… DECEMBER 31 • 2020 | 23 people.” When initially asked if he was interested in an ambassadorial post, Rakolta told the Trump administration he only would consider a stimulating assignment where his service and personal involvement would make a difference. A ceremonial posting — in a country such as Switzerland or Iceland — wouldn’t qualify. To represent the U.S. in an Arab nation or Israel, by contrast, would demand every bit ...…
…24 | DECEMBER 31 • 2020 MILESTONES Shapiro 50th L inda and Eddie Shapiro of Commerce Township cel- ebrated their 50th wed- ding anniversary on Dec. 21, 2020. The pandemic changed the way they celebrated their milestone. They were thrilled with a wonderful surprise Zoom celebration with family and friends hosted by their children. They are the proud parents of Scotty Shapiro, Laura and David Feld, and the proud grandparents of Sas...…
… DECEMBER 31 • 2020 | 25 SPIRIT Speak To The Heart I n Vayechi, the last Torah portion of the Book of Genesis, the story of Joseph comes to an end. The most remarkable part of the story is that he forgave his brothers even though they sold him into slavery in Egypt and lied to their father, Jacob, telling him that Joseph was dead. Upon returning to Egypt after bury- ing their father, his brothers worried that because of Jaco...…
…26 | DECEMBER 31 • 2020 ATTORNEYS THAV RYKE & ASSOCIATES 24725 W. 12 Mile Road, Suite 110 Southfield, MI 48034 www.michprobate.com Jryke@michprobate.com (248) 945-1111 Fax: (248) 945-4844 We are here to assist you in all areas of wills and trusts estate planning and probate law in the state of Michigan. Our lawyers are experienced in meeting our clients’ needs, whether in drafting wills, revocable and irrevocable trusts, comprehen...…
… DECEMBER 31 • 2020 | 27 YESHIVA BETH YEHUDAH P.O. Box 2044 Southfield, MI 48037 (248) 557-6750 info@yby.org Yeshiva Beth Yehudah is the largest Jewish school sys- tem in Michigan, providing quality Torah-based and sec- ular educational programs. More than 1,100 students in pre-nursery though grade 12 receive an excellent founda- tion to become future lead- ers of our community. ENTERTAINMENT SIMONE VITALE BAND 505 S. Lafayette Royal...…
…28 | DECEMBER 31 • 2020 MONICA K. GOODWIN, L.L.M.S.W. Adult & Adolescent Psychotherapist 5777 W. Maple Road, Suite 175 West Bloomfield, MI. 48322 MKGoodwin24@gmail.com (248) 932-4325 As a licensed MSW specializ- ing in clinical psychotherapy, I am dedicated to meeting the emotional and psychological needs of individuals and cou- ples facing challenges in their day-to-day lives. In the privacy of my private practice, we will wor...…
… DECEMBER 31 • 2020 | 29 KADIMA 15999 W. 12 Mile Road Southfield, MI 48067 (248) 559-8235 Kadimacenter.org Kadima provides comprehen- sive residential, therapeutic and social services to all peo- ple with mental health needs as they move forward in their lives. Inspired by Jewish val- ues, Kadima delivers these services while providing education and outreach to the broader community to ensure positive mental health outcomes for all. ...…
…30 | DECEMBER 31 • 2020 B’NAI ISRAEL SYNAGOGUE 5085 Walnut Lake Road West Bloomfield, MI 48323 (248) 432-2729 Fax: (248) 479-2572 info@bnaiisraelwb.org www.bnaiisraelwb.org Rabbi Mitch Parker. B’nai Israel Synagogue is an egal- itarian, lay-led Conservative congregation operating within the Temple Kol Ami building. We provide religious, educa- tional and social opportunities that reflect our commitment to Judaism, our members of all a...…
… DECEMBER 31 • 2020 | 31 P rayer in Judaism is an interesting concept. While there is nothing inherently wrong with one praying by oneself, there is certainly a pref- erence for com- munal prayer. Worshiping k’yachid, or indi- vidually, satisfies the Jewish obli- gation for daily prayer, but there are several sections of the prayer service that can only be done when a minyan (prayer quorum of 10 people) is constituted. During th...…
