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