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…JEWISH NEWS THE DETROIT NCJW | MI and JFS celebrate a hearty 50-year partnership with Kosher Meals on Wheels. See page 8 $2 May-2-8, 2024 / 24-30 Nissan, 5784 thejewishnews.com …

…10 | MAY 2 • 2024 J N distribution. Linda Greenfield of Waterford has been the coordi- nator for the program for nearly three years and remembers helping her own mother deliver meals when she was a teenager. “The program is allowing people to stay in their homes as long as they want, but it’s not just about the food. Seeing a friendly smile enhances their lives and makes a very big dif- ference, ” she says. Greenfield adds that an...…

…MAY 2 • 2024 | 11 Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan and Blue Care Network are nonprofi t corporations and independent licensees of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association. Learn more at MIBluesPerspectives.com/ReadyToHelp We put care in health insurance. Get the care you need, when you need it, with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan and Blue Care Network. From the largest network of doctors and hospitals in Michigan to coverage f...…

…12 | MAY 2 • 2024 J N “YOU ARE ANGELS ON WHEELS.” continued from page 10 A FULL CIRCLE MOMENT For Susan Gertner, the execu- tive director of NCJW|MI, this anniversary celebration has a particular significance and provides a full circle moment for her career. Gertner’s first professional job after grad- uating from Michigan State University with a bachelor’s degree in social work, was with Jewish Family Service, working as a Meals...…

…MAY 2 • 2024 | 13 EQUAL HOUSING OPPORTUNITY Invest in your dreams, build your future with Hunter Pasteur www.hunterpasteur.com HOMES STARTING FROM HOMES STARTING FROM $1.3 1.3 Million Million r more information contact our sales team at: 248.633.8133 info@hunterpasteurhomes.com www.prescottparkhomes.com OPEN DAILY 12:00 PM - 5:00 PM or BY APPOINTMENT a Neighborhood Built by Hunter Pasteur COME VISIT OUR DECORATED MODEL 4177 Presco...…

…14 | MAY 2 • 2024 J N F or most people, an ongoing war is a reason to stay away. Yet, for a coa- lition of Frankel Jewish Academy students, they realized that they had to stand up and make a difference for the land and people of Israel. The students joined 20 other American teens to travel 6,000 miles to Israel and participate in Jewish National Fund-USA ’s Teen Volunteer in Israel Mission, where they trekked across the country to ...…

…MAY 2 • 2024 | 15 J N CLOCKWISE, FROM LEFT: Making Care Packages: Detroit students made care packages for Israeli soldiers and displaced families while attending Jewish National Fund- USA’s Teen Volunteer in Israel Mission. Detroit students in a Bedouin tent. Students on Jewish National Fund-USA’s Teen Volunteer in Israel Mission. students on the program, with plans to bring even more Detroit teens to Israel in future semesters...…

…16 | MAY 2 • 2024 J N A top-five political podcast is making its way to Royal Oak. On May 9, #SistersInLaw Live! Podcast Tour will hit Royal Oak Music Theatre for what promises to be a night of exciting political and legal commentary and analysis. Made up of legal superstars Barb McQuade, Kimberly Atkins Stohr, Joyce Vance and Jill Wine-Banks, the lat- ter two of whom are Jewish, #SistersInLaw combines the expertise and wisdo...…

…MAY 2 • 2024 | 17 DETROIT JEWISH FILM FESTIVAL May 2-14, 2024 FILM FESTIVAL 2024 SPOTLIGHT FILMS Monday, May 13, 7 p.m. / / Tickets $18 Tuesday, May 14, 7 p.m. / / Tickets $18 TheJDetroit.org/FilmFestival / / 248-609-3303 An enchanting Israeli musical rom-com starring Lee Biran and Eliana Tidhar. The story of Operation Solomon, Israel’s airlift of 15,000 Ethiopian Jews to Israel. Talkback with Jane F. Sherman. This prog...…

