…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 Farmington Hills (248) 477-1410 ...…
…56 | OCTOBER 19 • 2023 J N I n the course of serving a musical residency at Temple Israel, Aaron Markovitz is in the midst of highlights from his experiences — the release of an eight-song album with music and lyrics he wrote and performs, as well as the live introduction of that album at a Kabbalat Shabbat service on Oct. 20. The album, An Infinite Wave, showcases other talented musicians in addition to Markovitz and was inte...…
…OCTOBER 19 • 2023 | 57 J N of country and the genre called Americana, which encompasses bluegrass, country and rock. There is no traditional cantorial Jewish music on this recording. “Cantor Smolash mentioned to me that one of the things he wanted to come out of this residency was to get this music recorded and put it out to the Jewish community, so that’s where the idea for the album came from,” Markovitz said. “I’ve spent th...…
…58 | OCTOBER 19 • 2023 J N KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON WITH A SIDE OF SOONER JEWS Killers of the Flower Moon, a Martin Scorsese film, has received great advance reviews. It opens in theaters on Oct. 20. You should be aware that the film is 3 hours and 25 min- utes. That’s a long time, especially if you, or a com- panion, have issues that make sitting for a long time difficult. Killers is based on David Grann’s critically acclaimed...…
…OCTOBER 19 • 2023 | 59 J N ‘SEVEN SAMURAI’ 7 PM, OCT. 20 (FRI.) At the Detroit Film Theatre in the DIA, 5200 Woodward Ave., Detroit, (313) 833-7900. A film from Japan (1954) directed by Akira Kurosawa. Consistently called one of the best movies ever made, with an influence on movie-making that resonates to the present day. In 16th century Japan, a small village is regularly plundered by bandits until a band of unemployed samu...…
…PURELY COMMENTARY continued from page 4 1942 - 2023 Covering and Connecting Jewish Detroit Every Week To make a donation to the DETROIT JEWISH NEWS FOUNDATION go to the website www.thejewishnews.com 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: sen...…
…60 | OCTOBER 19 • 2023 J N SHOPPING EVENT 10:30 AM-4:30 PM, OCT. 22 (SUN.) Shop an exclusive collection of designer artwork, jewelry, clothing, sweet treats, home goods and more. Support local artists. 20% of proceeds will benefit Jewish Hospice and Chaplaincy Network. At 630 Waddington, Bloomfield Hills. Info: 248-599-3969 or mtopper@jhcn.org. FOR GRANDPARENTS 2-4 PM, OCT. 22+ (SUN.) Temple Israel and JGrand (a program of J...…
…OCTOBER 19 • 2023 | 61 J N JEWISH NEWS THE DETROIT Scan the QR code to book. We Still Do. Celebrate your anniversary with the Detroit Jewish community. …
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…64 | OCTOBER 19 • 2023 J N A self-proclaimed “professional volunteer” and devoted wife, mother and grandmother, Ellen Labes was an inspirational role model to her community and the many people whose lives she touched. Her generous spirit and natural leader- ship skills made her an asset to the many organizations she served and a beloved matriarch to her cherished husband and family. Ellen, who lived in Bloomfield Hills, passed aw...…
…OCTOBER 19 • 2023 | 65 J N ARLINE CARRIS, 86, of Bloomfield Hills, died on Oct. 12, 2023. She is survived by her daughter and son-in- law, Jodi and Adam Becker; grandchildren, Ellory, Eric and Ryan Becker, Karen Carris; sister, Sandra Sipher; many other loving family members and friends. Arline was the beloved wife of the late Harry Carris; mother of the late Michael Carris and the late Matthew Carris. Interment was held at B...…
…OBITUARIES OF BLESSED MEMORY 66 | OCTOBER 19 • 2023 J N Marv Scheflin. Interment was held at Clover Hill Park Cemetery in Birmingham. Contributions may be made to Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit, to the Hermelin Brain Tumor Center, to Jewish Senior Life or to a charity of one’s choice. Arrangements by Dorfman Chapel. JANE JACOBS, 62, of Farmington Hills, died on Oct. 8, 2023. She is survived by her beloved husband...…
…OCTOBER 19 • 2023 | 67 J N Richard was the proud son of the late Barnet and the late Ida Leland. He was also preceded in death by his doting sisters, Sylvia (Bernie) Bielous, Beatrice Leland, Hilda Levitan. Interment was at Beth El Memorial Park. Contributions may be made to a charity of one’s choice. Arrangements by Ira Kaufman Chapel. STUART PINSKY, 74, of Farmington Hills, died Oct. 8, 2023. He will be remembered for his l...…
…68 | OCTOBER 19 • 2023 J N Editor’s Note: A full tribute to the life of Florine Mark will appear in next week’s Jewish News. F lorine Mark, the entrepre- neur, philanthropist, Israel supporter and weight-loss guru, died Oct. 13, 2023, at age 90. She was the former owner of Weight Watchers franchises in Michigan and several other states, Canada and Mexico. Her numerous affiliations include the board of directors for Business Leaders...…
