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…$200 Sept. 16-22, 2021 / 10-16 Tishri 5782 JEWISH NEWS JEWISH NEWS THE DETROIT thejewishnews.com Our Local Heroes Remembering How grassroots efforts, secret trips and rallies paved the way for Soviet Jewish freedom. See page 10 …
…248-762-5319 M E R E D I T H @ M E R E D I T H C O L B U R N . C O M M E R E D I T H C O L B U R N . C O M 4 4 2 S . O L D W O O D W A R D A V E . , B I R M I N G H A M , M I 4 8 0 0 9 — P R O V I D I N G A L U X U R Y E X P E R I E N C E A T E V E R Y P R I C E — MEREDITH COLBURN R E A L E S T A T E …
…SEPTEMBER 16 • 2021 | 3 contents PURELY COMMENTARY 4-9 Essays and viewpoints. OUR COMMUNITY 10 Remembering Our Local Heroes How grassroots efforts, secret trips and rallies paved the way for Soviet Jewish freedom. 14 A Little Bit of Israel at Camp Tamarack Tamarack had 35 Israeli staff members this summer, the most ever. 16 Putting Out the Welcome Mat Ann Arbor Jewish agency prepares for influx of hundreds of...…
…4 | SEPTEMBER 16 • 2021 wise and otherwise That’s a Slap in the Face S ixty-five years ago, in 1956, the rabbis who taught Hebrew sub- jects at the Yeshiva Beth Yehudah, then located on Dexter and Cortland, were allowed to slap male students for not behaving properly during class. Each teacher had a dif- ferent type of slap. Most slapped across the face, some harder than others. Two longtime teachers were different kinds of hitter...…
…SEPTEMBER 16 • 2021 | 5 1120 E Kearsley St, Flint 810.234.1695 flintarts.org The Sheppy Dog Fund, Dr. Alan Klein, Advisor, presents topics of art, religion, and history through its funded lecture series. Guest Lecturer Dr. Taylor Hagood Resplendent in its elaborate beauty, baroque art embodies an era of immense religious upheaval in Western culture—the Catholic Counter-Reformation. In this lecture, Taylor Hagood will explore the fo...…
…D uring the Sukkot holiday, the Pico- Robertson neighbor- hood of Los Angeles erupts in joyful celebration. Our 40-plus kosher restaurants all have suk- kot attached. \ There’s a sukkah on top of Ralph’s supermarket. One could con- ceivably sukkah hop to a different hut every five minutes and not exhaust the inventory. Google “Sukkah’s on Fire” to see my music video showcasing an assortment of local sukkot, accompanied by a wac...…
…SEPTEMBER 16 • 2021 | 7 JFMD & UJF 21-22 Annual Meeting Tuesday, October 5, 2021 7:30 pm The Berman Center for the Performing Arts Jewish Community Center 6600 W. Maple Road, West Bloomfield Masks will be required Virtual option available Link will be emailed to registrants prior to the event Register at: jewishdetroit.org/annualmeeting Meeting Highlights Presentation of Federation’s Highest Honor The Fred M. Butzel Memorial Award f...…
…8 | SEPTEMBER 16 • 2021 D uring their meetings at the White House on Aug. 27, President Joe Biden told Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett that the U.S. is committed “to ensur[ing] Iran never develops a nuclear weapon … We’re putting diplomacy first and seeing where that takes us. But if diplomacy fails, we’re ready to turn to other options. ” The Biden administration made it clear from the get-go that it intended to ret...…
…E very year during the High Holidays, Jews recite a litany of ways we have fallen short in a confessional prayer. Known as a viddui, the prayer is a centerpiece of our Yom Kippur liturgy. This year, we again will reflect on our shortcomings. But one takeaway from the past year is that even when we do our best, it may not be enough. So many of us joyously awaited the return to in-person High Holiday services, only to ha...…
…OUR COMMUNITY I n the early 1970s, a slow trickle of Soviet Jewish refugees reset- tled in Metro Detroit. They gave up life in the USSR to pursue religious freedom and better opportunities for their families. What started as a few hun- dred immigrants steadily began to pick up speed. By the late 1980s and particularly the mid- 1990s, following the collapse of the Soviet Union, the trickle turned into a wave and thou- sands of Sovie...…
