…thejewishnews.com THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS thejewishnews.com THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS JEWISH NEWS Haul Out the Holly Movie producer Joel Paul Reisig’s quest for holiday rom-coms lands at historic Holly Hotel. See page 44. $200 Dec. 1-7, 2022 / 7-13 Kislev 5783 …
…Rolling Hills 3300 Crumb Road Commerce Township, MI 48390 RollingHillsRetirement.com 248-716-1887 Call Today to Learn How You Can Lock In Our 2022 Rates! December Events Come experience the magic of the holidays at Rolling Hills! Experience our Signature Freedom Dining Program firsthand with a festive three-course meal prepared by our culinary team. RSVP by December 3 Winter Wonderland Party Thursday, December 8 from 4:00 - 7:00...…
…DECEMBER 1 • 2022 | 3 contents 26 Dec. 1-7, 2022 / 7-13 Kislev 5783 | VOLUME CLXXII, ISSUE 16 PURELY COMMENTARY 4-9 Essays and viewpoints. OUR COMMUNITY 10 Jewish Detroit Heirloom Roadshow Bring your own family holdings to showcase and have evaluated. 12 Detroit’s Role in Family Planning History Jewish community’s support was essential for Detroit’s first family planning clinic in 1927. 14 Lawyers & Latkes 16 Marquette...…
…4 | DECEMBER 1 • 2022 for openers Let’s Talk Money W e have heard that a fool and his money are soon parted and that all that glitters is not gold. However, having faced inflation, feared recession and always sweated while checking our latest credit card statements, we are not always aware of how many phrases based on monetary units invade our daily talk. Someone who is always hiding his true self is as phony as a three-do...…
…DECEMBER 1 • 2022 | 5 Child's Name:______________________________________ Age:____________ Parents' Names: ____________________________________________________ Address:__________________________________________________________ City: _____________________________State:_________Zip:_______________ _ Day Phone: ________________________ Evening Phone:___________________ _ Email:____________________________________________________________ S...…
…6 | DECEMBER 1 • 2022 1942 - 2022 Covering and Connecting Jewish Detroit Every Week To make a donation to the DETROIT JEWISH NEWS FOUNDATION go to the website www.djnfoundation.org 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: De...…
…DECEMBER 1 • 2022 | 7 could not have come at a better time for the synagogue as it determines which way to head. As the “new guy on the block, ” having just moved to Michigan roughly six months ago to take this post, I came in with an understanding of the pulse nationally while also arriving with a fresh lens on everything having not expe- rienced anything associated with Temple Israel prior to my arrival. We know at the center of...…
…8 | DECEMBER 1 • 2022 PURELY COMMENTARY guest column A Meeting of Ambassadors F our years in the making and after numerous setbacks due to COVID, we finally kicked off the first class of the Lester Ambassador Program as originally planned. Having met each other through Federation’s Partnership- 2Gether program more than five years ago, the two of us recognized a gap in our communities’ programming. Kids interacted at Ta...…
…DECEMBER 1 • 2022 | 9 with a visit to Hillel Day School, continued to the Max M. Fisher Federation Building to learn about community structure and the strength of Jewish Detroit with CEO Steven Ingber. We then spent our evening at Temple Israel where we had a Shabbat experience unlike anything we’ve ever experienced back home. During the rest of our trip, we focused on deepening our relationships with one another and experiencing...…
…10 | DECEMBER 1 • 2022 F rom eyeglasses worn by the late Rabbi Leo M. Franklin of Temple Beth El to a display reading “Be true to your teeth and they won’t be false to you” posted by the late television comedian Soupy Sales, historic items representing the Detroit Jewish community of the past will be the subject of talks from 3-5 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 4, at The Hawk in Farmington Hills. “Everyday Treasures: Jewish Detroit Heirloom ...…
