OUR COMMUNITY
A
July 6, 2023, Jewish
News article was the
conduit to solve a
small local mystery. But first,
let’s backtrack.
Meet Beverly, who’s “80+
years young,” from Detroit.
Decades ago, she used to visit
estate sales and buy different
Judaica items. At one point,
she purchased a stack of
Jewish books, and promptly
forgot about them … until the
pandemic.
“During COVID, I started
cleaning, like everyone else,”
Beverly said. “I realized I had
two matching bar mitzvah
books. One was my son’s and
one belonged to someone
called Robert Green. I didn’t
even know I had someone
else’s book! I’m very sentimen-
tal, and knew that if it was
mine I’d have loved to have it
back so I decided to find this
Robert Green and return his
book.”
Beverly called the police
but they were unable to help.
She called the Jewish News
who was able to supply her
with Robert Green’s original
bar mitzvah notice; his bar
mitzvah took place at the for-
mer B’nai David congregation
on Sept. 16, 1978 — but that
didn’t offer any more infor-
mation than the bar mitzvah
book.
“B’nai David no longer exist-
ed and no one seemed to know
who had the records,
” Beverly
explained. “My daughter spent
hours Googling on the comput-
er to no avail. Robert Green is a
pretty common name.
”
Beverly even called the state
of Michigan for help, and the
operator laughingly told her
exactly how many hundreds
of Robert Greens there are in
Michigan — and in the entire
United States!
At one point, desperate to
find the owner of the book
she’d unknowingly had in her
possession for more than 30
years, Beverly reached out to a
private detective!
“The detective said, ‘Oh,
that’s a beautiful story. I’ll see
what I can find out!’ but I
never heard from him again,
so I guess he found nothing,”
Beverly said.
After an intense six-month
search, Beverly shelved the
book and gave up.
Then, this past July, as
Beverly relaxed with a cup
of coffee and that week’s
Detroit Jewish News, she read
“Forgotten No More,” an
article about the upkeep and
recent improvements of the
B’nai David cemetery, spear-
headed by David Goldman
and Ann Zaron … and a light-
bulb switched on.
“I thought this is how I’m
going to track down Robert
Green!” Beverly promptly
reached out to Ann.
On July 22, Ann posted on
the Detroit Jewish History
Facebook page asking if any-
one knew a Robert Green
who’d had his bar mitzvah
in September 1978 at B’nai
David.
Within an hour, Karen
Simon was contacted by two
cousins and a friend, all who’d
A Jewish News article helped solve a 45-year mystery.
Long-Lost Bar Mitzvah Book
Finally Reunited with Owner
ROCHEL BURSTYN CONTRIBUTING WRITER
34 | NOVEMBER 23 • 2023
J
N
Karen Simon receives her grandparents’
yahrzeit plaques from Ann Zaron.