24 | APRIL 29 • 2021 

F

rankel Jewish Academy 
(FJA) is holding its 
annual gala virtually on 
Wednesday, May 12, spotlight-
ing four honorees, including 
main honorees Robin and Leo 
Eisenberg, Ryan Landau as the 
distinguished alumni honoree 
and Nicole Kahn as 
the distinguished 
faculty honoree. 
The free vir-
tual event being 
streamed at 8 p.m. 
on Facebook Live 

 
will feature school 
leadership, the four 
honorees and FJA 
students in a celebra-
tion of the honorees 
and the school itself. 
Every year, FJA 
raises nearly a third of its annual 
fundraising total at the Annual 
Gala. 
The preferred way to support 
the event is through purchasing 
an ad in the Tribute Journal, a 
way to thank the honorees and 
the school. Tribute ads start 

at $36 and up. Journal ads of 
$1,000+ include goodies like FJA 
swag, dessert and nosh packages.
Robin and Leo Eisenberg have 
been “incredible” volunteers for 
FJA since they educated their 
children there and have stayed 
connected to the school ever 
since, according to said Shana 
Kantor, FJA
’s director of advance-
ment.
“Leo was on our board, and 
he’s really led the way in helping 
FJA move into its second decade 
and being a strong leader for 
the entire Jewish community,
” 
Kantor said.
Ryan Landau, an FJA alum of 
2006, has stayed connected to 
the school since he graduated.
“We like to recognize people 
who are leaders of the communi-
ty in Detroit as well as those who 
are connected to FJA, and Ryan 
really exemplifies that because 
he’s taken on roles as leader of 
NEXTGen Detroit and has been 
a leader in the business com-

munity — and he really loves 
Detroit and his alma mater,
” 
Kantor said.
Nicole Kahn, the head of FJA
’s 
English department, was chosen 
by other FJA faculty and staff 
who put in nominations for each 
other. 
“She’s been here for a number 
of years, and she’s really known 
as being such a steady influence 
on the kids and inspiring them 
to learn in new and exciting 
ways,
” Kantor said.
Kantor says the most import-
ant thing about the event is for 
them to be able to tell the story 
of FJA.
“It’s an important part of who 
we are as a community that we 
continue to educate people,
” 
Kantor said. “The gala is really 
an opportunity for us to show 
off how our students and alumni 
feel about the school.
” 

To learn more, visit

frankelja.org/giving/gala.

OUR COMMUNITY

Nicole Kahn

Annual Gala fetes 
volunteer couple,
alum and teacher.

FJA Event
Honors 4

DANNY SCHWARTZ STAFF WRITER

Ryan 
Landau

Robin and Leo 
Eisenberg

O

akland County 
Prosecutor Karen 
McDonald has a quote 
framed in her office from Ruth 
Bader Ginsburg that says, “Real 
change, enduring change, hap-
pens one step at a 
time.
” McDonald, 
who just marked 
her 100th day in 
office on April 11, is 
putting that quote to 
action. 
Among the many 
reforms and policy 
initiatives in her administration 
so far, McDonald has implement-
ed a particularly relevant aid to 
the Jewish community: the estab-
lishment of the first-ever Hate 
Crimes Unit in Oakland County. 

The creation of the unit cor-
responds with the rise in white 
supremacist extremism, politi-
cal violence and antisemitism, 
including in Oakland County, 
home to the vast majority of Jews 
in Michigan. 
“I’m from a blended family — 
I have three Jewish stepchildren 
and a Jewish husband, and we’re 
members of Temple Beth El so 
the Jewish community in our 
county matters deeply to me,
” 
McDonald said.
“I have been very concerned 
about antisemitism across the 
country. We’re seeing an increase 
in these incidents, particularly 
violent antisemitism and, accord-
ing to the ADL, we’ve had 35 
antisemitic incidents in Oakland 

County over the past four years. 
That’s not insignificant.
” 
The Hate Crimes Unit takes 
place within Oakland County’s 
Special Victims Unit, with a ded-
icated prosecutor who reviews 
files for charges and acts that 
were instigated from a place 
of prejudice against someone’s 
ethnicity, religion, race or sexual 
orientation. That dedicated pros-
ecutor is specially trained in how 
to prosecute hate crimes. 
“I’ve been an attorney for 
almost 25 years. I have never in 
my experience as a prosecutor, a 
private practice attorney, a judge 
and now as the elected prose-
cutor, been so concerned about 
the crimes in our country that 
come from this white suprem-
acist extremism and violence,
” 
McDonald said. “We have to put 
more attention and resources 
into prosecuting those individ-
uals.
” 
All the prosecutors in the 
Special Victims Unit have done 

the hate crimes training, but the 
designated point person is Tricia 
Dare, the chief of the Special 
Victims Unit.
The added attention and 
resources don’t just include a 
commitment to training the 
prosecutors in the Special 
Victims Unit, but also to part-
nering with law enforcement 
across the county to train officers 
and investigators how to spot 
hate crimes, how to properly 
investigate and present them for 
charges. 
McDonald’s message to the 
Jewish community is that they 
recognize what’s happening and 
are taking action. 
“We’re at a moment in this 
country where we’re either going 
to allow that kind of hate to 
prevail, or we’re going to have to 
make serious efforts to combat 
it,
” McDonald said. “We have to 
call it out, we have to investigate 
it, and we have to prosecute those 
crimes.
” 

Karen 
McDonald

Oakland County prosecutor establishes 
Hate Crimes Unit in fi
 rst 100 days in of
 ce. 
Battling Hate

DANNY SCHWARTZ STAFF WRITER

