SEPTEMBER 1 • 2022 | 21

day [at his suggestion], and it 
was met with some laughs. I 
wanted to do it more.
“I moved to Toronto and 
tried to take it seriously 
there, where there was a 
lot more opportunity to go 
on stage and figure it out. 
I had a lot more success in 
Toronto and wanted to try 
a bigger stage so I moved to 
New York, where it was all 
about putting your nose to 
the grindstone and working 
hard.”
For a while, Eisenberg was 
host of Ask Me Another on 
National Public Radio, where 
she interviewed celebrity 
guests.
“I like interviewing peo-
ple,” she said. “I’m natu-
rally curious and believe 
that someone else has the 
answers. You’re talking to 
someone who knows more 
than you and can give you 
something that can benefit 
you and everyone else from 
their knowledge and experi-
ence. 
“It took me a while to get 
over the fact that I looked up 
to people. I would be a little 
in awe of the celebrity and 
afraid of looking dumb and 
asking the wrong question. 
Very quickly, I learned that 
people want to connect and 
talk about their journey. 

“When you can find that 
little doorway into what 
lights them up, then you 
have a great conversation. I 
always tried to find that little 
doorway.” 
The 40ish Eisenberg lives 
in Brooklyn with husband, 
Jonathan Baylis, an Audible 
audio-video producer, and 
their 6-year-old son. They are 
members of Congregation 
Beth Elohim and spent a lot 
of COVID isolation going for 
daily walks and listening to 
Zoom programming spon-
sored by their congregation.
“I think right now, with so 
many questions and feelings 
of instability, it is import-
ant to have these situations 
where we can all come 
together in safety and maybe 
have some laughs,” Eisenberg 
said. “It is so incredibly spe-
cial that I don’t want to take 
that for granted.” 

Ophira 
Eisenberg

Details 
The Judi Schram Annual 
Meeting of Hadassah 
will be held Tuesday, 
Sept. 13, at Adat 
Shalom Synagogue 
in Farmington Hills. 
$125 with lunch; $80 
speaker only; $54 
virtual. (248) 683-5030. 
Hadassahmidwest.org/
GDannualmeeting.

T

he first boot camp for 
Metro Detroit retirees 
looking to reevaluate, 
reimagine and recreate them-
selves for the 21st-cen-
tury workplace is being 
held at 11 a.m. on 
Wednesday, Sept. 14, at 
Gesher Human Services 
(29699 Southfield 
Road, Southfield). 
Gesher Human 
Services, formerly 
named JVS + Kadima, 
is one of the largest local human 
service agencies. The free two-
hour program, which will then 
be repeated on Wednesday, 
Oct. 19, and Wednesday, Nov. 
16, will provide insights into 
options for both work and play 
that may never have been con-
sidered by participants. 
Education, information and 
tools to craft an enjoyable future 
will be offered. The workshops 
are being started amid a nation-
wide shift of retirees wanting or 
needing to go back at work. 
Economic issues, along with 
personal issues like feeling iso-
lated, have recently led to a large 
rise in unretirements; in March 
2022, more than 3 percent of 
workers who were retired a year 
earlier were employed again. 
“We are seeing a shift in 
demographics with a lot of peo-
ple who have stepped out of the 
workforce in the last few years 
starting to reengage. That 3 per-
cent number is about 1.7 million 
retirees returning to work in 
the last year,
” explained Gerard 
Baltrusaitis, employment and 
internship specialist at Gesher 
Human Services. 
Baltrusaitis said many reasons 
are behind this move. “
A lot of 
people thought they had their 

retirement all figured out, but 
then inflation, a downturn in 
the stock market or health care 
costs made them think again,
” 
Baltrusaitis said. He also 
added that some just 
miss being in the work-
force and felt isolated at 
home or wanted a sense 
of purpose. 
However, many 
individuals considering 
reentering the workforce 
need help and direction. 
“Our program is about offering 
people options, exposing partic-
ipants to all of the opportunities 
that are available — remote, 
part-time, short-term contracts,
” 
Baltrusaitis said. “People in their 
20s, 30s and 40s have grown up 
with these ideas. Now we want 
to get the message across that 
retirees are free agents, and they 
can pick and choose so it can 
be a fun experience. They can 
design and create a work situa-
tion that is more than enjoyable 
than they might have had.
”
The program will also address 
how retirees can address ageism 
during the job-search process. 
Tips include: Creating a 
functional resume, sharing 
experiences that can transfer to 
new roles and sharing technical 
prowess you might have that 
apply to current job situations. 
Baltrusaitis said that all job 
seekers, including retirees, 
should know the three Ps: pur-
pose, passion and proficiency. 
“People who are the most pro-
ductive and highest performers 
are the people who enjoy the 
work they do,
” he said. 

To register, contact Gerard Baltrusaitis 

at gbaltrusaitis@geshermi.org or (248) 

233-4288. 

Returning Retiree 
Boot Camp Offered

Gerard 
Baltrusaitis

