Give us 2 hours a week... we'll give you 5,000 years. Sweet Smell Of Support Hiller's brings roses from Israeli greenhouses to Detroit shoppers. Roses In The Desert M&M Roses has been selling their flow- ers in the United States for the past five s if Hiller's Markets were • years, when competition from African and South American flower growers cut not carrying enough Israeli into their primary business of export- products, now they are fea- ing to Dutch flower auctions. turing roses grown, picked and packed "We were on the brink of going out on l'vloshav Sde Nitzan in the northern of the rose business," said Sofer, a plant Negev of Israel. "We wanted to be able to support the pathologist who made aliyah from Chicago. He runs the business with his Israeli rose growers and the people of wife Miriam, a sociologist and psy- Israel," said Fabrizio Casini, director of chologist from Australia. "We are the only growers in Israel who send roses 'door to door' to any address in the U.S.A.," he said. "We have been selling to Hiller's for about 18 months," Sofer said. "Through this contact, we learned a bit about (Hiller's owner) Jim Hiller who seems to be quite a supporter of Israeli busi- ness." In addition to being connected by roses, Casini and Sofer's relationship includes correspondence about life in Israel. "He tells me how things are going over there — in good times and in bad times, like now),' Casini said. The M&M Web site also includes Sofer's blog, written as an eye-witness Fabrizio Casini of Hiller's Markets account of the situation in Israel. "His greenhouses are nine kilometers from the border of Gaza (near Egypt)," produce and floral operations for all of Casini said. "We know it can be very Hiller's Markets. "The more roses we tough for him and we want to support sell, the more money goes to Israel:' him and the people of Israel." All the Hillers stores are carrying the Adds Sofer,"Over the course of the flowers, with Casini ordering a case of 50 dozen roses each week for each store. past few years, Israel has gone through a long period of economic and secu- The roses are sold for $12.99 a dozen. rity hardships. The partnership of the Casini is very pleased with the sales, American Jewish community sup- happy that most weeks they sell out of porting Israel and Israeli businesses roses. And his happiness is not related during this time has been crucial to to profits. "It probably costs us more many small businesses. The feeling of than we get for them, but we do this to identification between the communities support Israel;' he said. is as important as the actual economic Casirahas been ordering Israeli support." 1-1 produce — like palmellos, colored pep- pers and tomatoes — for some time through a New York broker. "He put me . • • s daily blog in contact with Myron Sofer, the Israeli and for information on selling rose grower from M&M Roses, who we roses as a group fundraiser or now order from," Casini said. sending roses from M&M Roses While it is too hot in Israel for fruit to locations in the U.S. or Israel, and vegetable crops in to grow in the go to www.israelrose.com , send summer, the roses are grown in green- an e-mail to roses@israelrose. houses, so Hiller's can get them year- corn or call (877) 356-7673. round. Shelli Liebman Dorfman Staff Writer A r t a n de urt orerics m n e c mo elton o jot h j j- I I of metro detroit A Project of The Hebrew University of Jerusalem In-depth adult Jewish learning in a user-friendly format "Taste of Melton" Informational Session