…OCTOBER 6 • 2022 | 3 contents PURELY COMMENTARY 4-12 Essays and viewpoints. OUR COMMUNITY 13 Putting Dollars to Work Meet Ida Benson, American Friends of Bar-Ilan University’s new Midwest regional director. 14 Climate Leadership Coalition 20 major Jewish organizations join new coalition addressing climate change. 16 Antisemitic Incident Near U-M Campus Students wake up to antisemitic fliers. 17 Greater ...…
…4 | OCTOBER 6 • 2022 H adassah is The Women’s Zionist Organization of America, founded in 1912 by Henrietta Szold, of which I am proudly a Life Member. As stated on the Hadassah website: “Hadassah, The Women’s Zionist Organization of America, was founded before Israel was a state and before women could vote. “We didn’t sit on the side- lines then. And we certainly don’t now. Today, we’re 300,000 strong, across the country ...…
…For J.D. Power 2022 award information, visit jdpower.com/awards Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan and Blue Care Network are nonprofi t corporations and independent licensees of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association. Learn more at MIBluesPerspectives.com/ReadyToHelp Ranked #1 in Member Satisfaction among Commercial Health Plans in Michigan Get the care you need, when you need it, with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan and Blu...…
…6 | OCTOBER 6 • 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: Det...…
…DETROIT JEWISH NEWS 32255 Northwestern Hwy. Suite 205, Farmington Hills, MI 48334 248-354-6060 thejewishnews.com OCTOBER 6• 2022 | 7 …
…8 | OCTOBER 6 • 2022 opinion Ukraine’s Jews Still Need Our Help W hen I traveled to Poland shortly after the outbreak of the conflict in Ukraine, I met a young mother who, with her baby, fled Kyiv without her hus- band. More than baby food and a roof over her head, she needed a support system and community to navigate all that would come next. With the outpouring of assistance from individuals and our partner insti- tutions...…
…OCTOBER 6 • 2022 | 9 An elderly Jew in Lviv, Ukraine, examines the contents of a food package delivered by a JDC aid worker. folks now facing poverty. Those who were poor before the crisis are in even worse shape. With prices for food and medicine increasing more than 20% in the last year, pensioners like Boris living on $3-$4 a day have seen scarce resources stretched even further. Add to this the wide- spread reality of post-tra...…
…10 | OCTOBER 6 • 2022 essay Israel’s Fifth Election in Four Years ... Why? N ew elections are called for in Israel for Nov. 1. After a record five national elections in four years, let’s delve into how the Israeli electoral system (over) works. The system of governance in Israel is a parliamentary democracy, where the prime minister is the head of a multi- party government. The Knesset (parliament) is Israel’s house of represent...…
…OCTOBER 6 • 2022 | 11 Sapphie Sponsors Hadas and Dennis Bernard Faye and Paul Blatt CKC Agency Carol Craine Julie and Peter Cummings Edw. C. Levy Co. Emily and Josh Eichenhorn Gallagher Linda Hayman Henry Ford Health Jaffe Raitt Heuer & Weiss (joining Taft effective 12.31.22) Bea and Paul Schwarzbaum Ruby Sponsors Michael Bernstein Jane Brumer-Cullen Mark Burnstein Butzel Long Cassi Cohen Dickenson Wright Suzy and Burton D. Farbman Fr...…
…12 | OCTOBER 6 • 2022 poem Our New Tower Of Babel? By Jeremy Friedman A vertical construct making a line upward to the sky — the Tower of Babel — it was meant to unite all humanity But before completion the plan was struck down from above as different languages emerged causing people to scatter — disunity ensued due to barriers to communication among diverse nations That is the Torah story of the Tower of Babel Fast forward...…
…OCTOBER 6 • 2022 | 13 W hen Ida Benson attended college at Michigan State University in the 1980s, working in a nonprofit field was virtually unheard of. In fact, it wasn’t even available as an option for a major. Now, nonprofit management is readily available as a major. Yet 40 years ago, college graduates chose to work on “special events” instead, which were today’s equivalent of fundraising for a nonprofit. They often took on dif...…
…14 | OCTOBER 6 • 2022 A new international ini- tiative amongst Jewish community leaders is addressing climate change. As the first-of-its-kind mobi- lization, 20 major Jewish orga- nizations have joined forces as the Jewish Climate Leadership Coalition, which will face the urgency of climate change head on. Together, they’ve signed the Coalition Founding Statement, which publicly shares a joint consensus that climate action is ne...…
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…16 | OCTOBER 6 • 2022 Over the last five years, Hazon Detroit has already part- nered with more than 40 Jewish organizations on sustainability programs. It’s a foundation, Weitzer says, the organization can continue to build from in this new effort. The coalition also plans to put heavy focus on engaging teens and younger adults, who are the future of the community (and addressing the climate cri- sis for generations to come). “We’...…
