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.
For information, contact Editorial Assistant Sy Manello at smanello@
thejewishnews.com or (248) 351-5147 for information or for a mailed or 

emailed copy of guidelines.

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