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…JUNE 9 • 2022 | 3 PURELY COMMENTARY 4-11 Essays and viewpoints. OUR COMMUNITY 12 Promising New Hub for the Jewish Community White Lake farm to host events, provide equestrian therapy. 16 Strictly Business Event Back In-Person JVS + Kadima to announce new name for combined organization at event that features headliner Jason Raznick, Benzinga founder and CEO. 18 A Home of Its Own Kehillat Eitz Chayim purchases building ...…

…4 | JUNE 9 • 2022 PURELY COMMENTARY essay ‘Never Again’ For Jews O ne Sunday morning when I was about 9 years old, my Hebrew school class was ushered into a large room to watch a film about the Holocaust. While I don’t remem- ber much of it, one sequence was irrevocably burned onto my brain. At the liberation of Bergen-Belsen, with the camp littered with emaciated bod- ies and a few walking dead, a British soldier sat on a ...…

…Jane and Larry Sherman Continue Their Extraordinary Legacy Through a Gift to the Centennial Fund Jane and Larry Sherman stand among the great leaders of Jewish Detroit. Together, their impact has strengthened not just our local community, but Jewish life throughout the world. Through a variety of activities, Jane continues the legacy of her father, Max M. Fisher, along with her philanthropic family. This includes her historic work on b...…

…6 | JUNE 9 • 2022 T he highlight of my high school experience at the Frankel Jewish Academy thus far took place over the course of a week toward the end of May. My 10th-grade classmates and I set off on an adventure to Portland, Ore. While I anticipated this would be a fun week with my friends in a cool city, I came home feeling a very strong sense of accomplishment and the reward of changing peo- ple’s lives for the better. ...…

…See Our Improved Features to Help Manage Your Account! • Online Account Access for Immediate Updates • Submit Address Changes, Starts and Stops • Easy Renewal Payments • Manage Gift Subscriptions • More ways to get in touch Email Us: subscriptions@thejewishnews.com Reach Out Through Our Website: https://thejewishnews.com/contact/ Or Call 248.351.5108 Subscribe Today! $200 Feb. 11-17, 2021 / 29 Shevat-5 Adar 5781 JEWISH NEWS ...…

…8 | JUNE 9 • 2022 PURELY COMMENTARY opinion What Is a Jew? Israel’s renovated diaspora museum attempts a three-story answer. I was on a short visit to Israel last week and spent time with a friend with whom I have been engaged in a 30-year argument. Elli Wohlgelernter and I met when he was the managing editor of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, and I was a staff report- er. We would argue about the future of Jewish life in the...…

…JUNE 9 • 2022 | 9 present day palatable. I appre- ciated the balance the curators appeared to strike between the “lachrymose” school — Jewish history as a series of disasters — and the long periods of creativity, stability and autonomy enjoyed by Jews from North Africa to Middle Europe. The exhibit also tries hard to restore women to the Jewish story: I counted at least four main displays center- ing women. But Mosaic, subtitled “Id...…

…10 | JUNE 9 • 2022 opinion I Left Israel to Give my Kids the ‘American Dream.’ Is This It? O n the day when the shooting happens, I finally unlock what some say is the most vital part of the American dream. My husband and I have a house in the suburbs now, big trees tow- ering above — no picket fence, but a wide expanse of green and room for the pattering of tiny feet. As we sign the paperwork, we each take turns rocking our ...…

…JUNE 9 • 2022 | 11 YASIN OZTURK/ANADOLU AGENCY VIA GETTY IMAGES guest column Welcome, Israeli Campers! I n only a few short weeks we will be welcoming our first group of Israeli campers to Metro Detroit after a two-summer hiatus due to COVID. The campers, many of whom have never left the Partnership region, let alone the country, have been attending preparation sessions to get them ready for the life-changing summer that...…

…OUR COMMUNITY 12 | JUNE 9 • 2022 H oward and Robin Schwartz had big goals when they purchased their White Lake farm in April 2021. The 110-acre site, a 50-year-old structure that originally operated as a European dressage farm, was full of history, but needed a lot of work to get it ready for the plans the Schwartzes had in store, which include equestrian therapy and community events. River Forest Farm at Horseradish Acres, loca...…

