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…DECEMBER 16 • 2021 | 37 ill and was at the point of death. The prophet Isaiah, son of Amoz, went to him and said, ‘This is what the Lord says: Put your house in order, because you are going to die; you will not recover.’ Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord, ‘Remember, Lord, how I have walked before you faithfully and with wholehearted devotion and have done what is good in your eyes.’ And Hezekiah wept bitte...…

…38 | DECEMBER 16 • 2021 T his Shabbat Genesis con- cludes with the death of patriarch Jacob. Until now, we hear only brief details regarding the deaths of personalities and there is no mention of any illnesses preceding a death. Jacob becomes the first of our ancestors to be identi- fied as sick. As Jacob nears the end, his son Joseph is informed of his father’s illness, prompting Joseph to see Jacob. Joseph is told: Hineh Avi...…

…DECEMBER 16 • 2021 | 39 ARTS&LIFE BOOK REVIEW I t is 1924. The Soviet Army had drafted two of the sons of widow Gellis, and then sent notice that the boys were dead. She was not going to let the army get another of her sons. By the time David Gellis reached draft age at his 16th birth- day, she had arranged a plan for him to escape. He would hide in the concealed closet in the basement. On that birthday, when the soldiers searched...…

…40 | DECEMBER 16 • 2021 A “NORMAL” KENNEDY CENTER HONORS AND A LAST, MOVING NOTE The Kennedy Centers Honors are annually given to five people in the per- forming arts for their lifetime contributions to American culture. The honorees this year are Lorne Michaels, 77, Bette Midler, 76, Motown Records founder Berry Gordy, Justino Diaz, a Puerto Rican opera singer, and famous singer/songwrit- er Joni Mitchell. The Honors are a week...…

…DECEMBER 16 • 2021 | 41 HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS DEC. 17-19 Two shows on Friday and Saturday at Orchestra Hall in Detroit. share Detroit’s favorite holiday musical tradition with family and friends and thrill to the spectacle of the season. Stuart Chafetz returns to lead a sparkling celebration with carols and classics that sells out year after year. To protect the health and well-being of its patrons, musicians and staff due to ...…

…sports HIGHlights brought to you in partnership with NMLS#2289 42 | DECEMBER 16 • 2021 Jackie Kallen is the First Lady of Boxing, the most successful female manager in boxing history. She’s also a sought-after and pro- lific public speaker. So much so that Bruce Merrin’s Celebrity Speakers Bureau and Kallen reached an agreement this month to have the speakers bureau represent the 75-year-old West Bloomfield resi- dent. “They’re t...…

…DECEMBER 16 • 2021 | 43 The Brotherhood-Eddie Jacobson B’nai B’rith bowling league is rolling toward the end of the first half of the 2021-22 season after being shut down in the 2020- 21 season because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Here were the standings in the weekly league — which requires bowlers to be vaccinated against COVID- 19 — following competition Dec. 6 at Country Lanes in Farmington Hills: PISTONS DIVISION 1. The Rolling ...…

…BUSINESS 44 | DECEMBER 16 • 2021 I n late October, it was announced that Detroit- based financial media plat- form and analytics business Benzinga was majority acquired at a nine-digit valuation by private equity firm Beringer Capital. Benzinga founder/CEO Jason Raznick refers to this phase of Benzinga as entering its “second inning” of what they will build. “Created by the people for the people,” the tech-enabled Benzinga delive...…

…Ingredients 8 oz. whole milk ricotta cheese 8 oz. (1 large log) goat cheese, softened at room temperature ¼ cup heavy cream 1½ oz. (by weight) honey ¼ tsp. kosher salt 1 tsp. vanilla extract or vanilla paste 9¾ oz. (by weight) all-purpose flour 3 oz. (by weight) granulated white sugar 2½ tsp. baking powder Honey Fig jam Lemon zest Directions 1. Using an electric mixer, cream together the ricotta, goat cheese and heavy cream to create a...…

…Call today for your free in-home consultation 248.855.8747 Caren Bass Custom Closets,Inc. WHERE PROFESSIONAL SERVICE MAKES THE DIFFERENCE as featured on HGTV Leading the industry with over 30 years experience in the Metro Detroit Area. Now also organizing the Metro Denver Area with our 2nd location Custom Closets, West, Inc. Call today for your free in-home consultation Aaron Mendelson Heating and Cooling 248-855-0437 Cell: 248-91...…

