…68 | JULY 13 • 2023 ARTS&LIFE FILM it,” he adds. “I wanted to be up on the bimah and take part in the ceremony.” Retired Rabbi John Rosove, who is the former spiritual leader at Temple Israel of Hollywood — before recently moving to New York, the Armstrong clan resided in Los Feliz, California — remembers the family very well. Lily even went to the temple’s Briskin Elementary Day School. “He took his conversion seriously,” sa...…
…JULY 13 • 2023 | 69 THEATER CAMP, A VERY KOSHER MOVIE; BARBIE AND THE HARDY BOYS Theater Camp opens in theaters on July 14 and it is really a “tribe fest.” Here’s the capsule plot: The director and founder (Amy Sedaris) of a scrappy arts camp in upstate New York falls into a coma. Her “out-to-lunch” son takes over as camp director. He joins forces with a band of eccentric camp teachers to put on their big summer show. The most...…
…DETROIT JEWISH NEWS 32255 Northwestern Hwy. Suite 205, Farmington Hills, MI 48334 248-354-6060 thejewishnews.com JULY 13 • 2023 | 7 Another exciting development for Israeli transportation is self- driving buses, where the Transportation Ministry, the Israel Innovation Authority (IIA) and Ayalon Highways are collaborating to promote an autonomous bus pilot, another milestone to the revolutionary vision of fully automated public tra...…
…70 | JULY 13 • 2023 ‘SPONGE BOB’ STAGED NOW-JULY 23 Stagecrafters Youth Theatre Presents The SpongeBob Musical at the Baldwin Theatre, 415 S. Lafayette, Royal Oak. Sponge Bob and his fellow citizens of Bikini Bottom are facing the destruction of their under- sea world. Autographs after the show. Tickets: youth $10, adults $15, plus $3 fee per ticket. Tickets can be purchased online at stage- crafters.org or by phone at 248-541-6...…
…HEALTHCARE A1 CAREGIVER/COMPANION. Experienced, excellent references. 248-991-4944 Cita Angels Home Care. Caregiver Services 24 hr. care. We assist in cooking, cleaning, bathing/grooming, doctor appointments, errands, etc. We accept private pay and Medicaid payment. Please call 1-866-542-6435. Prestige Touch of Love,Providing 24-hr home care services using professional / certified caregivers to serve the specific needs of yo...…
…the exchange community bulletin board | professional services For information regarding advertising please call 248-351-5116 or 248-234-9057 or email salessupport@thejewishnews.com Deadline for ad insertion is 9 a.m. on Friday prior to publication. 72 | JULY 13 • 2023 Aaron Mendelson Heating and Cooling, LLC. 248-855-0437 Cell: 248-912-2292 License # 7118488 Maintenance, Installation, Repair & Hot Water Heaters Ajmendelson1@gmail.c...…
…JULY 13 • 2023 | 73 c. 1990 BEVERLY AVADENKA, 89, of Southfield, died June 30, 2023. She is survived by her children, Lynne Avadenka and Marc Sussman, Beth Avadenka, Eve Avadenka and Hardy Segall, and LiPing Cai and Zhengyu Tang; grand- children, Max Sussman and Kate McCabe, Eli and Maya Sussman, Mitchell Segall and Lexie Piet, Nathan Segall and Jennifer Schoenbart, Roxanne Segall and Steven Reinholm, Drew Siebarth, and Edwa...…
…74 | JULY 13 • 2023 our world that won’t let get overlooked. She had a brilliant mind and was cognizant till the very end. Ms. Cohen is survived by her father, George Cohen; sister and brother-in-law, Michelle and Jeff Gilbert; niec- es, Ashley and Gabby Gilbert; many loving aunts, uncles, other relatives and friends. She was the devoted daugh- ter of the late Joanie Cohen. Interment was at Clover Hill Park Cemetery. Contribution...…
…JULY 13 • 2023 | 75 Erlich, and Jacob and Noah Ziff; sister and brother-in-law, Linda and Murray Goldenberg; broth- ers-in-law and sisters-in-law, Fred and Pat Erlich, and Stewart and Beverly Erlich; many loving nieces, nephews, cousins and friends. Mrs. Erlich was the devoted daughter of the late Sarah and the late Martin Switzer. Interment was at Machpelah Cemetery. Contributions may be made to Heart to Heart Hospice Foundation...…
