M
ere months after the war
began, naturally everyone’s
pain-filled hearts were in
the east.
“There’s a war in Israel; hostages
remain captive; families are displaced
… It’s difficult to celebrate or switch
emotional gears,
” Dr. Janet Snider
of Southfield said to the stand-
ing-room-only crowd at The Piano
Place in Troy last spring. “Somehow,
music has the power to unify and
transform us, whatever we are feeling.
”
The “Memorable Musical
Happening,
” organized by Patty Ross
of Southfield and Andrea Strosberg of
Oak Park, was a women-only event
dedicated in honor of Mrs. Henchie
Greenfield, who passed away in
February. The event’s program stated:
“Mrs. Greenfield A
’H throughout the
many years of Matan B’Seter’s existence
was quietly a huge driving force behind
much of the organization’s activities. In
her quiet and forever joyful manner,
she made sure that every coin distrib-
uted in our community was a coin
made out of ‘fire’ — i.e., given with a
burning desire to give and help.
”
Dr. Snider shared that to date, Matan
B’Seter had distributed hundreds of
thousands of dollars in the last year to
more than 170 local families with dig-
nity and kindness.
More about Mrs. Greenfield’s
behind-the-scenes involvement with
the organization was written by her
children and presented by her good
friend Miriam Carmen.
Fittingly, the funds raised from the
afternoon benefit concert in honor of
Mrs. Greenfield were being donated to
Matan B’Seter.
When Ross warmly welcomed the
crowd, she shared that it had been
a long-held dream of hers to share
music with the community, but find-
ing a venue had been a challenge. She
gratefully presented Grant Wolach,
manager of The Piano Place, a token of
appreciation for his willingness to host
the event.
A SPECIAL CONCERT
And then the music began! It included
both standard and classical pieces as
well as music by well-known Jewish
composers.
Devorah Moskowitz began with
a solo piano composition, her own
original spoof titled “Old Dog, New
Tricks.
” Next, with Strosberg on the
violin and Ross on the piano, attend-
ees heard “
Allegro” by Joseph-Hector
Fiocco and “Barcarolle” by Peter Ilyitch
Tchaikovsky. “Presto” by Michael Head
was then performed by Samantha
Wunderlich on the oboe and Ross on
the piano, followed by a solo piece by
Ross: “
Arabesque No. 1” by Claude
Debussy.
“It was deeply fulfilling for us musi-
cians to prepare for the concert and
perform for an audience of women,
sharing the music that is so important
to us with the broader community,
”
Strosberg said.
Miriam Robins of Southfield sang
a heartfelt song she had written to an
Ishay Ribo tune titled, “Mommy, We
Love You,
” and dedicated it to her own
mother, Rachel Bensimon, who had
flown in for the occasion from Florida.
Like Ross and Strosberg, Robins felt
exhilarated and grateful to perform. “I
express myself through music. What
better way to present my love than
through a song I constructed to give
the message I wanted to convey? To
sing for my mother, my role model,
was such a special experience. It felt
surreal and so impactful,
” Robins said.
Mirjam Gunz-Schwarcz and Seema
Selmar sang a duet of “Y’hi Shalom,
”
followed by the well-known song
“Neshomele” by Abie Rotenberg, sung
by Robins and Galina Feldman, and
accompanied by Strosberg on violin
and Ross on piano.
A small choir of eighth-grade girls
from Beth Jacob — Ahuva Baumol,
Chana Edelstein, Sarah Shirley Erez,
Adina Greenwald, Atarah Huber,
Esther Huber, Meira Kott, Leora Lange,
Sari Naiman and Shira Naiman — sang
“Eishes Chayil” composed by Yitzy
Waldner.
The event ended on a high note
when Emunah Herschfus of Southfield
led the crowd in a heartwarming
“kumsitz choir” with hand-picked pop-
ular Hebrew songs that spoke of faith
in dark times and hope for the future.
“I’ve been feeling really sad and use-
less lately,
” one attendee shared later.
“But there was something so special
about singing all together like that; it
was like we were praying together. I
left feeling so uplifted and better than I
had in ages. I hope there will be anoth-
er event like this again soon.
”
Indeed, after hearing the waves of
positive feedback, Ross and Strosberg
hope to plan another similar event in
the future.
“This concert was about five years in
the making,
” Ross shared. “We started
learning some of the classical pieces
five years ago; most of the Jewish
music were original arrangements
that took many hours to create. After
seeing how joyful and exciting the
experience was and how grateful the
attendees were, we’
d love to do it again!
It was such a pleasurable experience for
everyone.
”
Concert in honor of
Mrs. Henchie Greenfield raises
money for Matan B’Seter.
26 | AUGUST 22 • 2024 J
N
Concert performers
from L to R:
Galina Feldman,
Andrea Strosberg,
Samantha
Wunderlich, Seema
Selmar, Patty Ross,
Miriam Robins,
Mirjam Gunz-
Schwarcz and
Emunah Hershfus.
OUR COMMUNITY
A Memorable Musical Happening
ROCHEL BURSTYN CONTRIBUTING WRITER