…DECEMBER 16 • 2021 | 47 B ruce H. Rosen, 86, of Bloomfield Hills and Boca Raton, Fla., died Dec. 7, 2021. He was born in Detroit in 1935. As a young child, he worked weekends for his father, who owned a small business in the Eastern Market. Many years later, he expanded that business and became the chairman of the board of Supreme Distributors Company, founded in 1946, one of the largest national distributors of brand-name...…

…48 | DECEMBER 16 • 2021 OBITUARIES OF BLESSED MEMORY A former Detroit businessman, Zoltan “Zoli” Rubin of Farmington Hills died Dec. 4, 2021, at the age of 103½. Just a few years ago, on the occasion of his 101st birth- day party, Zoli called himself “a stubborn old man. ” His stubbornness was born of a life devoted to survival and devotion to Judaism. Zoli said the one thing that contributed to his long life was this stub- bor...…

…DECEMBER 16 • 2021 | 49 Hagerstown, MD 21741-5030, donate.doctorswithoutborders. org/onetime.cfm. Arrangements by Ira Kaufman Chapel. ALAN EIDELMAN, 77, of Commerce Township, died Dec. 5, 2021. He is survived by his wife, Sandra Eidelman; daughters and sons-in-law, Lisa and Joshua Cutler, and Lori and Mark Langenderfer; grandchildren, Emma, Zoe, Alexa, Riley and Payton; brother and sister-in- law, David and Judy Eidelman; sist...…

…OBITUARIES OF BLESSED MEMORY 50 | DECEMBER 16 • 2021 continued from page 49 Joshua Sims, and Emma and Benjamin Fellows; brother and sister-in-law, Steven and Sheryl Fellows; sister, Rosalind Gumenick; sister-in-law, Loretta Littky. He is also survived by his loving companion, Frances Wolok; her children, Jeffrey and Linda Wolok, and Ronald and Lori Semel; and her grandchil- dren, Adam, Adelina, Caleb and Elianna Wolok, and Lilli ...…

…DECEMBER 16 • 2021 | 51 continued on page 52 Don; they were married on June 26, 1960. Eileen loved to spend time with her family. Also, she loved working out, and she skied for most of her adult life in northern Michigan and Snowbird, Utah. She also spent summers boating in Boyne City, rotating with her children and grandchildren. Eileen continued to enjoy the outdoors and remained active when she could by hiking with Don and he...…

…52 | DECEMBER 16 • 2021 OBITUARIES OF BLESSED MEMORY (Arlene) Green, the late Betty (the late Chuck) Crisp, the late Ted (Eloise) Green, and the late Loyce (the late Kathryn) Green. He is also survived by many loving nieces, nephews, dear friends; neighbors, Jim and Mary Schirmer; and his loving caregiver, Barbra Waegner. A memorial service will be held at Ira Kaufman Chapel on Sunday, Dec. 19, at 2 p.m. Contributions may be made...…

…DECEMBER 16 • 2021 | 53 S tephen Sondheim, the Jewish lyricist and composer who redefined the American musical through a monumental canon of influential and innovative theatrical works, died Nov. 26, 2021, at 91. Sondheim’s stunning debut came writing the lyrics to Leonard Bernstein’s score for West Side Story in 1957, at age 27. Sondheim was born to Jewish parents in New York City but raised without any formal Jewish backgrou...…

…Looking Back From the William Davidson Digital Archive of Jewish Detroit History accessible at www.djnfoundation.org 54 | DECEMBER 16 • 2021 People of the Book I am a dinosaur. While I spend several hours every day reading online news and stories, when I want to seriously read, I still turn to books. You know, those old-fashioned, paper-based things that you hold in your hands. No scrolling down the screen: When reading a book, y...…

…See Our Improved Features to Help Manage Your Account! • Online Account Access for Immediate Updates • Submit Address Changes, Starts and Stops • Easy Renewal Payments • Manage Gift Subscriptions • More ways to get in touch Email Us: subscriptions@thejewishnews.com Reach Out Through Our Website: https://thejewishnews.com/contact/ Or Call 248.351.5108 Subscribe Today! $200 Feb. 11-17, 2021 / 29 Shevat-5 Adar 5781 JEWISH NEW...…