…OBITUARIES OF BLESSED MEMORY 76 | JULY 13 • 2023 Gartner and Parker Gartner. She was the beloved wife of the late Albert Gaines; proud grandmother of the late Michael Gartner. Interment was at Adat Shalom Memorial Park. Contributions may be made to a charity of one’s choice. Arrangements by Ira Kaufman Chapel. BENJAMIN “BENJIE” GORBACK, 71, of Franklin, died June 30, 2023. He is survived by his wife of 31 years, Faye Gorba...…
…JULY 13 • 2023 | 77 stepbrothers-in-law, Neil and Laurie Kleid, Esther and Rabbi Jose Gomez, Dovid Kleid; step-father, Jay Barry; loving nieces, nephews and friends. Mrs. Kleid was the loving daughter and daughter-in-law of the late Sidney Barack, the late Adell Kleid. Contributions may be made to Young Israel of Oak Park, 15140 W . 10 Mile Road, Oak Park, MI 48237; Farber Hebrew Day School, 21100 W . 12 Mile Road, Southfield, MI...…
…Looking Back From the William Davidson Digital Archive of Jewish Detroit History accessible at www.djnfoundation.org 78 | JULY 13 • 2023 The Man Who Gave Us the Pentagon Papers T he subject of classified documents has received a lot of press over the past few months. First and foremost, there is President Donald Trump’s handling, or rather mishandling, of top-secret documents at his Mar- a-Lago retreat. Along the way, a few class...…
…8 | JULY 13 • 2023 analysis Supreme Court Ruling in Sabbath Job Accommodation Case Has Far-Reaching Significance for Jews I n a case that drew support from a broad array of Jewish groups, the Supreme Court ruled unanimously that employers had to show a “substantial” burden to deny workers religious accommodation. In a decision released on June 29, the Court sided with Gerald Groff, an evangelical Christian mail carrier who asked ...…
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…JULY 13 • 2023 | 9 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 We put care in health insurance. Get the care you need, when you need it, with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan and Blue Care Network. From the largest network of doctors and hospitals in Michigan to coverag...…
…$200 July 6-12, 2023 / 17-23 Tammuz 5783 JEWISH NEWS THE DETROIT thejewishnews.com Meet 9-year-old Eli Cogan, who conquered ‘America’s scariest ski slope.’ See page 28 Ski Do Ski Do …
…10 | JULY 6 • 2023 PURELY COMMENTARY continued from page 8 A catechism is a kind of creed, right? It’s a statement of religious beliefs. “These are things we believe as Jews.” So Jewish catechisms had that, but they were also philosophical meditations in many ways. Typically, the first question of the catechism was, what is religion? And then the second question is, what is Jewish religion? And then I started reading them. The...…
…JULY 6 • 2023 | 11 Philadelphia looked at what the Protestants were doing, and they saw that Protestant Sunday schools were providing very accessible places where kids could go and get a basic primer in their religious tradition. What happens at the beginning of the 20th century, with the arrival of Eastern Europeans with different models for Jewish education? A new generation tries to reform Jewish education, led by a young edu...…
…12 | JULY 6 • 2023 OUR COMMUNITY Efforts to reclaim B’nai David Cemetery from blight continue to progress. Forgotten No More ROCHEL BURSTYN CONTRIBUTING WRITER A view of the B’nai David Cemetery …
…JULY 6 • 2023 | 13 continued on page 14 I n the last almost-decade, the state of the B’nai David cemetery has greatly improved, but it still has an uncer- tain future. Back in 2014, the cemetery, locat- ed on Van Dyke on the East Side of Detroit, had fallen into disrepair when Eva Goldman of Farmington Hills sug- gested cleaning up the cemetery for her bat mitzvah project. Twenty-five family members turned up to help and real- ized t...…
…14 | JULY 6 • 2023 BEAUTIFYING THE AREA “The cemetery is located in an interesting place, because it’s a sort of forgotten part of Detroit, on the east side, ” Goldman said. “That’s an issue for people wanting to visit who are scared of the neighbor- hood. ” Part of the problem was the uninhabited short Marjorie street, immediately south of the cemetery, which over the years had turned into an illegal dumping ground. “It had trash, boat...…
