22 | SEPTEMBER 23 • 2021 

OUR COMMUNITY

T

he senior class at Farber 
Hebrew Day School is 
taking part in a suk-
kah-building fundraiser with all 
proceeds funding their senior trip 
at the end of the year.
The fundraiser advertisement 
went up at the end of August 
letting the community know that 
they were ready to hire, and in 
less than 48 hours, the seniors 
had a full schedule of sukkah 
building. The senior class was 
blown away by the support. 
Farber senior class represen-
tatives Yaffa Klausner and Jonny 
Kornblum have been in charge of 
coordinating the sukkah building, 
although the entire senior class is 
involved in building. 
“We sent out a flyer and we 
got many emails, but we could 
only accept so many with only so 
much time because all the holidays are early 
this year,
” Kornblum said. “I believe we 
accepted 25 or 26.
” 
With sukkah takedowns still to come 
once the holiday is over, Klausner said they 
haven’t finished fundraising, though she 

believes the total will be a couple thousand 
dollars. 
Some Farber senior classes in the past 
have gone to Upper Michigan for their 
senior trip, but Klausner said they could 
change it if they wanted to.
“We actually didn’t have much time to 

start planning the trip before we 
got thrown into the fundraiser,
” 
Klausner said. “It’s like the first 
week of school we’re already work-
ing on fundraising, but it’s really 
great, and we’re happy to help peo-
ple build their sukkahs.
”
Beyond raising money for their 
senior trip, Klausner believes the 
effort is a good way to engage with 
the community.
“We had some people who 
emailed us saying they usually build 
their own sukkahs, but they got 
injured or they need help this year,
” 
she said. “We even got our first- 
and second-grade teacher wanting 
us to build her sukkah, which we 
were very obviously happy to do 
for her. It’s just a great way to get 
involved in the community.
”
Klausner says the community has 
been really grateful, and while coor-
dinating and building has been a 
learning curve, it’s been a rewarding 
experience. 
“Through doing this, we’re really more 
involved in everybody’s Sukkot experience,
” 
Klausner said. “We’re not just building our 
own sukkah, and the sukkah is like the 
most important part, so we’re really build-
ing people’s holidays for them.
” 

DANNY SCHWARTZ
STAFF WRITER
Sukkah Builders 
for Hire

Farber seniors build sukkahs 
for senior trip fundraiser.

Farber seniors 
helping build 
sukkahs 
throughout the 
community.

Holocaust Memorial Center to Rebroadcast MSU Concert
Remembering the 80th Anniversary of the Babi Yar Massacre

This month marks the 80th anniversary 
of the Babi Yar massacre, which occurred 
Sept. 29-30, 1941. On the evening of Sept. 
29 in 1941, almost 34,000 Jews were forcibly 
rounded up and shot over two days at Babi 
Yar, a ravine that was then located on the 
outskirts of the city of Kiev, Ukraine. This 
horrific massacre became a symbol of 
Jewish suffering during the Holocaust with 
the mass shootings carried out in Eastern 
Europe by the Nazis.
To observe this anniversary, the 
Holocaust Memorial Center will 
rebroadcast the 2019 concert of 
Shostakovich’s Babi Yar: Remembering 
the Holocaust performed by the MSU 

Symphony Orchestra and Choral 
Ensembles. The performance features 
Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 13 (Babi Yar) 
and selections from Charles Davidson’s 
song cycle, I Never Saw Another Butterfly.
The concert is available to watch from 
Sept. 23-27 at www.holocaustcenter.org. For 
more information call (248) 553-2400.
The program is presented by the 
Michigan State University College of 
Music and the Michael and Elaine Serling 
Institute for Jewish Studies and Modern 
Israel at MSU, in partnership with the 
Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit, 
the Holocaust Memorial Center Zekelman 
Family Campus, the Jewish Community 

Center of Metro Detroit and the Detroit 
Jewish News.
The concert rebroadcast is sponsored 
by Gretchen and Ethan Davidson, Margie 
Dunn and Mark Davidoff, Howard J. 
Gourwitz, Belle and Julius Harris Visiting 
Artist Fund established by Lauren Julius 
Harris, Stanley and Selma Hollander 
Endowed Fund in Jewish Arts & Music, 
Sue and Alan Kaufman, Iris and Stephen 
Linder, Rebecca and Alan Ross, Elaine and 
Michael Serling/The Serling Institute for 
Jewish Studies and Modern Israel, Drs. Lou 
A. and Roy J. Simon, Linn Van Dyne and 
Mike Knox, Jeff D. Williams, and Andrea L. 
Wulf. 

