FEBRUARY 3 • 2022 | 47

Epstein-Peri
A

nita and Avi Peri 
and Suzi and Stuart 
Epstein are thrilled 
to announce the marriage 
of their children, Neilly Peri 
and Jason Epstein. The 
marriage ceremony took 
place in September 2020 at 
Adat Shalom Synagogue in 
Farmington Hills. Due to the 
pandemic, a celebration party 
was held later, in October 
2021. Neilly and Jason were 
thrilled to have their grandmother Nanny Dorie Wallace 
participate in their wedding ceremony. 
Jason received his undergraduate degree from U of M 
and his J.D. from Florida State College of Law. He is the 
co-founder of CTC, a recruiting and consulting firm. 
Neilly graduated from MSU and works for a digital 
advertising agency. 
The couple look forward to spending many more 
happy years together.

Willens 100th
B

orn and raised in 
Detroit, Jean Willens 
lives an active life with 
family and friends in Franklin. 
She will be celebrating her 
milestone on Feb. 6, 2022, 
in her winter home in Rancho 
Mirage, Calif. Enjoying this 
exciting event with her will be 
her daughter, Joan Abraham, 
and her significant other, 
Ken Matasar; her daughter 
and son-in-law, Amy Willens 
and Ben Rosenberg; her grandchildren, Geoffrey 
and Jill Abraham, and Leslie Rosenberg; and great-
grandchildren, Joey Rose and Sam Abraham. Joining 
them will be nieces and nephews from Modesto, Calif., 
and family from Los Angeles, including Jeffrey and 
Roya Sklar. At 100, Jean is still reading the Jewish 
News every week.

SPIRIT

Finding Success 
W

hen one lives in a 
time of mass inno-
vation, it becomes 
increasingly easy to believe we 
can do things all by ourselves. 
Gone are the days when one 
would have to travel 
to a store or call up an 
expert to find a solu-
tion for day-to-day 
predicaments. “Just 
Google it,” “look it up 
on YouTube,” and “ask 
Siri” have replaced “go 
check out a book from 
the library,” “call a 
plumber” and “watch 
the weather on the 
evening news.”
Besides the war of 
attrition against every-
one’s humility, this 
phenomenon breeds an alto-
gether new challenge: distrust.
HaShem instructs Moshe, 
“You shall make the menorah 
out of pure gold, from one 
piece it shall be made” (Exodus 
25:31). At first, the meno-
rah was meant to be actively 
formed, “you shall make,
” but 
then the process seems passive, 
“it shall be made.
” Rashi (Rabbi 
Shlomo Yitzchaki, 11th centu-
ry, France) explains that Moshe 
first attempted to make the 
menorah on his own until he 
relented due to the difficulty of 
the task; after which, HaShem 
created the menorah Himself.
The Sfas Emes (Rabbi 
Yehudah Leib Alter, 19th 
century, Poland) asks why, if 
HaShem was willing to make 
it Himself, did He instruct 
Moshe to do so in the first 
place? Surely, Moshe could 
have been involved with other 
pursuits that needed his atten-
tion! The Sfas Emes explains 
that HaShem asks from all of 

us to recognize two paradoxical 
realities: 1) That we are tasked 
with putting in the requisite 
effort, and 2) That no matter 
how much effort we exert, 
we cannot succeed without 
help, whether it be from 
HaShem or from others.
The Sfas Emes’ grandfa-
ther, the Chidushei HaRim 
(Rav Yitzchak Meir Alter) 
similarly comments on 
the Talmudic dictum, “If 
someone says, ‘I toiled and 
found no success,’ do not 
believe him; ‘I have not 
toiled and found success,’ 
do not believe him; ‘I have 
toiled and found success,’ 
believe him” (Megilah 6b). 
But why does it say “found 
success”? Should it not 
have said “I achieved success,” 
since they’ve toiled for it? In 
truth, explains the Chiddushei 
HaRim, every success we enjoy 
is due to others’ contributions, 
no matter how much effort 
we exert; some of it is always 
“found.”
The more technology 
advances, the more we feel 
like we’re in control. But as 
driving on the roads, meeting 
our deadlines and fighting 
COVID has taught us, we 
have to trust and rely on oth-
ers if we want to truly “find 
success.” If we can avoid the 
instinctive trappings of our 
modern-day lifestyles and 
find room to seek out others, 
including HaShem, to rely 
on, then we will not only find 
success and develop caring 
communities, but we, too, can 
illuminate the world, like a 
menorah. 

Rabbi Shaya Katz is rabbi of Young 

Israel of Oak Park. 

TORAH PORTION

Rabbi Shaya 
Katz

Parshat 

Terumah: 

Exodus 

25:1`-27:14; 

I Kings 

5:26-6:13.

