10 | OCTOBER 20 • 2022
PURELY COMMENTARY
guest column
A Time for Reflection
T
he period around the
High Holidays is a time
for self-reflection and
consideration of what we can
do better in the coming year. It
is a time for contrition, retro-
spection but also
an opportunity to
look forward. As I
engage in my own
self-analysis each
year, I ask myself
what I can do to
improve the lives
of others in my
Jewish community.
My desire to help others is
rooted in my Jewish faith, my
personal and family history, and
my firm belief that one should
make the world a better place
than the world he or she entered.
In Judaism, the mitzvot of tik-
kun olam (repairing the world)
and tzedakah (charity) are of
paramount importance. Jews
are literally commanded to help
those in need. Sitting in shul this
year, I was reminded that the
central themes of Yom Kippur
are teshuvah (repentance), t’fil-
liah (prayer) and tzedakah. In
short, a pillar of being Jewish is
helping fellow Jews.
My personal experiences and
my parents’ experiences shape
my desire to be communally
active as well. My mother and
her family came to Detroit as
Holocaust survivors with no
money, no knowledge of the
English language and very few
remaining family members.
Before departing for America,
my mom and her family were
sustained in a displaced persons
camp in Germany by care pack-
ages from the Joint Distribution
Committee (JDC), an organiza-
tion dedicated to helping Jews in
need around the world.
Upon arriving in Detroit, my
mother’s family built a life by
relying in part on members of
the Jewish community. At the
end of her life, my grandmother
found comfort and purpose
by participating in the Brown
Center’s Adult Day Program.
My father’s family came
to Detroit from Russia. Not
long after arriving here, my
great-grandfather took out a loan
from Hebrew Free Loan to make
ends meet. I am humbled to now
serve as president of that same
organization that made that loan.
Growing up in a comfortable
Jewish household in Metro
Detroit, it became apparent to
me that I needed to give back to
the community that had given
so much to my family. After
moving back to Detroit in 2001
after six years in Washington,
D.C., I reached out to the Jewish
Federation of Metropolitan
Detroit and asked to get
involved. I secured a position on
the board of Federation’s Young
Adult Division and was lucky
enough to ascend to the presi-
dency of that organization sever-
al years later.
I am so proud to say that I
am currently a donor to several
Jewish organizations in our com-
munity and involved as the pres-
ident, board member or com-
mittee member of several area
Jewish organizations, including
Hebrew Free Loan of Michigan,
our Jewish Federation and the
Detroit Jewish News Foundation.
I suspect that most of the
readers of this piece have a
compelling story about how
their family settled in the United
States and Detroit and about how
the Jewish community helped
them. I imagine that most read-
ers, regardless of level of Jewish
observance, feel a strong sense
of obligation to fulfil the sacred
mitzvot of tikun olam and tze-
dakah. If so, I urge you to give
your resources (time and money)
“until it feels good” as David
Hermelin, an esteemed commu-
nity member of blessed memory,
used to say.
How do you get involved?
Reach out to those that you
know who are involved and
ask for assistance. If you do not
know anyone to contact, reach
out to a Jewish organization
that speaks to you. If you have a
passion for helping seniors and
families, contact Jewish Family
Service. If you care about voca-
tional and mental health services,
contact Gesher Human Services.
If you want to help feed Jews that
need food assistance, contact
Yad Ezra. These are but a few
examples of the many wonderful
organizations helping Jews in our
community. I can assure you that
our local Jewish institutions are
thrilled to have offers of assis-
tance and will do everything that
they can to engage with you.
So, this year, take the initiative
and get involved. The secret
sauce to our thriving Jewish
community is our unparalleled
ability and willingness to take
care of and support one another.
Dr. Martin Luther King once
said that “service is the rent we
pay for the privilege of living on
this Earth.
” I can assure you that
no rent payment will ever feel
this good!
David Kramer of Bloomfield Hills is the
husband of Anessa Kramer and father
of Sam and Max. David is a principal
of Gemini Risk Partners in Birmingham.
He serves as the president of Hebrew
Free Loan of Michigan and as a board
member of the Jewish Federation of
Metro Detroit, the Detroit Jewish News
Foundation and Oakland University.
David
Kramer
return to his blusterous claim
that Hezbollah’s threats made
Israel capitulate. That big talk
will be a poor attempt to mask
that Lebanon has, for the
first time, entered a kind of
de facto recognition of Israel
and its borders. It also won’t
acknowledge that Hezbollah’s
own freedom of action will
now be constrained.
The deal still must survive
passage through both
countries’ political systems,
which will not be easy. For
Israel, there are internal
matters that the attorney
general, the courts, the
Knesset and, ultimately, the
voters, will have to address.
But for U.S. interests, a
creative resolution that allows
any gas to flow for Lebanon
and more gas to flow for Israel
without risk of conflict is a
win.
Daniel B. Shapiro is a distinguished
fellow at the Atlantic Council. He
previously served as U.S. Ambassador
to Israel.
LEBANON from page 8
Corrections
In “Congregation Beth Ahm
at Niagara Falls” (Sept. 29,
page 29), it should have stat-
ed that Beth Ahm member
Janet Pont had been working
at Congregation Shaarey
Zedek for decades.
In “Glimpse the Past” (Sept.
8, page 52), about the
documentary film Three
Minutes: A Lengthening, it
should have stated that the
footage was not restored
for the purpose of this film.
Rather, after Glenn Kurtz
had his grandfather’s film
restored, he shared it with
the U.S Holocaust Memorial
Museum. It was subsequently
viewed by Marcy Rosen, who
recognized her grandfather,
Maurice Chandler, as a
young boy in the film.