…JULY 6 • 2023 | 15 SPOTLIGHT New WordPress Courses at Gesher Human Services Gesher Human Services is offering two new courses in July for people interested in either building a website with WordPress software or, for those with an existing WordPress website, improving or updating their current site. WordPress is the most widely used free web content management system using opensource software with 42 percent of websites on the...…
…16 | JULY 6 • 2023 OUR COMMUNITY W hen the Jewish Community Center of Metropolitan Detroit closed its health club in fall 2020, many members of the Metro Detroit Jewish community were displaced from their favorite place to exercise, their central community-gathering spot and from a network of friends and acquaintances that blossomed into one big family over several decades. Nearly three years later, about 150 community mem- ...…
…JULY 6 • 2023 | 17 “It was a family. That’s what kept us going. Caring for everybody and supporting one another, in good times and in bad; it was just a very special place,” Victor said. “It kept us young, kept us healthy and kept exercise and yiddishkeit together.” Victor, who started her day at the health club four to five times a week, said it was the loss of community that was felt the most dearly. “There was a time if you ...…
…18 | JULY 6 • 2023 T he Jewish Federation of Greater Ann Arbor announces a new partnership with Jewish Community Security Inc. (JCSI) of Metro Detroit to hire the Ann Arbor area’s first Jewish community security manager. This new position is made possible by a grant from the LiveSecure initiative, which is a collaboration between the Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA) and the national Secure Community Network (SCN). The ne...…
…JULY 6 • 2023 | 19 F or some couples, their story of finding each other is intertwined with their story of finding spiritu- ality. Nacha then-Shuster had grown up in Detroit and Livonia, and was working as a clinical social worker in Ann Arbor when she stumbled across the Chabad on cam- pus and was instantly drawn in. She began learning Torah and picking up religious observance. Meanwhile, Alan Leaf, an Oak Park native who’d attende...…
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…20 | JULY 6 • 2023 OUR COMMUNITY V iewers of the popular game show Jeopardy! got a glance of one of the United States’ most distinctive synagogue buildings on June 20, after a clue showcased Congregation Shaarey Zedek in Southfield. The Conservative synagogue had leaked the fact that it would appear as a trivia item on Jeopardy! for days before the game, and as luck would have it, one of the contestants that day lives just a ...…
…JULY 6 • 2023 | 21 T he U.S. Navy commissioned its new- est Arleigh Burke-class guided-mis- sile destroyer USS Carl M. Levin (DDG 120), June 24 in Baltimore. “Sen. Levin lived a life of service with integrity, and his example inspires us as we commission this ship with this crew today, ” said Adm. Michael M. Gilday, 32nd Chief of Naval Operations. “The men and the women of the USS Carl Levin represent some of the best and the brightes...…
…22 | JULY 6 • 2023 OUR COMMUNITY O n April 23, The Temple-Tifereth Israel in Beachwood, Ohio, played host to 19 Czech Torah scrolls as part of a reunion and celebration of their sur- vival of the Holocaust, their rediscovery and repair in 1963 by the Memorial Scrolls Trust, and how they’re now cared for by congrega- tions and organizations all around the world, including Oak Park, Michigan. As part of the program, scrolls were gathe...…
…JULY 6 • 2023 | 23 ing its 60th anniversary this year, with 2022 marking the 80th anniversary of Czech Jews first working to preserve their Torah scrolls. Currently, there are 1,400 scrolls in circula- tion, Roman said, with the collection dating from the 1200s to the early 20th century. “ All of the scrolls you see here today have this shared legacy, but each has a unique backstory, written for a specific Jewish com- munity in a small ...…
