The BiG Story

Allie Lichterman, 6, of Huntington
Woods, said the arts and crafts were the
best part of the whole day, while Danielle
Blumstein, 4 1 /2, of West Bloomfield said
she really liked making the layered-sand
Dream catcher helps festivalgoers focus
project.
"Look!" Danielle said, holding up her fin-
on all that is good.
ished creation. Wearing a pink dress, her
Leslie Zack
face sweetly covered with freckles,
Student Intern
Danielle was proud of her layering of
some blue- and pink-colored sands.
he rhythm of Israeli music and taste of falafel drew nearly
Tessa Triest, 3, of Oak Park, hadn't got-
3,000 members of the Jewish community to celebrate their
ten around to any arts and crafts yet —
hopes and dreams of Israel's future at the IsraelFest on Sunday
maybe later. For now, she was very busy.
at Temple Emanu-El in Oak Park.
enjoying her ice cream bar.
This outdoor celebration of Israel's 52nd birthday consisted of com-
One popular stop under the big
pleting various activities constructed within a
tent was the city of Tzipori. Here,
marathon of stations, or "cities," in Israel. The sta-
as at every station, people
tion that required the greatest interaction between
received a small card about the
child, parent, grandparent and volunteer was one
spot they were visiting.,Tzipori's
of Jerusalem's stations, where people were able to
orange reference card explained
create their own dream catcher. This artistic craft
that:
was made with yarn, beads, imagination, Jewish
• Tzipori means "bird" in
symbols and a little dove symbolizing the hope, or
Hebrew, and the city was named
hatikva, of our people.
this because it appears to be
The purpose of the dream catcher, although dif-
perched like a bird on the top of
ferent for everybody, generalizes that bad
a mountain.
dreams are caught within it, and the good
• The modern settlement of Tzi-
dreams are left to encompass the world.
Jeffrey Davis, 7, of
pori serves as a reminder of the
Royal Oak is ma king
Volunteers Marcia Manson and Debi Kaplan,
ancient city of the same name that
a
dream catcher.
both from Farmington Hills, are preschool teachers
was the largest and most important
at Congregation Beth Ahm in West Bloomfield.
city in the Galilee during the first four cen-
They purposely chose this specific station to work at because they
turies of the Common Era. It was a place
thought it was the most interactive and beneficial for learning, as
of many synagogues. In 1993, archaeol-
well as having fun. They said they loved to see the children come
ogists in Tzipori uncovered a mosaic syna-
out with not only a tangible good, but a better understanding of
gogue floor from the 5th century.
what the day and station were meant to represent. They shared
In metro Detroit's version of Tzipori,
how they loved the idea of integrating peace and hope with an
IsraelFest volunteer Jodi Roth of West
interactive activity from which the . children could learn.
Bloomfield patiently explained to children
Debbie Rosenberg of Farmington Hills, program coordinator for the
how to make a tile design reminiscent of
Agency for Jewish Education/Jewish Experiences For Families, an
the one found at the old synagogue. Each
event co-sponsor, explained that Israel's 52nd birthday celebration
child received a square piece of wood,
was meant to offer not only a taste of Israel, but an educational
atop which he or she could glue small
aspect as well. The dream catcher station passed out materials
pieces of muted yellow or robin's-egg blue
explaining the city of Jerusalem in greater detail, to review later within
tile. Children also were invited to use
the family.
markers to further complete their works.
Rosenberg explained that this special day inspires our community to
"Here's an example," Roth said, holding
not only celebrate our heritage, but also unite and rejoice as one.
up a completed tile. "But you don't have
She believes this event will enable and inspire our people to hope
to copy this. Just do whatever you like."
and dream for the future. "Although it took a lot of hard work, it is
Glue was absolutely everywhere, as
completely worth it because the community comes together to appre-
were the moist toilettes thoughtfully pro-
ciate the celebration," said Rosenberg.
vided for post-mosaic cleanup, but
As this day of hatikva and dreams came to an end, 10-year-old
Roth remained consistently pleasant
Emmy Pellerito from Huntington Woods explained her purpose for
and friendly.
making her dream catcher. She wanted to "make sure everybody%
"Good job!" she said as one child fin-
dreams come true." Ill
ished his work of art. "I really like the way

Chasing Dreams

T

Cr)

you drew on the stars. How creative!"
After completing their travels, children
turned in the passports and received a
clear, plastic pen, which also held a tube
of bubbles at the top. Then they could
stop and chat with the goat or the turkey
at a small biblical zoo, check out the
Bedouin tent, grab a bite to eat, or go
back to those famous jumping things
(preferably not after the eating part).
On the lawn, across the driveway from
the white tent, stood a number of blue-and
white-topped tables for dining, while trees
strewn with plastic flags of Israel flapped
softly in the wind.
Throughout the day there was Jewish
music, including songs by Ron Coden
and dance music for the Shachar Dance
Ensemble. The sounds could be heard
from blocks away.
The inviting smell of pizza — cheese,
from Jerusalem Pizza — also was carried
along on the wind. No wonder so many
of the visitors could not make do with just
one slice.
Aviva Reinitz, 8, of Oak Park, attended
the IsraelFest with her friend and fellow
classmate Eryn Fox, 8, of Oak Park.
What was Aviva's favorite part of the
day? "That thing," she said. "I don't know
what it% called. The thing right over there,
the thing by the thinggie. The rock thing."
(Its official title was King of the Mountain,
another variation on the moonwalk — this
time shaped as an air-filled tower with
ledges where children could climb, as
though making their way up a mountain.)
Eryn liked the rock thing, too, but most
of all, she said, she was having fun "pig-
ging out on the food — the Jerusalem
pizza and the wonderful Coke and I'm
having ice cream, too."
The program lasted until 4 p.m., with
the crowd remaining thick until the end.
Rebecca Abrin, 9 1 /2, of Oak Park, was
among the last to leave. The whole day
had been great (except when "some kid"
stepped on her, she said), but the best
was yet to come.
Rebecca would be the very last to climb
the King of the Mountain.,
Standing at the bottom of the lush, soft
tower, she could hardly wait.
"This," she pronounced, "is going
t o be great." ❑

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