1942 - 2024

Covering and Connecting 
Jewish Detroit Every Week

To make a donation to the 
DETROIT JEWISH NEWS 
FOUNDATION
go to the website
www.thejewishnews.com

The Detroit Jewish News (USPS 275-520) 

is published every Thursday at 

32255 Northwestern Highway, #205, 

Farmington Hills, Michigan. Periodical 

postage paid at Southfield, Michigan, and 

additional mailing offices. 

Postmaster: send changes to: 

Detroit Jewish News, 

32255 Northwestern Highway, #205, 

Farmington Hills, Michigan 48334

MISSION STATEMENT The Detroit Jewish News will be of service to the Jewish community. The Detroit Jewish 
News will inform and educate the Jewish and general community to preserve, protect and sustain the Jewish 
people of greater Detroit and beyond, and the State of Israel.

VISION STATEMENT The Detroit Jewish News will operate to appeal to the broadest segments of the greater 
Detroit Jewish community, reflecting the diverse views and interests of the Jewish community while advancing the 
morale and spirit of the community and advocating Jewish unity, identity and continuity.

DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
32255 Northwestern Hwy. Suite 205,
Farmington Hills, MI 48334
248-354-6060
thejewishnews.com

 
 
Publisher
The Detroit Jewish News 
Foundation

| Board of Directors:
 Chair: Gary Torgow
 Vice President: David Kramer 
 Secretary: Robin Axelrod
 Treasurer: Max Berlin
 Board members: Mark Davidoff, 
 Michael J. Eizelman, Larry Jackier, 
 Jeffrey Schlussel, Mark Zausmer
 
 Executive Director:
 Marni Raitt 
 Alene and Graham Landau Archivist Chair: 
 Mike Smith
 Founding President & Publisher Emeritus: 
 Arthur Horwitz
 Founding Publisher 
 Philip Slomovitz, of blessed memory
 
 The Detroit Jewish News 
 Foundation Giving Society

 The Rebecca and Andrew Hayman Giving Fund
 Nancy and James Grosfeld
 The Honorable Bernard Friedman

 Editorial 
 Director of Editorial: 
 Jackie Headapohl
jheadapohl@thejewishnews.com
Contributing Editors: 
David Sachs, Keri Guten Cohen
Senior Staff Reporter: 
Danny Schwartz 
dschwartz@thejewishnews.com
Editorial Assistant: 
Sy Manello
smanello@thejewishnews.com 
Digital Manager:
Elizabeth King 
eking@thejewishnews.com 

Contributing Writers:
Nate Bloom, Rochel Burstyn, 
Suzanne Chessler, Shari S. Cohen, 
Louis Finkelman, Samantha Foon, 
Yevgeniya Gazman, Stacy Gittleman, 
Gary Graff, Esther Allweiss Ingber, 
Barbara Lewis, Jennifer Lovy, Rabbi 
Jason Miller, Alan Muskovitz, Karen 
Schwartz, Robin Schwartz, Steve Stein, 
Nathaniel Warshay, Julie Smith Yolles, 
Ashley Zlatopolsky 

 Advertising Sales 
Director of Advertising: Keith Farber
kfarber@thejewishnews.com
Senior Account Executive: 
Kathy Harvey-Mitton
kmitton@thejewishnews.com 

| Business Office
 Director of Operations: Amy Gill
 agill@thejewishnews.com
 Operations Manager: Ashlee Szabo 
 Circulation: Danielle Smith
 Billing Coordinator: Pamela Turner

| Production By 
 Farago & Associates
 Manager: Scott Drzewiecki 
 Designers: Kaitlyn Iezzi, Kelly Kosek, 
 Michelle Sheridan 

6 | JULY 11 • 2024 
J
N

PURELY COMMENTARY

essay
Something to Celebrate
T

he Shehechiyanu 
— one of Judaism’s 
best-known, if hardest-
to-transliterate, prayers — is 
popular for good reason. 
Over the 
millennia, Jews 
have recited 
it to celebrate 
simchahs, 
express joy and 
give thanks for 
new things. A 
new job, a new 
home, a new diploma, and 
even new hope can give rise 
to the desire to recite the 
Shehechiyanu.
To that end, Gesher Human 
Services is gratefully giving 
thanks for arriving at this 
season of new.
So, what’s new? What am I 
celebrating? 
Certainly there have 
been countless occasions to 

celebrate in the two-plus years 
since Gesher was created 
when JVS and Kadima, two 
of our community’s premier 
human service agencies, 
merged. Every day, I give 
thanks as my 400+ colleagues 
support 2,500 members of 
our Jewish community and 
another 24,000 of our friends 
and neighbors at work, at 
home and in the community. 
I give thanks as we’re 
about to celebrate the 50th 
anniversary of the JOIN 
program — Jewish college 
students working at our 
communal agencies and 
learning about our community 
each day. And I give thanks 
to our board of directors and 
generous donors who support 
the people we serve.
Today, however, I am giving 
thanks to the Macomb and 
St. Clair County Workforce 

Board for awarding Gesher a 
$1.7 million contract annually 
to operate it’s WIOA Adult 
and Dislocated Worker 
programs. WIOA, or the 
Workforce Innovation and 
Opportunity Act, is a federal 
program that serves job 
seekers and helps employers 
meet their workforce needs in 
myriad ways. 
In the coming months, 
Gesher team members will 
begin staffing offices in 
Warren, Roseville, Clinton 
Township and Port Huron to 
provide these services to any 
Michigander who chooses to 
enter one of those offices for 
support.
Gesher has operated a 
Michigan Works! office in 
Waterford and a Detroit-at-
Work office at the Durfee 
Innovation Society (the old 
Durfee school!) for a number 

of years, and both offices are 
at the top of their respective 
county’s performance metrics. 
This track record of success 
certainly helped us secure this 
new contract.
But, b’resheet, “in the 
beginning,
” Gesher’s 
predecessor JVS operated its 
Business & Career Services 
department for decades. 
Supported by the Jewish 
Federation of Detroit and 
operating under different 
names since 1941, Gesher’s 
current success is built on the 
foundation of helping Jewish 
Detroiters get a better job, build 
a better life for their families, 
and passing on success l’dor 
va’dor — from generation to 
generation.
While Gesher’s new work in 
Macomb and St. Clair counties 
won’t be to the primary benefit 
of the Jewish community — 

Paul Blatt

