owned café famous for its 
falafel. On the way back, we 
shopped for Shabbat dinner 
at a nearby kosher supermar-
ket.
From Sydney, we took a 
train to Melbourne, where 
Andrea met us at the station. 
It was so exciting to meet 
after so many years! Andrea, 
who lives alone and normally 
uses public transportation, 
borrowed a car from her sis-
ter so she could chauffeur us 
around for two days. 
We saw many of Mel-
bourne’s beautiful beaches 
and drove over the moun-
tains to the Healesville 
Sanctuary, home to many of 
Australia’s native species of 
animals and birds, some of 
which are endangered. Of 
course, we were no strang-
ers to kangaroos, thanks 
to the excellent exhibit at 
the Detroit Zoo. But it was 
fun seeing koalas, echidnas, 
wombats, Tasmanian dev-
ils, emus, kookaburras and 
more.
On our third day in 
Melbourne, we visited the 
Victoria State Library, which 
had a fabulous special exhib-
it of Hebrew manuscripts. 
In addition to an ancient 
Torah and pages from a very 
old Talmud, we saw a let-
ter signed by the Rambam, 
Moses Maimonides, and a 
letter, in Hebrew, from an 
Italian rabbi to King Henry 
VIII of England explain-
ing why Jewish law would 

not enable him to divorce 
his first wife, Catherine of 
Aragon. 
We stayed in St. Kilda’s, 
the main Jewish area of 
Melbourne. On our first day 
there, we enjoyed lunch at 
All Things Equal, a kosher 
dairy restaurant that employs 
and supports people with 
special needs, similar to 
Detroit’s own Soul Café. 
Another day we enjoyed 
lamb shawarma at a kosher 
Israeli place.
On Friday evening, we 
visited Jen Wain, who was 
a complete stranger to us 
but had been on a tour of 
Japan a few years earlier with 
our good friends Doris and 
David Schey of Huntington 
Woods. Doris had given me 
her name, and when I asked 
Andrea if she knew her, it 
turned out Jen and Andrea’s 
sister have been best friends 
since childhood. Jen invited 
us all to Shabbat dinner. 
On Saturday, we attended 
services at Beit Aharon, a 
small synagogue inside a 
boys’ yeshivah. Although 
the services were Orthodox, 
the congregation included 
women by bringing the 
Torah to the women’s section 
for processions and having 
women do several readings. 
Beit Aharon suffers from 
a shortage of Levi’im, so Joe 
got the second aliyah. With 
the rabbi’s famous vegetarian 
cholent, our welcome could 
not have been warmer. 

OUR COMMUNITY

continued from page 25

26 | APRIL 18 • 2024 
J
N

“WE ALSO WENT TO A CONCERT 
OF VIENNESE MUSIC, MOSTLY BY 
JEWISH COMPOSERS, AT SYDNEY’S 

ORNATE GREAT SYNAGOGUE.”

— BARBARA LEWIS

F R A N K E L J E W I S H A C A D E M Y
F R A N K E L J E W I S H A C A D E M Y

A N N U A L 

THURSDAY, MAY 16, 2024

6600 West Maple Road

Sponsorships & Journal Ads

Berman Center for the Performing Arts

6:30 pm Strolling Dinner

HONORING

DISTINGUISHED FACULTY HONOREE 

ALUMNI WHO HAVE SERVED IN THE IDF SINCE OCTOBER 7, 2023
ALUMNI WHO HAVE SERVED IN THE IDF SINCE OCTOBER 7, 2023

MAX KRESCH ‘14
AVI BUCKMAN ‘11
KAMREN KERCH ‘17
DANIEL KLAUSNER ‘21
JAKE KORMAN ‘11

MIKEY SOCLOF ‘09

&

JOSH NEWMAN ‘12
ILAN BEN-AMI ‘09
ILAN BUCKMAN ‘07
DAVID DARMON ‘16
JUSTIN FARBER ‘10
ANDREA GOLDSTEIN ‘12
AARON GOSS ‘08

KEREN (WALSH) HEPNER ‘07

THANK YOU TO ALL OUR A
THANK YOU TO ALL OUR A

YAEL (KIDRON) JOSEFF ‘07

Efforts have been made to ensure the accuracy of this list. If an error has been made, please accept our apologies and contact Jackie Yashinsky at jyashinsky@frankelja.org or 248-592-5263.

Who to

who to
call

call.

when you
don’t know

During challenging times, the Detroit Jewish 

community is here to help. Managed by 

Jewish Family Service (JFS), Jhelp is staffed 

by knowledgeable professionals ready to 

guide you to the Jewish Detroit resources 

you need.

Older Adult Services • Teen & Adult Mental Health 

Support • Financial Help • And So Much More

You can also chat 

with us online at 

Jhelp.org.

Supported through the generosity of The Jewish Fund 
 and the D. Dan and Betty Kahn Family Foundation.

It’s FREE. It’s confidential. 
It’s here for you. 

Call 1-248-592-2650