…18 | MAY 2 • 2024 J N A pril 13 was one of the most stressful and eccentric days I have experienced since the beginning of the war. The reports flowing from Israel put me and many others in the Jewish community under immense pressure as we heard of the massive missile attack Iran launched at Israel. From the news I was listening to, it seemed like it was the beginning of a third World War. And being so far from home made i...…

…MAY 2 • 2024 | 19 J N have our voices heard. We, too, deserve to show our support and to strengthen and encourage our Jewish homeland. More than that — we also need to be supported! After a long time of being isolated, silenced and con- cerned for our safety (I mean, what other religious commu- nity needs to increase security in its schools and houses of worship?) this is our chance to come together and be there for one another, a...…

…Spots look good on him... not you AdvancedDerm.com Zero-Fee Payment Options: Debit Card, HSA, FSA, check, Gift Card, Cash, Care Credit. Credit Card surcharge fees vary up to 3%. Offices in Livonia, Shelby Township, Southfield/Franklin, Warren, Wyandotte Our family taking care of your family’s skin for 105 years. New Patients Schedule a FREE* Skin Cancer Screening Skin Cancer Awareness Month May 1 - 31 Schedule your FREE* screen...…

…20 | MAY 2 • 2024 J N O n Passover, Jews throughout the world gather to tell the story of their ancestors who were slaves in Egypt. The Haggadah enables seder participants to relive the Hebrew slaves’ misery in Egypt and gratitude for God’s interven- tion to free them from bondage. Like many other Jewish hol- idays, remembering the past is considered central to Jewish observance and identity. But this year, the Oct. 7 Hamas atta...…

…MAY 2 • 2024 | 21 thanks our 2024 corporate sponsors GUARDIAN Advance Steel Company • Baker Tilly US • Bloom Advisors • Bold Flow Yoga • Brogan & Partners • Cool Jack’s • Cooper Glass Homes • EverVideo Fink Bressack • Frameable Faces • Gold Star Products • Henry Ford Health • Horizon Financial Group, Inc • J.P. Morgan Private Bank Jeffery Meyers Internal Medicine • Kandle Dining Services • Lakes Urgent Care • Lash Rubin Orthodontics • L...…

…22 | MAY 2 • 2024 J N S habbat dinner at the Goldis house brings the whole fam- ily together. Arica and Jason, their kids Reagan, 5, Griffin, 3, and Archer, 6 months, regularly welcome grandparents, great-grandmothers, aunt, uncle and cousins to the table. Their dinners can be the five of them, a group of 12 or even 20, Arica Goldis says, adding that they’ve been known to Zoom out of towners in as well. “When we’re all around the...…

…MAY 2 • 2024 | 23 body’s families got together all the time, ” she says. “With three little kids, my husband and I talk about principles and values we want to instill, and being Jewish and carrying on Jewish traditions is a big part of that, so us being com- mitted to that every week is a big part of show- ing them that it is important. ” The kids, now Hillel Day School students themselves, bring home challahs every week from school. Th...…

…24 | MAY 2 • 2024 J N Y ou are never too old or too young to make new friends! Especially Grandfriends! This wonderful program, facilitated through the Shul- Chabad Lubavitch of West Bloomfield, is open to all and is already blooming with joy and success. The Shul has launched Grandfriends, a new program that aims to bring together children and seniors for one-on-one time to build relationships and bring joy and quality time to on...…

…MAY 2 • 2024 | 25 seniors with a song or other performance. Prior to the first event, a lot of thought was given to just how much structure would be needed. “Summer 2023, our campers from Camp Gan Israel at The Shul had the first visit to Meer Apartments, ” Itty said. “The chairs in the rooms were set up so every other had a bright cushion marking the seats for the 4-year-olds. “Every single pair worked!” Itty recalled. “The feeling i...…

