1942 - 2022

Covering and Connecting 
Jewish Detroit Every Week

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DETROIT JEWISH NEWS 
FOUNDATION
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MISSION STATEMENT The Detroit Jewish News will be of service to the Jewish community. The Detroit Jewish 
News will inform and educate the Jewish and general community to preserve, protect and sustain the Jewish 
people of greater Detroit and beyond, and the State of Israel.

VISION STATEMENT The Detroit Jewish News will operate to appeal to the broadest segments of the greater 
Detroit Jewish community, reflecting the diverse views and interests of the Jewish community while advancing the 
morale and spirit of the community and advocating Jewish unity, identity and continuity.

DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
32255 Northwestern Hwy. Suite 205,
Farmington Hills, MI 48334
248-354-6060
thejewishnews.com

 
 
Publisher
The Detroit Jewish 
News Foundation

| Board of Directors:
 Chair: Gary Torgow
 Vice President: David Kramer 
 Secretary: Robin Axelrod
 Treasurer: Max Berlin
 Board members: Larry Jackier, 
 Jeffrey Schlussel, Mark Zausmer
 
 
 Senior Advisor to the Board: 
 Mark Davidoff
 Alene and Graham Landau Archivist Chair: 
 Mike Smith
 Founding President & Publisher Emeritus: 
 Arthur Horwitz
 Founding Publisher 
 Philip Slomovitz, of blessed memory

 
 
 
 

 Editorial 
 Director of Editorial: 
 Jackie Headapohl
jheadapohl@thejewishnews.com
Contributing Editors: 
David Sachs, Keri Guten Cohen
Staff Reporter: 
Danny Schwartz 
dschwartz@thejewishnews.com
Editorial Assistant: 
Sy Manello
smanello@thejewishnews.com 
Digital Manager:
Elizabeth King 
eking@thejewishnews.com 

Contributing Writers:
Nate Bloom, Rochel Burstyn, Suzanne 
Chessler, Annabel Cohen, Shari S. 
Cohen, Shelli Liebman Dorfman, Louis 
Finkelman, Stacy Gittleman, Esther 
Allweiss Ingber, Barbara Lewis, Jennifer 
Lovy, Rabbi Jason Miller, Alan Muskovitz, 
Robin Schwartz, Mike Smith, Steve Stein, 
Julie Smith Yolles, Ashley Zlatopolsky 
 

 Advertising Sales 
Director of Advertising: Keith Farber
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Senior Account Executive: 
Kathy Harvey-Mitton
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| Business Office
 Director of Operations: Amy Gill
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 Operations Manager: Andrea Gusho 
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| Production By 
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 Designers: Kaitlyn Iezzi, Kelly Kosek, 
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6 | JANUARY 5 • 2023 

PURELY COMMENTARY

I 

have lived my entire life 
attached to one Ethan 
Weitzman. As a twin, I 
spent much of my upbringing 
being compared and contrast-
ed to him. How 
we developed, 
how we behaved 
and how we 
achieved. Ethan 
may have taken 
his first steps 
before me, but I 
was first to actu-
ally walk. He may have spoken 
before me, but I was first to 
construct a sentence. 
Throughout our childhood 
one thing eventually became 
clear; I was the responsi-
ble one. My homework was 
always done on time, my 
reading finished, my to-do 
list checked. Within our 
small school community, my 
responsibilities would often 
include some of Ethan’s. I 

often found myself attempting 
to put order into his situation, 
helping him to organize and 
reminding him to do home-
work and study. I wanted to 
support him anyway I could. 
Unfortunately, I occasionally 
resented how much I did for 
him, and how rarely I felt like 
I had made an impact. I cared 
for him so much, yet I was 
never recognized for my dedi-
cation, nor did I ever receive a 
thank you. 
One day, I discovered the 
story of Cain and Abel. While 
I had learned the story, I had 
never read it directly from 
Genesis. When I did, I stum-
bled upon the line “
Am I my 
brother’s keeper?” (Genesis 
4:9) I was immediately taken 
aback. How could I have the 
same feelings about responsi-
bility for my brother as Cain? 
Cain who succumbed to his 
jealousy and shamelessly mur-

dered his own brother? That’s 
when I realized something; all 
of these years I had been put-
ting in effort to try and sub-
due Ethan’s challenges, mostly 
without thanks, but the same 
had been done for me. 
Ethan had looked out for 
me for years in other ways, 
without me ever recogniz-
ing it. Whenever I needed a 
friend, Ethan was there. When 
I was stressed, Ethan always 
comforted and reassured me. 
While I had been the respon-
sible one, Ethan had been the 
compassionate one. I immedi-
ately scrubbed any resentment 
from my attitude in under-
standing that what I did for 
him is exactly what he would 
have done for me had he been 
the responsible one. 
Eventually, I would have 
another crisis about my rela-
tionship with Ethan. Was I 
just a part of a whole? For a 

period of time, I was greatly 
upset about what my relation-
ship with my brother meant 
for my identity. Was I nothing 
without him? Was he nothing 
without me? 
That’s when Cain’s line came 
back to me. I asked myself, 
“
Am I my brother’s keeper?” 
Yes. I was my brother’s keep-
er. But I was so many other 
things as well. Being Ethan’s 
brother was only a fragment 
of my identity, and I would 
refuse to let myself be limited 
to that role. Undoubtedly, I 
have only been enriched by 
our relationship. After 17 
years walking alongside my 
brother, I know that I could 
have navigated the world by 
myself, but that I could not 
have gotten this far without 
him. 

Evan Weitzman is a senior and the 

All School President at Frankel Jewish 

Academy.

student’s corner
An ‘Abel’ to My ‘Cain’

Evan 
Weitzman

