Weekly News & Updates
Caring for Older Adults Since 1907
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EDWARD I. & FREDA FLEISCHMAN RESIDENCE/LOUIS C. & EDITH B. BLUMBERG PLAZA |
See why you will want to call JSL home! |
Recently I was inspired listening to an interview with AJ Jacobs who wrote “The Gratitude Chain.” He shared the benefits of gratitude with meaningful stories, like this one: One day while savoring his morning cup of coffee, he thought about thanking not only the barista, but every single person who had a hand in making this coffee so meaningful to him. He literally took the time and traveled across the world to thank the sailors, the coffee farmers, the truck drivers, the botanists… He took the time and noticed thousands of people around the world who had a hand in his life. Then he sat down and wrote, “Thanks A Thousand.”
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AJ thanked the miner who brought up the copper from the mines for his microphone. He thanked the farmers and weavers and seamstresses who collected the cotton that made the fabric for his chair. He thanked the technical people behind the scenes who helped him get his messages out, including the fact checkers. He even made a phone call to Tim Berners-Lee who invented the internet! AJ found that gratitude made him happy and connected to all the people in the world.
Tony Fadell, a serious product designer and gadget freak who invented the iPod and The Nest filmed a short insightful TED Talk; “The First Secret of Design is Noticing."
He says, “We get used to things and everyday things become habits. We must free up space to learn new things. Fight against Habituation. It would be exhausting to notice every little thing… but taking time to notice them will also bring you pleasure, and you might see some problems you can address. Consider the lid of your coffee cup – note the hole some product designer created that allows you to sip and at the same time inhale the wonderful aroma.”
When we stop noticing the invisible problems around us, or the little details in our lives, we take things for granted and creativity lapses. The key is to fight against habituation. Picasso said, “Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up.”
AJ Jacobs asks us to “Look broader.” No one likes standing in lines, so use that time to notice people and things. Savoring is a big theme in gratitude. AJ thanks the coffee bean buyer whose commitment to tasting provides us all with great morning coffee. He reminds us to pause and let the coffee sit on our tongues to focus on the acidity, texture, and body. Slow down and allow the flavors to enrapture us. This is the antithesis of habituation. Savor each moment.
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Ethan and Isabel Johnson are food service workers at Hechtman. Ethan has worked at JSL for 2 years and was a volunteer here long before he started working at Hechtman. He really enjoys getting to know the residents and talking with them.
He says, “No matter how bad things may get, there is always someone out there who wants to see you succeed.” Ethan loves making pizza with his grandmother on Saturday nights when he sleeps over. His favorite books are the Harry Potter series, and he hopes to study to be an engineer. He said, “I am scared of not living up to my own expectations.” After the pandemic is over, he wants to go axe throwing! He loves his family and spends his spare time doing homework and playing video games with his friends.
Isabel came on board as a food service worker 2 months ago because her brother said she should consider it. The two of them drive to work together. She already enjoys her work helping to make soups and bagging the food for delivery. She likes chatting with her coworkers and finds that the residents and staff are great and fun to be with. Isabel says, “being with people that you love and who love you is the best way to deal with the pandemic.” She and Ethan live with their parents and a younger sister. Isabel loves to cook and makes omelets for herself and her grandmother. She hopes to study to be a psychologist, loves to travel and wants to go to Israel. After the pandemic ends, she wants to go out for lunch with friends. Her spare time is spent doing homework and takes care of her 4-month-old puppy.
We appreciate the Johnson family so much and hope other teens will join them to work in dining services at JSL.
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Looking for a fun and rewarding place to work…. Look no further!
Jewish Senior Life is hiring servers for the Dining Rooms on the West Bloomfield Campus!
Flexible schedules and great hours!
If interested, please call or email
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6 WAYS TO MAKE YOUR SUKKAH COZY |
Hashem surrounded us in the desert with clouds of protection, and we commemorate that by living in our temporary outdoor homes during the holiday. There is something so pleasant about sitting in our humble dwelling for eight full days. What’s even more amazing is we’re tasked with the mitzvah of making it beautiful. Hashem wants us to enjoy that festive time in the sukkah by decorating it!
Silver foil crafts created by the delicate hands of young children are something to cherish and decorate our sukkahs with. However, in addition to that, there are so many ways to add a bit of coziness and personality, too. The right decor adds significant elements to reach the right ambiance. Some additional touches such as colored accessories and lighting evoke positive feelings.
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DOROTHY & PETER D. BROWN MEMORY CARE PAVILION |
Contact us to learn about our private suite rates! |
HIGH HOLIDAYS AT HECHTMAN |
Hechtman Apartments resident, Harriett Hessenthaler, shared lovely photos of the residents' Rosh Hashanah celebration. Fellow residents, Shelley and Ben Skelton, shared the ram’s horn that Ben's father used to call the cattle in Alabama. Pictured: Dale Saham, Shelley and Ben Skelton, and Harriet Hessenthaler. |
By Jane E. Brody
The day after my 80th birthday, which overflowed with good wishes, surprises and Covid-safe celebrations, I awoke feeling fulfilled and thinking that whatever happens going forward, I’m OK with it. My life has been rewarding, my bucket list is empty, my family is thriving, and if everything ends tomorrow, so be it.
