You couldn’t go anywhere in the Detroit area this past weekend without hearing people talk about Detroit Pistons owner Bill Davidson. Last Friday night the sad news was about former Pistons coach Chuck Daly announcing he has Pancreatic Cancer. This past Friday night the sad news was that “Mr. D” had died. Bill Davidson, the…
I’ve been thinking a lot about sacred space recently. Of course, I give much thought to the concept of what makes a place holy (or sacred) whenever I am in Israel. At each turn one encounters a sacred location from Jewish history. However, what turns a place that is generally considered to be a secular…
I haven’t posted in a while as I’ve been busy working at Camp Tamarack, getting ready for the campers to arrive later this month. However, I couldn’t resist commenting on S.L. Price’s wonderful column in the June 2, 2008 issue of Sports Illustrated titled “Seafood for Thought”. Yesterday morning at Shabbat morning services at Tamarack…
The Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit building in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan is appropriately named for Max M. Fisher, the Jewish businessman and philanthropist who died in 2005. In addition to the Federation building, the home of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra (“The Max”) and The Ohio State University’s Fisher College of Business also bear his name….
There’s a nice article in the Detroit News about my rabbi, Danny Nevins. He will become the next dean of the Rabbinical School at the Jewish Theological Seminary this summer. The sidebar of the article links to his personal website, the teshuvah (responsum) he co-authored on Homosexuality in Judaism, and even a Detroit News audio…
Proving once more that you can buy anything on eBay, there is a 2004 Detroit Pistons World Championship ring up for auction right now. The starting bid is $15,000 and the owner of the ring is listed as being from White Lake Township. Just my personal opinion, but I think that if the owner of…
From the Detroit Jewish NewsBy Shelli Liebman Dorfman Rabbi Daniel Nevins sees his new job as dean of the rabbinical school at the Conservative movement’s Jewish Theological Seminary in New York as “both an honor and a challenge.” The rabbi has served Adat Shalom Synagogue in Farmington Hills for 13 years. He will begin his…
When Rabbi Danny Nevins, my friend, colleague, and personal rabbi, told me a couple months ago that he was being considered for the position of Dean of the Rabbinical School of the Conservative Movement’s central academic institution, the Jewish Theological Seminary, I was immediately torn. On the one hand, I knew how many people at…
Detroit entrepreneur Dan Gilbert, majority owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers and Quicken Loans Arena, recently created an urban entrepreneurial academy called Bizdom U. Set to launch next month, Bizdom U will be a full-time, two-year program designed to produce entrepreneurs who will start up and lead successful Detroit-based businesses. The goal is to provide graduates…
Last Wednesday I had a very intriguing discussion over lunch with Mr. Bill Davidson, owner of Guardian Industries, and sports franchises the Detroit Pistons (NBA), Tampa Bay Lightning (NHL), and Detroit Shock (WNBA). Each of these sports teams are the reigning champions of their respective league. I was invited to lunch with Mr. D. along…