…DECEMBER 1 • 2022 | 11 upcoming event and looks forward to hearing the personal stories about the artifacts being shown. “We’re not going to be assessing the monetary value of the items,” Cohn said. “We want to know the history of the items. For instance, we already have a beautiful letter from a group of women raising money for orphans. “For those who know the stories connected to the pieces, they can tell about them during th...…
…12 | DECEMBER 1 • 2022 OUR COMMUNITY D etroit was a boomtown during the 1920s — a center of manufacturing for the automotive and other industries. Its rapidly expanding population included many European immigrants and a Jewish community of 35,000. But the city’s rapid economic growth didn’t help all families. Poverty was common, exacerbated by large families. Detroit had a high birth rate and one out of eight babies born...…
…NOVEMBER 17 • 2022 | 13 $7 per person Register by December 14 at www.cbahm.org/event/hanukkah2022 Hanukkah Celebration December 20 @ 6:00pm Menorah lighting, Dinner, Circus performers 5075 West Maple Road, West Bloomfield, MI 48322 248-851-6880 ● www.cbahm.org Instagram and Facebook @CongregationBethAhm …
…14 | DECEMBER 1 • 2022 OUR COMMUNITY continued from page 12 Margaret Sanger, a nurse, became a national advocate for “family hygiene,” a common euphemism for birth control. Sanger, who came from a poor family with 11 children, was convinced that “birth control was crucial to end the cycle of poverty.” (She was married to a Jewish man with whom she had three children). Sanger opened the first family planning clinic in New Y...…
…DECEMBER 1 • 2022 | 15 NOVI The Fun Sport that Everyone is Raving About! GAME ON!!! Award Winning National Champions Playoffs! BEST SPORT IN TOWN! 20,000 sq. ft. Entertainment Center Full Service Bar Gourmet Kitchen & Catering DYNAMIC FUN! Sensational.... Entertaining.... Exhilerating Team Sport FUN FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY • Corporate Parties • (accomodates 300+) • Weddings • Engagement & Stag Parties • Block Parties • Birthday...…
…16 | DECEMBER 1 • 2022 N ow operating in the Upper Peninsula’s most populous city, Marquette, Temple Beth Sholom (TBS) was founded about 15 miles to the west in Ishpeming. In the mid-1900s, a large population of Jews in the Upper Peninsula’s iron mining areas congregated in Ishpeming and sur- rounding small communities. TBS was founded in the 1940s in the home of Willard and Lois Cohodas when Willard began teaching a Torah study c...…
…DECEMBER 1 • 2022 | 17 congregant and member of the community for over 30 years. “It’s nice to see. We’re holding steady. ” Consisting of about 30 families, TBS serves all com- ers, ranging from the secular humanists to “those who would probably identify in the larger com- munity as Conservative Jews, ” Gottlieb said. For decades, TBS has been served monthly by student rabbis through the Cincinnati-based Hebrew Union College- Jewish ...…
…18 | DECEMBER 1 • 2022 I f you grew up in Southfield and went to Vandenberg, Northbrook or Birney during the ’60s, ’70s or ’80s, chances are you had Ms. Prendergast, the music teacher affectionately known as Ms. P . Best known for her creative energy and enthusiasm, Ms. P (whose married name is Marty Triantafillou) had a knack for mak- ing every one of her students feel special. Whether finding them the perfect role in a school conc...…
…DECEMBER 1 • 2022 | 19 OUR COMMUNITY D r. Erika Bocknek, 43, of Farmington Hills has been nom- inated as our Volunteer of the Week for being an active member in the community through her career and extra- curricular volunteer work. “Erika is passionate about advancing the local dialogue on racial and social justice. She strives to engage the community in meaningful changes through her volunteer work at the grassroots and local level...…
…20 | DECEMBER 1 • 2022 OUR COMMUNITY A s we welcome the holiday season, there are many ways to give back to our community. Time off from school and work allows us to participate in acts of tikkun olam as a family by giving back to those in need. I wish you and yours a Happy Chanukah and look forward to participating in many of the following opportunities with my family. I hope that you will do the same! Moonbeams for Sweet Dre...…