…OCTOBER 6 • 2022 | 17 F armington Hills-based nonprofit organization KickstART Farmington announces the film lineup and schedule for the 2022 Greater Farmington Film Festival. The Greater Farmington Film Festival takes place Oct. 6-9, at the Riviera Cinema, Farmington Community Library and the Zekelman Holocaust Center, with a selection of recently released feature films and docu- mentaries that engage the heart and mind, explor...…
…A lpena’s Temple Beth-El is Michigan’s only synagogue east of I-75 from Bay City to Sault Ste. Marie. “We are an oasis of Judaism along Lake Huron, ” said Ken Diamond, who’s been president of the congregation for almost three years. Temple Beth-El’s rich history dates to the late 19th century when Julius Myers, a merchant who was among the first Jewish residents of Alpena, settled in the area sometime before 1867. Myers would serve as...…
…OCTOBER 6 • 2022 | 19 synagogue remains largely as it was when first established. In the past few years, the leadership of Temple Beth-El has undertaken a restoration initiative. The synagogue is alive and thriving on Michigan’s beautiful coastline thanks to sweat equity and community donations. The temple is not affiliated but identifies between Reform and Conservative, holding mixed services for both denominations. The temple d...…
…20 | OCTOBER 6 • 2022 D avid and Donna Abraham and their son Mark were nominated as volunteers of the week by the Windsor Jewish Federation for their years of passionate and active dedication to the Jewish community. David is a past president, past funeral director and a current member of the board of directors of Congregation Shaar Hashomayim in Windsor, Ontario. He also sits on the board of directors of the Windsor Jewish Commu...…
…OCTOBER 6 • 2022 | 21 OUR COMMUNITY T he Zionist Organization of America- Michigan Region will be acknowledging distinguished community members at this year’s ZOA annual celebration on Nov. 13. The Justice Louis D. Brandeis Award will be presented to Dr. Barry Tigay, longtime passionate Zionist. ZOA- Michigan Region will also recognize Eric Y. Lutz for his dedicated commitment to the Jewish community and to ZOA’s imp...…
…22 | OCTOBER 6 • 2022 T he High Holidays bring the reflection and assessment of our lives. Starting the Fall Lifelong Learning program, Congregation Shir Tikvah welcomed author Ellen Blum Barish. Blum Barish is the award-winning author of Seven Springs, an essay collection, and Views from the Home Office Window, a memoir. Blum Barish a teaches writing workshops and coaches authors in their writing. She continues to write and edit...…
…OCTOBER 6 • 2022 | 23 Silverman and participants whipped up holiday favorites and new taste sensations. Two Sundays in October are flipped and offered as evenings of multi- generational programming. A beautiful Sukkot Service and Pizza in the Hut dinner will take place on Oct. 9 at 5:30 p.m. and a lively Simchat Torah-Fest celebration, featuring the Klezmer band Klezundheit, will bring in the holiday at 5 p.m. on Oct. 16. Mahj-O-Rama ...…
…24 | OCTOBER 6 • 2022 G rowing up in the Oak Park area, Aliza Bracha Klein was surrounded by a thriving Jewish communi- ty. “I loved growing up in Oak Park, ” the Jewish social worker recalls. “The community was very close-knit, and everyone was warm and friendly. ” To this day, Klein, 36, of Oak Park, where she continues to live, keeps in touch with many of her classmates. That’s because from an early age, she strengthened her ...…
…OCTOBER 6 • 2022 | 25 her field placement at New Oakland Child Adolescent Services and the John D. Dingell VA Hospital. After graduation, Klein worked for ALS of Michigan as a patient services coordinator and St. John Providence-Ascension Eastwood Clinics as an outpa- tient therapist. “I worked with various mental health disorders, pro- viding therapy and substance abuse treatment to patients who were on federal pretri- al, probati...…
…26 | OCTOBER 6 • 2022 faces&places A fantastic Shabbat morning was had by families at Temple Israel’s second annual Challah Roll event, supported by the Dr. Joel Forman Family Fund. On a perfectly overcast summer day in August, guests departed from Temple Israel bright and early on a family- friendly bike ride along the West Bloomfield Trail. Following their cruise, bikers returned to Temple where more families joined in and to...…
…OCTOBER 6 • 2022 | 27 Detroit Homecoming attendees and representatives of the Detroit Jewish community gathered on Thursday, Sept. 18, for the ninth annual Detroit Jewish Expat Reception. Hosted by Adam Finkel and Rabbi Yisrael Pinson of ChabaD at the recently remodeled BasBlue, this year’s event honored Danny Fenster, currently attending a prestigious journalism fellowship at Harvard University, as the 2022 Detroit Jewish Expat...…