…26 | MAY 2 • 2024 J N A manda Igra, a native of Chicago, found a new life in Traverse City. “ After I graduated from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, I wanted to do something different and move somewhere different,” she said. “I had never been to Northern Michigan, but I thought it was beautiful and a great place to be. I’m really glad I moved there.” Igra, the granddaughter of two Holocaust survivors, is an accomplished pi...…

…MAY 2 • 2024 | 27 I created at-home lesson boxes for upcoming holidays or a topic like Shabbat or tzedakah. The box would typically contain a book, a craft, sometimes a snack, a Hebrew lesson and a recipe. The boxes were designed for families to easily complete on their own as we isolated in our homes for safety. “I also serve as a bar and bat mitzvah tutor for the young adults in my congregation. I tutor weekly Hebrew lessons when...…

…28 | MAY 2 • 2024 J N A strong and resilient Jewish com- munity is the goal, ” said Matthew Sikora, owner of TRUE Martial Arts. With a mission to spread safety and security throughout the community, TRUE Martial Arts, a Jewish-owned martial arts school with locations in West Bloomfield and Birmingham, is providing self-defense classes to Jewish youth across the state. “My children studied with TRUE Martial Arts when they were young...…

…MAY 2 • 2024 | 29 UPCOMING LECTURES The Sheppy Dog Fund Lecture has been established to address topics of art, religion, and history, and is funded annually by The Sheppy Dog Fund, Dr. Alan Klein, advisor. Ford Foundation Equity Fund of the Community Foundation of Greater Flint ASL Interpretation is made possible by FREE ADMISSION Registration required at flintarts.org or front service desk JULY 18 • 2:00P & 6:00P The Thef...…

…MAY 2 • 2024 | 3 J N PURELY COMMENTARY 4-7 Essays and viewpoints. OUR COMMUNITY 8 Delivered with a Smile NCJW|MI and JFS celebrate 50-year partnership with Kosher Meals on Wheels. 14 Detroit Students Join Volunteer Mission to Israel Frankel teens make a difference in the Holy Land. 16 A Night of Razor-Sharp Political Commentary Leading political podcast #SistersInLaw hits Metro Detroit with a live show. ...…

…30 | MAY 2 • 2024 J N I t’s a concert that contains part Yiddish, part klezmer, part modern sounds and part stories in English that communicate the history and emotions expressed throughout the program. It’s “The Klezmers Play On,” this season’s Laker Concert offered free on Sunday afternoon, May 5, to an audience at Temple Israel in West Bloomfield. The program will be repeated May 30 in New York. The concert, honoring the ...…

…MAY 2 • 2024 | 31 J N Details “The Klezmers Play On” begins at 4 p.m. Sunday, May 5, at Temple Israel in West Bloomfield. To register for the free concert, go to temple- israel.org/event/laker24. (248) 661-5700. forward to the programs because singing with the cantor brings out a love for Yiddish theater and folk songs. Nadel, the Israeli- born composer and musical director, affiliated with New York’s Congregation B’nai Jeshuru...…

…32 | MAY 2 • 2024 J N T amara Lopes of Southfield is getting ready to help welcome the first Detroit cohort of Rekindle, a group aimed at cre- ating social change by bringing leaders from Black and Jewish commu- nities together to discuss racism and antisemitism. From a cafe in Detroit, the cohort of 14-16 people, equal in numbers of Black and Jewish participants, will work to build bridges between the communities, she says. ...…

…MAY 2 • 2024 | 33 J N A lla and Maksym Kondratenko’s lives changed forever the morning of Feb. 24, 2022, when the Russian army invaded Ukraine. It was the start of a harrowing journey that would eventually lead them to Saline, Michigan. They are trying to cre- ate a new life now and reestablish the thriving business they left behind. The couple’s former home in Kharkiv was 17 miles from the Russian border. They awakened early th...…

…34 | MAY 2 • 2024 J N M y wife was recently doing some organizing at her mother’s home and stumbled across a letter written by her great-uncle, Erwin Baer, to his wife, Doris, on May 2, 1945. His army unit had reached the Dachau concentration camp just three days after it was liberated, and he fought through very strong emotions to try and convey to Doris what had transpired there. You see, Erwin was not just the usual American ...…

