…$200 Jan. 13-19, 2022 / 11-17 Shevat 5782 $200 Jan. 13-19, 2022 / 11-17 Shevat 5782 JEWISH NEWS JEWISH NEWS THE DETROIT thejewishnews.com What could be more comforting on a cold winter day than a hot bowl of chicken soup? See page 14 Food for the Soul …
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…JANUARY 13 • 2022 | 3 contents contents contents PURELY COMMENTARY 4-11 Essays and viewpoints OUR COMMUNITY 12 Thoughtful Judaism The new year offers plenty of chances to learn. 14 Food for the Soul What could be more comforting on a cold winter day than a hot bowl of chicken soup? 18 Green Project National Council of Jewish Women, Michigan is helping the homeless, and the environment, with sleeping mats made o...…
…4 | JANUARY 13 • 2022 for openers Happy Healthy New Year! G roundhog Day is less than a month away and there’s a major change coming to the annual celebration in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. That’s right, this year is not about whether Punxsutawney Phil will see his shadow when he emerges from his burrow on Feb. 2, but rather will he be wearing a mask? Pray not, we don’t need six more weeks of the pandemic. There is actually som...…
…6 | JANUARY 13 • 2022 essay A Look at Israel: 2022 D espite entering the third year of the glob- al pandemic, it seems that 2022 is looking quite positive for Israel, albeit with some challenges. Over the last 12 months, Israeli tech IPOs, as well as merg- ers and acqui- sitions, jumped a massive 520% over the previ- ous year, with an unprecedented value of $81.2 billion, compared to $15.4 billion in 2020. In addition, 2021 wa...…
…JANUARY 13 • 2022 | 7 DETROIT JEWISH NEWS 32255 Northwestern Hwy. Suite 205, Farmington Hills, MI 48334 248-354-6060 thejewishnews.com Round Up Virtual Thursday, January 20, 2022 7 - 8:30 p.m. Join us: https://bit.ly/WBSDKinder Turn anxiety into excitement! Is your child starting Kindergarten in September? Please join our webinar to learn more! Supported through the generosity of The Jewish Fund and the D. Dan and Betty Kahn Family...…
…8 | JANUARY 13 • 2022 A s we mark the one- year anniversary of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, some in our country question the health of our democra- cy. Can we be sure that peo- ple will accept the results of the 2022 mid- term elections? Will we see more politi- cal violence? A recent poll conducted by the Washington Post and the University of Maryland revealed that about one-third of Americans agree with the ...…
…JANUARY 13 • 2022 | 9 ed even before the 2020 election, has weakened democracy. Sixty percent of Republicans, according to polls, do not believe that Biden was elected in 2020. That shows the power of a lie, delivered by a trusted source and repeated endless- ly by a segment of the news media. “Should we see the expan- sion of antisemitism after the elections of 2022 and 2024 (an official celebration of an act of antisemitic vio-...…
…10 | JANUARY 13 • 2022 opinion Jews and Muslims Can Work Together A long-simmering conflict between CAIR, the Muslim- American civil rights organi- zation, and the Anti-Defamation League has now reached the boiling point: A Bay Area CAIR leader dismissed the ADL and groups like it as “polite Zionists” who could not be trusted as allies. ADL’s CEO Jonathan Greenblatt, fired back, calling her comments “textbook vile, antisemiti...…
…JANUARY 13 • 2022 | 11 SHOULD WE BE CONCERNED? continued from page 9 interrogating our own commitments. Urging American Muslims to write off the majority of American Jews as enemies from the start is to foreclose any possibility of serious interfaith work and undermines relationships that could be politically valuable for American Muslims. The strategy is as counterproductive as it is dehu- manizing. I am not primarily concerned with...…
…12 | JANUARY 13 • 2022 J ust as it did in the fall, Congregation Shaarey Zedek of Southfield will offer weekly in-person, free and study sessions open to the public that broadly cover the sweep- ing concepts of Judaism beginning 10 a.m. Sunday, Jan. 30. The hour-long classes will be con- structed from the Thoughtful Judaism curriculum, devel- oped by the Shalom Hartman Institute of North America and made possible by a grant fro...…