…24 | JULY 6 • 2023 S chool is out and summer has offi- cially begun! Perhaps your children are at camp or your company offers Summer Fridays; either way, you’ve found yourself with newfound time on your hands. Volunteering is the perfect way to fill that gap. You can spend time out- doors helping on a farm or cool off in the air condition- ing while supporting adult artists with special needs. However you choose, get out there and ...…
…JULY 6 • 2023 | 25 T he Jewish Historical Society of Michigan held its annual meeting on June 4 at Congregation Beth Ahm. It was a fine affair, with 150 mem- bers and friends in attendance. The program featured the JHSM President’s Address by Jeannie Weiner and a report from JHSM Executive Director Dr. Catherine Cangany. Both reported great progress over the past year; Cangany noted that the JHSM five-year goals were met a year earl...…
…26 | JULY 6 • 2023 J ewish Senior Life hosted a Memorial Day tribute event on Friday, May 26, at Meer Apartments to honor veteran resi- dents. The event, which was attend- ed by 40 Meer residents, honored 11 veterans who served in the U.S. Army, U.S. Air Force, National Guard and in Israel. The patriotic event began with residents singing “The Star- Spangled Banner,” followed by a speech given by Brigadier General Don Schenk from t...…
…JULY 6 • 2023 | 27 T hank you, Detroit!” Dr. Conrad Giles, president of World ORT, expressed grat- itude to the guests gathered in Shed 5 of Eastern Market in Detroit for ORT and the City. “Detroit is the No. 1 donor in all the world to ORT!” he exclaimed. Nicole Miller, director of ORT America Michigan Region, welcomed guests and high- lighted the driving mission of ORT is to “give access to high quality education.” ORT and the City ...…
…28 | JULY 6 • 2023 S ol and Eli Cogan are big mountain skiers. They embrace extreme skiing on off-piste terrain, meaning terrain that has not been prepared for skiing. “Typically, that means starting at the top of a mountain, and enduring slopes with more than a 45-degree pitch that include cliffs, crevasses and other natural conditions that most people would find treacherous,” Sol said. “It’s the way nature created the run. T...…
…JULY 6 • 2023 | 29 and he’s attended ski school since he was 3. He started ski racing when he was 8 and has qualified for the NASTAR ski racing program national championships two years in a row, earning gold and silver medals in giant slalom and slalom. While he loves ski racing, Eli’s big passion is big mountain skiing now that he’s had a chance to experience it. So how has Eli been able to do so much as a skier at such a young...…
…JULY 6 • 2023 | 3 contents PURELY COMMENTARY 4-11 Essays and viewpoints. OUR COMMUNITY 12 Forgotten No More Efforts to reclaim B’nai David Cemetery from blight continue to progress. 16 More Than a Health Club Longtime members of the JCC of Metropolitan Detroit’s health club reunited nearly three years after its closing. 18 Ann Arbor’s New Jewish Community Security Manager 19 How We Met: ‘An Intertwined S...…
…30 | JULY 6 • 2023 charge.” Besides doing tasks like visiting classes and supervising recess, Eli got to make decisions during his one-day stints as principal. Among his decisions were no math classes (even though he said math is his favorite subject), extra recess and pajama day. Eli said skiing helps him in school “because in both, you have to think a lot.” If skiing isn’t his future occupation, Eli said, he’d like to be a com...…
…JULY 6 • 2023 | 31 OUR COMMUNITY H illel of Metro Detroit announced that Jenna Friedman and Jeremy Soper are the 2023 recipients of the Elaine C. Driker Award, and David Ibn Ezra is the 2023 recipient of the Direnfeld Scholarship. The Elaine C. Driker Award recognizes Hillel of Metro Detroit students committed to Jewish life in Detroit. Jenna, who lives in Detroit, is major- ing in social work at Wayne State University and has...…