…MAY 2 • 2024 | 35 …

…36 | MAY 2 • 2024 YO M H A Z I K A R O N W I T H YA D I N G E L L M A N , I D F E L I T E U N I T H E R O A COMMUNITY VIGIL FOR THE FALLEN Join us for the annual memorial for Yom HaZikaron, as we gather as a united community to remember the victims of October 7 and the soldiers lost in the ongoing war. We will hear a story of bravery and loss from our guest speaker Yadin Gellman, an IDF elite unit hero who was severely wounded on ...…

…MAY 2 • 2024 | 37 in White & Blue in White & Blue TUESDAY, MAY 28 6 - 9 PM Let’s celebrate Israel’s 76th Independence Day in a big way! We’re turning the Detroit Zoo white and blue with a community-wide solidarity walk. We’ll start with an opening ceremony and then walk the zoo for Israel at our own self-guided pace. There will be plenty to see and do along the way including: • A food tent with all your Israeli favorites (di...…

…38 | MAY 2 • 2024 J N Shining Stones, Fading Hopes Remembering the Remembering the victims of the Shoah victims of the Shoah while mourning those while mourning those lost on Oct. 7. lost on Oct. 7. Students from the Helene-Haeusler-Schule place flowers during the Mendelssohnstrae ceremony. PHOTOS BY ROBERT FRANCIOSI …

…MAY 2 • 2024 | 39 J N I met Dieter Sander in early September 2022, when two stolpersteine for Frieda Goldstein and her son Samuel were installed in Berlin. Small brass markers, or “stumbling stones, ” are embedded in sidewalks at the addresses where Nazi victims had last lived. These two at Fehrbellinerstrae 19 help to swell the numbers of a crowd-sourced memorial project, now counting over 80,000 individual markers spreading o...…

…4 | MAY 2 • 2024 J N PURELY COMMENTARY F or many Jews around the world sitting down at their tables last week to celebrate Passover — and there were indeed many, as the Passover seder is the most commonly observed Jewish ritual according to surveys of American and Israeli Jews — celebrating was harder than at any Passover in their lifetime. It seems like a mockery of the holiday com- memorating Jewish freedom from enslavem...…

…40 | MAY 2 • 2024 where I saw a gathering of over 50 people, the group mostly comprised of young stu- dents and their teachers. I made my way into the crowd, gratified that it was indeed a crowd, though disap- pointment wafted over me as I recalled the pro forma installation for the Goldsteins a few days earlier. This was exactly how it should have been done. From my wife’s place close to the front, I could see Dieter, speaking with se...…

…MAY 2 • 2024 | 41 cise, in the offices where three physicians completed assessment forms. Two plus signs would doom the “useless eater. ” Nothing better expresses for me the moral distance Germany has traveled since those dark days than the association of a school devoted to children, once deemed expendable by the Nazi state, with markers acknowledging the fate of Jews who had been viewed as similarly superfluous. “We feel a respons...…

…42 | MAY 2 • 2024 J N faces&places A recent evening for the people JARC serves was spent enjoying the musical stylings of the Troy Metro Symphony Orchestra Brass Quintet. JARC, a non- profit serving adults with devel- opmental disabilities in Metro Detroit, partnered with the local musical group to present a private, virtual concert for the people they serve. The lively evening was filled with singing and dancing and many smile...…

…MAY 2 • 2024 | 43 J N CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: HAMSA program manager Joel Dworkin provided resources to attendees. Attendees left with Narcan and fentanyl test trips. The goal of the event is to prevent overdose tragedies. faces&places R epair the World Detroit partnered with The Well, Jewish Family Service of Metro Detroit and Metro Detroit Hillel on a Narcan Training and Harm Reduction Education event. The event was held at the...…