…JANUARY 13 • 2022 | 13 T he Dorothy and Peter Brown Jewish Community Adult Day Program reopened its Southfield location Jan. 5 after a nearly two-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic. While staff had pivoted to virtual programming to keep vulnerable seniors engaged and as active as pos- sible, the Southfield center remained closed until a critical number of both vac- cinated participants and available staff was reached. T...…
…OUR COMMUNITY I t’s chicken soup season. As the temperature drops and the snow begins to fall, there’s nothing quite like sitting down to a steaming hot bowl of soup. COVID-19 has accelerated soup sales even fur- ther, say local delis. Luckily, whether you want to sit down or carry out, there’s no shortage of delis in Metro Detroit ready to make you a bowl of this Jewish comfort food. There’s someone up early stirring giant pots of br...…
…JANUARY 13 • 2022 | 15 Art Dubin of Pickles & Rye Deli holds a steaming bowl of comfort. PICKLES & RYE …
…OUR COMMUNITY 16 | JANUARY 13 • 2022 attachments to healing, soothing, uplifting — it’s Jewish penicillin. It is woven into the warmth and fabric of our culture. ” Stage Deli sells chicken soup in its restau- rant and also has a grab-and-go case for people who want to heat it up at home. It makes a filling and tasty snack, meal and cooking base for sauces, rice or potatoes, he says. “We make it every day — as big as our pots are i...…
…JANUARY 13 • 2022 | 17 infection. Research also looks at how chicken soup contributes to helping people feel less lonely and its potential to lower blood pressure. Meanwhile, people con- tinue making their passion for the popular comfort food known, one bowl at a time. At Steve’s Deli, peren- nial winners at Temple Shir Shalom’s Annual Chicken Soup Cook-Off, they have regulars who come in from all over Oakland and Wayne counties t...…
…OUR COMMUNITY Green Project ALISON SCHWARTZ SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS 18 | JANUARY 13 • 2022 Carrie Kushner makes plastic yarn. COURTESY OF NCJW …
…JANUARY 13 • 2022 | 19 P lastic Bags Make Plastic Mats is the name of a new initia- tive from National Council of Jewish Women, Michigan (NCJW|MI), which is aimed at both addressing the plastic pollution problem while helping Detroit’s homeless community have a better night’s sleep. Members of NCJW|MI’s Green Committee wanted to come up with a practical solution to reduce the plastic waste from plastic bags and learned that it was...…
…OUR COMMUNITY L ocal nonprofit Lighthouse, which helps the fight against homelessness and poverty in the community by providing food, shelter, transi- tional housing, affordable hous- ing developments and other ser- vices, has pivoted and expanded to accommodate the increase in the local community’s needs due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Early in the pandemic, emer- gency food distribution shifted from being supplemental to being enti...…
…JANUARY 13 • 2022 | 21 to renting hotel rooms and providing meals to our shelter clients, and equipment and logistical support around those initiatives, ” Hertz said. “We were very lucky to have a community surround us with support to make all this happen. ” A LONG-TERM APPROACH On any given night, Lighthouse is serving four times the num- ber of households with emer- gency shelter services during the pandemic. Lighthouse is also i...…
…22 | JANUARY 13 • 2022 faces&places Helping others is a central value of Judaism and of Congregation Beth Ahm in West Bloomfield. Led by Beverly Gale and Cathy Lichtman, a team of more than 30 synagogue volunteers, from teens to seniors, prepared 350 lunches for the clients of Crossroads of Michigan, a Detroit- based social service agency. The volunteers prepared a multi- course meal from scratch — baked pasta, green beans, salad, ...…
