Celebrating Knowledge

Hillel students culminate learning at a special ceremony.

SHELLI LIEBMAN DORFMAN Staff Writer

A

BILL HANSEN Photographer

group of accomplished first-graders marked the completion of a year of
study with a May 20 ceremony highlighted by both giving and receiving.
Participants in the Hillel Day School of Metropolitan Detroit annual sid-
dur party were recipients of their own brand new siddurim (prayer books), which
they later used to present musical prayers to their guests.
"It is a very moving, beautiful program," said Helene Brody, director of admis-
sions at Hillel. "Lots of tears of pride from parents and grandparents. They are gener-
ally in awe that their 6-year-old has learned all of this."
Among the parents in the crowd at Adat Shalom Synagogue were nine Hillel
alumni who came to watch their own young Hillel students accept their siddurim.
The siddurim presented in the ceremony were each covered in fabric decorated by
the child's family.
"They are very colorful, with most having been needlepointed, embroidered or
painted with the child's Hebrew name and either Jewish ritual symbols or a Jewish or
Israeli scene — something that might be particularly meaningful to the child," Brody
said.
Far beyond using the siddurim for daily morning
services at school, many students continue to read from
them through the years, even after Hillel graduation.
Some even bring them to synagogue for use at their
b'nai mitzvah.
,
"This siddur is very special to them," Brody said.
"They definitely develop a meaningful attachment and
have beautiful memories of the decorating of it" ❑

Clockwise,from top: Rebecca Tarnopol, Z of West
Bloomfield sings. Hershel Dorman, 7, of West
Bloomfield leads a prayer. Jessica Birndof, 6, of West
Bloomfield and Jonah Newman, Z have An with
props. At center, Hershel Dorman, 7, of West
Bloomfield sings with his class. Jessica Hoffman gets
ready for the Siddur party with a little help from
classmate Leora Nevins, both 7, of Farmington Hills. .
At center, Blake Rogow, 7, of West Bloomfield reads
from his new Siddur.

6/11

2004

53