-
ous. But this Commission was 
necessary because we know that 
there is a significant percentage 
of Americans expressing “vac-
cine hesitancy.
” There are lots 
of explanations for this — some 
reasonable (unsure if a vaccine 
developed so quickly will be safe 

or effective) and some not rea-
sonable (the vaccine is going to 
change your DNA or implant a 
tracking chip inside you).
Many in our community 
have already been vaccinated, 
and even more are lined up to 
receive theirs. But for anyone 
who may be dubious, I would 
respectfully offer two guidelines. 
First, Jewish tradition has 
long required us to maintain 
our health as a pathway to 
spiritual truth. The great sage 
Maimonides, himself a phy-
sician, taught more than 800 
years ago that medical care 
is an obligation, not a choice, 
so that we might continue to 
fulfill our highest purpose on 
Earth. In fact, the Talmud (Rosh 
Hashanah 16b) goes so far as 
to forbid crossing an unstable 
bridge — putting ourselves at 
unnecessary risk is a violation of 
Jewish law!
Just as important, to me, 

 
 
is the notion of communal 
responsibility. The entire Book 
of Deuteronomy could be read as 
a statement about how our own 
actions affect those around us. It 
is not that you or I will be bless-
ed or cursed … it is that you 
and I and all of us together will 
be blessed or cursed, depending 
on the righteous actions of our 
entire community.
That is the challenge of today. 
If you are hesitating about get-
ting the vaccine, doctors and 
scientists are clear that it is worse 
to go without it. And even if that 
isn’t enough, do it for the sake of 
your friends, your family, those 
in your synagogue or at work, 
or even those you don’t know. I 
pray that 2021 will be the year in 
which all of us stand united in 
choosing to be vaccinated … in 
choosing life! 

Rabbi Mark Miller is senior rabbi 
of Temple Beth El in Bloomfield 
Township.

Rabbi Mark 

Miller

PURELY COMMENTARY

essay
Rediscovering Judaism in a Michigan Jail 
I 

have never met Frank in 
person. Our relationship has 
been strictly virtual, as have 
so many over the past year. 
Through the computer screen, 
Frank wears an 
orange jumpsuit, 
sitting in a color-
less room. I can 
see other men 
walking down 
the hallway 
through the win-
dow behind him, 
sometimes staring curiously 
through the glass. 
 When I introduce myself, 
Frank nods and smiles, show-

ing a few missing teeth. He is 
not a young man, perhaps 40 
or 50, and the lines on his face 
tell that he has clearly been 
through a lot.
I began meeting with Frank 
as a spiritual adviser as part 
of my internship for rabbin-
ical school with the Jewish 
Community Relations Council/
AJC. I was told that he was a 
Messianic Jew — an individual 
that believes in both the Jewish 
faith and the divinity of Jesus 
— and wanted to meet with 
a rabbi. As an Orthodox Jew, 
I did not share his Messianic 
views, but I decided to meet 

with him nonetheless. I had 
worked as a chaplain at Rikers 
Island in New York City and 
had met my fair share of indi-
viduals with blurred religious 
identities. 
Now, I could not be happier 
I took the call. Frank is a deep-
ly religious man who sees God 
in everything and everyone. 
“I am truly blessed,” Frank 
said to me the other day. “I’ve 
learned to see God’s blessings 
during my time here.” Frank is 
an optimist and faces the daily 
challenges of incarceration 
with grace and unshakable 
faith.

Frank was born to an aggres-
sive father who espoused 
“KKK ideas” and was violent 
toward his mother. As a child, 
his father told him that his 
mother had died, which was a 
lie. Eventually, he reconnected 
with his mother and went to 
live with her and her parents. 
Frank discovered Judaism in 
his mother’s home through his 
grandfather. Frank knew that 
his grandfather was Jewish, but 
it was rarely talked about. They 
were the only Jewish family 
in their neighborhood, and 
usually kept their faith quiet, 
but Frank occasionally went to 

Aaron 

Portman

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