…32 | JULY 6 • 2023 NOSH DINING AROUND THE D A Vaad-certified kosher food truck, TAIM Middle Eastern Street Food, has got the goods for anyone seek- ing casual but quality Israeli-style eating in Metro Detroit. The word Taim (Tah-EEM) means “tasty” or “delicious” in Hebrew, an apt description for the fare introduced recently in Metro Detroit. TAIM truck owners Dennis Abramov and his wife were greeted by long lines of hungry and ...…
…JULY 6 • 2023 | 33 pop in a can or bottled water customers pulled from an ice-filled cooler. On the day I dined, the choices were Shawarma Sandwich, including a quar- ter-pound of chicken and medium fries; Shawarma Plate, with a half-pound of chicken and large fries; Kids Meal, a half pita with shawarma and small fries, and Sabich, an item not familiar to me. Sabich, a pita bread sandwich popular in Israel, is filled with fried eggplan...…
…34 | JULY 6 • 2023 BUSINESS J ewish social worker Karen Faith Gordon spent many years supporting Metro Detroit’s older adult population before launching her own endeavor, Karen Faith LLC, which celebrated its ribbon cutting for its West Bloomfield location June 21. With a long career in geriatrics, Gordon plans to use the space on 14 Mile and Middlebelt Road to provide mental health care for older adults, their families and ...…
…JULY 6 • 2023 | 35 That’s why Gordon chose to offer both telehealth and onsite mental health care services to make care more accessible. “I started to realize the value of people who wanted to come to an office to talk and have that privacy,” she says of deciding to operate a physical location. SUPPORTING THE AGING JOURNEY Gordon, a parent of four, works with all aspects of the aging journey. People come to her for support with...…
…HEALTH T rauma has a tremendous physical and/or emotional impact on vic- tims, but it’s important to remem- ber the effect it has on first responders like police and EMS as well. Ayelet Shmuel of The Resiliency Zone, an Israel-based mental health practice that specializes in healing trauma, works with organizations around the world on trauma training, including Jewish organi- zations in Metro Detroit. The reason being: society often “m...…
…JULY 6 • 2023 | 37 continued from page 36 won’t see any distress on, but that doesn’t mean these situa- tions don’t affect them.” A lot of times, Shmuel explains, it can seem like first responders handle a situation well, but the impact is often felt (and seen) when they end their shift or go home for the day. “You start seeing some symptoms; you start seeing the impact,” she says. “You need to know what to look for and you need to know...…
…38 | JULY 6 • 2023 A true story that took place in 1995: It con- cerns the legacy of an unusual man with an unusual name: Mr. Ernest Onians, a farmer in East Anglia, England, whose main business was as a supplier of pigswill. Known as an eccentric, his hobby was collecting paint- ings. He used to go around local auctions and whenever a painting came on sale, especially if it was old, he would make a bid for it. Eventually h...…
…JULY 6 • 2023 | 39 right time to present their request. They knew how to interpret Scripture, and they were perfectly virtuous. Even more consequentially, their love of the Land of Israel was in striking contrast to that of the men. The spies had come back with a negative report about the land, and the peo- ple had said, “Let us appoint a [new] leader and return to Egypt” (Num. 14:4). But Zelophehad’s daughters want- ed to have a ...…
…4 | JULY 6 • 2023 for openers Hyperbole In Action O verstatement is one way to get a point across. I have written about exaggeration before, but I was reminded by some readers that I left the field untilled. Therefore: When you make something seem much better than it is, you are trying to gild the lily or pull the wool over someone’s eyes. They may realize that you are trying to build castles in the air and calling you on ...…
