Alive and Kicking

HIGHER PURPOSE “The greatest tragedy is being with a dying nonagenarian who does not have a clue why he or she inhabited this planet.” Rabbi Goldberg teaches kids how to work through their pain by training them to focus beyond the incredible stress they’re facing (Photos: Arjo Photography)

Tt’s two days after Labor Day and though fall is around the corner it’s unbearably hot in Detroit. A late afternoon downpour is a welcome relief but soon enough large puddles are forming on the road and a long line of cars is lined up in rush-hour traffic.

In these conditions going anywhere for the first time is a challenge but somehow I turn into a driveway and inch along a curved road until I see a nondescript office building tucked behind a row of parked cars. Not quite convinced I’ve arrived at my destination my doubts are put to rest when I see five African-American kids spill out of a nearby van — each wearing what’s unmistakably a karate belt. I know that I’ve arrived.

Inside I find the karate studio a large room outfitted with blue pads on the floor and motivational posters on the walls. A crowd of young and old — kids with purple orange or yellow karate belts muscular men with black belts parents caregivers staff and volunteers — move with purpose. The noise level is high the kids giddy — they’d had a break last week and are thrilled to be back — and in the center of them all greeting each person is a bearded man wearing a black suit and large black yarmulke. I watch as he greets a woman and her kids warmly in Spanish and for a moment I’m convinced he knows the language fluently.