…JANUARY 13 • 2022 | 23 One doesn’t need to search online to know that society is struggling with relationships. Most of us know this first- hand. If you do check online, you’ll find ample evidence that this is a worldwide issue, in which marriages are struggling, friendships are strained or broken, and family conflict is on the rise. That’s the bad news. The good news is that we can make things better, and it begins with healthie...…
…24 | JANUARY 13 • 2022 T emple Israel has housed the homeless for many years, partner- ing with the South Oakland Shelter. This year, the week looked different but was filled with amazing hard work and creativity. While Temple Israel was not able to physically house the homeless, Temple members were able to feed them lunch and dinner for the week. Throughout the week, volunteers of all ages came together to prepare and pack- ...…
…JANUARY 13 • 2021 | 25 At its fall board meetings, The Jewish Fund re-elected its leadership and elected four new board members. Michael Eizelman was re-elected Board Chair and Jeffrey Schlussel was re-elected Vice-Chair. New members are Dr. Jeffrey Devries, Gilda Jacobs, Dr. Candace Johnson Kimpson and Steven Schanes. The board awarded nearly $1 million in new and contin- uation grants. This includes a new capacity building grant...…
…SPORTS H e’s been a national champion with his club soccer team and a state champion with his high school soccer team. Now 17-year-old Troy Athens High School senior Ryan Gruca is looking for a place to play college soccer. He’s not worried about having to earn a spot in that team’s starting lineup. “It’s OK if I don’t play right away in college. I’ve been on the bench a lot during my soc- cer career and worked my way into the s...…
…JANUARY 13 • 2022 | 27 Red Hawks (23-2-1) ahead of Traverse City West for good. His second OT goal made it 4-1. “Ryan always gave us everything he had athletically, emotionally and mentally, and he was always dialed in and ready for big moments, even when he was a sopho- more in that state champion- ship game,” Heugh said. Athens made it to the Division 1 state semifinals in 2020, but lost 2-0 to Traverse City West. This past seaso...…
…28 | JANUARY 13 • 2022 MAZEL TOV! Brady Hunter Feld, son of Jodi and Dr. Michael Feld, will be called to the Torah as a bar mitzvah at Temple Israel in West Bloomfield on Saturday, Jan. 15, 2022. He will be joined in cele- bration by his sister Bryce. Brady is the loving grand- child of Sandy and Steven Weiss, and Ann and Jeff Feld. He is a student at Berkshire Middle School in Beverly Hills. Brady’s most meaningful mitzvah...…
…JANUARY 13 • 2022 | 29 Greenberg-Kohn S urrounded by loving family and friends, Erinn Kohn and Matthew Greenberg were married on Oct. 9, 2021, at Franklin Hills Country Club. Erinn is the daughter of Helene and Leslie Kohn of West Bloomfield, and Matthew is the son of Illana and Daniel Greenberg of Franklin. Both Erinn and Matthew attended Frankel Jewish Academy, where they first met and started dating. Erinn is a graduate of Mi...…
…30 | JANUARY 13 • 2022 P athologyOutlines.com — a free, no registration, online pathology textbook — is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year. Started in Metro Detroit in 2001 by Dr. Nat Pernick, the website employs 20 staff members, an editorial board with 36 academic pathologists and has more than 300 active authors. The site is based on the belief that accurate medical information written, edited and peer-reviewed by ...…
…JANUARY 13 • 2022 | 31 We can’t help you prepare for a polar vortex. But we can help you prepare for retirement. B I R M I N G H A M Member FDIC says. “ And I thought it should be free, so everyone could use it. And, it’s easy for people to use. It shouldn’t be hard to find the information we need to make a diagnosis or to tell another doctor what we recommend.” Pathologists around the globe use PathologyOutlines. com every day...…
