8 | AUGUST 12 • 2021 

MARITIME TERRORISM continued from page 6

Editor’s Note: The JN thanks our 
readers for your thoughts on the 
July 26 passing of Danny Raskin, 
of blessed memory.

Danny’s ‘Florida Guy’
“The Best of Everything” kind 
of says it all about my friend, 
Danny Raskin. In fact, most 
everyone who came in contact 
with Danny had the feeling 
that they were his friend.
Several years ago, maybe 20 
or so, and upon our moving 
from Michigan to Florida, 
Danny asked me to “review” and 
write-up some local restaurants 
from Miami to Palm Beach to 
be “my Florida guy.
” Inasmuch 
as Debbie and I enjoy discov-
ering and eating at new places, 
Danny’s request ranked as one of 
those “I’
d pay for this job.
”
Early on, I quickly learned:
• never to write a bad 

review, he wouldn’t use it;
• always say the names 
of who we were eating with 
(especially if Detroiters);
• plan on returning to that 
restaurant at a later date to 
compare from the prior visit;
• “can you cut it down, I 
don’t have that much space 
for it.”;
• or, “can you expand upon 
it as it is ‘too short.’”
Any “review” was not 
accepted at first draft, whereas 
questions would follow like 
“did you order off the menu,” 
“did others in your group have 
the same dishes” and on and 
on until we finally agreed on a 
final go-to-press review.
Yes, and as each draft and 
redraft was submitted, Danny 
always said, “Remember me 
to Debbie” … a little touch 
that said so much about him. 
And, we all know of his chari-
table acts for Jewish and other 
needy causes.
Debbie has fond memories 
dating back to the 1980s when 
she and a group of gals attended 
the City of Hope Convention 
in Los Angeles. And, lo and 
behold, in an adjoining room 
was Danny with whom the 
group all shared a wonderful 
week together.
He will be missed, spoken 
about and quoted by many for 

a long time in the future.
We will miss you, Danny.

— Dennis and Debbie Silber

A Caterer’s Hero
To the Detroit Jewish News
family, my condolences to the 
Danny Raskin family. Danny 
was a groomsman in my par-
ents, caterers Albert and Sarah 
Rosenberg’s wedding party 
in which I have a picture of 
Danny giving my father a push 
down the synagogue aisle.
I started out my career as 
the caterer at Adat Shalom 
Synagogue beginning in 1972. 
From that moment, I had the 
opportunity of becoming a 
new friend of Danny, which I 
will cherish forever! 
Blessed memory for Danny 
Raskin. 

— Jeffrey Lee Rosenberg 

A True Legend
I worked with Danny for more 
than 20 years at the Detroit 
Jewish News. When I first arrived 
as a local columnist and special 
sections editor, it didn’t take 
long for Danny to ingratiate 
himself with his sense of humor 
and knowledge of everything 
and everybody in Detroit. I then 
became editor of Style magazine, 
a secular lifestyle publication at 
the JN, and our friendship grew.
In the ’90s, political correct-

ness was not a big issue, and 
Danny was a flirt — he would 
always compliment the wait-
resses and the JN sales staff.
Danny and I bonded over our 
love of candy — especially his 
stash that he kept in a drawer. 
Danny’s licorice was the best, 
and he tied it with a rubber 
band after opening the bag. He 
knew I loved it, but he chastised 
me whenever it was left open. 
He always stopped by the office 
to tell me when the stash was 
replenished. Once, I was in the 
drugstore buying candy, and I 
didn’t notice Danny behind me. 
When I went to pay for my $20 
order of candy, Danny rushed 
up and treated me!
Danny liked to drive when 
we went to events. One time on 
I-696, we were pulled over by 
the Southfield police for speed-
ing. He told me he would handle 
it. The officer came up to the 
window, and Danny introduced 
himself. “Oh, you’re Danny 
Raskin,
” said the officer. No tick-
et. “Y
ou’re a legend,
” he said.
Yes, Danny, you are and were 
a legend.

—Carla Schwartz

Carla Schwartz currently

lives in Florida and has a

blog, www.motownsavvy.com.

For more on Danny Raskin, please 
see “Looking Back” on page 54.

PURELY COMMENTARY

letters

apparently want to show 
the West that they possess a 
variety of capabilities in the 
Persian Gulf and the Gulf of 
Oman, and that if the West 
decides to act, as its leaders 
have suggested, Tehran has a 
diverse array of responses at 
its disposal.

RESPONSE NEEDED
There’s no doubt whatsoever 
that this crisis with Iran neces-

sitates a Western response. 
Iran’s actions are maritime ter-
rorism for all intents and pur-
poses and contravene interna-
tional law. The West has more 
than a few diplomatic tools at 
its disposal for deterring the 
Iranians, which must now be 
implemented.
In the background, mean-
while, the Biden administra-
tion and the other signatory 

countries (P5+1) want to 
bring Iran back to the negoti-
ating table and renew the orig-
inal Joint Comprehensive Plan 
of Action (JCPOA) nuclear 
deal.
The talks in Vienna were 
paused to allow the Iranians 
to finish the process of replac-
ing their president and are 
supposed to recommence in 
the coming days. Will Iran’s 

actions and the West’s interests 
prevent Western countries, 
spearheaded by the United 
Kingdom, from retaliating 
against Tehran’s terroristic 
activities? Time will tell. 

Vice Adm. (Ret.) Eliezer Marom
served as commander of the Israeli 
Navy from 2007–2011. This article 
first appeared in Israel Hayom.

