ICE ON ICE Passover Story Hour Attracts Large Crowd JILL DAVIDSON SKLAR STAFF WRITER itting on the floor of Bor- ders Books and Music in Farmington Hills, Zachary Ainsztein grabbed a green marker from his mother, Amy, and began to scribble on a pillow case. "I'm going to use this at our seder," the 4-year-old said, hold- Tell him a little ice is all it takes to melt your heart. ish Community Center in Oak Park, was sponsored by the Agency for Jewish Education and Jewish Experiences For Families. The hour began with three Jewish tales told by Laura Per- shin of Ann Arbor. The partici- pants, packed into the expansive PHOTOS BY BILL GEMMELL Pour on the ice. Coolly elegant diamond jewelry that's guaranteed to melt your heart. Ask the man in your life to come in and see our selection of exquisite diamonds from the Ice On Ice Collection. They're sure to have temperatures rising. A DIAMOND Is FOREVER. Garry and their children, Bryan and Caryn, said both the chil- dren and the parents were en- thralled. was definitely listening. Ms. Pershin was very good, very cre- ative," she said. Karen Dubrinsky, communi- ty relations coordinator for the Farmington Hills Borders store, said the turnout was bigger than most of the past story hours which did not have Jewish themes. "We have had 50 chil- dren for some of our story hours," she said. "We may do this more often. Not every month, but more of- ten." She said she hopes the Far left: Ryan Rivkin decorates his pillow case. Left: Laura Pershin acts out a story about King Solomon. Below: The Passover event attracted 130 participants. Brilliance Since 1919 30400 Telegraph Rd. Suite 134, Bingham Farms • 642-5575 THE LOOK THAT NEVER WEARS OUT Expertly Fit! Joshua Black Nubuck N, M, W 10-7 Dreg ORCHARD MALL Orchard Lk Rd. N. of Maple W. Bloomfield • 851-5566 SHOES "Serving the community for 38 years" ARNOLD mazoa 446-6080 Automotive Group Ltd. Gratiot Ave. at 12 Mile Road, Roseville, Michigan ' Just 25 minutes from the Birmingham/Bloomfield area off of 1 - 696" 445-6000 ing the case so his mother could see his handiwork. "I'm going to use it to lay down, right mom?" "Right, Zachary," Ms. Ain- sztein said. "He loves Passover. It is one of his favorite holidays because he gets to look for the afikomen." Zachary, his mother and his 4-month-old sister, Rachel, were some of the 130 people who par- ticipated Sunday in a Passover story hour followed by crafts. The story time, along with a similar event held at the Jew- children's book section of the bookstore, clapped along with the stories, doing hand motions Ms. Pershin taught them at the beginning of the session. Following the stories, each child was given a pillow case to decorate for Passover as well as a kit to make a tactile Hag- gadah. Family groups then gathered in groups on the floor, coloring the cases using stencils and permanent markers. Marlene Zeitlin, who came to the event with her husband store will col- laborate more with AJE and JEFF to hold more story hours in the future. "As long as we have books on the subject, we would be happy to do this again," she said. Julia Green- blatt, program coordinator for JEFF, said she hopes more of the children will attend future story hours which are held on a monthly basis at the Agency for Jew- ish Education Community Li- brary. "Usually half as many children show up for story time," she said, surveying the crowd of 4- and 5- year-olds. "Hopefully they will come to the next one." Et Maureen Schiffinan and Coco will perform at the next story time which will be held 2-4 p.m. Sunday, May 7, at the Agency for Jewish Education, 21550 W. 12 Mile Road, in Southfield. To reg- ister, call Naomi at (810) 354- 1050.