…Every Wednesday Pick a Wednesday in April to tour any Anthology of Michigan community, and you’ll take home our chef’s flavorful simmering soup. There’s no better time than now to look into Anthology Senior Living communities and dive into a vibrant lifestyle rich with rewards. This will be a socially distanced event. Masks required. RSVP FOR SOUP NOW SOUPER WEDNESDAY AnthologyMichigan.com Tours and Soup CONTINUE YOUR LIFE STORY WI...…
…JEWISH NEWS JEWISH NEWS THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS $200 Feb. 24-March 2, 2022 / 23-29 Adar 1 5782 thejewishnews.com thejewishnews.com Jewish Bakery Renewal Stacy Fox is determined to preserve — and improve — Jewish-style bakeries in Metro Detroit. See page 12 …
…442 S. Old Woodward Avenue Birmingham, MI 48009 HallandHunter.com 2021 PENDINGS/SOLDS OF $96+ MILLION #1 TOP PRODUCER FOR 2021 AT HALL & HUNTER REALTORS 248.568.7309 | Cindy@CindyKahn.com | CindyKahn.com An Extraordinary Agent Providing Extraordinary Results BIRMINGHAM | 330 FERNDALE AVENUE | $2,395,000 Situated on a coveted street in Little San Francisco, this completely renovated & reconfigured stone colonial showcases spectacular qu...…
…FEBRUARY 24 • 2022 | 3 contents PURELY COMMENTARY 4-9 Essays and viewpoints. OUR COMMUNITY 10 Good News at Frankel Jewish Academy The school introduces Shorashim Grants providing all students up to $10,000 toward tuition. 12 Jewish Bakery Renewal Stacy Fox is determined to preserve — and improve — Jewish-style bakeries in Metro Detroit. 16 On-Ice Fundraiser Local hockey tournament raises funds for...…
…4 | FEBRUARY 24 • 2022 essay Why I Wrote a Jewish Book about Kidney Donation G rowing up, like lots of idealistic young people, I always wanted to be the kind of person who would change the world drastically and for the better — perhaps as a life-saving scientist, a soul-inspiring musician or a transformative political leader. The problem was I wasn’t quite cut out for those fields and even those who do make it big in t...…
…FEBRUARY 24 • 2022 | 5 essay Legacy: The Yellow Violin F lemington, New Jersey, was stop number one on my three-week August concert tour some years back. Half of the buildings in this Delaware River town are on the Register of Historic Places. Masterfully restored 19th-century Victorians resplendent with sumptuous flower boxes line each side of the main boulevard. This is not just another exit on the turnpike— its claim t...…
…6 | FEBRUARY 24 • 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: D...…
…DETROIT JEWISH NEWS 32255 Northwestern Hwy. Suite 205, Farmington Hills, MI 48334 248-354-6060 thejewishnews.com The Byron and Dorothy Gerson Centennial Innovation Fund Honors the Legacy of Two Community Champions Dorothy “Dottie” (z”l) and Byron “Bud” (z”l) Gerson are remembered as two of Jewish Detroit’s greatest leaders and benefactors. Their passion and generosity for our community was matched only by their commitment to family, and...…
…8 | FEBRUARY 24 • 2022 PURELY COMMENTARY soon forget. I felt blessed to have a role in this incredible saga. After the event, Sharon Brooks wrote to me: “Sam, you asked me a question I never thought about before. What if my grandfather was able to bring the violin to Israel? Would this music have this new life, this revival of spirit? Perhaps what seemed like such an injustice back then was a part of the master plan. Maybe the...…
…FEBRUARY 24 • 2022 | 9 MISREPRESENTING MAUS continued from page 6 matter of days three different volumes of Maus zoomed up Amazon’s top 10 list — no one has seemed troubled by the ease with which media reports consistently misrepresent Maus as a novel. I doubt the initial report in the Times, or of those who took their cues from it, intended to imply that Spiegelman’s text is a work of fiction. So why did they? Why do our profession...…
…F amilies of high-school aged students who didn’t think they could afford a day school education have a new option today. Frankel Jewish Academy (FJA) announced the Shorashim Grant program — an opportu- nity for current and incoming families, regardless of the ability to pay, to opt-in to grants that help reduce the cost of annual tuition. Shorashim Grants are avail- able at up to $10,000 per student annually. and families will b...…
…FEBRUARY 24 • 2022 | 11 uates of FJA. Their leadership, and therefore Frankel Jewish Academy’s impact, will be felt for years to come. ” The Shorashim Grants will be evaluated over the next few years to determine their effectiveness. The goal is to continue to offer them to stu- dents who enroll at FJA in 2023 and beyond. In addition to the Shorashim Grants, Frankel Jewish Academy continues to offer generous tuition assis- tance. ...…
…12 | FEBRUARY 24 • ON THE COVER PHOTOS BY GLENN TRIEST Stacy Fox at Star Bakery …