…People are at the heart of what we do. At its heart, a business is about people. A group of people coming together to create something bigger than themselves. To create a solution or a product or an experience in the service of other people. At Huntington, it’s our belief that running a business is about more than making money, it’s about making people’s lives better. So let’s roll up our sleeves and get to work, together. Member FDIC. ⬢...…

…$200 Sept. 16-22, 2021 / 10-16 Tishri 5782 JEWISH NEWS JEWISH NEWS THE DETROIT thejewishnews.com Our Local Heroes Remembering How grassroots efforts, secret trips and rallies paved the way for Soviet Jewish freedom. See page 10 …

…248-762-5319 M E R E D I T H @ M E R E D I T H C O L B U R N . C O M M E R E D I T H C O L B U R N . C O M 4 4 2 S . O L D W O O D W A R D A V E . , B I R M I N G H A M , M I 4 8 0 0 9 — P R O V I D I N G A L U X U R Y E X P E R I E N C E A T E V E R Y P R I C E — MEREDITH COLBURN R E A L E S T A T E …

…SEPTEMBER 16 • 2021 | 3 contents PURELY COMMENTARY 4-9 Essays and viewpoints. OUR COMMUNITY 10 Remembering Our Local Heroes How grassroots efforts, secret trips and rallies paved the way for Soviet Jewish freedom. 14 A Little Bit of Israel at Camp Tamarack Tamarack had 35 Israeli staff members this summer, the most ever. 16 Putting Out the Welcome Mat Ann Arbor Jewish agency prepares for influx of hundreds of...…

…4 | SEPTEMBER 16 • 2021 wise and otherwise That’s a Slap in the Face S ixty-five years ago, in 1956, the rabbis who taught Hebrew sub- jects at the Yeshiva Beth Yehudah, then located on Dexter and Cortland, were allowed to slap male students for not behaving properly during class. Each teacher had a dif- ferent type of slap. Most slapped across the face, some harder than others. Two longtime teachers were different kinds of hitter...…

…SEPTEMBER 16 • 2021 | 5 1120 E Kearsley St, Flint 810.234.1695 flintarts.org The Sheppy Dog Fund, Dr. Alan Klein, Advisor, presents topics of art, religion, and history through its funded lecture series. Guest Lecturer Dr. Taylor Hagood Resplendent in its elaborate beauty, baroque art embodies an era of immense religious upheaval in Western culture—the Catholic Counter-Reformation. In this lecture, Taylor Hagood will explore the fo...…

…D uring the Sukkot holiday, the Pico- Robertson neighbor- hood of Los Angeles erupts in joyful celebration. Our 40-plus kosher restaurants all have suk- kot attached. \ There’s a sukkah on top of Ralph’s supermarket. One could con- ceivably sukkah hop to a different hut every five minutes and not exhaust the inventory. Google “Sukkah’s on Fire” to see my music video showcasing an assortment of local sukkot, accompanied by a wac...…

…SEPTEMBER 16 • 2021 | 7 JFMD & UJF 21-22 Annual Meeting Tuesday, October 5, 2021 7:30 pm The Berman Center for the Performing Arts Jewish Community Center 6600 W. Maple Road, West Bloomfield Masks will be required Virtual option available Link will be emailed to registrants prior to the event Register at: jewishdetroit.org/annualmeeting Meeting Highlights Presentation of Federation’s Highest Honor The Fred M. Butzel Memorial Award f...…

…8 | SEPTEMBER 16 • 2021 D uring their meetings at the White House on Aug. 27, President Joe Biden told Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett that the U.S. is committed “to ensur[ing] Iran never develops a nuclear weapon … We’re putting diplomacy first and seeing where that takes us. But if diplomacy fails, we’re ready to turn to other options. ” The Biden administration made it clear from the get-go that it intended to ret...…

…E very year during the High Holidays, Jews recite a litany of ways we have fallen short in a confessional prayer. Known as a viddui, the prayer is a centerpiece of our Yom Kippur liturgy. This year, we again will reflect on our shortcomings. But one takeaway from the past year is that even when we do our best, it may not be enough. So many of us joyously awaited the return to in-person High Holiday services, only to ha...…