…DECEMBER 1 • 2022 | 21 Penny Brode Love to a wonderful wife, a marvelous mother, an amazing mother-in-law, and the greatest Grammy in the world! Love, Harvey, Heidi, Joel, Darby & Cami Penny Brode Happy 80 Happy 80th th Birthday! Birthday! The Jewish Community Relations Council/AJC hosted its first fully indoor Media Luncheon in three years, as they brought together journalists and media figures from across the Detroit news m...…
…22 | DECEMBER 1 • 2022 H ead to Campus Martius Sunday, Dec. 18, at 5 p.m. for the 12th annual Menorah in the D, a com- munity Chanukah celebration. This year’s event, like 2021, will be hybrid — with both in-person and live- stream components. The in-person event begins at 5 p.m. and the livestream begins at 5:30, airing on the Chabad Lubavitch of Michigan Facebook and website. The event is in partnership with Chabad Lubavitch of M...…
…DECEMBER 1 • 2022 | 23 A special group of seven volunteer judges will be reviewing submissions and choosing the 36 winners. Honorees will receive free three-year subscriptions to the JN and be featured in a February 2023 issue. GO ONLINE TO THEJEWISHNEWS.COM AND NOMINATE THEM BY DECEMBER 12, 2022 JEWISH NEWS THE DETROIT Do you know someone who gives of themselves to the community in robust — and often thankless — ways? Someone y...…
…24 | DECEMBER 1 • 2022 W hen Vera Newman decides she wants something, she makes it happen. She’s started several businesses without formal training, run a catering business with no prior experience, written, illustrated and published a bestselling cookbook with no formal culinary education, and recently started a floral design company with no previous training. Newman’s drive and determination were evident when she decided it...…
…DECEMBER 1 • 2022 | 25 through the publisher, on Amazon and at local Jewish bookstores. It’s not a typical “Jewish” cookbook, even though the recipes use only kosher ingredients and do not mix milk and meat products. There are traditional Ashkenazi- influenced recipes for brisket and kugel, recipes from her Sephardi family for Moroccan fish balls and zucchini feta fritters, and a wide variety of international recipes including T...…
…26 | DECEMBER 1 • 2022 T amarack Camps is offering a new six- week session for campers going into grades 2-7 as part of its upcoming 2023 summer program at Camp Maas. The six-week session, which is approximately the equivalent of a traditional session-and-a-half, incorpo- rates Camp Maas Session 1, plus additional days at the Ortonville-based camp that include the session break and part of Camp Maas Session 2. “A lot of our olde...…
…DECEMBER 1 • 2022 | 27 …
…28 | DECEMBER 1 • 2022 CAMP GUIDE B etween outpost camps in northern Michigan and Canada, and travel trips to Alaska and the Western United States, Tamarack Camps is offering Jewish Michigan teens a number of unique and life- changing camping experiences to apply for this summer. Campers entering grades 9-11 can embark on one-of-a-kind adventures that teach life and survival skills, leadership, independence and organization, whil...…
…DECEMBER 1 • 2022 | 29 Send your kids to a summer camp where they will develop an appreciation for nature, learn new skills and make friendships that will last a lifetime, all without the help of social media. CONNECTING WITH NATURE FAMILIES SAVE UP TO 30% WITH THE EXCHANGE RATE OF THE CANADIAN DOLLAR HOME PRESENTATIONS AVAILABLE CAMPER REFERRAL PROGRAM • INTRO SESSIONS Celebrating 88 Summers Experience that lasts a lifetime E S ...…
…30 | DECEMBER 1 • 2022 June 19-July 14 and has an early- bird discounted fee of $7,195. Camp Kennedy Session Two runs July 17-Aug. 11 and has the same price. Beginning Jan. 1, 2023, both prices go up to $7,695. CHARLES N. AGREE Situated just outside of Wawa in northern Ontario, Canada, Charles N. Agree Outpost Camp, or Ultimate Agree, is designed for campers entering grades 10 and 11. Slightly larger than Camp Kennedy, this outpost...…
…DECEMBER 1 • 2022 | 31 CAMP GUIDE J Camp 180, a core pro- gram of the Harold Grinspoon Foundation (HGF), will support more than 100 nonprofit Jewish overnight camps over the next five years with its $25 million Forward Together matching grant, including Tamarack Camps in Metro Detroit. “We are, thankfully, a grant partner of The Harold Grinspoon Foundation and this funding will benefit Tamarack and our commu- nity, ” said Ashlei...…