…JUNE 9 • 2022 | 13 Robin Schwartz plans to offer equestrian therapy at the farm. …

…14 | JUNE 9 • 2022 OUR COMMUNITY ABOVE: An aerial view of the Lag b’Omer bonfire. LEFT: This fun train carries people around the farm. …

…JUNE 9 • 2022 | 15 people who participate have a chance to engage directly with horses. They feed them, take care of them and learn how to both train and ride. “Horses have such a healing component to them,” Robin says. “They just embody wellness and allow a person who is going through any kind of emotional trauma or problems to be brought to a state of homeostasis.” With horses helping humans since what Schwartz believes was anci...…

…16 | JUNE 9 • 2022 OUR COMMUNITY A fter a two-year hiatus during the pandemic, the 25th annual JVS + Kadima Strictly Business fundraising event will return to an in-per- son networking and awards luncheon on Wednesday, June 22, at the Westin Book Cadillac Hotel. Keynote speaker and honor- ary chair for the silver anniversary is Jason Raznick, the founder and CEO of Benzinga, an innovative news and analysis service based in Detroit...…

…JUNE 9 • 2022 | 17 campaign raised $160,000 for the purchase of new vans for transporting individuals with disabilities and other barriers to employment to and from job service sites. Without consistent transportation, JVS + Kadima participants risk losing their employment, their connections in the community and their ability to remain self-supporting. Approximately 150 people use this transportation daily, with 65 vans typicall...…

…18 | JUNE 9 • 2022 OUR COMMUNITY K ehillat Etz Chayim — a small Modern Orthodox congrega- tion that has met in members’ homes and in space rented from Congregation Beth Shalom since its founding in 2018, has purchased a building of its own in north Oak Park. The building, on the corner of Coolidge and Talbot, now hous- es Harmony Montessori Center, which offers nursery, preschool and kindergarten programs. The two women runni...…

…JUNE 9 • 2022 | 19 Front and back views of the building that will become home to Kehillat Etz Chayim. A higher standard of urgent care from ER trained providers 6405 Telegraph Rd (just north of Maple Rd.) Monday-Friday 8am-8pm Weekends 8am-6pm (248) 997-4690 iepurgentcare.com Dr. Robert Cohen one of our emergency physician owners A N N U A L M E E T I N G and Community Recognition Event Jewish Family Service Mazel tov to our honoree...…

…20 | JUNE 9 • 2022 OUR COMMUNITY D etroiters live among the diverse and innovative buildings created by Albert Kahn Inc. (now Albert Kahn Associates) during the first half of the 20th century. The Fisher Building, Ford Motor Company’s Highland Park Plant, the Belle Isle Aquarium and Temple Beth El in Detroit are a few examples. The Albert Kahn Legacy Foundation was created in 2021 to honor, educate and preserve Kahn’s legacy as A...…

…JEWISH NEWS THE DETROIT 80 80th th Anniversary Anniversary For those without computer access, please mail the following to 32255 NORTHWESTERN HWY, SUITE 205 FARMINGTON HILLS, MI 48334: • Who is Turning 80? [first/last] • What Day is their Birthday? • Personalized Message and Signature • A picture of the birthday person (if you would like the picture returned, please include a stamped return envelope.) • A check Celebrate the...…

…22 | JUNE 9 • 2022 When Albert Kahn joined Mason & Rice, a local archi- tectural firm, as an errand boy, Kahn devoted himself to learning as much as possi- ble from the firm’s employees and library. After nine months, the firm began to pay him to trace and draft drawings, and he was later promoted to head draftsman. In 1902, Kahn estab- lished his own firm. AN ARCHITECTURAL INNOVATOR Early on, Kahn was an innova- tor as an arch...…