…OUR COMMUNITY I n the early 1970s, a slow trickle of Soviet Jewish refugees reset- tled in Metro Detroit. They gave up life in the USSR to pursue religious freedom and better opportunities for their families. What started as a few hun- dred immigrants steadily began to pick up speed. By the late 1980s and particularly the mid- 1990s, following the collapse of the Soviet Union, the trickle turned into a wave and thou- sands of Sovie...…

…SEPTEMBER 16 • 2021 | 11 Remembering Our Local Heroes continued on page 12 Soviet Jewry was organized by a small group of deeply committed activists. This, Yost explains, paved the way for a wider communal movement to launch several years later. Piece-by-piece, awareness of what Soviet Jews were experi- encing daily made its way to Jewish leadership in the Metro Detroit community. They learned that many Soviet Jews experienced co...…

…12 | SEPTEMBER 16 • 2021 OUR COMMUNITY continued from page 11 R ae Sharfman of West Bloomfield calls herself “just a small soldier in a big movement.” She started volunteering to help save Soviet Jewry shortly after the first Leningrad Trial, which happened on Dec. 15, 1970. In it, a group of Soviet Jews was charged with attempting to hijack a small Soviet commercial plane. Their aim was to reroute it to Sweden from where they wou...…

…SEPTEMBER 16 • 2021 | 13 OUR COMMUNITY to take matters into their own hands. They boarded a plane en route to Moscow and later Leningrad with luggage full of clothing, religious articles, medicine and electronics Soviet Jews could later sell, like cameras. “We went as tourists,” Weiner recalls, “and at night we’d sneak out after dinner to see Soviet Jewish families.” While in Soviet airspace, they didn’t dare utter a word of the...…

…OUR COMMUNITY A fter Tamarack’s summer 2020 programming was canceled due to COVID-19, Tamarack returned this summer with calculated safety measures in place. While Israeli campers were not able to make it to camp, 35 Israeli staff members, the most ever, brought Israel to life this summer. “This year we had an Israeli counselor in every village, ” said Carly Weinstock, director of Tamarack’s Camp Maas. “The Israeli camper program ...…

…SEPTEMBER 16 • 2021 | 15 it just gives you a bigger, more detailed picture.” Hazon said it’s through those personal connections at Tamarack that she’s made best friends for life. “That’s the biggest impact, having Jewish-American people here and having best friends from Israel and keeping in touch with them — that’s the best thing there could be.” Hazon, 22, was a Tamarack camper one time in 2012. This summer was her first time ...…

…16 | SEPTEMBER 16 • 2021 OUR COMMUNITY A s chaos and vio- lence wash over Taliban-controlled Afghanistan, resettlement agencies across the U.S. are preparing to support an influx of Afghan refugees fleeing the country. Jewish Family Services of Washtenaw County, which has a robust resettlement program in place, is one of the agencies getting ready to help. They’re now resettling their first Afghan refugee since the violence esc...…

…SEPTEMBER 16 • 2021 | 17 conceptions about any Jewish organization is that they only serve Jewish individuals, ” Eadeh describes, “but we serve every- body in our community. “It doesn’t matter what any- body’s income status is, ” Eadeh continues. “If somebody has a need, we will do our best to meet that need within our ser- vices. ” JFS helps refugees like those from Afghanistan from the day they arrive in the U.S. until the day they...…

…OUR COMMUNITY W hen Delta Air Lines put out a call for crews to operate an urgent flight out of Germany, which at the time was simply coded as a “military operation, ” Southfield-based pilot Captain Alexander Kahn happened to have a few free days in his monthly schedule. “I accepted the rotation, ” Kahn, 52 and a member of Southfield’s Young Israel syn- agogue, says. What the pilot didn’t know is that he would be flying a plane ...…

…Air Base was central to military operations and the place where freed hostages, injured soldiers from war zones and more were taken before making their way home to the U.S., the mission came full circle for Kahn, the son of a Holocaust survivor. “My father was liberated from Buchenwald concentra- tion camp by Patton’s 3rd Army on April 18, 1945, ” he said. “Having lost his parents and most of the rest of his family in the Holocaus...…

…OUR COMMUNITY 20 | SEPTEMBER 16 • 2021 O n Sept. 22, 2021, the United Nations is holding a one-day event to celebrate the 20th anniversary of its first World Conference Against Racism, held in Durban, South Africa, in 2001. This is a dubious com- memoration. The first Conference, Durban I, infa- mously devolved into an antisemitic, anti-Israel hate fest. This is well-docu- mented. For a firsthand account of the Conference, ...…