…CAMP TAMAKWA Michigan Address: 1760 S. Telegraph Road, Suite 300 Bloomfield Hills, MI 48302 (248) 335-6400 Toronto Address: 55 Wingold Ave. M6B 1P8, Canada (416) 924-7433 tamakwa.com With one of the most diversified outdoor recreational programs available, Tamakwa campers and staff members enjoy 88 years of rich traditions, core values, family atmosphere and camp spirit, all in a beautiful Algonquin Park Setting. CAMP TANUGA Winter...…
…DECEMBER 1 • 2022 | 33 maturity and commitment. Nationally accredited by the American Camp Association. CAMP YOUNG JUDAEA MIDWEST E989 Stratton Lake Road Waupaca, WI 54981 (224) 235-4665 cyjmid.org Join the CYJ Midwest family, where we provide a fun, safe and supportive environment for our campers to grow their connection to Judaism and to Israel. Our program features tubing, archery, climbing, bikes and more. HILLEL DAY SCHOO...…
…34 | DECEMBER 1 • 2022 continued from page 33 CAMP GUIDE 2022 CAMP LISTINGS ROEPER SUMMER CAMPS 41190 Woodward Ave. Bloomfield, MI 48304 (248) 203-7370 roeper.org From lacrosse to coding to theater, Roeper Summer Programs offer a variety of enriching and rewarding camp experiences to children throughout Metro Detroit. Diversity and respect for everyone’s potential are central characteristics of the community. TAMARACK CAMPS 4...…
…SPORTS T he new year is just a few weeks away. It will be an important year for North Farmington High School senior Josh Rioux. He hopes 2023 will be a year of achieving his goals in track and field and wiping away disappointments. Rioux is a high jumper. He’s a good enough high jumper to have competed in the Michigan High School Athletic Association Division 1 state meet in June and AAU Junior Olympic Games in August and improve his...…
…36 | DECEMBER 1 • 2022 M uch to the chagrin of his moth- er — a very good Jewish cook — Mike Ran was a super picky eater as a kid and a real troublemaker in school. The middle child of three boys, Ran knew there had to be more to life than Domino’s pizza every weekend for his limited palate. So he started watching the cooking show Good Eats with Alton Brown on the Food Network. “Sloppy Joes were the first thing I taught myself to...…
…DECEMBER 1 • 2022 | 37 for four years. His final jobs were as the lead line cook and head chef at Zahav and the Rooster Soup Co. in Philadelphia. “Every time I got to be a sous chef at a restaurant, I would essentially quit so I could be a cook again. They say that when you become a head chef, you cook yourself out of a job. You have to deal more with the operational and business aspects and all the nuances that go with it. It’s a lot of...…
…38 | DECEMBER 1 • 2022 Temple Israel families celebrated the weekly Torah portion — Parshat Noah — through a fun, hands-on celebration on Sunday, Oct. 30. Religious school students learned about Noah and the flood through the lens of how we can take care of our animals. Each student gave Hebrew names to their animals (real and stuffed), made special bags for pets and animals in shelters, learned about organizations that care fo...…
…DECEMBER 1 • 2022 | 39 MAZEL TOV! Joshua Caleb Cooper (Yoel) will be called to the Torah as a bar mitzvah at Adat Shalom Synagogue in Farmington Hills on Saturday, Dec. 3, 2022. Proud parents are Tammi and Scott Cooper. He will be joined in celebration by his siblings Adam and Elisha. Kvelling grandparents are Sarah and David Waldshan of Farmington Hills, and Hannah and Jerry Cooper of Atlanta, Georgia. Josh is a student at Walnut Cr...…
…40 | DECEMBER 1 • 2022 T his week’s parshah relates a powerful, primal vision of prayer. It is one of the great images of the Torah: Jacob, alone and far from home, lies down for the night, with only stones for a pillow. He dreams of a ladder set on Earth but reaching heaven, with angels ascending and descending. This is the initial encounter with the “house of God” that would one day become the synagogue, the first dream ...…
…DECEMBER 1 • 2022 | 41 God to do ours? What really happens when we pray? Prayer has two dimensions, one mysterious, the other not. There are simply too many cases of prayers being answered for us to deny that it makes a difference to our fate. It does. I once heard the following story. A man in a Nazi concentration camp knew he was losing the will to live — and in the death camps, if you lost the will to live, you died. That nigh...…
