SEPTEMBER 1 • 2022 | 29
AT THE END OF LIFE
Ezra Drissman of Oak Park, formally of
Farmington Hills, is a young father who has
unfortunately experienced several family
deaths in recent years. His mother, Harriet
Drissman, passed away unexpectedly nine
years ago. Three weeks after that, his father-
in-law, Rabbi Eliezer Cohen, passed away.
“The community was incredible,
” Ezra
said. “I can’t describe the amount of phone
calls, visits and food that stocked our
fridge.
”
More recently, Ezra watched as his elderly
father’s health slowly deteriorated until he
passed away in May 2022.
“While losing a parent is always difficult
and painful, shivah this time was much
more therapeutic,
” Ezra said. “It was both
sad and a celebration and remembrance of
who he was.
”
Ezra had only recently joined Rabbi
Bromberg’s shul and hadn’t even met every-
one in the congregation, but every member
came to the shivah.
“They didn’t know me, but they took the
time,
” he said. “I think that the Jewish com-
munity comes together in times of death is
what is so enduring. There I was, my world
was quite literally crushed. I can’t think of a
lonelier time in life than after the death of a
parent or close family member. There isn’t
that smiling face or warm hug … These
small tokens, these visits, this time these
people gave me made a huge difference.
”
Going on a shivah visit can be emotion-
ally stressful. It can be painful seeing some-
one’s grief up close. It can be heart-wrench-
ing and agonizing. Ezra understands this
and it made him even more appreciative of
every visit he received.
“Going to a funeral or shivah has to be
the most uncomfortable thing that one
does. Yet I can’t think of a more giving way
to help someone through his most difficult
period,
” Ezra said. “Getting this stream of
people coming in just to be with me for
days on end. The visits and phone calls by
people who shared stories and memories of
my loved one meant so much.
”
Ezra said one man he barely knew came
to the shivah house, sat in the back and
didn’t really say much. Today, they are good
friends. “It was that small token. He came,
he made the effort … and yes, it made me
feel better. I still cherish that.
”
These days, Ezra is eager to pass on the
kindness to others who are sitting shivah. “I
think that’s one of the many lessons I took
to heart: To take five minutes, 10 minutes
from my day and sit with someone who is
grieving. I know it really does help them.
”
These are just three personal stories
of when the Detroit Jewish community
provided the cushion of comfort during
hard times. Though everyone’s journey is
different, what’s similar here is the thread of
Aliza Bracha, Sima Leah and Ezra being so
appreciative of the community and wanting
to pay that support and love forward.
Perhaps it is this resolution that makes
acts of kindness spiral in bigger and wider
circles, encompassing all of us so that it’s
always continuing and benefiting everyone,
making Detroit such a warm and wonder-
ful place to live.
C
ongregation B’nai Moshe is wel-
coming Dr. David Tenenbaum
as its keynote speaker of its
Spectacular Speaker Series on
Tuesday, Sept. 13, at 7:30 p.m. at
the West Bloomfield synagogue.
Tenenbaum has been called the
Dreyfuss of our time. The son of
a Holocaust survivor and father of
four, in 1997 he was falsely accused
by the U.S. Army of being an Israeli
spy based solely upon antisemitic
accusations from co-workers, which the
government then covered up under the
pretense of national security.
Despite being told by Tenenbaum’s
lawyer that the Jewish Sabbath begins an
hour before sundown and ends about an
hour after sundown Saturday evening,
the FBI executed a search warrant in the
middle of Shabbat. During the raid of the
Tenenbaums’ home, his children’s music
and coloring books were seized along
with the family’s personal files and com-
puters.
Tenenbaum was suspended from his
job, and his program, designed to
save warfighters’ lives, was disman-
tled. The Tenenbaum family was
placed under 24-hour surveillance
for months in a “game” of psycho-
logical warfare. His children were
unnecessarily frightened by sur-
veillance vehicles that would slow-
ly drive by as they played outside
on their front lawn.
Tenenbaum made the headlines of the
local newspapers where he was labeled a
spy because the government conveniently
“forgot” to seal the search warrant. Media
from around the globe were spoon-fed
false information that classified materi-
als were hidden throughout his house,
including the baby’s bedroom, though
no classified materials were ever found
because there were none to be found.
Hateful comments were posted about
Tenenbaum on white supremacist web-
sites; anonymous phone calls threatened
him. He and his family’s lives were in
danger.
Tenenbaum’s neighborhood, home
to Holocaust survivors and a thriving
Orthodox Jewish community, were intim-
idated in an effort to isolate the family
from the community. Members of his
community who attempted to help him
were visited in the middle of the night
by his community’s police department
and threatened while others in the small
Jewish community were threatened by
FBI agents themselves.
After an 18-month investigation, the
FBI and Department of Justice admitted
there was no evidence that Tenenbaum
had done anything wrong.
Tenenbaum will have copies of his
book, Accused of Treason – The US Army’s
Witch Hunt for a Jewish Spy, available.
The Spectacular Speaker Series is free
and open to the public. Registration is
required at bnaimoshe.org.
Submitted by B’nai Moshe.
Dr. David
Tenenbaum
B’nai Moshe Welcomes
Dr. David Tenenbaum