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…$200 Jan. 20-26, 2022 / 18-24 Shevat 5782 JEWISH NEWS JEWISH NEWS THE DETROIT thejewishnews.com JEWISH NEWS Sculpture Hockey star Elle Hartje explores family roots, grows personally during a pandemic- plagued season in Slovakia. See page 28 Sculpture …

…JANUARY 20 • 2022 | 3 contents PURELY COMMENTARY 4-9 Essays and viewpoints. OUR COMMUNITY 10 The Lines Are Drawn New congressional districts impact Metro Detroit’s Jewish community. 12 A Place to Mourn Clover Hill Park Cemetery plans on-site shivah center expansion. 14 80 Years Ago In 1942, Joe Biden and the Jewish News were both born. 16 Would You Risk Your Life to Save a Book? The Zekelman Holoca...…

…4 | JANUARY 20 • 2022 PURELY COMMENTARY essay I Called Her Aunt Anna T he stories behind how Jewish families bond with those of other religions have always fascinated me. I grew up in an Orthodox, then later Conservative Jewish family. My parents were very close with a woman from a Greek Orthodox family. Her name was Anna, but I loved her so much and felt so close to her, I always called her Aunt Anna. She came into my fa...…

…JANUARY 20 • 2022 | 5 P A R T IS A N S, P OE TS, AND T HE R AC E T O S AVE JEW I S H T REAS URES FROM TH E N A Z I S . be in her life. She closed the door on Susan’s face. Susan and Barry were devastated. After an hour of conversation, I invited Susan and her husband for a weekend visit. We both had so many questions that needed answers. She was hoping I could close the information gap; I ...…

…6 | JANUARY 20 • 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...…

…JANUARY 20 • 2022 | 7 DETROIT JEWISH NEWS 32255 Northwestern Hwy. Suite 205, Farmington Hills, MI 48334 248-354-6060 thejewishnews.com TWO GENERATIONS OF SOLD 2 4 8 . 8 6 7 . 7 8 0 0 M E L A N I E S O L D . C O M melaniesold@aol.com & ns.cohen26@gmail.com 4130 Telegraph Road, Bloomfield Hills MI 48302 MELANIE BISHOP NOAH BISHOP-COHEN “SOLD” is my middle name The Next Generation Of “SOLD” MB MB MB MB MB MB MB MB MB MB MB MB MB...…

…8 | JANUARY 20 • 2022 column New Year Resolutions that Go Beyond Ourselves B enjamin Disraeli wrote: “I am prepared for the worst but hope for the best.” Mel Brooks sang: “Hope for the best, expect the worst.” In slightly different ways and from very different platforms, both the statesman and the comedian identified the same precarious mix of optimism and pessimism inherent in their shared Jewish faith. Since one of the ...…

…JANUARY 20 • 2022 | 9 letters A Touching Column Dr. Jeff London’s article, “40 Years of Psychiatry: What Have I Learned?” (Jan. 6, 2022) touched me deeply with his honesty, humility and hope. I have practiced psychology for many years and can identify with his perceptive insights and lessons about the human condition. I especially resonated with the following paragraph: “The thought that one never knows the effect you might have ...…

…10 | JANUARY 20 • 2022 OUR COMMUNITY LANSING F or the past four years, Michigan has had two Jewish members of Congress, both Democrats: Andy Levin, who succeeded his legendary father Sandy Levin, and Elissa Slotkin, who has twice won a seat that had been designed to elect Republicans. But this year, both will be running in districts that are substantially different. One, Andy Levin, is facing an unexpect- ed primary challenge that...…

…JANUARY 20 • 2022 | 11 SLOTKIN’S CHALLENGE Elissa Slotkin, who was also first elected in 2018, has never had an easy elec- tion; she twice has had to raise huge sums — $7.5 mil- lion in 2020 — to narrowly hold on to her seat. That’s the case even though her foreign poli- cy knowledge and experience are highly regarded; though only 45, she already has had a career as a CIA analyst and an Assistant Secretary of State for National S...…