…32 | DECEMBER 31 • 2020 ARTS&LIFE FILM I n another life, I was a film critic. This was, of course, before movie theaters became an endangered species in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. But the movies still marched on in 2020, even though our ability to actually watch them outside of our homes became severely limited, and most of the big ones disappeared. (We’ll have to wait until December 2021 to see Steven Spielberg’s rem...…
… DECEMBER 31 • 2020 | 33 Talking Heads frontman, directed by Spike Lee, puts you in the audience for Byrne’s rol- licking live show (which I had the pleasure of seeing in-per- son in the Before Times). The impeccable musicianship of his backing band, the intricate choreography and the passion- ate calls to make a better world all survive intact on the screen. As does the genius of “Once in a Lifetime.” Where to watch: HBO Max. #6: N...…
…34 | DECEMBER 31 • 2020 J ewish screenwriter Robert Axelrod, who was born and raised in the Ann Arbor area, has been selected from nearly 1,000 entries as the grand prize winner for the 2020 ScreenCraft Stage Play Writing Competition. Written as a play, Axelrod’s winning script “Lifeline” fol- lows a mother beginning to work through her grief by vol- unteering at a suicide hotline after the death of her gay teen- age son. The insp...…
… DECEMBER 31 • 2020 | 35 L et us hope and pray for a 2021 that will help us smile again as we look upon some of the happenings of 2020. JANUARY … Dr. Joel Kahn and family cele- brate the fourth year of their GreenSpace Cafe in Ferndale … Former Detroiter brothers Derek and Greg Stevens to open the Circa Resort and Casino in Las Vegas … Big Tommy’s Parthenon has eighth anniversary … Station Square name in Troy is changed to ...…
…36 | DECEMBER 31 • 2020 Keto Cheesecake Tart, a Cafe offering and Vegan cookie dough bars. Michigan and Michigan State University … give much to tailgate dining delight by people like Kathy and Mark Morley of Pepino’s. OCTOBER … Wonder Bar is remembered … Bacco and Casa Pernoi birthdays are celebrated as one with differ- ent concepts but one owner, Luciano Del Signore … Bacco in Southfield and Casa Pernoi in Birmingham … Joe Vicar...…
… DECEMBER 31 • 2020 | 37 ON THE GO PEOPLE | PLACES | EVENTS INTRO TO JUDAISM 7:30-9 PM, JAN. 5 This 10-week course explores Jewish life, val- ues, celebrations, history, theology and spirituality with Temple Israel’s cler- gy. This class is open to all — interfaith couples, those raising Jewish children, individuals con- sidering conversion, and anyone who just wants to learn more about Judaism. No charge. Students are encouraged ...…
…the exchange community bulletin board | professional services For information regarding advertising please call 248-351-5116 or 248-234-9057 or email salessupport@renmedia.us Deadline for ad insertion is 10am on Friday prior to publication. 38 | DECEMBER 31 • 2020 “Let us love your pet while you are away” Pet resort • Daycare Training • Grooming Web Cameras 248-230-PAWS (7297) 2244 Franklin Road Bloomfield Hills, MI 48302...…
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…40 | DECEMBER 31 • 2020 SOUL OF BLESSED MEMORY D r. Stanley Hurwick Levy, whose life was touched by a chance meeting with Albert Einstein, and who came to Detroit to practice at the then-new Sinai Hospital in the early 1950s, died at his Bloomfield Hills home Dec. 17, 2020, from natural causes. He was 94. Attorney Geoffrey Fieger, a longtime patient, said “doctors like him come along once in a lifetime. His inquisitive mind ...…
