10 | FEBRUARY 22 • 2024 J
N
A
n unlikely blending of a passion for Rubik’s
Cube and the lesson of a Torah portion
grew into a fundraising event coupling
fun and fierce competition with donations and the
raising of awareness about a meaningful cause.
In preparing for his bar mitzvah service, 13-year-
old Eli Katz, a competitive “cuber,” learned that
Parshat Bo features the words, “Let my people go,”
a phrase befitting any individual or group seeking
freedom.
From that creed, he created a bar mitzvah project
that would partner support for the Cooley Law
School Innocence Project with the World Cubing
Association (WCA).
While brainstorming with his parents, Leslie
and Mitch, about the practical lessons of his
Torah portion, Eli’s dad suggested the connection
to the Innocence Project that works to free wrongly
convicted individuals serving prison sentences
for crimes they did not commit. Eli’s grandfather,
Lawrence Katz, a West Bloomfield criminal appellate
attorney who has represented wrongfully convicted
persons who were eventually released from prison,
was enthusiastic about the idea and offered guidance.
“I knew I wanted to focus on freedom because
3-D puzzle competition raises
funds for wrongly imprisoned.
‘Solve 4 Justice’
SHELLI LIEBMAN DORFMAN CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Eli Katz at a cubing competition
Solve 4 Justice
Southfield 2024
competition
JERI FISHMAN
OUR COMMUNITY
ON THE COVER