…OCTOBER 19 • 2023 | 69 J N Resilience in the Face of Tragedy A t weekly JN editorial meetings, I usually report about the topic of my next Looking Back column. The heinous Hamas attack on Israel last Saturday, on Oct. 7, changed everything. This week, I wasn’t sure as to what I would write about. At this week’s meeting, the attack dominated our conversations, our minds and our emo- tions, along with an abrupt need to revamp the focus of...…
…OCTOBER 19 • 2023 | 7 J N Are your teens prepared for this war online? Instead of asking what we can do to help educate today’s young people after the tensions rise, OpenDor Media is already educating them with over 300 videos on all the hardest topics. With years of experience in this space, we have designed our videos to rise to the top of the search results so when people ask the questions, we’re already there giving them the an...…
…Jewish Joke of the Week Who led the Jewish people across a semi permeable membrane? Os-Moses Just for Fun Jewish Star You’ll need six craft sticks to make two sets of equilateral triangles; once you do that, just glue one triangle on top of the other, and voila — you have a Jewish Star! Decorate it with blue and white embellishments — buttons, sequins, pom poms, beads or anything else that you like. (from makeitjewish.com) Salt Paint...…
…SUPPORT JEWISH JOURNALISM The Detroit Jewish News has been telling and preserving our stories since 1942. Subscribe today so that we can continue telling them tomorrow. JEWISH NEWS THE DETROIT SCAN TO DONATE OR SUBSCRIBE TODAY! …
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…8 | OCTOBER 19 • 2023 J N prayer Let’s Light Shabbat Candles I urge Jews around the world to come together to light Shabbat candles in support of Israel. Together with my wife, Gina, we offer you our personal prayer to recite after you light your Shabbat candles this week. This is a spiritual war by those who seek to destroy Israel not because of its borders, but because of what it stands for — the world’s only Jewish st...…
…OCTOBER 19 • 2023 | 9 J N our aged, men and women and children all who were wounded at the hands of the cruel enemy. Illuminate your presence for them and send them a complete healing, speedily in our days. God, full of mercy and com- passion, provide tranquil rest on the wings of the Divine Presence, for the souls of Your nation, men, women, and children, murdered in cold blood, their blood spilled like water. May their eternal r...…
…JEWISH NEWS THE DETROIT Jewish students share their culture with non-Jewish students in first-of-its-kind program in Michigan. See page 12 S t u d e n t Student to $200 Jan. 19-25, 2023 / 26 Tevet-3 Shevat 5783 thejewishnews.com …
…10 | JANUARY 19 • 2023 PURELY COMMENTARY opinion How American Jews Should Navigate Israel’s New Political Reality I n the wake of the recent elections, many progressives have expressed angst at the new leadership in Israel. Matti Friedman wrote a piece in Tablet (tabletmag.com) about the election aftermath in Israel. It is “not threatening ‘democracy,’ or the ‘peace process,’ which hasn’t existed for more than 20 years,” he wro...…
…JANUARY 19 • 2023 | 11 — is a communal strategy forged in the civil rights era meant to push scary antisemitic voices to the margins. It has its time and place. But we don’t always have to be on condemnation footing. It is not even always the best way to counter domestic antisemitism, and it does nothing to de-platform duly elected Israeli officials, no matter how you feel about them. Restraining our moral impulses will not “...…
…12 | JANUARY 19 • 2023 W hat if we could prevent antisem- itism before it even begins? That’s the goal of Student to Student, a program empowering high school students to present their experience of Judaism to non-Jewish high school students. Late last year, Fawn Chapel and Rabbi Andrew Terkel of Be the Narrative, a national non- profit organization that devel- ops interactive educational pro- grams that connect Jewish and non-Jew...…
…JANUARY 19 • 2023 | 13 A Typical Presentation At a typical Student to Student pre- sentation, the Jewish students speak about “What Judaism means to me,” which, national director Fawn Chapel notes, also “really presents ‘who I am.’” The students come prepared to speak about the Jewish life cycle, Shabbat, kashrut, antisemitism and the Holocaust, Israel and, if time, holidays. Typically, the presentation about Shabbat begins with bi...…
