OUR COMMUNITY
continued from page 14
ON THE COVER
added a mitzvah to her Oct.
14 bat mitzvah when her
family decided they would
add mezuzah decorating to
their event and send guests
home with mezuzahs, scrolls
and all — that they could
hang in their homes.
“It made me feel good
because you should
celebrate that you’re Jewish,
and we celebrated that at
my bat mitzvah by making
mezuzahs,” she says. “I
hope they took it as a good
meaningful experience, and
they took it and put it on
their doors.”
Her father, Dr. Bryan
Weinstein, and his wife,
Dr. Roya Soleymani, got
the idea for their youngest
child’s bat mitzvah after
Bryan talked with Rabbi Levi
Shemtov following the Oct 7.
tragedy in Israel. They had a
Havdalah service and party
planned, but he wasn’t sure
how to move forward with a
celebration just a week later.
“[The rabbi] said, ‘Why
don’t we think of doing
something that elevates
the night into a much more
spiritual place, so it’s not
just a party, but rather, an
elevation of spirituality,’”
Bryan Weinstein recalls.
“That really resonated with
me. He brought up the idea
of making mezuzahs at the
bat mitzvah and getting
everyone to add an extra
mezuzah to the home.”
They let guests know, too,
that Shemtov could help get
the mezuzahs on their doors
if they needed it.
“I got on the mic and said
to the whole crowd that the
way we fight this in America
is we don’t back away from
our celebrations because
that’s what the terrorists
want, they want us to be
scared,” Bryan says. “And
we won’t be scared, we’re
always going to celebrate
our Torah and celebrate our
traditions and celebrate our
people.”
Rabbi Benny Greenwald
of Friendship Circle in
West Bloomfield points out
that the mezuzah is more
than just the sometimes-
ornate case that goes on
the door. It’s the scrolls
inside, checked to make
sure they’re kosher, and
the unique energy of
the mitzvah that give
the mezuzah meaning,
he says. “To me, it’s a
time to re-examine my
mezuzah,” he says. “I try and
encourage people to make
sure they have mezuzahs
on their doors.”
— Karen Schwartz,
Contributing Writer
continued from page 14
Rabbi Bentzi Geisinsky helped the Katz
family of Birmingham put up
their mezuzah.
FINDING SAFE SPACES
Brooke Leiberman of Farmington
Hills says she’s seen more moms
ask to join the Jewish Moms of
Metro Detroit group on Facebook
in past weeks than they have in a
long time, adding that she thinks
they’re coming together to find
support as they face the unknown.
Leiberman is one of the founders
and administrators for the group.
“There’s been talk on the Jewish
Moms board about how you can
protect yourself, and debate with-
in the community about what’s
appropriate and what’s not appro-
priate,” she says. “We just feel like
we’re the safe place where people
can ask those questions, where
they can talk with other Jewish
women about how they’re feeling
and how their kids are feeling.”
Meanwhile, she says, her daugh-
ter recently presented about
Judaism to her culture class at
Farmington STEAM Academy in
Farmington Hills. Additionally,
she says her daughter has friends
there from many different cul-
tures, and that she and her hus-
band, Chaim, have reinforced to
her that other students should also
be allowed to express their own
beliefs, as long as they’re not wish-
ing her harm.
Chaim Leiberman, who helps
moderate a Facebook group for
Israelis in Michigan, says he’s
concerned about recent events but
also resolute in showing Jewish
pride.
“I’m all for not hiding who I am,
and at work, I don’t hide that I’m
Israeli and I don’t hide that I’m
Jewish — everybody knows it,” he
says.
At the same time, he explains,
it’s important to be mindful of
one’s surroundings and, as they say
in Israel, that it’s better to be smart
than to be right.
With security in mind,
Leiberman says he might put
more cameras around the house
but won’t be taking down the sign
that says his name in Hebrew on
his door or the Israeli flag that’s
in his garage. And he’s upped his
security mindset as well, making
sure events he’s working on, such
as a recent gathering of some 60
Israelis, had security. “That’s not
something in the past that we put
any emphasis on, but that definite-
ly changed,” he adds.
BE JEWISH, BE PROUD
Rabbi Asher Lopatin of
Huntington Woods, local executive
director of the Jewish Community
Relations Council/American
Jewish Committee and rabbi of
Kehillat Etz Chaim in Huntington
Woods, says the large Israeli flag
in his front window didn’t seem
to discourage any trick-or-treaters
on Halloween, and that they had
no issues or complaints. He says
he doesn’t want to live in fear or
to give antisemitism a victory over
him and his family by worrying
about it.
There are risks to being visibly
Jewish, he says, citing the kippah
he wears on his head, as well as
having mezuzahs up or wearing
Jewish symbol-based jewelry.
However, there are also risks to
driving cars, he notes, but people
take those risks because of the
value that capability provides.
“I think we have to think of our
Judaism as essential as driving my
car. Judaism is as essential as that.”
He urges caution, he says —
and reminds his daughters at
University of Michigan not to walk
home alone at night, but with a
message of Jewish pride. “I’m not
saying be foolish, but I’m saying be
Jewish; don’t give up your Judaism,
don’t let them win.”
Moreover, he says people across
Metro Detroit are standing up for
the Jewish community. “We have
a list of 25 names of clergy —
Black, Christian, Muslim, Hindu,
Chaldean — they’re all standing
up for us. We have to be proud
and be proud of our Judaism.”
16 | NOVEMBER 30 • 2023
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