…SEPTEMBER 16 • 2021 | 11 Remembering Our Local Heroes continued on page 12 Soviet Jewry was organized by a small group of deeply committed activists. This, Yost explains, paved the way for a wider communal movement to launch several years later. Piece-by-piece, awareness of what Soviet Jews were experi- encing daily made its way to Jewish leadership in the Metro Detroit community. They learned that many Soviet Jews experienced co...…
…12 | SEPTEMBER 16 • 2021 OUR COMMUNITY continued from page 11 R ae Sharfman of West Bloomfield calls herself “just a small soldier in a big movement.” She started volunteering to help save Soviet Jewry shortly after the first Leningrad Trial, which happened on Dec. 15, 1970. In it, a group of Soviet Jews was charged with attempting to hijack a small Soviet commercial plane. Their aim was to reroute it to Sweden from where they wou...…
…SEPTEMBER 16 • 2021 | 13 OUR COMMUNITY to take matters into their own hands. They boarded a plane en route to Moscow and later Leningrad with luggage full of clothing, religious articles, medicine and electronics Soviet Jews could later sell, like cameras. “We went as tourists,” Weiner recalls, “and at night we’d sneak out after dinner to see Soviet Jewish families.” While in Soviet airspace, they didn’t dare utter a word of the...…
…OUR COMMUNITY A fter Tamarack’s summer 2020 programming was canceled due to COVID-19, Tamarack returned this summer with calculated safety measures in place. While Israeli campers were not able to make it to camp, 35 Israeli staff members, the most ever, brought Israel to life this summer. “This year we had an Israeli counselor in every village, ” said Carly Weinstock, director of Tamarack’s Camp Maas. “The Israeli camper program ...…
…SEPTEMBER 16 • 2021 | 15 it just gives you a bigger, more detailed picture.” Hazon said it’s through those personal connections at Tamarack that she’s made best friends for life. “That’s the biggest impact, having Jewish-American people here and having best friends from Israel and keeping in touch with them — that’s the best thing there could be.” Hazon, 22, was a Tamarack camper one time in 2012. This summer was her first time ...…
…16 | SEPTEMBER 16 • 2021 OUR COMMUNITY A s chaos and vio- lence wash over Taliban-controlled Afghanistan, resettlement agencies across the U.S. are preparing to support an influx of Afghan refugees fleeing the country. Jewish Family Services of Washtenaw County, which has a robust resettlement program in place, is one of the agencies getting ready to help. They’re now resettling their first Afghan refugee since the violence esc...…
…SEPTEMBER 16 • 2021 | 17 conceptions about any Jewish organization is that they only serve Jewish individuals, ” Eadeh describes, “but we serve every- body in our community. “It doesn’t matter what any- body’s income status is, ” Eadeh continues. “If somebody has a need, we will do our best to meet that need within our ser- vices. ” JFS helps refugees like those from Afghanistan from the day they arrive in the U.S. until the day they...…
…OUR COMMUNITY W hen Delta Air Lines put out a call for crews to operate an urgent flight out of Germany, which at the time was simply coded as a “military operation, ” Southfield-based pilot Captain Alexander Kahn happened to have a few free days in his monthly schedule. “I accepted the rotation, ” Kahn, 52 and a member of Southfield’s Young Israel syn- agogue, says. What the pilot didn’t know is that he would be flying a plane ...…
…Air Base was central to military operations and the place where freed hostages, injured soldiers from war zones and more were taken before making their way home to the U.S., the mission came full circle for Kahn, the son of a Holocaust survivor. “My father was liberated from Buchenwald concentra- tion camp by Patton’s 3rd Army on April 18, 1945, ” he said. “Having lost his parents and most of the rest of his family in the Holocaus...…
