PURELY COMMENTARY continued from page 4 1942 - 2023 Covering and Connecting Jewish Detroit Every Week To make a donation to the DETROIT JEWISH NEWS FOUNDATION go to the website www.thejewishnews.com The Detroit Jewish News (USPS 275-520) is published every Thursday at 32255 Northwestern Highway, #205, Farmington Hills, Michigan. Periodical postage paid at Southfield, Michigan, and additional mailing offices. Postmaster: send changes to: Detroit Jewish News, 32255 Northwestern Highway, #205, Farmington Hills, Michigan 48334 MISSION STATEMENT The Detroit Jewish News will be of service to the Jewish community. The Detroit Jewish News will inform and educate the Jewish and general community to preserve, protect and sustain the Jewish people of greater Detroit and beyond, and the State of Israel. VISION STATEMENT The Detroit Jewish News will operate to appeal to the broadest segments of the greater Detroit Jewish community, reflecting the diverse views and interests of the Jewish community while advancing the morale and spirit of the community and advocating Jewish unity, identity and continuity. DETROIT JEWISH NEWS 32255 Northwestern Hwy. Suite 205, Farmington Hills, MI 48334 248-354-6060 thejewishnews.com Publisher The Detroit Jewish News Foundation | Board of Directors: Chair: Gary Torgow Vice President: David Kramer Secretary: Robin Axelrod Treasurer: Max Berlin Board members: Michael J. Eizelman Larry Jackier, Jeffrey Schlussel, Mark Zausmer Executive Director: Marni Raitt Senior Advisor to the Board: Mark Davidoff Alene and Graham Landau Archivist Chair: Mike Smith Founding President & Publisher Emeritus: Arthur Horwitz Founding Publisher Philip Slomovitz, of blessed memory Editorial Director of Editorial: Jackie Headapohl jheadapohl@thejewishnews.com Contributing Editors: David Sachs, Keri Guten Cohen Staff Reporter: Danny Schwartz dschwartz@thejewishnews.com Editorial Assistant: Sy Manello smanello@thejewishnews.com Digital Manager: Elizabeth King eking@thejewishnews.com Contributing Writers: Nate Bloom, Rochel Burstyn, Suzanne Chessler, Shari S. Cohen, Louis Finkelman, Samantha Foon, Yevgeniya Gazman, Stacy Gittleman, Esther Allweiss Ingber, Barbara Lewis, Jennifer Lovy, Rabbi Jason Miller, Alan Muskovitz, Karen Schwartz, Robin Schwartz, Steve Stein, Nathaniel Warshay, Julie Smith Yolles, Ashley Zlatopolsky Advertising Sales Director of Advertising: Keith Farber kfarber@thejewishnews.com Senior Account Executive: Kathy Harvey-Mitton kmitton@thejewishnews.com | Business Office Director of Operations: Amy Gill agill@thejewishnews.com Operations Manager: Andrea Gusho agusho@thejewishnews.com Operations Assistant: Ashlee Szabo Circulation: Danielle Smith Billing Coordinator: Pamela Turner | Production By Farago & Associates Manager: Scott Drzewiecki Designers: Kaitlyn Iezzi, Kelly Kosek, Michelle Sheridan 6 | OCTOBER 19 • 2023 J N Yom Kippur War, 50 years and one day later. It’s Israel’s Pearl Harbor. Akin to pogroms of Jews in Europe — except that these pogroms are happening in our home. A home is a place where you can feel safe. Hamas violated our safe Jewish home. Paramedics, police officers, concerned citizens, regular people fought valiantly, with hundreds dying to save others. Parents died protecting their babies. Heroism, plain and simple. People trapped in their “secure rooms” whispered to newscasters, I hear gunshots ringing outside my door. Friends from all over the world write-text-message me. Are you safe? Are you okay? Well, yes. We’re safe. I live in Jerusalem and not many rock- ets have landed here. We run to the stairwell when the rockets sound. But we’re not okay. Our self-image as a powerful nation that can defend itself from weaker enemies has been shattered. The social contract is bro- ken. It must be rebuilt. Israel’s greatest natural resource is its people. The togetherness and mobilization are astounding. It seems every- one is doing something for the war effort. Raising money and equipment for Israeli soldiers. Collecting food, distributing breast milk to motherless infants, providing survivors of terror with psychological support. Israel’s fanciest restaurants are turning their kitchens kosher so that they can feed soldiers. My friend created a make- shift music therapy room at a Dead Sea hotel for evacuees from the ravaged Kibbutz Be’eri. Volunteers dig graves to help the Hevre Kadisha burial society. Yesterday we paid a shivah (mourning) visit to honor a fallen soldier whom we did not know: Nathaniel Avraham Shalom Young, a Lone Soldier from England. Some 100 peo- ple gathered to hear about a handsome, affable 6-foot-4 guy with a twinkle in the eye and mischievous sense of humor. Solidarity is not limited to Israel’s Jewish citizens and res- idents. Kfar Kassem, an Israeli Arab city, opened its doors to evacuees from the south. Asylum seekers pack boxes for hundreds of displaced peo- ple. One of my close friends, Ibtisam Erekat, was the first person to reach out when the sirens sounded to make sure we were okay. Even when Israel bleeds with national and personal trauma, it beats with the will to defend itself. From the wreckage, we’ll construct hope. And from there will come the light. Ruth Ebenstein is an American-Israeli journalist, historian, public speaker and peace activist. She is writing a memoir about an Israeli-Palestinian friendship begun in a breast cancer support group. She grew up in Southfield. A shivah notice for a slain Lone Soldier from the UK.