C

(0

C C

O
O

0.

Tu

Tot's Israel 'Trip'

Imaginary journey sends preschoolers tG
Jewish homeland for its 59th birthday.

T

he Gan Shalom Bilingual
Preschool at Congregation Beth
Shalom in Oak Park gathered
April 24 to celebrate Israel's birthday with
a make-believe journey to the land of milk
and honey.
Wearing their blue tie-dyed shirts, the
children flew with El Al to Jerusalem.
Before leaving, teacher Leslie Fishman of
Bloomfield Hills distributed their "Leslie-

Teacher Ronit Goutkovitch of Southfield
discusses the Israeli flag with Alex
Wolpe, 2, of Huntington Woods.

designed" passports.
In Jerusalem, the children visited the
Israeli market, or shuk, where they pur-
chased visors with their shekels.
Tour guides were teachers Fishman
and Ronit Goutkovitch, assistants Susie
Katkowsky and Emily Hollenberg, along
with school director Susan Gartenberg.
They guided their tour groups to differ-
ent areas in Israel, including the Dead
Sea, where the children experimented by
hypothesizing whether items would float
or sink. They wrote notes to place in the
Kotel (Western Wall), which was created
by a block wall.
The young archaeologists also dug in
the sand for fossils in Beit Shean, painted
Chagall windows at Hadassah Hospital
and planted flowers at the Gan Kibbutz.
A huge floor map of Israel, borrowed
from Federation's Alliance for Jewish
Education, was a great place to learn the
difference between Israel and Michigan.
The children jumped on the map when
Goutkovitch said in Hebrew, "We are going

Making Up With Mom

Tension mars even good relationships.

Diana Lieberman
Special to the Jewish News

envelopes, even though she and her hus-
band had decided against it. "She keeps
saying, 'Are you sure?' I know she's only
trying to help, but it makes me feel defen-
Ann Arbor
sive'
nn Arbor journalist Julie
You'll hear many stories like this on
Halpert is a successful, articu-
Tuesday, May 22, as Halpert previews her
late mother of three. Her work
has appeared in everything
upcoming book, Making Up With
Mom: Why Mothers and Daughters
from the Ann Arbor News to
Disagree about Kids, Careers and
Parents Magazine and the New
Casseroles (And What to Do About
York Times. Yet her mother
It) at the National Council of Jewish
can still make her feel inad-
Women Greater Detroit Section 2007
equate.
Spring Happening and Installation.
"She lives nearby, and she's
1
Written with sociologist Deborah
very supportive,' Halpert says.
Carr, the book has been accepted for
"But the way she did things in Julie Ha Ipert
publication by Thomas Dunn, a divi-
her generation was so differ-
ent from the way I live today"
sion of St. Martin's Press.
Asked for an example, Halpert hesitates
Making Up With Mom is a non-aca-
demic, reader-friendly study intended for
"My mother will probably see this:' she
anyone who is a mother or a daughter. "It's
explains.
not really about troubled relationships:'
However, she does remember an inci-
says Carr, who teaches at the University
dent that took place while she was prepar-
of Wisconsin while on leave from Rutgers
ing for her son's bar mitzvah. Her mother
University. "Basically, it's about good rela-
kept trying to persuade her to have the
addresses preprinted on the invitation
tionships, in which, sometimes, tension

A

to Israel. Let's find
Teacher Ronit Goutkovitch of Southfield and students Joey
Jerusalem."
Winer, 3, of Oak Park, Ella Blank, 19 months, of Royal Oak,
No Israeli trip is
and Rachel Graft, 3, of Huntington Woods check to see
complete without
what floats in the Dead Sea.
music and dance.
Rachelle Moray of
ticipation of our parent-tot class, grand-
parents and parents:' said Gartenberg,
Farmington Hills showed parents, grand-
parents and children how to "dance with
director of Gan Shalom Parenting Center,
the stars" the Israeli way.
preschool and camp.
The program culminated with "birthday
"This was a team effort. We have such
cake" and an Israeli breakfast of oranges,
dedicated and creative teachers who love
strawberries, cucumbers and tomatoes and what they do and they love the children,
labna from Israel.
and it shows through the children and
"Great program:' agreed Linda and Ron
programs."
Sherr of West Bloomfield, grandparents of
Gan Shalom students Emily and Jack Flood. For coverage of the Israel Independence Day
Walk, see page 14.
"It was so wonderful to have the par-

Summer programs and fall registration are now open for children 24 months
through 5 years. Camp runs Monday-Friday, June 11-Aug. 24, with morning and
afternoon sessions and with early and after-care available. Camp is a bilingual,
Hebrew-English program, with varying themes each week. Children are grouped
by age and skills. The adult to child ratio is Ito 4 or smaller so the curriculum
can be individualized by teachers certified in early childhood. For information,
contact Susan Gartenberg, (248) 547-7970.

is introduced. Our goal is to have women
understand themselves, understand their
mothers and daughters, and the dynamic
that is at work between mothers and
daughters."
This will be the first book for Halpert,
but she is by no means a writing novice. A
journalist for more than 20 years, she is
a frequent on-air contributor to the Great
Lakes Radio Consortium, mainly on auto-
motive issues. She is a food writer for the
Ann Arbor News and teaches environmental
journalism at the University of Michigan.
A 1984 University of Michigan graduate,
Halpert recently wrote about Gov. Jennifer
Granholm for Newsweek and about breast
cancer for Women's Day and Self maga-
zines. When she read about Carr's aca-
demic work in the field of mother-daugh-
ter relationships, Halpert realized this was
a subject for her.
About six years ago, Carr published
an academic article in the journal Social
Psychology Quarterly about how women in
their 60s feel about their daughters, who
are in their 30s. Specifically, she asked
about their daughters' seemingly unlim-
ited opportunities.
"I expected some of the older women
would feel jealous, but I found that mothers
tended to feel sorry for their daughters,"

Carr says."They saw their daughters as run-
ning themselves ragged."
For Making Up With Mom, Carr and
Halpert interviewed more than 100
women. They started with friends of
friends and then posted requests for sub-
jects on the Internet, looking for Web sites
and chat rooms that focus on women and
families. Although many of the women
interviewed are well-educated and eco-
nomically comfortable, the writers also
targeted the immigrant population.
Despite all their differences, Halpert
says, all the women she interviewed had
at least one thing in common — a sincere
desire to get along with their mothers and
daughters. Li

Hear Julie Halpert discuss her
book, Making Up With Mom, at the
National Council of Jewish Women
Greater Detroit Section 2007 Spring
Happening and Installation, 10:30
a.m., Tuesday, May 22, at Wabeek
Country Club, Bloomfield Hills.
Sheldon Schubiner of Oak Park will
receive the Ann Rubin Volunteer
Award. Admission is $40; open to
NCJW members and non-members.
For reservations, call the NCJW/GDS
at (248) 355-3300.

May 10 • 2007

35