26 | MARCH 30 • 2023
OUR COMMUNITY
I
t’s been a few years since
the community was able to
celebrate its oldest members
in person, but this year, the
dedicated crew who plan the
Bessie Spector Oldest Jewish
Americans Celebration are
looking forward to gathering
in real life. Like the honorees,
co-chairs Jain Lauter, Joyce
Berlin Weingarten and Julie
Zussman, as well as sponsor Joan
Chernoff Epstein, all have a lot
of history.
Epstein’s family celebrated
her grandmother Bessie Spector
at the very first Oldest Jewish
American’s Brunch, and they
kept going until Spector passed
away at age 102.
“She was an incredible
treasure. She was independent.
She loved living in Jewish
Federation Apartments. All the
programming, all the people she
met, just made her blossom,
”
said Epstein. So, Joan and Bob
Epstein decided to ensure the
program in her grandmother’s
memory.
“I will always have a big spot
in my heart for what JSL did for
my grandmother. It gave her this
uplifting life,
” Epstein said. “I
would call her up and say, ‘Bess,
do you want to go to lunch?’
And she would say, ‘I’m sorry, I
have a concert. I can’t leave.
’”
Weingarten’s grandmother
Fannie Whiteman was also
one of the first attendees, and
Weingarten attended with her
grandmother until her passing
at age 102, at which time, she
started going with her husband’s
grandmother Belle Rosender,
and then with her father, Louis
Berlin.
“I remember Joyce loved to
bring her dad,
” said Epstein. “He
was such a handsome, healthy
fellow. He strolled in there
looking so dapper. Joyce has this
attachment because her father
was coming to the programs. It
says a lot about what it means to
people.
”
Carol Weintraub Fogel
recruited Weingarten to join
the committee, and she’s been
involved ever since.
“I have a long history with
the event, with attending and
supporting it, and I just think
that it is a really beautiful way
to celebrate our Jewish seniors
in our community,” Weingarten
said. “It gives them an activity
to attend that’s all about them.
And it gives us a chance to
honor them for being so
special.”
Jain Lauter’s father was
honored when he turned 100.
“I was hooked,” said Lauter,
who has been on the committee
ever since. “My favorite part
of the event was watching my
father and the other honorees
interact with old friends, with
lifelong friends they hadn’t seen
in a long time and seeing my
childhood friends. It was my
father seeing Milt Zussman
and me seeing Julie and Rick
and Marcy. We would see four
generations together, and that’s
just cool,” Lauter said.
Zussman agrees. “My
favorite memory is being with
my father-in-law, his child,
his grandchild, and his great-
grandchild. It was l’dor v’dor,
just seeing the joy in Milt’s face.”
The Bessie Spector Oldest
Jewish American Celebration
will be held this year on
Friday, May 5, at Adat Shalom
Synagogue. The program will
feature brunch, a ceremony
celebrating the honorees and
entertainment on the event’s
theme, “The Golden Age of
Television.”
“I’m just thrilled that we are
going to be back in person.
That has been a very hard
pill to swallow the last years,”
Zussman said.
The program is planned and
co-sponsored by Jewish Senior
Life, the Jewish Community
Center, Jewish Family
Service, Jewish Federation
of Metropolitan Detroit and
Gesher Human Services.
Honorees must turn 95
by Dec. 31, 2023. To register
an honoree or for more
information, visit jslmi.org/OAB
or call Beth Robinson at (248)
592-5062.
The Bessie Spector Oldest
Jewish Americans Celebration
is back in person.
Celebrating
the Greatest
Generation
JN STAFF
Bessie Spector
Joyce Berlin Weingarten and her
father, Louis Berlin
Julie and Rick Zussman, son Adam Zussman with his daughter
Charlotte and the late Milt Zussman