…JUNE 9 • 2022 | 23 Supported through the generosity of The Jewish Fund and the D. Dan and Betty Kahn Family Foundation. Facing financial dif iculty? ☐ Call jhelp at 1-833-445-4357 ☐ Visit jhelp.org ☐ Chat online with a staff member or schedule a call at jhelp.org ☐ Do all of the above X Q We Have Answers. EQUAL HOUSING OPPORTUNITY NEW LUXURY RANCH HOMES ROBERTSONHOMES.COM 8 EXCLUSIVE HOMES 13 MILE & INKSTER RD FINAL ...…

…24 | JUNE 9 • 2022 C ongregation T’chiyah, Ferndale’s resident Reconstructionist con- gregation, has a central goal of providing meaningful programming and spiritual experiences for its members while also integrating deep commitments to social justice in a warm, welcoming and inclusive community. T’chiyah’s goals, which align closely with the Reconstructionist movement as a whole, have also aligned with the congregation’s growth o...…

…JUNE 9 • 2022 | 25 “We now have well over 100 families, which even 10 years ago would’ve come as a surprise to the leadership of the congregation,” Levin said. “Many of the new folks are younger. We have families, and we have older folks who see the vibrance of our com- munity and are drawn in.” T’chiyah programming has expanded thanks to its growth. “We have (a program) called Getting Good at Getting Older that appeals to the ...…

…26 | JUNE 9 • 2022 E liana Weiss, 13, of Huntington Woods and Drew Edelstein, 13, of West Bloomfield have both been nominated as volunteers of the week for their passion for dogs. The two are unrelated but are both making a difference in their communities through local programs. Weiss attends Norup International School in Oak Park and recently had her bat mitzvah at Temple Israel on May 28. “I’ve been doing volunteer work f...…

…JUNE 9 • 2022 | 27 Edelstein’s mom, Tracey, says she’s proud to see him use his passion to make an impact in the community. “He combined his love for animals and his kindness toward others all in one, which was a beautiful mitzvah that will help so many for years to come,” she said. Edelstein’s bar mitzvah will be on Sept. 5 of this year. He says even after his ceremony, he plans to continue his fundraising and has a new goal...…

…28 | JUNE 9 • 2022 OUR COMMUNITY T he Jewish Federation of Metro Detroit has spun off its security program, leading to the creation of a standalone organization, Jewish Community Security Inc. (JCSI). Launched March 1, JCSI is led by Gary Sikorski, who continues in his role as director of community-wide security. “The program had grown to the point it could no longer be a department of the Federation,” says David Kurzmann...…

…JUNE 9 • 2022 | 29 T he 21st annual Ann Arbor Jewish Film Festival begins this month with 17 feature films and three short film programs for a total of 20 virtual events, all available for online streaming. Additionally, this year’s festival will feature three special in-per- son events. The festival starts June 19 and runs through July 15, and includes biographies, family films, Holocaust movies, an LGBT film, a war drama, a mu...…

…30 | JUNE 9 • 2022 faces&places The third annual JVS + Kadima Frame of Mind Benefit and Arts Showcase, held at the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit on May 15, raised almost $90,000 for the nonprofit agency’s Creative Expressions program, which provides artistic enrichment services for individuals with serious mental health challenges or intellectual and developmental disabilities. Around 170 people attended the event, which o...…

…JUNE 9 • 2022 | 31 Lag b’Omer is a holiday with a variety of origin stories, most famously including the end of a plague and the death of a sage hundreds of years ago. One of the most common ways to observe the holiday is with the lighting of bonfires — and this year, Temple Beth El members and friends got to take the fire home with them! On the night of Lag b’Omer, everyone gathered at DetroitWick, a Jewish- owned business lo...…

…32 | JUNE 9 • 2022 faces&places More than 60 individuals visited the Weinberg Village at the Friendship Circle as part of Friendship Circle Volunteer Open House on Thursday, May 19. Prospective volunteers enjoyed a tour of the Village conducted by staff and current volunteers. Rabbi Levi and Bassie Shemtov, directors of Friendship Circle, addressed attendees while they enjoyed a delicious dairy dinner. The Weinberg Village is a...…

