Family Profile

Elizabeth Applebaum
AppleTree Editor

Names: Noah and
Cherie Levi and their
children: Lani, 6-1 /2;
Estee, 5; Raffi, 3;
Chava Reena, 5
months.
Residence: West Bloom-
field
Congregation: Ohel
Moed-Shomrey Emunah
Schools: Lani attends
Akiva Hebrew Day
School, while Estee and
Raffi are students at
Ganeinu
A Little Biography:
Noah is a dentist and
the son of long-time
local residents Benno
and Ruth Levi of Oak
Park. Cherie grew up in
Florida. Now a "full-time
mom," she was an elec-
tronics engineer for
NASA before moving to
Detroit, where she
worked as an engineer
for Ford, Chrysler and
General Motors. Noah
and Cherie met in Flori-
da and were married in
Miami Beach in 1989.
Favorite Jewish Ritual
Object: "My Shabbat
candlesticks," Cherie
says. "We were out late
one Saturday night in Miami
Beach, walking along a street that's
a lot like Ben Yehuda Street in
Jerusalem, with a lot of activity and
restaurants and stores. There's a
Judaica store there, and when we
passed by I saw candlesticks and I
said, 'I really like the design.'
"We hadn't received candlesticks
when we married, and I thought we
would get really nice ones some
day. But [as we walked by the
shop] Noah suddenly grabbed me

Why the
Levi family
looks forward
to every
Friday night.

4/9
1999

and we went in and he bought
them then and there."
Today, 'Cherie and her daughters
light Shabbat candles every Friday
night.
Favorite Daily Jewish Activities: "I
like helping Raffi put on his tzitzit
and saying the bracha (blessing),"
Cherie says.
Noah and Cherie also say the
Sh'ma each night with their chil-
dren, and on Thursday "when Estee
and Raffi come home from school,

Shabbat begins late).
"After soup," Cherie
says, "someone is going
to bed."
Then comes the main
course, which Cherie
varies from week to
week - with one excep-
tion: chicken wings. She
Left:
bakes them for three
On Shabbat,
hours in the oven "until
the Levi family
they're crunchy like pota-
focuses on
to chips." Most are then
each other.
placed in a plastic bag
and mixed with Frank's
Below:
Hot Sauce, which even
Everyone helps
6-year-old Lani relishes
to get the
(only the younger two
family ready for
prefer a milder version).
Shabbat.
On Saturday morning,
Cherie sleeps in while
Noah cares for the chil-
dren, who rise and shine
at 6 a.m. Then Noah
heads off to shul while
Cherie prepares for
lunch.
Well, she can't exactly
prepare.
"Noah's whole family
is very hospitable,"
Cherie says. "So it's not
unusual for him to just
grab people at shul and
bring them home." Her
strategy: "Always cook a
lot and expect extra
guests."
Lunches last a long
we bake together [for Shabbat],"
time with plenty of conversation.
Cherie says. "We make cookies
Afterward, Noah naps while
and lots of muffins because we like
Cherie 'watches their little ones.
singing, 'The Muffin Man."
They love board games like Husker
Shabbat In The Levi Home: After
Du, she says, pudding with blocks
the family lights candles, Noah
and hearing Mom read the books
goes to shul. When he returns, the
she checks out from the library each
couple make a blessing for their
Thursday, just for them.
children. Dinner begins with chicken
Like most mothers, Cherie has
soup, when the four little Levis are
found that her children have plenty
always very happy, and maybe a
of energy. When they're feeling
little tired and a little cranky and a
especially energetic, she has them
little antsy, too (especially when