… DECEMBER 31 • 2020 | 41 continued on page 42 ELAINE BLUMA BAKER, 89, of Commerce Township, died Dec. 19, 2020, at West Hickory Haven Nursing Home from COVID-19. She was born May 1, 1931, to Isedor and Esther (Karsinovich) Chernoff. Elaine graduated from Central High School in Detroit, class of 1949. She worked at Henry Ford Hospital in Dietary Services. In 1949, she mar- ried Leonard Kahrnoff, who predeceased her in 1980. S...…
…42 | DECEMBER 31 • 2020 SOUL OF BLESSED MEMORY continued from page 41 48025. Arrangements by Ira Kaufman Chapel. EDWIN BARRIS, 80, of Elk Grove, Calif., formerly of Detroit, died Dec. 9, 2020. He is survived by his wife of 19 years, Kelly Barris; daughter and son- in-law, Amy and Robert Rosender; grandchildren, Olivia Barris, Megan Rosender, Ethan Rosender and Elina Rosender; sister, Betsyrose Rudin. Mr. Barris was the cher- i...…
… DECEMBER 31 • 2020 | 43 continued on page 44 McCredie. Interment was at Beth El Memorial Park. Contributions may be made to American Liver Foundation, 39 Broadway, Suite 2700, New York, NY 10006, liverfounda- tion.org. Arrangements by Ira Kaufman Chapel. CLAIRE BRONSON, 89, of Highland Park, Ill., died Dec. 16, 2020. She is survived by her sons and daughters-in- law, Mike and Jane Bronson, and Dan and Honey Bronson; sister, ...…
…44 | DECEMBER 31 • 2020 SOUL OF BLESSED MEMORY continued from page 43 YEARA HOUVRAS (née Gorfinkel), 81, died on Dec. 10, 2020. She was born on Kibbutz Kinneret, on the shore of the Lake Kinneret on June 16, 1939. Yeara’s parents traveled to Israel in 1935 from Riga, Latvia, to participate in the second Maccabiah Games. Like other athletes in the Maccabiah II, they were escaping rising antisemitism in Europe and they made a p...…
… DECEMBER 31 • 2020 | 45 P hilip Kaplan, 95, of West Bloomfield, passed away Dec. 21, 2020, after a long and fulfilling life. He was born on July 5, 1925, the fifth-youngest child of Isaac and Fanny Kaplan. He grew up in Detroit and his older brothers and sister took great pride in their baby brother. He worked hard in his father’s fish market. On Aug 13, 1943, he and the love of his life, Diane Pritz, went out on their f...…
…46 | DECEMBER 31 • 2020 Looking Back A Master Architect B efore the year ends, there is one more anniversary to acknowledge. In 2020, Albert Kahn Associates Inc. has cel- ebrated its 125th year anniversary. Its name- sake, founder and Jewish Detroiter Albert Kahn, was an innovator and the world’s foremost industrial designer and architect of the 20th century. Kahn’s impact upon Detroit is visible and all around us. Drive around Det...…
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…4 | DECEMBER 24 • 2020 VIEWS 6-13 IN THED JEWS 13 Oak Park Couple Make Aliyah, Join Children and Grandkids. 14 An Unknown Mishpachah Longtime fertility doctor in the Jewish community used his own sperm to inseminate patients, new DNA tests show. 18 New WSU Press Director Sees “Position to Succeed” Stephanie Williams discusses staff upheavals and Jewish publishing. 20 Balance Boxes Local teen starts...…
… DECEMBER 24 • 2020 | 5 Nazli G. Sater Family Law Practice Chair | Partner 248.784.5178 nsater@wnj.com Roquia K. Draper Family Law Attorney | Partner 248.784.5081 rdraper@wnj.com wnj.com FAMILY L AW …
…6 | DECEMBER 24 • 2020 OUR JN MISSION: We aspire to communicate news and opinion that’s trusted, valued, engaging and distinctive. We strive to ref ect diverse community viewpoints while also advocating positions that strengthen Jewish unity and continuity. As an independent, responsible, responsive community member, we actively engage with individuals and organizations dedicated to enhancing the quality of life, and Jewish life, in Sou...…
… DECEMBER 24 • 2020 | 7 Partner with our scientists to solve humanity’s most difficult challenges. And if that isn’t reward enough, there are year-end tax benefits, too. TO START EXPERIENCING THESE REWARDS, CALL 800.242.2947 or email cpp@acwis.org W E I Z M A N N - U S A . O R G Example: Give $25,000 at age 80 and get $1,625/year (6.5%) for the rest of your life. Age 70 4.7% Age 85 7.6% Age 75 5.4% Age 90 8.6% Age 80 6.5% ...…
