I To Life!
N
ERFAITH
SPORTS
Sharing Their WISDOM
Shir Shalom Sisterhood joins
interfaith event at mosque.
ft,
WISDOM co-founders Peggy Kalis of
Church of Today West, Shahina Begg
of the Muslim Unity Center, Gail
Katz of Congregation Beth Shalom
and Trish Harris of St. Hugo of the
Hills.
A
local interfaith women's
group spent a day learning
about Islam at the Muslim
Unity Center in Bloomfield Hills on
March 25. Among them were mem-
bers of Congregation Beth Shalom's
Sisterhood.
Women's Interfaith Solutions
for Dialogue and Outreach in
MetroDetroit (WISDOM), a group
started by four women of different
faiths last May — including Gail Katz
of Beth Shalom — sponsored the day.
With tensions in the Middle East,
Iraq and Darfur constantly in the
news, these four felt that communities
of faith in Metro Detroit were becom-
ing more and more segregated. They
felt that women had the capacity for
empathy and connecting spiritually.
The goal of their proposed interfaith
event was to have women listen to
each other, respect each other's differ-
ences and take action towards change.
The Islam Education Day included
130 Jewish, Muslim and Christian
women. They toured the doomed
mosque (a former elementary school),
as Mimo Debryn of the Unity Center
pointed out the separate prayer halls
— women upstairs and the men on
the main floor.
In the social hall, the women sat
in groups that mixed all three reli-
gions. After greetings from Shahina
Begg, a WISDOM co-founder, and
Fran Hildebrandt of the Beth Shalom
Sisterhood, Gigi Salka, Unity Center
board member, blessed the group with
a Muslim dua, a prayer before the par-
taking of lunch.
30 April 5 2007
Katz then told the group, "This day's
interfaith event was all about respect
and gaining a deeper awareness of
each others' beliefs. Islam, Judaism and
Christianity all have the same supreme
energy. The Educational Day about
Islam was one of tolerance, under-
standing, loving and caring for one
another, and not about using religious
beliefs as an excuse or camouflage for
politics!'
After a vegetarian Middle Eastern
lunch, Debryn gave a presentation on
the major tenets of Islam and the life
of the prophet Muhammad. She spoke
about the population of Muslims in the
world — the greatest numbers in Asia
— and the fact that only 18 percent of
Muslims are Arabs. She also stressed
that Islam and culture are two different
factors. For example, wearing clothing
like the Afghanistan burka is not an
Islamic practice, but one forced upon
women by the Taliban.
While she spoke, the sounds of the
Muslim call to prayer wafted through
the social hall, and Debryn translated
the words.
Najah Bazzy, a critical care nurse
in Dearborn, told her personal story
of growing up in the south end of
Dearborn, which then was a very
diverse area. She told of her Christian
best friend at age 10, and of her desire
to understand Islam and other reli-
gions more in depth as she grew up.
Bazzy jokingly called herself a
"Sushi" — the offspring of Sunni and
Shi'a parents. She told of her journey
to becoming a nurse and of her expe-
riences with Jewish doctors at Sinai
Hospital of Detroit and her contacts
with Christians at Madonna University.
"God wants us to wrap our arms
around one another',' she said. "God
looks over all of us, and within each
of us are the tools to make this world
a better place. We must support each
other as human ambassadors, and
work really hard to make a difference
in this world one person at a time!'
Gail Katz contributed to this story.
For more information about
WISDOM, go to the Web site
www.interfaithwisdom.org .
Banged-Up Champ
WLW wrestler finishes 8th at states.
Steve Stein
Special to The Jewish News
H
e suffered a concussion, a
strained rib muscle and a
strained rotator cuff. But
Andy Goodman persevered and
achieved a major goal for a high school
wrestler. He earned a medal for a top-
eight finish at the individual state meet.
Now that wrestling season is over,
Andy weighs a more natural 170
pounds. He's throwing the discus and
shot put this spring for the Western
boys track team.
Andy, 18, plans to attend Central
Michigan University. Jeff, 21, is a
junior at Michigan State University.
Their parents are Stan and Susan
Goodman. The family lives in
Farmington Hills.
29-Year Curse Ends
Andy Goodman works for the pin.
Goodman, a senior at Walled
Lake Western, finished eighth at 152
pounds at the Division 1 state meet
last month at the Palace of Auburn
Hills. After suffering the concussion
during practice before districts and
hurting his rib muscle during practice
before regionals, Goodman had to for-
feit his final state meet match because
of the rotator cuff injury. But he isn't
singing the blues.
"I feel fine now, and I'm completely
satisfied with my eighth-place fin-
ish," Goodman said. "Out of the hun-
dreds of kids at Division 1 schools
throughout the state who wrestle at
152 pounds, I'm among the top eight.
Injuries happen when you wrestle. You
can't get mad about that!'
Goodman made many opponents
angry during the final two seasons of
his four-year career at Western. He went
37-9 as a junior and 49-7 as a senior,
giving him a 123-54 career record.
He didn't advance past the individual
districts as a freshman, sophomore and
junior, which made this year's post-sea-
son success even more special.
Jeff Goodman, Andy's older
brother, also wrestled at Western for
four years, going 75-43. He never
made it to the individual state meet,
falling one victory short when he was
a senior. The brothers' careers over-
lapped for one season.
"Jeff wrestled against me in practice
that year and beat me up pretty good:'
Andy said. "That was great for me,
though, because it pushed me to the
limit and made me a better wrestler."
Five Jewish players helped the
Bloomfield Hills Andover High School
boys basketball team win its first
league championship in 29 years.
The Barons and Bloomfield
Hills Lahser finished atop Oakland
Activities Association Division IV,
each with a 9-3 record. Andover and
Lahser split their two division games.
It was Andover's first victory over
Lahser in 15 years.
Seniors Aubey Layno-Moses and
Adam Shiffinan, and juniors Dorin
Deitch, Jeremy Werner and Jordan
Yellen made up Andover's Jewish
contingent. All made contributions off
the bench.
Shiffman pulled down a team-high
nine rebounds in the Barons' Class A
district loss to Walled Lake Northern.
Deitch got significant playing time
at point guard late in the season and
showed promise. Werner was a physi-
cal presence in the lane and Yellen
was the team's best free throw shooter,
making 18-of-24 for 75 percent.
"Jordan has ice in his veins at the
foul line said first-year Andover
coach Jeff Rubin, who is optimistic
about next season because 10 letter-
men and four starters will return from
this year's 13-8 team.
Slava Zings tin
Wayne State University freshman fenc-
er Slava Zingerman from Ashlekon,
Israel, is a national champion.
Zingerman, the No. 2 seed, defeated
top-seeded Benjamin Bratton of St.
John's 15-13 in the epee finals at the
NCAA meet last month in Madison, N.J.
Zingerman is the first Wayne State
male fencer to win an NCAA title
since 1996, and the first epeeist to
achieve the feat since 1992.
Please send sports news to
sports@thejewishnews.com.