…FEBRUARY 24 • 2022 | 13 Y ou’re always warm and never hungry if you work for a bakery,” said Stacy Fox, a hometown gal with a thing for old bakeries — old Jewish bakeries in particular. Fox was 16 when she began working with Marty and Joyce Herman at Marty’s Cookies & Bakery in Birmingham, a business known for its definitive chocolate chip cookies. At age 24, she purchased the bakery and kept it for 20 years. A tasty new chapter ...…
…14 | FEBRUARY 24 • 2022 specialties. Speaking of Star Bakery, she said, “People come from all over for our seven-layer cake,” but she’s also found great loyalty to Diamond Bakery’s recipe for seven-layer cake. “We’re famous for our rye bread,” she said, again referring to Star Bakery. For the time being, Star is making all the rye bread sold at Diamond Bakery and teaching bakers there to make it the same way. The rye is popular for...…
…FEBRUARY 24 • 2022 | 15 Stacy Fox relies on her longtime employee Marilyn Wolton of Oak Park, associated with Star Bakery since 1960. The only child of Polish Holocaust survivors Joyce and Henry “Chaim” Abramowitz, Wolton was born in a displaced persons camp in Germany. She remembered when her father, owner of a shoe repair shop on Coolidge, told 14-year- old Marilyn to “find a job, but you’re not working for me.” Down the street...…
…A vrumi Lorkis of Oak Park has been a hockey player since his school days at Yeshivah Beth Yehudah. Free time would find him on the ice rink at the Jewish Community Center of Metro Detroit at practice or games. Now at 32, the high school teacher still likes to play pick- up hockey for its social and exercise benefits. “Hockey is a passion and a commitment,” Lorkis said. “The gear gets expensive, and it takes time and practice ...…
…FEBRUARY 24 • 2022 | 17 OUR COMMUNITY T he award-winning series returns for a second season to feature profiles of Detroit seniors, including colorful stories of entrepre- neur Larry Mongo, owner of Cafe D’Mongo’s Speakeasy in Downtown Detroit; the philanthropy of Max Fisher family scion and matriarch Jane Sherman; a vivid oral history of the Cass Corridor arts scene in the 1970s by legendary artist Nancy Mitchnick; the trans- f...…
…T he late Dorothy and Byron Gerson were devoted to Detroit’s Jewish community and to Israel, a commit- ment shared by their family for several gen- erations. They traveled often to Israel and contributed generously to improve Jewish life in Detroit and Israel. Now their legacy is being honored through a series of grants from the William Davidson Foundation. Byron and Dorothy Gerson were the brother-in-law and sister of the late Willia...…
…FEBRUARY 24 • 2022 | 19 INNOVATION FUND AT FEDERATION In addition to the gift to the Israel Museum, the Foundation is granting $3.5 million to Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit to establish the Byron and Dorothy Gerson Centennial Innovation Fund. The Gersons were long-time donors to Jewish Federation, receiving Federation’s lifetime achievement award in 2011. This new proj- ect complements the Hermelin-Davidson Foundation for...…
…20 | FEBRUARY 24 • 2022 OUR COMMUNITY T he Cis Maisel Center for Judaic Studies and Community Engagement will present Defiant Requiem, a moving feature-length documentary that honors the prisoners of the Terezín concentration camp. The screening will be held in the Oakland Center Banquet Rooms (312 Meadow Brook Road, Rochester) on Wednesday, March 9, at 7 p.m. The film tells the Terezín prisoners’ stories and combines histo...…
…FEBRUARY 24 • 2022 | 21 Maestro Murry Sidlin COURTESY OF JEFF ROFFMAN Treblinka and Auschwitz. Maestro Murry Sidlin will speak to OU students during an afternoon event about the film and its music. He will then show the film at the evening public event and lead a discussion after the screening. Defiant Requiem has received numerous awards nationwide. Sidlin, a conductor with a unique gift for engaging audiences, continues a ...…
…22 | FEBRUARY 24 • 2022 OUR COMMUNITY E leanor Roosevelt Hadassah, a Hadassah chapter for Greater Detroit and its suburbs, is hold- ing a virtual celebration of Purim on March 3 at 7:30 p.m. with an evening of music, friendship and entertainment, featuring a performance from Lisa Soble Siegmann. Siegmann, a singer, songwriter, cantorial soloist and song leader, began singing professionally at age 5 — and hasn’t stopped. The Blo...…
…On Sunday, March 6, our community volunteers will be making calls to secure donations to Federation’s 2022 Annual Campaign. Every day, Federation’s partner agencies are taking care of older adults, children and other vulnerable individuals. Providing emergency financial assistance for families in need, and educational supports for our day schools. Delivering mental health services for those that are struggling. This is all pos...…
…Join fellow young adults who live in (or are from) Metro Detroit on an upcoming Birthright trip. There are two dates to choose from: May 9-19, 2022, and May 23-June 2, 2022. Based on Israel Outdoors’ flagship Israel Quest itinerary, Detroit Community Birthright trips give you the opportunity to explore Israel’s natural beauty, its epic 3,000-year history and its colorful cultural traditions, alongside fellow young Jewish Detroit...…