…14 | JANUARY 19 • 2023 schools with few or no Jews. ” Abramson-Goldstein began the program with 10 student presenters. Her successor at Student to Student, Fawn Chapel, reports that now, in St. Louis alone, each year, 120 Jewish students give presentations to 3,000- 4,000 non-Jewish high schools students. Beginning in 2015, with the help of a grant from the Natan Fund, the program spread to four other communities. As it did, it outgr...…
…JANUARY 19 • 2023 | 15 O ffering a prayer for the administration, Rabbi Alicia Harris joined Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on the dais during the inauguration ceremony on Jan. 1, 2023. Since her arrival at Shir Tikvah, Rabbi Harris has been part of the governor’s Ecumenical Council. This group of faith leaders from around the state performs a variety of services, including prayers for the electors, statements on voting rights and act...…
…16 | JANUARY 19 • 2023 OUR COMMUNITY COURTESY OF BBYO T he BBYO Regional Con- vention 2022 (RC), Dec. 25-28 at the JCC in West Bloomfield, was truly a week to remember. The convention theme Byachad Hamishpacha or Together as Family, was demonstrated more perfectly than anything I have ever seen. While Michigan Region consists of 12 different chapters and nearly 600 members in grades 8-12, Regional Convention was the perfect ...…
…JANUARY 19 • 2023 | 17 and craziness that is RC, and spend my last RC with people I am beyond lucky to call my siblings. Among all of the games and competitions, mental health did not go unnoticed. From a “zen zone” to food trucks and even therapy dogs, there was always something nearby if members needed a break. I can say without a doubt that knowing my mental health was acknowledged helped to enhance my overall experience. ...…
…18 | JANUARY 19 • 2023 N ine days after he was hired for the position of middle school dean of students for Richmond Community Schools in Macomb County, educator Michael Woodberg resigned after receiving anonymous written antisemitic threats to him and his family if he kept his post. According to his LinkedIn profile, Woodberg for 12 years was a special education teacher in West Bloomfield Schools, where he also coached spo...…
…JANUARY 19 • 2023 | 19 cooperated with the officers at the Richmond Police Department and Chief of Police Tom Costello, providing investigators the antisemitic death threat note, access to security camera footage from multiple cameras in the building, log entry records of individuals utilizing the security swipe card readers for entrance to the building and restricted areas, names of individuals who work in Richmond Middle Scho...…
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…20 | JANUARY 19 • 2023 W est Bloomfield’s Lori Ellis will be joining her Holocaust survivor mother, Sophie Tajch Klisman, and her mother’s liberator, Doug Harvey, when they speak together about the Holocaust at the First United Methodist Church of Troy on Jan. 27, International Holocaust Remembrance Day. The event is open to the public and starts at 7 p.m. “They speak in order to continue the mission of educating others about ...…
…JANUARY 19 • 2023 | 21 TOP TO BOTTOM: Doug Harvey and Sophie Klisman at an FIDF event in 2019. Lori’s husband Jeff, Lori, Sophie, her son, Mark, and his wife, Anne, celebrate Sophie’s 90th birthday. it, and one of her best friends died and never spoke about it, she felt an obligation to finally open up and share her story.” After the 2016 Poland trip, Klisman returned in 2019 to be a survivor speaker for FIDF’s mission to Poland a...…
…22 | JANUARY 19 • 2023 OUR COMMUNITY D eb Ford of Livonia, a member of Temple Kol Ami in West Bloomfield, is this week’s Volunteer of the Week. A former kindergarten teacher, Ford became an activities director at an assisted living center after retirement and remained working with the senior population until she retired in 2020. Ford’s passion for the elderly began with visiting local assisted living centers with her three...…
…JANUARY 19 • 2023 | 23 She periodically adds them or a family member to the TKA Mi Sheberach list, saying there are never too many prayers when in need of healing. She makes sure each Jewish client has some of the essentials for Jewish holidays. This year she purchased 80 bags of potatoes for latkes and passed out Chanukah candles that were donated from various local stores and Yad Ezra. Ford says of all her volunteer efforts, the p...…
…24 | JANUARY 19 • 2023 OUR COMMUNITY L ike any boy who wants to look like his father, E.M. Cohen, 7, of Oak Park was desperate to own his own suit. His mother, Mindy, balked; he would likely outgrow a suit pretty quickly and suits could be expensive. A few months ago, Mindy was on Mrs. Schwab’s patio, flicking through some boy’s clothes when she came across two brand new boy’s suits — in exactly E.M’s size. One came with a matchi...…
