MAZEL TOV!
APRIL 1 • 2021 | 33
HOW TO SUBMIT ANNOUNCEMENTS
Mazel Tov! announcements are welcomed for members of the Jewish
community. Anniversaries, engagements and weddings with a photo
(preferably color) can appear at a cost of $18 each. Births are $10. There is no
charge for bar/bat mitzvahs or for special birthdays starting at the 90th.
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Kulek-Mendelson
L
auren and David
Mendelson of Huntington
Woods are thrilled to
announce the engagement of
their daughter Faye Mendelson
to Andrew Kulek, son of Doug
and Tricia Kulek of Grosse
Pointe.
Faye earned her bachelor’s
degree in neuroscience from
the University of Michigan and
now works as a research lab
specialist in Ann Arbor.
Andrew is an M.D./Ph.D. student at Wayne State
University, expected to graduate in spring 2022.
The two live in Plymouth and look forward to planning
a fall 2022 wedding.
here’s to
American Friends of ALYN Hospital (AFAH) has
received a bequest from the estate of the
late Karen Knoppow, originally from Oak Park.
She was a Detroit Public School teacher for more
than 30 years as well as a Jewish educator and
USY adviser. She was a founding member and
served as treasurer for the Detroit Friends of ALYN. In line with
Knoppow’s passion for education, her gift will be earmarked
for educational purposes at ALYN Hospital, specifically for use
by the SHACHAR Rehabilitation Educational Medical Day Care
Center. As a token of appreciation, a plaque will be installed
in her memory at ALYN. ALYN Hospital is Israel’s premier
rehabilitation facility for children with physical disabilities.
Ryan Gruca, a
junior at Troy
Athens High
School, was
selected to the
2020 MHSAA
Division 1
All-State Boys Soccer
Team. Proud parents are
Jeff and Karen. Ryan’s
teams have earned a U.S.
Youth Soccer National
Championship and a
Michigan High School State
Championship.
Huntington
Woods-based
Artist Michelle
Sider is featured
for the first time in
the Mosaic Arts
International
exhibition, a premiere art
show for this medium held in
the United States, showcasing
the finest mosaics from artists
around the world. View
the exhibition, which is live
and free to all, at
mosaicartsinternational.
americanmosaics.org.
Brave Leap of Faith
T
his past year has been
filled with the need to
make decision
after decision in an
uncertain world with
too little information.
Parents, educators,
government officials,
communal leaders,
businesses leaders, all of
us weighing health and
safety concerns while
trying to do the right
thing. All of us feeling
as if we are in way over
our heads, drowning
in uncertainty and yet
called upon to make dif-
ficult decisions. Due to
the plague of COVID, at some
point or another, we have each
had to take a leap of faith.
The Torah portion for the
seventh day of Passover
describes the Israelites
leaving Egypt, the mirac-
ulous crossing of the Red
Sea and jubilant dancing
led by Miriam once the
Israelites made it across.
According to Midrash, the
crossing of the Red Sea
was not solely a miracle,
but a miracle facilitated by
a leap of faith.
As the scene is set, the
fleeing Israelites are being
chased by the Egyptians
and have arrived at the
shores of the Red Sea.
There is no way to cross. The
Red Sea looms before them;
with the Egyptian chariots
thundering behind them there
is no escape. It is then, accord-
ing to Midrash, that one brave
soul, Nachshon, starts walking
into the sea chanting the Song at
the Sea (found in the Passover
Torah reading): Mi chamochah
bailim HaShem; Mi chamochah
‘nadar b’kodesh. “Who is like
You, oh God? Who is like You
in holiness?” The sea does not
miraculously part; however,
Nachshon bravely keeps moving
forward.
The water reaches Nachshon’s
knees and no miracle. The
water reaches his waist; still no
miracle. The water reaches his
shoulders and finally his mouth.
But he keeps moving forward.
As the water begins to enter
his mouth, Nachshon tries to
continue singing “Mi chamo-
chah” but with a mouth full of
water, he cannot pronounce
the “ch” sound and instead
sputters out a hard “k.
” Mi cha-
mochah becomes Mi kamochah
(the way it is read in our daily
prayer service) and only then as
Nachshon is about to go under,
do the waters miraculously part.
Yes, a miracle, but only a mir-
acle that happens following a
courageous leap of faith.
Today, we are chased by the
fears and demons of how to
live safely under the threat of
COVID. We need to be a little
bit like Nachshon. We need
to test the waters, and even if
we feel that we are in a little
over our heads, keep moving
forward.
Jeffrey Lasday is the chief operating
officer of the Jewish Community Center
of Metropolitan Detroit and the act-
ing chief operating officer of Farber
Hebrew Day School.
Jeffrey
Lasday
Parshat
Pesach 7th
day: Exodus
13:17-15:26;
Numbers
28:19-25;
II Samuel
22:1-51.
SPIRIT
TORAH PORTION