…32 | JANUARY 13 • 2022 W hen Sally Serwer was 6, her mother, Adeline Steinman, would take her to antique shows at Temple Israel. “It was in my blood very early on,” the interior designer and antique dealer says. For more than 40 years, Serwer, 67, of Bloomfield Hills, has worked in interi- or design as the owner of Sally Serwer Designs. She’s also sold items at Berkley’s Odd Fellows Antiques for 15 years as an antique dealer, servi...…
…JANUARY 13 • 2022 | 33 HERE’S TO continued from page 30 Rabbi Benyamin Vineburg has been elected to the Neshama Association of Jewish Chaplains Board of Directors. It is the sole voice and certifying body for Jewish Chaplains in the United States. He is excited to be able to represent the Detroit Jewish community in advocating for the way we approach and deliv- er Jewish spiritual care as a craft, particularly during this dif...…
…34 | JANUARY 13 • 2022 SPIRIT O n the 15th of Shevat, when the calendar says early winter, and Eastern Europe lies covered in snow, in Israel the first signs of spring appear as the almond tree begins to flower. So the Mishnah declares the 15th of the month of Shevat as the new year for trees, the start of the fiscal year for arborists (Rosh Hashanah 1:1). You have to pay your agricultural taxes on each year’s harvest sepa...…
…JANUARY 13 • 2022 | 35 authorities, he and his son Eliezer hid in a cave with a stream and a carob tree, pro- viding all their needs for years (Talmud Shabbat 33b). The Mishnah treats the carob as a tree that produces food for humans (Peah 1:5 and elsewhere) although much of the crop was used for animal fodder. Rabbinic literature uses the expression “eating carob” to mean “living in poverty” (Lev. Rabbah 13:4). An old man plant...…
…36 | JANUARY 13 • 2022 I n September 2010, BBC, Reuters and other news agencies reported on a sensational scientific discov- ery. Researchers at the U.S. National Center for Atmospheric Research and the University of Colorado had shown through computer simulation how the division of the Red Sea may have taken place. Using sophisticated mod- eling, they demonstrated how a strong east wind, blowing overnight, could have pushed wate...…
…JANUARY 13 • 2022 | 37 “His pleasure is not in the strength of the horse, nor His delight in the legs of the warrior; the Lord delights in those who fear Him, who put their hope in His unfail- ing love.” (Psalms 147:10-11) The elegantly simple way in which the division of the Red Sea is described in the Torah is so that it can be read at two quite different levels, one as a supernatural miracle, the other as a moral tale about th...…
…Synagogue Directory CONSERVATIVE Adat Shalom Synagogue Farmington Hills (248) 851-5100 adatshalom.org Ahavas Israel Grand Rapids (616) 949-2840 ahavasisraelgr.org Congregation Beth Ahm West Bloomfield (248) 851-6880 cbahm.org Congregation Beth Israel Flint (810) 732-6310 cbiflint.org Congregation Beth Shalom Oak Park (248) 547-7970 congbethshalom.org Beth Tephilath Moses Mt. Clemens (586) 996-3138 bethtephilathmoses.com B’nai Israel Sy...…
…JANUARY 13 • 2022 | 39 Shomrey Emunah Southfield (248) 559-1533 congregation-shomrey- emunah-105705.square.site The Shul-Chabad Lubavitch West Bloomfield (248) 788-4000 theshul.net Yagdil Torah Southfield (248) 559-5905 Young Israel of Oak Park (248) 967-3655 yiop.org Young Israel of Southfield (248) 358-0154 yisouthfield.org RECONSTRUCTIONIST Congregation Kehillat Israel Lansing (517) 882-0049 kehillatisrael.net Congrega...…
…ARTS&LIFE ART T he Janice Charach Gallery will present Environmentally Speaking, an exhibition that brings together the work of 14 artists who share a sense of tikkun olam, or stewardship and healing of our environment. This show, opening Jan. 16, is intended to deliver an empowering and hopeful approach to the challenging topic of climate change. It features works in a variety of mediums while offering ways we might connect with and...…
…JANUARY 13 • 2022 | 41 Healing Art continued on page 42 for the Planet underpinning of stewardship resonates, incor- porating humans into these networks in order to preserve them. Susan Hoffman Fishman’s In The Beginning There Was Only Water II visually communicates the vastness of the Earth’s beginnings while it draws on the origin stories of Genesis and the concept of dominion. This panel is part of a larg- er installation that is ...…