…12 | JANUARY 20 • 2022 T raditionally, families who have lost a loved one conduct daily services and receive visitors at the family home for a week after the funeral. They gather with friends for comfort and often share memories of the deceased individual. Family members often eat together during the shivah period. But times have changed. According to Kim Raznik, executive director of Clover Hill Park Cemetery in Birmingham, t...…

…JANUARY 20 • 2022 | 13 spread out, and it’s not safe to be in a home,” says Rabbi Aaron Starr of Congregation Shaarey Zedek. The congre- gation has hosted outdoor shivahs and other events at its Southfield facility and grounds. In addition, some shivah services are held in its main sanctuary with partici- pants distanced and masked in this very large space. “We need to honor the deceased and comfort mourners, and achieve those mit...…

…E ighty years ago, there was much to talk and read about. America was still reeling from the Japanese sneak attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941. Japan declared war on the United States and Britain after the attack on Hawaii and Honolulu. The following day, the United States declared war on Japan, and three days later, Germany and Italy declared war on the U.S, after which the U.S. declared war against them. Detroit’s newspapers o...…

…JANUARY 20 • 2022 | 15 Small in stature, Slomovitz towered over others as a ferocious fighter for and defender of justice and Jewish causes. Slomovitz con- tacted Danny Raskin, then a young reporter with the Detroit News, to join the new pub- lication. Raskin didn’t think there was room for two local Jewish weeklies, But Slomovitz’s determination soon melted Raskin’s reluc- tance. Raskin’s first column in the first Jewish News on March ...…

…16 | JANUARY 20 • 2022 OUR COMMUNITY W ould you risk your life to save a book? That is the under- lying question of “The Book Smugglers: Partisans, Poets, and the Race to Save Jewish Treasures from the Nazis” on view at the newly renamed Zekelman Holocaust Center (HC) now through May 31, 2022. The exhibi- tion was curated by Holocaust Museum Houston and based on the book of the same name by Dr. David E. Fishman. “The Book S...…

…JANUARY 20 • 2022 | 17 0.99% APR ON CERTIFIED PRE-OWNED ACCORD, CIVIC, CR-V, HR-V, & PILOT VEHICLES! *Available on approved credit through Honda Financial Services, 0.9% APR for up to 48 months on select new and unregistered 2022 Honda Pilot & HR-V and 2021 Passport models through 02/28/2022, for well-qualified buyers. Not all buyers will qualify. Higher financing rates apply for buyers with lower credit ratings. Actual down payment may ...…

…18 | JANUARY 20 • 2022 F light cancellations, changing travel rules and getting stuck abroad: These are just a few of the many issues trav- elers are facing in recent weeks as the rapid- ly spreading Omicron variant of COVID-19 continues to impact the travel industry. Having recently returned from a trip to Aruba, I faced all these issues and then some as Omicron quickly went from what felt like a small possibility in the back- ground...…

…JANUARY 20 • 2022 | 19 A mong many programs the Woodward Avenue Shul is offering this winter is the “Soup and Study” program, an opportunity to participate in a weekly discussion analyzing a larger Jewish topic that connects with the weekly Torah por- tion, accompanied with a warm, hearty soup. There have been three ses- sions so far, the first on the topic of trust and faith in God and the next two on freedom of choice and de...…

…20 | JANUARY 20 • 2022 W ant to do a mitz- vah and have some tasty, fresh challah delivered to someone’s doorstep? Challah Train, an initiative of JFamily, is just the program for you. Challah Train entails challah being delivered each Friday to two members of the community, mostly families with children that would be served by JFamily. Jamie Kaniarz, Challah Train’s parent connector and “train conductor, ” says the initiative ...…