Not that I expect to do anything to hasten my demise. I will continue to exercise regularly, eat healthfully and strive to minimize stress. But I’m also now taking stock of the many common hallmarks of aging and deciding what I need to reconsider.
I found considerable inspiration and guidance in a new book, “Stupid Things I Won’t Do When I Get Old,” by Steven Petrow, written with Roseann Foley Henry. Mr. Petrow, who is also a columnist but is nearly two decades younger than I, began thinking ahead after watching the missteps of his aging parents, like waiting too long to get hearing aids.
I took a similar inventory of my life and started at the top, with my hair. I’d been coloring it for decades, lighter and lighter as I got older. But I noticed that during the pandemic, many people (men as well as women of all ages) had stopped covering their gray. And they looked just fine, sometimes better than they did with hair dyed dark above a wrinkled facade. Today, I too am gray and loving it, although I can no longer blame my dog for the white hairs on the couch!
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Amy's Cabbage Stoup
This soup is delicious served with crostini, over pasta, or enjoy it on its own!
Instructions
2 tablespoons Tuscanini Olive Oil
3 to 4 sticks (beef) pepperoni, sliced into 1/2-inch slices
1/2 cabbage, cut in 1-inch chunks
35 ounces Tuscanini Tomato Sauce (approximately 4 cups)
1 bottle classic borscht such as Manischewitz (approximately 2 and 1/2 cups)
1/4 cup Tuscanini Apple Cider Vinegar
4 tablespoons sugar
20 meatballs, already cooked
1 cup steak or brisket or flanken, cut into 1-inch chunks
water to cover (approximately 1/2 cup)
salt, to taste
pepper, to taste
Directions
1) In a six-quart pot, heat oil on medium-high heat. Sauté pepperoni and cabbage for five to six minutes.
2) Add tomato sauce, borscht, cider vinegar, and sugar and bring to a boil.
3) Add meatballs, your cup of meat, and water and simmer for 20 to 30 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
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You will love this 30 minute Low Impact Aerobic workout! It is for active seniors and beginners, featuring exercises at a slower speed and easy to follow combinations. |
This is a poem taken from Gates of Repentance, The High Holiday Prayer Book.
“Now is the time for turning. The leaves are beginning to turn from green to red and orange. The birds are beginning to turn and are heading once more toward the south. The animals are beginning to turn to storing their food for the winter. For leaves, birds, and animals turning comes instinctively. But for us turning does not come so easily. It takes an act of will for us to make a turn. It means breaking with old habits. It means admitting that we have been wrong; and this is never easy. It means losing face; it means starting all over again; and this is always painful. It means saying: I am sorry. It means recognizing that we have the ability to change. These things are terribly hard to do. But unless we turn, we will be trapped forever in yesterday’s ways. Loving God, help us to turn, from pettiness to purpose, from envy to contentment, from carelessness to discipline, from fear to faith. Turn us around and bring us back toward You. Revive our lives, as at the beginning. And turn us toward each other, for in isolation there is no life."
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Rabbi Dovid S. Polter, Community Chaplain
A Countryside Visit
Driving down dirt roads, watching cows graze at roadside farms, and spotting growing wheat stalks invoked my deep compassion toward a talented Jewish senior, a gifted sculptor, whom I was headed to visit in Yale, Michigan.
“How spread out can our people be? What hope is there to unite us as one?’” I thought to myself.
I was reassured of divine providence and that everyone finds themselves where they are meant to be even in a most remote corner like Yale, Michigan. I was struck when I spotted a nearby street sign, “Emmett, 1 mile. Yale 11 miles.”
I began to ponder on the deeper significance of the bordering cities “Emmett and Yale.” What spiritual message might be hidden therein. What does “Emmett” bring to “Yale”?
“Emmett” in Hebrew is truth. “Emmett” is also the last word of our daily prayers when we entrust our soul into the Hands of “Emmett”- G-d Al-Mighty just prior to retiring for the night.
I realized this single resident in this remote spot in Yale, Michigan is well protected with the aura of “Emmett”, divine truth even though he is one member of his faith surrounded by so many others.
Shabbat Shalom by Phone
Enjoy some Daily Inspiration
Shabbat Shalom and High Holiday Services by Phone
Listen to the sounds of the Shofar
Rosh Hashanah & Yom Kippur half hour service
Dial Toll free: 605-313-4107 Access code: 270368#
(Reference number not needed)
Dial # to hear the most recent recorded message.
Rabbi Dovid S. Polter Jewish Community Chaplaincy Program Jewish Senior Life 248-592-5039 • [email protected]
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This newsletter was created by Jo Rosen and Amanda Martlock
We’re human, prone to mistakes, so if we erred in our newsletter, please forgive us!
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L’Chaim!
We are so grateful for your financial contributions.
Please continue your engAGEment with JSL.
Your support enhances the lives of our residents.
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Nancy Heinrich, Chief Executive Officer
Jennie Klepinger, Chief Financial Officer
Barbra Giles, Executive Director, Strategic Initiatives
Jo Strausz Rosen, Executive Director, Development
Dianne Azzopardi, Executive Director, Human Resources
Ron Colasanti, Executive Director, Dining Services
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People of all faiths and beliefs are welcome. |
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