Issue link: https://viewer.e-digitaledition.com/i/900775
My Story My Story Health. A fresh start. A good education. The next great business idea. Hebrew Free Loan gives interest- free loans to members of our community for a variety of personal and small business needs. HFL loans are funded entirely through community donations which continually recycle to others, generating many times the original value to help maintain the lives of local Jews. Click. Call. Give Now. www.hfldetroit.org 248.723.8184 Hebrew Free Loan Detroit 6735 Telegraph Road, Suite 300 • Bloomfield Hills, MI 48301 @HFLDetroit Marlene and David Gross have had several loans from Hebrew Free Loan through the years, including one in the 1980s to make home improvements at their Oak Park home, and another to help their daughter with expenses for a Bat Mitzvah. Recently, when Marlene needed hearing aids, they again approached HFL. "I work as a school lunch aide, and I realized I wasn't hearing the kids very well when they spoke to me," Marlene said. "It seemed best for me to get hearing aids. One thing I found out was that they are very expensive, and that's what made us decide to go to Hebrew Free Loan, because the cost is not covered by insurance, so the entire expense would have come out of our pockets." "Before we thought of Hebrew Free Loan, we were considering taking money out of our retirement fund to cover the cost," said David. "Going to HFL helped us avoid that." "Everyone we've talked with at HFL has always been very kind and professional," Marlene said. "This is a great service for our community, and it's interest-free. I would recom- mend it to everyone if they need it." Marlene's hearing aids were funded by the D. Dan and Betty Kahn Older Adult Care Loan Fund (KOACLF) at HFL. In part- nership with Jewish Family Service and Jewish Senior Life, the fund helps adults age 62 and older, and their families, better afford life- enhancing services, equipment and home adjustments. "HFL has made our lives easier several times," David said. "What a benefit for us all to have it." L ike many folks, I really like kid's books. I like seeing what's new and interesting, and I love read- ing my childhood favorites to my kids. The thing is that kids tend to develop favorites of their own and instead of wanting to hear new books or the classics, they want to hear you read the same book day after day. It's a problem because they learn the words by heart, so you can't skip pages without them noticing. Most of the time, I'm reading these favorites with my eyes closed, my mind counting the minutes til bedtime, but other times I find myself tuning in with an unexplained cynical curi- osity — and suddenly the story seems so unfinished. For example, these days my little girls are fascinated by princesses (which meant toilet training was helped along by one of Frozen's finest songs "Let it Go") and they request that I read our dog-eared copy of Cinderella every single night. And I have these questions: How is it possible to fall in love before you've even exchanged first names? Was it all about the physical chemistry? Isn't that insulting on a certain level? Don't women want to be appreciated for their minds? Did the prince and Cinderella perhaps try to exchange basic information but the noise level of all the jealous ladies watching them and gossiping made them not hear each other so they had to revert to sign language and guess what the other meant? Why did the glass slipper not fit anyone else in the land? First, it's weird that the shoes didn't evaporate at the strike of midnight like all the other magic. And weirder still is that the footman went to every woman and girl in the kingdom and had them try on the glass slipper but the shoe didn't fit a single other person. I mean, judging by the selec- tion of shoes available in my kid's sizes at Target (not very many), there are many people who share the same shoe size in the area. So, what was it? Did Cinderella have unusually small feet? Did she practice the ancient Chinese ritual of foot binding? (And, if so, how did she dance?) Or were her feet unusually large… and if so, again, how did she dance? Lastly and, most importantly: What does "happily ever after" mean exactly? It's easy to assume the wedding was fun and fancy, but did the wicked stepmother and stepsisters crash it? And, if so, how did Cinderella react? Did she forgive them for their past mistreatment and move on or did she have them banned from every royal establishment in the county so she would never have to see their ugly faces again? Did she need therapy to work through her compulsive habit of sleeping in the fireplace with the cin- ders or did she just move to a huge princess canopied bed without issue? Did she sometimes get bored with her new life and say to her servants, "Oh, please, allow me" and start washing the dishes while the hired help got to relax with a magazine and a cup of hot chocolate? Did the prince ever learn her name? Did they have kids? And, if so, who got up in the middle of the night when the baby cried? Basically, my point is, a story is never really over. When one ends, another begins. • November 16 • 2017 5 jn Rochel Burstyn for openers e Other Side Of e Fairy Tale views letters Offensive Performance On SNL The entire viewing public needs to be aware of Larry David's horrendous appearance on Saturday Night Live on NBC, Nov. 4. To me, his "humor" was offensive to the entire civilized world. His disturbing jokes were Holocaust-themed. The routine that was the most offensive in his mono- logue was a misogynistic view of women in concentration camps. We must all take part in a strong outcry to NBC for allowing this appall- ing, disrespectful narrative to be aired. It is very easy to contact NBC by going to NBC.com and voicing your opin- ion. Hopefully, they will receive a tor- rent of negative input and apologize for this horrendous performance. The Anti-Defamation League has forcefully expressed their displea- sure. I feel individual outcries in great numbers would also be effective. Carol R. Wiseman West Bloomfield Don't Place Politics Ahead Of Judaism Esau sold his birthright to his brother Jacob for bread and a bowl of len- til stew. How cheaply are today's Jews willing to sell their allegiance? Apparently, the cost is dinner and a sympathetic political stance. In her support for BDS, her celebra- tion of Rasmea Odeh, associating Zionism with white supremacy and declaration that Zionists cannot be feminists, Linda Sarsour has publicly demonstrated her hostility toward Jews and Israel … but! Some Jews are willing to overlook all of this because of other political issues and some kind of "bigger picture." (A Chorus Of Women's Voices," Nov. 2, page 16) There is no "but," and there is no "bigger picture." All other issues are secondary. If we are serious about protecting our children, this kind of Jew-hatred is what we must protect them from. Placing your politics ahead of your Judaism and ignoring Sarsour's offensive, anti-Zionist state- ments will make your children targets. Don't let her empty gestures fool you. While she's willing to accept Jewish support for her agenda and as tokens, she's not on our side. How much Jew-hatred are we will- ing to accept from someone because we share their political views? The more BDS and anti-Semitism we are foolishly willing to overlook, the more we will get, especially when we allow ourselves to be so easily manipulated. Harry Onickel Ferndale