…JANUARY 19 • 2023 | 25 of West Bloomfield has been collecting toys, books and games and bringing them to Mrs. Schwab’s patio; baby paraphernalia is always a huge hit. When Rhonda Ginsburg of Southfield heard about the gemach, she started posting online, asking for donations of hangers, then she drives around town to pick them up, and brings them all to Mrs. Schwab’s porch. “It’s a huge help, we used to scrounge around for hangers, ”...…
…26 | JANUARY 19 • 2023 OUR COMMUNITY B orn in Detroit, a descendent of Eastern European immigrants, Dr. Max Robins was raised to appre- ciate his Jewish background and value his secular education. His hero was his Zaydie. Robins’ maternal grandfather left Ukraine in the 1890s for the United States, crossing the ocean with little information and a dream of opportunity. Robins, a pediatrician in East Lansing, remembered his family...…
…JANUARY 19 • 2023 | 27 R obert and Beverly Rosenfeld of West Bloomfield recently ded- icated their second Life Support Ambulance for Magen David Adom (MDA), Israel’s national paramedic and Red Cross ser- vice. The ambulance was built on a GM chassis, sent to a con- version plant in Indiana, and then transported to Michigan for the dedication ceremony before being shipped to Israel. The event took place at Temple Israel, the couple...…
…28 | JANUARY 19 • 2023 OUR COMMUNITY F riends of the Israel Defense Forces (FIDF) hosted its seventh Annual Israel Bike Mission — an intensive six-day bicycle ride through Israel — from Nov. 11-17, 2022. Southfield residents Howard and Michal Korman and Alon Tolwin joined FIDF supporters for this cross-country ride. A group of wounded Israeli combat veterans who have benefited from rehabilitative programs and prosthetic devices...…
…JANUARY 19 • 2023 | 29 T emple Shir Shalom’s Tea, Talk & Torah is returning in 2023 with its first class on Jan. 25. The monthly sessions at the West Bloomfield temple invite all to gather for an afternoon tea, light treats, schmooze and a brief study of the day’s text. Shir Shalom’s Rabbi Daniel Schwartz and Rabbi Michael Moskowitz take turns teaching the classes. The class started off meeting over the summer of 2021 at ...…
…JANUARY 19 • 2023 | 3 contents PURELY COMMENTARY 4-11 Essays and viewpoints. OUR COMMUNITY 12 Student to Student Jewish students share their culture with non-Jewish students in first-of-its-kind program in Michigan. 15 Inaugural Prayer Rabbi Alicia Harris offered the prayer at Gov. Whitmer’s inauguration. 16 Together As Family 600 teens joined the BBYO Regional Conference last month at the JCC. 18 Antise...…
…faces&places Celebrity chef, popular food influencer and cookbook author Naomi Nachman came in to run a Chopped- style cooking competition at the Young Israel of Southfield on Dec. 10, 2022. Competitors had to use four ingredients, unknown to them until their arrival, on their plate to present to the judges. There were five teams of five and four judges. Lots of fun was had by competitors as well as spectators! PHOTOS COURTESY OF...…
…JANUARY 19 • 2023 | 31 On Dec. 4, 2022, the Jewish Historical Society of Michigan held a Jewish Detroit heirloom roadshow and invited community members to bring historic belongings — especially items from before 1930. Held at The Hawk in Farmington Hills, the event was packed with people who simply wanted to see what was brought in and others who had items they wanted evaluated by JHSM’s six antiques experts. Items included book...…
…32 | JANUARY 19 • 2023 NEXT DOR W ell Inc. is a program series that examines the overlap between our professional identity and Jewish identity, and features community leaders and entrepreneurs to learn together around dif- ferent subjects on this issue. On this particular program that fell on the fourth night of Chanukah, we invited Ron Elkus to join us at the Office Coffee Shop to learn with us around the themes of light and dark a...…
…JANUARY 19 • 2023 | 33 tifies (Masechet Shabbat 77b), which we used to frame our conversation about what we confront as we pursue our professional dreams and goals. Ron Elkus then told us about his Jewish journey, the founding story of his business, The Shirt Box, and led an inspiring con- versation about the values and community involvement that made The Shirt Box such a special place. Throughout the conversation, Ron shared snipp...…
…34 | JANUARY 19 • 2023 O ne was fun — and successful — so how about another? Riding a wave of momen- tum from a Jewish Heritage Night game held Dec. 4 by the Detroit Pistons at Little Caesars Arena, a Jewish Heritage Night has been scheduled for the Motor City Cruise, the Pistons’ G League affiliate. It will be Feb. 13 against the Greensboro (N.C.) Swarm, the G League affiliate of the Charlotte Hornets, at the Wayne State Uni...…