…28 | OCTOBER 6 • 2022 T he Greenberg Division is the top tier in the Inter-Congregational Men’s Club Summer Softball League. This is where the best teams play. The ones with the most talent. Until this season, teams from Temple Israel dominated the division, winning all five division playoff championships. For the first time, a team not named Temple Israel won the division playoff title. It was Temple Beth El No. 1, a new team. Seve...…
…OCTOBER 6 • 2022 | 29 mornings. “It was great walking away as the Koufax Division champion,” he said. Also on the Temple Israel No. 1 team were Brandon Achtman, Ryan Columbus, Eric Horwitz, Dennis Horwitz, Corey Slutsky, Loren Blumberg, Evan Fisher, Chris Harb, Zach Cohen, Darryl Leff, Adam Eisenberg, Matt Friedman, Jared Kohlenberg, Adam Weiner and Tobey Berger. Beth Ahm was the regular- season and playoff champion in the four-t...…
…30 | OCTOBER 6 • 2022 SUKKOT P inecones and walnut shells have long been used to craft natural pendants. Yet this ancient trend of transforming items from the Earth into beautiful, wearable jewelry and accessories is getting a brand- new look — and a Jewish twist from a local family. Father and son duo Eric and Mordechai Kornbleuth of Oak Park are repurposing etrogs, or Israeli yellow citrus fruits used during the week- long ho...…
…OCTOBER 6 • 2022 | 31 NO TWO ETROGS ARE THE SAME Eric says each etrog is naturally different from the others. “When you cut them, each cut is its own shape,” he says. The end result is an ancient-looking “stone” made entirely from the etrog fruit, which Moredchai explains takes on a hardened appearance after it goes through a natural petrification process. Yet even the natural petrification process is unusual. “Etrogs never fa...…
…32 | OCTOBER 6 • 2022 into a second bedroom, eventually needing to take over the basement space as a full-fledged etrog-making workshop. Finding a process that worked didn’t come without challenges, however. After spending more than 100 hours on a batch of etrogs, for example, the Kornbleuths realized that the fruits had developed mold. “It was very upsetting to see, and we had to learn why this batch was different than the bat...…
…JEWISH NEWS THE DETROIT 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 Continue to celebrate our octogenarian mile stone f...…
…34 | OCTOBER 6 • 2022 S ukkot Sounds returns this October with a full festival lineup. Held at Jam Handy in Detroit on Oct. 16 from 3:30-9 p.m., Sukkot Sounds Festival, which began as a grassroots initiative in 2021 to pair local musical artists and educators with the Jewish community, is back in a bigger, more expanded format to celebrate the final day of Sukkot. The day-long festival will feature live musical performances, food ...…
…OCTOBER 6 • 2022 | 35 of your musical taste, there will be something for you.” A NEW LOOK AND EXPERIENCE Meyerson calls Jam Handy the perfect venue, thanks to its refurbished warehouse vibe. It will include a central stage area where musical acts can rotate performances throughout the night. It’s a major leap from last year’s Sukkot Sounds experience, which took form as a spread-out series of events that included live backyard conce...…
…36 | OCTOBER 6 • 2022 T he Chabad Jewish Center of Troy is holding an event for Sukkot this year that will see teens expressing themselves with graffiti in a sukkah. The event is the kickoff of the Chabad Jewish Teen Club, which formed after the Chabad Jewish Center of Troy received a grant from the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit’s Stephen H. Schulman Millennium Fund for Jewish Youth to create a Jewish teen community ...…
…OCTOBER 6 • 2022 | 37 E very year in the days before Sukkot, Jews make an effort to obtain a nice etrog (Citrus medica), to fulfill the mitzvah of taking “the fruit of the beautiful tree” or “the beautiful fruit of the tree” along with a palm branch, and branches of myrtle and willow (Leviticus 23:40). Jews everywhere want the etrog, but the citron tree does not grow everywhere. “Etrogim now grow wher- ever other citrus trees gr...…
…38 | OCTOBER 6 • 2022 transferred them to individual pots, gave them water and light, and waited. Some time later, I had a couple of dozen seedlings, and I gave many of them to friends,” he said. “Three of them grew pretty large, so I transferred them to bigger pots and kept them inside in winter and outside in summer. We used drip irrigation for our garden so watering the etrog plants was automatic and, thanks to the sun and th...…
…OCTOBER 6 • 2022 | 39 Special Sukkot Monday Night Experience Temple Israel to host program for students. RACHEL SWEET ASSOCIATE EDITOR On Monday, Oct. 10, Temple Israel will host a Special Monday Night Sukkot Experience for all middle and high school students to learn about the importance of recycling plastic materials and to build a Sukkah out of recycled plastics. “We are using the idea of Sukkot to make an eco-friendly s...…
