Cohen 65th
S
eymour and Elaine
Cohen of West
Bloomfield will celebrate
their 65th wedding anniver-
sary on Aug. 31, 2023. They
will make a weekend trip
to Charlevoix and meet up
with their children: son and
daughter-in-law, Aaron and
Linda Cohen; daughter and
son-in-law, Marjorie and Craig
Deschner; and grandchildren,
Rebecca and Connor Osgood,
Joshua Deschner, Gabrielle Cohen, Solomon Cohen.
Berlin-Weinberger
D
iane and Stanley
Weinberger of West
Bloomfield are thrilled
to announce the engagement
of their daughter Danielle to
Ari Berlin, son of Allison and
Jeffrey Berlin of Bloomfield
Hills.
Danielle and Ari met in the
spring of 2020 and are resi-
dents of Oak Park. Danielle is
a registered nurse employed
at an area hospital; she will
graduate with her doctorate in nursing in summer 2024.
Ari is proud to be working in his family’s business as the
fourth generation.
Danielle is the granddaughter of Suzanne Weinberger
and the late Jack Weinberger, Mary Wolfson and the late
Dr. Herman Wolfson. Ari is the grandson of the late Lois
Katz, and Linda and Arthur Berlin.
Danielle and Ari will be married in August of 2024.
The Grosse Pointe Jewish
Council will hold High
Holiday services, observing
Rosh Hashanah, on Friday,
Sept. 15, and Saturday, Sept.
16. Services on Yom Kippur,
will be held Sunday, Sept. 24
and Monday, Sept. 25. Rabbi
Joe Klein will be officiating
with Cantorial Soloist Bryant
Frank. There will be special
children’s services on both
holidays.
The Grosse Pointe Jewish
Council strives to promote
the heritage and traditions
of the Jewish religion and
culture for the benefit of its
membership and the commu-
nity of Metropolitan Detroit’s
eastside. The GPJC offers
religious services as well as
educational and social events.
For information on High
Holidays and membership,
call the GPJC at (313) 882-
6700 or email thegpjc@
comcast.net
Grosse Pointe Jewish Council
High Holiday Services
SPIRIT
Blessings Will Come
I
had never been to this
shul before, this renovated
hospital turned into a syn-
agogue about two miles from
where I grew up in Brooklyn.
The Klausenberger Rebbe
was well known for re-
settling those of his Chasidim
who had survived
the Holocaust in and
around the Beth Moses
Hospital in Brooklyn.
So, one morning in
1952 on the Shabbat of
Ki Tavo, I set out from
my home to be in the
presence of a truly holy
man.
The Torah reading of
Ki Tavo is punctuated
by 53 verses which
catalogue the pun-
ishments in store for
Israel when they for-
sake God’s teaching.
Jewish custom
mandates that these verses
be read in a low voice. The
Tochacha (warning) is not
something we’re very eager to
hear, but if we must hear it as
part of the Torah cycle, then
the hushed words, without
the usual dramatic chant, are
shocking.
I arrived and felt swept up
by the intensity of the people
praying.
In accordance with the cus-
tom, the Torah reader began
the “Warnings” in a whisper.
Unexpectedly, the Yiddish
word hecher (louder) came
from the direction of the
lectern upon which the rebbe
was leaning.
The Torah reader stopped;
the congregants looked up
from their Bibles. Could they
have heard their rebbe cor-
rectly? Was he ordering the
reader to go against custom
and chant the tochacha aloud?
The reader continued in a
whisper, apparently conclud-
ing that he had not heard
what he thought he heard.
Then the rebbe banged on
his lectern, turned to face
the stunned congregation
and cried out in Yiddish,
“I said louder! Read these
verses aloud! We have noth-
ing to fear; we’ve already
experienced the curses.
Let the Master of the
Universe know it’s time
for Him to send the
blessings!”
The rebbe turned
back to the wall, and
the reader continued
chanting the cantillation
aloud. I had heard that
the rebbe lost his wife
and 11 children in the
Holocaust but refused
to sit shivah for them
because he could not
take time from trying
to save Jewish lives
by enabling them to leave
Europe. He himself refused
a visa for America until his
Chasidim had been saved.
After the Additional
Service ended, the rebbe rose
to speak. His words were
short and to the point, but
his eyes were warm with love,
leaving an indelible impres-
sion on my soul. “My beloved
brothers and sisters,” he said,
“pack up your belongings. We
must make one more move.
God promises that the bless-
ings which must follow the
curses will now come. They
will come not from America
but from Israel. It is time for
us to go home.”
And so Kiryat Sanz –
Klausenberg was established
in Netanya where the rebbe
built a Torah Center as well
as the Laniado Medical
Center.
Rabbi Shlomo Riskin is chancellor
of Ohr Torah Stone and chief rabbi of
Efrat, Israel.
TORAH PORTION
Rabbi
Shlomo
Riskin
Parshat
Ki Tavo:
Deuteronomy
26:1-29:8;
Isaiah
60:1-22.
AUGUST 31 • 2023 | 61