12 | MAY 18 • 2023
PURELY COMMENTARY
A Night of Contrasts
What a night of contrasts.
I am an elected member of
Franklin Village council and a
board member of Temple Israel.
On May 4, Rep. Rashida
Tlalb, who due to redistricting
now represents my Village of
Franklin, came to speak here.
I had the second question
using the backdrop of recent vile
antisemitism in our neighboring
area of Bloomfield Hills that
received national coverage.
Recognizing her Muslim her-
itage and well-known stance for
a one-state solution and history
of denouncing Israel, I asked
how I could reconcile her repre-
sentation to my constituents —
many Jewish citizens.
I spoke not as Councilman
Seltzer but as Franklin citizen
Seltzer.
She did her best deflecting
about the violence against
Palestinian people while I coun-
tered with unspeakable terror
in the tiny State of Israel — the
only democratic state surround-
ed by hostility.
And so, we bobbed and
weaved and she told me she
had “many Jewish friends”
and I didn’t have to vote
for her, which is an obvious
trite response, and as patient
and professional as we both
remained it was a circular “dis-
cussion.
”
Then I had to exit (to a
mixed crowd of appreciative
and scornful people, mostly
outside of the village from
Redford and Southfield, nearby
communities now represented
by Tlaib) to attend a speaking
event by noted former New York
Times reporter Bari Weiss at
Temple Israel and interviewed
by Franklin author and radio
personality Mitch Albom.
What a contrast as Weiss, a
gay, liberal notable writer and
reporter, detailed her experience
of antisemitism and her deci-
sion to depart a gem of a career
at the legendary New York Times
where being Jewish should be a
safe space and among friends.
Instead, she related personal
experiences how the continuing
media pressure by many inter-
nally and externally to further
denounce Israel led her NY
Times stories being either ele-
vated to front page or dismissed
depending on whether they fit
the narrative. She told how that
began to affect her, and how
antisemitism is being elevated
from college campuses through
mainstream media and how
liberal media dominance has
changed to a once unthinkable
drumbeat against Israel and
Jews.
Look her up and read her
The Free Press daily news site at
bariweiss.com or her book How
to Fight Anti-Semitism on this
subject.
Suffice to say it was an
intriguing evening on a subject
of great concern to me and to
many.
— Michael Seltzer
Franklin
Israel Is 75
Yom HaAtzmaut is Israel’s
Independence Day. I painted my
nails blue and white, the colors
of the Israeli flag as well as the
colors we usually wear in honor
of this special day. It’s my own
personal, fun tradition that I
started two years ago.
Israel is celebrating 75 years
as a Jewish country. Yom
HaAtzmaut is Israel’s 75th
birthday, and mine, by proxy.
Although my birth date is in
March, both Israel and I were
born in 1948! My mother linked
our birthdays each year, so this
is my celebration, too.
Life granted me extra reasons
to make this a day of celebration
for me. This is the day that I
met my Israeli husband, Mickey,
at a Yom HaAtzmaut celebration
at the JCC in suburban Detroit.
And this is the day on which,
in 2015, I received a special
gift: the birth of my grand-
son, Amichai “
Ami” Barack
Goldenberg.
Three wonderful events to
joyously mark on this day.
We often enjoy being in
Israel at this time of year. We
mark Yom HaZikaron, Israel’s
Memorial Day, at a community
ceremony with Mickey’s fam-
ily on Erev Yom HaZikaron.
The following day, we visit the
cemetery where Mickey’s Uncle
Nissim, a terror victim, is buried
and take part in the ceremony
for those who died before the
creation of the State of Israel.
On Yom HaAtzmaut, we have
a festive barbeque with family
and friends, music and song in
the backyard of Mickey’s family
home in Ramat Gan since 1934.
This year we celebrated Ami’s
eighth birthday and participated
in celebrations with his com-
munity and his school, Epstein
Hebrew Academy, in St. Louis.
A celebratory day, l’
dor v’
dor.
Am Yisrael Chai!
Happy 75th birthday to Israel
and me!
— Beverly Kent Goldenberg
Hadassah Greater Detroit
CORRECTION:
The story “Israeli Street Artist
Tags the Walls of Hillel Day
School” (May 4, page 36) was
written by Lauren Cohen, who
also took the photos.
letters
Mir hobn alle in Sinai gevayn
Un Moishe Rabeinu mir hobn
gezayn.
Un Na’se v’nishma as
one we did say
Mir zogn dos mein kinder
till this very day.
Ober yetzt is Shavuos, tzu
shul darfmen gayn.
Translations:
Mir hobn alle: we all
gevayn: have been
Moishe Rabeinu:
Moses our rabbi
mir hobn gezayn:
we have seen
Na’se v’nishma: We will do,
and we will heal
Mir zogn dos:
That what we say
Mein kinder: my kids
Ober yetzt: But now
tzu shul darfmen gayn:
to synagogue we must go.
By Rachel Kapen
Yiddish Limerick
Shavuot