Apples Honey provides youngsters with Rosh Hashanah tools to heal the world.

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ELIZABETH APPLEBAUM

AppleTree Editor

of once did Ricki Rogow
lose her patience — with
the multitude of children
all calling out at the same
time: "Can I have a vase?" "Where's
the glue?" "I'm done, what do you
think?" "I didn't get any glitter!"
"Where is the blue marker?"
Working at the Temple Shir Shalom
booth, where children could decorate
Rosh Hashanah flower vases for par-
ents or grandparents, Rogow thought-

fully handed out vases and bits of glit-
ter and paintbrushes and compliment-
ed every work of art.
"Someone's grandma and grandpa
are going to be very happy," and
"This is beautiful!" she would say,
admiring a plastic vase decorated with
a haphazard collection of blue-and-
purple lines. She then would toss in a
handful of Hershey's chocolate kisses
and the line, "So you can remember
to give lots of kisses to people you
love this year."
The gym at the Jewish Community
Center in Oak Park was jam-packed

this past Sunday for the 15th annual
Apples & Honey and Lots, Lots More,
sponsored by Jewish Experiences For
Families (JEFF), the Jewish News, the
JCC, the Agency for Jewish Education
and the Jewish Federation of
Metropolitan Detroit.
The pre-holiday celebration, coordi-
nated by Gail Greenberg and Debbie
Rosenberg of JEFF, featured fun and
games and learning adventures, all
with the theme of "Help Repair the
World."
As they entered, visitors received a
workman's belt they could fill up

along the way with tools to help
them in their task: an eraser "to fix
the mistakes we sometimes make," a
ruler to "keep things straight" and
safety goggles "to see the vision,"
among others.
Elizabeth Kirshner, 7, of Oak Park,
found plenty to see as she wandered
about the gym, decorated from top to
bottom with bright-yellow streamer-
tape and plastic globes. "I liked mak-
ing the vase," said Elizabeth, "and I
liked the apple-jumping thing, too"
(an inflated moonwalk filled with bal-
loons).