…OUR COMMUNITY 20 | SEPTEMBER 16 • 2021 O n Sept. 22, 2021, the United Nations is holding a one-day event to celebrate the 20th anniversary of its first World Conference Against Racism, held in Durban, South Africa, in 2001. This is a dubious com- memoration. The first Conference, Durban I, infa- mously devolved into an antisemitic, anti-Israel hate fest. This is well-docu- mented. For a firsthand account of the Conference, ...…
…SEPTEMBER 16 • 2021 | 21 eral flyers lauding Hitler and indicating that the outcomes would have been favorable had he won — including no Israel. Neturei Karta — opponents of Zionism — stood in the streets showing their own placards declaring that Zionism was not Judaism and the like, shar- ing the demonstrations with real Jew-haters. The atmosphere in the huge and impressive media center was, fortunately, very different. There was...…
…22 | SEPTEMBER 16 • 2021 Y ou don’t need a sukkah to celebrate the festival of Sukkot this year, just ask The Well. Sukkot Sounds (powered by The Well) is a grassroots initia- tive to pair local musical artists and educators with hosts to co-create gatherings that enrich, diversify and revitalize the ancient Jewish cultural celebra- tion of Sukkot. There are many ways to par- ticipate in Sukkot Sounds. People can host or attend a ...…
…SEPTEMBER 16 • 2021 | 23 B ’nai Moshe is thrilled to have one of, if not the only, “living” genizah on the grounds of a synagogue in Metro Detroit — perhaps the country even. A genizah is a place to bury ritual items such as damaged prayer books, tallitot and other ritual objects that should not be thrown away. Over time, the contents of the genizah will become one with the Earth. This summer, Zachary Friedman led a group in ...…
…T wo University of Michigan students from Alpha Epsilon Pi found a creative way to raise funds and awareness for mental health challenges on campus. By selling customized hats, the pair raised nearly $1,000 for Friendship Circle’s UMatter. “Your story isn’t over,” states the front of the cap. On the side, it reads “National Suicide Awareness Month” with a hotline number. For someone struggling with thoughts of suicide, this powerfu...…
…SEPTEMBER 16 • 2021 | 25 stories to hundreds of people in the audience, knowing I played a role in getting these conversations out there really meant a lot to me,” Stone said. Even after leaving for college, UMatter’s mission never left Stone’s mind. Brecher and Stone’s donation will help UMatter programming continue impacting teens in the community. “Jonah found a remarkable way to continue supporting UMatter’s programming ...…
…26 | SEPTEMBER 16 • 2021 OUR COMMUNITY A cross Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, antisemitism is no stranger to American Jews. Jonah Liss, 18, a recent grad- uate of International Academy in Bloomfield Township, while scrolling through Twitter, unfortu- nately saw messages such as “I wish Hitler was still alive, ” “Kill the Jews” and other hate directed at Jews. He then felt it was his duty to research the instances of...…
…SEPTEMBER 16 • 2021 | 27 faces&places About 900 Metro Detroit chil- dren in need, identified by 21 local human service agencies and schools, received new winter jackets, gloves/mittens, hats, socks, masks, pants/ leggings, books, sweatshirts, underwear, toothbrush/tooth- paste, bookmarks and greet- ing cards at the slightly modi- fied Back 2 School Store. The Aug. 12 drive-through event arranged by the National Council of Jewish Wom...…
…28 | SEPTEMBER 16 • 2021 faces&places A winery tour in Israel might be a bit difficult to take right now, so NEXTGen Detroit, Federation’s young adult division, brought the tour to more than 45 young adults on Aug. 11. The group gathered at Dayspace Studio in Royal Oak and sampled a diverse collection from multiple regions in Israel, beginning with a blind strolling tasting and finishing with a formal sitdown pairing. Wine Gu...…