…44 | MAY 2 • 2024 J N T he idea of “paying it forward” is a simple one. When you’re on the receiving end of an act of kindness or help from someone, instead of trying to pay it back, you pay it forward by doing something nice for someone else when you can. Dorrie Prussian of Birmingham, one of the many impressive young professionals the Detroit Jewish community has to offer, is doing just that. Prussian, originally from Louis...…

…MAY 2 • 2024 | 45 Support, education, and resources. Diagnosed with mBC? Share it with Sharsheret. Living with Metastatic Breast Cancer (mBC) is challenging on so many levels. Sharsheret is here for you with compassionate emotional support, educational materials, and connections to key lifestyle and medical resources. We are a nonprofit supporting Jewish women and families at high risk for or diagnosed with cancer. Turn to Shars...…

…46 | MAY 2 • 2024 J N H ockey is more than just a sport for Elyssa Biederman. “I’ve been playing hockey for as long as I can remember, ” she said. “It’s a part of me. I can’t imagine myself not playing hockey. My coaches and team- mates have had a huge impact on my life. ” The latest stop in Biederman’s hockey journey is Colgate University, a private college in Hamilton, N.Y., with an enroll- ment of about 3,000 students. Biederma...…

…MAY 2 • 2024 | 47 Committee at Colgate, a career ambassador for her Colgate teammates, and a mentor for young female hockey players and an inclu- sive learn-to-skate instructor in Hamilton. Biederman also strong- ly considered attending Princeton University and Dartmouth College during her recruiting process. “They’re both good schools, and I would have been happy at either place, ” she said. “But Colgate seemed like the right pla...…

…48 | MAY 2 • 2024 J N MAZEL TOV! HOW TO SUBMIT ANNOUNCEMENTS Mazel Tov! announcements are welcomed for members of the Jewish community. Anniversaries, engagements and weddings with a photo (preferably color) can appear at a cost of $18 each. Births are $10. There is no charge for bar/bat mitzvahs or for special birthdays starting at the 90th. For information, contact Editorial Assistant Sy Manello at smanello@thejewishnews.com or (248)...…

…MAY 2 • 2024 | 49 J N Your Own Personal ‘Holy of Holies’ I t may seem odd to think about Yom Kippur in the spring, but each year at this time the annual cycle of reading of the Torah brings us a “preview” of the Day of Atonement. We read of the ritual of atonement performed by Aaron in the Holy of Holies, the innermost place in the Tabernacle. This holy space and the similar spaces in the Temples in Jerusalem were entered only ...…

…MAY 2 • 2024 | 5 J N watched their former captors drowning in the depths of the sea after attempting to bring them back into captivity, again without having to fight for their freedom. In a time span so short as to be inconceivably disorienting, the Israelites went through changes that would have taken a lifetime to absorb. They wit- nessed supernatural plagues, were freed from 400 years of bondage, watched God per- form the ultima...…

…50 | MAY 2 • 2024 J N W hat happens to national identity when everything holding a nation together disintegrates or disappears? What happens to society when the focus of a culture is on the self and its icon, the “selfie?” What happens when Google filters and Facebook friends divide us into non-communicating sects of the like-minded? And what happens to morality when the mantra is no longer “We’re all in this together” b...…

…MAY 2 • 2024 | 51 J N being done in the name of the right not to be offended — a right that would have terrified George Orwell, whose dictum, engraved on the walls of the new BBC Broadcasting House, states: “If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear.” This is closely related to a third phenomenon playing an ever-larger part in the liberal democracies of the West, namely id...…

…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...…

…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 ...…

…54 | MAY 2 • 2024 J N D iffering contemporary musical directions have made a major impact on the life of Gretchen Gonzales Davidson, whose guitar playing and singing took off at Michigan State University in the 1990s as she worked to graduate with majors in anthropology and environmental policy. Contemporary bands, personal friendships, marriage, religious commitments and community participation resulted from people she got to...…