Sample the program everyone is talking about! Tuesday, August 8: 7:00-8:30 P.M. Max M. Fisher Federation Building 6735 Telegraph Road Bloomfield Hills or Wednesday, August 9: 9:30-11:00 A.M. Jewish Community Center, Kahn Building 6600 W. Maple Road, West Bloomfield Year 1 classes available at the following locations starting in September: Tuesday Evenings — Max M. Fisher Federation Building, Bloomfield Hills Wednesday Mornings— Jewish Community Center, Kahn Building, W. Bloomfield Thursday Evenings — Jewish Community Center, JPM Building, Oak Park Also available for parents of young children — toddler through elementary school Melton Parent Education Program (PEP) Monday mornings at Adat Shalom Synagogue, Farmington Hills For further information or to RSVP for the "Taste of Melton" call the Florence Melton Adult Mini-School office at 248-642-4260 x 372. ElParfizio3 THE OcNIER 6 . ;Alliance Federation's This is Federation www.thisisfederation.org 1114970 JESNA IS PROUD TO ANNOUNCE THE RECIPIENTS OF THE SEVENTH ANNUAL NATIONAL Grinspoon-Steinhardt Awards for Excellence in Jewish Education „ft, "gee in set&' Faye Ellen Friedman MAZAL TOV TO of the Miriam Araf MONTREAL, QC Rabbi Jonathan Bailey BALTIMORE, MD Nurit Barnard CLEVELAND, OH Bonnie Barocas BROWARD COUNTY, FL Camille Benjamin BROWARD COUNTY, FL Rabbi Jon Bloomberg BOSTON, MA Eleanor Braude VANCOUVER, BC Jill Brenner BALTIMORE, MD Micaela Chambers LOS ANGELES, CA Elaine Chapman GREATER PHOENIX, AZ Nachum Chasan ATLANTIC COUNTY, NJ Susan Couden COLUMBUS, OH Naomi Cowen GREATER BUFFALO, NY Elinur Danon NORTHEASTERN NEW YORK Lisa Eppel LOS ANGELES, CA Rivka Eskovitz RHODE ISLAND Rabbi Joey Felsen sm FRANCISCO, CA Heather Fiedler GREATER HARTFORD, CT Renee Fine SILICON VALLEY, CA Shulamis Fishman ROCKLAND COUNTY, NY Rochelle Gamliel WINNIPEG, MB Rabbi Menachem Goldberg SEATTLE, WA Jill Goldstein GREATER KANSAS CITY, KS Rabbi Menachem Greenblatt ST. LOUIS, MO Carla Greer SOUTH PALM BEACH, FL Brocha Hoff GREATER NEW YORK Jessica Issaharov SOUTHERN ARIZONA Nechama ltkin PITTSBURGH, PA Shawn Jeffers CINCINNATI, OH Joyce Kerr WINNIPEG. MB Jennifer Khayat LOS ANGELES, CA Rabbi Ariel Klein CLEVELAND, OH Rabbi Theodore Saul Klein GREATER NEW YORK JESNA DETROIT METROPOLITAN AREA Dena Knoll NORTHERN NEW JERSEY Deborah Kohanbash PITTSBURGH, PA Christopher E. Kraus CINCINNATI, OH Bracha Lang BALTIMORE, MD Liat Lazarovich WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS Basya Levin CENTRAL MASSACHUSETTS Nomi Levy SAN DIEGO, CA Hagit Lifshitz SAN ANTONIO, TX Judy Maislos GREATER HOUSTON, TX Veronica Maravankin WEST PALM BEACH, FL Harold Marcus PITTSBURGH. PA Dawn Margolin GREATER EAST BAY, CA Robin Mendelson GREATER EAST BAY, CA Jodi Allison Mishkin GREATER NEW YORK Rina Moscovitz GREATER NEW YORK Suzanne S. Nahamo GREATER PHILADELPHIA, PA Rabbi Eli Newman CLEVELAND, OH Shelly Newman DALLAS, TX Ruth Ossher GREATER NEW YORK Randee Palter LOS ANGELES, CA Edna Pasternak ROCKLAND COUNTY, NY Julie W. Pollack NORTHEASTERN NEW YORK Peggy Sandel SAN FRANCISCO, CA Shelly Sender DALLAS, TX Marissa Sharpe LOS ANGELES, CA Heidi Solomon CLEVELAND, OH Rabbi Moshe Sonnenschein AKRON. OH Dorothy Weiss GREATER NEW YORK Miriam Wielgus GREATER NEW YORK Nechamit Yaari MINNEAPOLIS, MN Rabbi Shmuel Dov Yarmush OTTAWA. ON Rabbi Moshe Zimberg GREATER NEW YORK Joshua Zwelling . DAYTON, OH Todah to the Federation's Aliiance for Jewish Education for its vision and support. Jewish Education Service of North America. Inc. www.grinspoonsteinhardt.org August 3 • 2006 19