…JUNE 9 • 2022 | 33 NOAH BISHOP COHEN The Next Generation of “SOLD” ns.cohen26@gmail.com MELANIE BISHOP “SOLD” is my middle name melaniesold@aol.com 4130 Telegraph Rd. Bloomfield Hills, MI 48302 MelanieSold.com 248.867.7800 OVER $94 MILLION SOLD IN 2021! SERVING THE JEWISH COMMUNITY FOR OVER 30 YEARS! • Over $94 million SOLD in 2021! • We live & work in your area. • 2 top agents for the price of one! • Call now for a free market anal...…

…34 | JUNE 9 • 2022 A lan Gerdov and Adam Wooten are close friends who love gym- nastics, music and their family. That friendship will take them to Israel in July. The former University of Michigan men’s gymnastics teammates will each travel to Israel for the first time to represent the United States as gymnasts on Team USA at the 21st Maccabiah Games. For Gerdov, 23, whose parents fled Ukraine in 1989 to escape religious perse- cutio...…

…JUNE 9 • 2022 | 35 continued on page 36 After flying into New York City and then making a quick stop in Chicago to see his family, he’ll head to Seattle to start work Aug. 1 as a program manager for Microsoft. His days as a U-M student ended in April when he earned a master’s degree in electrical engi- neering. He earned a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering with a minor in business in 2021. For Wooten, 21, a two-time NCAA ...…

…36 | JUNE 9 • 2022 and William & Mary in addition to U-M. They were all great, but overwhelming, ” Wooten said. “You’re given so much informa- tion and you meet so many peo- ple when you go on those visits. “My conversation with Alan at Potbelly was relaxing because he was so genuine. We talked about a lot of things, including what it meant to buy into the team culture on the U-M gymnastics team. That’s important because you spend ...…

…JUNE 9 • 2022 | 37 Alan Gerdov flips during a floor exercise routine. MICHIGAN ATHLETICS out early this year that they had earned two of the five coveted Team USA spots. Armed with that knowledge, they went on to help the U-M men’s gymnastics team win Big Ten regular-season and conference meet championships and finish third in the NCAA meet this spring. Wooten finished second on high bar at the Big Ten meet and earned a second t...…

…38 | JUNE 9 • 2022 A brand-new show- room in Troy is adding more options for diamonds and jewelry in the Metro Detroit area. With a soft opening on May 2, Diamonds Direct’s sprawling 5,500-square-foot Troy loca- tion, at 1985 W. Big Beaver Road, will be the 26th show- room opened by the jewelry enterprise, which has strong ties to Israel. Founded by Tel Aviv-based diamond manufacturer Alon Arabov, jewelry and bridal powerhouse ...…

…JUNE 9 • 2022 | 39 We can’t help you find that thing you’re looking for. But we can help you find the perfect mortgage. NMLS #718852 B I R M I N G H A M The Jewish Historical Society announced two awardees. The 2021 Leonard N. Simons History-Maker Awardee is Arthur M. Horwitz, president of Arthur Horwitz Consulting LLC. From 1986 to 2020, he published the Detroit Jewish News. He was the founding president of the independent, nonp...…

…40 | JUNE 9 • 2022 “You can walk into the showroom and look for a specific diamond,” Ankawa explains, “but you’re not going to have one option, you’re going to have five, six, seven or eight options.” Diamonds Direct also offers after-the-sale services including complimentary jewelry maintenance and a 110% upgrade policy. In addition, its business model cuts out the middleman, allowing the retailer to be involved in the entire ...…

…JUNE 9 • 2022 | 41 NEXTDOR N EXTGen Detroiters had the opportunity to learn how to be their own florists for a day at NEXTGen Detroit’s Blooms + Brunch program. On Sunday, May 15, experts from Goldner Walsh welcomed guests into their space where they gave a flow- er-arranging lesson on how to create a centerpiece. NEXTGen event co-chair Lacey Foon says this event was a long time in the works. Originally, it was going to be hel...…

