Girls
It was a great day when a bit o
Left: Danielle Keith, 7, of Farmington Hills and Stefani Chudnow, 6,
of West Bloomfield are all smiles after a few bites of ice cream.
Below: Samuel Pernick, 11, of Huntington Woods examines the kippot.
E
ELIZABETH APPLEBAUM
AppleTree Editor
fight-year-old Megan Thomas held her
paper dolls from Ethiopia, Argentina
and the former Soviet Union, and she
knew exactly what she would do.
The dolls' little curls were bouncing and their
googly eyes moved from side to side, up and down,
happy and dizzying. They all wore colorful skirts,
and each of Megan's had a smile she had drawn.
"I'm going to take these home," Megan, of
Pontiac, said firmly. "And I'm going to put them all
together so I can always remember this day."
Megan was one of hundreds of children (and
plenty of adults, too) who, despite the thunder-
storms and rain, came June 8 to the Jewish
Community Center in West Bloomfield for the
Take Pride in Israel day.
The event was sponsored by the Jewish
Federation of Metropolitan Detroit with the sup-
6/13
2003
74
port of Foley Lardner Attorneys at Law, and chaired
by Lisa Lis and Ron Klein.
Upstairs, the JCC lobby was filled with the
yummy, spicy smell of falafel and products from
Israel for purchase. There were blue-and-white
tablecloths, twisty and crunchy snacks called Bissili,
religious items and even perfume, a subtle flowery
scent.
Israeli rock singer Michael Har Paz was a guest
performer, as were children's choirs.
For the younger set, though, the really big action
was in the gym, where there were plenty of activi-
ties from Jewish Experiences For Families (JEFF), a
division of the Alliance for Jewish Education.
One of the projects was called the Many Faces of
Israel, where you could make paper dolls represent-
ing Jewish communities throughout the world.
Tables were filled with blank cardboard dolls to
color, then cover with pretend hair, fabric tops and
bottoms, and plastic eyes.
Each child also received a sheet with information
about that community, to be put together into a
booklet.
Sam Gringlas, 9, and his sister Rachel, 7, of
Farmington Hills and members of Temple Israel,
were having a lot of f u n making dolls from
Argentina, and just thinking in general about being
Jewish.
Being Jewish is great, Sam said, because "there are
a lot of traditions, and a lot of times to be together
with all the family." Rachel loves celebrating
Chanukah and Purim.
Volunteers Barbara Cantor and Carol Kaczander
passed out'Argentinian paper dolls and otherwise
helped when the situation got a little sticky (this
project involved plenty of glue).
"I was volunteering this morning [at another
event] and now I'm here," Cantor said. "I'll volun-.
teer for anything with kids and crafts."
Kaczander didn't worry for a moment when one
2-year-old helped herself to three dolls, then
promptly glued the hair to a doll's stomach.