…SEPTEMBER 16 • 2021 | 21 eral flyers lauding Hitler and indicating that the outcomes would have been favorable had he won — including no Israel. Neturei Karta — opponents of Zionism — stood in the streets showing their own placards declaring that Zionism was not Judaism and the like, shar- ing the demonstrations with real Jew-haters. The atmosphere in the huge and impressive media center was, fortunately, very different. There was...…

…22 | SEPTEMBER 16 • 2021 Y ou don’t need a sukkah to celebrate the festival of Sukkot this year, just ask The Well. Sukkot Sounds (powered by The Well) is a grassroots initia- tive to pair local musical artists and educators with hosts to co-create gatherings that enrich, diversify and revitalize the ancient Jewish cultural celebra- tion of Sukkot. There are many ways to par- ticipate in Sukkot Sounds. People can host or attend a ...…

…SEPTEMBER 16 • 2021 | 23 B ’nai Moshe is thrilled to have one of, if not the only, “living” genizah on the grounds of a synagogue in Metro Detroit — perhaps the country even. A genizah is a place to bury ritual items such as damaged prayer books, tallitot and other ritual objects that should not be thrown away. Over time, the contents of the genizah will become one with the Earth. This summer, Zachary Friedman led a group in ...…

…T wo University of Michigan students from Alpha Epsilon Pi found a creative way to raise funds and awareness for mental health challenges on campus. By selling customized hats, the pair raised nearly $1,000 for Friendship Circle’s UMatter. “Your story isn’t over,” states the front of the cap. On the side, it reads “National Suicide Awareness Month” with a hotline number. For someone struggling with thoughts of suicide, this powerfu...…

…SEPTEMBER 16 • 2021 | 25 stories to hundreds of people in the audience, knowing I played a role in getting these conversations out there really meant a lot to me,” Stone said. Even after leaving for college, UMatter’s mission never left Stone’s mind. Brecher and Stone’s donation will help UMatter programming continue impacting teens in the community. “Jonah found a remarkable way to continue supporting UMatter’s programming ...…

…26 | SEPTEMBER 16 • 2021 OUR COMMUNITY A cross Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, antisemitism is no stranger to American Jews. Jonah Liss, 18, a recent grad- uate of International Academy in Bloomfield Township, while scrolling through Twitter, unfortu- nately saw messages such as “I wish Hitler was still alive, ” “Kill the Jews” and other hate directed at Jews. He then felt it was his duty to research the instances of...…

…SEPTEMBER 16 • 2021 | 27 faces&places About 900 Metro Detroit chil- dren in need, identified by 21 local human service agencies and schools, received new winter jackets, gloves/mittens, hats, socks, masks, pants/ leggings, books, sweatshirts, underwear, toothbrush/tooth- paste, bookmarks and greet- ing cards at the slightly modi- fied Back 2 School Store. The Aug. 12 drive-through event arranged by the National Council of Jewish Wom...…

…28 | SEPTEMBER 16 • 2021 faces&places A winery tour in Israel might be a bit difficult to take right now, so NEXTGen Detroit, Federation’s young adult division, brought the tour to more than 45 young adults on Aug. 11. The group gathered at Dayspace Studio in Royal Oak and sampled a diverse collection from multiple regions in Israel, beginning with a blind strolling tasting and finishing with a formal sitdown pairing. Wine Gu...…

…SEPTEMBER 16 • 2021 | 29 NATIONAL P resident Joe Biden will nominate Deborah Lipstadt, the Emory University Holocaust historian, to be the State Department’s antisemitism envoy. The White House alerted top Biden supporters of the pick, which has been expect- ed for weeks, in late July. Lipstadt is perhaps best known for defeating Holocaust denier David Irving after he sued her in a British court for def- amation for calling him ...…

…Q : What were your early experiences of Zionism when you were growing up? Rochelle Zelcer: Growing up, I went to Akiva Hebrew Day School [now Farber] w and then I went to Hillel Day School, which were very Zionistic places in terms of education, the teachers and the overall messaging from the schools. I also went to Tamarack Camp, which is also very Zionistic. My parents are from the former Soviet Union, and I grew up with an underly...…