MAY 23 • 2024 | 83
J
N

Horowitz-Strauss
B

arbara and Michael 
Horowitz of Birmingham 
are thrilled to announce 
the engagement of their 
daughter Susan Horowitz to 
Charles (Charlie) Strauss, son 
of Grace and Charles Strauss 
of Clinton, Mich. 
Susan earned her bache-
lor’s degree from University 
of Michigan in Ann Arbor and 
her master’s of education from 
Nova Southeastern University 
in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. She is the incoming director of 
education at Temple Beth Emeth in Ann Arbor.
Charlie earned his bachelor’s degree from Western 
Michigan University and his master’s of science 
from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. He is 
employed as a graphic designer at Dynatrace LLC in 
Detroit. 
A June wedding is planned at Revel Run in Chelsea, 
Mich.

Ruben-Niskar
T

racey Niskar and Dr. 
Bruce Ruben were 
married on May 7, 2024, 
at Chabad Torah Center of 
West Bloomfield. Rabbi Shneur 
Silberberg officiated.
The bride is the daughter of 
the late Jack and Ellen Reznik. 
The broom is the son of the 
late Jerald and Sharon Ruben/
Scarpone.
The maid of honor 
was Samantha Niskar of 
Birmingham. Groomsmen were Noah and Dana Cohen 
of Bloomfield Township, Marissa Ruben of Brooklyn, 
N.Y., and Ruby Ruben of West Bloomfield.
The couple are residing in Bloomfield Township.

Finding Hope
I

n the opening of 
this week’s haftarah, 
Yirmiyahu (Jeremiah) 
has been imprisoned 
by King Tzidkiyahu for 
prophesying that the 
Babylonian army 
would soon destroy 
Jerusalem. Given 
that the Babylonians 
were at that moment 
besieging the city, 
one can forgive 
Tzidkiyahu for 
ignoring the other 
half of Yirmiyahu’s 
prophecy that the 
people would also 
return to the land 
after 70 years of 
captivity.
Yirmiyahu, however, 
is so confident that the 
people will “come and shout 
on the heights of Zion, 
radiant over God’s bounty” 
(Jeremiah 31:12), that 
he does something both 
seemingly mundane and 
wildly radical — he buys a 
piece of land. 
This is an epically Zionist 
action. This is land he 
may never farm or live on. 
Land that will know war 
and desolation. But land he 
knows will be there when 
this is all over. His land that 
will be ready to nourish, 
sustain and bless Jewish 
lives again one day. 
And yet, his own 
unshakeable faith in the 
future of Jews in Israel does 
not lead him to discount 
Jews living in the exile/
diaspora. He writes to 

the Jews in Babylonia, 
still reeling from their 
displacement, advising them 
to: “Build houses and live in 
them, plant gardens and eat 
their fruit … Multiply there, 
do not decrease, and 
seek the welfare of the 
city to which I have 
exiled you and pray to 
God on its behalf; for 
in its prosperity you 
shall prosper (29:5-8).” 
Even in the midst 
of his own peril, his 
instinct is to reach 
out to support his 
brethren. To reassure 
them that their joys, 
their successes, their 
lives are a blessing 
for him and all the people 
of Israel. And that Israel 
and the diaspora are not 
separate. Rather, they are 
one story, our story.
Yirmiyahu reminds us 
to live Jewish lives and 
do our best to help every 
community that we’re in 
to prosper. To build in the 
face of destruction. To 
love in the face of hate. To 
find common ground. To 
care for each other. That in 
times that seem hopeless, 
we always have prayer, and 
in praying we sometimes 
even find hope. And that 
when we do these things —
wherever we do them — it 
can be a blessing for all our 
people. 

Phreddy Nosanwisch is a middle 

school Judaics teacher at Hillel Day 

School of Metropolitan Detroit in 

Farmington Hills.

SPIRIT
TORAH PORTION

Phreddy 
Nosanwisch

Parshat 

Behar: 

Leviticus 

25:1-26:2; 

Jeremiah 

32:6-27.

