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.