…JANUARY 20 • 2022 | 21 F ederation’s NEXTGen Detroit is hosting a spe- cial edition of its happy hour/bar night series, L ’Chaim Detroit, on Jan. 26 from 6-8 p.m. L ’Chaim Detroit: Newish and Jewish Edition is aimed at those who moved to town (or back to town) between March 2020 and present day and haven’t gotten out much or experienced all the awesome people and excit- ing things Detroit and Jewish Detroit have to offer. The eve...…

…22 | JANUARY 20 • 2022 A holiday vacation taken by a West Bloomfield family in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, turned into a vehicle to help those in need. Ten-year-old Hillel student Emeri Charlip, along with her two friends, Oliver and Alice Hybl, raised more than $400 for the Vallarta Food Bank by collecting, decorating and selling rocks. It began when the kids decid- ed to do an art project when they were on the beach one day, and...…

…JANUARY 20 • 2022 | 23 University of Michigan’s Judaic Studies Center gets $1M grant T he University of Michigan’s Frankel Center for Judaic Studies announced that it had received a new gift in excess of $1 million from local benefactors. The money will primarily be used to create a new full- time endowed professor- ship on the faculty. The gift comes from the estate of Stuart and Barbara Padnos, and will endow a Stuart B. and ...…

…24 | JANUARY 20 • 2022 T he Rabbi and The Shrink is a pod- cast that’s aptly named. With a mission of advancing a global discussion on everything eth- ics, from ethics in business to ethics in relationships, the podcast — which is, of course, hosted by a rabbi and a shrink — aims to teach people moral principles while improving understanding of differ- ent perspectives. “It’s nice to have people who you can disagree with to show how t...…

…JANUARY 20 • 2022 | 25 “I thought of the rabbi immediately,” Gurri says. Goldson, a self-proclaimed “hitchhiking rabbi,” has host- ed a TEDx Talk and works with leaders to create ethical business cultures. “He is a guy who is unusual for a rabbi because he’s very Orthodox now, but he wasn’t raised that way. He’s never short of stories [to tell].” Gurri called “the good rabbi,” as she refers to her co-host, and asked him to “say y...…

…26 | JANUARY 20 • 2022 faces&places TOP: Marc Bernstein MIDDLE: Rabbi Asher Lopatin, Rev. Ken Flowers (Greater New Mt. Moriah), Luke Moon (Philos Project), Adar Rubin, Ashira Solomon (JCRC/AJC). BOTTOM: Ashira Solomon, Rabbi Asher Lopatin and Adar Rubin. PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF JCRC/AJC Shine a Light on Antisemitism The Detroit Metropolitan community gathered on Sunday, Dec. 5, to Shine a Light on Antisemitism. Members of the Jew...…

…JANUARY 20 • 2022 | 27 faces&places I n its 25th year, Mitzvah Day turned into Mitzvah Weekend, running from Dec. 24-26 to expand its outreach and offer alternatives to Jewish volunteers who observe the Sabbath. Hundreds of volunteers of various faiths came together to serve Metro Detroit non- profits. Historically, Mitzvah Day is the single largest day of volunteering by Detroit’s Jewish Community Relations Council/American Jewish...…

…28 | JANUARY 20 • 2022 E lle Hartje was making a name for herself in women’s hockey at the dawn of the new year. The 20-year-old Yale University sophomore from Bloomfield Hills was averaging 1.29 assists per game, the highest average among NCAA Division I women’s hockey players. Hartje had six goals and 18 assists in 14 games for the Bulldogs (10-3-1), who were ranked No. 6 in the country, the highest ranking in program history. ...…

…JANUARY 20 • 2022 | 29 from Hungary, Germany, Poland, Austria, Sweden and Kazakhstan. She also played for the Slovakia national team in games against Austria, Germany and the Czech Republic after fulfilling a requirement set by Slovakian and international hockey organizations to establish residence in Slovakia by living in that country for at least eight months. The 5-foot-5 forward received permission from USA Hockey to join th...…