…40 | OCTOBER 6 • 2022 I srael, more than any other place in the world, holds a lot of meaning to a lot of people: the hope of 2,000 years, the first flowering of our redemption, the Startup Nation, the Homeland. This is, of course, part of what makes Israel special. Yet, in the mix of all that it represents, the actual state can sometimes get lost. “It’s one of the most fascinating places on the planet, ” says Rich Broder. “Whethe...…
…OCTOBER 6 • 2022 | 41 that year — we all flew out the same day. But we went back the following year. And we continue to go back. MAKING AN AUTHENTIC CONNECTION TO ISRAEL Rich: I think the only real way to understand Israel is to have relationships with real people on the ground. Having American Jews understand what the Israeli point of view is — not from the newspaper, not from CNN and not from politics — but in reality. What...…
…42 | OCTOBER 6 • 2022 and they stayed here before and after camp. SEEING CONNECTIONS AND DIFFERENCES Rich: We’re always shocked at how we’re very culturally different. Lisa: I’ll give you an instance with Yiftah [Leket, the current shaliach in Detroit]. I brought his kids Chanukah presents, and he was so confused. In Israel, it’s not a gift-giving holiday. And here, you have to work to be Jewish. That’s the biggest shock for...…
…OCTOBER 6 • 2022 | 43 HOW TO SUBMIT ANNOUNCEMENTS Mazel Tov! announcements are welcomed for members of the Jewish community. Anniversaries, engagements and weddings with a photo (preferably color) can appear at a cost of $18 each. Births are $10. There is no charge for bar/bat mitzvahs or for special birthdays starting at the 90th. For information, contact Editorial Assistant Sy Manello at smanello@thejewishnews.com or (248) 351-5147 for...…
…44 | OCTOBER 6 • 2022 SPIRIT The Lord Is Our Rock T his portion records the moment when Moses led the Israelites through the desert to the east- ern shores of the Jordan River. He then recites a long poem (“song”) as the con- clusion of his farewell address. It is his legacy to the children. In these prophet- ic warnings, Moses, through the inspiration of God, exhorts the people to walk with the Lord. If they do not, then these...…
…OCTOBER 6 • 2022 | 45 I n the glorious song with which Moses addresses the congregation, he invites the people to think of the Torah — their covenant with God — as if it were like the rain that waters the ground so that it brings forth its produce: “ Let My teaching drop as rain, My words descend like dew, Like showers on new grass, Like abundant rain on tender plants.” Deut. 32:2 God’s word is like rain in a dry l...…
…46 | OCTOBER 6 • 2022 NO TWO PEOPLE ARE ALIKE This is a point emphasized by Maimonides in Guide for the Perplexed: “Man is, as you know, the highest form in creation, and he, therefore, includes the largest number of constituent elements. This is why the human race contains so great a variety of individuals that we cannot discover two persons exactly alike in any moral quality or in external appearance… “This great variety and the...…
…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 West Blo...…
…OCTOBER 6 • 2022 | 48 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...…
…OCTOBER 6 • 2022 | 49 F or those who aren’t in the know, it would be easy to drive past The Blue Bird Inn on Tireman on Detroit’s west side without giving it a second glance. The building, with an old beer and wine store on the left and a towing shop on the right, has boarded up windows and bars on the door. The sky- blue façade contains hints of the structure’s musical past, but you’ d have to look closely to notice the hand-p...…
…50 | OCTOBER 6 • 2022 continued from page 49 Legends like Miles Davis and John Coltrane once played there, but the club closed in the early 2000s due to neigh- borhood disinvestment. Now, Raduns-Silverstein and his team are leading the effort to restore The Blue Bird Inn and bring the abandoned gem back to life. In 2016, Detroit Sound Conservancy worked with Wayne State University and the previous owners to salvage the building...…
…OCTOBER 6 • 2022 | 51 BeepBeep. ” “I practice guitar daily, play- ing jazz standards, classical and American fingerstyle, ” he says. “I love digging for and sharing records. I DJ these records any chance I can. I try my best to honor and build in the spirit of Detroit music and specifically Detroit Techno through all of these musical endeavors. ” There’s also a family con- nection. His grandmother, Elaine Silverstein, was born in t...…
…52 | OCTOBER 6 • 2022 TV SHOWS (POLICE, GAME SHOW) AND THREE VERY DIFFERENT FILMS The CBS police show East New York premiered last Sunday. (New episodes air on Sundays at 9 p.m.). African American actress Amanda Ward stars as Regina Haywood, a police inspector who has just been promoted to lead a precinct in a historically poor Brooklyn neighborhood that is just starting to gentrify. Veteran character actor Richard Kind, 65, ...…