…Synagogue Directory METRO DETROIT CONSERVATIVE Adat Shalom Synagogue Farmington Hills (248) 851-5100 adatshalom.org Congregation Beth Ahm West Bloomfield (248) 851-6880 cbahm.org Congregation Beth Shalom Oak Park (248) 547-7970 congbethshalom.org Beth Tephilath Moses Mt. Clemens (586) 996-3138 bethtephilathmoses.com B’nai Israel Synagogue West Bloomfield (248) 432-2729 bnaiisraelwb.org Congregation B’nai Moshe West Blo...…
…DECEMBER 1 • 2022 | 43 Temple Emanu-El Oak Park (248) 967-4020 emanuel-mich.org Temple Israel West Bloomfield (248) 661-5700 temple-israel.org Temple Kol Ami West Bloomfield (248) 661-0040 tkolami.org Temple Shir Shalom West Bloomfield (248) 737-8700 shirshalom.org REFORM/RENEWAL Congregation Shir Tikvah Troy (248) 649-4418 shirtikvah.org SECULAR/HUMANISTIC Congregation for Humanistic Judaism of Metro Detroit Farmingto...…
…44 | DECEMBER 1 • 2022 G rowing up in Birmingham, Joel Paul Reisig celebrated both Chanukah and Christmas with his family, making him perfectly qualified to be an equal- opportunity movie producer. On Dec. 4, Reisig’s latest film, Christmas at the Holly Hotel, will have its world premiere at two red-carpet screenings at the Redford Theatre. With more than 2,000 tickets sold, Reisig says that it’s the largest film premiere...…
…DECEMBER 1 • 2022 | 45 seeing a Chanukah movie on the Lifetime or Hallmark channel, is it’s always trying to teach you about Chanukah as if you’ve never heard of it, or it has over-the-top Jewish jokes. I just want to make a normal movie where the people just happen to be Jewish. And I’m looking for investors.” STANDUP KIND OF GUY With a dual major in business and English from Hope College in Michigan, Reisig didn’t have a set c...…
…46 | DECEMBER 1 • 2022 ARTS&LIFE ON THE COVER Filming took place in January 2022 over five days at the Holly Hotel — three during a full shutdown and two days while the hotel was open to the public. Holly Hotel kitchen and waitstaff were extras in the film along with local actors. Reisig even used George and Chrissy Kutlenios’ names for the Holly Hotel owners featured in the script. “George and Chrissy’s entire staff was very ...…
…DECEMBER 1 • 2022 | 47 Joel Paul Reisig and his parents, Martin and Julia Reisig, at their Birmingham home. everyone else. We can see something and put a unique twist on it.” At 27, he went on a Birthright trip to Israel. In 2014, he took a trip to Peru and hiked the Andes Mountains to Machu Picchu. “I took notes the entire time, and when I came home, I wrote — and finished — my first true adventure story, all through the len...…
…48 | DECEMBER 1 • 2022 Details The 45th Annual Potters Market runs Dec. 1-4 at the Southfield Pavilion, 26000 Evergreen. Preview Night, 6-9 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 1, ($10 admission); 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Friday, Dec. 2, (free admission); 10 a.m. -7 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 3, (free admission); 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 4, (free admission). For more informa- tion, email annualpottersmarket@gmail.com or visit www.thepottersmarket.com. H undreds o...…
…DECEMBER 1 • 2022 | 49 Pearlman, on the board of the National Council of Jewish Women and a member of Adat Shalom Synagogue, keeps a small statue she made by copying a picture that reminds her of her late husband. That piece stays on the mantel in her living room. Weinbaum had been asked to join the Potters Market by the late Charlie Blosser, who taught at OCC and was married to Bridget Blosser, the woman who subsequently accepted res...…
…50 | DECEMBER 1 • 2022 S even years ago, Hamilton exploded onto the off-Broadway stage at the Public Theater with an unprecedented take on the people whose vision laid the groundwork for a free and democratic nation. Later that year, the exceptionally successful production moved to Broadway, sweeping the Tony Awards and becoming the most coveted ticket on the street. And the rest, they say, is history, a chronicle of the past ...…