…30 | JANUARY 20 • 2022 she had to quarantine for two weeks because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Thanks to family friends, she had an apartment in the city where she could stay, and food was brought in for her. She lived in a hotel in Bratislava along with her club teammates the rest of the time she was there. The team had a floor to itself. Her roommate, Simone Bednarik, spoke English. But the rest of her teammates “spoke only servicea...…

…JANUARY 20 • 2022 | 31 BACK IN THE U.S.A. She planned to compete with the Slovakia national team in an Olympic qualification tournament in November but was ill (not with COVID) and decided not to travel. It turned out to be a wise decision. The four Yale games Elle would have missed had she traveled — against Cornell, Colgate, Harvard and Dartmouth from Nov. 5-13 — were all wins for the Bulldogs, who outscored their four opponents 22...…

…32 | JANUARY 20 • 2022 H e grew up in the food business, at the super- market chain his late grandfather Sidney Hiller start- ed, and his father, Jim Hiller, ran for decades. Now Justin Hiller, former VP of Hiller’s Markets, has returned to the retail food industry, bringing a new healthy fast-food concept to Metro Detroit. He opened Saladworks and Frutta Bowls at Crosswinds Mall on Orchard Lake Road in December, creating 15 new...…

…JANUARY 20 • 2022 | 33 once had more than 1,200 employees and seven locations: West Bloomfield, Ann Arbor, Northville, Plymouth, South Lyon, Commerce Township and Union Lake. Hiller’s was sold to Kroger in 2015. After that, Justin worked with Gleaners Community Food Bank to help launch a neighborhood mobile grocery program and as a stewardship administrator. “The food service industry has played an integral role in my life and I...…

…34 | JANUARY 20 • 2022 T here’s a tremendous collection of cookbooks in the libraries of Michigan State University, and they’ve digitized a number of them for researchers and the public alike to read and enjoy. Amongst these tomes is The International Jewish Cook Book, published in 1918. A snapshot of Jewish foods from all corners and of all types, the recipes pay attention to kosher laws and holiday concerns, and cove...…

…JANUARY 20 • 2022 | 35 M any wonder what is the real secret of the Jewish nation? How do the Jews have so many members who invest their entire lives in study and scholarship? What is the deeper reason for motivation to acquire knowledge and be edu- cated? More than 3,000 years ago, a small percentage of people knew how to read. Only the most elite received education. The ruling class specifically intended it that way to ensur...…

…36 | JANUARY 20 • 2022 W hat are the key turning points in history? What are the events that changed the world beyond recognition and whose impact was felt by everyone, everywhere? You could talk about the invention of the electric light bulb or Gutenberg’s printing press. You could mention the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand, which set off World War I and led to World War II, or the French and American Revolutions, or the ...…

…JANUARY 20 • 2022 | 37 Adam, which comes from the Hebrew word adama, meaning “earth” or “ground.” What is the connection between the two? The Maharal explains that humans are similar to the ground in one essential respect: They are both pure potential. Whether or not a piece of land will produce fruit depends on what is done with it. Even the most fertile piece of land will not produce fruit if it is left to lie fallow; it needs ...…

…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 20 • 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...…

…40 | JANUARY 20 • 2022 W hen Matthew Lipitz was in first grade, his teacher told the students to draw a picture of their parents in their occupational garb. Upon seeing Lipitz’s rendering, the teacher told Lipitz that his drawing was a nonsensical fabrication and sent the first grader crying to the princi- pal’s office. When the principal returned to class with Lipitz in tow, the principal repri- manded the teacher, announcing tha...…

…JANUARY 20 • 2022 | 41 safe being in a larger com- munity. “The pandemic gave me time to reflect, recharge and renew,” Lipitz adds. “It was an incredible time to recon- nect to my family and to my faith. I did a lot of convers- ing with God in those 18 months.” Even during that time, Lipitz made it a priority to continue his charitable vol- unteer work with his home- town Jewish Community Center in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, where Lipi...…

