Looking Back
From the William Davidson Digital Archive of Jewish Detroit History
accessible at www.djnfoundation.org
L
ike you, I read the JN. Two recent
stories by Associate Editor Rachel
Sweet inspired me.
Rachel writes a weekly feature about
members of the Jewish community who
volunteer to help others. In
the recent July 27 JN, she
wrote about Casey Belen,
12, who dedicated his bar
mitzvah project to helping
children in pediatric care.
On Aug.13, Rachel wrote
about Danielle “DeeDee”
Lefkowitz, 9, who held a
bake sale to raise funds for
Chai Lifeline, a New York-based organi-
zation that supports children and families
who are dealing with serious medical
issues. Great stories!
And, I wondered — what would I find
about Jewish youth and good deeds in
the William Davidson Digital Archive
of Jewish Detroit History? The answer
is … plenty! Thousands of such stories,
reports and announcements have been
preserved in the Davidson Archive. They
provide plenty of evidence that the local
community, as well people across the U.S.
and in Israel, have been the beneficiaries
of Detroit youth mitzvahs. In fact, it was
a bit difficult to select a few to discuss for
this column.
An investigation into youth mitzvahs
might begin with Danny Raskin’s early
“Youth Listening Post“ columns in the
JN in the 1940s. Danny often noted the
good works of young Jewish Detroiters.
Likewise, in the 1960s through 1980s,
“Youth News” was a feature dedicated to,
as the title states, news of young Jews.
References to good works can be also
found in bar and bat mitzvah announce-
ments in the JN. For example, see the
Nov. 9, 2001, issue. Molly Alison Foltyn
helped to reconstruct a bedroom for an
ill child at the “Suite Dreams Project” and
Steven David Betel assisted with special
education students as well as Gleaners
Food Bank in Detroit.
I found a number of excellent fea-
ture articles on young individuals with
big hearts. Cameron Warshawsky gave
a concert for the residents of the Meer
Apartments on the Applebaum Jewish
Community Campus (Feb. 6, 2015, JN).
The year before, Molly Warshawsky baked
with Chef Justin Kurtz to make muf-
fins for hungry families (Oct. 9, 2014).
Both of these youth mitzvahs were made
possible through Rabbi Daniel Syme of
Temple Beth El, with help from 8-year-old
Noah Ostheimer. Together, they launched
“
Angels and Dreamers,” a foundation to
assist 7- to11-year-old children like Molly
and Cameron to perform the mitzvahs
they dreamed of making.
Another nice story is about Carson
Litvin. He was thinking about his eighth
birthday and decided that he did not
need presents. Instead, Carson decided
to host a charity birthday/dance party
(April 24, 2014).
Even weather is no obstacle to mitzvah
making. Teenage boys from Hillel Day
School volunteered to help physically
challenged kids enjoy snow sports (Jan.
8, 1999).
Rachel Prinstein returned from a
Birthright Israel trip and “realized how
vital it is to stay connected and support
different programs in Israel.” Subsequently,
as a student in the University of Michigan’s
School of Art and Design, a T-shirt she
created became a fundraising campaign
for the Ofer School for Autistic Children
in Haifa (Aug. 10, 2006).
The stories I cite are just the tip of the
youth mitzvah iceberg. I could go on …
and on. The Davidson Archive is filled
with such stories from the last 126 years.
They offer proof that some good things
never change.
Want to learn more? Go to the DJN Foundation
archives, available for free at www.djnfoundation.
org.
Mike Smith
Alene and
Graham Landau
Archivist Chair
62 | SEPTEMBER 15 • 2022
The Kids Are More Than All Right