…B etween boredom from spending so much time at home and fear of getting COVID-19, I, like many Americans, have taken to excessive online ordering. Not socializing with anyone except my husband, not being able to see my family or friends, not eating in restau- rants or shop- ping in stores, I have resorted to COVID compulsive online buying. (Could this be a new syndrome?!) While some of my purchases have been practical, some ...…
…Go to thejewishnews.com and use code Chanukah2020 at checkout. Be sure to login before purchase if you are already subscribed. Subscriptions@renmedia.us can help if you have lost your login info. Valid for in-state and out-of-state online orders only. Offer ends 12/31/2020. Offer can not be applied to completed payments or mail in requests and can not be combined with any other offer. New or Renewed 2-year subscriptions! $15 OFF MAK...…
…10 | DECEMBER 24 • 2020 VIEWS A t the Jewish News, we have used this year’s Antisemitism Project to attempt to address the big questions of this “ancient evil” in 2020: what constitutes it, how we talk about it and what we can do to end it. This year, we also published an interview with Democratic Rep. Rashida Tlaib of Detroit — by far our most controversial article of the year, largely because many of our readers believe ...…
…continued on page 12 expressed a desire to “make sure that progressive movements are never tainted by antisemitism. ” Second, Beinart added, “Zionist Jews should not be excluded from progressive spaces. ” He then parsed the ways different Jews define Zionism and debate it amongst themselves. The JN is just such an organization: we are a Zionist publication, but that doesn’t prevent us from having honest conversations about the ter...…
…12 | DECEMBER 24 • 2020 DANNY SCHWARTZ On Dec. 10, the first night of Chanukah, the JN partnered with Chabad in the D, The Shul and other local Jewish organizations to livestream the annual Menorah in the D lighting from Downtown Detroit. Because of the pandemic, people were advised to watch from home this year — and tens of thousands of you did, from all over the world. Here is a selection of reader responses from Zoom and Faceb...…
…U pon their permanent arrival to Israel as this summer ended, Mark and Badonna Berkman, for- merly of Oak Park, added a new Hebrew word to their vocabu- lary: bedood. The coronavirus bedood, or lockdown, was not the start of an aliyah the Berkmans may have chosen when they discussed the idea of becom- ing Israelis as far back as their first dates while in their 20s. The Modern Orthodox couple spent the decades of their mar- riage ...…
…14 | DECEMBER 24 • 2020 MAYA GOLDMAN CONTRIBUTING WRITER IN THE JEWS D ON THE COVER An Unknown W hen sisters Lynn Neher and Jaime Hall, then Lynn and Jaime Brown, were grow- ing up in a non-Jewish household in Bloomfield Hills in the 1960s, they thought of them- selves as polar opposites. Jaime had dark hair, pale skin and blue eyes. Lynn had blond hair, olive skin and green eyes. They had a running joke in the family that Jaime wa...…
… DECEMBER 24 • 2020 | 15 “My mom would roll in her grave if she knew he was my father, ” Jaime told JN. “She did not pick that. ” Jaime, who now lives in Traverse City, has so far connected with five other half-siblings assumed to be the biological children of Dr. Peven through artificial insemination. They’re spread out across the coun- try, from Michigan to Oregon. Dr. Peven, 104, delivered more than 9,000 babies during his career,...…