…After a two-year absence, Metro Detroit’s biggest and best used book and media sale will return to Livonia’s Laurel Park Place in Livonia, May 15-22, offering amazing deals on used books and media. New this year, in addition to scores of tables brimming with used books and media inside the mall, Bookstock plans to feature a Best of Bookstock outdoor tent for customers preferring an out- door experience. Proceeds from Bookstock be...…
…B owlers are back on the lanes this season in the Brotherhood-Eddie Jacobson B’nai B’rith league after the COVID-19 pandemic forced them to take some time off. Two of the league’s bowlers are on a roll. Aaron Radner bowled his sixth 300 game in league play, the most in the league’s 60-year history. Joey Schechter, at age 22 the league’s youngest bowler (the minimum age is 18), had the league’s highest series of the season as of ...…
…Radner didn’t bowl for about a year because of the pandemic. He began practic- ing last summer after getting vaccinated. “It’s exciting to get back in the swing of things,” the Farmington Hills resident said. He’s bowling in two other leagues besides the Brotherhood-Eddie Jacobson league this season. This is a birthday month for Radner, who turned 27 on Feb. 16. He’s a former member of the North Farmington High School bowling team...…
…P hilip Zazove, M.D., as a family physician who has lived his life with profound hearing loss, is well acquainted with overcoming adversity. He’s had to prove himself repeatedly as someone who is just as competent and capable as someone without a disability. This was true from an early age, as he attend- ed public school as a child growing up in Lincolnwood, Ill. (near Evanston and Skokie), where he was one of the first deaf children ...…
…FEBRUARY 24 • 2022 | 29 continued on page 30 “It’s time for someone with new ideas and energy to come in,” said Zazove, who turned 70 in 2021. “Also, I’m ready to spend more time with my wife (Barbara Reed, M.D., MSPH, professor emeritus of family medicine at U-M).” Zazove, who has been a member of Temple Beth Emeth and the Jewish Community Center in Ann Arbor, leaves behind a tremendous legacy as a deaf clinician and researcher. He...…
…30 | FEBRUARY 24 • 2022 continued from page 29 HEALTH parents, Earl and Louise, both physicians, refused to send him to a state school for deaf children and instead enrolled him in public schools. He drew support and inspiration from both, especially his mother. “Every successful younger person with a disability I’ve met had supportive parents or mentors,” Zazove said. “I think that’s also what really allowed me to be so success...…
…FEBRUARY 24 • 2022 | 31 NO REGRETS PURSUING FAMILY MEDICINE Zazove said he made the right choice going into family med- icine. His work has allowed him to follow patients and their health through the years. “Getting to know patients and their families well, and caring for entire families from birth to death, has been so rewarding, ” he said. “The feed- back from patients … is heart- warming. I know all family docs have similar experi...…
…K evin’s Song, a Michigan- based charitable organization dedicated to generating public awareness about the causes of suicide, held its Annual Virtual Conference on Suicide in late January. The conference featured survivors of suicide who shared their stories of combating stigma and dealing with loss and grief, followed by a panel discussion with four survivors who shared their personal experiences of surviving the pain of suicide ...…
…program has seen significant progress in addressing its three programmatic pillars: awareness, knowledge and skills, and access. “Since its inception, nearly 1,000 community professionals have been trained in mental health and suicide alertness trainings,” she said. JFS recently hired a suicide prevention coordinator, Mayim Meyers, who will specifically focus on suicide prevention in the Metro Detroit Jewish community. Cohen s...…
…W ith one in five adults experiencing mental illness in 2020, a crisis exacerbated by the stressors of the COVID- 19 pandemic, understanding how — and where — to access mental health care has become more important than ever. Yet those resources aren’t always easy to find. That’s why Mind Matters, a free virtual program on March 3 for Metro Detroiters, wants to help people learn how to navigate Michigan’s mental health care syste...…
…FEBRUARY 24 • 2022 | 35 mental health resources, paired with decreased accessibility due to COVID-19, has contributed to a greater need for public awareness on understanding Michigan’s mental health care system — which may not be as complex as some people think. CREATING SOLUTIONS FOR ACCESSIBILITY “COVID-19, isolation and all of the things that came along with it have increased depression and anxiety across the board, ” Rinaldi ...…