…ARTS&LIFE ART continued from page 41 42 | JANUARY 13 • 2022 creates a highly textured piece with gorgeous line work that interprets as grasses and reeds under water. The Solar Cell by Tracey Easthope imagines a universal religious practice that is dedicated to caring for our natural planet. She’s input humanity into the environmental equation wearing a celestial and fiery costume. Artist and co-curator Olivia Guterson’s How You St...…
…JANUARY 13 • 2022 | 43 continued on page 44 ARTS&LIFE THEATER T he producer who brought the last tour of Fiddler on the Roof to the Fisher Theatre — a production that had to be cut short because of COVID restrictions — is putting another popular musical, Hairspray, on the road. Orin Wolf, president of NETworks Presentations, believes the upbeat show, about a teenag- er wanting to appear on a TV dance program, offers an uplifting experie...…
…44 | JANUARY 13 • 2022 time in this country [during the 1960s] when there was adversity, and that resonates,” he said. “It’s sorely needed in the climate we’re in today and the challenges we face. It’s a shot in the arm of posi- tive energy and positive, affirma- tive thinking.” The musical, running Jan. 18-30 at the Fisher Theatre, has songs by Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman. The fast-paced numbers include “Welcome to the ’60s, ” “...…
…JANUARY 13 • 2022 | 45 BETTY WHITE’S ‘SPECIAL’ JEWISH FRIENDS, FUN IN MOTOWN, A SMOTHERING MOTHER Before Betty White died, I decid- ed to write a column item about the Betty White tribute film, which was (and is) scheduled to play in select theaters Jan. 17, what would have been White’s 100th birthday. (Titled Betty White, a Celebration, it will play at the Maple Theater in Bloomfield Hills. It is a one-day only screening; nationwi...…
…46 | JANUARY 13 • 2022 JAZZ IN JANUARY 7:30 PM, JAN. 14 Detroit Chamber Winds & Strings Nightnotes series. Gilda Award-winner Ian Finkelstein and friends perform a night of jazz at Hagopian World of Rugs, 850 S. Old Woodward Ave., Birmingham. Tickets: $30 general, $25 senior. Visit detroitchamberwinds. org. For info: contact Priya Mohan at 248-559-2095 or at mohan@art-ops.org. SOULFUL YOGA 10 AM, JAN. 15 Adat Shalom Synagogue i...…
…JANUARY 13 • 2022 | 47 DAY OF SERVICE 10:30-NOON, JAN. 17 Join Jfamily, The Well and Congregation Shaarey Zedek for a morning of ser- vice in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Participants will pack supplies to sup- port students and families at Vernor Elementary School while also look- ing at Dr. King’s vision for unity between all peo- ple. Sledding (weather TBD) and a warm-up snack provided as well. At the synagogue, 27375 Bel...…
…48 | JANUARY 13 • 2022 OBITUARIES OF BLESSED MEMORY MIRRIAM BRAVERMAN, 98, of Ann Arbor, died Jan. 3, 2022. She is survived by her sons and daughters-in-law, Eric and Julie Braverman, Leslie and Gail Braverman; daugh- ter, Lainie Katz; grandchildren, Erica Braverman, Paul Braverman, Maxwell Braverman, Nicole (Zak) Troiano, Natalie Katz and Samantha Katz; great-grandchild, Kai; many other lov- ing family members and friends. Mrs. ...…
…JANUARY 13 • 2022 | 49 continued on page 50 GAYLE ELLEN SAMPSON LASKY EDELSON, 67, of Franklin, died Jan. 3, 2022. She is survived by her hus- band, Alan Edelson; daughters and sons-in-law, Julie Lasky Beznos and Sam Beznos, and Brooke Lasky Margulis and Jeffrey Margulis; grandchil- dren, Dylan, Elle and Blake Beznos, and Whitney Margulis; mother, Gladys Sampson. She is also survived by Jeffrey Edelson, Bradley Edelson, and Za...…
…50 | JANUARY 13 • 2022 continued from page 49 OBITUARIES OF BLESSED MEMORY JERRY GEORGE FIRESTONE, 73, of West Bloomfield, died Dec. 31, 2021. He is survived by his wife, Marcia Firestone; son and daughter-in-law, Zachary and Dr. Ilana Firestone of Woodmere, N.Y.; brother, Tom Firestone; brother- in-law, Dr. Steven Lipton; grandchildren, Abigail Firestone, Leon Firestone. Mr. Firestone was the lov- ing son of the late Sam and...…
