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.