World
uENERAT1ONS
Picture This!
Young and old join together
to snap photos, make memories.
Elizabeth Applebaum
Special to the Jewish News
T
he project was about pho-
tographs and friendship,
but for Leor Shtull-Leber it
always began with a home-cooked
meal.
Leor, 16, of Ann Arbor is a student
at the Frankel Jewish Academy in
West Bloomfield. On her lunch hour,
she would meet with Adele Taubman
at the nearby Hechtman Jewish
Apartments, a residence for senior
citizens. Adele had lunch ready for
her, "and then we would begin our
adventures, searching for the right
subjects for our photographs!'
"I was so lucky to be partnered
with Adele because not only is she
the sweetest woman who warmly
welcomed me into her home, she's an
artist who continues to make beauti-
ful work that I admire greatly."
Leor is one of 89 young adults who
participated, along with 89 senior
citizens, in PhotoLink. The project,
sponsored by Jennifer and Jeff Farber,
was coordinated through ElderLink, a
Jewish Federation network of servic-
es that helps senior citizens and their
families with housing options, day
programs and respite care, outreach,
cultural and educational services and
more.
In PhotoLink, students from the
Jewish Academy, Hillel Day School in
Farmington Hills or Yeshivat Akiva
in Southfield were each paired with
a senior. The pairs met, had a work-
shop with professional photographers
and then received disposable cam-
eras. The only goal: taking pictures
together of whatever they chose.
Beginning this Sunday, May 20, and
continuing through June 7, photos
from PhotoLink will be on display in
the lobby of the Jewish Community
Center in West Bloomfield.
"The idea of an inter-generational
program was so exciting, and this
was an opportunity to be creative and
to share:' said Carol Weintraub Fogel,
chairman of the Elderlink committee,
which also included Geri Margolis
and Peggy Frank. "I love the idea of
20
mc,
17 2007
a tool that could bring everybody
together. You find that you have corn-
mon goals and common interests
whatever your age. You don't care if
the person is young or old, you just
enjoy each other's company"
Sue Shlom is a middle-school
teacher at Hillel. PhotoLink, she
says, "was an incredible experience
because it was intimate; it was spon-
taneous and it was fun!' The children
and seniors took the work seriously,
but also had a great time clowning
around. "It gave us a connectedness,"
she says. "When you show a com-
monality between divergent groups,
then people are ageless!'
"It was amazing:' says Hillel stu-
dent and PhotoLink participant
Rachael Bradley, 12, of Walled Lake.
"I couldn't believe how much fun we
had with the seniors, taking pictures
and making memories."
Frankel Jewish Academy student
Raquel Cohen, 17, of Birmingham
worked with Doris Roby and says, "I
loved the experience. There's so much
we can learn from senior citizens!' I
Leor Shtull-Leber of the Frankel Jewish Academy catches artist Adele Taubman at work.
The hands of Adele Taubman of West
Fryda Gurwitz of West Bloomfield with
Bloomfield and Leor Shtull-Leber, 17, of Ann
Hillel sixth-grader Danielle Schostak, 12, of
Arbor.
Huntington Woods.
Hillel sixth-graders Jaclyn Nagel and Talya
Nevins, both of Farmington Hills, with
Hillel sixth-grader Teddy Sallen of
Birmingham with PhotoLink friend Lillian
Naomi Deutsch of West Bloomfield.
Polk of Oak Park
Elizabeth Applebaum is a marketing
specialist for the Jewish Community
Center of Metropolitan Detroit.
Older Americans Month
PhotoLink is one of three pro-
grams being held in May in
celebration of Older Americans
Month. Also included is the
Bessie Spector Oldest Jewish
Americans Brunch, honoring
local Jewish seniors 95 and
older, to be held 10:30 a.m.
Friday, May 18, at the Jewish
Community Center in West
Bloomfield. This year the event
will honor 86 men and women;
two are over 100 years.
And on 11 a.m. Sunday, May
20, the JCC in West Bloomfield
will host Eight Over Eighty, spon-
sored by Jewish Apartments &
Services to honor eight for their
contributions toward making a
better world. I I
Leor Shtull-Leber
photographed by
Adele Taubman