C

The first art endeavor funded by
the new DeRoy Testamentary Grant
is a collaborative menorah made
by seventh-graders and seniors.

DIANA LIEBERMAN

Staff' Writer

S

tudents from Congregation Beth
Shalom's religious school made a slop-
py, gooey mess with senior citizens on
Nov. 8.
The goal of the seventh-graders and the
Margot and Warren Coville Apartments resi-
dents was to construct plaster models of their
hands. They painted their creations in gold
and purple tones, and embeded in each a
unique story about a personal good deed, or
mitzvah.
The end products were joined by similar
"hands" from seven supplementary schools
and two senior citizen facilities, all under the
guidance of collaborative artist Sasha
Bergmann Lichtenstein.
Lichtenstein and local teen assistants creat-

ed a tile menorah, sur-
rounded by a 6-foot globe
made of 16 parallel lines,
like the lines of longitude
on a traditional globe.
Bolted to these lines are
the finished hands.
The Mitzvah Menorah
is the first project of the
Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit's
Alliance for Jewish Education Arts in the
Schools program, which is funded by a two-
year renewable grant from the DeRoy
Testamentary Foundation.
The completed menorah was first displayed
at the Jewish Community Center in Oak Park.
It then moved to the south rotunda of the
Somerset Collection in Troy, where it will be
on view through Dec. 1 1.
"The Chanukah story tells us that, if we

Art project helps students from
Congregation Beth Shalom bond with
seniors from the Coville Apartments.

11/24
2000

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