Metro Detroiters looking to 
reinvent their working lives 
at the start of this year or 
look for a higher-paying job 
to combat inflation expenses, 
whether by a complete career 
change or a job promotion, 
can join a life-changing 
career coaching program 
which begins Feb. 14. 
The program “MyCoach” 
will be offered by Gesher 
Human Services and 
will be held in-person at 
the nonprofit agency’s 
headquarters (29699 
Southfield Road, Southfield) 
on Feb. 14, 16, 21 and 23 
from 10 a.m. to noon. 
The program includes four 
masterclass group sessions, 
plus an individual coaching 
session for participants. 
While there is a $75 fee for 
the program, scholarships are 
also available. According to 
job search advice websites, 
the first months of the year 
are often believed to be the 

best time to look for a new 
job, when hiring managers 
have new budgets, the 
majority of workers have 
returned from vacation, and 
the hiring backlog at many 
companies has restarted. 
“MyCoach” will provide 
attendees with high-powered 
job search tools as well as 
help participants identify 
their strengths and be aware 
of market trends. 
“For anyone who made 
that New Year’s Resolution 
to change their job or look 
into a new career, but isn’t 
confident about taking the 
next step, our program offers 
practical advice and support 
from professional career 
experts to take that leap 
successfully,” said Gesher 
Human Services’ Career 
Counselor Sherrie James. 
To register for “MyCoach,” 
contact Sherrie James at 
sjames@geshermi.org or call 
(248) 233-4472. 

New Year, New Career

T

he Jewish Federation 
of Greater Ann Arbor’s 
Main Event on Feb. 
9 will feature a live podcast 
recording of the Unorthodox 
podcast, which calls itself 
“the universe’s leading Jewish 
podcast.
” The event will take 
place in-person at Washtenaw 
Community College’s newly 
renovated Morris Lawrence 
Building. The program will be 
livestreamed for those unable to 
attend in person.
Launched in 2015, the 
Unorthodox podcast is a 
production of Tablet magazine. 
It is hosted by Tablet journalists 
Mark Oppenheimer, Stephanie 
Butnick, and Liel Leibovitz. A 
typical episode showcases “news 
of the Jews,
” interesting guests 
— both Jewish and not — and 
genial banter from three very 
different Jewish perspectives.
Co-host Stephanie Butnick 
describes the podcast as “a fresh, 
fun take on Jewish news and 
culture.
” 
In addition to Butnick, the 
podcast features Liel Liebovitz, 
an Israeli-born journalist and 
senior writer at Tablet. The 
podcast’s third co-host and 
creator, Mark Oppenheimer, 
suggests on his website that, 
“if you have never listened [to 
Unorthodox], maybe start with 
the episode on nose jobs, or 
[one] on conversion to Judaism, 
or [the one from Aug. 29, 2019] 
that was just really funny.
”
“These three hosts, who are 
all thoughtful journalists in their 
own rite, share their unique 

voices 
to make the podcast vibrant and 
entertaining,
” says Eileen Freed, 
executive director of the Jewish 
Federation. “They balance each 
other well, and I’m looking 
forward to the energy they’ll 
bring to celebrate so many 
different ways of being Jewish in 
our community.
”
Bringing the community 
together is a primary goal of the 
Main Event and is the widest-
reaching fundraising event of 
the Jewish Federation’s Annual 
Community Campaign. The 
Annual Community Campaign 
provides significant unrestricted 
funds to Federation’s communal 
partners in Ann Arbor, Israel 
and around the world.
Participants in the Main Event 
will be asked to support the 
community with a minimum 
$100 pledge to the Jewish 
Federation’s 2023 Annual 
Campaign; students and young 
adults will be asked to make a 
meaningful gift.
For details and tickets to this 
year’s Main Event, visit www.
JewishAnnArbor.org, email 
info@jewishannarbor.org or call 
(734) 773-3535. 

“The Universe’s 
Leading Jewish 
Podcast” to Headline 
AA Federation’s 
Main Event

RACHEL WALL SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS

Donald R. and Esther 
Simon Foundation, a private 
foundation located in 
West Bloomfield, recently 
announced the grants it 
made in 2022.
Many of the grants support 
the Jewish community. Last 
year’s grants supporting 
Jewish life and identity 
went to the ADL, Camp 
Tamarack scholarships, Hillel 
of Metro Detroit to find a 
rabbi/educator position, 
the Zekelman Holocaust 
Center for educational 
programming, Jewish Senior 
Life, ORT Michigan Region, 
Society for Humanistic 
Judaism and the WMU Hillel 
for activities at Western 
Michigan University.
Grants supporting Jewish 

social justice organizations 
included funding for Gesher 
Human Services, JARC, 
Jewish Family Service and 
Yad Ezra. 
The Foundation also 
provided grants to non-
Jewish organizations, 
including Capuchin, Detroit’s 
Project Clean Slate to offset 
fees for criminal record 
expungement, Forgotten 
Harvest, Gleaners, the DSO 
and Gilda’s Club. 
Emergency grants were 
provided to JDC and World 
Central Kitchen for aid to 
Ukraine and the Jewish 
Federation of Greater Naples 
for aid in Aftermath of 
Hurricane Ian. 
All total, the Foundation 
disbursed $632,500 in 2022. 

Simon Foundation Announces Grants

SPOTLIGHT

FEBRUARY 2 • 2023 | 61