…42 | JUNE 9 • 2022 I n April 2017, wellness blogger and influencer Sari Diskin moved from her home of Toronto, Canada, to Metro Detroit. She was marrying her husband, Jacob Diskin, with whom she’d kept a long-distance relationship since meeting at a Jewish summer camp. At the time, Sari Diskin, now the founder and owner of Eat Well With Sari (https:// eatwellwithsari.com), was working in mar- keting and advertising. It was the career...…

…JUNE 9 • 2022 | 43 In the past, Diskin says she obsessed over healthy eating, a mindset that, despite its health-focused outcome, wasn’t actually healthy. Instead, she made mental health a priority and worked hard to avoid falling into social media traps, which can put too much focus on diet and not enough focus on feeling healthy inside and out. HONEST MOTHERHOOD Today, Diskin shares a balance of healthy food options mixed in w...…

…44 | JUNE 9 • 2022 Julia Lynn Blaharski (Yisraela Zahava), daughter of Rebecca and Steven Blaharski, will be called to the Torah as a bat mitzvah at Congregation B’nai Moshe in West Bloomfield on Saturday, June 11, 2022. She is the granddaughter of Elaine and Kerry Greenhut, and George and the late Rosemary Blaharski; great- granddaughter of Lillian Greenhut. Julia is a seventh-grade student at Clifford Smart Middle School i...…

…JUNE 9 • 2022 | 45 Papenheim-Loyd S ydney Marilynn Papenheim and David Adam Loyd were mar- ried recently at Temple Israel in West Bloomfield. Rabbi Paul Yedwab and Cantor Michael Smolash officiated. Sydney is the daughter of Lisa Shapiro of Farmington Hills, and Erich and Michele Papenheim of Greer, S.C. David is the son of Jane Moskola of Port Orange, Fla., and the late John Loyd. The couple’s closest friend, Hayley Wasserman, s...…

…T he word Naso that gives its name to this week’s parshah is a verb of an extraordinary range of meanings, among them: to lift, to carry and to forgive. Here though, and elsewhere in the wilderness years, it is used, in conjunction with the phrase et rosh (“the head”) to mean “to count. ” This is an odd way of speak- ing, because Biblical Hebrew is not short of other verbs mean- ing to count, among them lim- not, lispor, lifkod and la...…

…JUNE 9 • 2022 | 47 To be sure, this is not the only metaphor for our relation- ship with God. He is also our Sovereign, and we are His ser- vants. He is our Shepherd, and we are His sheep. These evoke more humility than the image of parent-and-child. What is more, when God saw the first human without a partner, He said, “It is not good for man to be alone. ” JUDAISM = ‘I’ + ‘WE’ The Torah is thus signaling one of the defining ten- ...…

…48 | JUNE 9 • 2022 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 Wes...…

…JUNE 9 • 2022 | 49 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 Hi...…

…50 | JUNE 9 • 2022 C omposer Perry Goldstein expressed a Motor City mood in advance of his stint as com- poser-in-residence for the Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival, which will be marking its 29th anniversary June 10-25. Entering three pieces into this year’s pro- gramming, which has a recurring theme related to nature and the environment, he will be premiering two pieces that commu- nicate different examples of the melodic spectr...…

…JUNE 9 • 2022 | 51 to perform and audiences to experience a wide range of musical repertoire, ” said Maury Okun, festival president, pointing out that programming also introduces chamber styles to works by classical com- posers such as Schumann, Mozart and Beethoven. Okun, also president of Detroit Chamber Winds & Strings, represents one of four organizations sponsoring the annual non- sectarian festival. The others are Temple Beth El...…

…52 | JUNE 9 • 2022 A bout six months after its pre- miere, Shoah Ambassadors, the Holocaust documentary film directed and produced by Keith Famie, is still in the film festival circuit nationally and being shown to organi- zations and universities to widen the reach of the film. The film was nominated for four Michigan Emmys. Famie and his Visionalist Entertainment Productions crew are nominated for the documen- tary as a whole, its...…