8 | APRIL 1 • 2021
from the DJN Foundation Board
A New Partnership
The Jewish News joins with Jewish
Senior Life to provide the JN free to
JSL residents.
A
s our readers know,
the ownership of the
Detroit Jewish News
transitioned to the caring
hands of a not-
for-profit entity
earlier this year:
The Detroit
Jewish News
Foundation.
The Board
of Directors
and leadership
of the Detroit Jewish News
Foundation is focused on
re-engaging and reconnecting
with the entire Metro Detroit
Jewish community. As part of
that focus, we have met with
many across our community
to discuss ways in which we
can better serve Jewish agen-
cies and their constituents.
One of our first discussions
was with Nancy Heinrich,
CEO of Jewish Senior Life. In
those discussions, we explored
how the Detroit Jewish News
could best be of service to
some of our community’s
greatest assets: the residents of
JSL facilities. As a result of our
discussions, and in the spirit
of the Jewish News’ mission of
serving the community, we
are pleased to report that the
Jewish News will be provided
to all JSL residents who want
it at no cost.
The staff of the Jewish News
will drop off the issues each
week at the JSL residences,
and JSL staff will distribute the
copies. Residents will be able
to enjoy the JN and keep up
with the latest that’s going on
in the Jewish community.
“We’re thrilled the JN
wants to help us connect our
seniors to the community at
large, regardless of their abil-
ity to afford a subscription,”
Heinrich said. “The JN is the
binding resource for connect-
ing the younger and older
generations, and this partner-
ship is another great way to
bring everyone together.”
Mark Davidoff, Senior
Advisor to the Board of
the Detroit Jewish News
Foundation, added, “I could
not be more excited about this
new partnership with JSL and
the benefit it will bring to our
community.”
We at the Detroit Jewish
News Foundation look for-
ward to exploring additional
community connections in
the future as the Foundation
works to fulfill its mission
to better serve and unify
Detroit’s Jewish community.
Stay tuned.
David Kramer is a board member of
the Detroit Jewish News Foundation.
David
Kramer
Meer residents Esther Liwazer and Rita Sills enjoy their free copies
of the Jewish News.
JSL
PURELY COMMENTARY
In therapy, we learn to hear
our feelings, accept our pain
and cherish our joys. But it
is hard, if not impossible, to
do this work alone. We need
someone, the therapist, to
help us see ourselves better.
Someone who can give us
permission to feel sadness
and encourage us to celebrate
success.
Community can play a
similar role. It legitimizes and
creates a place for deep emo-
tions. Together, we dare to say
that life is fleeting and that
the universe is vast, and his-
tory has awful moments and
humanity can be inspiring.
We can hold these disturbing
conflicting ideas because we
are doing it together, and
together we feel safe and
accepted. This need for com-
munity is so fundamental
that our numbers have grown
even as the temperature
dropped.
Praying on a public New
York City sidewalk, I felt
exposed and vulnerable at
first. Some stared, others took
photos on their phone or lin-
gered while their dog sniffed
a shrub, to watch us, or even
joined us.
Can we do this? I’m sure
those who use this spot for
yoga on Sunday morning
have felt this discomfort, too.
A COMMITTED GROUP
The pandemic has stripped our
service to its bare basics. We
worship without a space, with-
out chairs, with dim light and
no heat. I realized that this was
all we really needed. A com-
mitted group, willing to stand
in the snow and sing together.
The chazan sings, “He
removes day and brings night,
God is his name” in synchrony
with the darkening sky. It is
getting harder to read the small
print in my prayer book, but I
know the words by heart.
The lump in my throat loos-
ens, and I breathe in the cold
air.
Marc Cousins, the architec-
tural theorist, said in one of his
lectures that the sign of truth is
that upon hearing it one breaks
into tears.
That night I was touched by
truth.
Was it the pain and loss of the
pandemic? The fragility of life?
The support of togetherness?
I’m not sure, but it was real, and
it was worth bundling up for
and seeking out on a freezing,
snowy Friday evening.
This essay originally appeared in
New York Jewish Week.
Esther Sperber writes and lectures
about architecture, psychoanalysis and
culture. Born and raised in Jerusalem,
she lives in New York City.
THIS YEAR, I LEARNED continued from page 6