6 | AUGUST 5 • 2021 1942 - 2021 Covering and Connecting Jewish Detroit Every Week To make a donation to the DETROIT JEWISH NEWS FOUNDATION go to the website www.djnfoundation.org The Detroit Jewish News (USPS 275-520) is published every Thursday at 32255 Northwestern Highway, #205, Farmington Hills, Michigan. Periodical postage paid at Southfield, Michigan, and additional mailing offices. Postmaster: send changes to: Detroit Jewish News, 32255 Northwestern Highway, #205, Farmington Hills, Michigan 48334 MISSION STATEMENT The Detroit Jewish News will be of service to the Jewish community. The Detroit Jewish News will inform and educate the Jewish and general community to preserve, protect and sustain the Jewish people of greater Detroit and beyond, and the State of Israel. VISION STATEMENT The Detroit Jewish News will operate to appeal to the broadest segments of the greater Detroit Jewish community, reflecting the diverse views and interests of the Jewish community while advancing the morale and spirit of the community and advocating Jewish unity, identity and continuity. DETROIT JEWISH NEWS 32255 Northwestern Hwy. Suite 205, Farmington Hills, MI 48334 248-354-6060 thejewishnews.com Publisher The Detroit Jewish News Foundation | Board of Directors: Chair: Gary Torgow Vice President: David Kramer Secretary: Robin Axelrod Treasurer: Max Berlin Board members: Larry Jackier, Jeffrey Schlussel, Mark Zausmer Senior Advisor to the Board: Mark Davidoff Alene and Graham Landau Archivist Chair: Mike Smith Founding President & Publisher Emeritus: Arthur Horwitz Founding Publisher Philip Slomovitz, of blessed memory | Editorial DIrector of Editorial: Jackie Headapohl jheadapohl@thejewishnews.com Associate Editor: David Sachs dsachs@thejewishnews.com Social Media and Digital Producer: Nathan Vicar nvicar@thejewishnews.com Staff Reporter: Danny Schwartz dschwartz@thejewishnews.com Editorial Assistant: Sy Manello smanello@thejewishnews.com Senior Columnist: Danny Raskin, of blessed memory Contributing Writers: Nate Bloom, Rochel Burstyn, Suzanne Chessler, Annabel Cohen, Shari S. Cohen, Shelli Liebman Dorfman, Louis Finkelman, Stacy Gittleman, Esther Allweiss Ingber, Barbara Lewis, Jennifer Lovy, Rabbi Jason Miller, Alan Muskovitz, Robin Schwartz, Mike Smith, Steve Stein, Ashley Zlatopolsky | Advertising Sales Director of Advertising: Keith Farber kfarber@thejewishnews.com Senior Account Executive: Kathy Harvey-Mitton kmitton@thejewishnews.com | Business Office Director of Operations: Amy Gill agill@thejewishnews.com Operations Manager: Andrea Gusho agusho@thejewishnews.com Operations Assistant: Ashlee Szabo Circulation: Danielle Smith Billing Coordinator: Pamela Turner | Production By Farago & Associates Manager: Scott Drzewiecki Designers: Kelly Kosek, Kaitlyn Schoen, Michelle Sheridan PURELY COMMENTARY and now only wait 28 days between receiving two doses of the same vaccine. I experience the stark differ- ence between our two realities as soon as I pull up to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, where the guards are generally maskless; Canadian guards and travelers are required to wear masks at border control. Despite the Delta variant, I notice that most Detroit residents contin- ue to be maskless, including employees at grocery stores and restaurants. Shops and restau- rants are buzzing, although Downtown is still relatively quiet, and people are living not too differently from their pre-pandemic lives. Just a short drive away in Windsor, it is still not uncom- mon to see residents wearing N-95 masks when in their car alone or walking outside on an empty street. Despite Ontario now being significantly more vaccinated than Michigan, the Detroit Jewish community appears to have come back to life in a way that we have not. Handshakes and hugs have returned, meet- ings are in-person again, and on almost a weekly basis invitations are being sent out to a wide swath of in-person social and cultural events. Jewish organi- zations throughout the city are starting to publicize internation- al trips for young adults this fall and winter, and Detroiters are getting on planes for their sum- mer vacations. MORE RESTRICTIONS Throughout Ontario, masks are required in just about every indoor situation, with a max- imum of 25 people permitted in a room, regardless of their vaccination status. Asking for someone’s vaccination status is still legally murky and culturally unacceptable, resulting in some Canadians not feeling the urge to get vaccinated, as being vac- cinated does not automatically translate into new freedoms. Most meetings continue to be held via Zoom, and summer vacations are still mostly driving distance. Whereas President Biden removed his mask on May 13 following the CDC’s revised mask guidance, many of Canada’s fully vaccinated federal and local politicians are still masked outdoors, elbow-bump- ing their constituents and behaving almost identically to how we all did throughout pre-vaccine 2020. Up until a couple of weeks ago, basic activ- ities in Ontario such as getting a haircut and indoor dining were forbidden, which left small business owners no choice but to operate an underground black-market economy in order to survive. Restricting economic activ- ity for so long and forbidding cross-border tourism have resulted in the closure of many small businesses throughout Windsor; I was shocked to recently walk down Erie Street in Little Italy and see so many barricaded storefronts. There are many aspects of Canada I greatly appreciate, such as its diversity, universal healthcare and the general civility of its people. I genuinely hope that the Biden administra- tion decides to reopen the land border next month, not only to revive cross-border tourism and reunite loved ones, but espe- cially because Canadians will greatly benefit from observing an alternative, and in my view, more sustainable way of learn- ing to live with COVID-19. Originally from Boston, Dan Brotman is a member of the Windsor Jewish Community. He writes in his personal capacity. continued from page 4