…SEPTEMBER 16 • 2021 | 29 NATIONAL P resident Joe Biden will nominate Deborah Lipstadt, the Emory University Holocaust historian, to be the State Department’s antisemitism envoy. The White House alerted top Biden supporters of the pick, which has been expect- ed for weeks, in late July. Lipstadt is perhaps best known for defeating Holocaust denier David Irving after he sued her in a British court for def- amation for calling him ...…
…Q : What were your early experiences of Zionism when you were growing up? Rochelle Zelcer: Growing up, I went to Akiva Hebrew Day School [now Farber] w and then I went to Hillel Day School, which were very Zionistic places in terms of education, the teachers and the overall messaging from the schools. I also went to Tamarack Camp, which is also very Zionistic. My parents are from the former Soviet Union, and I grew up with an underly...…
…SEPTEMBER 16 • 2021 | 31 MAZEL TOV! Maxx Wyatt Lyngaas, son of Sarah and Brian Lyngaas, will be called to the Torah as a bar mitzvah on Saturday, Sept. 18, 2021, at Temple Beth El in Bloomfield Township. He will be joined in celebration by his brother Drew and proud grandparents Andrea and Richard Ketchel, and Mary-Ellen and Karl Lyngaas. Maxx is an eighth grader at Derby Middle School in Birmingham. For his mitz- vah project...…
…32 | SEPTEMBER 16 • 2021 W hen words take wing, they modulate into song. That is what they do here in Parshat Haazinu as Moses, with the angel of death already in sight, prepares to take leave of this life. Never before had he spoken with such passion. His language is vivid, even violent. He wants his final words never to be forgotten. In a sense he has been articulating this truth for 40 years but never before with such emoti...…
…SEPTEMBER 16 • 2021 | 33 requires cherut, the positive freedom that only comes when people internalize the habits of self-restraint so that my freedom is not bought at the expense of yours, or yours at the cost of mine. “That is why I have taught you all these laws, judgments and statutes. None of them is arbitrary. None of them exists because God likes giving laws. God gave laws to the very structures of matter — laws that generated...…
…34 | SEPTEMBER 16 • 2021 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 beth...…
…SEPTEMBER 16 • 2021 | 35 Shomrey Emunah Southfield (248) 559-1533 congregation-shomrey- emunah-105705.square.site The Shul-Chabad Lubavitch West Bloomfield (248) 788-4000 theshul.net Woodward Avenue Shul Royal Oak (248) 414-7485 thewas.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...…
…C ongregation Shaarey Zedek won the Inter- Congregational Men’s Club Summer Softball League championship in the league’s inaugural year in 1996. There were six teams in the league, and no divisional setup like there is now. Times were different. Shaarey Zedek didn’t win another title until this year. The 25-year dry spell ended last month in a most unlikely and spectacular way. After finishing in third place in the five-team Koufa...…
…quick hits BY STEVE STEIN SEPTEMBER 16 • 2021 | 37 It was a familiar story this sum- mer in the weekly B’nai B’rith golf league. Gary Klinger and Dale Taub won the team championship for the second straight year and fourth time since 2016. Taub won his second indi- vidual championship. He previ- ously won the individual title in 2014, with Klinger finishing in second place. Last year, Klinger won the individual title for ...…
…38 | SEPTEMBER 16 • 2021 continued from page 36 sports HIGHlights The other playoff champions this year in the weekly league were Temple Israel No. 2 in the Greenberg Division and Congregation Shir Tikvah in the Rosen Division. Temple Israel No. 2 and Shir Tikvah each also won its division’s regular-sea- son title. Like the Koufax Division, the Greenberg and Rosen divisions also had five teams. This was the second Greenberg Division...…
…SEPTEMBER 16 • 2021 | 39 Senior Swimmer Adds 3 More Gold Medals to His Pool Haul Jim Berk could have taken the easy route to the 2022 National Senior Games. The 2021 National Senior Games were canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic, so organizers are allowing anyone who competed in the 2019 National Senior Games to com- pete in 2022 without having to qualify at the state level. “I didn’t want to get to the nationals t...…
