OA

ENO

Ride Of A Lifetime

Americans bike for kids of Alyn Hospital.

SHELLI LIEBMAN DORFMAN

Staff Writer

W

hen Miriam Goldberg of West
Bloomfield attends her nephew
Jeffrey Feldman's bar mitzvah serv-
ice Saturday, Dec. 15, in Chicago,
she knows he will carry memories of his "first
bar mitzvah," celebrated last month in Israel.
On Nov. 5, accompanied by his father, Dr.
Robert Feldman, Jeffrey was called to the Torah
during early morning services at Ramat
HaMagshimim Yeshiva in the Golan Heights.
The two were in Israel to celebrate Jeffrey's bar
mitzvah and to ride in the second annual
Wheels of Love, a charity bike ride to benefit
the children of Alyn Woldenberg Family
Hospital/Pediatric and Adolescent
Rehabilitation Center in Jerusalem.
"It was a trip for Jeff to see Israel for the first
time and to be able to give tzedakah," Goldberg
says of the more than $11,000 the Feldmans
collected for the hospital.
Alyn specializes in rehabilitation of children,
ranging from traumatic injuries to congenital
deformities, cancer and burns.

Israelis Geoffi-ey Freeman and 1Vleir Chasson with Jeffi-ey Feldman o
Chicago, as Feldman reads from the Thrah in the Golan Heights.

Alyn Connection

Dr. Feldman's introduction to Alyn came from his wife,
Rhonda Baruch Feldman, a former Detroiter, who has been
active in the Chicago Friends of Alyn for more than 15
years. She now serves as its president.
She introduced her family, including her husband, a
neuro-psychologist who also works in pediatric psychology,
to the vital work performed at the hospital. "She got all of
us involved," says Goldberg, a past-president of the Detroit
Friends of Alyn.
Goldberg and Feldman's father, Leonard Baruch of
Southfield, is vice president of the Detroit Friends. Their
mom, Ann, and brother Dr. Murray Baruch of West
Bloomfield serve on the board of directors.
The Feldmans visited Alyn two years ago on a bat mitzvah
trip with their daughter, Dana. They wanted Jeffrey to have
the same experience.
In September, Dr. Feldman, an avid bike rider, and Jeffrey
began a training program involving everything from outdoor
uphill riding to basement bike training.
Seeking donations, they quickly passed the $300 registra-
tion fee and $2,000 donation commitment made by each
rider.
On Nov. 4, Robert and Jeffrey Feldman joined 43 other
riders in Israel. Accompanied by a security guard, a mechan-
ic and a medic, they made the 325-mile, six-day ride from
the Golan Heights to Jerusalem.
Rhonda Baruch Feldman says, "We were concerned about
travel [during the Palestinian uprising], but it was very
important to show our support for Israel and for Alyn."

"My biggest fear was Jeffrey riding down the Golan at 45
miles an hour," she says of her son.
A highlight of the ride was "the whole group got up at
5:30 in the morning to be with him at the bar mitzvah serv-
ice," says Baruch Feldman.

For Alyn's Kids

With the ride's donations still arriving, the $250,000 already
received is 10 percent of the total raised annually to bridge
the gap between hospital fees and the cost of specialized
treatment.
The riders met a former Alyn resident who is paraplegic,
who videotaped the riders. A current patient, also paraplegic,
led the group for the last part, after being pushed by other
riders on his bike, adapted with hand controls for gears,
pedals and brakes.
Rhonda Baruch Feldman says Jeffrey's visit to Alyn had a
profound impact on him. "There is a picture of him at the
end of the ride, in front of the hospital with children with
severe disfigurements from burns," she says. "And here he is
smiling with them. The smile says a lot."

❑

To make a donation to Detroit Friends of

Alyn, send a check to: Detroit Friends of Alyn,

P.O. Box 250573, West Bloomfield, MI 48325

or call, (248) 559-ALYN.

TENDER

271 WEST MAPLE
DOWNTOWN BIRMINGHAM

248.258.0212

Monday-Saturday 10-6
Thursday 10-9

Open a Tender Charge Today

12/14
2001

49