…16 | DECEMBER 24 • 2020 IN THE JEWS D ON THE COVER delivered many Detroit Jews. Sy Ziegelman, also a retired OB-GYN in the Detroit area, remembers Dr. Peven as a respected doctor in the com- munity, who liked to fish in his spare time. Ziegelman first met Dr. Peven as an intern at Sinai Hospital in 1963. He was “rather well-thought of, kind of a gentleman,” Ziegelman said. “He was considered to be a very competent obstetri- cian...…
… DECEMBER 24 • 2020 | 17 She’d learned in her 20s that there was “something unique about [her] conception,” she said. After her brother got a DNA test, she decided to get one, too. “I think it’s really great,” Landes said. “It answers a lot of questions because I’ve never resembled any of my current siblings at all. When I’ve spo- ken with my DNA matches, close matches, I feel like a part of me … that was missing is now found.” H...…
…18 | DECEMBER 24 • 2020 T he annual Association for Jewish Studies Conference for academic publishers took place Dec. 13-17. For Wayne State University Press, one of the biggest national publishers of Jewish Studies aca- demic books, quite a lot has changed since last year’s display. Most significant- ly, the Press has welcomed a new director, Stephanie Williams, who started her job in August and moved to Detroit at the end of...…
… DECEMBER 24 • 2020 | 19 either did not have a vigorous understanding of publishing, of university press publishing or of management making major deci- sions for the Press. ” She declined to elaborate further. Now, though, Williams is “very pleased” with the administration’s current level of support for the Press. “I would not have taken the job, and I certainly would not have moved to Detroit, I defi- nitely would not have bought a ...…
…20 | DECEMBER 24 • 2020 E than Endelman’s summer should have included camp and hanging out with friends. But COVID severely limited his options. Of course, he wasn’t alone. Students everywhere faced disappointments over canceled plans and social restrictions, but Endelman, a Bloomfield Hills High School freshman, found a very productive and charitable way to fill his schedule. In June, he started a Detroit chapter of Balance Box...…
… DECEMBER 24 • 2020 | 21 F or the first time, Jewish families who live in eastern Oakland County had a Chabad Chanukah event of their very own. On Dec. 13, the Chabad Jewish Center of Troy arranged a very large public Menorah lighting in Troy, attended by 350 people who joined from the safety of their cars. “This must have been the largest Jewish celebration that the entire eastside has seen in a very long time, and for sure a ...…
…22 | DECEMBER 24 • 2020 R abbi Yoni Dahlen of Congregation Shaarey Zedek has gone viral on the social media platform TikTok for a video in which he shows how to light a chanukiah. The video had nearly 100,000 views as of press time. Using the username “Motor City Rabbi” on the popular video plat- form, Dahlen uses the service to teach Jewish rituals to the general public. Other videos of Dahlen’s on the platform include a tutorial...…
… DECEMBER 24 • 2020 | 23 B’nai Moshe To Feed 400 Henry Ford Hospital Workers on Christmas Eve Congregation B’nai Moshe of West Bloomfield is show- ing their gratitude for all that healthcare workers have done over this year by providing a Christmas Eve dinner to all 400 night-staff personnel at Henry Ford Hospital in West Bloomfield on Dec. 24. For many years, B’nai Moshe has baked and delivered cookies to Metro Detroit police a...…
…24 | DECEMBER 24 • 2020 M any people are struggling with stress issues as the pandemic marches on. One way proven to help is to engage in creative activities. Studies have shown that working on crafts lets people forget about their stress for a while and allows them to focus on the positive things in their life, an effect similar to meditation. The Council Re|Sale thrift store in Berkley, operated by the National Council of Je...…