…ARTS&LIFE ART F ifty years ago. Ferdinand Hampson took a liking to glass art and opened a gallery dedicated to the medium. His space, moved around the metro area and now in Royal Oak, has become the largest and oldest art gallery dedicated to glass in the United States. Hampson, applying business skills stud- ied at Wayne State University, took on the name Habatat Galleries, giving an identi- fying spelling twist to the word describin...…
…SEPTEMBER 16 • 2021 | 41 because of what it can do with light.” Represented in the celebration show- case will be Alex Bernstein, Daniel Clayman, Laura Donefer, Joshua Hershman, Sidney Hutter, Steven Linn, Marvin Lipofsky and Toland Sand. A HISTORY OF JEWISH ARTISTS “The first Jewish artist whose work we exhibited would have been Steve Weinberg,” Hampson said. “He has retired, but he capitalized on architecture and making pieces with...…
…42 | SEPTEMBER 16 • 2021 Jewish Community Center panel discussion on the reasons. He learned about people losing their heirlooms when coming to the United States so collecting contem- porary art became a source for family heirlooms and traditions. “I’m very fortunate because my sons still seem to listen to me sometimes,” Hampson said. “We have a great rela- tionship as we did when we worked together at the gallery. It’s ...…
…SEPTEMBER 16 • 2021 | 43 DETAILS Shakespeare in Love runs approx- imately 2.5 hours with one 15- minute intermission. Show dates are Sept. 17, 18, 24, and 25 at 8 p.m. and Sept. 19 and 26 at 2 p.m. All audience members, whether vaccinated or unvaccinat- ed, must wear masks at all times while inside the Village Players’ building. Tickets are $20 (plus a $1 processing fee for each ticket order) and are available online at www.birmingh...…
…44 | SEPTEMBER 16 • 2021 JEWISH PERFORMERS Sussman, an architect, sits on the Village Players Safety Committee made up of Village Players members, including two physicians. They have worked tirelessly to implement safety measures such as requiring that the cast and crew are fully vacci- nated. In addition, the first row of seats has been removed in the auditorium to provide greater spacing and separation between the audience and o...…
…GALLERY OPENS 5-9 PM, SEPT. 17 Swords into Plowshares Peace Center & Gallery 33 E. Adams, just east of Woodward, Detroit. Featured: Detroit Fine Arts Breakfast Club - The Pandemic and Beyond. Opening held for two days: Friday, Sept. 17, and Saturday, Sept. 18, 3-7 pm. Virtual exhibit posted online at swordsintoplowsharesde- troit.org. For the opening, you are asked to contact Eventbrite to schedule your visit time for either date. Go ...…
…46 | SEPTEMBER 16 • 2021 continued from page 45 steel circle rising above Hart Plaza is all about? Join Michael Hodges for a tour of unique statues and other outdoor, interesting public art that grace our city that includes some of the stunning murals that have gone up in Eastern Market in recent years. Tuition: $40. JLearn.online or 248- 205-2557 to register and for complete catalog of classes. A PLAY IN THE PARK 7-9 PM, SEPT....…
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…48 | SEPTEMBER 16 • 2021 GLORIA COHEN, 100, of West Bloomfield, died Sept. 5, 2021. She is survived by her sons and daughters-in-law, Barry and Sherry Cohen, Gary and Marcia Cohen, Steven Cohen (girlfriend, Suzanne Gross), Ronald and Jackie Cohen; grandchildren, Eden (Andrew) Floyd, Shauna (Mark) Kocsis, Robyn (Kirk) Gold and Brett (Michele) Cohen; great-grand- children, Austin, Savanna, Blake, Lexy, Alexander, Bradley...…
…SEPTEMBER 16 • 2021 | 49 48034. Services and interment were held at Eretz Hachaim in Israel. Arrangements by Hebrew Memorial Chapel. c. 1979 ROUAL “ROY” BERNARD FEINBERG, 91, West Bloomfield, died Sept. 1, 2021. He is sur- vived by his beloved wife, Barbara Feinberg; sons, Gary Feinberg, Daniel Feinberg; grandchildren, Josh (Jessica) Feinberg and Samantha (Matt) Abels; great-grand- children, Dylan and Ashton; many loving niec...…