…36 | FEBRUARY 24 • 2022 BUSINESS S ince Sinai Hospital closed nearly 25 years ago, some might say Beaumont became the “de facto” Jewish hospital of Metro Detroit, with the lion’s share of Detroit’s Jewish community using its services and doctors. And over the years, the Jewish community has contributed millions of dollars to the institution, from Mickey Shapiro’s donation to endow the Sara and Asa Shapiro Heart and Vascular...…
…FEBRUARY 24 • 2022 | 37 H ave you ever heard of a mik- vah rescue team? Well, one was formed in Israel this past summer to rescue a 2,000-year-old ritual bath from being covered by a new intersection on a major highway in the Galilee. In Israel, it’s often said that archaeology is the enemy of the building contractor. When construction teams begin clearing and drilling a site, it is not unusual that they come across ancient artifact...…
…M arcy Tatelbaum, 44, made aliyah in 2007 with her husband, Yehuda, and their three chil- dren, Meir, Yakir and Techelet who are now 21, 19, and 16 years old. She loves living in Israel where every day contrib- utes to a meaningful existence. JN: Do you remember an early trip to Israel? MT: When I was about 8 years old, we came on a family trip to Israel for two weeks. The next time we came was when my sister was here in seminary,...…
…FEBRUARY 24 • 2022 | 39 MAZEL TOV! Sasha Edyth Shepherd, daughter of Melissa and Aaron Shepherd, will become a bat mitzvah on Saturday, Feb. 26, 2022, at a Havdalah service at Tam- O-Shanter Country Club. Rabbi Joseph Krakoff will lead the ceremony. She will be joined by her older sister Alexa. Sasha is the grand- child of Helene and Edward Kaplan, and Susan and David Shepherd; she is the loving great-granddaughter of the la...…
…SPIRIT A WORD OF TORAH G iving is transforma- tive — and not just to the recipient. In a 2012 survey of studies linking altruistic behaviors to improved health, researchers from the University of Michigan con- cluded that giving time and money to organiza- tions, providing social support to friends, family and community, caring for the elderly or the handicapped, and cultivating compassionate attitudes and traits is associated...…
…FEBRUARY 24 • 2022 | 41 twofold — it helps us build the Torah infrastructure necessary for any flourishing Jewish soci- ety. And it transforms those who contribute, connecting us to our society and forging us into a community of givers — becoming no less than a partner with our Creator in these holy endeavors. Perhaps the quintessential form of giving is the mitzvah of tzedakah, giving to the needy. Tzedakah is about taking care o...…
…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...…
…FEBRUARY 24 • 2022 | 43 Shomer Israel Oak Park (248) 542-4014 godaven.com 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...…
…A dam Bernard has reached number four in counting times he has participated in Michigan productions of the musical comedy Anything Goes. Number four will be staged March 3-5 at The Berman Center for the Performing Arts in West Bloomfield by the Nicely Theatre Group. Bernard takes on two roles — a bar- tender at the beginning and a passenger joining ensemble numbers throughout. In earlier versions of the play, about shipboard roma...…
…FEBRUARY 24 • 2022 | 45 for a couple of years, Bernard returned to the university setting to earn a master’s degree and then continued at General Motors for a career that evolved over 36 years. In his pres- ent assignment, Bernard makes sure his firm is kept aware of what is being done by compet- itors. “ At work, I do a lot of presen- tations and videos for internal use,” Bernard said. “[Because of my work in theater], I don’t...…
…46 | FEBRUARY 24 • 2022 T he catchy disco sounds of singer- songwriter Donna Summer have entered into the career twists and turns experienced by Meredyth Davis. As a young disc jockey in Connecticut, Davis played Summer’s music in local clubs and on a radio station not far from Boston, the area where Davis and Summer grew up. Remembrances of immersion in pop recordings connects this former deejay to the Summer hit “On the Radio.” ...…
…FEBRUARY 24 • 2022 | 47 continued on page 48 Donna. They divide their talents among more than 20 musical stagings. “This show is big and beautiful, and I love the fact that it’s more than 90 minutes of music and entertainment,” said Davis, 48, who has worked on other shows recently performed at the Fisher, including Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, which profiles the Jewish singer-songwriter. “I’ve seen Summer several times, wi...…
…48 | FEBRUARY 24 • 2022 early spiritual influence. “I listened to doo-wop with my dad and to Broadway music with my mom. She would play the piano, and I would sing. “Music has always been a focus of my true heart. I wanted to be a singer, but I wasn’t meant for the stage. I was meant for behind the scenes. There are people who are going to win Tony Awards, and there are people who are going to help people win Tony Awards. I’m that ...…
