MAZEL TOV!

Goldberg 60th
M

orton and Joanne 
(Sparr) Goldberg live 
in West Bloomfield.
They were married on July 
16, 1961, at Book Cadillac 
Hotel in Detroit. Morton and 
Joanne are the loving parents 
of Helene Goldberg and Lorey 
Sparr; adoring grandparents 
of Mallory (Alex) Wolf, Jordan 
Sommerfeld, Zach and Parker 
Nessel. They are very excited 
to be new great-grandparents 
to Asher James Wolf.

Cohen 100th
G

loria Cohen of West 
Bloomfield will cele-
brate her 100th birthday 
on July 16, 2021, with a party 
in her honor. She will be with 
her children, grandchildren, 
great-grandchildren, great-
great-grandchild and friends. 

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.

Teachers As Heroes
T

his week’s parshah, 
is the first of the last 
book of the Torah. 
Thirty-seven days before his 
passing, Moses begins his 
repetition of the Torah to the 
assembled Israelites, 
reviewing the events 
that occurred and the 
laws given during their 
journey from Egypt to 
Sinai to Eretz Yisrael.
Deuteronomy contains 
addresses from Moses 
to the people covering 
a history, the past set 
of prophecies, warn-
ings about the future, 
laws, narratives, a song 
and a set of blessings. 
Together they consti-
tute the most com-
prehensive, profound vision of 
what it is to be a Holy People, 
dedicated to God.
Moses knew he would not 
enter the land along with the 
Israelites due to the punishment 
given to him by God in Parshat 
Chukat weeks ago. Nevertheless, 
Moses understood that he could 
still be with them intellectually 
and emotionally if he gave them 
the teachings to take with them. 
In his commentary on 
Parshah D’varim in 2019/5779, 
Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks 
commented that it was at this 
moment that Moses became the 
pioneer of perhaps the single 
greatest contribution of Judaism 
to the concept of leadership: the 
idea of the teacher as hero.
Heroes are people who 
demonstrate courage in the field 
of battle. What Moses knew 
was that the most important 
battles are not military; they are 
spiritual, moral and cultural. 
Since March 2020, our world 
has engaged in a single battle 
against COVID-19 and a new 

group of individuals emerged 
as heroes. Three-thousand 
years after Moses addressed the 
Israelites, we have seen school 
administrators, teachers, and 
staff were frontline heroes this 
past year. 
As the head of school of 
Hillel Day School, I wit-
nessed our leadership, facul-
ty and staff come to school 
each day, putting their own 
health at risk, to provide for 
the academic, emotional, 
social and spiritual growth 
of students. The same was 
true for educators at our 
other Jewish day schools in 
Metro Detroit. Educators 
showed immense courage, 
faith, joy and conviction.
Teachers adapted; they 
learned new technologies; they 
learned how to engage students 
across the screen; they learned 
how to reach an entire class-
room of students while wearing 
a mask. In a year when millions 
of children were alone in their 
bedrooms or houses learning 
remotely, Jewish day school 
educators in Metro Detroit 
put the needs of their students 
before their own. That is the 
true essence of a hero.
Like Moshe Rabbeinu (Moses 
our teacher) did for the Israelites 
before they crossed into the 
Promised Land, teachers impart 
knowledge, wisdom, life lessons 
and love to their students. As we 
emerge from the pandemic, let 
us always remember that teach-
ers shape society, handing on 
the legacy of the past to those 
who build the future. This has 
sustained Judaism for longer 
than any other civilization. 

Dr. Darin Katz is head of school at 

Hillel Day School of Metropolitan Detroit 

in Farmington Hills.

Dr. Darin 
Katz

Parshat 

D’varim: 

Deuteronomy

1:1-3:22; 

Isaiah 1;1-29. 

SPIRIT
TORAH PORTION

34 | JULY 15 • 2021