OCTOBER 13 • 2022 | 21
heading up Federation’s Israel
and Overseas Allocations
Committee, have been mean-
ingful.
“In everything he did, he
always got into the details of
each task, and he always kept a
certain big-picture perspective
of what this meant to the entire
community,
” Neistein says. “He
has an ability to not only attend
to the details and the pieces that
go into that, but he understands
how the pieces fit together.
”
As an individual, he not only
represented the Federation and
Foundation very well, but also
conveyed a sense of caring and
connection to the people he
met, says Neistein, recalling
among other moments the time
Rosenthal was co-chairing a
large mission to Israel and took
time prior to the event to sched-
ule a series of prep sessions to
help people — many first-time
travelers to Israel — to pack
most effectively.
“He used it tongue-in-cheek
as a way to get people comfort-
able with each other and excited
to go,
” he says. “That was the
kind of thing he did.
”
Rosenthal makes himself
available to help, Neistein adds,
citing a flood in Oak Park in
2014 where Rosenthal leapt into
action to help secure water heat-
ers and other mechanical equip-
ment for area residents. “It’s just
that kind of ‘I’ll put down what
I’m doing because community is
very important to me,
”’ he says.
Rosenthal, who graduated
with a BA from University of
Michigan and got his law degree
at Wayne State University,
worked as a lawyer at Schlussel,
Lifton, et.al 1973-1982 and
has been the CFO of Madison
Electric Company since 1982.
Marty and Ben are the proud
parents of Rachel Rosenthal,
who resides in New York,
Jenny and Jordan Glass, and
the grandparents of Talia and
Emmett Glass.
“I’ve had a great life and a
lucky life,
” he says. “I did three
smart things in my life. I mar-
ried Marty, I had my children
and I gave up the practice of law.
And all of those things together
allowed me to be active in the
community and have Marty
with me who did as much, as far
as I’m concerned.
”
Past Butzel Award recipients
have included Max M. Fisher,
William Davidson, David and
Doreen Hermlein and, most
recently, Norman A. Pappas,
Daniel Gilbert and Lawrence A.
Wolfe.
Ben
Rosenthal
The JFMD/UJF Annual
Meeting, where Ben
Rosenthal will be present-
ed with the Butzel Award,
takes place Thursday,
Oct. 13, at 7:30 p.m. at
the Berman Center at the
JCC in West Bloomfield. A
virtual option in available.
Details at https://jlive.app/
events/2571.
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