E

lla Fried (Walled Lake 
Central), Ellery Gnesin 
(West Bloomfield High 
School) and Dylan Young 
(Bloomfield Hills High School) 
are the winners of the Annual 
High School Jewish Writing 
Competition, announced the 
Cohn-Haddow Center for Judaic 
Studies at Wayne State University. 
This competition, now 
in its seventh year, invites 
high school students across 
Metropolitan Detroit to sub-
mit an essay or poetry on 
any Jewish-related topic. The 
goal of this competition, Center 
Director Howard Lupovitch 
explained at an awards 
ceremony held on campus, 
is “to encourage burgeoning 

young Jewish intellectuals 
to think and write not only 
reflectively but critically — an 
especially important skill at a 
time when 140 characters passes 
for a complete thought.” 
For the seventh straight year, 
the Center received many strong 
entries, from which the three 
winners were chosen. 
Fried’s entry, titled “The Power 
of Questions,” describes the 
power of questions and how ask-
ing them has shaped her under-
standing Judaism. 
Gnesin’s entry, titled “Am I 
Really a Bat Mitzvah,” tells the 
story of her bat mitzvah that took 
place on Zoom due to COVID-
19. 
Young’s entry, titled “The 

Experience of Israel,” recounts his 
visit to Israel in 2018 and how it 
changed his life and understand-
ing of how important Israel is to 
him and the Jewish people.
Fried and Gnesin received a 
cash prize of $500 for first place, 
and Young received $100 as the 
honorable mention. Their entries, 
along with those of other par-
ticipants, are available online 
at https://judaicstudies.wayne.
edu/2022-winners-and-partici-
pants
The Center congratulates these 
students and wishes them all the 
best in their future endeavors. 
The announcement for the eighth 
annual competition will appear 
this fall. 
 

SEPTEMBER 15 • 2022 | 25

The Cohn-Haddow Center for Judaic Studies at Wayne State 
announces winners for high school writing competition.
Award-Winning Writers

Dylan Young

Ella Fried

Ellery Gnesin

 

Join us in honoring 
Path to Truth Awardee 
ARTHUR HORWITZ

We're on the move to fight hate in our community!

Sunday, September 18
Southfield City Centre

It's not just a walk--it's an opportunity to move as an

individual, family or community toward a future without

antisemitism, racism and all forms of bigotry! 

Let's get moving, Michigan!

Register today at: 
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