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