OTHER VI \ ;ii S

Never Forget The Holocaust

South Hero, Vt.
attended the 18th annual
International Conference of
Child Survivors held Aug.
25-28 in Dearborn. It was largely
sponsored by the Detroit branch
of the World Federation of Jewish
Child Survivors of the Holocaust.
The meeting included child
survivors as well as second- and
third-generation descendents of
these aging survivors — some
500 in all.
I came away with a few strong
perceptions.
The first was the state of alarm
at the slow disappearance of this .
important group of people. The
youngest eyewitnesses to the
horrors of the European decima-
tion of the Jewish people are now
approaching age 70. There was a

I

fair amount of discus-
sion about historical
reconstruction. In the
past, few were ever
really bothered by the
crackpots that denied
the existence of the
Holocaust; but now their
numbers have grown to
include the president of
Iran. Soon, there won't
be a living soul who can
stand up and show their
numbers and say, "I wit-
nessed it, with my eyes, my heart,
my soul — it happened."
The second perception was the
uniform desire on thepart of all
participants to see that educa-
tion of those growing up now
includes a deep understanding of
the dangers of prejudice, bigotry

and the mechanisms of
state-based terror. I have
known a lot of these
survivors, as friends of
my family growing up;
my mother, Erna, was
a founding member of
the Detroit branch of
the Hidden Children.
It occurred to me that
we are living through a
terribly important time
in Jewish history. I have
to think that the near
destruction of European Jewry
and culture as well as the forma-
tion of the State of Israel, while
not religious, certainly rival the
great adventures of our past. It
occurred to me that very little of
our modern culture recognizes-
this; even less is passed on to our

children.
It also occurred to me that
Passover provides some parallels.
It is a celebration of many things
(freedom of the Jews, rededication
to the religion through the receipt
of the Torah), but it was preceded
by a tragedy (400 years or so of
slavery). It is successful because
it includes song, storytelling and
an injunction of responsibility
to educate Jews each year about
what happened to our people. As
a result, the Exodus is one of the
defining stories of our people and
the most enduring symbol of our
collective spirit.
I am a secular Jew. I feel that
the story of how the Holocaust
occurred, the story of the survi-
vors and those who helped, the
story of the diaspora and of the

formation of the State of Israel,
are all things that we would all
benefit from if we spent an eve-
ning discussing the basics and
the significance. Why not include
songs of our people and have
poetry and stories with beauty
and meaning? And an injunction
to teach our children and our-
selves how we have evolved, take
pride where we can and work to
better ourselves.
Are our stories not as signifi-
cant as those of ancient times?
Why not have a holiday — Yom
HaShoah — that includes a meal
and these things, thus writing
the continuing saga of the Jewish
people, our people?

that JARC serves to create connec-
tions; the guide helps break the
ice, alleviate any tension caused
by ignorance or bias and helps the
person integrate into the group.
As the person develops connec-
tions with group members, the
community guide pulls back his
or her involvement. As that magi-
cal "Cheers moment" develops,
the guide is no longer needed.
Here's an example: Julie Boesky,
a woman that JARC serves, loves
taking pictures. After learning this,
her community guide arranged
for her to attend a meeting of the
Motor City Camera Club (MCCC), a
local group that takes pictures and
displays them for each other and
in competitions. Julie, along with
Tracey Cohen, her guide, attended
an MCCC meeting several months
ago. After some initial hesitation,
Julie was welcomed into the group.
She was encouraged to replace her
beloved Polaroid with a new digital
camera.
Members of the group taught
her how to use the camera to best
capture her subjects.
Over time, Julie became more
comfortable with the group, and
members of the group accepted
Julie as a peer. When Julie once
missed a meeting, MCCC members
called her to see that she was okay.
And now for the best part of

the story: Julie was asked to join
the group for their annual trip to
Pennsylvania, to spend a weekend
taking pictures of the beauti-
ful scenery there — a definite
"Cheers moment."
The Torah teaches us to
love your neighbor as yourself
(Leviticus 19:18). Just as we want
to feel welcome walking into shul
on Shabbat or our book club
or our choral group, so it is for
people with developmental dis-
abilities.
Societal change comes slowly,
one person at a time. The change
comes as each of us views others
as equals, perhaps with differing
gifts and talents, but as equals.
So the next time you encounter
someone different — someone
with a disability or any other dif-
ference — help them experience a
"Cheers moment."

.

Mark Gorman is the son of Erna and

Herb Gorman of Bloomfield Hills.

Making 'Cheers Moments'

0

n Friday evening, when
my husband, Michael,
and I enter Temple
Israel in West Bloomfield for
Kabbalat Shabbat services, we are
welcomed by friends, old and new.
For us, the approaching Shabbat
brings not only calm and respite
from our weekday demands, but
also a joyful familiarity, important
social ties and a connection with
our broader Jewish community.
It was not always this way. It
took some time for Michael and
me to form the relationships that
we cherish today. But we were
lucky Like most of you reading
this article, we are fortunate to
have the cognitive and social skills
necessary to foster these relation-
ships. A lifetime of socialization
— practice, if you will — starting
when we were children laid the
foundation for us. So the first time
we entered temple, we could start
conversations with people we had
never met and, over time, those
initial conversations blossomed
into cherished friendships.
For us, going to temple is like
"Norm" going into the Cheers bar:
It's a place where "everyone knows
your name, and they're always
glad you came."
But not everyone has this expe-
rience.
Many of the men and women

78

September 21 • 2006

served by JARC, espe-
cially those who spent
their formative years
in primitive, state-run
institutions, were never
given the opportunity to
learn the essential social
skills that many of us
take for granted. Others,
who may have been
raised at home or in
other community-based
settings, were sheltered
to the point that their ability to
form interpersonal connections
was greatly diminished.
Of course, people with devel-
opmental disabilities face other
barriers. Most members of our
community have had only periph-
eral contact with them, leading to
biases that are difficult to over-
come. Even those without such
biases may find it difficult to leave
their comfort zone and engage
a person with a disability in a
meaningful way.

The JARC Way
At JARC, we recognize that these
barriers cannot be overcome over-
night. But we do believe that we
can turn experiences in the com-
munity into positive interactions
for people with developmental
disabilities. They, too, can experi-
ence a "Cheers moment."

AI

To that end, JARC
instituted the CHEERS
project one year ago,
thanks to support
from the Bloomfield
Township-based Jewish
Fund. The goal of the
CHEERS project is
straightforward: facili-
tate opportunities to
create connections and
friendships between
people with and without
disabilities in integrated settings
(as opposed to segregated or spe-
cial groups).
This is not a random process.
Recognizing the societal and insti-
tutional barriers faced by people
with developmental disabilities,
JARC has enlisted a corps of com-
munity guides, specially trained
JARC staff members, to help break
down those barriers. Here's how
it works:
The community guide meets
with a person served by JARC to
get to know his or her interests,
likes and dislikes, hobbies and to
assess abilities. The guide then
researches opportunities in the
broader community and reaches
out to the leader of a group that
seems like a good fit. The guide
and the person JARC serves attend
a meeting or event held by the
group. The guide assists the person

Joyce Keller is executive director of

the Farmington Hills-based JARC.

For more information on
JARC's CHEERS Project, or
to tell JARC about a group in
which you are involved that
might welcome a person with
a developmental disability, call
Susan Radke, JARC's CHEERS
coordinator, (248) 538-6610,
ext. 333.