…42 | JANUARY 20 • 2022 W hat briefly was filmed in 1938 to remember vacation travels in Poland came to circulate across the web, motivated a book and recently was expanded into a 69-minute movie to be shown virtually this month by the Sundance Film Festival. The expressive milestones resulted from happenstance discoveries followed by deter- mined research and connected families descended from residents of a small town, Nasielsk, wh...…

…JANUARY 20 • 2022 | 43 University and has taught at the Interlochen Center for the Arts, had traveled widely to find authentic ancestral records. “It’s amazing to have my grandfather’s souvenir travel film showing on the film festival screen, and I’m amazed at how his imagery touches people in a way that’s profound, ” Kurtz said. “That’s astonishing, something miraculous to me. ” FINDING COMMONALITIES Reactions to the clip and the fi...…

…BOB SAGET: YOU PROBABLY DIDN’T KNOW THIS; AUSTISM ON AMAZON, WASPS FIGHT ON HBO A day after Bob Saget died, the Jewish Telegraph Agency (JTA) did a good job of pulling together excerpts of interviews in which he discussed being Jewish. In short, he was “really Jewish,” but not very practicing for most of his adult life. The JTA article did touch on the fact that his faith in religion was shaken by the very premature deaths of ...…

…JANUARY 20 • 2022 | 45 ARTIST SPEAKS 7 PM, JAN. 20 Hosted by the Jewish Historical Society of Michigan on Zoom. An exclusive con- versation with Israeli artist Yigal Ozeri and his daughter, Shear, managing director of Yigal Ozeri LLC. Ozeri is one of the leading artists of photorealism in the world. Hosted by Barbara Cohn, this live conversation will cover Yigal Ozeri’s life grow- ing up in Israel, his artistic influences, the art ...…

…46 | JANUARY 20 • 2022 When I Grow Up, a graphic narrative based on newly dis- covered, never-before-pub- lished autobiographies of Eastern European Jewish teens on the brink of WWII — found in 2017 hidden in a Lithuanian church cellar. Registration is free: jysa.edu. HONORING MLK JR. 3-5 PM, JAN. 27 A virtual program brought to you by the University of Michigan Frankel Center for Judaic Studies. “Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. as a ...…

…JANUARY 20 • 2022 | 47 SPOTLIGHT B irthright Israel, the largest educational tourism organization in the world, and Onward Israel, the leading provider of mid- length immersive experiences for young adults in Israel, have merged. Combining these two orga- nizations strengthens Israel- diaspora ties by providing expanded opportunities for more Jewish young adults to participate in travel, study and professional development expe- r...…

…the exchange community bulletin board | professional services For information regarding advertising please call 248-351-5116 or 248-234-9057 or email salessupport@thejewishnews.com Deadline for ad insertion is 9 a.m. on Friday prior to publication. Aaron Mendelson Heating and Cooling, LLC. 248-855-0437 Cell: 248-912-2292 License # 7118488 Maintenance, Installation, Repair & Hot Water Heaters Ajmendelson1@gmail.com FAMILY OWNED SINC...…

…KLARA ABAYEV, 91, of Oak Park, died Jan. 6, 2022. She is survived by her son and daughter-in-law, David and Larisa Abayev of Commerce Township; grandchildren, Regina Abayev, Marina Abayev; great-grandchildren, Ashton, Lior. Mrs. Abayev was the beloved wife of the late Abram Abayev; dear sister of the late Jenya Shkolnik, the late Bella Halfin. Contributions may be made to any charity dealing with assisting first responders...…

…OBITUARIES OF BLESSED MEMORY 50 | JANUARY 20 • 2022 M arilyn Schechter of West Bloomfield, known for her bright smile and independent spirit, died on Jan. 2, 2022. She loved her family with all her heart, filled her life with deep and lasting friendships, and was an accomplished artist, continuing to work late into her life. Marilyn was the beloved wife of Neal Schechter for 39 years, until his death in 2007. Together, with ...…